Subduing Gray Rock Mountain

In the middle of the night, Lady Eagle returned to the peak of Gray Rock Mountain with heavy injuries covering her body. She led the flock of Silver-banded Eagles who joined the excursion earlier that evening without missing a single one, except the Silver-banded Eagle Monarch himself. Elder Perr and Elder Rakk flanked their queen in reverence silently.

The whole nests around the mountain were astonished by the unsightly appearance of Lady Eagle, who was once the belle of the flock. Additionally, her majestic aura had reduced by quite a fair bit, indicating that the challenges she faced outside must be quite trying. Everyone was confused since, besides Lady Eagle, the others were as fit as a fiddle! Did the team win or lose the operation?

Traces of schadenfreude smile decorated some of the she-eagles within the Monarch's harem. At the same time, those close to her showed concern and worry. They were similarly bewildered by the weird sights, and their interest was piqued by what could have happened outside. However, including Lady Eagle, all members were unusually silent and refused to share. All of them did not return to their respective nest but waited upon Lady Eagle at all times. The absence of the tyrannical Monarch did not invoke any suspicion since the Monarch did have a tendency to do whatever he wanted all this while. The ones who questioned him had all perished under his cruel reign.

During the darkest hour of the night, Lady Eagle immediately accessed the deepest part of the Silver Banded Eagle Monarch's personal lair inside the mountain through a crevice at the top, consisting of the harem region and royal nesting area. She brought along all thirty-plus Silver-banded eagles inside together with her, eliminating all opposing guards along the way. The other eagles harbored hundreds of Elemental Fiends each; the spiritual termites hid under the lush feathers and were successfully smuggled in. They proceeded to block all excess into the hollowed grounds within the mountain by utilizing their secretion covertly.

The main queen who wielded the most power due to connection and opposed her the most had to go.

The few lesser queens who had once conspired to hurt her also had to go. The high-energy eggs birthed by them will naturally fall into her wings.

All the unfiltered schadenfreude smirks by her rivals were gone. They were only replaced with intense fear and indignation reflected in their eyes. Elder Perr and Elder Rakk worked together with a few Elemental Fiends to constrain the spiteful ladies emotionlessly.

"Why are you doing this?! Aren't you afraid of the Monarch?!"

"You will never get away, Biatch!"

"Lord Fearsilver will avenge me!!"

"YOU! Low-bred scum!!!!"

"I will let you know that I'm the one who destroyed your precious eggs before. HAHA!!! Come at me! Let's die together!"

For once, despite being cussed by her venomous harem-mates, Lady Eagle smiled serenely from the bottom of her heart since the loss of Monarch Fearsilver. Even the highly provocative ones did not cause a ripple in Lady Eagle's heart. Her gaze was calm and devoid of negative emotions. She even killed each one herself, harvesting their hearts and spleens efficiently to recover her own grievous injuries. She had specially requested from the Mistress for this opportunity.

Hana, who was observing remotely from the Elemental Fiends' compound eyes, and felt her newest pet's feelings, could only shake her head while sighing. It felt like watching a harem-based drama where bitter concubines stabbed each other to gain favor from the Emperor. She had conveniently become the Silver-banded Eagles' 'Shadow Emperor' now. Lady Eagle, who had joined her group, will consequently dominate the playing field, becoming her proxy to rule over the Silver-banded Eagle. She wasn't planning to interfere with the Silver-banded Eagles, but turning them into subordinates was a hundred times better than making them unnecessary enemies of the Serpent Lair.

Such was fate.

…

From the point where all the entrances into the late Monarch Fearsilver's personal lair were blocked by some kind of strange white substance, all Nobles currently present had banded together to ram the blockage. They absolutely had no idea what was happening inside. However, the smell of blood was thick, and the agonizing shrieks of the Monarch's mates could be heard. They knew the Monarch enough to know what will happen to them if they didn't rescue the ladies.

Nonetheless, as time went by, they soon realized the substances covering the three entrances, one large main crevice, a hidden one, and a new one made just a day or so ago, were extremely tough! They have done all they could, but they just couldn't penetrate through! Even digging tunnels from the side didn't work as it seemed that once the work came to close proximity to the internal cave area, the texture became too hard to dig.

As time ticked by, the tension rose!

Less than one hour after the sudden coup, Lady Eagle emerged from within the lair, harboring three heads of the most prominent ladies of the Gray Rock Mountain Clan. She solemnly proclaimed that the tyrannical Monarch of the Silver-banded Eagle, Monarch Fearsilver, had perished in the previous clash with the Serpent Lair, shocking everyone! She had surrendered and was granted amnesty by the Serpent Lair's Administrative. Additionally, the Serpent Lair's Administrative had appointed her as the proxy Liaison Officer and will place its own people as the Governor; there was no such thing as a 'Monarch' anymore. Since they had been the attacking party, they had to pay compensation to the Serpent lair in the form of labor and resources when needed. Lady Eagle spoke fluently without emotion as if she had practiced it a million times, and she was informing others like it was none of her business.

The mountain peak was silent for five seconds before angry shrieks filled the air! Realization had just dawned upon them; they had been colonized by someone else without knowing anything, and Lady Eagle had forsaken the Gray Rock Mountain to side with the unknown invader! Additionally, the problem happened because the Monarch wanted to avenge Lady Eagle's egg! Hence, this was initially her fault!

Many Noble-tiered loyalists immediately erupted their oppressive aura, intending to attack Lady Eagle! Belle, or no belle, she had betrayed the Gray Rock Mountain, and sold herself and her clan to the enemy!

No intelligent creature could tolerate being sold to another without consent!

They came to a consensus at the spur of the moment to work together to remove all these betrayers of the clan. Subsequently, they will prepare to war against the coming invasion. Better perish than being used by others!

Before they could move a single step, an inconspicuous black string at the left foot of Lady Eagle shuddered and loosened by itself. It immediately transformed into the very same gigantic snake that wreaked havoc at their base a day before! The snake was so large and ferocious, with lighting arches circling its unihorn, signaling that it was ready to unleash its Lord-level attacks once any movement was detected. It immediately glared at the birds present and released its Spirit Pressure to suppress them all. The majority of the flock fell to the ground and were pressed flat on the mountain's surface until they were bleeding from their seven facial orifices, unable to withstand such power. The higher-leveled Nobles were similarly suppressed but were still able to move a tiny bit.

The Gray Rock Mountain Clan was comprised of a thousand plus Silver-banded Eagles. However, the majority of them were only Spiritual Avians of varying levels. Around thirty percent of them were Nobles who became the direct subordinates of the late Monarch Fearsilver.

Lady Eagle was the only eagle besides Monarch Fearsilver who managed to reach triple banded very early in her life, placing her as the most gifted protégé of the clan. Unfortunately, due to her being a female, coupled with Monarch Fearsilver's tyrannical ruling methods, she was not granted a chance to be groomed properly, but to be kept in his harem to bear descendants. Basically, the Monarch oppressed the whole clan and relegated them to mere servants to be used for obtaining resources for him and managed the clan while he enjoyed the fruits of their labor, copulating with the ladies of the harem. There was no going around it since he was the strongest in the clan. His mere presence deterred other high-leveled experts from pillaging the clan. In return, the majority of resources gathered must be given to him without reserve.

The lack of experts above Noble tier plagued the Gray Rock Mountain due to Monarch Fearsilver's selfish policy. Hence, Kuro, who was present, could conveniently suppress all spiritual avians present. The only other Lord-leveled Lady Eagle had defected to the enemy's camp, leaving the hearts of the oppressed birds mired with a mixture of fury and helplessness. They were extremely unwilling and would rather die!

As their minds were brewing with murderous thoughts, Lady Eagle took out a light brown tiny furball from within her feathers, alerting the Gray Rock Mountain dwellers. Their muscles were taut with tension from guessing what kind of weapon would be taken out.

The fluffed ball suddenly sprouted wings, to their surprise! Two dark brown adorable eyes opened as if peeking through with uncertainty. It hurriedly flew away with its tiny wings and landed on top of the black serpent's head. Without Hana, it went to the next best creature it knew since it didn't recognize anyone else, especially with their murderous aura brewing unchecked. Kuro had no choice but to turn off the electrical currents encircling his unihorn, which was done to intimidate the birds. He was helpless with the little runt being clingy to him this time.

Everyone's eyes were wide open!

A legendary Gold-banded infant! With a triple-band!

Their hearts crashed the other way again as if riding over a rollercoaster. Their heads were full of questions and mixed emotions!

Where did this little one come from?!

Why was it close to the invader? Wasn't it part of Gray Rock Mountain?

A series of 'Whys' kept cropping up in their minds.

"This is the new Governor of our clan. Our main task is to groom this child into a respectable leader of the Gray Rock Mountain. It is Mistress Hana's godchild, and its aptitude is directly improved by the Mistress herself. Mistress Hana of the Serpent's Lair is a Breakthrough Specialist who will rise to the heavens in the near future. I will be this child's main Guardian and relay future instructions of the Serpent's Lair. Nothing changed in the clan besides this."

She stared intensely at her once clansmen who forsaken her to just be a breeder of the clan. She had resigned to fate before, and additionally, her love for the late Monarch Fearsilver was true. However, deep in her heart, she did feel regret for not being able to ascend the ranks. She knew she had very high potential.

Now, she patiently explained the advantage of joining Hana's camp to these Nobles under veiled words since they were technically still her people. The proof was even laid out for them to see. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve as a whole! The prospect of the future was limitless! However, if they slapped away the wine given and instead chose to welcome a good beating, Lady Eagle had done her due diligence. She won't feel guilty anymore. She knew that the Serpent's Lair would adopt a harsh approach if she couldn't calm down her clan to submit. Many would be exterminated into cooking ingredients. She knew that well enough from Hana's generous shared memories about herself when she introduced herself during the heart-to-heart talk within the Soul Hall Domain.

Silence. Complicated gazes filled the surroundings. It was a tough decision to many, but Lady Eagle could see many were tempted, just from their fluctuating auras.

"Pii? Pi pi pi..."

Everyone's gazes now focused on the little 'Governor's' sound. The little Governor was staring at them with big, starry eyes! It wasn't sure what was being discussed by the big scary birds, but the atmosphere was tense. It didn't like it. So, learning from its predecessor (who was also its secret idol), Lord Brother Ku, it acted cute to alleviate everyone's anxiety.

"AAAWWWWWWWW"

The majority of the Silver-banded eagles were star-struck, especially the females. The little one was just too adorable!

It started with the low-leveled eagles; one after another, they bowed low, indicating their submission.

After a while, finally, the whole Gray Rock Mountain dwellers submitted.

....