Chapter 87 – Laughter and Gold.

The return to the Bastion of Greed after the visit to Master Volkan's forge brought a different kind of afternoon to the house's routine.

Diana entered through the living room door wearing her long black leather coat, with the Crown of Arcane Sovereignty firmly fitted around her obsidian horns. The purple diamond at the center of the circlet emitted a calm glow, and her 183 Intelligence points kept her mind razor-sharp.

Kael was sitting on the living room floor, finishing fastening the straps of his heavy shield. Aurelia-Elysia and Seraphina were at the dining table, organizing small glass vials of medicinal powders brought from the laboratory.

When Kael looked up and saw Diana with the crown set upon her brow, the big man let out a loud whistle.

“Now it really looks like we work for royalty,” Kael said, giving an easygoing chuckle. “If Lord Cassius sees you in that circlet, he's going to think the entire city hall changed owners.”

In the past, in her human body, Diana would have kept her face completely locked in a neutral expression and issued a cold reprimand about discipline. She had spent seventeen years on Earth training her own expression never to show what she felt, afraid of appearing weak or vulnerable in front of others.

This time, however, something different happened.

Diana let out a short, clean, audible laugh through her nose, the corner of her mouth curving into an open grin of amusement before she could stop the motion.

“Cassius already knows who runs the south sector, Kael,” Diana replied, her voice carrying a light, relaxed tone. “He's just too stubborn to admit it in public.”

Kael blinked in surprise. Aurelia-Elysia paused mid-twist on a glass vial's cap, staring at Diana with her mouth open.

“Commander...” Aurelia said, tilting her head. “Did you... did you just laugh for real?”

“What's the big deal about laughing?” Diana asked, pulling out a chair and sitting at the table.

“Everything!” Aurelia rested her hands on the wood, lilac eyes shining with curiosity. “You only ever gave that tiny smirk whenever talking about money or smashing some monster's face in. But just now you laughed at a silly joke from Kael. Your face is moving so much more!”

***

Diana touched her own cheek with the tips of her black nails.

She realized Aurelia was right.

It was not just her physical strength or her mana pool that had changed after the metamorphosis in the cocoon. The biology of a Noble Archdemon of Greed operated with a completely different emotional intensity compared to the numbed human flesh of Earth.

Pureblood demons were beings of living will. They felt ambition, rage, pride, and satisfaction directly, without the social barriers Diana had spent an entire lifetime erecting to hide behind.

When she felt annoyed, the golden grooves of her horns warmed slightly, releasing near-imperceptible crackles of mana into the air. When she was satisfied, the gold rings in the center of her vertical pupils brightened, rotating slowly.

She could not, nor did she need to, maintain that stone mask all the time.

Rhea pulled up the chair beside Diana, sitting close with her night-blue coat loose over her shoulders. The wolf girl looked into Diana's dark eyes with golden rings, her silver ears perked up.

“I like it,” Rhea said in a gentle voice, taking Diana's gloved hand on the table. “Before, you looked like you were always holding a heavy stone inside your chest so no one could see what you were thinking. Now we can tell when you're truly happy.”

Diana looked down at Rhea's hand holding hers.

She felt the gentle warmth seep through the glove's leather. She did not pull her hand away, nor did she invent excuses about kinetic friction.

“Demons don't hide what they want,” Diana said in a low tone, looking at the group gathered around the table. “On Earth, showing desire or attachment was seen as a weakness people used against you. Here... what I want, I take. What I protect, no one touches. I have no reason to hide anything from you.”

Seraphina adjusted her round glasses on her nose, a timid smile appearing on her face. “House Vesperis records stated that nobles of Greed possessed the most magnetic presence of all lineages... because their certainty regarding what they hold is absolute.”

***

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The Conversation on the Courtyard Porch

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Later that afternoon, while Kael and Seraphina headed down to the basement to carry potion vials and Aurelia prepared dinner, Diana went out to the back porch.

She rested her arms on the wooden railing, looking at the gravity circle in the courtyard and the purple leaves of the willow swaying in the cool breeze.

The sensation in her chest was a relief she had never experienced in seventeen years of life in the living world.

—See the difference?

The System's voice echoed in her mind, drifting in gentle black gold.

—That old human body of yours was a prison of repressed anxiety, Diana. You spent all day calculating how not to show emotions so you wouldn't seem weak in front of your exhausted parents or your schoolmates. But a soul carrying a Sin Fragment cannot live shrunk in a corner.

“I spent a long time believing absolute coldness was the only way to be strong,” Diana responded mentally, breathing in the fresh afternoon air.

—Coldness in combat calculation is useful, the System pointed out. But coldness toward those who bleed by your side is just stupidity that destroys an army's loyalty. You are learning to command with the authority of someone who holds a kingdom, not with the terror of someone afraid of being robbed.

Diana looked down at her hands, feeling the firmness of her obsidian claws and the steady pulse of mana flowing through her Dragon Chestplate.

She liked that change.

She liked knowing she could laugh at a joke from Kael, accept Rhea's touch, and issue strict orders without needing to lock herself behind an armor of ice all the time.

***

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The Night's War Council

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By nightfall, the complete squad gathered around the large living room dining table for the final council before departure.

Aurelia-Elysia served deep bowls of cured meat and vegetable soup alongside baskets of warm herb bread. The atmosphere in the room was one of total focus, yet without the heavy tension of the early weeks.

Diana laid out the cartographic map of the southern mountainous regions across the table.

Her dark eyes with golden rings shone with clear, open determination.

“Tomorrow we set out at dawn,” Diana began, her voice resounding through the room with noble authority. “Our objective is the Sanctuary of the Fallen Titans (Level 40).”

She pointed with the tip of her black nail to the large central chamber marked in red on the map:

“This dungeon marks the final milestone of the mountainous sector. The monsters inside are ancient constructs from Level 38 to 40 guarding the border seal stones. We move in as a complete five-member formation.”

Diana looked into each of their eyes:

“Kael on the center vanguard with his nine-hundred-health shield. Seraphina covering the right flank with the Quartz Titan. Rhea on stealth infiltration with one hundred and nine Agility. Aurelia-Elysia sustaining barriers and healing with her eight hundred mana.”

She gave a sharp, lively, and confident smile:

“We are going to clear that sanctuary, bring down the Level 40 Boss, and finalize our preparations for crossing into the Second Circle.”

Kael slammed his iron gauntlet onto the table, Aurelia smiled while holding her staff, Seraphina firmly adjusted her grimoire, and Rhea leaned her shoulder against Diana's with her ears up.

“Understood, Commander!” all four answered together.