Starting With an SSS-Rank Goddess Summon!

Chapter 439: Squad Leader Eluned [Bonus Chapter]

She hurried over to Silas’s side, her face glowing bright pink as she smoothed down her sky-iron breastplate.

The Princess looked up at him with wide hopeful eyes, seeking validation.

"Lord Silas... do I look presentable?"

Silas looked down at her, taking in the fitted shadow-silk, the gleaming sky-iron plates, and the dark leggings that highlighted her athletic curvaceous frame.

"You really do look good, Princess," Silas said with a gentle, approving nod. "The armor fits you perfectly so know, you look like a proper scout of Blessed Land."

The Princess beamed, a radiant, sunny smile lighting up her entire expression. "Thank you, Lord Silas!"

Standing nearby, Aurelia stepped forward, her white-enameled armor clinking softly.

"Master Thora, if it is not too much trouble... I would like to request a sidearm."

"Right away, Saintess!" Thora shouted, dusting off her apron as she stood back up. "Brina! Bring out the light sidearm rack from Vault Two!"

A dwarven apprentice quickly wheeled over an iron rack lined with various daggers, shortswords, rapiers, and curved hunting blades.

Aurelia stepped up to the rack.

Her fingers hovered over the weapons before she reached out, grasping the leather-wrapped grip of a slender exquisitely balanced rapier forged from silver-tempered mithril.

She drew the blade from its scabbard with a crisp singing hiss, testing the point with a single, fluid thrust into the empty air.

The holy mana naturally circulating within her core resonated effortlessly with the silver alloy.

"This will serve me well," Aurelia nodded with quiet satisfaction, sheathing the rapier and securing it to her left hip.

Seeing Aurelia select a weapon, the Princess puffed her chest out, determined not to be left out.

"I, too, shall select a weapon of conquest!" the Princess declared boldly, stepping up to the rolling rack.

Her azure eyes scanned the gleaming blades before settling on a massive double-edged broadsword forged from heavy iron, its blade nearly four feet long with a thick spiked crossguard.

Standing a few paces back, both Silas and Aurelia let out simultaneous snickers.

The Princess’s cheeks flushed a bright indignant pink.

"What are you two laughing at?! A weapon of sovereign stature commands respect on the battlefield!"

"Princess, don’t touch that—" Silas began.

Ignoring his warning, the Princess grabbed the broadsword’s two-handed hilt with all her might and gave a triumphant violent yank to pull it from the iron rack.

CLANG... WHOOSH!

The seventy-pound solid iron slab ripped free from the wooden pegs.

The sheer, unyielding momentum of the heavy steel instantly overpowered the Princess’s unawakened center of gravity.

The heavy blade dragged her arms straight down toward the floor, and with an undignified shriek, the blue-haired royal maiden flipped forward, crashing face-first into the flagstones with her legs splayed and her backside sticking straight up into the air, pinned beneath the massive crossguard.

"Pwahahaha!" Thora howled, pounding the anvil with her fist.

The entire foundry erupted into roaring good-natured laughter from the female smiths.

Silas sighed, stepping forward and easily plucking the massive broadsword off her back with one hand, tossing it back onto the rack before extending his other hand down to the sprawled Princess.

"I told you," Silas said with a helpless grin, hoisting her back to her feet. "You don’t have the mana meridians to swing a greatsword, Princess..."

He reached over to the lower tier of the rack, picking up a slender six-inch utility dagger forged from lightweight Sil-Graves alloy, encased in a polished leather sheath. He placed it gently into her trembling hands.

"Take this," Silas instructed. "It’s light and easy to draw if something gets too close to your flank. Keep it strapped to your right thigh."

The Princess looked down at the small dagger with her fingers curling around the leather hilt as she looked up at Silas, her azure eyes wide with quiet confusion.

’Why is he being so kind to me...?’ she wondered, her heart beating with an unfamiliar gentle rhythm. ’I barged into his office, threatened his life, and tried to extort his sovereignty... Yet he laughs with me, catches me when I fall, and personally ensures I am safe. Is this truly what a benevolent Lord is like?’

She tightened her grip on the sheath, offering a soft and incredibly sincere bow.

"Thank you, Lord Silas. I shall treasure it."

Silas nodded, turning back toward the master anvil. "We’re heading out to the perimeter crags, Thora. Keep the forge hot..."

Thora snapped a crisp, soot-stained salute against her leather apron. "Good hunting out there, Captain! Bring back plenty of beast bodies and pile up those UP! We need more high-tier ore for the next expansion phase!"

Silas nodded in agreement.

Thora tilted her head, glancing at Silas’s bare waist.

"You need me to pull down a set of armor for you, Captain? You’re heading into the basin crags in plain robes."

Silas raised his right hand.

SHING!

A brilliant blinding flash of blue mana erupted from his palm.

In a fraction of a second, a magnificent golden-runed longsword materialized in his grasp.

Silas gave the blade a smooth effortless flourish before letting the light dissipate into his Inventory.

"This is the only armor I need," Silas smiled with quiet confidence. "Let’s move out, girls."

Silas turned, leading Aurelia and the Princess toward the heavy exit doors.

Watching his broad retreating shoulders as the iron doors closed behind him, Thora let out a long appreciative whistle, shaking her head with a wide smirk.

"Tch... what a sexy bastard," Thora muttered under her breath.

She glanced over her shoulder, noticing that nearly every single female dwarven apprentice in the foundry was staring at the closed doorway with dreamy flushed faces and paused hammers.

"Hey! What are you slackers gawking at?!" Thora barked, slamming her hammer onto the anvil with a concussive bang. "The Captain’s handsome face isn’t going to smelt those ingots for you! Get back to hammering before I dock your spirit-ale rations!"

"Yes, Boss Thora!" the dwarven maidens squeaked in unison, the foundry instantly returning to its thunderous rhythm.

Silas, Aurelia, and the Princess stepped out into the cool morning air of the inner district.

Standing right outside the foundry entrance, leaning against a stone pillar with her arms crossed over her chest, was Eluned.

The Goddess was waiting with a bright expectant smile.

She had not come to the office earlier that morning because she had been busy inspecting the nascent spirit-herb crops she was nurturing in the southern greenhouse gardens.

However, because her roots were woven directly into the foundation of the Keep including the floorboards of Silas’s office... she had been fully aware of every single breath, whisper, and broken window that had occurred within the sanctum.

If Silas had truly been in danger, the entire office would have erupted into an iron-piercing forest of emerald execution vines in less than a second.

Seeing Silas emerge, Eluned snapped a playful salute as her emerald eyes began glowing with excitement.

"Squad Leader Eluned, reporting for duty, Hubby!" she declared, her cheeks dusting with a happy pink. "I am fully prepared and excited to lead my own squad into the basin!"

Silas let out a soft defeated sigh, rubbing the back of his neck with an amused smirk.

Last night, after he had bridal-carried her to bed, the Goddess had relentlessly pinched his ribs, pouted, and begged for two straight hours until he finally capitulated and promised to let her command her own independent hunting squad during the morning sweep.

’Well,’ Silas reasoned internally, ’it makes sense anyway.’

Following the conclusion of the Lord War, the Blessed Land had welcomed a total of seventy-two new female recruits.

Twelve of them were dwarven artisans who were permanently assigned to Thora’s foundry and engineering teams, leaving exactly sixty active combat-ready maidens.

Silas planned to divide these sixty recruits into four balanced squads of fifteen, each led by a high-tier captain, while Fenna remained stationed atop the central watchtower with her longbow to maintain overwatch across the entire basin.

Silas looked over Eluned’s attire, raising an eyebrow.

"Elu, where is your armo—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the emerald mana around Eluned’s body flared.

RATTLE-SNAP!

Sprouting directly from the life-force around her, a breathtaking set of living wooden armor formed over her silk robes.

The dark polished iron-wood contoured seamlessly to her body, adorned with blooming golden spirit-flowers, and a sleek closed-face wooden helm snapped over her head, completely obscuring her ethereal beauty.

Silas smiled, stepping forward and gently reaching out with both hands.

He unlatched the wooden helm, pulling it off her head and letting her long shimmering emerald locks spill out into the morning breeze.

"You look far prettier without the bucket on your head," Silas murmured softly, looking into her luminous green eyes.

Eluned’s face flushed an intense radiant crimson. Her heart fluttered wildly, and she instantly leaned forward, puckering her soft lips in eager anticipation of a romantic kiss.

Silas chuckled, leaning down and planting a firm affectionate kiss right in the center of her smooth forehead.

Standing a few paces back, Aurelia crossed her arms, letting out a soft exasperated huff beneath her breath.

’He really is an incorrigible womanizer...’ Aurelia thought, her golden-amber eyes narrowing with a mix of amusement and defensiveness. ’First the Elf, then the Princess, and now this woman too... Does this man distribute forehead kisses like standard rations?’

Beside her, the Princess blinked her azure eyes, watching the exchange with innocent wonder.

’Ah... Lord Silas is remarkably affectionate with his people. The bond between them is truly profound.’

Eluned willed the wooden helm to dissolve back into harmless life-mana, stepping back with a proud beaming grin.

"I shall run ahead to the mobilization grounds and assemble all the recruits and squad commanders immediately!" Eluned chirped happily.

With a graceful leap, she glided across the paved boulevard like a leaf on the wind, shouting back over her shoulder.

"Don’t be late, Hubby!"

Silas watched her go with a warm smile, then turned to Aurelia and the Princess. "Alright. It’s time we head to the gathering point as well."

They walked along the main paved avenue, passing the sprawling residential barracks and heading toward the wide staging grounds located just before the dense forest of ancient Spirit Trees near the western fortress gates.

As they reached the edge of the tree line, a magnificent awe-inspiring sight greeted them.

Gathered in a disciplined semi-circular formation upon the grass were the Blessed Wolves... the majestic Umbral wolf pack that served as the primary cavalry mounts of Blessed Land.

The beasts were seated quietly upon their haunches.

The moment Silas stepped into the clearing, all six adult wolves raised their massive snouts in unison, letting out a synchronized deep-throated howl that sounded through the morning air.

’I love the sound of loyalty in the morning...’

Their three young pups remained safely nestled within the climate-controlled pens of the Beast Pavilion deeper inside the territory.

Standing beside the younger male wolf, Scout, was Reina.

The territory’s Beast Tamer wore a practical leather tunic, her ash-blonde braided hair whipping in the morning breeze as she affectionately scratched Scout behind his large pointed ears.

The energetic wolf thumped his heavy tail against the grass in happy thuds, practically vibrating with food-motivated excitement.

Standing beside Reina was Vala.

The Magic Swordsman was clad in dark leather armor, her hand resting calmly on the hilt of her elemental blade.

Silas walked up to them, nodding respectfully. "Reina, Vala. Are you two ready for the deployment?"

Reina looked up, offering a confident nod.

"Everything is prepared, Lord Silas. Our operational objective is to conduct a wide sweep along the southern crags where the primary hunting squads are not active. Using my newly awakened [Beast Arrest], Vala and I will track, pacify, and subdue wild Umbral Wolves to expand our cavalry stock."

Silas smiled, looking over the vast expanse of the nearby hills.

’There’s plenty of room in the Beast Pavilion to house an entire wolf cavalry corps,’ Silas calculated internally. ’And if we exceed capacity, we can easily construct a second and third wing with me... Maintaining a full battalion of mount-tamed wolves will multiply our mobility across the basin tenfold.’

"Understood," Silas said. "Vala, your mission is to eliminate any rogue beasts or threats that might interrupt Reina’s taming rituals... Keep each other safe."

Vala gave a sharp disciplined nod with her dark eyes looking steady. "By your command, my Lord. None shall touch Reina while I draw breath."

"We love you, Lord Silas! We’ll bring back a whole pack!" Reina chirped cheerfully.

With practiced athleticism, both Reina and Vala vaulted onto the broad back of Luna, the sleek female wolf who let out a sharp eager bark.

With a single powerful bound, Luna surged forward, carrying the two women in a blur toward the southern gate to begin their taming mission.

Silas watched them depart, then turned back toward the remaining wolves.

Stepping forward from the pack was Valkyrie.

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