The morning didn't start with sunlight. It started with loneliness.
Naia didn't argue when the system called her away. The Feral Healer vanished at dawn, vanishing into the Crimson Sands like smoke, tasked with patrolling the outer dunes and securing bloodroot caches. No farewell, no promise.... just a glance back at Liam, wild eyes gleaming. She was his… but her loyalty would have to be earned again, one day at a time.
There wasn't any.
Just the faint, blood-tinged glow of the sky beyond Mall Fortress's broken dome, and the low, guttural sounds of the horde beyond the walls... scratching, moaning, always there.
Liam sat at the long table in the command room, fingers drumming against the cold metal. Maps sprawled before him, dotted with system markers. Zones, resources, threats.
And wives.
Each name burned bright in his mind.
But today, only one mattered.
Rena.
Footsteps echoed down the hall... firm, precise, unhurried. Liam didn't look up.
He didn't have to.
Rena entered, armored and beautiful, every movement sharp as a blade. Her sun-kissed skin caught the morning light, hair tied back high, her sword already strapped to her back like it never left.
"You called me back," she said.
Not a question.
Liam stood slowly.
"It's your day."
Her eyes narrowed slightly, unreadable. She stepped close, the tension between them instant, familiar. Dangerous.
"You could've picked any of them," she said.
"I picked you."
Her breath caught for just a second.
Then she smirked.
"Then let's not waste it."
---
> [System Alert]
Rotation Active – Bond Focus: Rena
Duration: 24 Hours
Buff Engaged: Duel Guard II (Shared)
Territory Bonus: Mall Fortress Defense +15%
Loyalty Boost: Pending
---
They moved through the fortress together.
It had changed.
The empty halls of yesterday now echoed with purpose. Defenses rebuilt. Barricades reinforced. The new summoning chamber pulsed faintly at the fortress heart, still waiting its first activation.
Everywhere, the signs of Liam's growing power... and of the wives' absence.
Rena didn't speak much.
She didn't have to.
Her eyes said it all... watchful, calculating, ready for anything. She walked ahead of Liam, clearing a path with the sharp confidence of someone who remembered what this place once was... and what it needed to be.
They reached the outer wall just as a new wave of the horde pressed against the gates.
Rotting hands. Dead eyes. Dozens of them, maybe more, clawing at steel and stone.
Liam drew his blade.
Rena did the same.
"You wanted a day with me," she said, smile sharp. "Then fight beside me."
Liam stepped forward.
"I wouldn't want it any other way."
---
The battle wasn't clean.
It never was.
Blood splattered across stone and steel as the horde pushed harder, numbers swelling from the wastelands beyond. The scent of rot choked the air, and every strike of Liam's blade sent another corpse sprawling, but they just kept coming.
Rena was a storm.
She fought without hesitation, her sword dancing through the chaos, every movement precise, deadly. She didn't speak. Didn't look back.
Liam didn't need her to.
They moved as one.
Blades flashing. Blood flying.
The horde broke... but not without cost. The outer barricades cracked under pressure, alarms blaring through the system interface.
Rena kicked the last zombie from the wall, breathing hard.
"Too many," she muttered.
Liam stood beside her, blood dripping from his sword.
"They're coming faster."
Her eyes locked onto his.
"Then we fight harder."
The system pulsed.
---
> [System Update]
Zone Pressure: Increasing
Next Wave ETA: 12 Hours
Mall Fortress Threat Level: Rising
Bond Loyalty – Rena: Strengthened
New Buff Available: Guardian's Oath – Passive Defense Boost When Together
---
They stood in the bloodied silence.
Breathing.
Watching the horizon.
Rena spoke first.
"I don't want to be rotated out tomorrow."
Liam turned.
"You think I do?"
Her smirk returned... faint, real.
"Then stop sending me away."
She stepped close.
Not touching. Not yet.
"I'm not just another name on your system, Liam."
"I know."
Their breath mingled.
Close.
Tense.
Not enough.
Rena leaned in, lips barely brushing his ear.
"Prove it."
Then she stepped back.
The day wasn't over.
And neither was the war.
---
Mall Fortress didn't sleep.
Even with the blood washed from the stone, the walls still echoed with the memory of the horde... of blades, of screams, of survival.
Liam stood at the window of his private chamber, shirt half-open, bloodstains still fresh on his skin. The city beyond lay in ruins, a graveyard of steel and ash. But here… here was different. For now.
Behind him, the door creaked open.
Rena entered.
Not armored.
Not armed.
Just her.
She wore a black combat vest over a tight, sleeveless top, her toned frame unmistakable, every line of her body honed by battle, every step carrying the weight of command. Her hair was loose now, falling over one shoulder in dark waves. There was no war in her eyes now.
Only heat.
"You've been staring out that window for an hour," she said.
Liam didn't turn. "There's another horde wave due at dawn."
Rena walked to him, silent, her presence sinking into the air like a blade slipping into its sheath.
"I know."
She stood beside him now, close enough to touch, but not reaching. Not yet.
"You called me back to fight," she said. "But that's not why I stayed."
Liam met her eyes.
"No?"
She smiled... barely.
"You called me back because you needed me."
Her hand touched his chest, fingers resting over the beat of his heart.
Liam didn't move.
"I need all of you."
Rena's voice dropped, low and firm.
"Then stop pretending I'm just another number. I was your first bond. I was pulled into this before the system even showed me the stakes."
Her hand slid down slowly, the tension between them tightening.
"I bled for you."
"I know."
Her eyes locked on his, daring.
"Then show me. Show me I still matter."
Liam stepped in.
No words.
No hesitation.
His hands found her waist, pulling her close, their breath mingling in the stillness of the fortress. Outside, the world burned.
Inside, there was only them.
---
> [System Alert]
Bond Reinforcement Triggered – Rena
Loyalty: Maximum
Buff Enhanced: Duel Guard III – Passive Protection Upgrade
Harem Rotation Bonus: Day Complete – Restorative Effect Active
---
They didn't speak again that night.
The fortress held.
The storm waited.
And Liam?
He wasn't just building a harem anymore.
He was building something worth surviving for.