After what felt like several hours, Neraxis finally got his stuff in order.
Ariella, Celina, Aella, and, of course, Aurelia, began working on a few specific things.
He was planning to make this mountain his home or more like the inner part of it.
Therefore, he had those girls go down to the rift below and clear it. Since Ariella was there, he wouldn't need to worry about any consequences.
And as for the people up top? His sister Elara was chatting with Evangeline, Eris, and Zaria.
They were the most compatible, so they all got along. Especially since Eris's personality was very similar to Zaria's.
Also, since Evangeline was like a social butterfly, she made sure to make Zaria a friend rather than some person who was going to travel the world and seek to cleanse their soul.
Or some bullshit, I have no clue what she's thinking, Neraxis thought with a sigh as he walked toward Seraphina.
Currently, she was the only one working on some kind of drilling mechanism for the mountain.
She was trying her best to make it look nice and, obviously, insulated, so no cold could seep through.
Of course, she used her own type of magic, and Neraxis didn't bother her much.
However, he was slowly getting ready to use his bloodline skill.
Solar Sanctuary. It gave him the ability to create untouchable Solar Sanctuaries which only he and the people he allowed could enter.
Neraxis would only use it when the girls came out of the rift, though, he didn't want any unnecessary complications.
Nonetheless, he decided to help Seraphina out.
"Anything I can do for you? My parents and Amaterasu are hitting it off, so I'm feeling a little left out."
"So you're just bored?" Seraphina sighed, facing him. "Darling, if you want to do some work, carve a massive hole into the mountain. I want it going clean through the very middle. It'll be like a cool elevator. What do you think?"
"A cool elevator...? I thought we were building a house, not a hideout," Neraxis replied.
"Well, we are kind of hiding out, don't you think?" She giggled. "You're running away from the strong beings, and all of us are going after you. It's only natural we want safety. In fact, I'll even make a bunker below."
"Going above and beyond, thank you, Seraphina," Neraxis said as he flew up into the sky. "How big of a hole do you want?"
"Big enough to not compromise the mountain's foundation, so maybe something one-fifth the size of the mountain?" Seraphina replied after a moment of thought.
"One-fifth?" Neraxis's brows twitched as he flew back a bit, taking in the mountain.
It was not small by any means. In fact, it was one of the biggest mountains he had ever seen.
And now she said he would need to carve a hole that was one-fifth the width of the mountain?
Well damn, guess I really have my work cut out for me.
Despite his grumbling, Neraxis decided to get to it as he floated down a couple hundred meters and began carving out a giant hole.
He could obviously blast the entire mountain to bits with his strength, however, if he were to do that, he would run the risk of accidentally collapsing it.
So he carved steadily, a few dozen meters at a time, finishing about twenty minutes later.
At the same time, the girls finally left the rift, and he could feel them chasing down what remained of the monsters.
I guess it's time, Neraxis thought, stretching his back as he slowly flew down toward them.
The monsters were some weak Frost Yeti which were around C- or C+ rank. Easily killable, especially with four people.
Nonetheless, he watched them from above as Aella dashed around, bonking people with her gun and then finishing them off with a shot through their heads.
Meanwhile, Celina's speed had increased drastically to the point where she could kill the Yetis without them even being able to react.
And, of course, then there was the overpowered person, Aurelia.
She accidentally tapped the monster too hard, causing it to burst into a dozen light particles and creating a solar flare that exploded.
It sent even more bits of the solar flare toward the monsters, continuously chaining against one another until eventually, there wasn't even a single monster left.
—Whoops... I did it again.
—Aurelia, I told you to let us handle this. It's no fun when you kill everyone in a single hit.
—Yeah, whatever Neraxis gave you, I want it too.
He listened to their bickering with an amused smile.
Nonetheless, after a few short moments, he made his way down and landed on the ground right in front of the girls.
Ariella was pretty bored, so she merely played with the plants and flowers on the ground, which made him let out a chuckle.
"Do you want a bouquet?"
"Will you get me a bouquet?" Ariella shot up, her brow raised.
Neraxis shrugged. "Yeah, why not. I'll get you that later. For now, let's go back up. There's a certain something I want to do."
"Oh yeah?" Aella chimed in. "Are you finally going to create that sanctuary you mentioned earlier?"
"Mhm." Neraxis nodded. "I need all of you to come up, though."
He created a blood cloud similar to Evangeline's, just a little smaller.
Still, the girls got on it and swiftly lifted off into the sky.
It took them a couple of seconds to arrive back at the top, and Seraphina had managed to build a small castle that acted as an entrance downward.
"What do you think? Like the aesthetic?" Seraphina asked, puffing her chest.
Well... it's not terrible, Neraxis thought, maintaining his poker face.
[Should I relay those words to her?] Evangeline teased.
Nope, it's all good. Neraxis backed off with a chuckle and watched as everyone gathered around him.
Soon, he closed his eyes and began channeling his mana—specifically, the mana surrounding his blood.
And in the very next moment, he activated his bloodline ability, Solar Sanctuary.