Chương 315: Fool

"Fall back! Protect the node! May the elders arrive in time– Ahg!"

"If you think that anyone could arrive quickly enough to save your position here, then you are gravely mistaken! Glory be to the Eternal Ember Sect! I claim this position for–" Another interruption occurred in short order just as the inner disciple of the Eternal Embers Sect was reaching the climax of her proclamation, but this was no mere retort from her retreating foes.

Two long, thin blades flashed to deflect the reaping claws that had suddenly appeared to lunge for her throat as a thin, sinewy creature burst from the ground to attack.

"By the heavens! Undead?! Have you sunk so low as to fall to the forbidden powers?" the inner disciple bellowed in outrage tinged with fear as there seemed to be plenty more of the ghouls that were emerging from the ground all around. Their opponents looked as confused as the inner disciple herself felt, but that was probably an act given that their eyes soon hardened, throwing out what attacks they could towards the now beleaguered group of Eternal Ember Warriors before making a much more orderly retreat.

"Send word to the elders!" the inner disciple shouted to one of their scouts, her blades making an opening for the man to escape the melee.

"Tell them of the underhanded means of our foes and have them petition the King for intervention! We cannot let them get away with such foul methods!" That last statement was punctuated by her blades making a cross slash that cut one of the ghouls into four pieces, only for it to be replaced by two more.

"They shall have no more mercy from us after this! Eternal Embers! When we next catch up to them, strike to kill!" Little Sun Sprite had accompanied her teacher to the capital a few times during her time studying beneath Dragonfly. Former teacher was perhaps a more apt description, given that Sprite was now a silver-ranker herself and had been operating independently along with her companions from the guild for several years, but some habits were hard to shake. Habits, and feelings of karma still unbalanced.

Given the political situation after the Grand Proving, Sprite had not found the opportunity to return to the glorious city as of late, and now that she was finally here once more, it was not in the way that she had hoped.

"That noodle shop back at the plaza looked much more inviting than this, didn't it, Pom?" Sprite murmured under her breath, petting the soft fur of the golden cat upon whose back she rode. Some familiars changed drastically while ranking up, growing more limbs or similar obvious enhancements, but Pom? Pom seemed to be following a different path. His head was still round and fluffy, as was most of his body where golden fur made him look more like a huge stuffed toy than a ferocious combatant.

Sure, he had grown a little larger with each rank, and he did pack a lot more strength into his frame beneath all that floof, but that sure didn't show at a glance. Overall, Pom remained more a lover than a fighter even to this day, his prosperous aura spreading out like a vague soothing sense of glitter and sunshine, one that had been much appreciated by Sprite's many companions over the years as she had meandered through different groups within the guild.

His looks did help too in their own way, proven in that very moment when the golden cat turned his chubby face to meet the eyes of a child peeking out a nearby window in the rough neighborhood alleyway they were currently moving through, turning fear into happiness and excitement through sheer force of round and fluffy perfection.

"Yeah, I suppose the noodles can wait. We are doing good work here. Many different kinds of good, even," Sprite chuckles as she sensed the lingering happiness in the aura behind them. She was quite sure that there hadn't been this tension the last time she was here, and that wasn't merely due to the fact that there was a small artificial war being fought outside the city nor to the odd prodding at the emotions they had been warned about. At least neither of them exclusively.

It was as if the populace as a whole could feel the stirring of the mighty and the trouble that would bring, hiding as best they could when forces far beyond them started moving against one another. Then there was another shift in one of the auras nearby, one that sent a spike of exhilarating readiness through Sprite's being.

There wasn't even time to shout to her fellow guild member who had just turned a corner ahead, only lightning quick reflexes saving the man from being impaled by several bone spikes which he barely managed to deflect through a whirling of his staff.

"Dayspear!" Making sure to aim carefully, Sprite had Pom spring closer before sending out a spear of sunlight to pierce the monstrosity which had suddenly erupted from the nearby alleyway, proving that it was not alone as several others of the shambling horrors of bone had appeared to rush through the adjoining alley.

"Well, at least that is a sign that we found the right spot– Oh shit! Behind you~!" one of Wander's bodies shrieked from a nearby rooftop, pointing her tiny clawed hand. Sprite did not know how they had managed to evade her aura senses, but the warning let another of Sprite's companions shift around and plant her shield to receive the charge.

From the sounds echoing through the alleyways, Sprite got the distinct sense that they were about to be surrounded as someone definitely did not seem to want them poking their noses about in this part of the slums. Her own personal sun lit up around her as she found her place in the center of the impromptu formation.

Sprite was where she should be, her path creating a warm zone of warding sunfire and healing radiance for her allies even as her heart ached for the people around them who would no doubt be caught up in this conflict no matter how hard the guild members strove to limit the collateral damage in the close confines. The undead surely would not show as much care. Perhaps there would be plenty of other little girls hiding in rubble after this day was done, all sooty and afraid and angry.

This time, there would at least be a much closer sun to warm them and - for those fortunate enough - to offer protection even as the Autumn Wanderer's Guild strove to root out the cause of it all, surrounded by conflict.

"-and Sprite's team has found some nasties as well. I am guiding the other groups nearby to them at the moment~."

"Good. Tell the bronze-rankers to remain on the outskirts so as to not get dragged down into the thick of it. There seem to be enough silver-ranked undead here to take on the whole guild at once," Walker replied.

"It might be time to send you out as well, Soul."

"Uhm, I would hold a bit longer, Walker," Wander said, several of her other bodies nodding in agreement with the first.

"Kite found a gold-ranked nasty close to the last site, and if they have more we would need to save our local goddess of punches here for when we know where they are. At least until Kite and River return from the palace. Hopefully they'll be quick about it, but there is always plenty of waiting in those fancy places. Oh dang, speaking of. Found one of the gold-ranked undead things. Fortunately before it found us. Or rather chose to find us? I don't know jack about their aura-senses. Creepy things~."

"Then it's time, Soul," Walker began.

"Head–" He didn't get any further though before Soul blurred, but not to head out into the city. Or at least not very far. A shrieking sound like the striking of a broken gong rang out above the Tengu Clan compound as the celestine warrior appeared in the air just above the main house while delivering a spinning kick that impacted a metal shard the size of a person, bending it in the middle and sending it flying off into the distance with enough speed to clear the boundaries of the city itself.

The impact had been responsible for the sound, and soon several others followed as Soul continued the flickering defense as her now-incredible speed let her reposition to intercept each of the ten projectiles.

"What the–" was all that Walker had the time to say before a sonic boom rang out just a moment after another figure had charged into Soul's flank and delivered a punch whose concentrated fury split the air like thunder once again while the condensed sphere of destruction that had formed at the point of impact left a bright afterimage on the retinas of all the observers.

Or at least where the point of impact would have been, had Soul not shifted and teleported to one side while delivering a lightning-fast kick that pushed away this second aggressor that had joined the fray along with the armored figure wearing tight-fitting metal armor that was currently descending towards the compound from above.

"The gold-ranker Kite and I fought after successfully taking out one of Discord's priestesses," Obsidian Crow's voice said from Walker's shadow.

"As for the other… That is Might of Inner Calamity, leader of–""The Thunderous Soul Sect. He was at the audience a few years back when Kite and I were called to stand before the King," Walker confirmed.

"I would ask what he is doing here with a priestess of Discord, but I believe that question answers itself."

"Indeed," Obsidian Crow confirmed.

"I shall have to move out and assist Soul, as not even one such as her will be able to take on both these opponents."

"Well, she is doing well so far, but I get your point," Walker agreed unable to tear his gaze away from the furious, flowing melee that had started above them, with Soul flipping, teleporting and sidestepping with incredible grace even as she found herself pincered between two competent foes. But she was not managing much in the way of countering, which spoke volumes about the kind of pressure the Blessed of Warrior found herself under.

"You'd better get up there. I'm sorry that us on the ground here won't be of too much help here."

"Quite understood," Obsidian Crow said, the red masked form of the assassin starting to rise from a shadow when another voice, as calm as the concept central to the path of its owner, interrupted them.

"There is no need for that, old friend. Keep coordinating the efforts on a wider scale and gather information. I shall step in." Walker tried - and failed - to keep himself from flinching in startled fright at Ardent Horizon Seeker's appearance, but the sect leader did not seem to mind, his piercing blue eyes tracking the battle above them.

"Thank you, old friend," Obsidian Crow said, starting to sink back into his shadow.

"May Warrior guide your hand and show pity on your foes. Because I know that you will not, especially not now. Nice to go out there with your heart a little lighter, no?" The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"You are a frustrating interloper, but you are also right," Ardent replied with a faint smile as six arrayed wings composed of flowing white calligraphy sprouted behind him, rapidly gathering power.

"Thank you, friend. May the gods let you keep putting your nose where it doesn't belong for many centuries yet." Then he shot upward, the array of wings lighting up and sending out several beams of… something. Not quite light, but rather long rips in space itself that glowed with an odd and disconcerting whiteness that was somehow nothing and everything at the same time.

One of them clipped Might of Inner Calamity who shot to one side in a thunderous boom before turning towards the new arrival, an eager fire lighting up in the huge man's eyes as he saw who was approaching. With a roar, he dove down towards Ardent before a sphere of nothingness suddenly swallowed them both, cutting off the thunder of his flight in an instant.

This left only Soul and the metal-clad enemy gold-ranker in the skies above the compound, the attacking woman clearly wanting nothing more than to dive below and crush the estate of the Tengu Clan even as Soul's now-constant barrage of attacks proved too intense a hazard for her to have any chance of ignoring the celestine and doing so.

In a shriek of screeching metal, she disengaged momentarily as a pair of familiars - an empty set of ominous, floating armor and a coiling mass of discordant energies - manifested from her body. Soul seemed fine with allowing the brief pause in the battle, properly sizing up her opponent in that way Walker had seen her do many a time in the arena as she was no doubt weighing which of her many styles to bring to bear.

"Introductions are in order then," a voice rang out through the enclosed helmet, slightly distorted into a half-screech.

"I know of you, Blessed of brutish Warrior, but you do not know me. I am Altessia Sessante, high priestess of Discord. Where you are but blessed, I am an instrument of my god. And compared to you, I have mastered myself in gold rank for over two decades, while you are but a child fresh from the womb of your ascent to true power. Know this as I strike you down before claiming my vengeance as the garden of Discord blooms."

"Two decades? I see," Soul replied, silence reigning a few seconds while Walker saw one of the most genuine smiles he had ever seen start spreading over the face of the amethyst-haired celestine, even surpassing her joy in fighting Kite.

"That is good. Finally, an opportunity for actual tempering. I thank you for the assistance in tempering my path." Then the two women collided in a flash of transcendent light and screeching of metal outside the dark sphere into which the other two gold-rankers had disappeared, adding their clashing auras to the spiritual din spreading out over the skies of Heavenward.

"Oh sweet heavens, do I miss the forest paths," Walker groaned as he reeled from the spiritual pressure before managing to center himself and look around at the other guild members who had stood as frozen as he.

"What are you all waiting for? We have plenty of sites out there with members that need support as well as civilians to get to safety where needed. Move! Let no one say that the Autumn Wanderer's Guild stood idle this day!"

"And yet, my King, I ask you to remain."

"And you have yet to tell me why, Ametrine," King of the Pure Firmament retorted, frustration clear in his voice as he gestured out towards the city below, visible from the grand windows of the throne room in which he was currently pacing; a city where conflicts of an obviously magical nature had started erupting all over the place, from the few gold-rankers clashing above the Heavenly Stairway to the lesser but more numerous conflicts in the other districts.

And that was without mentioning the sect tournament outside the city walls which seemed to be reaching a kind of fever pitch.

"How can I simply remain here while the city is devolving into chaos?!"

"You said yourself that you trusted me and my plans for us and this kingdom, my beloved King," Ametrine replied, calm despite the King's final words having come out in a bellow. Her gambit worked too, as it made the man lose some steam as a flash of guilty conscience seemed to join the frustration. The Haze was affecting him too, after all, and Ametrine couldn't very well warn him of it.

"I… My apologies, my love. It's just that this is beyond anything before, and it doesn't make sense to me. It–" He was interrupted by the tentative flashing of a silver-ranked aura, one of the few core-using personal servants in the palace. An answering surge of his own aura had the man in crisp servant's robes enter, bowing deeply to each of the two gold-rankers before speaking.

"Your Majesty, Lady Ametrine. We have a most insistent visitor at the gate, who is asking for a most prompt audience."

"What? Who?" The King asked, more bewildered than annoyed, reaching out with his aura senses as the servant continued.

"He was named The Senti–""The Sentinel of the Gates, Kite Flown in on Winds of Fortune," the King filled in as he recognized the aura outside which had responded politely but with a distinct sense of urgency to his spiritual contact.

"He is a gold-ranker now! Most quick indeed! Did you know this, Ametrine?"

"I did not, my King," Ametrine lied smoothly.

"Although if I may, I hardly think this the time for–""Send him in. He has a silver with him too, but I don't see any problem in them joining him. I shall receive them here," the King replied, ignoring Ametrine's warning glance.

"Of course, my King," the servant replied before leaving in a blur as he activated some kind of speed-enhancing power that was common among the essence-gifted staff.

"My King, this is unwise," Ametrine said as soon as the door closed.

"You shouldn't–""I may heed your counsel in many ways, Ametrine, but I shall not have you dictate whom I may or may not meet in my own palace," the King replied, interrupting her with a curt gesture.

"Speaking with him might also give me more perspective of what is going on in the city, so that I may take the appropriate action. Because I will not merely sit idle here for much longer."

"The King will receive you. This is an honor beyond you, and thus we expect you to show the appropriate gratitude," the silver-ranked servant stated curtly, disapproval clear in his aura as he delivered the monarch's reply outside the palace gates. While the gates themselves were unguarded, there were enough defensive arrays in place that it would take a gold-ranker like Kite concerted and prolonged effort to break through using force, and that was not taking any actual offensive countermeasures into consideration.

In his travels abroad, Kite had also taken note of the different perspectives in how the country viewed their monarch, with his homeland definitely marking itself as an outlier again as the palace itself was not staffed with any royal guard or the like with the exception of the Threefold Guard, the three-hundred and thirty-three silver-ranked soldier constructs that belonged to the palace and was spread out among the corridors and courtyards.

A monarch who ruled by being the singlemost strongest duelist and warrior in the kingdom could not be seen to be hiding from would-be challengers behind a wall of other essence-users, especially in a relatively mana-sparse kingdom like Hua-Xi where gold-rankers weren't plentiful and thus more likely to be challengers than allies. Upon having more perspective, Kite had come to find the notion rather unpragmatic, but it was to be expected from a kingdom with a culture such as his.

But at the moment it was also rather fortuitous, as it meant that there were few present who had even the slightest chance at detecting River accompanying him and Dragonfly as they entered along with the servant, hidden as she was by both aura and artifact. However, just as they had passed through the outer gates and were marching up the stairs to the palace proper, a new eruption of gold-ranked auras behind them in the city caused Kite to whirl around as he realised that one of them was Soul.

"What is it?" Dragonfly asked, having sensed it too but being unable to pinpoint it as easily in the general spiritual din of the capital.

"Soul is fighting. Fa- Ardent as well. The Clan compound must be under attack," Kite stated, finding himself torn between the opportunity before them to warn the King and the impulse to storm back and provide assistance. A gold-ranked mind processed quickly, however, and he quickly reached a decision.

"Little Beauty, please head back and help. I will join you shortly."

"Of course, my bond," came Glint's reply as she floated out of her bottle where she had been waiting in her smaller carp form.

"Shall I make the call?"

"I leave that to you. Do it when you find that the time is right," Kite replied, sending a clear sensation of gratitude to his familiar as she sped off into the distance while steadily growing into the long and serpentine form of a shimmering dragon trailing her shroud of glittering gems. Then he turned and continued after the servant who had waited impassively.

"Can they hold?" Dragonfly murmured, clearly sharing his worries.

"We shall have to trust our people. Gold-ranked conflicts tend to take time, as we are rather durable. But hopefully this will be a short conversation," Kite replied, but found himself adding a bit of levity at the end.

"Although it is Soul we are talking about. Perhaps the correct question is if they will be able to hold on long enough against her for us to get to help?" Even as his wife smiled, Kite could almost sense River rolling her eyes as she moved soundlessly in their wake. Fortunately, the servant was swift and the trip was short as the group soon found themselves being led towards the throne room where Kite and Walker had answered the summons to an audience.

But as they entered, Kite found that unlike the last time, the towering hall with its many balconies was mostly empty save for the man seated on his throne and a certain favored courtesan seated on the platform to his right, who looked down upon him with much more chill in her bismuth eyes than the curiosity that was in those of the King himself.

"Sentinel! My congratulations upon reaching gold rank!" the monarch called out, not needing to raise his voice much as it echoed in the empty room. Kite was once again struck by how imposing the man was in both stature and aura, clad in golden robes that only seemed to heighten the sense of lethality around him rather than take the edge off it as finery was otherwise wont to do.

His dark hair was gathered in the traditional topknot, a hairpin like a small crown surrounding it, and his sharp eyes had a bit of a curious smile to them as they looked down upon Kite and Dragonfly, the former shielding the latter from some of the aura pressure involved in the greeting.

"Your Majesty. You have my thanks for your recognition, but I am afraid that the time is short and that I must be more direct than decorum would demand of me," Kite replied, stopping in the middle of the open floor before the throne where he had last stood before the man during the audience.

"Chaos is enveloping the city as the forces of Discord are making their gambit for control, the Heart of Hua-Xi Tournament only adding to their influence. They have allies among the forces of Undeath and other foul divines that protect their interest, endangering both the citizens and the kingdom itself in return for the opportunity to build havens for themselves in this kingdom of ours. Please, your majesty, I implore you to descend and help us stop this madness.

To act for the good of the kingdom before strife consumes it. And your first act in this matter should be to properly know those closest to you, as we have very strong reason to believe that this woman beside you is one of Discord's most powerful servants present." As Kite spoke, the King's brows had started furrowing, but their initial concern turned to cold outrage as Kite lifted one finger as he finished, making his accusation towards Ametrine Wreathed in Dreams of Silk at the King's side.

In an ideal world, Kite would have gotten to speak with the monarch without the woman present and try to build up to a more convincing attempt, but the world outside was already descending into tumult and time was running out.

"Once again you speak of Discord and their plots," the King replied, now more coldly.

"And given what seems to be happening in the city, I might have started to agree. But then you accuse my closest companion for decades of my life of hiding such a secret? That she - someone whose spirit I have known more intimately than any other - would be a mere charade? Your first claim is starting to look quite plausible, Sentinel, but this other one does you little credit. How–""Fool!" A rattle of chains. The air splitting in a thunderous roar that caused a few of the grand windows to crack.

The flash of a mirror-edged blade. A thin trail of red blood staining the floor of the throne room.

It all happened in the blink of an eye to all except the gold-rankers present, with River appearing in a diving strike as her chains sought the throat of the courtesan seated at the King's side, only to be thwarted the last moment by the monarch leaping from his throne and deflecting the strikes with a single arcing swing that nicked River's own throat before she could shift to the side with her essence powers, drawing a thin red line just above the collar of her armor.

A single heartbeat of tumultuous movement that then suddenly froze before either reply nor retaliation could be made. Because beneath the striking chains, a scarred and strengthened aura that was thirsting for vengeance had lashed out like a scalpel, splitting in two a spiritual mask that had remained in place for decades.