Chương 316: For my trust in her

Silence reigned in the throne room of Hua-Xi, with none of the people present saying a word as a few heartbeats passed after the sudden moment of violence of River's failed ambush. But where auras were involved, speaking aloud was not always needed, and even as it was quickly brought back under control, everyone present could readily feel the distinct tinge of the divine in the aura of Ametrine Dreams Wreathed in Silk.

River's soul attack - courtesy of her tormented, scarred spirit and its freakish strength - would not be enough to truly damage another gold-ranker, but it had managed to break the composure of even the otherwise impeccably composed woman along with the aura mask that had become such a known quantity to both Kite and River over the years of searching for Discord's agents. And it was Kite who eventually broke the silence, the King only staring at the celestine woman with an unreadable expression.

"And thus, there is truth," he murmured, knowing that all present would be able to hear him clearly in the silent room.

"Ametrine," King of the Pure Firmament said, voice steady yet there was something there beyond what Kite could interpret.

"My King," the courtesan replied calmly, having gathered herself. Kite noticed River tense up even further as she heard the woman's voice, but even as he wondered why he still found himself grateful that the acolyte of Pain at least stayed her hand for a moment longer, as this was probably the best opportunity for them to gain another ally in this conflict as long as they let it run its course without triggering another impulse from the King to defend the woman that was obviously very dear to him.

"So, the Sentinel speaks the truth?"

"He does."

"For how long?"

"Always. Since before we first met." Silence. One that stretched out for a few moments as even the gold-ranked monarch needed some time to digest the confirmation while seeming to have forgotten that Kite, River and Dragonfly were even there.

"Then why? Why this?" the King asked, gesturing vaguely out to the city beneath them, which Kite suspected was a continuation of a conversation to which he had not been privy.

"Because strength will ever be found in strife, my King," Ametrine replied, voice firming from the controlled calm to something suffused with conviction.

"Because our kingdom can be the perfect haven for the mighty and those reaching for the heavens if we can let conflict bloom more unhindered, clearing the chaff from the wheat and throwing off the yoke of control that the wider world wishes to saddle us with. A land where power meets power to grow, to seize the heavens themselves, and where that conflict is protected by divine decree to let true talent rise."

As Kite listened, it was to his slight chagrin that he found her words to ring of truth, at least of how this Ametrine seemed to view things. But she believed it fully, the conviction of a priestess in the domain of her god, making a twisted kind of sense even as it was brought into the far extreme. He wanted to protest, and soon would, but he too refrained for now, in order to let things play out and grasp at their chance. Fortune be willing, the King would see this for what it was.

King of the Pure Firmament took this all in, his sharp gaze locked on the woman before him, and his voice was low as he asked:"And I?"

"You are my King. Our paths are one. As they have been. This kingdom will be the garden where you can take your next step towards the heavens. Those are the seeds I have sown. For Discord to grow. And for us to prosper." The next moment, the King's aura rose and enveloped the woman's, like an embrace that was partly one of a lover but also a bit too forceful as it held firm and burrowed deep.

It was more open than Kite expected, letting him get a sense of the tumultuous mix of love, desire, confusion and hurt that Hua-Xi's mightiest warrior felt in that moment. Ametrine wielded hers a lot more deftly though, baring her spiritual throat to the King while leaving Kite and the others less able to glean anything. Or rather, Kite and Dragonfly. River could surely sense more, and given how Kite felt the other woman's aura starting to sharpen further, she apparently did not like what she felt.

"I… see," the King eventually said.

"This is something truly important to you, no?"

"Yes."

"And thus for our way towards the heavens."

"Yes. Always." It was in the moment thereafter that Kite realized what River had probably gleaned earlier than him; that their hope and gamble had failed.

"Then… What do you need of me? I vowed to be your sword when the time for blades was upon us," the King said, voice still conflicted and… weary. Oh so weary. But also firming into sharp resolve, hurt and confusion be damned.

"Protect the palace grounds along with me. Give us the time to finish our grand working. Unleash your path, for the future you and I have worked towards for so long. Together."

"You fool! You cannot–!" River bellowed, one of the most forceful exclamations which Kite had ever heard from her as her chains once more lunged forward towards Ametrine, only to be intercepted again as the King found a much more firm stance, mirror-like straight blade appearing in his hands even as hundreds of glittering copies formed around the tall, tower-like throne room into a grand array that almost seemed to complete some kind of symbol that exuded power.

In a burst of whirling swordsmanship he deflected and severed all of the strangling links, but River just kept on going.

"You! I know your voice!" she continued even as her voice was steadily lowering towards the flat and icy coldness that was her signum, only heard above the clashing metal thanks to gold-ranked hearing.

"It was you! You who led us towards our doom! To whom my father and his ambitions were a mere trial. It was you who wasn't there when we called! You who left the Unbreakable Chains Sect to shatter instead of achieving its promised rebirth!"

"It seems that you have a lot more to explain, Ametrine," the King replied even as he defended the celestine.

"And believe me, we shall have words on this later. At length. It seems like this one will come for you. How about you, Sentinel? Will you also raise your hand against us?"

Kite was unsure how the King felt about that prospect, as there was a steadily rising fire in the man's eyes that felt very similar to what he saw in Soul as the celestine was presented with an opportunity for tempering, even if the King's felt more like a mountain coming to life after having been left idle for too long, its craggy exterior merely turning out to have been the scales of a sleeping dragon all along.

This was something daunting that was unfolding before him, a potential opponent unlike what he had ever faced before. But Ametrine had also confirmed it; the palace grounds needed to be protected. There was something here, something important enough for her to have kept the King here instead of interfering elsewhere. The heart of Discord's ambitions for Hua-Xi. Just the thing that Kite had resolved to fight against in order to give his own ambitions for his home a chance to find root and come to fruition.

"While I have great respect for you as a warrior, your Majesty, I must also confess that your choice here today only further lowers my regard for you as a ruler if you are truly willing to allow strife and Discord to seize the heart of our kingdom," Kite said as he was enveloped by gray light that formed into his plate armor while the tattoos framing his face lit up to conjure the arms of his mantle.

"So yes, I will cross blades with anyone - even you - to make sure that does not happen."

"So you fashion yourself King in my stead?" the other man asked while still keeping a watchful eye on the circling River.

"A bold claim for one so young."

"No. I do not. But I will definitely stand by a ruler who can embody what is actually admirable in this kingdom of ours, while excising the rot and pride that has corrupted otherwise sound sentiment. And given that you embrace said rot even when it has been laid bare before you? Heavens as my witness, I at least now know that you are not a ruler such that I can stand beside."

"Even when your struggles only fuel the domain of ever-present Discord?" Ametrine asked from behind her guardian.

"You must already have realized that there is nothing you can do to escape strife. Lift your blade, and you shall only nurture the growing garden. Discord is inevitable, but you can thrive in it as you have already done for years now." The words were composed, but the conviction of faith rang strong in them, but while Kite could not claim any particular divine devotion to add strength to his own, this was at least a matter where he knew where he stood.

"Discord might be inevitable in conflict, priestess," he replied somberly even as the four vortices of Spirit Singularity manifested above him along with the faint golden image that would gradually start being filled once the War-Seeds resting inside his spatial storage were brought to bear.

"But I would make a claim that is contrary to yours and that of your god. Because while there is always conflict, said conflict can also end. Or be ended. Because while the conflict itself will always have occurred, it is with the survivors and - most of all - victors that the power to shape the future truly lay. We came here not to just engage in your dance, but to end it." Then, as one, Kite and River struck while Dragonfly fortunately backed up a bit.

Kite's wife was as fierce as she was brave, but her inner fire did not rage nearly hot enough to contend directly in this kind of battle. At least not yet. Kite began a steady advance while the arms of his mantle came alive, weapons of white jade appearing and disappearing as they sent a stream of projected strikes towards the King, whose mirror blade started dancing a deadly dance even as River too struck.

Images of his actions came and went, omens of what might be to confound and distract, but this at least proved less a true problem and more an annoyance as the perception power they both shared let them see through the illusions more easily. The King drove them both off once and then twice as the combatants started making probing attacks to get a sense of each other even as their auras had started pushing against one another in earnest.

"She will want to come after me, my King," Ametrine noted softly as shimmering smoke was spreading out into the throne room even as a privacy screen enveloped them, buckling and threatening to shatter almost immediately beneath the magically charged violence.

"She will not get past me."

"Perhaps, but I know of the Sentinel. The Pathbreaker. Crush him beneath your path, and trust in me to stay clear of the whelp that Pain has caressed so."

"What? But you–""You know my path, my King. She will not catch me. Not with the castle defenses helping me. Focus on the Pathbreaker. Kill him. Protect the palace. I will soon return."

"... Fine. But I will do one more thing for you, my love," King of the Pure Firmament said, the sounds of the surrounding world coming back into sharp focus as a return swing of his blade sundered the poor beleaguered privacy screen.

"Threefold guard! Dispatch the intruder!" His proclamation echoed through the room, sounding even louder compared to the muted nothing from before, the King's finger pointed squarely at River as a ring on his finger lit up to place some kind of mark on Pain's acolyte while Ametrine partially shifted into smoke behind him and dashed off for the corridors behind the throne. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"No!" River yelled, preparing to follow, only to be forced to dance to the side as a pair of constructs had turned from their posts just outside the throne room and charged through the doors in a shower of wooden splinters. Each of the jade soldiers were identical in shape even though their coloration differed somewhat between one another, but both were equally direct in their strikes as enchanted, sculpted fists struck out.

However, the pair of silver-ranked creations were not quick enough to land a strike on someone like River, but given how the palace around them had suddenly started rumbling with the tread of heavy feet - three-hundred and thirty-three pairs, to be exact - there were a lot more coming.

River barely glanced back however, whirling between them before dashing through the air to a nearby wall which she ran along to round the room and set off towards where Ametrine had disappeared, construct guardians in hot pursuit even as more were converging on her position. The King did move to swing towards her as well, only for his weapon to be caught upon a circular barrier that appeared to ward his blade off.

"Can you help her?" Kite asked Dragonfly, who instantly caught his meaning.

"I'm on it. Be careful, dear. Don't–""I know. Go!" Kite urged, flashing a brief smile towards her while Dragonfly also set off towards the back corridors that led gods knew where. At least it seemed as if she would have a steady stream of pursuing constructs to follow.

"The Threefold Guard will not spare her," the King commented, apparently caring less about what the lone silver-ranker did now that he had another gold that remained for him to contend with, Kite and him finally having the space to truly square off against one another in the throne room.

"Neither will she them," Kite replied with a good amount of certainty.

"I can empathize in trusting one's love, your Majesty. But you have gone too far."

"Come and let your path prove that sentiment then," the King stated in grim reply, the sword array above rearranging itself so that it felt like all of the points of the mirror-blades were pointing straight at him.

"For my trust in her, I will carve yours apart as I have so many others."

"I must thank Fortune for this opportunity, as I did not believe that you would be stepping out of your compound for anything. Or even notice what happened in the world around you, lost in the void and your meditations," Might of Inner Calamity noted with some satisfaction as he appeared inside the Halls of Nothingness, looking around the inside of the artificial space created by the dueling power.

"The inside of this realm of yours does match the descriptions at least."

"And you seem all too happy to be here, Sect Leader," Ardent replied calmly where he appeared floating in the air above the polished floor, his aura suffusing the emptiness where the stark white pillars that were equidistantly spread out around the space served as the only visual confirmation of distance.

"Much as you seemed all too happy to throw your lot in with Discord. When? For how long?"

"Since the wall of silver rank. One needs allies and resources to rise to where we are, and Discord is helping us create an even better Hua-Xi where our strength will rule even more supreme. Glorious tempering for all."

"Then it is indeed a shame that I have not been more active in the local political scenes, otherwise I might have sensed the treachery in your spirit. If you truly believe in the picture of Hua-Xi's future that you are painting, then you are not just prideful, but a prideful fool. I would have expected better of you."

"Bah, as if you ever cared what happened to the kingdom overall," Might of Inner Calamity spat.

"You just remained aloof, thinking yourself so much better than the rest of us while refusing every challenge lest you would risk being proven wrong. The great duelist of the Silent Horizon Sect could not be proven a mere paper tiger, after all."

"So… It would seem that pride was indeed the reason for this," Ardent sighed, eyes piercing even as his voice remained controlled.

"Any warrior worth his salt takes pride in their accomplishment and standing," Might of Inner Calamity snarled in return.

"That has long been the soul of our culture, you coward. To face challenges and strike back in force against anyone that would slander you or your capabilities without the might to back it up. That is the Hua-Xi we shall reinforce here today, its heart an unquestionable bastion of the soul of our nation, Discord granting haven for anyone looking to find strength on their own terms."

"I did not know that our kingdom of proud warriors would be so keen to invite an overlord, but given how our sects have operated during the last two centuries I shouldn't be surprised. The only thing raising my gaze towards the wider kingdom has shown me is that we have lost our focus and edge. You as well, given how you seem to have spent more time working on inviting a shunned god to lay claim to this kingdom than what you yourself preach should have been more important: your own path."

Ardent's words were punctuated by his vast aura crashing down upon Might of Inner Calamity, seeming to bear the weight of this world they found themselves in where nothingness was everything in a paradoxical state of coexistence. The other sect leader did not crumple immediately of course, but there was no question as to where this contest of spirits would lead. Still, that was not the only factor at play either.

With a roar, Might of Inner Calamity conjured several blocks of stone around Ardent which slammed together on his position before waves of lightning struck the compacted ball to blast it apart in a calamitous reaction of opposing mana types. Ardent had already flown to the side, however, array wings seeming to spread out into the far distance to carry him anywhere he wanted to go while beams like tears in reality tore apart the crackling shrapnel coming his way.

However, that explosive opening was only a distraction, proven so a moment later when Sect Leader Calamity appeared in front of Ardent's new position in a burst of lightning-enhanced speed.

"Worldbreaker!" Before the huge man's fist, the same explosions borne from conflicting mana appeared, but in a many times smaller area such that the condensed attack possessed even more destructive power than the former. It tore through the array of runes that Ardent quickly interposed between them, the magic cracking beneath the force as the pair was flung apart.

"Your aura may be impressive, but that alone won't win you any duels," Calamity smiled, seeing the cracks in the arrays that surrounded the other man after that first exchange. It was no secret that Might of Inner Calamity possessed the lightning, earth, and potent essences that resulted in the cataclysm confluence.

But what would normally be a path containing a great number of wide area attacks had been turned instead into something a lot more deadly in smaller settings as a racial gift evolution in his younger days had let him focus that destruction into the much smaller area of his special attacks. It was that evolution that had let the man carve his way up the hierarchy of the Thunderous Soul Sect and keep the sect leader's position for decades.

Ardent did not reply except for having his arrays spread out even wider and intensify their glow as he prepared his counterattack, which seemed to only further enrage his opponent.

"So cold and aloof," Calamity snarled, taking a step forward as his form erupted with lightning.

"Today shall prove that a path is more than just meditation and introspection. You need to get your hands dirty to climb towards the heavens, and this day you will be turned into another step on my path!" Then cataclysm met void, and battle was joined in earnest. Conflict. Pressure. Pain, even though it was more a dim signal to the mind than anything crippling.

Exertion that would leave a brief ache in even gold-ranked muscles, tension that forced the senses to their very edge and beyond, such was the intensity of the clashing. Every gate of inner power flung open from the very beginning, and the initiative still seemed to be constantly balancing on a knife's edge. And Soul was loving every moment of it.

A fist striking with transcendent light lashed out to punch through metal armor only to be turned into a glancing blow and redirected as Soul caught another clawed hand in hers to stop it from piercing the flesh of an unarmored side, only for a knee to impact the priestess' midriff before a series of blades burst out from her enemy's armor to force Soul away. The clash was up close, brutal and brief, with two or three exchanges performed in as many heartbeats.

Soul could feel that the other woman was indeed more powerful than she was, having progressed further up the climb through gold rank. But Soul was also powerful, her many passive enhancements letting her match the priestess of Discord in strength, speed, quickness of thoughts and general level of recovery. It was a close thing though, and for once Soul found that she did not outclass her opponent in pure capability, therefore leaving the result of each exchange to skill and opportunity.

Her foe had seemed intent on overwhelming Soul at first with the help of her familiars, but as the first exchange had left the armor familiar with a glowing hole in its center, it had been reabsorbed while the discordant mass of shifting energy kept its distance, seeming content to disrupt Soul's attempts at teleportation.

Had her path contained more active powers, she might have noticed the disruptions even more, but Soul had merely shifted her strikes to more unpredictable patterns than the odd being could follow, leaving it mostly a passive observer. The priestess seemed bent on tearing through Soul and continuing downwards, her frustration growing with each failed attempt, and it was after the twelfth brief clash that Soul felt that the other woman was finally taking her seriously.

"Wrathful Sun-Tiger Style." Soul shifted in the air where she stood upon nothing, her fingers flexing like claws as her outline lit up with sunlight. Activating one of her speed enhancing boons, she made a zigzagging assault through the air to dodge out of the way of a series of claw-slashes from her opponent that were made using huge projections of discordant energy.

A shockwave blew out from the clash in the air as Soul chose to simply rip through the final attack with a crossing motion of her hands before a flurry of raking slashes drew glowing lines down the armor of her foe. A pulse from the priestess's form then scrambled Soul's senses, forcing the Blessed of Warrior to blindly disengage for the brief moment when she was not in full control of herself anymore, leading to her taking one solid hit in return.

The Wrathful Sun-Tiger cared not, however, wearing the rents in her flesh like proud stripes as it struck again and again with overbearing fury, each blow colliding with her opponent's with enough force that it threatened to shatter windows in the city below them where other conflicts were blooming into full intensity as guild members found the ritual sites indicated by Wander and Obsidian Crow.

However, just as Soul was considering a shift in approach to combat the impressive resilience of the priestess, a sphere of water shimmering with karmic magic suddenly enveloped the lone manifested familiar on their little field of battle, each of the creature's struggles seeming to be turned back upon itself as its form was rent and torn.

Then Glint came crashing into the creature made from discordant energies like a glittering meteor, her huge serpent form biting down as the water itself shifted into fangs that perfectly overlapped with hers. The other familiar quickly shot out from between the dragon's teeth, even though its form was flickering and clearly injured.

Part of Soul wanted to protest the intrusion in what had been ramping up to a perfect bout to test her next and newest combined style, but the reality of the situation developing in the city was not lost even on her.

This sudden reinforcement also left her more able to utilize her short-ranged teleport, appearing at the side of the priestess and delivering a powerful twirling kick that was met with a flurry of claw slashes - a few managing to slink by Soul's defenses - followed by a lot of aerial maneuvering which led the clashing women to round the dark sphere that was that dueling power of ardent Horizon Seeker several times with enough speed to cause several thunderclaps of broken air as they sped up into various charges, twists and evasions..

Then came a second interruption in short order, Soul feeling as if she wanted to snarl in frustration at the interference. Although this one was a bit more… spectacular. Enough to cause even Soul and her opponent to briefly disengage and take in this new development.

"RHHAAAAAAAGH!" With a roar that echoed over the whole capital, a creature like a living vortex suddenly erupted from one of the harbor districts near the river that ran through the city. It seemed to only keep absorbing rubble from around it as it grew, a set of gnashing mandibles like those of a centipede emerging from the eye of the twisting hurricane body of the being.

Soul had never seen its like, but found herself feeling a twinge of concern for the guild members which were surely in the area where the creature had erupted even through her battle meditation. It was a gold-ranked being, after all, rather weak in aura now but seeming to be growing as it started decimating the buildings and people around it.

More confusing, the priestess who floated opposite Soul seemed equally surprised at the appearance, a wave of anger and frustration flooding through her before she managed to get it back under control.

"You will pay for this," the priestess seemed to murmur to nobody in particular before her focus returned to Soul, once more trying to plow past in order to reach the Tengu Clan compound beneath only to be foiled once more.

"River-like-Lightning Approach" Her outline crackling with faint lightning, Soul was suddenly everywhere and nowhere at once, her steps making a winding path through the air to block the priestess at every turn and managing to once more force her back upwards lest she risk getting dragged down into the furious rapids of Soul's attacks. Glint had resumed her attack upon the other familiar as well, but Soul could feel the distraction in the familiar's aura as the vortex creature in the distance kept gaining momentum.

"Go! Leave this tempering to me!" she called, Glint only seeming to need a short moment of consideration before the beautiful serpentine dragon slammed the other familiar away with a flick of her tail before shooting off into the distance.

"This young mistress thanks you," Glint's voice echoed back.

"Best of luck, Blessed of Warrior. May we both fight with grace and refinement this day as we show different kinds of excellence to this lost kingdom." Soul did not reply however, riding the lightning of her style as the priestess renewed her assault with even greater fervor, activating some hitherto unseen power that caused her whole form to start shifting at impossible angles as discordant concepts seemed to take over her every move.

With the familiar back in play, Soul's teleportation was once more denied to her as the priestess became a blur. And then she knew only violence and her path, each blow balancing between pain and injury on one side and taking a single step closer to the perfection she sought on the other.