TM: Vengeance of the Indomitable and Crazed Shades

"And not even talking about the Dalca family's constant pestering, those irritating bastards find problems in everything and..."

"Alright, alright! I know, I will stay for a while and finish everything at hand."

"Great, you can start with the papers at your desk."

"Uh..." Xalier only diverted his eyes to look at his curved wooden desk.

"What the... how are there so many!?" Multiple towers of documents covered the surface of his desk.

"Don't worry this is just a third of it..." A dark smile showed on Kane's face.

"Ah...!?" Xalier turned back to Kane, whose grin disappeared just as fast as it appeared.

"Oh, old and great friend of mine, can you..." Grasping at his friend's shoulders, Xalier played his old tricks...

"I already did what I could, these all need your magic stamp."

"Ugh... Why me..."

"My King, it was you who decided to save as many people as you can, did you truly believe it would be easy?"

*Sigh* 'I believed it would have to fight... Not sit at a desk from day into day out...' Xalier went to his desk with a sigh that hid his low murmurs.

"What's that?" But Kane knew his friend's thoughts even when he wasn't saying them out loud, calling at him just to tease him.

"Hmh? Nothing... Anyway, how much longer do I need to keep this up... It's giving me a feeling like my blade is becoming rusty..."

"Accurately speaking... 703 years and 8... almost 9 months."

"Ugh... I didn't ask you to read the clock above me." Xalier slightly turned to glance at the great clock accurately telling the time for how long till the next king's coronation day.

"My apologies."

"Anyway, send someone to search for Swift Blade. I need her here within a week." Just as he turned back and started his paperwork, with are rather monotone voice, he told Kane why he had come in the first place.

"Hmm... Why do you need an assassin? Do we need an item or... do we need someone killed?"

"Neither... it's a bit complicated, I will tell you later... But this made me remember, did you find anything about what I asked for."

"My King... I'm sorry to say this, but... even an item close to the mythical level didn't solve it..." Without letting him finish, an eerie heavy aura... The King's unique aura weighed him down.

"Kane... we are old friends, but I didn't ask for your opinion... don't make me get mad, you know I don't like it..."

"My King, you didn't let me finish so you misunderstood my words."

"Hmh? What do you suggest then?"

"What is the Prince's cultivation now?"

"He just had a breakthrough, but the energies are still as rampant as before."

"Hm... This is exactly why I thought, if an item can't solve the problem, then we should look at something else, a new cultivation method to be exact."

"...?" Xalier's brows frowned, how could there be a better one at hand than the ones he already prepared?

"I have heard of many methods that used opposing elements, for example, fire and water to complement each other, and in search of something the like, I found a Great Sect, named Yin-Yang Pavilion, in the eastern continent. It is not exactly what we need, but it might help a little."

"Hmh... you are right we should try it. I need their core and most perfect cultivation method, first try to buy it, if it doesn't succeed..."

"Don't worry my King..." With a slight hand movement, Kane brought out a green jade slip rolled up, looking something like a scroll.

"You bastard... Thank you... It would have been... a thousand times harder without you."

"It was nothing, it's my job to support our great king who will bring peace to everyone...' Without further unnecessary words, Kane passed the jade slips over.

"Hmh, right, in the east they use these... mhm... Is it translated to Common?"

"Yes, they translated it before handing it over..."

"Good... I like smart people, they were useful. If they ask, you are permitted to help that Pavilion."

"Yes, I understood."

...

"Ohu...ohu... ough..." In a room that was dimly lit by red crystals, a man looking slightly different from a pig was crawling onto a bed with a disgusting grin on his face.

In the bed, a young girl looking around 20 lay still. "Ah... Lord Fritz looks so... big..."

"Oho, such a sweet scent and taste..." As the man got to the girl's legs, he started kissing and licking them.

"Uh... so good...!" 'Disgusting pig!' The girl's thoughts were the opposite of her words.

"Uah... my Lord... before we do it... please drink this." As the man got higher up, the girl stopped him by pushing his head slightly.

"Oh... aphrodisiac?" Seeing a purple glass flask in the girl's hand the pig-like man oinked.

"It will help the little Lord get even bigger..."

"Oh..." The man reached out and took the glass bottle.

'It doesn't have anything strange in it...' The pig's eyes glowed up a little showing a discerning look, even though his looks he was a rather strong cultivator at the Sacred Lord Realm.

The man gulped down the flask with it, "Now!" he tried to jump at the girl.

"Wait!" The young woman pushed him away one more time.

"What now...!?"

"I have to take it off... my dress is important to me, I don't want my Lord's big thing to destroy it." As the man raised his voice, the girl explained and got up from the bed.

"Hurry!" She walked a little farther away.

"This distance will be enough..."

"What are..." *Ough... Cough... Cough* From his eyes, ears, and mouth, blood poured from every nook of the man's body.

"How...!?"

"You're wondering, right? It was the aphrodisiac..."

"...?"

"Yes, you looked at it, the problem was it needed one more thing to become detectable as harmful... my skin or to say the substance dried on it."

"...!" The blood didn't stop flowing as the girl clarified it to the man.

*Cough... Cough...* It became apparent that the poison had an acid-like form as the mouth and throat of the man started to melt down.

*AHHG* And it even had a magical aspect too, since it reacted to the man trying to use his mana and cultivation.

While the man slowly turned into a puddle of blood and flesh, the girl's clothes changed. On her light-long dress metallic ornaments appeared and the dress's color changed to grey with some red parts.

"Hm?" As her face also changed with some slight sifts, she walked to the side table not far away and poured herself a glass of wine. As she raised the cup to her mouth, a light mole appeared on the left side below her lips.

"Hmm... at least the wine is better than that stinking blood." She closed her eyes as she drank, but when she opened them, the light brown eyes changed to a bright red color.

She turned around, seeing nothing more than a red stain on the fancy bed and floor. "He fell rather quickly... this is why you don't boost your power with just pills, you will have no true control and strength whatsoever."

"Anyway, my job here is done. I should hurry, Sis should be back from her mission too." Just as she turned around to go home.

"Aella Katarina..."

'I didn't sense it!!!' Hearing her real name, Katarina instantly changed to a battle stance.

"Blood Dance: Hurricane!" With the words, the blood of the man who just died rose into the air. Light lime green energy, in the form of circulating wind, appeared around her arms and whole body.

As Katarina's green energy integrated with the droplets of blood, they turned into uncountable little blades while they started to circle her in the form of a hurricane.

"You are welcomed at the Castle of a Thousand Forgotten." Even though the hurricane destroyed every piece of furniture, while it swallowed up the whole room, the man who spoke up a moment ago, just stood there, in the middle of it, not even fazed by the attack.

"...!"

"You have three days, if you don't show up until that time, you will be hunted for disobeying the decree of the King!"

"Uh...?" Since the man in full black armor disappeared, Katarina was left dumbfounded.

After a moment of silence, Katarina's question followed. "What the hell was that!?"

"Alright, calm down Katarina, calm down..." *Sigh* As she calmed herself she started to examine the situation.

"Full black armor and the symbol on it, he was from the Imperial Army... why does the New King want to see me... does he want to give me a mission or something?"

"Ugh... I will see when I get there, The Thousand Forgotten... only if I go at full speed will I get there in time..." She ran out of the room, to see...

"Who are you!?"

"Grabe her!" ...that the guards of the estate become alarmed by the turmoil her attack caused.

"Fuck off, I don't have time for you lot!" With the words, light green energy blades appeared from her hands.

"UGH... Why didn't you bring me with you, inconsiderate bastard!" As Katarina started to run for her life, she shouted out in anger.

...

And then, three days later.

"Aella Katarina, Swift Blade entering!"

"Good, come on in."

"Uh... It's my honor that I can meet face to face with the Great King of..."

"Alright, alright cut the greetings."

"Uh...?"

"Wait for a second, I have to finish this first. Until then, make yourself comfortable."

"..." She didn't question the words and just blindly followed. She went to the leather couch on one side of the room.

'Why is he constantly stamping documents?' Katarina looked lost as she gazed at Xalier who, without looking up was stamping documents one after the other.

'I come pushing myself to the limit so that I have some time to tidy my appearance... And now I really have to wait?' Even though Katarina was disturbed, she didn't dare say even one complaint out loud.

...

"This is the last my King." Kane handed the last document to Xalier.

'Hmh? Another noble who wants to take territory from the elves.'

"I advise otherwise." Kane said as Xalier raised the stamp meaning 'Declined'.

"Hm?"

"The people did not see or hear of battles for some time now..."

"Ugh... Alright, send someone from the Imperial Army with the usual order of 'Lives come before conquer'." Xalier understood Kane's words and changed his orders.

'We need to limit the killings as much as possible.' Though Xalier was troubled by sending soldiers to a meaningless battle where they die a pointless death he had to do it.

A few soldiers dying was still much better than the rioting masses of people marching toward their deaths.

"Now..." *Sigh* "...it's finally fished."

'I was running until I almost fainted... and now I had to sit and wait for more than two hours...' As Xalier's words reached Katarina's ears, an infuriated thought appeared.

"I need to hurry so let's cut things short..." After a brief explanation, which left out the existence of Temorsth and only told how he got Antanasia to swear an oath.

"And this is the thing I got from your sister. Now then..."

"Wait!"

"Hm...?"

"If Sis swore a Dao Heart Oath with mine in the stake too... Command me."

"What?"

"Order something to let me feel it."

"Uhm... About that..." Xalier scratched his face with a little embarrassment.

"She didn't swear to me so..."

"..." Katarina didn't wait a moment, just as the words were spoken she instantly raised and started running to the door.

'They captured Sis! First I have to get out, I can't save Sis if I get caught too.'

'Good I'm out...' Just as Katarina grabbed the door handle.

"Lock!" Xalier raised his hand toward the door.

"Again... But why?" Since Xalier became a little annoyed, he touched his forehead to ease the frown that appeared.

"I always need to beat some sense into people before they listen... Do I look so untrustworthy? No, it's simply because I'm too handsome so they think I'm evil... Yes, I'm sure that's precisely it."

"My King, you are just untrustworthy."

"Ugh! That hurt!" While the two conversed leisurely.

"Blood Dence: Hurricane!" The same technique that destroyed the room of the Nobel 'pig' appeared in the room.