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Chapter 459 - Striking Back
🕑 Added 2023-11-15 23:11:45 +0000 UTCRed didn’t spend any time reflecting on his victory. The commotion from the battle was already attracting the attention of the servants from the mansion, and he needed to clean things up quickly.
First, he walked over to the demon-sealing sword and picked it up. As soon as Red touched the blade, though, a furious roar rang out in his mind. He stumbled and gritted his teeth, keeping himself standing despite the sudden shock.
The Slaughter Demon, which had remained quiet for a long while, chose to struggle against its prison at this unfortunate moment, perhaps disturbed by the stranger that had touched it. This wasn’t the worst news, though.
It was stronger than before.
Its murderous influence invaded Red’s mind, causing his rationality to diminish as the desire to fight and murder took its place. It was such a powerful attack that he didn’t have time to mount a defense.
“Snap out of it, you moron!”
Aurelia’s voice rang out in his mind. Whatever she did seemed to provide Red a moment of clarity with which he immediately entered his meditative state. He focused on his mind, clearing the negative emotions from the sword.
The demon, perhaps sensing opportunity, kept roaring and struggling in its prison. But Red’s mind was resilient.
Although he wasn’t able to suppress the Slaughter Demon completely, he regained enough control over his senses and body to move again. Red didn’t have time to deal with the sealed creature right now, as there were more pressing matters to address.
‘My demonic energy.’
He had used a lot of it. Anyone would be able to detect this blood energy if they did a close inspection, so he needed to make sure there was none of it left before others came to investigate. The first thing he did was address the corpses, but when he looked at them, he had a surprise.
There were no corpses at all. Instead, in their places were two pools of a dark sludgy substance and not even the clothes were left behind. Red seemed to have missed an important transformation while struggling against the influence of the Slaughter Demon, and somehow their bodies had melted into that strange liquid, leaving no traces behind.
‘Were they clones? No, that’s not possible. The Gale Breath clearly absorbed their blood.’
His guess was that this was a technique their organization used to not leave any traces behind in case one of their own was killed. This meant that Red wouldn’t be able to discern anything from their corpses, but it also ended up helping him to disguise his demonic technique, since there was no corpse for other to examine. Of course, while this was one issue dealt with, there was still the lingering demonic energy in the air of the room and in the wall where his sword arc struck.
“Aurelia, help me clear any evidence.’
This was one of the few times he addressed her by name, or ask her for help directly, for that matter. The situation was dire enough to warrant it, though.
“I can help, but a stronger cultivator might still sense something amiss,” she said.
“Just do what you can.”
With her help, Red started to clear away the demonic energy. This was done by dissipating concentrations of the blood energy with uncorrupted Spiritual Energy, as well as absorbing his own shed blood back into his body. Since Aurelia was more sensitive to Spiritual Energy, her help proved to be invaluable.
This was all done in less than a minute, after which a servant finally arrived at the workshop.
“M-Master Viran,” he froze once he saw Red’s wounded state. “What happened?!”
“I was attacked by assassins,” Red said.
“A-Assassins?! We should call the guard the-”
“No. Send word to your mistress about it first, and then she can decide what to do.”
Red hoped to get Lady Ilse involved before dealing with the guard directly, as his relationship with the latter wasn’t great. It would also give him time to get matters sorted.
“Alright!” The servant nodded. “What about you, Master Viran? You look wounded.”
Red shook his head. “I’ll be fine. Just go inform your mistress.”
With that, the servant ran out of the room in a hurry. More servants and attendants flooded into the room, though they didn’t touch anything in the crime scene, only standing around in shock and fear. Red didn’t tell them to leave either, and instead sat down to focus on expelling the shadow energy within his wounds.
While doing so, he reflected on this brief battle.
‘Neither of them were the Shadow that first attacked me.’
Red was certain of this. Not just because of their fluctuations, but also because of their strength. He suspected both Shadows were in the middle-stage of the Lesser Ring Realm, while the dagger-throwing Shadow was probably at the peak of the Lesser Ring Realm. This was also what confused him mid-battle, as it seemed strange for them to send two weaker assassins after a stronger one failed. But now he understood.
They wanted his demon-sealing sword.
‘How did they notice?’
Red recalled his brief fight against that first Shadow. He would almost certainly have died, so he was ready to unleash the Slaughter Demon as his last resort. Yet, when the Shadow noticed his hand grab the hilt of that sword, they immediately stopped attacking and retreated. It was obvious then that his opponent sensed the danger, though it was never clear how they did it since the demon-sealing sword didn’t emit any energy.
‘Their objective wasn’t to kill me this time, but to steal the sword.’
Without that trump card, Red wouldn’t be able to defend himself against that dagger-throwing Shadow again. They must have realized that and come up with a plan to separate him from this weapon. For that, they employed an assassin that focused on stealth - someone who was able to completely fool his crimson sense. Red imagine this was also another counter they came up with, as he did prove to have great detection abilities by spotting the dagger-throwing Shadow before they could attack him.
This was the first time his crimson sense failed him. Not even that Greater Ring Realm cultivator from the Crystal Sky Sect could completely hide from it, yet this Lesser Ring Realm Shadow managed to do it. Red suspected this wasn’t a matter of power, but rather that their abilities were a natural counter to his crimson sense.
They came up with a perfect plan to counter Red, and they were just a hair’s breadth away from succeeding. But they did not expect that his demon-sealing sword wasn’t something just anyone could carry. The wielder of this prison made weapon would be constantly attacked by the murderous will of the Slaughter Demon, and the Shadow was wholly unprepared to deal with that side-effect from the looks of it. This told Red that although they knew the sword was dangerous, they had no clue what powers it had.
‘I was lucky this time…’
Losing the sword wasn’t just a matter of losing a powerful asset. It was also about potentially releasing a calamity onto this world, and this wasn’t something Red could allow to happen in good conscience. This was also why he committed to killing them after realizing their plan, and why he used his blood energy to kill both of the Shadows before they could escape. Information about his demon-sealing sword couldn’t make it out to their organization.
As for why they decided to target him now, of all times, Red wasn’t sure. His first gut reaction was that they were hired by the Golden Hand, but there was no guarantee that this was true. Attacking Red here, inside the manor of the Queen’s own family, would be a huge matter for the Royal Court, and there was no way the Golden Hand wouldn’t be suspected, considering their recent animosity.
Were they above assassination? Red didn’t think so, but were they dumb enough to attract this much negative attention? He didn’t think so either.
In actuality, Red was more compelled to think this was simply a continuation of the first assassination attempt by the Shadows, sponsored by the same client. Perhaps they just thought to use this opportunity to shift blame to the Golden Hand, which was definitely going to work despite the failed assassination. The real question, though, was who was this client, and why go through such lengths to kill Red?
As Red sat down cross-legged in meditation, an attendant walked up to him.
“Lady Ilse has been informed, Master Viran,” they said. “She told me she will be here promptly.”
Red nodded. As it turned out, the woman wasn’t lying, as barely five minutes later she walked into the workshop with an incensed expression. Judging by her long red dress, jewelry, and styled long hair, she had just been pulled from a rather fancy and social encounter.
She looked around the room, assessing the damage and spotting the two dark sludges on the ground. Her expression worsened, and she walked up to Red.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’ll be fine,” he said.
His wounds weren’t minor, but he had suffered much worse injuries back when he hadn't even opened his Spiritual Sea.
Lady Ilse, however, didn’t seem too happy to hear this. With a frown, she pulled a small bottle from her pouch and tossed it to him.
“Eat it.”
Red frowned and thought to protest, but decided against it. He opened the bottle and swallowed the pill, after which a healing power spread through his body. The foreign shadow energy in his wounds dissipated, and his wounds closed at a visible rate.
After sensing his body had recovered, Red stood up and patted himself down.
“Tell me what happened,” Lady Ilse asked.
“I was attacked by two Shadows.”
Red did a brief recounting of the battle, though he omitted and twisted a few events. Mainly, he didn’t mention the Shadows’ attempts to steal his demon-sealing sword or how he used demonic arts to kill them.
Lady Ilse looked somewhat surprised at his retelling, though. “You killed two Shadows by yourself?”
Red nodded.
The woman still seemed skeptical, but this wasn’t something he was worried about. She could suspect him of hiding his powers, as long as she didn’t suspect him of being a demonic cultivator.
However, her concerns weren’t focused on Red at the moment.
“Those Golden Hand bastards really have the gall…” Lady Ilse gritted her teeth.
“It might not have been them,” Red said. “I was targeted before this.”
“Yet, you can’t discard the possibility. To think they would dare to attempt something inside a noble’s house - these Shadows are getting far too bold, and I have no doubt the Golden Hand would be more than happy to sponsor this behavior.”
“…Would they do something as bold as this?”
“Under normal circumstances, they would hesitate, but now… They aren’t as worried about a possible backlash from the Royal Court.”
Red frowned. “Why is that?”
“Well-”
“Lady Ilse!”
An attendant barged into the workshop in a hurry, interrupting their conversation.
“What is it?” Lady Ilse looked at him with a frown.
“It’s y-your frien-… I mean Lady Marina! She says her company has been attacked!”
The woman’s expression fell.
…
Soon, both Red and Lady Ilse were on their way to Lehmann’s Traders headquarters. Marina had sent them a message about their company being attacked, and said that her father had requested the presence of both of her associates there to discuss this accident. Her father was, of course, the de facto owner of the company, and someone Red had yet to meet despite having worked with them for a long time.
When they arrived at the merchant’s headquarters, there were no signs of any fighting or destruction. The building’s doors were closed, though, and only two guards were there, waiting to lead them inside.
After entering the building, they were greeted by Marina, who had an ashen expression and was not carrying her fan like usual.
Lady Ilse frowned when she saw this. “What happened?”
“They… they attacked us.”
“You mean they attacked your shipments?”
“No… They attacked our employees.”
There was a prolonged silence after that.
Lady Ilse tightened her hands into a fist, her arms trembling with anger. Yet her voice maintained an icy tone.
“How many?”
“Twenty-four people… Some of them were killed in their own homes,” Marina’s voice quivered. “They got Elena too.”
Red recalled that name. This was the attendant that first greeted him when he tried to buy materials for the talisman drawing in this store. She always stood at Marina’s side as far as he remembered.
“Is your father here?” Red asked, trying to move the conversation along.
“Ah, yes,” Marina nodded. “Come along. I’ll take you to him.”
The store was almost deserted, with only a handful of servants here or there wearing nervous expressions. Marina led them to the very top floor of the tall building, into a wide open room. Inside, there was a long low table akin to the one Red was served tea at in the store, with multiple sitting mats spread around it. On one of these mats sat an old man.
He had a soft expression, with a long white beard and a hair that was tied in a topknot. He wore a long white robe that reminded Red of the clothing Hector used to wear, though he didn’t seem to command the same authoritarian air. Although he seemed approachable, right now the old man wore an expression of someone who had just had their entire life pulled from under him.
“Father, I’ve brought them here,” Marina said. “Master Viran, this is my father, Sir Lehmann.”
The old man didn’t get up to greet them, simply nodding and pointing at the seats across from them.
“There is no need for that, sir,” Lady Ilse shook her head. “I have an inkling as to why you called us here. Tell us what happened first.”
“There is not much to tell,” Lehmann said in a sorrowful tone. “All of our people were killed at the same time. Stabbed, drowned, shot down… Some were walking the streets, others were resting with their families. The only ones that escaped were the ones working here in the store at the time.
“Were they targeted by Shadows?”
“Shadows?” The old man seemed confused. “No, not shadows. They were targeted by trained assassins, but not Shadows, no. Someone else was responsible for this.”
“…Were any of them caught?”
“None. Conveniently, there were no guard patrols around where this happened.”
“Any witnesses?”
“Some, but they either don’t want to talk or can’t offer anything useful.”
Lady Ilse closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She then looked back at the old man, this time more composed.
“You want to break off our deal, correct?” She asked.
Lehmann sighed as if in shame. By the side, Marina was looking down, refusing to stare at her friend.
“Even if we wanted to continue, we don’t have the means,” the old man said. “The people that were killed weren’t just attendants, they were also merchants and people who kept our business running. Without them, we’ll have a hard time keeping our guild afloat, much less trying to compete against the Golden Hand in artifact forging.”
“I understand. Is that all?” Lady Ilse asked, her voice devoid of her earlier emotion.
“I…” Lehmann looked up at her, only to be met by an expressionless face of a noblewoman. “…Yes, that is all.”
“Then we’ll take our leave.”
With that, the noblewoman turned around, and Red followed after. Marina accompanied them to the entrance of the building, seemingly struggling with her words when it came time to see them off.
“I’m sorry, Ilse.”
“It’s okay,” Lady Ilse shook her head. “It’s not your fault.”
With that, both Red and the noblewoman reentered the carriage and set about returning to the Fairclough manor.
“Isn’t the Golden Hand going to suffer consequences for this?” Red asked.
“As I said before, maybe they would have in the past, but right now…” Lady Ilse shook her head.
“What happened?”
“Today in the Royal Court, they just signed a large contract with the country. Golden Hand is going to fix the Kingdom’s Aetheric Artifact.”
Red frowned.
Artifacts had three levels of power. The first level was Mystical Artifact, the initial power for all Spiritual Artifacts, including his claymore. The second level was Aetheric Artifact, which included artifacts whose spirits had awakened, like Hector’s Deep Sea Sword, and whose power could reach the Spiritual Awakening Realm and above. The third level was Sidereal Artifact, and although Red didn’t know a lot about them, he knew these were the rarest and most powerful artifacts in the world, and even sects only had a handful of them each. As far as he knew, the Ancestral Spirit of the Divine Dream Sect, which was the overseer for Spiritual Contracts, was one such artifact.
Suffice it to say, when one considered the fact that the kingdom’s most powerful cultivator was in the Spirit Core Realm and they were fighting the Empire, which had multiple cultivators in the Spiritual Awakening Realm, then an Aetheric Artifact was of utmost importance for them. Red had heard before that the kingdom had such an artifact in their possession, though he didn’t know it was damaged.
“When was this artifact damaged?”
“A few years ago, in a fight against the Silver Knight,” Lady Ilse said. “The Kingdom has been desperate to get it repaired, and now that the Golden Hand seems to have the means to get it done, well…”
“They are willing to overlook their transgressions, I assume.”
‘It all comes back to Bernard again.’
The Silver Knight was perhaps the most hated individual on the entire eastern continent. He was the commanding officer of the Imperial Armies in this region, and up until now, none of the mortal kingdoms had even managed to slow down his advance. If not for the sects’ interference, then the Empire would have already conquered the entire region.
“This doesn’t bode well for us,” Red said.
If the Golden Hand really had the means to repair this artifact, he couldn’t imagine the Royal Court would object to any of their demands.
“Can you repair an Aetheric Artifact?” Lady Ilse asked, half-serious.
“If you give me ten years, then maybe.”
“That probably won’t work, then…”
She fell silent, as if deep in thought. Then, her expression twisted in hatred and she looked back at Red.
“You know, Master Viran, I am very angry. These people feel like they don’t have to play by the rules, and what’s worse is that they’re right. If the Kingdom had to side with someone, they would pick the Golden Hand every time over me or you, even though we have helped them stave off a demonic invasion. Doesn’t that make you angry, too?”
“…Power is what matters in the end. Everything else is irrelevant.”
They were in this situation because they were weaker. Even if Red knew it was unfair, it was just the nature of a world where people could wipe out entire cities with a wave of their hand.
“That may be so, but it doesn’t mean we are powerless,” Lady Ilse said. “Strong cultivators have been taken down by weaker enemies before, and it doesn’t matter how strong the Golden Hand guild is, they are not invincible!”
Red thought to refute her point, but then he remembered the story of his master. One man who went against every sect in the world and came out the other side victorious. Was his master the one in the advantageous position back then? Of course not, but he won all the same. If even the sects could be beaten by someone weaker than them, what about some merchant guild?
“… What do you propose?”
Lady Ilse gave him a dangerous smile. “The Golden Hand has stood behind laws and money to shield themselves from consequences for their heinous acts. Up until now, they haven’t found a problem they couldn’t buy themselves out of, but that’s because they haven’t provoked someone who couldn’t be bought yet. Well, it turns out that I can’t be bought, Master Viran. Can you?”
Red thought for a second and shook his head.
“That’s good,” she nodded. “Then let’s show them what happens when they provoke someone who doesn’t care about their laws or money. Let’s use their own tactics against them and show them that when it comes to viciousness, they aren’t as good at it as they think. Help me, Master Viran, to tear these vermin apart and teach them what happens when greedy, spineless merchants overstep their boundaries.”
Red went silent again before nodding.
“Alright.”
