Kai dropped the merchant to the floor and struck the paper wall, tearing it with surprising ease. Immediately he found himself face to face with Omilaena the Maneater, the woman who had conquered New Laeneria.

He was first relieved that she wasn't Anaelina in disguise, which shouldn't have been a relief given everything this woman had done, not least just poisoning them.

Omilaena was a slender woman wearing a decidedly non-Krysali dress. It was slit up the side, and since she sat so calmly in her chair, that revealed her long legs. She was curvy but nowhere near as exaggerated as Anaelina, and her skin was golden brown instead of pale. Most strikingly her hair was bright blue, the sort of color he'd only seen from the Elemental Nations. She wore it cut at about chin length with two longer points at her front bangs.

"I'm not quite sure what to make of this." Omilaena tapped her fingers along the armrest of her chair in sequence and he saw that her fingernails were sharp and painted the same shade of blue as her hair. "That poison really should have been enough to subdue someone with E-ranked Physique. Unless you're obscuring something different under that half-shroud of yours?"

His shroud training was still incomplete, but that combined with his most recent Class potion and the oddity of his soul in the first place must have confused her. Kai was more worried about the fact that she had access to poisons strong enough to harm E-ranked Physique. Just how strong was she?

When he tried to view her with spiritual sight, he was wholly blocked by a shroud. Omilaena sensed it and smiled, then rose to her feet. As she did so, chakra swelled up within her and Kai involuntarily took a step back. It was more than he'd ever sensed in Anaelina... she was closer to Zae Zin Nim's current strength.

"There's no reason to look so suspicious." She stalked closer, her legs flashing through the slits in her dress. "Why can't we just be civilized about this?"

Kai took a step back. "Is it civilized to poison people?"

"Certainly more than bashing their heads in." Omilaena pushed Traegyur's body, which was still breathing shallowly, out of his chair and then sat down on it casually. She picked up another glass of wine and took a drink. "Come now, do you need to look that scared? You think just because I'm a powerful woman I'm going to come over there and ravage you? Is that what you would do in my place?"

"Don't spout that nonsense." Kai held his position and scowled. "I met a Silver Demon from Rosemount who drained people just like that. So far you've taken over a city and tried to poison me, so it's disgusting for you to pretend to have the moral high ground."

To his surprise, Omilaena laughed freely. "Well, you're not such a thug after all! Maybe my opinion of crystalliers has fallen a little too low. But I feel ridiculous with you looming over me like that... unless you plan to attack me now, do sit down."

There didn't seem to be many options. He could feel many others within shouting range, but even the soldiers would be nothing more than fodder for her. If she really wanted to talk... maybe talking was the best option. Kai reluctantly sat, though he kept his hands away from the table.

"So you met a Silver Demon, did you?" Omilaena examined him curiously. "Not impossible, but unlikely. I doubt that my word is worth much to you, but I assure you, I am not a Silver Demon. Quite familiar with their methods, since they're common in my old home on Rosemount. Well, not common, but it's one of the paths some aspire to."

"So you deny all the stories?"

"I'm sure you've heard all kinds of scandalous things about me. But even Silver Demons don't actually need to use sex, it's just a method some of them choose. I don't want to talk about that, though, I want to talk about you and this shipment of weapons."

"I recognize we've blundered into your war," Kai said, then gestured toward the wagons outside, "but don't harm the workers. They weren't responsible for this, they just want to do their jobs and go home."

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Curious." Omilaena observed him with cold eyes, an unnatural blue the color of her hair, and her fingernails rapped out a rhythm against the top of the table. "What's in it for you?"

"For me? I'm just trying to keep them alive. That's my job, after all."

"No, not really."

"What does that mean?" Since she seemed open to discussion, Kai leaned forward and jabbed a finger at her. "I don't care about the rumors of sex rituals or whatever, I care about the fact that you're ruining the lives of all the people here. And for what, money? Your own power? Your advancement shouldn't come at the cost of so many lives."

Omilaena's lips, which he'd just noticed were covered in blue lipstick, twisted into a smirk. "Ooh, big justice man, standing up for the poor and downtrodden. Maybe you should figure out what's actually going on before you start preaching about morality."

Kai had half-risen out of his seat, but now sat down and stared directly back at her. "Fine then. Tell me what's going on, if it's so important."

"But I'm not here to lecture you. If you're not going to throw your life away attacking me, I have no interest in fighting you. I'm going to seize all these crystal weapons that were sent to undermine me, then send you all back home. No harm to your little worker friends. Isn't that what you care about oh so much?"

"It isn't that simple. We were supposed to receive payment for the shipment, and if we go back without it, they'll be accused of negligence at best, active collaboration at worst. You talk like you're superior, but this is no better than banditry."

"Hmm." Omilaena let out a throaty chuckle and then shook her head. "Very well, here's what we'll do. I'll find the payment that this fool-" She kicked Traegyur's body. "-set aside for you. All of you can take that back home without complaining. Hell, tell them that everything is great here, why not?"

"Really?" Kai stared at her, wondering if this was all just a prelude to an attack. Yet she seemed serious instead of aggressive - if anything, Omilaena seemed a little bored by the conversation.

"Yes, really. Grab one of these servants and get them to figure it out."

To his surprise, it went exactly the way she proposed. The servants in the mansion appeared terrified, but when Kai asked about the payment they delivered him a box. It appeared to contain a number of papers, certificates that he didn't fully understand but could apparently be exchanged for gold. That was what Unklian had sent him to get, so his mission was actually accomplished.

Convinced that he must be missing something, Kai glanced back out at the courtyard, expecting to see all the workers slaughtered. Instead he found them with the emptied caravan turned around. They were waiting anxiously and eager to go, but unharmed. It seemed like the soldiers outside didn't even know what had happened to their master.

When he stepped back inside, he saw Omilaena through the partially open door. She laid Traegyur lying on the table and pierced one fingernail into his forehead. Even as Kai watched, he saw black veins extend through the man's body and his breath began to rattle.

There was no expression on her face. Not malice, not cruelty, not Anaelina's gleeful evil. Omilaena looked only mildly curious, and that was terrifying.

Kai took a deep breath and considered fighting her. Maybe not here and now, but he could retreat, gather allies, and try to take her down. If she was really ruling over the city in terror, then someone needed to stop her. Despite what she said, she was clearly killing all her enemies ruthlessly and efficiently. People like that couldn't be trusted.

What stopped him wasn't the odds of victory or his estimate of her strength, it was the fact that Kai was no longer certain. He didn't like what he'd seen of her, but he wasn't going to blindly fight for Unklian, or the crystalliers, or anyone else in Krysal. Given everything he'd seen, he had no way of knowing if that would actually improve anyone's lives.

At the end of the day, he wasn't sure if he was on the right side.

He turned away and returned to the caravans before Omilaena could decide differently. When he gestured for them to go, the men looked at him nervously.

"Really?" the driver asked. "It's done?"

"It's done, but this place is dangerous." Kai leapt onto the back of the wagon and sat down. "Let's go before anything goes wrong."

Miraculously, they were allowed to leave the city without any further problems. Now that their wagons were completely empty, none of the gangs paid much attention to them on their way out. Along the way, Kai examined all the buildings and tried to determine what he was missing.

It was objectively true that the people of New Laeneria seemed worse off. The crystalliers might be a bit decadent, but they presided over an effective system that left the people of Romastir happy and relatively carefree. He didn't see any way that Omilaena's conquering a city could be a good thing... and yet he still felt as though he was missing something.

An aggressive part of him was still irritated at walking away from the fight, but it faded as they left the city. The fact was, he wasn't Krysali and he didn't understand the situation. Acting without proper knowledge would be as foolish as running into the wastelands without preparations, as the nobles sharpened far more subtle claws than monsters.

Kai glanced back over his shoulder and wondered when he would know what to do.