On his first visit to New Laeneria, Kai had seen fortified noble estates with fearful merchants hiding behind their walls. Now there didn't seem to be so many merchants left, but the buildings were even more fortified and he saw workers patrolling the walls.
There was no time for any of that. Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena waited ahead and he had no idea what he was going to find.
No one greeted him when he entered the last estate until he walked into the main hall. Omilaena sat on the other side of a small table with a book in her lap, but she set it aside when he entered. She had changed into another dress, a purple that he assumed flattered her blue hair and nails. All that really mattered to him right now was the calculating look in her eyes.
"I'm not going to offer anything, since I assume you wouldn't trust me." She spread her hands on the table and leaned forward. "But I hope we can have a civil conversation. I think we'd have a lot to talk about."
"Where's Hanelay?" he asked.
"Oh, she was here, and I'm afraid we didn't get along, but you don't need to be worried. She's fine."
That wasn't an answer, but he wasn't sure how much of one he could get. Since he still didn't like his chances against Omilaena, Kai walked up to the other side of the table and waited.
"I expected to hear about your achievements in Yulthens, but you seemed to drop off the map." Omilaena tapped her fingernails against the table thoughtfully. "And then you show up, stronger again. It's the steadiness of the jumps that's scary, really. Cultivators and many others have large jumps in power, but it's like there's something underneath you, pushing you up..."
"Don't condescend. You're still stronger." Kai folded his arms and frowned at her. "Since we talked, I found out that I was on the wrong side after all. Maybe we're not enemies. But I can't really trust you unless you start being more direct."
"But I've always been direct when it comes to power. You see, the problem is that you start running into walls eventually. Everyone acts like they understand the whole picture, like some paths are dead ends and others are paths to true power, but sometimes I think they're all dead ends. I want a way past that."
"So do I, but I'm not willing to trample everyone in my way to get it."
"And it makes you wonder if you'll always be behind the ones willing to, doesn't it?" Omilaena gave him a sad smile and opened her mouth to say more, but at that moment a shout interrupted them both.
"Kai!"
It was Zae Zin Nim's voice, magnified immensely. The sound carried an echo of her qi, like she had thrown her power into it. Judging from the way the shockwave hit him, Kai could guess at the source, at least one level beneath him toward the center of the estate.
"Didn't know she could do that." Omilaena sat back and frowned. "Guess I should have invested in more qi shielding."
Kai wasn't listening. He drew on his full strength as he ran, and as soon as he reached a wooden floor, he kicked directly through it. In the first basement he felt a bit closer to the source of qi. There was something making it hard to pinpoint anything, like some sort of external shroud, but he could still track by other means.
As he raced forward, hearing gave way to hunger. The hunger within him still had her scent, the raw feel of her beneath any qi or mana. He closed in on it, leaping down a set of stairs and smashing through a fortified door.
After that he ran into a much heavier door that actually threw him back. Kai rubbed his shoulder and examined the barrier, which was some sort of chakra instead of more familiar fortifications. He swung a Tyrant's Claw across the metal and to his surprise it failed to tear through. This one was designed to keep out a determined attempt.
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Not him. Kai leaned forward, his mouth opening wider as the hunger grew within him. He bit down on the power itself, consuming the chakra that tried to stand in his way. His bite chopped through the center of the door and it swung open limply.
Zae Zin Nim was on the other side. Trapped within some sort of metal circle, her hands pressed against the side as she stared toward him.
With no telling how much time they had, Kai leapt to her without a word. He was trying to figure out the best way to break through the chakra barrier in the circle when she gestured hurriedly toward the bottom. There was some sort of mechanism there, designed to be opened with chakra. But it wasn't a true lock, just a switch, so with the right combination of mana and qi he managed to wrestle it open.
The barrier came down and Zae Zin Nim fell into his arms. She didn't feel weak - in fact it seemed like she had been cultivating - but she trembled slightly.
"Kai, you can't trust her. She's... she's horrible, she..."
"She's a bit offended." Omilaena strolled into the room behind them. "Come on, we've all tried to murder each other, can't we be friends?"
"You keep talking like you're the reasonable one," Kai said. He wanted to keep holding Zae Zin Nim, but he needed to let go so she could prepare for the fight. "But you've shown you'll do anything to reach your goals, and that our goals don't align. Why should we listen to you?"
"Usually it's easiest just to take what you want, but sometimes it comes back to bite you." Omilaena rubbed her eyes with one hand. "Seems like you want to fight. After I beat you, I'm just going to calm you down and keep you somewhere until we can talk this out."
Kai glanced over at Zae Zin Nim and knew that she wasn't going to talk. They nodded to one another, then began circling to take their opponent from different angles.
For all that they'd improved, Omilaena still moved like lightning and unleashed a hail of needles. Kai barely had the presence of mind to see Zae Zin Nim whirling to deflect them, because he could only just stay ahead himself. He managed to knock several aside before two needles struck his shoulders and delivered their poison.
As he sagged down to one knee, Omilaena closed the distance. But since they'd last fought, Behemoth's Heart had become far stronger. Kai managed to digest the poison and swept a Tyrant's Claw upward, directly into her path.
Omilaena spun in the air, twisting in between two of the claws. Before she could reach him, however, Zae Zin Nim intercepted her with a palm to the side. The blow sent her skidding across the room, breaking through a table of equipment and hitting the other wall.
She had more needles in both hands, but Kai moved first. This time he swung his Tyrant's Claw from up close, where she couldn't possibly dodge. Zae Zin Nim was running from the opposite side, ready to converge on her. For the first time he'd seen, Omilaena actually looked sorely pressed.
But not beaten. She raised a forearm and took the claw head on: it made her stagger, but some sort of defensive aura kept it from tearing through her. Even as she did so, she turned her head to the side and blew a cloud of smoke directly into Zae Zin Nim.
Who sailed through it, surrounded by her Coldfire Corona. Omilaena had only a moment to look startled before she was desperately defending herself against a flurry of palm strikes, qi and mana flowing together perfectly.
Kai spat out a mouth filled with acid. The jet pierced Omilaena's leg and she cried out in pain, then Zae Zin Nim landed a palm directly on her stomach. When she fell back, this time she didn't remain on her feet.
"Alright, alright." Omilaena coughed painfully and rubbed her leg. "I have a little more in me, but I can see the way this is going. If I surrender to you, will you keep me alive?"
The moment after the battle might be the greatest risk, if they stopped being aligned. But when Kai looked over at Zae Zin Nim, she didn't look as vengeful as he expected. Instead she sorted through one of the destroyed tables and came up with a pair of shackles studded with crystals.
"Put these on her. Then we can talk."
While Zae Zin Nim watched with qi techniques ready, Kai took the shackles and advanced. Omilaena obediently raised her arms, a mockingly innocent smile on her lips. He pulled her arms around behind her back and shackled her arms as tightly as he could. One of the bands went around her wrists and another could be fitted around her forearms, keeping her highly restricted.
It seemed like the shackles would suppress power, but their crystals could only hold so much qi. Kai wouldn't have trusted them against a strong crystallier and doubted that they could hold Omilaena if she was at her best. Weakened and injured... maybe.
"I said I wanted to work together when I had the upper hand," Omilaena told them. "Now you've gotten stronger and you're on top. Will you believe me now?"
"Nothing has changed from before," Kai told her. "What reason do we actually have to work together and why would we trust you?"
"I can't expect you to. But it does seem like you're trying to fight the most powerful people in the entire nation and you're short on allies. One thing you can believe is that I'm not invested in the fundamental systems of Krysal, and how many people can you say that for?" Omilaena turned a bright smile between them. "Can you afford not to listen?"
It was unpleasant logic, but likely correct. Kai locked eyes with Zae Zin Nim and saw her come to the same conclusion. Maybe this time the conversation would end differently.