Kansei, cursing the twists of fate for the umpteenth time, wiped another chunk of stinking mud from his face. His once rich silk clothes had turned into a complete mess, desperately dragging him down into the compost pit he now found himself in.
'Yeah, yeah, dear, I can take care of myself,' he mocked himself, nearly diving into waste again as he avoided another patrol of madmen: 'A life of luxury has made me soft. I would never have done such foolishness before. If I'm certain of anything, it's that there should be a mighty invincible yokai between me and danger, not pathetic guards who really can't do a damn thing!'
When Kansei arrived at the nearest trading town and began to wait for the return of his beloved Ketsi, he was very surprised to receive a letter from her, which urged him to leave as soon as possible. His dear yokai explained this with a threat from some chaos servants.
Once Sly, now a respected merchant, he knew nothing of these so-called chaos servants, but he took the threat to his life very seriously.
So, he tried to settle his trade affairs as quickly as possible and move on down the route.
And he even managed to do so.
However, no matter how fast he fled from the unknown threat, it eventually caught up with him.
A small, unremarkable town. An impoverished noble family ruling it, desperately trying to keep up appearances.
He knew this type of "nobility" all too well. They go to great lengths to show how much better and above you they are, but when it comes to payment, they grovel at your feet just like any common mortal.
The main thing was to make sure their number of samurai didn't exceed yours, and then there was absolutely nothing to worry about.
His caravan only needed three days to sell off the remnants of their rice stocks, earning a good sum of ryō.
Only, it was precisely at this moment that the attackers chose to begin their assault on the town.
Although, to be completely honest, Kansei wouldn't call this nightmare an assault. "Devastation" or "massacre" would be far more fitting.
When the alarm bells rang out on the walls, and then, within minutes, laughing, grimacing, slaughtering everything in their wake, covered in grotesque growths, madmen burst into homes, Kansei followed his intuition.
He ignored the words of his security chief, who was fearfully giving orders to the hired ronin. With twisted faces, the latter stared at the grotesque figures of the attackers, some of whom no longer resembled humans.
These monsters, as if emerging straight from a nightmare, openly reveled in sowing death and destruction.
For them, there was no difference between adults and children. Although no, they killed children with much more zeal and pleasure.
The merchant was ready to swear he saw acts of sadistic cannibalism in that chaos.
Kansei also didn't attempt to hide in his house, as most people in his current situation would.
No, he grabbed the nearest string of ryō, dashed out of the house, dodging the panicking citizens, and dived right into the most foul and disgusting waste ditch he could find.
Kansei didn't know what prompted this decision. Perhaps his mind somehow processed those torn and blurry images of devastation, and he understood there was simply no other way out.
Every exit, alley, or crossroad was blocked by nauseatingly swollen figures.
And as it turned out, he made the right decision.
Despite the obviously chaotic movements of both the attackers and the terrified civilians, the invading forces acted very sensibly and precisely.
Quite quickly, Kansei realized that the terrible attackers were not out to kill everyone indiscriminately. Yes, they did so with great pleasure, but if one of the grotesque soldiers got too carried away, a commander would appear beside them immediately.
When Sly saw one of these commanders, he not only dived into the waste but also held his breath for a whole minute.
The sight of a more than three-meter-tall commander with an enormous swine body where legs should be, stuffing a screaming subordinate into a gaping maw on his abdomen, introduced him to an entirely new kind of horror.
Eventually, most of the townspeople were captured and taken away by the monsters. Kansei didn't know where to, and he didn't particularly want to find out.
The eerie chants and screams coming from that direction caused only a headache and a strange noise in his ears, like someone's distant voice.
After the raids, the streets were terrifyingly empty, covered only in streams of blood. For some reason, the monsters took the bodies with them.
Nevertheless, he couldn't stay in that ditch forever, so right now Kansei was making his way as quietly as possible to the exit of the town.
And thanks to his past, he even managed to do that. When he wanted to, he could be very quiet and inconspicuous.
Only when the town lights faded away did Kansei allow himself to rest a little and realize the extent of the predicament he had managed to escape from.
He reeked unbelievably, but that was the least of his problems.
Yes, this caravan was not his only one, but its loss meant the Sly also lost a lot of money. Moreover, it was imperative to inform the ruler of these lands about the unfolding nightmare as soon as possible.
Kansei was determined to reach even the daimyo and convince him of the reality of the threat.
He doubted he would receive any compensation, but a flame of righteous vengeance burned in his soul.
Moreover, he was desperately worried about his Ketsi. How was she? The thought that she was facing such horrors could not leave him at peace.
'We need to increase security and find out what this darned chaos is.'
An unpleasant noise began buzzing in his head after that idea, but thoughts about Ketsumi made it subside.
*****
The meeting place with Aoi was set just a day's journey from the Mizuno clan's quarters.
Just like the Sumada, the Mizuno had allowed ordinary people to surround their clan with various ordinary buildings and manufactories.
But unlike the earth-wielders, the water clan had practiced this approach much longer, resulting in a more sprawling city.
Moreover, the Mizuno's fondness for offering small clans friendly patronage had allowed them to acquire many weak but loyal warmasters.
The Sumada had something similar, but they only allowed the strongest of the common clans to come under their wing.
Nevertheless, "a day's journey" could mean different distances since what might take a day for a warmaster could take much longer for an ordinary person.
In this case, it was indeed a "warmaster's day," which included a considerable distance.
Stas was not surprised by the remote meeting place, which was also off the direct path.
Considering the dire situation of the Mizuno and the looming civil war, he couldn't blame Katashi's uncle for being somewhat suspicious.
However, Stas also wasn't about to blindly stick his head into the tiger's mouth, so he sent Minoru and Kenta to scout the area.
They needed to make sure there was no ambush waiting for them.
And although the predisposition of the lamia's magic was far from stealth, it didn't mean she was clueless about it. Rather, with her experience, she was very good at it.
The information Stas received was far from reassuring.
"So you're saying Aoi has set up an ambush?" Ordyntsev clarified, irritated. He disliked not knowing things, and right now, he was thoroughly confused about the game Katashi's uncle was playing.
"You humans love betrayals and backstabbing. I don't understand why you're so surprised," the yokai rolled her eyes haughtily, standing sideways to Stas and Kenta. "Are we going to waste time here, or will we finally move on?"
"If you don't like something, you can always leave," Ordyntsev snapped back at her, giving her a hostile look.
To that, Minoru just turned away angrily, saying nothing. There was no risk. Stas had already realized that the insolent lamia wouldn't leave him any time soon.
Whatever was going on in her beautiful but malevolent head, there were definitely some cockroaches there you'd rather not deal with without a flamethrower.
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"I wouldn't be as categorical as Minoru-san," Kenta hastily interjected.
"What are you trying to say?" Stas demanded, turning to him.
"From what I've seen, these two groups don't seem to be connected. They could be pretending, of course, but I can read superficial gestures: random glances, specific body turns, and so on. And everything I saw suggests that Aoi-san's squad is unaware of being watched."
"Their disguise is that good?" the Serpent clarified, surprised. Managing to hide right under the eyes of two supremes, one of whom was the uncle of the clan head, was indeed extraordinary.
"That's right," Kenta frowned. "If Minoru-san hadn't pointed them out to me, I might have missed them too. Among them is a powerful user of illusion art, who has cast a very complex and cunning technique over the entire area."
Ordyntsev pondered what to do. Simply walking away was not an option.
He needed to find out whether it was an ambush or not. And if it was an ambush, for whom it was intended.
"Alright, listen to our plan," Stas finally decided. "Minoru, the most critical part falls on you because your techniques are the hardest to detect…"
*****
Aoi Mizuno, frankly, was beside himself. For a man who always prided himself on excellent self-control, this was truly frustrating.
His shaken mental state best represented what was happening with their great clan.
Aoi always believed that his clan stood on a solid foundation, surpassing other clans in that regard, even the strongest ones.
A robust economy, excellent rapport with small clans, trade ties, and even tolerable relations with the samurai and nobility of their country.
Compared to the Sumada, who were openly despised by the citizens of their own country, it was night and day.
So why was it that while the Sumada moved forward successfully, capturing more and more lands of the Alliance, their clan was on the brink of collapse?!
And as painful as it was for Aoi to admit, he knew the answer.
His own nephew had become the poisonous needle that had entered the flesh of his own clan.
Yes, Katashi had always been a good child, a youth, and then an adult. Sometimes even at the expense of who he should have been.
From childhood, he was different from everyone else. He wanted what his peers could never consider in their entire lives.
Katashi wanted peace and began to implement his ideas into reality, but their clan was not ready for such changes.
Aoi blamed himself, but at the same time, he understood that there was nothing he could have done. He had sworn loyalty to Katashi, and the only way to prevent what happened was to kill his nephew, which he would never have done.
Now, he was stuck in this godforsaken place, wasting time while the clan head teetered between life and death.
His appeal to the Sumada was more a gesture of desperation than a well-thought-out move. With the multitude of burdens bearing down on him, Aoi was willing to clutch at straws.
Only afterward did he realize that his letter could have caused an attack by the Sumada.
After all, he had practically admitted how bad things were in his clan.
Nevertheless, in recent weeks, the Sumada had shown no indication that they intended to break their agreement.
Moreover, Jishin Sumada had even sent a reply asking to meet his friend, who also happened to be one of the best healers he knew.
And here, the complications began.
Yes, Aoi had heard contradictory rumors about Shiro the Serpent, but none of them mentioned him as a great healer.
The very fact that he reached the rank of a veteran warmaster in such a short period suggested that he could not be a good healer.
Nevertheless, there was no choice, as his own healers could only throw up their hands.
No, the Mizuno healers weren't as bad as one might think; the real reason was that most of the genuinely talented healers belonged to families that either started the unrest or assumed a neutral position.
As a result, Aoi was forced to rely on this enigmatic Serpent while his clan head slowly died, depleting his already meager body resources.
And what he remembered from their first meeting didn't please him at all.
Being a sensor, Aoi was shocked by the negligible amount of prana that Shiro had that day.
To hope that he could have improved so much in just six years was too naive...
"Aoi-sama," one of his fighters appeared before the clan head's uncle. "We've noticed three people approaching. They're heading straight for us."
"Prepare!" the man barked, jumping to his feet. "We don't know who they are, so be ready for anything!"
"Yes!"
The camp sprang into action. Everyone who had been sleeping or resting quickly got up, donning armor and checking their blades. Supplies and mattresses were rolled up and put away. Fires were hissing, doused with water.
Five minutes later, their camp ceased to exist.
Now Aoi peered tensely at the warmasters who approached leisurely.
The haughty woman he disliked immediately. Besides the fact that she looked at him and his fighters as if they were trash, she wasn't even human.
Katashi's uncle had lived too long in this world, so he was well-informed about evil spirits and those who fought them. What more is there to say when he himself had to slay these creatures, an endeavor that was never easy.
Now, by the strange mist that replaced her prana, he could tell that he was dealing with a rather powerful spirit.
The second man, around forty, also raised concerns. His openly displayed prana core of a supreme and the fluid movements of a professional revealed in him a potential headache for any opponent.
And finally, the third one, walking right in the center. Judging by his slightly forward position, he was the most important among them.
One look at the green armor and inhuman serpentine eyes was enough to understand that this was the one they had all been waiting for. But the volume of prana he now possessed genuinely surprised the Mizuno leader.
'What hellish demons did you sell your soul to in order to gain so much prana in such a short time?!' Yes, it was just the lowest level of supreme rank, but the very fact itself was astounding.
A man with the prana level of a lucky peasant doesn't become a supreme in six years!
However, the slow, unhurried pace of the "allies" angered Aoi even more. Right this minute, his nephew was dying, so why on earth were they walking so slowly?!
But before he could express his indignation, contrary to all traditions and rules, Shiro the Serpent spoke first.
"I'm glad to see you in good health," his voice was completely neutral, but Aoi sensed a hidden tension. "I'm also glad to see you. I remember we've met before, although it was a very long time ago…"
Words flowed, but Aoi wasn't listening. Right now, he was watching the Serpent's eyes because they were behaving very strangely.
Ensuring that Katashi's uncle noticed something, Shiro Sumada casually lowered his gaze to the ground. The Mizuno leader seemingly shielded his eyes from the Sun and followed the direction of the gaze.
Right by Shiro's sole, the ground stirred, turning into a barely visible chain of hieroglyphs protruding upwards.
"Hidden squad right behind you. Are these your men?"
A sharp pain stabbed Aoi's temples as his heart raced.
Condensed right from the air, barely visible water droplets formed into a single hieroglyph: "No."
"We're ready to attack. Strike immediately after us."
Aoi inhaled the suddenly heavy air quietly. His lips responded something to the Serpent's words, but he secretly brought his body to its highest point of readiness.
Considering that these "uninvited guests" managed to hide from him and his men, the battle would be tough.
"On the count of three."
"One."
"Two."
"Three!"
As soon as the hieroglyph fully manifested, the figures of the Serpent and his people blurred in the air, unleashing all their might behind the Mizuno.
The hidden aura of the yokai woman burst open, making Aoi's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets, while the water tsunami created out of nowhere literally swept the forest behind them, only to immediately hit them in the back with a cold hurricane gust.
Part of the water turned into ice shards that pulverized everything caught between them.
All this time, the yokai had been maintaining such a powerful technique in suspension, hence their slow movement! And she managed to hide it in a fake aura.
A scary level of mastery, but that was a thought for later.
The raging water and ice were cut through by an unbearably bright violet glow. As if the Sun itself had descended from the heavens to Earth and turned into a thin beam stretching from the tensed arms of the Sumada clan head's friend.
It didn't improve the situation that the beam passed just a meter away from Aoi himself.
Like a giant knife, the beam barely noticed the multi-ton ice slabs, slicing through them with astonishing ease, to bloom into a terrifying explosion less than a second later, consuming the yokai's technique and crushing the surrounding trees with shrapnel of frozen water.
"Sumada are not enemies!" Aoi shouted, straining his lungs to drown out the surrounding noise, quickly forming his own attacking technique. "Behind us, ambush by traitors!"
Some of his men heard his calls, but others, confused and angry, continued to prepare for a confrontation with the Sumada.
The only thing that stopped them was the fact that the "opponents" struck somewhere behind them, not at them.
Meanwhile, the aftermath of two full-fledged supreme techniques continued to rage.
Although, Katashi's uncle would confidently place the first one at the upper bar of the supreme rank, accessible only to someone on the level of the great clan heads.
Even he himself felt uneasy from the cold that emanated from there.
Aoi didn't believe that anyone could have survived the impact of the techniques, but he was wrong.
A pair of figures, charred almost to the bones, managed to escape the suddenly appeared trap.
But they were already awaited.
The second supreme brought by the Serpent appeared next to one of the charred remnants and, with a couple of indescribably swift strikes, sliced it into several pieces that began to fall.
However, the other enemy supreme - and it was indeed him - successfully landed outside the bounds of the ice grinder, strengthened by a violet-black fog.
The water stripes that burst forth from him in all directions instantly complicated the situation.
If Aoi and his supreme subordinate managed to block the erratic strikes, the other fighters didn't.
They burst into streams of blood that were swept away by the water swirling everywhere.
Nonetheless, the death of his men didn't cause the Mizuno squad leader to lose his cool. Parrying a strike, he immediately counterattacked. A dozen water drills surged forward, each following its own trajectory, while his subordinate focused on subduing the traitor's water, hindering his defense.
And, as it turned out, he did everything right.
The remaining supreme traitor managed to jerk abruptly, shattering with a directed water strike a large part of the drills surrounding him. But a couple of them still made it to his scorched body.
The first one tore off and destroyed his lower half, while the second took his right arm and part of the shoulder with it, tossing the remaining stump somewhere far away.
The prana-created water still flowed away, the ice plates crunched as they slowed down, and then stopped altogether, but the survivors stood still, intently listening with all their senses to the surrounding world, ready to unleash the full force of the elements on the enemy at any moment.
But there were no more enemies.
With a noticeable crunch, Aoi straightened up from his combat stance and sadly surveyed the places where his loyal men had stood just a minute ago.
He knew each of them, as well as their families. Some had the potential to become supreme.
And now they were all irrevocably dead, killed by their own clanmates.
Aoi clenched his teeth to the point of grinding, holding back the furious scream that wanted to burst out. He had to control himself, to not show weakness before the accursed Sumada.
"I'm sorry your men died," the approaching Serpent distracted him a bit, but he still felt like unleashing the biggest water explosion he could muster.
"It's not your fault," Aoi finally grated out. "And to be honest, I'm surprised you noticed them, for we couldn't for several days..."
A shrill laugh from somewhere to the side made him fall silent and call upon his prana again. The remaining supreme and the Serpent's subordinates did the same. However, no attack came.
Slowly and cautiously, they all approached the source of the laughter, to find with disgust the somehow still alive stump of the burnt supreme traitor.
The remnant of the man laughed heartily, chaotically waving the remaining stub of his left arm. He had nothing else left.
Finally, the mad eyes, or rather the only one remaining on the baked crust of blood that replaced his face, stopped on them, and his lipless mouth stretched wide.
"How serious you all look. It's nauseating. You're all trapped in your pathetic illusions. You don't see the truth and pointlessly resist those who wish to bring it to you. But I'll show you. Oh yes. I'll show you what you're about to reject! For the glory of chaos! For the glory of deca..."
A powerful vertical stream of water bursting from beneath the body flung the green-glowing stump high into the air, where it exploded impressively, showering them with a bloody rain.
Something that Ordyntsev identified as an ear slapped onto his shoulder pad. With a flick of his fingers, he dropped the piece down.
"Chaos servant," Minoru concluded heavily, who had created the "geyser."
"Delightful," Stas remarked sarcastically while Aoi, understanding nothing, shifted his gaze from one to the other. "Why is nothing ever simple in my life?"