Stas rose, leaving the wounded warrior lying on the floor. Nevertheless, now his life could go on, provided he is not killed in the forthcoming events. Since Stas physically couldn't check everyone in such a short span of time, some of the chaos servants could be hiding among the regular soldiers.
"How is he?" Aoi asked, approaching and casting a brief assessing glance at the wounded commander.
"He'll live," Stas replied dismissively, preparing his chaos detection technique, then looked to Katashi's uncle for confirmation.
The commanders brought by Aoi were casting wary glances at the warmasters surrounding them. News of traitors had them on edge, and this meeting did nothing to improve their moods.
And Stas wasn't about to waste their time.
Burst from the stone, devouring serpents coiled around the legs of one of the commanders, sinking their prana-draining fangs into his flesh. He jerked in response, but even more serpents wrapped around his body, preventing any movement.
The other warmasters quickly stepped away from the captive, leaving him at the center of the empty lot. Several serpents burst, unable to contain the prana-saturated muscles, but the prana drained into the ether much faster than it was produced, preventing the cultist from escaping.
"What are you waiting for, Sumada?" Aoi spat out. "Kill this traitor!"
"It's not that simple, Aoi-san," Stas said, walking straight to the immobilized warrior, who was drilling him with a hateful glare. "Chaos is cunning, and as you know, it can confuse and dominate human minds with its will. However, even a force as powerful as chaos needs time to completely and irreversibly defile someone's mind. Interestingly enough, the stronger the being's will, the better it can resist."
Aoi frowned but listened, understanding that this lecture was meant for all assembled at the fort by the city gate.
"But even if chaos has begun to exert its influence, there's still a chance to bring the person back if the process has only just started. Tell me, Mizuno, what did chaos promise you? Why did you betray your clan?"
"I... I didn't betray my clan!" the captive warrior hissed, thrashing in the stone bonds. "I want to lead our clan to greatness. Immortality and power, they can give us all that. And it's... Ha-ha-ha-ha!" he choked and broke into laugter. "It's wonderful! Only a fool would refuse such gifts!"
"Now we're witnessing the first stage of infecting by chaos, or more specifically, as I understand it, by the plane of rot. And as I said earlier, it can still be reversed, restoring the corrupted mind. Now we use the chaos destruction technique I've specially developed, and we get..." A quivering, semi-transparent purple blob flew from Stas's hand, absorbing into the captive's skin.
The man stood silently for a second, as if listening for something, then convulsed with unbearable pain and screamed. Several young Mizuno even stepped back, surprised that a person could scream so loudly.
However, most remained still. Warmasters were tough nuts to crack.
But the "torture" didn't last long. After one more minute, the warrior fell silent, breathing heavily. Yet, when he raised his eyes, they shone with a restored mind.
"How do you feel?" Stas inquired curiously, leaning forward and thoroughly examining the former chaos servant with his techniques.
The initial result of the experiment could be considered, at the very least, satisfactory. The "chaos destroyer" had done its job, leaving not an "ounce" of the energy of change in the fighter's body.
"The voices are gone, my thoughts... They're completely different. I don't understand..." The head of the healed warrior exploded in a spray of blood. A few drops even reached Stas's armor, rolling down the breastplate.
"What the demon, Mizuno?!" Stas hissed, turning to Aoi, who had released the water technique.
"This is none of your business," Katashi's uncle said coldly, giving the Serpent a firm look. "My clan and I are grateful for your help, but we will deal with our own traitors ourselves. This is our personal matter, and I won't allow Sumada to interfere."
"But he could have been useful," Stas exclaimed indignantly, gesturing toward the decapitated corpse. "He was cleansed and posed no threat. At the very least, you could have killed him later!"
"You yourself said that the forces of chaos are extremely dangerous and destructive. That's why I declare that any follower of these corrupting forces must be destroyed. Their filth must be burned out with heated steel, leaving not a single spot. I won't risk corrupting anyone else. This is my final say on the matter," Aoi stated and then concluded the conversation: "Right now, my troops are taking the walls around the city. This means we'll have to deal with even more commanders and their soldiers. I want you to check the former as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, there's no time for the latter."
Ordyntsev slowly crossed his arms over his chest, coldly observing the Mizuno leader, who had already turned away from him. Rage was boiling inside the man.
Stas was not accustomed to such overt disrespect. He had expended knowledge and effort to cure this warmaster, they could have learned something useful from him, but instead, it all went to waste because of a certain arrogant jerk.
Moreover, albeit with a stretch, the dead Mizuno could be considered his patient, and killing a patient in front of his treating doctor was far from the wisest decision.
Either way, the earthling wasn't about to forget such a spit in the face. Sooner or later, he would ensure that Katashi's uncle paid for his narrow-mindedness.
But there was no time for prolonged contemplation. As Aoi had predicted, soon enough, confused guard commanders from other sections of the wall appeared, so Stas had a lot of work to do.
Time after time, scanning techniques washed over dozens of people, followed by Ordyntsev's secretly signaling the destruction of the marked cultists on the spot.
Once, the commanders hadn't even managed to line up when Minoru's technique destroyed a corner of the wall along with one of the Mizuno. As she later said, there was so much chaos in him that she felt its rancid presence with her entire skin.
Thus, new and new warmasters joined the army, surrounding the city that was beginning to panic. One had to be absolutely deaf not to hear the repeated explosions or flashes of techniques.
Moreover, such effects weren't that rare. Although the vassal clans served Mizuno, the water element was not as widespread among them as one might think at first glance. This meant that some clans were quite comfortable using earth or the remaining two elements. There was also a small number of clans with unique lineage abilities like telekinesis or water mist control.
Once the initial phase of their plan was completed, Aoi finally gave the order to advance.
A raging wave of warmasters rushed into the tumultuous streets of the Mizuno capital, pushing and corralling the crowds of people into surrounding houses or gathering in squares.
In dozens of places throughout the city, warmasters' prana-enhanced shouts rang out, informing the residents about the new principles governing their lives.
"Residents of the city! Traitors have been discovered in our ranks! They can subjugate minds and perform their vile magic! If you notice this filth among your acquaintances or loved ones, immediately inform the nearest warriors, and we will destroy it on the spot!"
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Needless to say, the news of mind-manipulating traitors did not contribute to the tranquility of the peaceful citizens.
If not for the severe imposition of order, the situation would have quickly descended into utter chaos.
"No, please, we haven't done anything!" a frightened man stepped back and desperately looked around, noticing several warmasters inexorably approaching him.
"Anto!" a woman screamed in horror behind him, covering three children with her body.
"The order affects everyone, and it's unavoidable," a warmaster said grimly, walking straight toward the man, forcing him to constantly retreat. "All children should be separated from their parents for their own safety and protection from traitors. Do not obstruct the law."
The father tried to grab the Mizuno reaching for his wife, and it became his last move.
The push of the warmaster's hand could not be called a strike. Rather, it was an instinctive reaction to a potential threat. But this reaction was more than enough to kill the father of this family, breaking his neck with frightening ease.
"Damn it, Kemono, what the hell are you doing?" one of his comrades cursed, looking at the unexpectedly appeared corpse. The woman with the children clenched her own hand to the blood, trying to hold back the scream tearing from her chest.
"He brought it on himself!" the fighter exclaimed defensively. "He jumped at me..."
"This dead piece of meat couldn't have done anything to you even if he hit you non-stop all day long!"
"Enough shouting," the third one said grimly. "What are we going to do? Maybe..." The unspoken question hung in the air, causing the three warmasters to look at the cowering woman and children with empty glances.
For those who live by war, there was nothing unusual in this proposal. They often solved their problems this way.
"No," the leader of the warmasters finally said. "We're at home, after all. Send the children to the camp. The woman goes to the others. And if she's smart, we won't appear in her life again, right?"
A resigned nod was their answer.
Katashi's uncle wisely deduced that in the plans of the chaos servants, infecting children took the least priority, as they were almost useless.
Therefore, to reduce the number of victims among them, the leader of the Mizuno decided to get them out of harm's way, placing the most reliable guard with them.
Ordinary people were concentrated in many camps, where Aoi's troops carefully watched over them. And since there were far fewer warmasters than ordinary people, the prana users were maximally cruel, suppressing any unrest.
And such cruelty was justified. Time and again, a cultist who couldn't withstand the pressure lost the mental barriers holding him back and exploded with laughter and chaos, striving to cause as much destruction as possible.
And if some ordinary person was relatively harmless, then a corrupted warmaster in a densely populated city presented a real problem.
But the worst were the abominations of chaos. Such appeared when the pernicious energy got out of control in a cultist and turned them into a grotesque but powerful creature that was not so easy to kill.
Each such spawn of the energy of change bore absolutely unique traces of disgusting mutations. Some of those transformed even exploded into streams of flesh when even their bodies altered by chaos couldn't withstand it.
This was especially terrifying when happening in the commoners' camps because the techniques destroying the abomination had a certain area of effect, catching innocent people in their deadly embrace.
Nonetheless, no matter how much mess and bloodshed occurred, Aoi's decisive actions disrupted the plans of the chaos servants.
All of them were either destroyed in the city battles or passed into the camps, where they were under the vigilant control of the guard, who killed them at the slightest suspicion.
At the same time, Stas, along with Aoi, had just reached the palace of the Mizuno leader, where Katashi was supposed to be.
The most important thing in all this situation was that the hiding chaos servants still thought that no one knew how to identify them. That's why they obediently allowed themselves to be commanded, going where Aoi's fighters pointed them.
Otherwise, bloody battles would have long unfolded inside the palace.
Secretly casting his technique, Stas noticed quite a few cultists.
Nevertheless, all this interested Ordyntsev only to some extent. Since the situation had stabilized somewhat and the risk of being destroyed by a united army of chaos was no longer as acute, he hurried to the chambers of the head of the Great clan.
"What's with my nephew?" Aoi demanded an answer immediately upon entering, staring intently at a whopping ten healers nervously standing before him. However, only four of them could boast a somewhat developed prana core. And only one had a superb one.
"Aoi-sama," one of them dared to speak up, nervously looking at the fighters lined up along the chamber's walls. "We've exerted all our strength, but something is interfering with our healing. Whatever we achieve, it reverts back. I've never seen anything like this before..."
Without a word and ignoring the indignant healers, Stas approached Katashi, who was lying on the futon on the floor, and began his examination.
And to say something was wrong with him would be a vast understatement. The person lying before him looked more like a skeleton than a living being.
Since the healers had to repeatedly use his body's resources to maintain life, there wasn't much left of Katashi. Apparently, the Mizuno healers were not as skilled as those of Sumada, so they didn't have seals.
However, despite a primary examination showing quite severe injuries, the young man should have recovered long ago due to the competent work of the healers.
Nevertheless, this did not happen. Katashi was firmly stuck between life and death.
The question was, what caused this?
The earthling's back stiffened sharply, while Aoi shifted slightly.
"Healer Rikishi, read this scroll," Katashi's uncle pulled a small piece of paper from one of the pouches and handed it to the lead healer, judging by the level of prana.
"Uh... As you command," the confused Rikishi murmured, stepping away from the group of healers and approaching Aoi.
In that exact second, everything happened.
Stone walls erupted from the floor, cutting off part of the room with Katashi, and withstood the impact of the launched water techniques. At the same time, Aoi's water shield saved the flabbergasted Rikishi, who clearly didn't understand anything.
The reason for all this was that Stas found emanations of chaos in Katashi's body, which he had been successfully poisoned with, preventing his full recovery.
Unaware of how to work with chaos, the healers didn't even notice it, sincerely wondering why their patient was getting worse.
On the other hand, it wasn't hard to guess who was behind the poisoning.
That's why a short but very intense scuffle broke out in the clan leader's chambers between five chaos-influenced healers and Aoi's men.
Out of the five walls created by Stas, only the last two survived, but his defense still held.
The stone screeched as it sank back into the floor, revealing a view of the destroyed and shattered room. Part of the ceiling and walls collapsed, allowing the neighboring rooms to be seen.
"Healer Rikishi," Aoi's loud voice made the chief medic jump. "Your skills are no longer needed here. You will be escorted where you can still be of use."
"As you say, master," the man's lips trembled, but he managed to hold himself together and leave with one of the fighters. Who knows what he was thinking now.
"Now you, Sumada. What did these creatures do to my nephew?!" Aoi's stoic expression faltered, revealing his true feelings, namely fear for the safety of his family member.
Stas demonstratively looked at the fighters standing around, making Mizuno wary.
After a moment's hesitation, Aoi nevertheless nodded.
"Leave us alone. Everyone out." Having bowed, the warmasters hurriedly carried out the order.
"Don't waste my time, Serpent. I want to know what's with my nephew," the warmaster repeated once they were alone.
"As you wish, Mizuno, as you wish," Stas's crooked smile did not please Aoi at all. And as it turned out, not without reason. "Judging by his physical condition, the healers haven't done such a bad job. He won't die right now, but that's not much consolation."
"Stop speaking in riddles; what do you mean?!"
"I mean that your nephew is infected with chaos. And if I understand their plan correctly, all this time, they've been trying to covertly seize his mind. And yes, I can drive out the chaos, but I can't guarantee that his consciousness is alright. Enough time has passed that the process may be irreversible."
With each word from Stas, Aoi's face petrified even more.
"And I'm not even so sure I should do it," Stas continued sarcastically. "What did you say about burning chaos with heated iron? So will you kill your own leader personally or entrust it to someone else?"
Stas didn't even try to hide his sarcasm. Perhaps from a diplomatic point of view, he shouldn't have done so, but Ordyntsev just couldn't stop himself.
He found an amazingly wicked irony in the situation. The one who didn't want to seek compromises was wounded by his own blade.
"Shut. Your. Mug," Aoi hissed, but this didn't offend the Serpent in the slightest; such a demonstration of powerlessness actually lifted his mood.
The uncle's eyes gazed blindly at his frail nephew, and he couldn't find the right solution.
Yes, anyone else in his place would have already thought about seizing power, but not him. He would rather die himself than allow anyone else to do so.
But no matter how he felt about his brother's son, he had to consider the risks. The chaos that had seeped into Katashi's mind could strike at the most unexpected moment, dooming them to a fate worse than death.
As a result, he had to decide here and now whether to kill the young man, seizing power in Mizuno for himself, or to save his life, risking unforeseen consequences in the future.
And no matter how Stas felt about Jishin, he, too, couldn't decide what was right in this situation. Logically, the friend's death would be a blow to Jishin.
It took a lot of willpower to resist chaos over such a long period.
Yes, Katashi was strong, but was he strong enough?
Life or death - that was the choice facing Ao Mizuno. To become a kin-slayer or to risk his clan?