It happened on the same day when Wyland arrived at Whiteshore. Further up North, near to the middle of the Empire, lay the city of Aifenhorn, named after one Aerthus's general. He helped unify the Empire 2000 years ago and was one of his decorated warriors. The city itself was a huge merchant hub, giving home to almost two dozen different merchant guilds and companies. It housed over a million souls and even more who had just come and gone with the never-ending lines of caravans. Lulu and Yanda were sitting in front of a tea house, watching the busy street and the bobbing heads of the sea of people.
"How should we do this?" Lulu asked with a smile, munching on a cookie.
"Master didn't give any instructions. She just said to eliminate all resistance before nightfall!" Yanda sighed.
"So she lets us deal with it as we see fit, huh? Then why not make a scene out of it?"
"I would prefer it if we do not!" Yanda shook his head. "There are way too many people here! If we cause unwanted destruction, we could endanger innocent lives! We can't afford that!"
"Mm, you are right." Lulu nodded as she leaned back. "But I don't think it is possible to do this quietly. Our intel clearly says that the whole Golden Mane group is in cahoots with Ironclaw. They help them move resources, people, and intel along the whole Empire. We need to arrest more than 100 people just in this city while Kyu deals with their outpost in the east and Toobu raids the western depot."
"Wyland has it easy! Going after an assassin group instead of the logistics…" Yanda smiled, emptying his cup.
"Heh, yeah, but he is the only one in this operation who is not at our level, so don't grumble about it!" Lulu grinned. "So? What is your idea?"
"Walk in the front gate to their compound and start arresting them." He answered while spreading out his hands. Lulu just blinked her eyes, looking at him with an open mouth.
"Isn't that what I just said?!"
"You said; Let's make a scene out of it. It is not the same! We go in, I seal the exits, and then we capture the rest."
"That is doable." Said another man who just arrived at their table, cupping his hands. "My name is Raikar, member of the Shadow Corps." He explained while presenting an imperial seal to them. "I was posted here monitoring them since last year. My people are ready to cooperate with you. We can seal off the surrounding streets, and I have people already posted in the sewers if they try to escape underground."
"Oh? Nice!" Lulu grinned. "Then we can focus on battling while you do the arresting!"
"How many men are under you?" Yanda asked.
"A whole platoon. Not including our contacts in the guards. If we take them into account, I can order around a whole battalion if necessary, circumventing the City Lord himself."
"Is he in on it?" Lulu asked as she furrowed her brows.
"We don't know." Raikar shook his head. "We found no evidence of him ever contacting the merchants, nor can we say for sure he has zero knowledge of their connections."
"Let's investigate that later, focus on what we know," Yanda interjected quickly. "Okay, make your men ready! Lulu and I are going to tie down the stronger individuals inside; those in the body refinement realm are going to be left for you. Try to capture them alive, if possible."
"Yes!" He saluted them before leaving, clearly fired up and ready for action.
"How exciting!" Lulu giggled, standing up and stretching.
"Glad you are happy!" Yanda said, leaving the money on the table as they left the tea house. They were walking along the busy street towards a huge courtyard surrounded by high walls. The headquarters of the Golden Mane merchant group. "The intel told us that there are four harmony realm warriors inside."
"So what?" Lulu scoffed at the idea. "Since this war is going on, our Sect's disciples have already clashed with Ironclaw multiple times! There are even instances where our body refinement cultivators beat their so-called experts! Hmf!"
"We still had people die on missions…" Yanda answered with a stern and somewhat cold voice.
"That is war." Lulu shook her head. "This is why it is finally time for Master to come back and put an end to this! I am not afraid as this is nothing more than just the warmup. The real battles come when we finally corner that shithead who is behind them!"
"Relax…" Yanda said as he patted her back, knowing that under the surface, Lulu was clearly angry. Her family suffered a lot as Ironclaw looked like they were focused on the Elroth Kingdom more than any of the others from the Kingdom of Ten. When they arrived at the main gate, the two guards there quickly stopped the duo from entering.
"Do you have any invitations? Without one, please leave the premises!" The guard said, looking at them, only seeing two teens who wandered here curiously checking out the sights.
"Oh, we have an invitation!" Lulu smiled, clapping her hands and producing a folded letter, giving it to the guards.
"This is?" He asked, opening it while his eyes were growing double their size as it was an official letter. It told them clearly that everyone affiliated with the Golden Mane group was under arrest. Effective immediately. Worse, it was signed and stamped personally by Aerthus X.
"Do you need to verify it?" Lulu chuckled, watching their reaction.
"Y-yes." The guard shook, returning to his senses, hurrying away, while the other, left at the gate, quickly put down his pike and threw off his helmet, raising his hands.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
"I'm just working here; I'm not part of them!" He said quickly.
"We can see that." Yanda smiled, walking past him. "So please, continue cooperating, and we guarantee that you are going to be just fine." As soon as he finished speaking, military officers appeared, taking away the guard, who knew he may have just dodged losing his head here. He quickly realized that amongst the crowded streets, dozens of eyes were watching the headquarters like hawks.
The other guard did not even look back, just rushed into the main building, gasping for air, holding the letter in his trembling hands. He was barging into the main meeting hall where the leaders were having their usual board meeting of the week. At the huge, oval table, half a dozen rich people were sitting, smoking cigars and already drinking fine wine, yet the sun just came up a few hours ago. They were shareholders of the merchant group, discussing next month's plans, snapping their heads towards the double mahogany door that was being slammed open with a loud bang.
"What happened that is so important to disturb us like this?" One of the oldest members of the group asked as he furrowed his graying eyebrows. He was wearing an expensive, red suit, protruding at his huge belly. His rounded glasses were made out of gold, glittering in the morning sun's rays.
"This is very bad!" The guard shouted, hurriedly giving them the letter. The old man almost froze in place after reading its first few lines.
"Nonsense! This is clearly a fabrication! They haven't got any evidence!" He shouted as he threw the letter forward. But just as he did, the paper itself lit up in a creamy-colored light, and Lulu's voice echoed out of it.
"It is not. So stay put; we are coming to collect you later." She chuckled, and from the paper, strands of strong light burst out, wrapping around everyone in the room and tying them to their chairs.
"What is this?!" Most of them screamed while the guard fell to his butt, shaking constantly, watching the scene playing out before his eyes.
"Don't worry, there will be a proper trial. For now, just enjoy the show." Lulu's voice echoed out again before it was cut off.
Outside of the headquarters, in the courtyard, Lulu and Yanda were facing four warriors who clearly knew it was too late to escape. They immediately felt the pair's aura latching onto theirs the moment they stepped past the main gate. Their only option for escape would be defeating them and running to the previously specified hiding spot or to the south, where they could escape via a sea route if they ever get compromised. That is exactly where Wyland was wreaking havoc right at that moment.
"If you give up now, we can guarantee you are not going to be treated harshly. Or receive the death penalty." Yanda said, crossing his arms, but the only answer he received was a blazingly hot fireball whizzing toward his face. "I see." He sighed, pulling up a water curtain from nowhere, blocking the attack as it let out thick, white steam, clouding everyone's vision.
"Oh? They probably had papers about us?" Lulu asked as she tilted her head. The four tried to use the fog to escape as soon as it appeared. "But it seems they only know about our affinities and not our strengths."
By the time her voice died down, she was no longer standing beside Yanda but high up in the air, traveling faster than someone could even blink their eyes. The four warriors only saw four glowing strikes coming towards them as they had barely enough time to block them. It was clear that every one of them was in possession of fire affinity as they summoned burning shields before them. They were hurriedly fending off the needle-thin, light beams aiming for their chests. As the smoke settled, Lulu was standing above them, holding a literal light rapier in hand, smiling at them provocatively.
"You guys are too slow." She said while moving her hand, but the four were already backing up before she spoke a word. Yet it was not enough as three of them groaned while blood sprayed out from their chests. "Mmm, not bad!" Lulu nodded, watching their reactions. "You are experienced warriors, it seems!"
One of the Ironclaw members covered his body with flames way before any of this happened, avoiding being injured by Lulu, yet his armor was already breaking into pieces from the sheer force of Lulu's attack. His comrades were not so lucky as they were too slow to even follow Lulu's movements and ended up being stabbed by her rapier. It went through their bodies cleanly.
"My turn," Yanda said as he was waiting for Lulu to injure them. "It should work…" He added under his breath as his hands formed a seal, focusing on the injured trio. The blood that was still in the air, just flying out from their bodies, suddenly 'froze' mid-air, forming into threads and returning to their bodies.
"Not good!" The only one who was not injured yet cried out, but it was too late.
They may have been in the Harmony realm, yet they still followed the old system and advanced at a lower stage of body refinement. None of them could resist Yanda's influence on their blood now.
"You are getting scarier every time, my dear hubby~," Lulu said as she licked her lips, watching as the bodies in the air convulsed. Their skin was turning red, then darkening, turning brown, purple, and black in color.
"Blood is mostly water; Master's teachings were right," Yanda said, still focusing on most of his senses as controlling it inside their bodies was harder than bending an ownerless body of water to his will.
"Stop it!" The uninjured warrior shouted, going after Yanda, but Lulu was already before him.
"You looked away. Big mistake." She whispered as her light rapier went through his throat. "How warm…" She murmured, watching the bright red blood flow down, reaching her fingers as he was trying to gasp for air. He was clawing at his own neck a few times before the light disappeared from his eyes, and his body went completely limp. She pulled out her rapier, and it quickly disappeared into light particles as she picked out a handkerchief, wiping her hand clean and watching the body plummet to the ground.
The three others did not fare any better as now, from any possible orifices of theirs, their blood was flowing to the outside world. It was taking the shape of ropes and strangling, binding them. It was painting a horrific picture for anyone who saw it.
"Geez, you are brutal!" Lulu said laughingly. "And kinky!"
"Stop joking around!" Yanda snorted as he worked hard to weaken them and capture all of them alive so Ren could interrogate every last one of them later for more information.
While they were fighting against the Ironclaw warriors, the Shadow Corps and the local guards under their command swarmed the Golden Mane headquarters. They were arresting everybody they came across. They were mostly civilians, only working under the instructions of the board members, not even knowing what was happening, scared out of their skins. Most of them quickly gave up without resisting, and only some of the weaker cultivators were affiliated with Ironclaw. They were caught trying to burn and destroy any evidence leading back to them, but everything happened so suddenly they were mostly unsuccessful. Outside, Lulu was watching Yanda perform his newest spell. They were working on it in tandem, and it proved to be a success, allowing him to control others' blood. She was about to land beside him when an explosion happened in the main building. The force behind it made a big part of it collapse onto itself, burying the captured board members under the rubble.
"Damn it! They had a fifth?!" Lulu shouted as she saw a red beam leaving the premises, flying towards south with an incredible speed. "I'm going after him!" She shouted as she shot upwards, following his trail immediately.
"Wait! Damn it, Lulu!" Yanda screamed after her, yet he couldn't move until he finished binding the weakened cultivators so they couldn't escape. "You reckless bitch! If you dare to be injured, I'm going to beat you myself!" He shouted after her with an annoyed voice, trying to hurry up his work to rush after her before something unexpected happened to her.