...

Place: Azure

'This is actually amazing.'

As Irisk hid among the city dwellers, she couldn't help but grin at the rare opportunity—a guard had grabbed a poor child she occasionally saw working at a blacksmith and pressed him against the wall. His voice echoed through the whole district, crying and wailing.

"Heuk! Please, I am sorry! It hurts—argh!"

The begging didn't help—the guard was furious. He pressed harder, causing the boy to wheeze as he gasped for air, struggling like a drowning animal.

"You little shit! You deserve death to spout such rumors!"

The guard, likely already on edge from hearing all those rumors daily, cared little for the boy's suffering—a sense of helplessness drove him to this action.

'A tiny spark.

Irisk felt a surge of motivation as she recalled Narsiz's words. She looked around, trying to analyze the crowd around her, which continued to increase as the screams and croaks still reverberated through the district.

People gathered, some wealthy, some influential, some artists. Still, all were at least part of some clan with some say—the perfect crowd.

With a silent chuckle, Irisk weaved through the crowd, whispering into people's ears as if speaking to someone beside them. She changed her voice continuously, making the acted-out voices sound increasingly upsetting. She used a spell scroll to mimic them, to sound like the last person she had heard.

"How can a representative of the Dame educate someone so innocent so brutally? Is she a tyrant if we have such guards?"

"How can a leader terrorize children? Is he that weak?"

"It's weak and pathetic if a leader is only able to go against innocent children."

Like an avalanche, murmurs began to chase through the crowd, becoming louder and soon reaching the guard, who turned around only to see his worst nightmare.

"What are you doing here?!"

The guard felt how everyone glared at him in disgust and hate, forcing him to let the boy fall to the ground, realizing it was too much with so many witnesses. Given the current mood in the city, it could become dangerous.

"Disperse, or I will punish all of you!"

As he screamed at them, most people started slowly to leave while still gossiping, with Irisk knowing it would be the hottest topic the following day.

'This is scary how well it works.'

It was an incredible sight, but sadly, when she saw the guard still waving everyone away, wanting them to leave, and the boy still struggling to get air, coughing up masses of saliva, she knew that it was a chance she needed to use.

'Let's make it perfect.'

Irisk couldn't help but smile mischievously. She ripped another spellscroll, whispering through the rain and crowd murmuring toward the guard's ears—he flinched when it arrived.

"Cough, is this what you learned under your pathetic clan?"

The guard immediately turned around and kicked the child with full force, using even his energy, making an enormous impact.

"What happened?! A murder!"

"Why did this trash of flesh murder the poor boy?!"

"I can't believe this is serving under the Dame..."

Everyone who watched it was perplexed and saw the result of such an attack against a child—a part of the body was ripped away, splattering of blood and organs all around the area, with some even starting to gag as they never saw death, some crying, other wanting to run away immediately.

Irisk smiled, sensing the hate and terror everyone felt. It didn't matter what kind of child one was since everyone had a protective instinct toward the innocent, which showed—the aura she felt around here could only be described as killing intent as some wanted to take action.

'Oh, look at that—' Seeing further away, many other guards with their captain arrived, '—time to leave~♪'

Irisk moved away, as stealthily as possible, but still watching how screams and insults suddenly unfolded against the guards while others were throwing their names around.

Even though the Essence Alliance was brutal, death was a sin one couldn't oversee, especially for the ones who didn't get their legacy.

...

Place: Azure Grand Hall, Uru Clan

Time: Days Later

"Keugh! Please! I don't know where the rumors came from—argh!"

"You worthless worm! What good are you for then?!"

A slender and gorgeous djinn woman held one of her many servants by the throat, lifting him as her fingers tightened slowly around his neck. Her anger grew with each passing moment as the memory of the humiliation she endured at the ball mere moments ago surged through her mind.

"Mistress! You will kill him if you continue!"

Another servant, as terrified as the rest who watched her go berserk, rushed to her, bowing down and pleading to stop her violent behavior—a brave servant.

However, it was the wrong moment as she remembered the glares at the ball—wrong place, wrong time.

'These little fuckers!'

Her left eye twitched as a vein popped on her forehead—a sudden pressure descended upon the hall, crushing the servant who dared to intervene.

Bang!

With a loud bang and crack, her mighty aura slammed him headfirst into the ground—a childish act, but she needed to vent her rage.

"Fine!"

She released the servant she had been strangling, letting him float mid-air as if suspended in water. Then, with a slight shift of her aura, the directional vectors changed, sending him into a panic.

Bang!

She flung him into the wall on the far side of the entrance hall, holding back just enough to avoid turning her loyal servant into a bloody pancake.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance, seeing the mess her outburst had caused. Worse, all her servants averted their eyes in fear, thinking they would be the next to suffer. She got an idea, wanting to apologize but needing to do it implicitly, as her pride wouldn't allow it otherwise.

"Clean this up and take the week off! I do not need shivering imbeciles!—" She looked at her victims, frowning, "—and get a priest here, immediately!"

She turned around and walked up the stairs toward her office. The click-clack of her high heels created vibrations that echoed through the mansion, making windows crack and walls shudder—menacing and threatening—a stark contrast to the fluttering of her traditional, colorful dress, which made her appear deceptively innocent.

"These little fuckers trying to humiliate me—" as she said it, her high heel touched the ground, creating a crater, pulverizing it underneath it, "—so what if I am only the leader of a middle-sized clan?! I deserve this fucking city I brought to prosperity!"

She came directly from a ball where those who had some say in their respective clans and were at least part of the council met—a gathering of undeniable high standing.

However, she was frowned upon because of what happened in her territory, trying to convey that she should let someone else take the administrator role for Azure, 'They dare to use those rumors against me?! These little shitstains!'

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Rumors circulated throughout Azure, with her being the focus point. Her people, like guards, became unhinged, creating chaos and restlessness by doing the most heinous things to the populace, like killing a young boy because he said something stupid.

'I need the head of the guard to appease those trash—' She clicked her tongue, knowing it wasn't even close to enough of what she needed to make her residents amiable toward her again, the Major of one of the most important cities in the Essence Alliance.

Unfortunately, these weren't ancient times when one could simply massacre those who spoke ill. The battlefield changed from blood-filled fields to the document-filled desks of administrators.

A complex web emerged, bringing prosperity and peace. It could only operate well if the economy and populace's perception stayed positive. Long gone were the times of her kin wandering through lands, living off nothing but vegetables and a little meat while trading whatever they could collect on the way.

'How ironic.'

Every leader, an absolute power, was forced by the circumstances of their success to sit down at some point and read tax policies on the classification of fruits, making sensitive decisions about the most trivial things—gone were the adrenaline-filled days where she only thought how to survive the following day.

'I need that boy to be of help.'

To salvage her situation, she needed a specific person who had been a thorn in her eyes for some time. He also experienced a catastrophe, which she wanted to use selfishly.

Clank

When she opened the door to her office, her mood drastically changed, "Thaldon, my dear—" With a forced smile and caressing through her lustrous blue hair, she walked confidently toward the other side of the desk, "—I apologize for summoning you on such short notice, but I need to discuss a few matters with you."

As Thaldon was about to stand up to bow, she waved at him dismissively to stop, not having the nerve to go through all those useless customs.

"I am very honored to meet you, my—" she interrupted him again, "—I would appreciate it if you could cease all manners for today, my dear."

She gently brushed her hand over his shoulder as she circled the table, causing him to twitch in fear. She smirked, finding amusement in his reaction, as he was usually so stoic and rarely showed emotion.

"My dear, you should calm down—" standing behind her desk, she looked down at the young boy sitting nervously and glaring at her with a certain hate she liked, "—today will not be an execution but your crowning, dear."

Thaldon raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I don't understand, Dame?"

She looked down at him with a slight smile, knowing she needed to speed up the conversation and be more direct. If she planned to succeed with her course of action, she had to get a decisive answer from Thaldon today.

"Weren't there those pesky little coals who took your territory because one of your clan leader's subordinates failed to provide enough resources?"

Thaldon began to speak, but she cut him off, her tone growing severe as the pressure in the room intensified, "Let me cut to the chase. I want you to conquer their territory—" Her glare intensified while the pressure increased, "—I want to turn this humiliation into a deterrent for all those vermin trying to bite at my heels."

When she traveled back to her estate, she was already organizing any and all information she could find. It was a mistake on her part to ignore those rumors, thinking they would just disappear after some days, but evidently, this wasn't the case.

For now, she had only a rough outline, but it would be more than enough to give her the needed overview so that she could act and plan her next steps.

'I can't believe they dare to act like this.'

Even the thought of what had happened intensified her aura, making her teeth grind in exasperation—a fringe sect of the Eros Alliance had captured the territory of the Uru clan by supplying proxies and mercenaries with an abundance of resources, driven by the importance of a site in a nearby valley to their obscure religion.

However, the proxy group, which acted as combatants, weren't paid in gold but were given land and acknowledged as the rightful owners by those zealots.

Even though what she could collect with her limited resources seemed improbable, she was well aware that the Essence Alliance also had the same type of lunatics who needed a collar and tight leash to prevent them from igniting a full-scale war.

'I shouldn't have ignored all information—' She clicked her tongue in annoyance, '—it's on me.'

While she wasn't of the Uru clan, she was like a branch leader affiliated with them, making her basically a representative. With that, all critiques flung at them were also thrown at her.

She received countless useless snippets of information daily, which she and her people would analyze and try to find anything practical she could act on to benefit in any way.

One of those was that the Eros Alliance clans had recently changed their leadership, as the council selected a new Grand Leader.

It was a chain of events—one thing happened after the other. The Grand Leader was new and had to be set into the position first, giving the clans more freedom and opportunities to act according to their desires initially.

As such, an opportunistic mad leader of a zealous and isolated group could be enough to cause chaos. Worse, if the group were also on bad terms with the new Grand Leader, they would care little about his perception of the broader populace if they went rogue.

Unfortunately, they faced a similar situation, with many crazies itching to enslave both the Moorgrelians and the Eros Alliance—a suicidal ambition, indeed.

"Urgh..."

Hearing the moaning, she only now noticed that the boy was suffering under her pressure, barely able to sit upright, as she was in her own world.

She immediately dispersed it, chuckling, "My apologies, dear, I do get so riled up sometimes."

Thaldon nodded, finally able to catch his breath, "I understand, Dame, but why don't we just take back our territory? Wouldn't that be the most reasonable course of action?"

She snorted, "Amateur."

"Pardon?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed, "I have no idea why they call you a genius, but let me explain—" She smirked as she noticed his irritation, "—Some simple facts which should make it easy to understand for you—" Thaldon popped a vein on his forehead but remained quiet, "—The land is worthless, likely fortified by some rogue group with more explosives than sense."

In her opinion, land could be discarded, especially if it had no resources or strategic value. It was merely a costly piece of dirt that required constant surveillance. Furthermore, it wasn't hers to begin with, with her needing to make him ignore it.

She shuddered slightly, "The worst would be if we made a mistake and some noble brat got a scratch, especially that one who supposedly roams those lands—" Her upper lip bent in disgust, "—The Nightmare would probably return, and I am already surrounded by enough crazies, not needing some bloodthirsty bitch killing millions."

Djinn and beast-kin societies were too different—one had a clear leader, a person who made the decisions and would represent the main power of the clan. At the same time, the other was a combination of two mostly strong individuals with demonic energy, countless incestuous relationships, and a cohesion any general could only dream of for their military.

There was a reason why only the most insane of her allies tried to wage a total war against them while hiding in their little caves with their gadgets.

Other than that, she liked to have a buffer zone between those animal lunatics as they were on edge for years because some of their children were almost assassinated, with the council, at the time, praying that the assassin would be none of theirs—the more distance they could gain, in any way possible, the better.

She continued, "We need to strike this filthy clan at its heart, not just scratch their shield—" She glared at Thaldon, "—Go, take their island, kill them all, their offspring, their elderly, their sick, their saints and scholars—" Her smile became one of bloodthirst, making Thaldon flinch, "—and bring me the heads of their leaders. You will have my full support, including the military. Do you understand?"

All catastrophes were opportunities in disguise. If she could take advantage of hers by curing the purulent finger and making herself immune to any future infections, it would lift her standing even more—both within the council and among her people.

Maybe even she could slowly weasel herself out of the Uru clan since it was suffocating.

Thaldon nodded, "—I understand—" He stood up, offering a slight bow and trying to guess how much manners he was allowed to show, "—I will restore our honor, Dame Pascal."

Her smile widened, "That's right, dear—" She leaned forward, "—If you succeed, I'll ensure you get your seat as an elder, even if you haven't undergone domain domination. Understood?"

Thaldon shivered in excitement slightly and showed a greedy smile under all the angst he had—this was all Dame Pascal needed to confirm that this young upstart would do whatever it took to avenge her. Better still, if she could secure his loyalty along with the territory, she could restore and elevate her reputation even more—one couldn't have too many loyal retainers and allies.

Clank

With another nod, Thaldon left, with Dame Pascal assuring him that everything would be prepared within a week. However, in the meantime, she needed to deal with some bothersome vermin to ensure that neither the Eros Clan nor the Leonandras would interfere.

'Tsk, I can't believe I'll have to ask for permission.'

She needed to negotiate something to ensure that no one else from the Eros Alliance would attack, but in her opinion, it should be manageable. The clan on that island was small and useless, and going by the chauvinistic pig of the Grand Leader they had, it was probable that he hated them even more.

The Alliances constantly bargained with each other, asking for permission to attack smaller clans that, for example, went rogue and needed reassurance from the other council not to interfere.

They were fine with such an arrangement since having small, extreme factions inside their alliances would usually lead to many more problems, which could escalate further.

The last time the Eros Alliance asked permission for an attack was years ago, needing to annihilate some obscure clan that enslaved vulcanic djinns and forced them to breed constantly, sacrificing their infants in the most horrific ways—an action too vile even for the most extreme members of their council.

In exchange for the permission to not interfere in killing all those disgusting people, they opened a valuable trade route, letting hundreds of ships through per month; as long as there were no slaves on it—everybody won.

'Now, how should I approach Mari?'

Dame Pascal had no issues with Marisia S. Leonandra, a capable administrator and a staunch advocate for peace. The only obstacle was the Church, constantly breathing down their necks due to their Grand Leader's devoutness—they abhorred beast-kin.

She tilted her head slightly as she got an idea, 'Doesn't she have that genius?—' She glanced toward the side room, where the person she intended to summon entered promptly, "—Dame Pascal, at your service."

"You have two days. I need every detail about that brat from Leonandra's territory—his preferences, weaknesses, basically everything. I need to find any leverage to bribe Mari."