Rieren was experiencing a little tug of war in her mind. It wasn’t fun in the least, though she supposed that since this was an emotional one, she could at least appreciate how she felt it so deeply.

After winning the Trials of Ascendance, most of Rieren wanted to exult in her victory. She wanted a break. Some time to simply enjoy the euphoria of her triumph, to get away from everything that continued to worry her ceaselessly and just revel in the fact she had obtained a tremendous accomplishment.

There was still the actual celebration of the tournament that she hadn’t experienced yet too. Before she had left the arena, the commentator had informed everyone that there would be a proper awarding ceremony in two days’ time. They needed to do some preparations to restore the arena to a state that could actually host the proper festivities.

Unfortunately, Rieren wasn’t certain they would get to hold any fancy functions. Not when things were coming to a head. Not when she and Kalvia had likely used up enough Essence to allow the Aryoventos Clanmaster to ascend to the Fated realm.

That would trigger the Banishedborns’ and the imperial court’s plan to haul the old Forborne Emperor back down to the Mortal Realm.

There was Starloper’s counterplan to use the Banishedborns’ own intentions against them. His trap. The one that Rieren still didn’t know any of the details about. She only needed to have faith that he could hold down the Banishedborn enough for her and her allies to deal with the corrupt imperial court.

Of course, that wasn’t a given either. The courtiers were well-protected, powerful in their own right. They wouldn’t be easy to defeat either. Rieren could only hope. Hope and plan.

Madness. Forget some peace to enjoy her victory, all that awaited Rieren was sheer insanity.

Even worse than worrying about the outcome of such a chain of events, she wasn’t certain she was prepared for it just yet. As much as she tried to grow, it just wouldn’t happen fast. Not when the main vector for her growth was her cultivation now.

Her achievements had slowed down, but that wasn’t unexpected. The trajectory of what she could attain to get herself new achievements had been derailed with everything she had needed to take care of.

Once this was over, however, Rieren would need to focus on her level growth more properly. Her class was at a decent level, but it wasn’t sufficient. It had to be strong enough to make up the difference between her cultivation stage and those who stood at the peak of the Elderlands, and it wasn’t there just yet.

For now, Rieren simply made sure she was gathering as much Essence as she could contain. It was nice she didn’t really need to sleep or eat or waste time otherwise. She could simply close her eyes and focus to draw in the world’s spiritual energy into the reservoir of her expanded elixir field.

This was especially important because she could feel herself having fulfilled one of the requirements to advance to Peak-Exalted. With her victory in the tournament, her name was spreading far and wide.

Rieren Vallorne—a cultivator who had grown as fast as a prodigy, who had discovered how to heal those corrupted with monstrous corruption, who had triumphed in the Trials of Ascendance.

A legend of the Elderlands in the making.

She didn’t want to be too egotistical about it, but she couldn’t help a flush of pride making her grin on occasion. After all, Rieren had deserved to win the Trials.

The sensation of growing renown was strange in a spiritual sense. It was like drawing in Essence, but it came in little burst of energy that filled up her elixir field and pushed against its bounds. Her core was constantly growing, constantly taking steps towards the next stage. And it still wasn’t enough to push her to the actual next stage yet. Eventually, yes, but not till for a little while.

Just went to show how long actual advancement took. Rieren was slightly afraid of how long getting through the Ascendant realm was going to take her. She needed to find a way to bypass the natural restrictions of later-stage growth. Hopefully, Batcat would provide the needed pathways.

Rieren had ideas she wanted to try. All she sought was some time and space to test them out.

Unfortunately, Starloper’s letter told her that she was going to have no time at all.

It was a short missive. His handwriting was familiar to her, so she knew it couldn’t be fake. But all it said was one line.

“Do not interfere in what must happen soon. Oh, and good work on your victory.”

The message had made Rieren swallow. What in the world was Starloper planning? By the sounds of it, something Rieren might end up opposing.

At least he had remembered to congratulate her. She wondered how much he cared about the tournament’s outcome. After all, he had made sure that he was the one officiating her matches.

Though, now that she thought about it, she had never bothered to figure out why.

Rieren got to enjoy the congratulations of others too. Amalyse, Mercion, and Silomene were all gushing when she met them again. It was lovely to see Rieren’s own excitement and euphoria reflected in their eyes. She had later received warm wishes from Silvas, from Clanmistress Avathene, and even from Rykion and Rollo Karlosyne, among others.

The best part was meeting with the monsters again, after her victory. They had cheered her on during the battle itself, and when she found them again after the battle, they were still just as elated.

“You have done it,” the Darkstalker said. “You have triumphed!”

The others echoed the sentiment. Rieren received it all with great warmth and pleasure. It felt good to win. It felt even better to keep her word.

“Soon,” she said as she was leaving. “We will make our wish a reality soon.” If all went according to plan, that was, though Rieren didn’t need to bring in any interjections just then. “Soon, we will be victorious.”

“We already are,” the Darkstalker said.

Rieren departed with a big smile on her face.

For all that everyone she met seemed cheerful, enjoying her victory as much as she did, Rieren still couldn’t stave off her niggling worry. The tournament was over. Soon enough, the trap would be triggered. And then things would turn quite insane.

Her fears materialize just the following day.

“Destroyer!”

A monster hurtled into her little glen with a growl. It looked like it was running from a fatal danger pursing hot on its heels. Distantly, Rieren noted how it was easier for her to note others’ emotions now that she had hers back as well. But she was distracted by the Abyssal’s words.

“They are attacking!” it said. “They are killing and stealing us. The humans. They are murdering us. The cursed humans!”

Rieren shot to her feet, her heart starting to thunder in her chest. “Speak clearly.” She paused. “Actually, forget it. Tell me where they are.”

“Follow!”

The Abyssal rushed off, probably glad that it could just show her the madness going on instead of needing to speak. Rieren hurried after it, her sword already in her hands. Humans attacking monsters? What in the world for? They couldn’t have done anything. The remaining Abyssals, Aetherian, and Arisen all knew the importance of maintaining the peace.

Especially since Rieren had now won the tournament. Their wish, their motivation behind participating in the tournament, could be realized thanks to her.

There had to be something deeper going on. Her mouth twisted. Someone had caused this. She was certain of it. A sudden realization almost made her pause. A sudden recollection that nearly made her falter.

Starloper’s letter. He had told her not to interfere. Remis Sharan. She had warned something would be needed to kickstart the Aryoventos Clanmaster’s ascendance.

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Curse them to the Abyss.

“Batcat.” Rieren turned to the little Spirit beast bounding alongside her. “Go to Amalyse and the Clanmistress. Tell them things might start to get awry. Go. Hurry.”

The smart little cat bounded off without protest. Rieren was blessed to have such an intelligent and understanding companion. She just had to hope the others stuck to the plan, even if Rieren got tied up in other business for the time being.

The monster hurried to a path that led to the tournament grounds. They intercepted a gaggle of monsters headed in the same direction.

“Destroyer!” several said, noting her arrival.

“They’ve taken our comrades hostage,” an Arisen said. “The evil humans are forcing our hand.”

“Taking you hostage?” Rieren came to a stop in front of them, barring their path forward. “Why? What for? What reason could they have to do something like this? Did any of you cause any harm?”

The monsters growled their dissent.

“Never, Destroyer!”

“We know what is at stake.”

“It is the humans’ fault!”

“Tell me the sequence of events,” Rieren said, speaking over their clamour. “Tell me what has happened.”

Their story was simple. In the dead of night, someone had come in and provoked them. One of the monsters had run off after the intruder, lured away to chase after the slight human after she had flung torturous threats at them. The other monsters had tried to stop the first one from running off in that manner, but they had failed.

Less than an hour later, the other humans had appeared. They had invaded the grove the monsters had been residing in. There had been no warnings, nothing spoken by the humans other than the expected curses and insults. They had attacked, killed some, and taken a few with them as they retreated.

And now the others were rushing to the tournament grounds to retrieve their taken comrades. The group Rieren had intercepted wasn’t the first. There were already some who had reached the grounds and were determined to free their companions.

Rieren cursed. In other words, the situation ahead was already dire. She was too late to stop things from spiralling into disaster.

A hot wash of anger made her grip her new sword so tight, it was a little surprising she didn’t break off its hilt. Remis Sharan. The slight human could only be her. She had caused this, led this idiotic plan to force the humans and monsters into conflict again.

After everything Rieren had done to ensure peace between the two parties, the thread of calm was starting to unravel. Might have already been frayed and torn so much that there was possibly no way of repairing it back to its old state. Everything Rieren had accomplished over the tournament might have been shattered.

And Rieren realized she was starting to not care about peace. They wanted violence. They wanted to destroy everything. They despised the monsters for the same kind of slaughter they were willing to perform for their own greedy purposes.

They didn’t deserve peace.

“Is this all of you?” Rieren asked, looking into the eyes of every monster present.

Something about the change in her made them all straighten, made them calmer. As though the outrage they had encased themselves in had transferred to Rieren.

“Then heed my words closely,” Rieren said. “We will march to the tournament grounds and recover those who have been taken, dead or alive. But you and I will have our own duties to perform. You will recover your taken comrades. You will retreat and take them and yourselves to safety, away from the humans.”

“And you, Destroyer?” one of the monsters asked.

Rieren turned around. She twisted her neck a little. “I will take care of anyone who tries to stop you.” The promise in her voice dripped with rage and the guarantee of devastation. “They will learn why you call me the Destroyer.”

They rushed off. As they neared the grounds, Rieren once more reiterated that the monsters were not to get drawn into any battles unless they had to protect themselves. Rieren would be the one doing the fighting. It might have sounded far too egotistical to think she could handle anyone and everyone opposing them, but they would see.

This was far from the first time Rieren had fought the imperial court and its bastards.

The grounds was chaos. Most of the area had been emptied of civilians and mortals by the looks of things. Clear signs of struggle—broken tents, destroyed fences, spilled blood—littered the area.

And then there were the monsters themselves. Just as the ones behind Rieren had said, they were being dragged off by a group of cultivators treating them like chattel slaves.

A vein throbbed on Rieren’s head. Her heart hammered with the beat of war drums. If she was this enraged, what in the Abyss were the monsters behind her experiencing?

“Follow my lead,” she said.

Her approach was sensed by the others, of course. The whole procession stopped. The captive creatures turned their heads to see their comrades approaching and renewed their struggled against their runic binds. But a quick use of lightning from one of the cultivators burned their faces and they were cowed down.

Several of the monsters behind Rieren growled, threatening to break out of formation and charge the cultivators. That would just be playing into their hands. These puss-breathers wanted the monsters to lose themselves in their rage.

Control. When experiencing anger against foes, one had to maintain perfect control and direct the hate with obliterating precision.

Rieren raised a hand to stall them, and to make sure all their attention was on her. “Release them.”

The cultivator in the lead—a smarmy fellow with oily dark hair and a sallow face—tutted and shook his head. “They said you had turned back to normal.” He looked at her with affected disgust. “But it looks like they actually let a monster win that Abyss-cursed tourney. What were they thinking?”

“I will not repeat myself again.” Rieren raised her sword. “Let. Them. Go.”

“Or what?” The man stepped closer. “You going to shed your humanity and embrace your monstrosity or some such crap? Huh? Why don’t you go and do that, you little upstart freak.”

Before Rieren could decide how best she could do just as the man suggested, someone else arrived on the spot. Someone Rieren wasn’t expecting to arrive. Not so soon, at least.

“What is the meaning of this?” Kalvia asked, walking over with her hands at her waist and glowering at them all.

The other cultivators started muttering at her appearance. This was not a part of their plan.

The man who had accosted Rieren was about to turn and face Kalvia, but another cultivator stepped up first. He appeared a lot more reasonable than his companion, looking almost apologetic in the face of the future Empress.

“Greetings, highness,” he said.

“Majesty,” Kalvia said.

He bowed his head deeply. “Yes, Majesty. We were attacked by the monsters not long ago and so we decided to take care of matters before they proved too much of a threat.”

“On whose orders?”

The man looked up and blinked. “Why, on the court’s, of course.”

“But not the Emperor’s?”

The man began sweating a little. “Well, you see—”

The first one, the oily-haired fellow who had insulted Rieren to her face stepped over. “Well, Majesty, we couldn’t wait for the Emperor’s approval. The beasts were getting too ferocious. We had to start putting them down.”

“And yet I see you have taken them captive instead of putting them down.”

The tension was rising in the air. Rieren slowly raised her sword. She could feel the hackles of the other cultivators in the area rising too. The only one who seemed unbothered entirely was Kalvia.

“Well, Majesty—”

“Enough. I believe the monsters are here to retrieve their comrades from your captivity. Release them. There will be an official investigation into the matter, just as there was last time, and we will conclude things peacefully.”

“These are monsters!” the man protested. He stabbed a finger at the nearest one. “Just look at them. As soon as we let one go, they’ll start attacking. Believe me, Majesty, we wouldn’t want to put you in any danger.”

So ironic. Kalvia shook her head. “Release them. That is an order. The consequences shall be dealt with.”

The man’s face twitched. He clearly resented being ordered around by a bastard daughter of an Emperor who wasn’t even here any longer. An illegitimate heir by his reckoning.

Someone who should never have dared to order him around.

What happened next was too fast for even Rieren to react to. The man turned his face to one side, feigning a considering look, like he had to weigh whether to obey Kalvia’s command. In truth, he was most likely preparing something heinous, like stabbing her before she could see it coming. Kalvia, of course, was already a step ahead.

Her arm moved with the speed of a striking viper. One second, there was nothing. The next, her arm whipped up too fast for regular eyes to see, her curved knife appearing in her hand just in time to stab through the man’s eye. Where any Essence armour he might have was naturally weakest.

The blade bit in and sent the man sprawling to the dirt. He didn’t move. Blood pooled around his head. Kalvia’s strike had pierced his brain, by the looks of the fluid that accompanied the blood moments later.

“You,” the other cultivator began, a little horrified. “You attack—you killed him.”

He faced her, his former apologetic look giving way to flaring anger. The other cultivators around him were reacting with rage too.

“Watch how you react,” Kalvia said. “A move against me is a move against the empire.”

Brilliant. Absolutely ingenious by Kalvia. She had forced a confrontation with the faction who clearly couldn’t think less of her and Astern, the current Emperor. They had also admitted they were acting under the imperial court’s direction.

So, if they chose to attack her now, it would be tantamount to the imperial court attacking the imperial heir.

In other words, the Emperor would be forced to respond.

Rieren grinned. Her blood was starting to sing, her pounding heart and thrumming soul in tune with another as the prospect of battle appeared bright and hot before her. Because it was obvious Kalvia had pushed them too far, had forced their hand to make them react.

“What in the Abyss are you all waiting for?” one of them cried. “Your puss-breathing mothers to give you all their blessings? Kill them.”

Just as expected, chaos broke out over the area. Chaos that Rieren was more than ready for.

One of the men arrowed straight for Kalvia. Rieren was there in a flash thanks to Fray Passage. The man’s enormous cleaver was already slicing down, and Rieren got in the way just in time. Her shoulder experienced a burning gash. The power behind the blow threw her back too, the pain making her grit her teeth as she collided with the ground.

But she was back on her feet a second later. Battle fury coursed through her veins, through her very soul, making her feel more alive than she’d had in a while.

Well, that, and the fact that she had activated Reaver Stance as soon as she’d been struck.

“What in the—” The man who had struck her was lost for words for just a second. “I nearly cut you in half! How are you back on your feet already?”

Rieren twisted her neck just a little and raised the new Receptor Sword she had bought with the last of her Credits. “That the likes of you think you can kill me is laughable.”

That enraged them even further. They charged at her, haphazard in their fury, seeking only to end her. Rieren grinned, then rushed to meet them.