"It must have been hard for you these past few years, Kazue"
Aveline spoke softly as she served her guest a drink.
Lady Yamano reached out and took a glass. Taking a deep gulp, she sighed in satisfaction before replying.
"The most stressful part is always taking care of those old fellows. The scheming up there is seriously so thick someone can actually drown in it.
Aveline let out a little laugh as she sat down.
"Even if it is, it is not much of a problem for you to swim is it? Kazue?"
Lady Yamano narrowed her eyes a bit but didn't say anything and quietly sipped her drink.
Souma felt the change in environment and became increasingly nervous.
He didn't know who this woman was but it seemed that statement seemed to have some hidden undercurrent that he had no knowledge of.
Sweeping her long curly hair to the side, Aveline propped her chin up with her right arm on the sofa and looked at Lady Yamano with a small smile.
"Tell me why you are really here, Kazue."
Lady Yamano took her attention from the cup and looked at Aveline.
"Tch, that calm expression of yours never fails to piss me off!"
She seemed to have taken back the cold tone she used in her greeting previously.
Souma at this point was terrified!
He had never seen Lady Yamano act like this ever, even among her colleagues.
No matter how angry she was, Lady Yamano always handled things like a ruler looking down on a trivial matter.
But now, she actually seemed to be irritated!
This was actually a mind blowing matter to him!
Aveline didn't reply but her smile just deepened.
"I have a message from someone high up. Just for your ears."
As she said the last part, Lady Yamano turned her gaze to Souma.
Knowing he was not wanted here, he hastily took his leave, nervously adjusting his glasses on the way.
The two women watched him leave through the front door before turning their attention to each other once again.
Lady Yamano didn't waste time to speak.
"You are very familiar with this person so I won't beat around too much. Archie the Third wants you back."
"No"
The reply was immediate.
"Don't be so decisive. You are not going to be working for those old fools, you will be working directly under him."
"My reply remains the same."
Aveline's face was extremely calm as she replied her.
Lady Yamano took in a deep breath.
"You don't have to be so difficult to deal with. The thing he needs your help for, is naturally something that would pique your interest also."
Aveline didn't respond, only staring back calmly.
But the next words from Lady Yamano made her eyelashes flutter erratically.
"Project White Tulip"
Seeing Aveline's response, Lady Yamano smiled in satisfaction like she had won some hidden battle.
"What does Archie the Third have to do with that project?"
Even though waves were currently raging in her mind, Aveline's response was still quiet.
"He naturally took interest in it and is now investing heavily in the project. In fact…."
Lady Yamano paused a bit to create tension.
"We have already achieved initial success!"
Aveline's reaction this time was not visible and that made Lady Yamano feel a bit displeased.
Aveline was quiet for a moment as she looked like she was contemplating things.
"Archie the Third, to think he would push into this matter. Is he really not afraid that those people would grip him by the throat?"
When she finally spoke, it was about a totally different thing.
"You haven't been up there for quite a while Aveline. Archie the Third was always an exceptional person, his means are not something you can imagine."
Lady Yamano refuted her.
"To think you will be praising someone so much Kazue. Truly unlike you."
Aveline smiled at her.
"But it doesn't matter anyway. As much as the relationship between me and him goes, it doesn't matter in this situation."
Aveline suddenly spoke resolutely.
"The deal between me and those people, is a matter that he can not involve himself in even if he wanted to no matter how far his means reach. This is a matter you simply cannot understand."
Lady Yamano's eyes shook involuntarily at those words.
But Aveline wasn't done yet. At this point, the aura around her felt very stifling as she spoke even though she was still sitting back casually.
"And as for project White Tulip, just for the relationship between us I want you to take these words back to him. He should be very careful, extremely careful to the max. Because even someone like him wouldn't be able to bear the consequences should any news leak out!"
A few minutes later, Aveline was clearing the things away to the kitchen.
Heading upstairs, she passed by Hina's room only to find it empty.
"Hmm."
She walked a few steps forward to Reo's room only to find it empty too.
"Those children, just where did they go?"
________________________________________________________________________________________
Lighting flashed and thunder rumbled as an incomparably fierce battle happened in the skies.
A few mountains already had their tops blown off, leaving the previous peaceful scenery looking like a devastated warzone.
A bright light suddenly appeared as two opposing forces clashed fiercely!
BLZT! BANG!!!
The light covered nearly half of the mountain range with everything thing in its radius from rain to wind seeming to vanish before fading away really slowly.
The large figure of a grey furred wolfman covered in lighting was flung out of the boundless light.
If someone noticed closely, it was obvious that compared to when he first appeared, his body was much smaller.
He coughed out some blood and looked extremely haggard but his eyes shone fiercely.
But just before he could recover, two blurringly fast figures approached with powerful auras.
"A bunch of ants!" he yelled.
But even though he said that, he moved quickly to try and dodge.
But it was too late.
"Heaven and earth essence! Boundless world origin!"
Two voices echoed out as the figures split up. One coming from above and another coming from below.
As their voices ended, two terrifying energies erupted around them!
The mana in the surroundings converged towards them as two incomparably large fists formed, putting the wolf beastman in their middle.
Even compared to the large wolfman's size, these fists were really too large. Blotting out the sky and the earth, they rumbled with power as they attacked.
These two figures were the two goat beastmen, elders of the cloud monk sect.
They looked really terrible with their robes torn and several injuries on their body which left them covered in blood.
But they were also filled with immense fighting intent as they stared at their attacks with eyes that were currently entirely black!
Those familiar with beastmen will naturally associate this state to being berserk!
Going berserk was a natural ability for beastmen. Although not every beastman would be capable of wielding it, those who did would have an enormous boost in their power if they became proficient in it.
HOWL!!!
The wolf beastman howled loudly as the four tails behind him started wriggling abnormally.
Even for him, this coordinated attack by the two elders filled him with dread!
Pushing past the limits of his power, he howled loudly once more.
HOWL!!!!!!
As his four tails wiggled fiercely, something extremely shocking happened.
Another tail suddenly popped out from behind!
BOOM!!!!!!
As they two attacks clashed in the middle, they formed a sort of resonance as they merged their powers together and bombarded the wolfman.
His cries could be heard from within the energy storm and the surrounding rain was blown away from the surroundings creating a temporary vacuum.
At this point, the blinding light that previously covered the skies had already died down and a figure was slowly floating out.
The old figure of the sect master emerged riding a cloud and was holding another figure on his shoulders.
He slowly landed on a mountain whose top was blown off cleanly leaving a smooth platform.
Setting the body down slowly, he sighed deeply with remorse as he looked at the limp figure of the dwarven elder, Godan.
His body was covered with heinous injuries and his figure was incomparably pale.
"Old friend I am sorry for being unable to protect you. But if you really died here, I wouldn't be able to take account with that young fellow. His temper truly needs some work."
With a wave of his hand, he took out a pill from a storage ring.
He crushed the pill between his fingers and allowed it to be carried by a string of mana he released out.
The mana moved about as it surrounded the dwarf's body entering into the numerous wounds on his body with some entering his mouth and nose.
After that was done, he made a few moves with his fingers and a film of energy surrounded the dwarf.
With a flick of his palm, the dwarf's body shot up into the air and flew into the sky with speed!
It cut a bright arc in the stormy sky as it flew towards a single direction.
This was the direction of the dwarven kingdom of Avalan!
Seeing him off, the sect master turned his attention to the battle at hand.
The attack of the two elders had just died down and the figure of the wolf beastman could be seen.
He really looked wretched now with his body torn even more badly.
His figure had grown even smaller than before and he was coughing out large amounts of blood.
But the five tails behind him brimmed with tremendous power.
Seeing that their powerful joint attack couldn't take down their foe, the two elders felt immense regret and unwillingness but it was meaningless.
They used all their power in that last attack and at this moment, both their eyes rolled up and they fell through the sky.
The berserk duration had ended and their bodies could no longer keep up with the damage so it shut down.
With a woosh, the floating cloud the elder was riding flew towards their figures and swept them up before they plummeted to the ground.
Using the same technique as before, he healed their injuries and covered them in a film of energy before sending them through the skies to an unknown destination.
"Jhi he he he he!"
The wolf beastman wheezed as he looked at his previous master.
"I bet that you never thought of the day I, Diligence, will take down the entire sect by myself!"
The sect master showed a weird smile and a slight frown appeared on his face.
"All the disciples have already been led to safety. The sect's core disciples are probably halfway across the continent by now. Although injured, all the elders have safely retreated and are not in mortal danger. And the sect itself has been sealed by the sect's grand protecting array. Unless my chosen successor comes to open it up, no one can step a foot inside even if you brought an immortal here."
Diligence's face slowly contorted with each word the sect master spoke slowly.
"My cloud monk sect still lives. So tell me, what do you feel you have achieved?"
The sect master raised his short black stick and started fondling it as he muttered out that last part.
"It doesn't matter! I still did this much! I PUSHED YOU!"
The wolf man howled!
Flashes of lightning streaked out in response as the five tails arced over his shoulders to his front.
"Maybe you did, maybe you didn't. Only I myself can say but I wont share that knowledge with you."
The old goat man chuckled as he felt his long beard.
The staff in his hand suddenly lit up as numerous symbols and diagrams appeared on it causing a mini mana storm.
Seeing this, the wolfman's eyes trembled.
"All those years in the sect when I asked you countless times about it, so it was this staff all along! A runic weapon from the Kata Kanon!"
Wielding the small stick, the sect master had a large smile on his face as he reminisced.
"Oh, how long ago was that? Of course I knew your intentions back then but I couldn't bear to see you walk down such a dangerous path. Although I still failed."
The smile from his face vanished at the last part.
"The past doesn't matter anymore!"
Diligence roared.
"This time, I shall take this Kata Kanon with me!"
With a yell, the five tails behind him began trembling and converged over his shoulders to the front as a large amount of mana was summoned.
Putting his two palms facing each other, the boundless mana gathered in the middle to form a very strong attack.
Lightning flickered and thunder boomed out as the attack formed, looking like a compressed storm that was furious for being confined.
"Hah…... you foolish disciple of mine"
The sect master closed his eyes with a sigh as he saw this.
Grabbing the stick with two hands, he held it horizontally in front of him and when his eyes were opened again, they were entirely black!
An extremely powerful bright light started forming around his body growing larger and more powerful as the seconds passed.
BOOM! RUMBLE!
The incessant sounds of lightning and thunder rang out from the large frame of Diligence and on the other side, the small figure of the sect master riding a cloud emitted a quiet but terrifying light.
"I MUST DEFEAT YOU TODAY! NO MATTER WHAT!!!"
Diligence yelled as he pushed all his power into this one attack.
"Come then."
The sect master only said two words.
"ARGH!!!"
Diligence roared as he finally fired off his attack!
A thick beam of lightning as thick as a hill flew towards the air radiating a terrifying destructive energy.
Every thing in its path was ruthlessly destroyed without leaving a single speck of dust as it rumbled towards the shining light that covered the sect master's figure.
"FALL!!!!"
Diligence roared!
It took not more than a second for the lightning to cross the distance, reaching the other side.
Immediately the two attacks made contact, the boundless white light immediately expanded quietly swallowing everything in sight for thousands of miles around.
After three days, the unrelenting storm ended as abruptly as it started.