"I will take down the Dark Tiger-fire Family." Leroy stated plainly as they all rested. His eyes are hard when looking out at the Light Lion-ice Family members. "One thing is clear though, your family is too weak to survive on its own. I suggest you find someone to serve under." His eyes then looked to Jasmine. "Maybe fall under her banner. She is after all the princess of the North Kingdom and you too are close."
His words eluded to a little trouble in the future if the confusion was not cleared up on how they stood with one another.
The idea didn't sound bad at all to the Light Lion-ice Family. After all, they could tell that Chu Xue and Jasmine had a very special relationship. One that may be strained right now for some reason but nothing time couldn't heal.
"And what do you hope to accomplish by doing this?" Chu Xue asked heated while looking for the angle. "Changing from one master to another is just stalling the situation that already needs to be fixed. We need to be separate and stand on our own."
"Perhaps, but can you afford to do so?" Leroy turned to another member of the family.
Someone that ran around checking the houses were not destroyed and any damaged documents or someone was left behind. That was all he asked of the fast little man. Never be too careful with what happens during a time of looting.
"What do you think little one?"
"Me!" The family member looked around nervously. No one really asked him what he thought... ever really. In fact, no one really asked most of their thoughts on any situation and gave orders. "I.. think it can't get any worse. We were almost wiped out and they.. wanted to do things to several members of the family."
He pointed to the corpse of a Dark Tiger-fire member.
"Maybe this is all just a plan to get us to lower our guard?" Another family member asked fearfully. Not really wanting to go with change and risking something bad happening. "I.. am sure one of the "Imperials" or a Government Official will come here to smooth this all out."
A few of the other townsfolks agreed with that. Some were so small in number they couldn't do much else. Leroy was after all an Inspector and though the situation was a rare one of survival against madness they were calm now and came to realize they may be in trouble.
A foolish notion that those who had some power above the Dark Tiger-fire Family cared about any of them. If they did not act after all these years, that should be a good enough hint of their importance. With the former Dark Tang Family only stripped of their Nobility in name it did not bode well overall.
Why this situation was not resolved yet reeked of incompetence or at the worse.. Corruption. At that sort of thought Leroy felt a strange flutter of ambiguous QI enter him. It carried the feeling of Change in the worse way but one thing he was able to identify was that of Oppression.
"I will not force anyone of you, however, this is the last time I will help you in any way." Leroy said seriously. It was time to cut losses as he was not a mayor or governor to commit to such an act of guidance. He already had to strengthen out his own living situation and where he stood.
After obtaining the few small important things from the various families and bodies he refined they were not that useful really. Plus they refused to change and adapt to the growing situation.
"Those who agree to leave with me will face hardship but also have a chance to be something more than this." He pointed to the town covered in blood and scorch marks. Not a few but a lot of holes from impacts of those with overwhelming physical might. "The Light Lion-ice Family's Chu Xue and Clear Jing-fire Jing Lin do not have the strength to carry you all or the foresight to do so. Not to mention most of the other heirs and leaders having a lower cultivation than them, you are poorly represented."
A lot of the families didn't take offense as it was the truth but fear did not let them make a better choice at this time.
"And you do?!" Chu Xue took it as a slight, however. Not really reflecting on his actions in the last few months at the time. "Big sister Victoria couldn't even have our Family under her and the North Princess Jasmine could not as well." Only when things were calm for a bit did he really notice his actions. 'Ancestor told me to be careful of Leroy and getting close to him was a dangerous task that I can not complete. This is another way to distance ourselves from him even further in the end, she will have to find someone else to do this.'
Jasmine was hurt and felt weak to her knees. She was better off than Victoria in her Family but she was falling behind in strength. Especially after dropping several realms because of the transfer of all her refined Qi to Chu Xue using that cursed technique.
What was worst, even now she was mentioned secondly to her.
"Tch!" Resentment flashed in the eyes of Princess Jasmine. 'If not for me.. you may have even died back then in the cave! You ungrateful bastard!' Her thoughts did not continue as a feeling of dizzyness made her sit back down.
A local looked the girl over and offered her some water. It was bad enough she fought with just he body but the helpful man noticed she looked really haggard.
"Wait!" Victoria was too stunned to comment at first but her Bodyguard would not hold back anymore. "He has a lot on his plate.." She was dismissed with a swat of the hand. "..aunt Lily!"
"Chu Xue, where were you when they attacked before this started?" The bodyguard Lily asked angered. She really wanted to beat the boy up and was looking for a chance to cause him trouble after all he said. This was as good a time as any to cause trouble. "If Jasmine didn't alert us to what was going on your family would have been in danger. And by the looks of her, something happened after she made it back to you. Unless you fought against demon beasts and were held up and she was really injured instead, I am curious as to how you grew so strong. Was the case of a "fortuitous" encounter what allowed this rapid growth in strength?"
"No, I was not held up by beasts." Chu Xue said vaguely. Not wanting to mention what he was doing while everything was happening initially. "How I grew in strength is none of your concern."
This tied to the honor of Jasmine and Victoria a little. It would not be good to out her like this. A few people grumbled about even Leroy asked a few questions, but mostly to himself as he looked at the North Princess.
'Never observed overly so but... I can swear I've seen these symptoms somewhere before.' Bothered but not overly so he couldn't do much without an examination. Turning to the side and looking at Jing Lin he didn't get the same feeling from her and she received a power jump after meeting the boy's ancestor. "Curious... maybe not."
"Then where were you, Xue?" Old Chu asked feeling it was quite peculiar what all took place with the timing and all. But he jumped to a conclusion all on his own about something else with the way the girl and boy acted when looking at each other. 'The change in the boy's strength had to have happened because of something in the forest or islands.'
"I..."
"With your breakthrough, it must have taken time afterward to get back. I understand you feel guilty, but you should not." Stroking his beard he spoke his own conclusions. "What matters is that you came to help."
A few of the family members only needed that to jump on to help bail Chu Xue out of the current questioning. One of their own was better than another. And the Dark Rose Family already had a bit of a reputation.
It long since circulated that the Rebels were composed of a few from their territory. The mention of the heir of the Dark Rose Family fighting spread like wildfire. Mostly because of his use of Blood techniques so efficiently.
A few looked at Leroy closely for what he would do. These were mostly the people who bugged him to intervene when he first arrived in the Town to assist with the problem that revolved around the Jing Family Lion-ice Family.
The last few days, gave them time to reflect on everything and the last few hours forced them to see the dangers out there. Little did they know, they were affected by Leroy's status as a Champion. With them not having a strong presence in the Dimension, it was easy for them to change when around him.
If they were near Leroy that is when he did something he didn't want to do and release various ideas. The Qi that was also exuded from his Flame Vortex already started to affect his breathing at this point. His exhale contains charges of his lighting in its lowest form. The small discharges mixed well with the untrained who couldn't detect it.
"Yeah, you were amazing big brother Xue!" One of the kids that survived an ambush said.
"Moving like a comet!" Another kid cheered. Their voices quickly made the place lively. Which was very much needed.
"Yup, so done with this." Leroy waved back while moving away. A look of utter disgust on his face at such an outcome. 'I should have expected this, I was never the face of my group but still...' He gripped his chest in pain at how many more people would die following someone like this.
A few Light Lion-ice members were actually taking him up on his offer. A total of 10 but not that bad considering the others were too disheartened to focus. 2 from the Jing-fire family and about 9 who lost their family heads and had nothing left of their own.
"Consider yourselves part of the Shentai family now." A flash of purple emitted from Leroy's eyes as he then calmed himself and let go of the sense of loss. "Some people must fall for others to make it, that is all there is to it."
It was not subtle to anyone what he said and more than one cultivator felt saddened as they came to different conclusions. Not gaining as much as he wanted or getting to far ahead, Leroy did try to share when he started to meditate.
'The Icebeast Martial Arts: Body Tempering Rank XII and the Deathlife Martial Arts: Body Tempering Rank III, these are both fair enough gains. So many dead bodies I can't gather for myself but I have a decent amount of Death and Life Qi to mess with.' Thinking about the staff and the whip combo that was taken as spoils before he would take some time to refine them into different weapons for use. 'I have some blacksmith knowledge so I need to put it to further use.'
Tossing everything he was able to pick up during the fighting into the Flame Vortex it was best to hurry up in case they had to deal with anything else. It was good that Victor, the heir of Dark Rose only passed a simple greeting before continuing his slaughter far away from them earlier.
.
Those Who Fall-
.
On the outskirts of the town several who fled found themself facing a large army. Composed of friends, families, and loved ones. The creatures developed further right in front of them. Bones were pushed out as think roots permeated the body for support. The plant-based nervous system took over and infused flesh with plant stalks to help guide them.
A few of the former people sprouted fruit or vegetation from their heads. But the worst was the look in their eyes that showed abject horror from what they were going through.
"No..." An elder of the Jing Family watched in horror at his sister moving forward. "..they are gone now! Don't.."
*Splrt!* A vine shot directly into his sister's mouth followed by a plant seed going inside. They were able to see this as the size of the seed was much bigger than the vine itself. Wrapped up, the willing woman changed faster than of the others.
"Brother.. join us!" It came out pleading before turning forceful. With a lunge, she was on her own brother trying to bring him into the fold.
"Ahhh!" Screams of defiance echoed out in a chain reaction. More of the town fell with the enemy constantly growing from the fallen number.