Manager Chou had been waiting for Zao Wu Hai to return, he and Kuzunoha had fled the City. The Auction House owner had been arrested, torn from his bed in the middle of the night. He was unable to meet the required payment, they had taken his young lover the night before.
More and more business owners were disappearing, the residents of the slums were the first to go and then it was the slaves. A few weeks more and there would be no one to run the City, it stood on the precipice of ruin.
"How much longer until they get back?" the Assistant was among the last of the employees at Manager Chou's appointment, she sneezed a lot more after their cleaning staff had disappeared.
Chou couldn't understand why the new Emperor would be taking so heavily from the population, the slaves that were arriving were originally a steady flow. Even if he killed them off, the slaves would come on a somewhat constant basis.
The Slave market had died down considerably as a result. It didn't stop, but it was much harder to convince slavers to come to the city. Many of those who went to the city had not returned and its frequently disappearing guests were impossible to deny.
"Shh. I've locked the doors, all of our merchandise is gone. All we can do is wait. That man had better not cheat me, not that I can do anything.. " Trailing off at the end, Manager Chou sat back down in his office.
The small window at the top of his room lit with the light from the suns and then it began to dim. Over the course of an hour clouds brewed atop the palace, someone was channeling a strong elemental force.
The Palace towers received a lot of the electric static in the air and strange patterns started to emerge on the surface of the building.
The energy was gathering.
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Khan Ni had been in labor for half a day, Doctor Dibali had done all that he could do. Elves were different than humans. Aside from emergency help, he couldn't just operate on her like a regular human.
"Not much longer, I'm sure the Matriarch will get here soon." Dr. Dibali had been there the entire time, but everyone else had to get some air after the first few false alarms.
'I didn't expect elves to be so similar in their child rearing. It really is remarkable, cross species breeding is possible on this world.' Doctor Dibali had been asked all sorts of questions on medical science. One of the biggest industries that most of the races shared in common was their need for emergency care or treatments.
Alchemy was born from necessity in part for the need to understand the world.
Harris was among the most frequent to visit the hospital.
It was nothing for the architects to dream up a spacious area for the medical staff, the alchemy dept set up a permanent office in the building to make sure they had access to whatever they needed.
"One cannot interfere with the birthing of a species they know nothing about. If she seems like she's in danger I'm prepared to do an exploratory Caesarean, but since she's an Elf.. its better not to do such things if they can be avoided." Doctor Dibali wiped the sweat from his brow.
He had been curious about the limits of his pharmacological knowledge in the new world, everyday he had been working with Harris to develop different medicines. Harris' drive to create more alchemists by intermixing the medium of food had worked, but all it did was drive the rarity of materials up. Now more than ever, the Mountainside was clear of wild herbs. If Harris was correct in his assumption, it would only be a matter of time before people got an interest in hunting for the herbs themselves. Then and only then would he finally have a steady source of materials.
"If we want to delay the pregnancy, we could always get her drunk.." One of the female assistants had an odd comment.
Doctor Dibali didn't like the idea of a pregnant woman drinking but it was certainly true.
"I'm hoping it won't come to that." Rachael stood by the door and watched, it was different for her being on the other side of things.
"Everyone that doesn't need to be here, please get out of the room." The Doctor gave some orders to the few people lingering.
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Geneva.
The Russian representative slammed his fist onto the podium, "Its time we take a vote. We have all heard what the Esper's have said, openly declaring War on China was a mistake. If they use their nuclear arsenal there is little hope for the rest of us. I ask you, members of your distinguished governments.. do not allow the Espers to dictate World Policy."
"It was clear that China has broken their portion of the ceasefire. Yes. Yes, we all know that none of us truly agreed to their proposal to begin with but what else can you do? We've fired ICBM's directly at their shield, and as a result we lost over half of our naval fleet. The Esper's, no matter where they've come from, are not our enemy." The United States Ambassador glared at the room, he was not going to be the party to blame.
The French were fast to dispel any illusion of civility, standing firm she began addressing the room. "Your government has been an agitator since the first news of their arrival"
An agent approached the moderator's bench while he covered the microphone. several screens in the room flashed then sparked. It was clear there was a malfunction and people moved away from their positions.
A dark fog penetrated the doorways and politicians scurried into a huddle near the moderator's bench.
Special Police drew their weapons and started firing at the cloud but it didn't do any good. A figure slipped through the shadows and walked step by step to the members who were trying their best not to panic. The screens in the room that had not yet exploded or broken began playing the broadcast of what was happening inside.
"I've put this on live television, that way you can no longer hide from your mistakes." Ho stamped on the floor lightly and deafened the room.
For a moment no one could speak and just as they were about to Ho began again, "I am not the enemy of Mankind. In fact, my original intention for coming to this world was entirely to help my own family. My brother seems to have frightened you all with his performance at the gaming expo, but did anyone get hurt besides that Korean kid who sort of had it coming? No. In fact, as a direct result of my brother's arrival the world now has proof of an afterlife, reincarnation, magic, intelligent life on other planets and much much more. The biggest problem in all of my dealings on Earth has been the people in this building."
Ho looked at the Brazilian representative, pulled out a small box and floated it towards him.
Looking inside, he saw eight bars of unique metals. One of them was sparking in its compartment. It was safe for the others to assume that there had been a deal made between the two.
Prince Ho cleared the air, "This is for not using your armies to interfere with our temporary home. I will entrust the City to your care after our departure."
The room gasped while the moderator cracked his gable. "ORDER!, ORDER!"
There was some confusion for a moment, but the noise disappeared as fast as it arrived.
"While I don't understand, We, the People of Brazil gratefully accept this gift." The Representative was quick to sit down.
"Chilean Rep, I have a gift for you. But I doubt that it will be appreciated. I've planted some wandering vines, they will eliminate the pollution.. and anything that causes it." Ho flicked a seed into the hands of everyone present.
"Here, take one. Keep it. If your neighbor screws up and pollutes, plant it. Its a lot safer than Nuclear bombs. These vines are immune to fire, and stronger than Dodona Trees. By next week, those toxic waste dumps will become food for the vines. By next month, you won't recognize the landscape. My brother didn't want to plant these seeds because they are quite hungry, but they are a solution to much of this worlds problem. Toxic Waste Disposal, for instance.. " Ho stopped and let the setting cement just a bit more.
Ho then waved his hand and produced a small hammer, chisel and a large slab of granite.
"You have until I finish this to decide my next proposal. Words set in stone cannot be so easily forgotten."
Very quickly Ho got to work, the letters started to appear one by one. It was written in Chinese and the calligraphy was amazing. Slowly a word appeared, it was bold, striking and cut deep into the stone.
There was one word.
"Promise"
Moments later, an explosion rocked the building. The ceiling gave way and rubble began to fall.
Zao Ho did his best to stop all the debris that was falling but it all happened while he was protecting himself. He didn't want to create a barrier over the building, it would send the wrong message to the public.
"I'm being set up." Ho managed to save many of the people present, only a handful had lost their lives but the damage was done.
It was too convenient, the timing broke the narrative that Ho was trying to build. The tension and terror in the eyes of the survivors showed their complete unwillingness to cooperate further.
"DO YOUR WORST DEVIL!" An American Security officer threw his gun at Ho.
It hurled through the air and struck the back of his head. There was no damage, but it sent the message clear. There was no welcome.
"Very well. Yuri. Now." Ho pointed to the camera then at the screens on the wall.
All of them changed showing different locations all over china. Each was in a different government office. Explosions crossed every monitor, once one exploded the cameras switched to another facility in time to watch it burst into flames. Remains were scattered across rooms, work and research had been destroyed.
"What have you done!" The representative was a patriot of China, in truth he was just as shocked as everyone else in the room who was staring at the monitors.
They all felt outrage, then contempt and then fear.
"You dare try to frame me along with this Ambassador?" Ho's rage was fueled by the turn of the situation.
Turning back to the camera Ho did the unexpected, he turned off all of his abilities and allowed his full appearance to surface. He looked almost human. With a clear expression of honesty he started to speak, "If I were to harm this assembly, do you think I would need explosives? We've been monitoring China's influence on the matter, here is your proof."
Another Video began streaming on the last remaining monitor in the room.
It was a video of the Chinese representative and members of the Geneva Security planting explosives on the roof. The video was an aerial prospective and the building itself was quite guarded, no one knew how they had gotten the prospective shot.
"What is the meaning of this? Explain yourself!" India and Korea had been at long standing odds with the political tyrant for some time, the act of attempting to kill everyone in the room was not lost on them and the assembly's attention turned to one of violence.
People were pulling out phones and trying to call their respective governments but communication wasn't getting through.
The Mexican rep directed her guards to get her to the exit, yelling as she passed through the rubble. "You Bastards, Why have you done this?"
"We only do what leader says, you should listen too if you know what is good for you." Finally, the Chinese rep in the house decided to speak.
"You won't get away with this." The Politicians in the room all had the same thoughts, China had revealed its long standing plan of world domination once again.
"Don't make me laugh." Ho waved his hand and collected the debris from the floor.
Instantly there was nothing blocking their way.
"Finally. You finally showed your true nature, now I can stop your charade. We've been broadcasting this entire time, have you missed that? Okay. World Governments, listen up. I've had it with the attacks and thanks to this turn of events I can now put my faith in humanity to solve its own problems. If you're this easily manipulated, you aren't welcome in my world. Tonight, Pray for the dead. Tomorrow, I move on China. They dare attempt to frame me?" Ho had something to protect again, the priesthood had been threatened, their sanctuary harassed.
"You can't do that." Several politicians in the room started to condemn Ho's speech, but it was not without its merit.
"How many of you would have died if the CCP had dictated your actions and forced you into a conflict with me? This isn't a threat but a question. If you had fallen for this trickery and taken action against me, do you think your fate would be different than the fleet they had already sent? Your worlds technology does very little harm to me. Its almost hilarious. Almost. If it wasn't for the constant spill of blood, I would ignore them entirely. The CCP is guilty of crimes against your world, it even attempted to draw your population into a war they have absolutely no hope of winning. The shame of their actions can never be washed away no matter how desperate their cause. and for what? Greed? Control? My Brother wasted his time trying to save his home country, I liberate it." Ho snapped his fingers again on camera, a signal to those in the field.
The monitors switched to more buildings that started to collapse.
"These are storehouses for the Chinese government." Ho snapped his fingers again and all the monitors switched to a single shot.
It was covered from over forty angles, no mistakes about what would happen could occur. floating outside of the offices of the Secretary General was a woman who flickered with fire. She had been practicing every day for a year, though it wouldn't show easily given her lack of stability in her flight.
"This is the end of the Party parading itself as a State." Xui Ying lowered her hands and concentrated.
A large ball of plasma built in front of her palms, pushing it forward like a lash, it began to coil around the building. Stones on the outside began to glow and then the glass shattered all at once. It wasn't an explosion, but the pressure of being cooked rapidly.
Screams and howls were barely audible over the roar of the crowd that kept arriving to watch their liberation. Oppression was never welcoming, watching it disappear was an instant reprieve from a lifetime of hardship.
The Buildings substructure was falling apart and there was no time for anyone to flee. The heat was unbearable moment it breached the outer walls. Steel that held the ceiling began to droop and bend, then in a marvelous and sudden burst everything turned to ignition. There was nothing that could survive the furnace.
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Kuzunoha was laying beside Wu Hai during a break, there had been almost no time for him to rest. The Monk training techniques for Light foot had a number of effects on the Prince's body, he was developing a taste for training. The technique was mastered by the end of the second day, when Ibuwere noticed his progress there was no need to ask what was next, The Echinomon Half-Devil was quick to get to the next step.
"Execute the technique. Take one step into the air and stay there." Ibuwere was practiced in his motions, Wu Hai wondered why he didn't just fight using his own strength and then it happened again.
Wu Hai swallowed the Rainbow Spot and imploded his darkness abilities, receding them and allowing the light. Soon the elemental body of darkness and lightning was replaced with a radiant being of light. A dark rainbow core flickered and licked with black flame in the middle of Wu Hai's chest. The effect was draining, taking a single step off of the ground and hanging in midair was a new one for the Prince but he managed just the same.
"Now what?" Struggling to maintain his transformation, Wu Hai almost lost his footing as he spoke.
"I want you to start jogging, in place at first and then just the lobby. You need to get use to the transformation and build up your endurance." Ibuwere had seen some fast training before, he had even done plenty himself but Wu Hai's pace was among the top.
"I can feel a great evil awakening nearby, no doubt they can detect our presence." Qu's figure emerged in the lobby.
"There was no going around it, someone will come." Ibuwere was sure that conflict would find him as it had always done.
"I don't expect it to take more than one week to become a serious threat, Master you cannot ignore this." Qu's voice quivered for what seemed liked the first time since the Prince had found him.
As expected, on the third day of training a guest arrived at the Doors to the Tower. He didn't possess enough strength to destroy the tower outright, but great damage could come if he spent enough time attacking. By then, reinforcements would have arrived.
"I've got this." Kuzunoha knew that Wu Hai's progress couldn't be interrupted, she volunteered almost immediately.
Stepping through the doorway, she could feel the devils' pressure through the shield a few meters away. Miss Nara wasn't a slouch in her own training, she had grasped the light step move almost as fast as Wu Hai had read the material.
Launching herself through the barrier, she caught the devil off guard. He had expected her to plead for their release or mercy, never did he anticipate her quick strikes. As a human, she had limits to the levels of her speed, but with the Light Step she was able to change her movement in such a way that the Devil was unable to compete.
Driven back, he released what few bindings that constrained his reactions and returned her attacks in kind. Sweeping back and forth in the sand, the Devil swung its tail in an attempt to knock her off balance.
Kuzunoha dodged the attack, but the next movement was enough to send her flying. The Devil finished his sweeping tail and then kicked twice. The claws dug into the wristguard that protected the Onmyoji.
"I don't have patience for evil. Know your place, return to it." Kuzunoha materialized her sealing scroll and threw it out toward the Devil.
"Vile? You compliment me." Grasping at the bolt of cloth that was heading his way, the Devil realized his mistake almost immediately.