Back at the cave, The Head was in his study, in his monastery, sitting at his own table alone.
"…She's alive."
Kiera had walked in his office, saying, "You wanted to see me?"
"She's alive. Can you believe it?"
"Are you referring to.."
"Vaelle? Yes. That woman, she's still alive. I can feel her."
"The realm you sent her to.."
"The realm of blood, an area where the ones killed by the Blood Sect before reside, well, their essence and destructive deeds remain; it's their influence that keeps their essence a memory, and thus they are stored in the realm of blood. It's a live world of its own, one i govern, created by Xiahou Anara. And yet, though this realm is alive and brutal, Vaelle is still alive."
"I…"
"It's okay, congratulate her."
"She's impressive, sir."
"She is. But I told you to congratulate her, not compliment her." The Head said with a malicious and bloodlust stare, causing Kiera to almost tremble, but she held her composure.
She thought, 'Don't drop..dont drop…maintain your cool, Kiera.'
The Head stood out of his chair, and took his mask off. His face was oddly handsome, as he resembled a girl, his hair long and white, his eyes light purple with literal stars in the galaxy within them, and his clean was porcelain and clear.
Kiera said, "Sir, you're taking your mask off. Something must be troubling you."
'Despite his beauty, he never takes his mask off.'
"No. Nothing is troubling me, dear. Nothing serious. I explained to you Vaelle is alive, right?"
"Yes."
"If she survives for the entire year, she will want revenge on me. And when they happens, I want YOU to kill her."
"M-Me?!"
KATHOOM!
The Head flashed right in her face at light speed, saying, "Is there an issue?"
"No, no it's not. What made you choose me to do such an honor?"
"Haha, that's more like it. I chose you because you're always with her, you and Jiho. You two are the main trio of the Blood Sect, out of all 300 members, yoh three stand out together. I was going to ask Jiho, but he's not here. I could kill Vaelle, but..it's a possibility that you and Jiho will try and help her, and I will not take the risk. Even though I am all powerful, facing off against 3 high ranking qi cultivators could cause issues, but I'll still win. And I for one, do not want to lose you or Jiho. And Vaelle was highly fond of Joon, so Joon could be a possible factor in helping you guys against me if I were to try and attack Vaelle, which Vaelle won't go down so easily."
"I see."
"Now then. Remember your task, and get out."
"Thank you for seeing me."
Kiera walked out of his office, and as she walked down the hallway, she thought, 'Vaelle…I'm sorry. But I have to do this, that's if you survive in that Blood realm for a year.
…
As Joon and his squad approached the bustling capital, an ominous air settled over the scene ahead. It was the day of the Festival, a perverse event orchestrated by Yu Baozhai, head of the Black Lotus Sect. This grim celebration distorted the essence of worship, turning it into a display of decadence and depravity.
'It's lively…' Joon thought, he and his group of assassins perched up in the trees.
The streets were heavy with the musk of incense and burning oils, casting a sinister glow over the throngs of people gathered. Women, under the sick spell of Yu Baozhai's lust affinity, moved among the crowds with a hollow emptiness in their pitch-black eyes. Their autonomy stripped away, they served the dark desires of the sect members and their lecherous allies, ushering some men into shadowed alleys and secluded back rooms.
In the heart of this corrupted assembly stood a lavish pavilion, draped in black and red silks. Inside, Yu Baozhai lounged upon a throne-like seat, his corpulent form adorned with rich robes that did little to mask his malevolence. Across from him, a slender figure—a top advisor whose name was as obscure as his background—listened intently as the sect leader spoke.
Yu Baozhai was a fat man with shoulder length black hair, acne on his face, and dark green eyes.
"These offerings are less than last year. The Luminous Vanguard are becoming a thorn in our side, spreading their sanctimonious light, trying to purge our rightful darkness," Yu Baozhai grumbled, his voice a low, menacing growl. "And I say that because a dear friend once told me darkness is the only way to true power and control."
The advisor nodded, his expression unreadable beneath the shadow of his hood. "Yes, my lord. Their interference has made the cult wary of extending further support without assurances of your victory over them."
Yu Baozhai sneered, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "Let them be wary. They'll come crawling back once they see the power bestowed upon us by the Lust Deity. This festival is critical—the deity demands worship through me so that she may extend her grace further upon our sect. We will not falter now."
Meanwhile, as the dark festival unfolded, Joon and his warriors reached the outskirts where the monks were preparing for the ceremonies. These monks, allies of Yu Baozhai, were just as corrupt, their robes a facade hiding their true, sinister natures. Joon and everyone else used their speed and stealth to leap through buildings and monuments. Jiho was with them, making his qi affect his voice, making it reach Joon and the others their assassins.
"Use your qi to hide your presence, think of being a chameleon, transfer your qi through your entire body. Also try applying it to your feet, to drown out the sound of your steps when reaching quiet areas…but it's loud now so you can use the surrounding noise to drown out your movements. Also, do not talk so much during missions unless you are for sure in the clear."
Joon thought, 'Why am I so nervous…? My heart is pounding…am I scared?'
Elara looked over at Joon, and then when Joon looked at her, Elara looked away.
'Why do I keep looking over at him? When I don't want to see his face? Do I care about him? Yeah he's my friend. I don't want to see him die. Maybe I'm thinking if I don't look at him so much, he wouldn't die in front of my eyes. The Black Lotus sect is no joke. We had to summon our deity to beat them, and it seems the survivor is rebuilding the Black Lotus sect from the ground up, and it came up this far this fast…I'm scared.'
Caelan thought, 'First mission. No biggie. We'll kill these bastards and go back to the cave. Joon…you better not get in my way. Or maybe we can use this to escape..? At first I was focused on staying with this Blood sect, but…I know because of my power, I'll be used for things I don't wanna do. Like Shen Wei. I don't wanna be like him, I have to be better, and not be taken advantage of. But it's hard if you're in my shoes, being as powerful as me, I'd want to flaunt my skill to everyone.'
Torin looked at Zephyr and nodded his head with a smiling thumbs up.
Zephyr gestured, "Shhh.."
Yuna, Yeonhee, and Kang traveled with them, in sync with their speed.
Dressed in their stealthy shinobi gear, the squad watched from the shadows, planning their next move. Kang whispered cautiously, "Remember, we take them by surprise, fast and silent. No alarms."
Elara nodded, her eyes scanning the layout. "There are six of them. Two by the entrance, and four inside the tent."
Caelan adjusted his grip on his weapon, a short blade that gleamed under the faint morning light. "Once we take their robes, we blend in. Stay sharp all the way until Yu Baozhai is within reach."
Jiho, watching from a distance, thought, 'They're on the right track right now.'
With their strategy set, they waited for the right moment. As the first rays of dawn began to break, softening the darkness, the squad made their move. Zephyr and Torin quietly incapacitated the monks at the entrance with their blades, their movements precise and swift, leaving no room for error or outcry. Inside the tent, the other team members executed their attacks with equal efficiency, their targets falling silently.
Joon darted towards two corrupt monks, using a small dagger to slit both of their necks fast, spinning around them as blood hit the floor. Elara followed suit, a bald corrupt monk dashing towards Joon with a staff cloaked with a dark aura, but Elara leaped over Joon, spun, and stabbed the monk in the throat, and then twisted to the side, ripping the corrupt monks neck out.
Joon said to Elara, "Uh..thanks."
Elara didn't look at him, she only said, "Mhm."
As the initial chaos settled, and the monks were subdued and hidden, Joon and his squad quickly donned the robes. Their faces now obscured by the traditional monk headwear, they blended into the crowd, each step towards Yu Baozhai's pavilion measured and silent.
'Things are going well right now. Too well. I have a really bad feeling. Why do I feel like something bad is about to happen?'
At that moment, Jiho used to his qi to speak to everyone, saying, "It's best to split up, we can't have loose ends around us. I noticed the possessed women were taking the men to a building around you guys. Those areas are filled with corrupt men who're trying to take advantage of these possessed women. Torin, take a few assassins from Yuna's group to take them out. They are indeed powerful, but if you use your qi towards your stealth, you can easily kill them. Our job is to eliminate darkness, this is only the beginning."
Torin said with a silent celebration, "Yes!" He then looked at Zephyr, and Zephyr said, "Good luck."
"Mhm!"
Yuna thought, 'Sending some of my group with the psychopath Torin? They'll all die, but who am I to say they can't.'
Torin left with a few members of Yuna's group, and took off.
As they moved, Joon's thoughts were a storm of determination and worry—the weight of their mission pressing down on him. They were not just fighters; they were liberators in a land choked by tyranny and darkness.
'I'm getting fearful now..'
Badump…
Badump..
His heart pounded with severity, he felt hot, sweat running down his face.
Now dressed as the corrupt monks, they melted into the sea of festivity, indistinguishable from the true servants of the dark sect. Their hearts beat in unison, not just with the thrill of the impending showdown, but with a solemn duty to restore light to a world shadowed by malevolence.
Joon was leading this squad, now fully disguised, entering the room where Yu Baozhai presided, their steps silent but heavy with the burden of the task ahead. The assassinations were set to begin, a fragile hope glimmering in the darkest hour.
Badump…
The festival was in full swing as Joon and his squad, garbed in white robes with baskets heavily obscuring their faces, moved through the central artery of the capital. Below their calm exteriors, anxiety churned. A heaviness loomed in the air, saturated with incredible displays of martial prowess from rival sect leaders and warriors, each more intimidating than the last.
Badump…
The echo of their footsteps against the cobbled streets blended with the muffled sounds escaping their baskets—a constant, ominous drumbeat to the unfolding ritual around them. The air was thick with the scent of exotic incense burning continuously, casting a haze that seemed to distort reality, making the day feel more like a surreal, fraught dream.
Badump…
Despite their extensive training and formidable skills, the proximity to such power caused Elara's, Torin's, Zephyr's, Yeonhee's, Yuna's, Kang's, and Caelan's nerves to fray. The palpable strength of the attending sect members felt like a tangible force pressing down on them, a reminder of the daunting task they had embarked upon.
Badump…
Elara even shed a tear, but she held her composure, or at least tried to.
As they continued their procession, a looming, ornate structure came into view. Yu Baozhai's throne sat upon a raised dais, framed by torches that threw wild dances of light against the morning, creating a dramatic contrast of shadows and illumination. The throne itself was a masterpiece of dark wood and deep red cushions, designed to intimidate and exalt its occupant. Around him, adorned in equally lavish but menacing attire, sat his advisors and allied sect leaders, their eyes cold and calculating as they observed the festival.
And allied sect member asked Yu Baozhai, "What are the monks for?"
Yu Baozhai leaned forward, his voice a silky menace as it carried across to his most trusted followers. "The role of these monks is crucial, not merely ceremonial. They channel both celestial qi and demonic qi—fusing these energies to feed our powers. Unlike the naive masses, we harness these forces by any means necessary, even against the deity's wish."
"So they not only serve as conduits for divine energy but also as tools for bending that power to our will?"
"Exactly," Yu Baozhai confirmed with a vile chuckle. "Their piety is our strength. Their sacrifices ensure our dominance. Through them, we can extract unprecedented power, ensuring no deity nor rival sect can stand against the Black Lotus Sect."
The crowd around Yu Baozhai murmur their approval, their voices a sibilant whisper that brushed the charged air with anticipation. This twisted revelation struck a chord deep within Joon and his team, fueling their resolve. This wasn't just about stopping one man; it was about dismantling a network of corruption that sought to pervert divine powers for unspeakable ends.
As they drew nearer to the throne, the pounding of their hearts matched the beating drums of the festival—each step forward amplifying the gravity of their silent march towards confrontation. The dense crowd, oblivious to the wolves in their midst, pressed close, their own fervor for the festival unknowingly shielding the squad from immediate detection.
Joon's grip tightened on a hidden dagger beneath his robe, a small but significant anchor to the reality of their mission. Each member of the squad felt the weight of their task hanging heavier with every step, knowing that the line between life and death was as thin as the veil of anonymity their disguises provided.
In this heart-stopping march through the belly of darkness, they were not just shadows; they were echoes of the justice soon to be delivered. As they edged ever closer, Jiho's final words to them echoed in their minds: "You are shadows and silence, wisdom and war. Strike true." The preparations, the silent prayers, the nerves—they all culminated in this moment, under the oppressive gaze of their enemy, as they moved inexorably forward to carry out their grim but necessary task.
Yu Baozhai stood up in front of them, a malicious grin appearing on his face, "Now then, shall we he started?"
Torin and Yuna's group split into the shadows, their destinations set among the dimly lit corridors of the Sorrow's Veil Pavilion, a hauntingly ornate building where Yu Baozhai's most sinister desires unraveled. Quietly, they moved through the draped hallways, filled with the scent of incense and the low hum of lustful energy.
'Zephyr, I wish you could see this, buddy! I'm on an assassination mission alone!'
The other assassins saw him act strange, and whispered to each other:
"He's strange.."
"A psycho.."
"But he's been placed with the main group…so he has to be strong."
Each assassin's dagger glinted under the flickering candlelight, their edges razor-sharp and their grips firm. Torin approached his first target—a burly man whose eyes shone with unnatural fervor. The man was pressing a subdued woman against a secluded wall, his intentions clear and repugnant.
"Yes…Yu Baozhai really did justice bringing you, the Water Leaf Sect leader, under his affinity. I've always wanted you…"
With a swift movement, Torin's blade swept across the man's throat, the cut so deep that the blood spurted violently, staining the pristine wall with a vivid scarlet. The woman, released, slumped to the floor in shock, her eyes regaining some sense of reality.
Meanwhile, not far from Torin's grim task, two assassins from the Black Sect that have been watching Torin after spotting him, sensing his presence after Torin failed to apply his qi to his presence.
Kage and Hajen, elite assassins of the Black Lotus Sect, were stalking their prey with equal precision. Kage had light brown skin and float black hair, with one dark red eye and one gray eye. Kage, fully wrapped in white bandages with only his light blue eyes showing and white hair showing, with movements fluid as a shadow, closed in on one of Yuna's group lounging near a darkened archway. With a twisted grin, he drove his blade into the base of the assassin's neck, where the spine meets the skull. As the blade retracted, a grotesque burst of blood flowers blossomed from the wound, the petals unfolding in the air, while the victim crumpled silently to the ground.
Back in another corridor, Torin's second strike was against a man who was dragging a young woman by the arm through a beaded curtain. With no room for hesitation, Torin's dagger found its next mark. He leaped, grabbing the man from behind, and slit his throat in a fluid motion. The blood followed the arc of Torin's blade, spattering across the ornate beads, turning them from glinting trinkets into macabre tokens of his resolve.
'Wasn't there more assassins with me….? I don't want to be alone here by myself…if only Zephyr was here..'
Simultaneously, Hajen ambushed another of Yeonhee's assassins, who had just dispatched a lust-driven sect member. Using the echoing thud of the dead man's body as a distraction, Hajen's strike was both brutal and beautiful—a deep, surgical thrust to the heart. The assassin's own blood blossomed like a fatal bloom from his chest, spilling to the patterned floor tiles in a whisper of death.
This deadly dance continued, echoing through the halls of Sorrow's Veil Pavilion, a place that lived up to its name tonight. Each corridor bore witness to silent takedowns, the walls now tapestries of horror painted with the blood of the fallen.
Torin, moving to his next target, entered the Chamber of Whispers—a room ironically named, as screams often seeped from its tapestry-draped walls. Here, a man was forcing himself on a woman, his back turned to the door. Torin didn't pause; his blade found a home between the ribs, skewering the heart with unerring accuracy. The man's scream was cut short, the only resonance being the thud of his body against the plush carpet, patterned with dark roses that now seemed to bloom crimson.
Torin kneeled to the woman, saying, "You're alone now..but not for long. You'll be helped. Being alone sucks." Torin dashed away.
In a mirrored style of vengeance, Kage ended another life meters away in the Hall of Shadows. His victim—a skilled young female assassin—had been poised to strike another corrupt sect member. Kage's blade pierced her side, twisting through organs and exiting with a spray of blood that painted ghastly silhouettes.
As the night wore on, the numbers thinned on both sides, the Pavilion becoming a grand stage for this macabre ballet. The echoes of blades and the soft thuds of bodies disturbed the haunting silence, each warrior etching a path through darkness and deception.
Finally, the inevitable convergence occurred in the Hall of Final Echoes, an eerily empty chamber known for its acoustics that carried even the faintest whispers across its vast length. Here, Torin and two surviving members of his group faced Kage and Hajen. The room was stark, save for the high arched windows and an elaborate mosaic floor depicting the cycle of life and death—a fitting arena for what was to come.
Both sides stood silently for a moment, the weight of their previous actions hanging heavily in the air. The light from the crescent moon spilled through the windows, casting long shadows that melded with the darkness of their attire.
Torin stepped forward, the grip on his dagger tightening, his eyes never leaving those of Kage, who mirrored his movements with a predator's grace. Hajen and the other assassins sized each other up, knowing that the clash ahead would be fierce and final.
'Crap! I've been caught! Don't say anything, Torin! Just fight!'
Kage responded with a chilling smile, his blade twirling in anticipation. "You Blood Sect bastards are annoying, from what ive heard. And whatever you plan today, will fail. I guess you brats only follow so-called Justice, or just the end?"
Hajen said, "For trying to infiltrate us and destroy us from the inside.. Face us here and now to the death, we heard how good the Blood Sect is. And we like challenges. So we've always…"
Kage and Hajen said at the same time, "…Wanted to fight a Blood Sect member."
Torin thought, 'Okay!' He was shaking, but he was ready to fight.