Malaya couldn’t see what was happening, but she could feel just fine. The sudden changes and the additional heartbeat she could hear in her ear left her flustered and unsure how to react.
This definitely wasn’t traditional, not by any stretch of the imagination. But she was too flustered to understand why Theron was doing this.
Her brother, though, understood just fine.
For the first time in a long while, Theron displayed the pride of a man.
So what if you were angry? Your sister would become my wife today whether you like it or not… and I would defeat the geniuses of the world while I do it.
His back stood tall, with splashes of water sparkling across the hooves of his steed, as he charged down the streets as though the procession meant nothing to him at all.
Theron’s blade flashed. Slowed, it looked like a silvery light was crossing the rain droplets of the skies.
The water pooled into a solid line, streaking across the air.
A youth had barely appeared on the road when his head flew into the skies.
Fast. Sharp. Ruthless.
He didn’t hesitate for even a moment before he took a life, his horse not slowing for even the briefest moment.
The skies opened up, clouds rolling in. As though dumping the fury of the Heavens from above, a flash of lightning sparked like the herald of a coming torrent.
The head barely rolled across the street, seeping blood, when Theron and Malaya passed it.
“Theron, what happened?”
Malaya felt the subtle pulse of Mana in the air.
Theron narrowed his eyes. His control was too high for someone to sense it so easily, and even less so for someone in Bronze Resonance. But he could chalk it up to her being so close. With her ear to his chest, she could probably even hear the circulation of his Mana if she wanted to.
“It’s raining,” Theron said with a gentle tone. “I’m just shielding us. We can’t have your wedding dress getting wet.”
“… Oh…” Malaya said softly. She could definitely hear the rain now, but that hadn’t felt like the continuous stream of Mana you would need to form a shield.
That Mana had been sharp and swift… deadly.
Theron looked at her for a moment.
“… There’s nothing for you to worry about,” he said after a while. “Today will end just as planned.”
Malaya blinked beneath her veil.
…
“Are you really going?”
A youth stood in silence as the rain began to pelt down harder and harder.
“What the hell are you thinking? Didn’t you want to leave the Luminescent Moon Sect anyway? Why do you care about their reputation?”
The voice of a woman echoed again, aggravated and tainted by poisonous tendrils of anxiety.
“Beifong! Answer me!” the tone became shrill.
“Do you know why I want to go to the Obsidian Eclipse Sect?”
Beifong looked back to the woman behind him, his gaze cold. The depth of black in his eyes seemed no less deep than the crown prince himself. All he was lacking was foundation…
No, what he was lacking the most was time.
“It’s because the Luminescent Moon Sect is too small,” he answered for the woman. “They’ve fallen too far from what they once were. Now they can’t even compare to an ant-like Sect in the Obsidian Eclipse. It won’t be long before I leave the Obsidian Eclipse Sect as well and move on to a larger Sect that I will also inevitably leave.
“My goal in this world is not something that you can fathom, Ruu. I told you during our first night together that I would leave you. It’s you who believed that you could change me.
“My blade doesn’t move to the tune of anyone else. They can call me ungrateful, they can say I’m a traitor, but my Dao Heart will remain without the slightest hint of dust.
“No one, though… no one is allowed to call me a coward nor claim their blade to be stronger than mine.”
Beifong’s robes fluttered and he vanished.
“I HATE YOU!”
Ruu watched with red eyes as he vanished… and then her eyes slowly turned cold.
She turned to the bed, pulling her underwear and other undergarments back on. There was a slight twist of disgust on her face because she would have rather cleaned herself up first, but unfortunately there was no time for that.
’At least he was decent in bed,’ she thought to herself. ’But he is far too sharp, far too intelligent, and far too diligent. I didn’t find a single opening at all. Today, though… there just might be one
She pulled her dress down over her ample breasts. The movement caused a slight shimmer in the reflective mirror across from her, revealing the faintest edges of a familiar curse mark…
The mark of Daggers of the Night.
’I’m in the territory of another branch right now, though… I need to be cautious.’
A sparkling light reflected in Ruu’s eyes and then she vanished.
The door opened and closed all on its own, the mess of the previous night left behind for others to clean up.
’This Theron character is quite interesting, though. He seems firmly tied to the Thistles and the chaos here. There might be something to take advantage of
…
Corpses littered the streets. By now, the security guard of Thistle Brook City should have been out in full force, and yet they seemed to have completely turned a blind eye to the happenings.
The moment someone appeared, Theron didn’t even hesitate. A single stroke of his blade was all it took, the rain falling around him seemingly becoming an extension of his domain.
But he was waiting… waiting for a real challenge to appear.
Would they continue this vain attempt to tire him out? Or would they finally place something decent before him?
Sect Disciple… Imperial Scholar… Clan genius… it didn’t seem to matter at all what was put across from him. They all fell just the same.
Seventh Resonance… Eighth… Ninth… Quasi Silver…
Dead.
Dead.
Dead.
He never took more than a single strike, never more than a light swing of his arm and a flicker of his wrist.
And then… someone finally blocked a blow.
A heavyset young man skid back a step in the quickly wetting streets.
When he stopped, he looked up with a grin, a heavy sword across his chest.
“You swing heavy for a Water Mancer. I guess you’re quite lucky that it’s raining today, or else you would have probably kissed earth by now. It’s too bad that doesn’t matter much to me.”
The heavyset young man swung his sword and slammed it into the ground.
“My name is Easton Burdeaux of the Burdeaux Marquisette Clan. Seventh Bronze Resonance, ranked 37th in my Clan at that cultivation level.”
He announced himself in almost excruciating detail. It couldn’t have been clearer that a message was being sent.
“37th?” Theron asked lightly.
“That’s right.” Easton grinned.
“And I assume you’re here to show me how unimpressive I am?”
“Your words, not mine.”
“Mm…”
Theron carefully set Malaya down on the back of the horse, falling to the ground lightly.
All of a sudden, his protection against the rain vanished and he was instantly soaked through.
A Marquisette Clan had chosen to take personal action against him today? What a nice chance to make the higher ups who ignored the plight of his family bleed.
Theron took another step and then seemed to vanish.