The Way of the Force (The Heavenly Throne Book 2) Page 27

  Chapter 30

  THE END OF THE ALKEA EMPIRE

  After the fight between Kai and Greenrow ended, the students continued their exhausting journey through the cave. Just as they had begun to lose hope that they’d ever see the light of day again, they stumbled upon the way out of the dungeon. One of them heard the sound of water and decided to follow it. Having found its source, they realized that Greenrow had given them a gift before he died. In the place where the spear deflected by Kai fell and destroyed a part of the wall, an exit was waiting for them.

  Expanding it by making a bigger hole, they found themselves in another, this time small, cave, at the end of which was a waterfall. Passing through it, they finally found themselves outside. Having identified the landmarks, they realized that they were in the northwest part of the capital’s territory.

  As for the coalition, it fell apart. Their greed wasn’t stronger than their survival instinct. None of them held a grudge against Kai nor saw a reason for two separate groups now that Greenrow was gone. God only knew how much longer they would’ve had to stay in that place if it hadn’t been for that fight. They could’ve died. Eria, who had passed out before the fight even started, disappeared without a trace once they got out. They all knew that something was wrong when they saw how calmly he took the news about his lord’s death.

  To everyone’s surprise, Kai regained consciousness just a couple of hours after their escape. He looked like nothing had happened — there were no wounds on his body and his energy supply seemed intact.

  Thanks to his bloodline and Breath of Power, he was able to continue on his own. Looking around, he would occasionally meet with admiring and sometimes fearful glances. His fight with Greenrow had radically changed everyone’s opinion of him. Respect, fear, disbelief, guilt, admiration, gratitude, and even envy — the students had mixed feelings about him.

  After three days of travel, they were finally back in Rivertoon.

  What they saw when they arrived left them numb and deprived of what little hope and joy they had left.

  Columns of smoke were rising into the azure sky, painting the clouds a gloomy gray. Thousands of people, scattered like ants, were hurriedly leaving the city. The once mighty walls were without guards.

  It wasn’t this eerie sight that made them freeze, but the presence of four giant ships looming above the city center. If those were Alkea’s enemies, the empire was doomed.

  Without saying a word, they rushed toward the gates. Bypassing the evacuating citizens, they rushed to the center as fast as their legs could carry them. Kai followed, afraid that he might’ve lost everything that was important to him.

  To make moving around easier, a small group of students, Kai included, ran along the rooftops, using various techniques to scale the thatched roofs full of broken and loose shingles. Moving to the next building, Kai noticed something. But before he could react, his group of fifteen people was struck by a wave of powerful force.

  “Elder Rey!” one of them blurted out.

  “So, the expedition is over,” he muttered to himself. “This isn’t how I imagined this day would go...”

  “Teacher,” Kai said, surprising everyone present. “Do you know what’s going on?”

  “Yesterday,” Rey said, looking at the group that had gathered around him, “was the emperor’s bicentennial. Everyone in the castle, including Sigurd himself, was killed.”

  The students exchanged bewildered and horrified glances. Some stopped breathing for a moment from shock.

  “How... How did...?” someone muttered. “But... But how...? What will happen now?”

  Rey chuckled.

  “Don’t you get it? Only Exorcists were invited to the celebration. They were the most important people in the empire. Heads of hundreds of noble families, lords and rulers of regions and cities, army generals, and sect elders — they were all there,” he said. “Now that they’re all dead... Well, we can say that this is the end. End of the empire called Alkea. When people find out that the emperor and all of his vassals have been killed, the empire will split. The two things that united Alkea were the imperial family’s straight and the oaths given to it by the heads of the noble families. Now there’s nothing left...”

  While the students struggled to accept the news, Kai felt conflicted about the fact that he now had no one to take his revenge on...

  “But what about you?” he asked, turning to Rey. “How did you survive?”

  “Heh, boy...” An eerie smile appeared on his scarred face. “Have you forgotten how the emperor treated me? May the ancestors accept his soul... To tell you the truth, I’ve never been as happy as I am now!” he said and patted the small knapsack on his back. Kai had no clue why he needed it when he had the Ring.

  “And these ships... Whose are they?”

  “I don’t know. All I know is that they arrived today...”

  “And what are you planning to do now?”

  “I’m leaving. Nothing’s keeping me here anymore. I’m going back to my tribe. This is where we part ways, boy. Though, if you want, I can take you with me.”

  Taking a deep breath, Kai shook his head.

  “I thought so.” Rey smiled and handed him a scroll. “Here, take it. This is my copy of the Double Blade Style. You may need it someday...”

  Accepting the parting gift, Kai bowed deeply.

  “Thank you for everything, teacher.”

  “Yeah... Well, maybe our paths will cross again. It all depends on Fate... Right! You, the Stenshet girl! Your family’s estate seems to have been attacked as well.”

  “Damn it! Why didn’t you say that immediately?!” Kai shouted as he rose from the bow.

  “Goodbye, Kai...” Rey’s voice echoed, but he was no longer there.

  Wasting no time, they all rushed to the city center.

  ***

  Having reached the Stenshet estate, Lily and Kai learned that the only place that had been attacked and destroyed were the quarters of the family’s main branch. The attacker’s target seemed to have been the treasury hidden underground.

  Before checking anything, they rushed to the Wayat estate. As it turned out, only the members of the branches whose quarters were located in the center suffered. Those further away, like the Wayat’s, suffered no causalities.

  Finding Julie safe and sound, Kai embraced her tightly.

  Homer arrived a bit later than they did and reported that among the victims were the most influential elders who had happened to be in the patriarch’s home at that moment. With the death of North and all other Exorcists of the family, the Stenshets suffered a colossal loss. There were rumors about the intention of several side branches to take over role of the main one.

  Warnings were sent to the Stenshet family’s fief. Dark times awaited Alkea. Wayats, most of who had moved to the capital long ago, were now preparing to leave for their native lands. The branch that now had the greatest chance of becoming the main one was extremely hateful towards Wayats. So much so that blood could be shed...

  While more than a hundred members of the Wayat branch and several hundred more of their servants were preparing to leave Rivertoon, Lily, Kai, and Ash (who, being an outer circle student, hadn’t gone to the ruins) decided to visit the Sect, above which the ships had been positioned.

  When they got there, they noticed a few students heading toward the Pagoda. Following them, they came upon four huge tents around which several hundred students had gathered. Two of them were bright orange, while the other two were dark blue.

  “Shit!” someone swore as they walked out of the Tower. “There’s really nothing left!”

  “Yeah,” their friend added. “I told you that one of the elders wasn’t invited to the palace. When everyone was killed, he took everything with him!”

  “That old fox!” Kai said quietly. Hiding his smile behind a facepalm, he remembered how happily Rey had patted his knapsack. And all you gave me was a scroll... Gee, how generous...

  Coming closer, t
he trio finally found out what was happening. As one of the inner circle students explained to them, the tents had been set up by the crew of the flying ships. They introduced themselves as the Clan of the Flame Salamander and the Clan of the Thunder Serpent, and now their representatives were making lists of everyone who wanted to join them. There was only one condition — the applicant had to be no older than twenty and no lower than the Mind Stage.

  “I’ve never heard of those clans. Where are they from?” Lily asked.

  “From somewhere very far east, they said,” the student replied. “I don’t know about you, but nothing’s keeping me in Alkea. So, given that they possess such incredible technologies, and that peak Exorcists are just regular fighters among them, one can only imagine how advanced their martial arts are. I’ve already signed up.”

  Having said that, he bid them farewell and left, leaving them to ponder.

  ***

  While chaos and excitement reigned below, everything was calm in the sky. In a luxurious cabin of one of the Salamander Clan’s ships, sat a short, old man lost in his thoughts. He looked weak, but if anyone were foolish enough to challenge him to a duel, they’d join their ancestors very quickly. This early-stage Elementalist had a very bad temper.

  “Disgusting!” he swore. “Almost all of them died on some stinkin’ expedition?! And who should I recruit now? The elder ordered to follow Jiang Dao and to recruit a couple of thousand decent fighters. The Great Tournament is just around the corner and our best students need as many resources as possible! We need servants! And a lot of them! What kind of shitty Sect is this if they couldn’t even save their students?! Even if I were to collect the best from the local rubbish, that would make for a couple of hundred people... But then what? I have two fucking ships! If I come back empty-handed, then I can kiss my chance of getting to the next Stage goodbye! We need to recruit a couple of local families and make them our vassals... Their offspring would then have to join us for the sake of their families! Oh but I bet that that Serpent fucker will do the same!” The old man looked somewhere to the right. “In that case, I can’t waste time! There are four families here with bloodlines... However, thanks to that smartass Jiang Dao, there’ll be a lot of problems with one of them. Fine, three families it’ll be... If they refuse, then I’ll just have to give them a little push in the right direction. Hehe...”

  ***

  Having spent a considerable amount of time weighing all the pros and cons, Kai finally came to the decision that there was no point in staying in Alkea. But what finalized his decision was Rune’Tan.

  If these clans are so powerful, then the chance of finding a Spirit Fruit full of soul energy, something I desperately need if we want me to survive, might I add, is much higher in their lands.

  Five days after the expedition’s return, Kai, Julie, as well as the Wayat clan were listed as passengers on one of the ships of the Thunder Serpents. As a promising candidate for their ranks, Kai was allowed to take Julie with him. The members and servants of the Wayat clan were accepted as potential vassals with useful skills in growing rare herbs. Naturally, without Lily, who was also a promising candidate, this couldn’t have happened.

  They chose the Thunder Serpents because they heard awful rumors about their rival. The Salamanders had, apparently, forced the Ergret and Okushinra family to join them. Rare were those who wanted to join them on their own.

  Two weeks after their arrival, both clans had filled their ships, which meant it was time to go.

  Watching as the ruins of Rivertoon grew smaller and smaller, Kai wondered what kind of a mess he had gotten himself into this time.

  EPILOGUE

  Unlike the Forces of the Sword, Spear, and Saber, which all belonged to the Weapon Forces, and were, therefore, practically the same, the elemental Forces were unique. The same was true for the Earth Path, which had two most widespread Forces — Hardness and Softness. The first, as the name implied, allowed a practitioner to make things solid, while the other did the opposite.

  Sharply opening his eyes, the young man flinched. His abdomen and right shoulder were throbbing in pain. Taking a deep breath, he suppressed it and allowed himself to relax for a moment. After a few seconds, he realized that he was lying on very soft sand.

  Where am I? How did I even get here...?

  Rising slowly, Greenrow examined himself. Thanks to the potion, he didn’t die of blood loss caused by a chopped off arm and a hole in his abdomen. Barely standing on his feet, he grimaced. He urgently needed healing pills, potions, or Spirit Fruits with healing properties. If in the near future he didn’t find anything of the kind, he’d end up with a disability that’d block further development.

  Sure that his spear had fallen down here with him, Greenrow looked around and froze. A dozen steps away from him was the shimmering figure of a man in golden armor. The Shadow looked at the boy respectfully, kneeling down.

  “A spirit?” Greenrow wondered aloud. “No, you’re something different, but you use the same Force as they do... It was you whom I sensed in this dungeon. Seems that luck is still on my side. We’ve met at the perfect moment! Come here.”

  Obeying, the Shadow got up and stopped a step away from him.

  Putting his left hand on its shoulder, Greenrow smiled.

  “It’s your fault that that trap almost killed me. You’ll have to redeem yourself.”

  The Shadow’s eyes widened with genuine fear. It wanted to destroy the young man, but it couldn’t move. Allowing Greenrow to touch it, it had given him the opportunity to shackle it with his will.

  Greenrow’s blue eye lit up. The whole cave was illuminated by an incredible flash of light, which destroyed the nearby cocoons in an instant. When the light went out, Greenrow was alone. However, he now had his arm again and there were no holes in his stomach.

  Looking at his hands and grinning, Greenrow felt incredible power flowing within him. His soul energy reserve had increased and he felt ready to reach the next Stage. He was sure that he could do it without rituals as his newfound strength allowed him to feel all three hundred and sixty nodes. He was now aware of the existence of sixty soul nodes, which was ten more than his mentor had told him about. The old man probably knew nothing about them himself.

  Innate trait, [Led by Force], has been unlocked.

  You are able to see that which is invisible to others.

  Innate trait, [Led by Force], has evolved into [The Chosen].

  You are able to see that which is invisible to no one.

  “Excellent.” Greenrow nodded. He had assimilated the Shadow’s memories and some of its knowledge.

  “A sword,” he said, observing the golden blade sticking out of the ground. “Well, it won’t be difficult to learn a new skill—”

  Seeing Kai in the Shadow’s memories, Greenrow froze in his tracks. For some reason, the young man kept disappearing from the specter’s field of vision.

  Pieces of the puzzle were slowly falling into their places.

  “I knew that there was someone else... But to whom does this incredible power belong?” he wondered, licking his lips. “It’s a soul, isn’t it? What I just consumed doesn’t match even a hundredth part of its power. Kai, Kai... Were you hiding this within yourself this entire time? I wonder what this soul tastes like...”

  Having picked up the Ring and found what he wanted in it, he got ready to reach a new Stage.

  End of Book 2

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