In the centre of the cold void that surrounded the Abandoned Kingdom, a spectrum of energies flickered in the distance. Bethryl stood among them, but she did not dare look too far ahead. She had reached the point where her own ability could crush her beneath the weight of other people's fates. So she simply observed.
"You are Jinvar's daughter, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"I knew him well. A good man. He was a friend of my brother's, Renshu of the Hei Clan. I am Ryo."
"Yes. I know."
The relaxed smile vanished from Ryo of the Hei Clan in an instant.
"Alright," a member of the Shadow Clan called out. "So we go in, grab him, and get out."
"The Eastern Leader, our greatest enemy, will now become our greatest weapon."
"How are we supposed to get past the dogs, though? Their abilities probably let them know where we are all the time."
Bethryl noticed the emphasis they placed on the word dogs when referring to the Faceless Soldiers, as if the word itself were a weapon
"Axiom Map."
A green web flashed outward for less than a millisecond.
"They've got ten dogs in there, and three people. I see one guy in the middle wearing regular bandit clothes, but there's something about him… that must be who we're looking for."
So they were still alive, Bethryl thought. There was still a chance.
Ryo noticed her reaction. His experience told him that she was paying close attention.
"We're going to save this Ashar," he said. "We've been in situations like this before. We'll get Ashar to the Hawk. Then we'll burn this whole place down."
"That's what Shenric would have wanted."
"No," Bethryl said quietly. "You shouldn't do that."
"Why?"
"I can feel it. This place… it deserves to exist."
"Remember, there is nothing that exists which is not worth perishing."
She remembered Ashar in that moment.
There was little time left, so the group immediately moved into formation. They took their positions with the precision of people who had done this hundreds of times before.
The weaker members were sent forward first as bait, meant to create space during the initial clash. Behind them, the stronger members prepared their abilities.
Bethryl watched the procession from the very back.
"It is good that you have found us," Ryo said.
"No," she replied.
"No?"
"I regret coming this far."
Ryo raised an eyebrow.
"Strange. I did not expect Jinvar's daughter to say something like that."
Bethryl had already looked ahead. She knew how this man would die. None of it mattered anymore.
She could see his past, the mistakes he had made, the people he had killed, the desperate attempts he had made to atone for them. Now that she saw it all at once, she wondered if any of it had truly meant anything.
"If you rescue Ashar," Bethryl asked quietly, "will you spare the others?"
"We need to reach him first," Ryo said. "But if the other two cooperate with us, maybe. If not… I see no reason."
"You'll kill them?"
"We'll kill whoever we have to."
Bethryl looked deeper into Ryo's past.
She saw how the Shadow Clan, in moments of desperation, had taken hostages to force the Lords into negotiations.
It always ended the same way, in bloodshed.
This is a cruel world, he would say. Do we not have the right to kill that which kills us?
"It's all so disappointing," Bethryl said softly.
"They're coming," someone called from the front.
"I need to take my position now." said Ryo, "Stay here. Stay safe."
"Do you think you will win?" she asked.
"Of course we will," he said with a smile. "Why else would we have come this far?"
"To feel free,"
Ryo found no words to reply with, and instead revealed a knowing smirk.
"We will be fine," he said.
"And after that… do you think you will win in the end?"
He almost gave the same answer.
But for the faintest moment, he sensed it, a glimpse of Bethryl's true ability.
He chose to ignore it.
"If we can show the world that we exist, then that is our final victory. Nothing more is needed. The moment they give in, that is their acknowledgment of our existence."
"And who benefits from that?" Bethryl asked.
"They're coming out!" someone shouted from the front.
"How many?"
"Five dogs."
"Alright then," Ryo said. "Let's see what happens."
The two groups began to move for positional advantage. The Shadow Clan split apart and used their superior numbers to ensure that each Faceless Soldier had two men on him. The Shadow held a line of five so that they could be ready for all group attacks.
But then something strange happened in the opening of this battle.
Ryo stayed on the outside with his Axiom Rope ability, using it to set traps if the Soldiers planned to move outwards and evade. But there was no reason for the Soldiers to move anymore from the entrance to the Kingdom. Although they were fewer their power was of a different class altogether.
So why did they retreat? Why did they split apart? Why did each one of them go in separate directions and allow themselves to be outnumbered?
This was not the first time that the Shadow Clan and the Faceless Soldiers had fought, and clearly there was something that the two groups knew which Bethryl was yet to find out. There was something that the Shadow Clan possessed which placed even a group of Second Tier beings on the defensive.
Now there was a Soldier at the entrance to the altar, and one Soldier at each surrounding tower. So far, the Shadow Clan looked to be in complete control of the battle.
Bethryl had already looked ahead.
She had already seen the outcome of what was about to take place.
And that is why she was the only one who turned around in response to the calamity that was approaching.
Far away from the Abandoned Kingdom, and the entrance to the Underground Dwellings, the Supreme Leader now looked around at the forest. Based on his calculations, whoever had breathed the poison in was now dead. The entire population of the Eastern Forest had likely been killed. But this was necessary for his plan, and now it progressed into the next stage.
He turned over to Kareth, and laid his eyes upon the entirety of the forest.
"Activate,"