Chapter 55: Puppet

It was early morning as Yurik and his people came to the palace, demanding an audience with the Emperor which was granted only hours later. Yurik was clearly incensed as he walked in the throne room where Feynor sat on the throne, with a calm, even bored expression as he was deliberately making them wait. When he received who was here to have an audition he just ignored it, had a pleasant breakfast with his wife before even dressing up to meet with them.. 

 

“This is unheard of!”

 

“It is.” nodded Feynor “I was never informed you are the new King, being able to ignore the protocol before this Emperor.”

 

Yurik halted his steps but only for a moment before bowing towards him as they arrived before him.

 

“Excuse us, Emperor Aerthus X. The troubles we are facing are serious and it made us forget our place for a moment.”

 

“I understand.” nodded, leaning back on the throne, looking down at them from his elevated position, on the top of the five steps, leading up to his throne “What trouble is it so I need to skip my breakfast and hurry here to welcome our close friends?” asked with a sarcastic undertone and half smile. 

 

“...” gulped back his first words that came to mind before speaking, trying to sound his voice calmly “One of our brethren has been missing since yesterday night.”

 

“Maybe he is lost, this is a pretty big city, millions live here.”

 

“Both of us know this is not possible.”

 

“If I heard correctly you went to a family dinner yesterday.”

 

“Exactly! So-” 

 

“I was also informed, only a few of you went. Now if the missing person is not my Uncle or the young kid from your group, then…? What were you trying to say? Also… why is this something I should be bothered with? It was a family dinner, not an international meeting between diplomats. Must this Emperor now meddle in family disputes too?”

 

“...” gritting his teeth he was scolding him deep inside but tried to remain calm on the surface while his eyelids were twitching “One of my people is missing. He went missing in YOUR city. He is a representative of the Kingdom on an official mission. If something happens to him-”

 

“I know, you don’t need to continue. Go back to your residence, take a day off and relax. Tomorrow I’ll send for you and in the meanwhile I’ll find out where your missing person is.” said, yawning a little before getting up and just leaving them there.

 

When Feynor left Yurik stormed out from the palace with a red face, ready to explode, while Feynor was going to find Carthus as his Father was absent. 

 

“Grandfather.” said as he walked close to the pavilion he was staying but stopped when he saw a kneeling figure before him. “Nameless?”

 

“Your Majesty.” greeted the black cloaked man while Carthus looked at him

 

“It’s good you are here. You also need to hear this. Repeat it.”

 

“We picked up the same energy that the seventh Emperor possessed.” said, while Carthus held a crystal in his hand 

 

“We did?” furrowed his brows Feynor as he knew what did this meant in a deeper level and instantly became nervous 

 

“Mmm.” nodded Carthus “It has been recorded. I just now checked the evidence.”

 

“Where is it from?”

 

“From the General’s house.” came Nameless’ answer

 

“You monitor one of the most decorated General of the Empire?” snorted Feynor, looking at Nameless

 

“There were strange energy fluctuations there. We were obliged to check it out.”

 

“That can mean anything, My Brother-”

 

“Relax.” sighed Carthus “It’s not him.”

 

“It’s not?” asked both Feynor and Nameless at the same time, surprised 

 

“I recognize it. I could do it anytime as it has a familiar connection to me, being from my son.” shaking his head 

 

“Sentios?” murmured Feynor, crossing his arms before his chest “This could cause some troubles.”

 

“We’ll see. Nameless.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Case the surveillance of my grandson.”

 

“...” stayed silent for a moment before answering calmly “Yes.”

 

“Change it to protection.”

 

“Your Majesty?”

 

“You heard me. I was thinking for a long time now. I tried to erase my father’s legacy for so long and so hard, yet it still comes back again and again. Maybe I was running from it. I’ll deal with this personally when time comes. For now keep a close eye on my grandson. Those silver haired trash may do something bad. I know my son, he left with the kid, something must have happened and he deemed it dangerous to stay. He only likes to make a move if he has more than 80% chance of success. He abandoned the others so it must mean that what they are planning is dangerous or plain stupid.”

 

“As you order, Your Majesty.” bowed his head before disappearing while Feynor calmed down completely and relayed everything that happened before

 

“And why are you coming for me?” smiled Carthus 

 

“For permission.”

 

“For what? You are the Emperor, you don’t need permission from anyone. Not even us.” patted his shoulder “Do what you feel right.”

 

“...” thought hard before nodding “Thank you grandfather.”

 

“No need for thanks, being an Emperor has its perks, but times like this are when you will decide the future the empire takes, having millions of people’s life on your shoulder can be tiring.”

 

…

….

…..

 

“I’m surprised he is still alive.” said Leinor, leaning against the wall as he watched as Ren was holding Feyn’s head with two hands, slowly releasing him while smoke was rising from his shaved, bald head and blood flowed from his nose as his eyes were rolled back and only it’s whites were showing. 

 

“I know his limits by now.” laughed as she stood up, wiping her forehead with a towel 

 

“How is it going?”

 

“Hard. I’d need the original instruction on how to cultivate it to mimic their eye technique. But I get the gist of it. They can establish a connection with another person’s energy point in their head by connecting with it through eye contact. After that they overpower it and force their own influence on their mind, being able to manipulate the person’s own thoughts, reading his thoughts, memories, etc. Who knows, they may be able to plant new, fake memories also.”

 

“Oh? Then you just need to come up with something similar yourself, no?”

 

“I could. But if I had theirs I would have saved a lot of time. I still have a lot of things to work on, this is not on the top of my list. It is fun and interesting but not the most important.” sighed “Especially because it won’t work on people at the same level and even can backfire if used against someone stronger. Still, I’d advise you and I’ll tell the others if they ever fight with a Naulin family cultivator, avoid their eyes if they are at a stronger level.”

 

“At least it’s something.”

 

“I also have a different discovery. Or more to say, I finally see the finish line of one of my ideas.”

 

“Oh? Which one?”

 

“I already worked on how electricity drives our body. Now I had extensive time to work out the quirks of it, thanks to my new toy here. Check this out~” laughed as she activated his powers and Feyn’s body convulsed as she left a chunk of energy back in his body.

 

Soon he stood up, his eyes slowly rolled forward but if someone looked closely they were dull and his pupils as wide as his irises. As Ren moved, Feyn's body followed the exact movements of hers, mimicking it perfectly. 

 

“Woah… how do you do this?” looked on with amazement 

 

“Cool, eh? I control his body with my powers, it’s like a puppet, my energies inside him overwrites his own, giving me full control. I still need to work on it, as it has major drawbacks.” 

 

“Such as?”

 

“It depends on how much energy I leave behind. For now I can control him for around… 15 minutes. Also, he can’t use any spells, so in battle he is useless, at least for now. The biggest drawback is that it only mimics my movement for now. I’m working on perfecting it so I can manipulate it to the smallest details, down to facial expressions so it not just mimics me, but I can give it instructions he executes to the letter.”

 

“You made a puppet from it… I don’t think the others will like this.” sighed Leinor, but was clearly calm about it, not questioning Ren’s doings. 

 

“I guess. I’m not about to teach it to anyone for now and honestly, against someone who is my enemy, I don’t have any reservation.” smiled, hugging Leinor’s waist as the flesh puppet did the same in the air 

 

“Creepy.” chuckled as the watched Feyn hugging the empty air

 

“Ahaha, it’s funny. Anway, let him rest, and we can-” that was when a knock came and Hal stepped in 

 

“Excuse me Young Miss, Young Lord… the Emperor is here. In person.”

 

“Feynor?” asked both of them at the same time, looking at each other “We’ll go, just let me change quickly.” nodded Ren while Hal went back to entertain Feynor until they arrived.

 

“Did I interrupt something?” laughed, seeing Ren’s still a bit exhausted expression 

 

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“Ah? Oh, no, LeiLei insists it will only happen on the wedding night.” replied with a grin while Leinor just rolled his eyes

 

“Ahaha, sounds like you.” sipped on his tea, looking at his youngest brother before turning back to Ren “Did you work on a new technique then?”

 

“Yeah. Is it that obvious?” 

 

“Your so-called Uncle came before me complaining one of their men is missing and has been gone since they visited you. It’s a logical conclusion knowing you, that he is in your custody.”

 

“True. He is here, they tried to come in without invitation and my Father detained one of them.”

 

“Is he alive?”

 

“For now, yes.” nodded taking a cup of tea from Hal 

 

“How long do you need him? I can delay it for a time.” smiled Feynor 

 

“I have a better idea! What if I present him to them?”

 

“Mmm? What do you have in your mind Lil’ Sis?” 

 

Ren elaborated on his experiment with the puppet technique and Feynor just blinked surprised at her idea that followed the explanation. 

 

“That would… cause a big stir. They would probably suspect something is not right from the start.”

 

“True, but it’s a great excuse to detain them for the time being and demand an explanation from the Kingdom or even compensation. That old relative of a King of mine still owes me 16 years of birthday gifts. You can draft up our demands.” 

 

“Ahaha, you little devil! I like it. How sure are you of succeeding with it?”

 

“80%. Give me until tomorrow evening and it will be 90%”

 

“Great. Then I’ll invite them for tomorrow evening. Get ready with your little prank plan.”

 

“Nyahaha~ This is going to be fun!” giggled while Leinor just smiled as he shook his head, already feeling sorry for Feyn and the others.

 

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….

…..

 

When the next day’s evening came Yurik was pretty confident as they arrived at the palace, walking in like a peacock, trying hard to impress his mate with his feathers. In his eyes Aerthus X was a young, still inexperienced Emperor, just recently inheriting the throne, overwhelmed with a lot of things so he should be trying to avoid any conflict with them for now. Arriving at the throne room, Feynor was sitting there, calm, while he was talking with Leinor, clearly in a good mood.

 

“Oh, you have arrived.” chuckled Feynor, seeing them coming in while Yurik was checking out Leinor then the Emperor but did not think much about it. “Great.” clapped as the Imperial Guard, consisting of twenty warriors, came in, surrounding them at once with spears.

 

“What’s the meaning of this?!” roared Yurik but his words stuck in his throat as Feyn, with shaved head came forward, looking calm. “Feyn…?” blinked, surprised and shocked 

 

“We have found your missing person. He contacted us, to be honest, and showing he was not joking, he renounced his connection to his bloodline, shaving his head, telling us about your deplorable plan.”

 

“What are you talking about?!”

 

“Silence.” said Feynor, as his voice reverberated in the throne room. “Feyn. Tell them.”

 

“You are planning forceful intervention on the day of the wedding, disturbing the event and preventing the marriage. I was the chosen puppet to be sacrificed if it does not work out. I’m not here to play the discarded pawn’s role.” 

 

His words were heavy, clearly fighting to speak and finding it hard to say the… truth. At least that was how one would see it from the outside, a man who is still fighting with his long  lasting loyalty just to be betrayed in the end… but in reality it was exactly the opposite. Feyn was completely conscious at that moment, he was trying to wrestle back the control over his own body but could only watch on as it ignored everything and acted on it’s own. More precisely as Ren, hiding at the back puppeteered him and mouthed the words that came out of Feyn’s throat.

 

“You… you! What are you talking about?! This is ridiculous!” 

 

 Yurik felt like fainting from anger, his throat was clogged up, almost throwing up blood, trembling by just standing there. He was lost as to why Feyn was betraying them or what he was even talking about.

 

“We go! Now!” roared as all of them released their auras, ready to fight out.

 

Feynor and Leinor did the same, just as the Imperial Guard, who fearlessly stood their place.

 

“This is not over yet!” pointed Yurik at Feynor before lashing out at the guards, his affinity turned out to be the same as Anya, as a water whip cracked loudly, striking out, sending three guards who were only at the 8th body refinement realm flying, crashing onto the hard, marble floor as the others also attacked, trying to cut a path towards the door.

 

“So you choose the hard way!” flashed Feynor, rushing into them, intercepting one Naulin warrior’s fist and countering it, saving the life of a guard who with others immediately, not caring about their lives, attacked again as being saved by the Emperor was a shame, a neglect of their duty in their minds. 

 

Leinor also jumped in as he was exchanging blows with Yurik who found it impossible to comprehend how someone at the 9th body refinement realm stood up to him. Even though he could only be on the defense, he couldn’t pass him.

 

His attacks with the whip even though left deep gushes on his body, they quickly closed and his skin regenerated as if nothing happened at all. It was the first time Yurik met in battle with someone carrying the bloodline of Aerthus and now realized why the legends back home talked about him as someone unkillable and why he rose again and again even when he was defeated and believed to be dead. The only enemy who was able to go toe to toe with him was their own family’s forefather.

 

That was the moment as a whistling sound came and dark, specter like shadows rushed in and one of the Naulin warriors screamed out as his hand was flipping through the air, severed from his body, holding onto a bloody chunk, spraying blood onto the white and golden patterned floor tiles, painting it crimson. 

 

The newly arrived, black clothed people moved like ghosts, turning into smoke, merging into other’s shadows before striking from their blind points. More and more screams echoed in the throne room as Yurik felt a scythe’s blade almost catching his neck, separating his head from his body.

 

“Enough, we surrender!” said immediately, ordering the others to stand down, realizing there was no way to fight their way out. 

 

Looking around he saw two other of his comrades, laying on the ground, one of them was beheaded, still spurting out blood onto the floor with every beat of his slowly stopping heart while another was trying to push back his spilled guts into his stomach, gasping for air.

 

The black clothed warriors who arrived only numbered four, yet they were drenched in blood, all of them wielding strange, obsidian colored weapons. One of them held a chained, dual scythe while another a pair of hook swords,  or another just let the blood drip down from their pair of kama. The leader of them, who stood at the beheaded corpse, held a clearly modular and foldable war scythe over his shoulder and from his covered face only his cold eyes were shown, eyeing Yurik.

 

“Tsk… the Shadow Corps…” murmured, biting into his own lips

 

“Take them away and lock them up in the dungeon.” ordered Feynor with a cold voice, while Nameless just nodded, before swishing his scythe, beheading the still struggling Naulin warrior, who was desperately holding onto his spilled intestines. 

 

“We already surr-” flared up at Yurik again but the one with the hook swords pointed at him with his bloody weapon.

 

“Move.” said only one word that resembled the coldest winters and he was the one who once refused to report back to Nameless, Leinor using his draining skill and was the first shadow to move out, joining the battle right now too. 

 

Soon the remaining warriors were led away by them and the Imperial Guards, leaving the bodies to be cleaned up by the arriving soldiers while Leinor walked to the back with Feynor. Ren was already there, looking excited, while Feyn was out cold, collapsed in a chair with blood dripping from his nose once again.

 

“Are those the ones who you felt watching us before?” asked Leinor as they came back 

 

“Yup. Now I am sure.” nodded his fiancé 

 

“They are the Shadow Corps, they are only answerable to me or to previous Emperors. I am still currently in the process of receiving their full reports and the details about them, for now they are under the command of grandfather.”

 

“Huh. They are pretty effective and as I saw none of them are of common affinity.” scratched her chin with an interested look in her eyes

 

“Yes. All members have the same affinity for the darkness or shadow attribute. They are selected early and raised isolated.”

 

“You mean brainwashed.” commented Leinor

 

“From that perspective… yes.”

 

“Relax LeiLei. Running an Empire at the scale of this can’t be done by just walking in the light all the time. You need darkness to balance out the light.” said with a warm smile, looking at him

 

“I understand.” sighed, throwing out his thoughts “It went smoothly, I expected more trouble.”

 

“What, you didn’t have enough sparring with someone at the Harmony Realm?” laughed Feynor, patting his shoulders “I saw how you were battered but still… holding out so long is admirable Lil’ Bro.”

 

“He is used to it~” giggled Ren 

 

“Yeah, thanks to someone!” retorted with a joking voice “Next it’s your turn, Eldest Brother.”

 

“Leave it to me.” grinned Feynor “I won’t squander this golden opportunity to give a good smack to the Kingdom’s face~”

 

…

….

…..

 

“Ahahaha, the kids are good! This was nicely done!” laughed Aerthus who was spectating from afar with Carthus 

 

“Now let’s see how the King will respond.”

 

“If he responds.” chuckled “He probably will forsake them, telling us they acted because of Yurik’s rage, incompetence or something like this and just tell us to execute them or give them back and he will do it as an apology.”

 

“True. I would probably do the same. Then I can avoid paying a ransom and give place for further complications.”

 

“Tsk, cold. No wonder why one of your sons acts the way he does. Anyway, go keep an eye on the fugitives so they at least stay alive until then.”

 

“Yes.” nodded before leaving while Aerthus still looked on with a smiling face “Now I need to think about a proper gift if I want to accept her as a disciple… or she may think up a prank getting back at me later.” laughed in a jovial mood before disappearing

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