On the east side of the imperial city, a lone figure floated silently. He wore a black and white embroidered robe, his long gray hair blowing in the breeze. Looking over the wall, just over a thin forest, was the ocean. He could hear the faint cras.h.i.+ng of waves, even though the sh.o.r.eline was still a few miles out. As he looked down, he saw soldiers flowing through the imperial city"s east gate atop their horses. " Hey, this gentleman here, why don"t you come and play with this younger sister?" The people of the imperial city went about their day like normal, knowing nothing of the soldiers that had entered their walls. " ahahah, i can"t, my wife- how will she know?" A girl dressed in revealing red garments held the arm of a middle aged man, as she looked up to him cutely, tempting him. Her raven black har glistened, as the sweet scent of a perfume wafted from her body, her plump pink lips giving her a seductive yet cute visage. " ah, but, it"s still day time..." what does that matter? see, your body is honest.." The girl smiled seductively as she glanced down. The man gulped as he could hardly contain himself, as the ocasional moan would escape the wooden building behind the girl. " ha ha, we-well, then i guess i can-" rumble! " huh?" Hearing the rumbling, the man turned his head, only to see an army of bloodthirsty soldiers already in front of him." what is- psuuu!" KYAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Before the man could finish his scentence, his head hit the ground. Blood sprayed from his headless corpse, onto the girl"s face, as she screamed. " what a noisy prost.i.tute. die!" The same soldier who beheaded the man looked towards the girl, who backed away in fear, soaked in blood and her own urine. " stop!" Suddenly, the shout of a girl caught the soldier"s attention. A girl wearing a short white robe, with a decorative folding fan in her hand stood in the middle of the road. The other soldiers continued to run amok, as they kicked down doors, dragged people from buildings and killed as they pleased. " hmm? those are..." Just as the man in the sky was about to move, he looked down and saw something interesting, which made him stop. " humph, do you think i will stop just because some wh.o.r.e told me too?" The soldier lowered his sword, but before it could reach the girl, it changed direction. " oi oi, what kind of prost.i.tute can do this?" The soldier was slightly startled, as he looked at the girl blocking his sword with only a blue, decorative folding fan. " who is a prost.i.tute, you fool?!" The girl jumped back, before kicking up towards the man"s head, displaying her flexibility. deng! " kehun! what?! was that water around her leg?!" the soldier mumbled, as he blocked with his free arm, the armor caving benieth the kick"s pressure.
...
At the north gate.
" hmmm?" Levi was returning to the imperial city, but jas as he walked out of the forest, he saw a group of people in the distance. " who are these people?.....soldiers? light is s.h.i.+ning from their armor....in any case, they should be the soldiers of the cloud continent....but even if they are not, i should still be able to make it out...partially unharmed..." Levi mumbled to himself. during his walk though the forest, he had thought of multiple ways to use his blood energy more efficiently. but there was still one problem: he didn"t know if these things would work. but then he remembered, he did use blood energy in a certain way before, and it yielded ridiculous results. but the problem with that was, he also got hurt because of it, so he didn"t want to use that method if possible. "...time to go, then." he thought things over, before walking out of the forest.
...
The east gate.
" Alysa, why did you run off alone?" A calm voice rang out. " hmm? Averi? why are you here?" alysa looked around, and only a few feet away from her was a boy, slightly shorter than the average male, with a light smile. This boy had short black hair, and watery blue eyes. He gave off a feeling of calmness, like a small river flowing elegantly. " well, since you ran off, the clan head told me to go look for you." the boy, Avery said. " well, i heard a scream, and-" dang! "are you ignoring me?!" The soldier shouted, as he lifted his sword from the now crushed brick paving. " tch, can"t you wait just a minute?! as i was saying, i heard the scream of a girl so i rushed over here." Alysa said. " hmm, i see. your habbit of saving damsels stems from taking care of your sister, right?" Averi asked. boom! " what are you getting at?" alysa asked, as she dodged another strike from the soldier"s sword. " you know, there are multiple rumors going around the imperial city about you." Averi said with a light chuckle. vivivi! " that is not anything new." Alysa heard the swords vibrating as she stepped back, dodging it once again. " for instance, " a daughter of the flowing water clan has a thing for the fairer s.e.x" something like this." Averi said with a playful tone. boom! boom! " what?! who is spouting this nonsense?! i"ll kill him!" Alysa sent out two powerful, lighting fast kicks to the soldier"s side, sending him cras.h.i.+ng into the side of the brothel, as blood splurted from his mouth.
" hahaha! your reactions never cease to amuse me! haha!" Averi held his stomach as he laughed. His manner of laughing caused him to resemble a girl. " you..." Alysa couldn"t help but blush as she looked at Averi"s smiling face. " Who the h.e.l.l spread that rumor about me having a thing for girls, though?" The redness dissapeared from her cheeks, with bulging veins replacing them as she remembered the troublesome rumor. " And you!" She looked at the girl who was still sitting by the doorway of the brothel, shaking from fear. " Even if you are a prost.i.tute, you shouldn"t let men do as they please with you! stand up for yourself, even if it means death! this cowardice is what makes men feel that they are superior!" Alysa scolded. " b-be-Behind!" the girl pointed.
" what are you saying? behind?" Looking back, Alysa saw the soldier who she had just taken care of standing behind her, and he looked fairly irritated. " c.r.a.p! oaff!" thump! she was kicked in her stomach, sending her cras.h.i.+ng into the wall of the brothel. cough! the air was knocked out of her as she colided with the wall. " die!" the man raised his sword. puchi! " In the end, she is still just a child." The man in the sky spoke, as a sharp piece of broken wood was sent soaring, before imbeding iteslf into the back of the man"s neck. " hmm? it seems my help was not needed." The man said after taking another look at the situation. splat! The upper half of the soldier slowly slid off, before hitting the ground with a splat, while the legs were still standing, a faint water-like qi dissapating from both halfs of the body a few seconds afterward. " are you alright, alysa?" Averi asked with a light smile. "....ah...yeah..." For a second, she could have sworn she saw a monster, but after rubbing her eyes she only saw Averi. " hmm, what a terrifying killing intent. what an interesting pair of children." The old man in the sky said, before dissapearing.