Chapter 139 - Deal with the Blood Priest

“Before we can discuss any matters, let Corbin go.” Yuzu spoke, letting her voice ring out in both Corbin and the Abbot’s minds.

“Very well.” The monk released his grip on Corbin, the bloody arms retreating into the blood on the floor.

“Leave, quickly.” Yuzu whispered into Corbin’s ears. He didn’t need any more encouragement as he quickly pushed himself to his feet, never taking his eyes off the floating monk. As soon as he reached the door he broke into a run, not daring to look back.

The room fell silent, but for the soft, laboured breaths of the lizard that remained incapacitated on the floor. The weak silver light of the moon shone in from the splintered hole in the far wall. It shone on the shattered furniture and disturbed earth, glimmering off the heavy splatters of blood across the room.

The monk floated to the ground, his feet thudding against the floor as his body materialized out of the shadows in his robes. He pulled down the hood and looked over to the door which had been left slightly ajar. His eyes were pitch black, his skin was pale and cold.

After a moment the soft, phantasmal voice of a woman spoke in his mind.

“I will let you leave unscathed, as long as no one is harmed tonight.”

“Forgive my impudence,” The Abbott chuckled, “But there is not a soul in this mansion that can harm me, let alone prevent me from escaping. If you wish to have a peaceful end to this night, I think you will have to agree to do something for me.”

~

Elsewhere in the mansion in a darkened room, Yuzu frowned while biting her lip.

She had been fairly certain that her threat wouldn’t work, but she had to try the simple path first. Offering to give the monk protection, while ‘letting’ him leave, this was only a bluff. She very well knew that the guards waiting in the area were no match for him in a fight.

In a negotiation, the upper hand went to the person who struck first. Therefore, she tried to make it sound like she was helping him, while leaning on her ‘power’ as the White Maiden.

From the Abbott’s response, Yuzu realized that solely relying on the White Maiden’s ‘godliness’ wasn’t going to work. He wasn’t threatened by her, and in fact was directly negotiating with her.

“I won’t ask for much.” The Abbott said simply, “My request to you is, allow me to support you.”

“In what way do you want to support me?” Yuzu replied.

“I am aware of your shrine in the forest, and how you are soliciting prayers from Lord Noga. I understand that you have done so under the benevolent guise of healing the sick, but we all know the game. Lord Noga is providing you support for your reawakening and recovery. In return you are assisting him, hence your appearance here tonight.”

Yuzu tilted her head at his words, her eyebrows knitting together as she pieced together his statement. Clearly there was a misunderstanding somewhere, since Yuzu had not even met Lord Noga, much less make a deal with him.

“I have many followers at my command, if it is prayers that you need then I can provide plenty.” The Abbott said, “As well, the forest is within my domain. I can guarantee the safety of your shrine. If there are spiritual items you need for your recovery, I can also provide them.”

“And in return?”

“In return, I would ask you to consider supporting me in return.”

“I presume supporting you also requires withdrawing my support of Lord Noga.” Yuzu replied.

“Withdraw is a strong word. However at the very least, I wish for you to understand my intentions.”

Oh, I understand your intentions alright. Your request is to allow you to support me? Do you think I was born yesterday? Yuzu scoffed. The Abbott was clearly trying to suck up to her, embellishing what he could do for her while understating what he wanted from her.

To tell the truth, she was not interested in what the Abbott had to say. He probably thought he was clever, trying to make a deal with her, but she saw right through him.

He asked for her support without giving any details, Yuzu already knew what he was up to from her talk with Medusa. The Abbott and his monks were fervently working to revive the God of Life, threatening the peace of the province and its people.

His bargaining chips - followers, protection and gifts, meant nothing to Yuzu. His assumption that she was a reawakening goddess was understandable, but flawed. Perhaps if she were really in that situation, it wouldn’t matter to her where her prayers came from. But Yuzu really did want to help the people who were affected by the devileyes disease.

In addition, the woods weren’t actually under his domain. They were controlled by Medusa and her God. It was only because Medusa was allied with the monks that he could make such a statement. However Yuzu had already made a deal with Medusa, on the premise of protecting her from the monks. In other words, the Abbott’s promise of protection was useless because Yuzu already controlled that piece.

Finally, Yuzu was not interested in any gifts that the Abbott had to offer. She already had some weird flower thing offered to her by Master Ming Ru, and support from Argus, who was arguably a better source of information and resources than the Abbott could ever be.

“Sorry, no deal.” Yuzu whispered to herself, smirking.

The Abbott had laid all his cards on the table to entice Yuzu to take up his offer, but in the end Yuzu’s heart was not even swayed for a moment.

“You wish for me to understand your intentions? You are here tonight to kill people.” Yuzu spoke through the Abbott’s string, “What more is there to understand?”

The Abbott’s eyes darkened as he heard her reply.

“Every death is truly regrettable, but they are small prices to pay for the justice I seek.” The Abbott muttered. His eyes flickered to the giant lizard which was still being suppressed by his powers. “But now is not the time to discuss such things.”

“As a token of goodwill, no more blood will be shed by my hands tonight.” The Abbott said abruptly, raising his hands up to his chest height. He clasped his hands together and shook them firmly in a bow toward the Maiden, “Goodnight, White Maiden. May we meet again.”

The elder monk’s skin began glowing in the moonlight as his body rapidly faded into the air. The bloodied black cloak hung in the air for a moment then collapsed to the floor in a heap. His black fate thread spun around and then rapidly flew out of the manor into the sky, riding the moonlight into the distance.

Yuzu let go of the numerous Exalted strings that she had gathered in her hand, leaning back against her chair as she exhaled deeply. Her brows were knit with worry as she idly watched the released Exalted begin to move naturally in the mansion again.

A few of the strings immediately entered the destroyed dressing room, wrapping tightly around lizard monster’s black string.

It was a short engagement. The monster had only been born less than an hour ago suffered many internal wounds from the monk’s suppression. It was blind and exhausted. The hired guards easily dispatched of it with their swords and powers.

Thus, the final danger in the mansion was extinguished, and the tapestry of fate became calm once more.

Yuzu was in no hurry to leave the room. She suddenly felt drained as she closed her eyes and relaxed the tension in her body.

Even though the Abbott had left, she did not feel safe. Throughout the conversation she could feel that his aura was probing for her, searching for her. She had been extremely careful not to touch his string or try to manipulate it in any way.

If he was able to lock onto her, would he have flown over to find her?

The Abbott was an Adept, whereas she was merely an Apprentice, how could she compete with him in a direct encounter?

On the other hand, being able to handle such an enemy who was several times pointed to just how powerful the Fate path could be.

All of the guards wouldn’t have been able to lay a finger on the Abbott. They would have been slaughtered in a direct fight. Yuzu knew, because she’d seen it in the strings. Yuzu was the only one at the ball that had the power to find a peaceful ending to the night.

After observing the threads for a while and concluding that the danger had completely passed she sighed softly, pinching her nose.

“What a pain...”

~

A little while later Char Char was running around with an anxious look on her face.

The ball had been interrupted by tremors and the roars of a beast. The guests were ushered out of the mansion, away from the danger, while being told not to worry and that things were under control. Char Char had immediately rushed back to the servant’s wing, looking for Yuzu.

However when she arrived at the chair where she had left her friend, neither her nor the poisoned wine bottle were to be seen.

After ten minutes of randomly wandering through the hallways, several long illusory white strands of hair blew past the edge of her vision.

“White Maiden!” Char Char looked up with an anxious expression, “You know who Yuzu is, right? Do you know where she is?”

“She is safe.” The familiar spectral voice spoke calmly, “The danger has passed.”

Char Char exhaled in a huge sigh of relief as she placed her hand on her heart and bowed her head, “Thank heavens.”

“There is still a matter that needs to be taken care of.” The Maiden said to her softly. The image of a cramped storage room appeared in Char Char’s mind, where the bottle of Scarlet Ambrosia had been hidden in a cabinet. “Retrieve the poisoned wine bottle and hide it somewhere safe. In the morning, drop it off at this location...”

Another image appeared in Char Char’s mind as she nodded, clasping her hands together in prayer, “As you wish, White Maiden. You can count on me.”