Chapter 222 - The Gentle Pull of Fate

“Is this the right way…?” Dr. Baolan rubbed his thin beard with a perplexed look on his face. He was at an intersection in a tight set of alleys that twisted beneath the inner walls. He thought he’d had his route figured out but had gotten completely lost.

His head jerked to the side as his spiritual intuition warned him of an intense demonic aura blooming to in the distance.

“Confound it… To think I’d fail this way…!” He cursed, though he couldn’t help but laugh at his own ineptitude, “I really am too old for this... Hopefully the others are having better success.”

He was so distracted by his frustration that he didn’t take notice of the strands of white hair floating in his periphery.

~

An elegant woman with dark skin and a black and red uniform was standing guard outside a stone door within the Tye Ann Cathedral. Inside that chamber were a number of ministers, including their own client.

“This is the life, isn’t it Firuzeh?” The young man beside her muttered with a sarcastic tone. He was wearing the same uniform, but lacked the decorum of a serious guard with his spiked hair and slouched posture. “Couldn’t we at least be guarding from the balcony, at least we’d get some fresh air.”

“Be serious, Kai.” Firuzeh scolded, “The Boss worked really hard to get this job.”

“Yeah, no thanks to that rich girl, I guess. What was her name, Char Char? No one’s heard from her at all, huh.”

“Actually, our client contacted us at her recommendation.” Firuzeh frowned, “Though you’re right, she hasn’t contacted us since.”

He twisted his pinky in his ear, cleaning out the wax as he yawned, “Tell you something, caravan work was tough work but watching over old men is going to bore me to death.”

The pair’s spiritual intuition triggered as a huge man with scarred, tanned skin rounded the corner.

“Boss.” Firuzeh and Kai bowed.

He nodded to them as he passed without making small talk, a serious expression on his face.

The pair of guards shared a glance with each other as they subconsciously tensed up.

“It’s starting.” Firuzeh muttered, “Remember, our client is our first priority.”

“Yeah, yeah. If the client dies we don’t get pie.” Kai sighed.

“Don’t… ever say that again.” Firuzeh groaned.

She suddenly paused, her ears perking up as she looked around.

“What?” Kai asked.

She frowned, momentarily unable to place the source that triggered her spiritual intuition. After a moment she muttered, “…White Maiden?”

The strings within the cathedral shifted in subtle ways.

~

Finn was in a small office at the far end of the square, surrounded by a group of Exalted officers. These teammates of various ages and experience levels had all been assigned under him. In the past week he had grown into the leadership role, organizing the efforts of the team to conduct surveillance and provide support for the factions that were directly opposing the God of Life.

He wanted to do more, but had to work with what he had. Furthermore, he was constantly on guard against the prying eyes of Chief Vox, who had arranged for his team to provide assistance with the festival in key locations. Chief Luan had taken charge of the overall festival security, however his hands were tied, unable to act directly against the corrupt Vox without any evidence.

“Based on my intel, the ritual will be disrupted at the third, seventh and eleventh pillars.” Finn brief his team, “Our job is to get those agents to safety with minimal conflict.”

“In addition, we’ve identified a warehouse that might contain incriminating evidence against the corrupt officers on the force. We expect there to be a backlash after the ritual is disrupted, which will give us the chance to seize the evidence. Chief Luan has positioned a team of officers near each building with orders to assist us when we make our move.”

The pillars of flame along the walls burned brightly in the distance as the godly demonic aura budded to life, drawing everyone’s eyes to the window.

“That’s the signal.” Finn nodded, “Everyone has their assignments. Let’s go.”

Various portals opened up as the officers exited the room, heading to carry out their tasks and leaving Finn alone.

He gazed out across the empty room with a frown, letting out a small sigh. He had carried out the briefing per Chief Gwynn’s orders, and the officers had respected his ‘authority’, but he felt like a bear cub in a room full of grizzlies.

Gwynn had told him that he was to stay in the office to act as the base of the night’s operations. However he knew full well the reason why he was the only one left in the room. Even with his miraculous take-down of Ming Ru and his rescue of the special investigations team, he was still just a Candidate. More of a liability than an asset in an Exalted battle.

His eyes smouldered with frustration as he stared out of the window across the plaza. The tarp covering the large mass in the center of the stage was flapping wildly in a sudden gust of wind. The ritual had begun in earnest and his allies were engaging with the enemy, but here he was stuck in a darkened room.

As he watched, his eyes narrowed down on the back corner of the stage which had collapsed. There was a commotion happening beneath the stage, drawing in numerous monks and causing the floor to shake.

A tense energy filled his body as he suddenly felt compelled to act.

The subtle pull on his spirit went unnoticed by Finn as he rushed out the door.

~

Beneath the stage at the center of the square, a vicious wind began to howl. Zwei’s body tensed up as he felt he couldn’t wait any longer to act, but the red haired girl stopped him.

“We need to wait until the ritual is already completely started, otherwise the dragon skull won’t be destroyed.” She said firmly. “The energies of the ritual will make it vulnerable.”

“Is that what the White Maiden told you?” Zwei frowned, “Who are you, anyways?”

“My name is Asuna, I am a cleric of Yuima.” The red haired girl introduced herself quickly, “Let me help you.”

“Yuima-“ Zwei recalled the police report that detailed the raid on the forest cabin several weeks back. The Nature Goddess Yuima was an ally of Noga and an enemy of the God of Life. Zwei glanced back at the brown bear that was still fighting with the monks as the pieces fell into place in his mind.

Despite the commotion, the monk with the crystal spectacles remained on guard next to the dragon skull. He constantly scanned the area, though he had yet to break through Zwei’s psychological blind spot.

Blood continued to pour down from the stage above, splashing onto the skull as a sickly green light began to glow from within its eye sockets. Above, the sound of a heavy tarp being ripped into the sky by the winds marked the reveal of the demonic tree to the world as screams began to erupt from the audience.

A screeching howl pierced the air as a black mass began to bulge from the tree, blocking the light above Zwei and Asuna. The pair didn’t need any more incentive to act as they took off in opposite directions, dashing in an arc toward the skull.

An invisible hand grasped onto a number of black and silver strings around the stage, keeping them from responding to the assault.

“Hoh?” The spectacled monk grinned in amusement as his spiritual intuition triggered, instantly becoming aware of the two assailants. His spectacles flashed with a prismatic glint as he reached out, summoning a martial spade from the air.

He brandished the ceremonial weapon with both hands. The bottom of the weapon ended in a crescent moon, while the top was a flat and broad. Numerous rings jingled with a spiritual quality as he swung the weapon in a wide arc, its blade glowing with a bright silver light.

Zwei was still far away from the monk, who was facing the red headed cleric. He was thanking his luck that he hadn’t caught the attention of the monk and had his eye on the skull when he suddenly tripped as his foot collided with a plank on the ground.

Slice!

An invisible wave slashed through the air right where Zwei had just been running. Splinters erupted out of a pillar directly next to him as it was cleaved completely in two by the monk’s ranged attack.

Zwei gaped at the bisected pillar for a moment as he realized just how narrowly he had avoided an unfortunate fate.

On the other side of the skull, Asuna ducked the crescent shaped slice in a graceful spin as she pulled out the cork of a flask on her belt. A furious buzzing filled the air as a stream of black and yellow wasps rushed out in a spout that flew through the air toward the monk.

The monk slashed vertically through the swarm, causing it to scatter as dozens of dead wasps fell to the floor. He didn’t wait for the swarm to recover from the shockwave, as he dashed toward Asuna at a superhuman speed.

As the battle continued, Zwei found himself frozen on the ground, his pupils trembling and fixated on the bisected pillar above him. Dust and wood chips covered his clothes, lacerations from the splintered wood stung his face and hands.

He couldn’t help but envision what would have happened if he hadn’t tripped and falling at that exact right timing.

A gentle hand reached out in the aether, tugging at his string.

His hand shifted on the ground. The cold touch of glass startled him out of his trance. He looked down to see the vial of swirling brown liquid that Dr. Baolan had entrusted with him. His eyes glanced over to the battling monk and cleric, then at the blood-drenched dragon skull that was completely exposed with no other protection.

His eyes hardened, his fingers closed around the vial. A surge of adrenaline filled his veins as he pushed himself to his feet, boots scraping against the floor as he scrambled forward. The vial grew hot in his hands as he injected his spirituality into it, starting the reaction inside.

The liquid in the vial shone with a blinding white light as he threw it true towards the skull.