Chapter 12 - Awakening Sage part 1

— Saint Anubis City, several months later.

Seeing it from a distance, this towering city was shrouded in fog and snow, and it looked like a fairyland. There were hundreds of towering skyscrapers and elegant buildings. There were golden pathways that floated in the sky, continually shifting and making new paths in an organized system. Experts could be seen in almost every inch of the city. This heavenly city was indeed the home of a Pharaoh!

It was very late on a cold winter's night.

Saint Anubis City covered an enormously large area of almost 500,000 sq.miles and served as the imperial capital for the Anubis Dynasty. This was possible only because the West Ward was the largest ward ouside of the central territories. The imperial city was separated into four significant districts. There was the Magus District, where the four Sage Families lived around Lake Nicaea, and the buildings were all grandiose and tall. There was beautiful architecture all around, and all sorts of magical array formations that made things float, or ignite, and many other things.

Then, there was the Northern Imperial District, where the Imperial House Congo was located at the southern end of the lake, right below House Shu, and the land was littered with large imperial palaces, jackal statues, and shrines, and the vast and majestic Temple of Anubis, home of the Pharaoh. Beneath that was the Southern Imperial District, home to many Silver and Gold Rank sects, and aristocrat families. The buildings were luxurious but straightforward; and finally, the several lower districts, scattered all throughout the territory, were collectively referred to as the slums.

All the buildings of the slums were either old and falling apart, or built by the residents with materials that they recycled out of more wreckage. In most parts of the lower district slums, one could still see lights and people out on the streets. Some were poor and stranded in the cold, while others were visiting taverns, partying, or soliciting many different "under the table" type services.

Meanwhile, the streets of the more upscale Southern District were silent and serene, as people huddled together indoors to escape the cold. However, if one looked closely enough through the hazy moonlight, they would see many silhouettes blending in with the shadows, as they swiftly navigated through the alleyways, and back roads, all running towards the Northern District.

Deep within a secret chamber of the most magnificent construct in the entire Saint Anubis City, the Pharaoh's temple, there were four men dressed in black hooded robes. The faces within the hoods of these robes looked out of focus, and couldn't be seen clearly. This was a common type of magical array. The four men were seated at a rather large war table, deep in conversation.

"And little uncle, you're certain that it's your elder brother who is the traitor? This seat's...father?" the middle-aged man who spoke had a bassy, gruff, but majestic voice and sat with poise. Although his features could not be discerned, he had an imposing air that seemed to exist as naturally as the clouds, and an intense aura of death power surrounded him. It was as if the grim reaper his within his shadow.

"Indeed, great sage nephew," came a noticeably younger, but similarly majestic voice, that instead had a heroic air. He handed the middle-aged man a magic gem slip, "This is the intelligence report we received from the God Wolf's Redoubt."

The middle-aged man used his soul consciousness to examine the magic slip, before frowning and passing it to the silent elder to the right of him.

"That damn animal! He has glamoured 76 women in the imperial city alone. White Demon Castle must be suppressed at all costs!" Said the elder after scanning the magic slip with his consciousness.

"Their security in the castle is impeccable. Approaching that force field is simply courting death," The younger man waved his hand, and curse power swirled then condensed into a 3-D projection of a floating White Castle. "This structure is built of a wondrous material that allows it to float, as long as there is enough power being supplied."

Waving his hand again, the White Castle rotated, allowing the people at the table to examine its features.

"These Jackal God statues are sentinels that operate by absorbing dense death qi. While the energy they produce is actually the part of the Infinity Jackal's divine heritage, Reaper Force," the younger man turned his head to glance at the middle-aged man again. "We believe that your father received these powerful guardians as a gift from you, yourself, great sage nephew. It is not that we doubt you. This proves that his glamour abilities have reached a truly terrifying boundary."

The middle-aged man's face seemed to heavily darken, though no one could be sure. After a while, he released a long sigh, "If these are actually the missing Death God Statues, if Basalt truly has the means to control them, then we have no way of planning a successful invasion. We must find a way to draw him out."

"As long as I am alive, he will emerge on his own to deal with me. His various lackeys, even the few assassins hidden inside my House, they cannot stop me. They have neither the intelligence nor the strength. He will be forced to make a move himself," said the younger man as he stood up, placing his hand on the shoulder of his companion who was rising up with him.

"At that time, we will invade his shadow and begin the first phase of our plan. We have paid an astronomical price to get the Lady of the Mist to participate in this plan. Merely, you see what she has had to endure. I was even forced to seal her memories and change her identity, all to avoid detection. From a certain perspective, his end goal is directly related to her. His obsession with her, however, can be used to our advantage..."

"Little uncle, do you not have a child with the lady of the mist? Are there truly no personal feelings involved here? What, then, of your son?" The middle-aged man, as well as the elder next to him also rose from their seats.

"..." the younger man paused in his steps, seemingly frowning, with a pained expression. Though his face could not be seen clearly, his tone was grave, "I have a plan for the boy...but ultimately his fate will depend on himself. Given enough time, I can send him to be with his older sister. However, if the time is not enough...he can only be sacrificed. My Eye of Destiny tells me that we are fated to be separated for a decade. We have come too far for mistakes. We must not fail when we are this close to success."

There was an elderly sigh, the origin of which coming from the companion of the younger man. He sounded exasperated, "such potential is worthy of the risk. Perhaps, we should seek out Fort Master Goldwolf."

"This..." the younger man was momentarily flustered before his eyes immediately brightened. This thought had, in fact, not occurred to him. The younger man's mood hit the ceiling, as he laughed boisterously. "Hahaha, indeed! There was still this route. Yes, once my...once the Fort Master is informed about the boy's potential, he will not sit idle."

"This is for the best." The middle-aged man appeared to be smiling, as he turned and started walking toward the back wall of the room, where an entrance appeared after the elder muttered incantation runes that flew into the wall. "Now, some annoying flies have been buzzing around our imperial district."

Stepping through the entrance, and walking down the pathway, a heroic air surrounded the younger man as he continued to laugh boisterously, before revealing a smile so dazzling it almost shone through the magic that blocked his facial features.

"Since they have come, they naturally will never be able to return," as the younger man's words faded, the two companions seem to utterly disappear into the shadows.

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There was a road in the Northern district that was split by a fork. The path to the left was still considered to be the main road. However, to the right was the path to the imperial palaces. The main street in the northern district was called Wild Jackal road. At the end of the road was an enormous opaque barrier emitting a surging energy force field.

This was the barrier formation that separated the Northern District from the Magus District. In front of the barrier, there was a large group of people. They were wearing dark clothes that covered their faces, and leather armor. They looked like ninjas hiding in the dark as they observed the barrier. They all had red eyes that look like evil lights in the darkness.

"The squad leader should be here at any moment with the device. Once he arrives you all better be ready to move out!" commanded the leader of the group in a low whisper, "Our mission is to annihilate the lord and honored elders of House Trilleck. The members of this house are like a bunch of vicious wolves! They always move as a pack or in no less than pairs, so don't get careless."

"Little boss, what about the old Grand Patriarch?" Chimed a subordinate.

"The old man is still in seclusion, he won't be an issue. The strongest are the red and blue twin wolves, Fire First and Heavenly Rain. They're both Sages at the Prism Mage Rank of the Void Philosopher realm. The squad leader and his elites will handle these two, we cannot handle such opponents.

"As for the rest, there is no one else above the Gold Mage Rank, and there are no human sage experts that I, Louis Black of the Hinterland Dark Elves, fear below the Void Philosopher realm. As far as the Saints are concerned, they only have two Heaven's Masters who are both absent! We will slaughter our way through! Everyone else can fan out and slaughter anyone in the way!"

"Little boss, they say the House Lord can jump many ranks to fight. Perhaps we should..."

"Rumors. He is nothing without the pack. I will kill the Lord myself," Said the leader menacingly. However, immediately afterward he felt a chill slide down his back and jumped back instinctively.

"Is that so," A young man who looked to be about 30 years old was sauntering out of a shadow with a broad smile on his face. The radiance of his smile blinded a few of these dark elves.

He wore magnificent clothes, with jewels on his hands and a wolf pendant necklace around his neck. His muscular torso was primarily exposed. He wore a turban on his head that made him look like Sinbad's cooler older brother. Two diamond ear gauges, made out of Ice Spirit Wolf fangs, hung in his ears, sparkling in spite of the darkness. When the dark elves saw this smile, they all felt their hearts go cold.

"House Lord Osiris Trilleck." Said Louis Black.

Lord Osiris didn't speak. Instead, from his body, an intimidating force was released. Lord Osiris was suddenly surrounded by a deep violet aura, as the primary heaven and earth forces created a phenomenon of six black spheres of light in the sky above his head, all the size of a fist.

The eyes of the wolf pendant emitted a piercing grey light, and a 12-meter tall wolf phantom manifested behind Lord Osiris. The wolf was surrounded in blue fur, except for the silver patch on its back. Its glaring teeth looked to be made out of pure diamonds. The wolf raised its muzzle to the sky released a howl that shook the void, before jumping forward in front of Lord Osiris, materializing into physical form! Ten more black lights were created from the sky following the appearance of the wolf.

"Blue Waves Ice Demon Wolf!"

"Everyone, set up the formation!"

"KILL!"

The dozen or so dark elves swiftly organized their ranks and fell into a formation as they prepared to wage war. However, the one in charge of this group, Louis Black, was petrified where he stood. He began stammering out words under his breath incoherently. Like himself, these dark elf warriors of his squad were all saint path warriors. However, Louis Black was also a high-level Sage.

"Ad..advanced..pow..it's...no...six..sixteen?" Louis Black was terrified, as he retreated by half a step. "How could you possibly have reached this step...how could you be this strong!?"

"This? This is strong? Do you think this is all of my strength?" asked Lord Osiris indifferently.

Rage filled the eyes of the other dark elves as they looked at Louis in shock. It was taboo for a dark elf to retreat from a challenge, even worse for one with the royal name 'Black.' However, Louis Black's words caused them to pause, as they all filled their eyes with true essence to take a glance at the phenomenon of the heavens and earth happening in the void above their opponent.

Such a phenomenon couldn't be directly witnessed without heavenly power.

Upon witnessing this sight, the color in all their faces drained. Those lights and that aura could only mean one thing, and boy was it bad news.

"Peak Prism Mage Rank," spat Louis Black in a panic, "Everyone retreat! Go now before..."

"Savage Wind Cutter!" before Louis Black could finish his words, Lord Osiris flashed past him in an instant. Before he was aware of his death, his head was already sent flying through the air. Blood dripped from the twin sabers that appeared in Lord Osiris' hands at some point.

"Kill them." Lord Osiris gave the command, and his Blue Waves Ice Demon Wolf launched itself at the dark elves.

Swiftly pinning down the first two targets, its fangs flashed with a chilling blue light as it bit and gnashed. The heads of two dark elves were bitten off while two more dark elf warriors were pinned under its paws, the ice power in its fangs freezing the body of its victims before any blood could spill.

"Flank him!" three dark elves attacked the Blue Waves Ice Demon Wolf from behind while one went for its side, but the huge wolf's mighty tail swatted the foes behind it crashing into the trees. A meter long and incredibly sharp ice saber rose from its forehead like a rhinoceros horn, releasing a menacing chill. To the squad of dark elves horror, the Blue Waves Ice Demon Wolf impaled a dark elf attacking from its flank, shattering the man's origin and tossing him away like a sack of old potatoes.

"Formation, get back in formation!" yelled one of the senior warriors as the dark elves moved to circle the beast.

"Blizzard Blitz!" called out Osiris Trilleck furiously, a nine-tailed bladed whip appearing in his hand. It possessed his same aura but his strength exploded once it appeared.

"Natal Weapon!"

"Retreat!"

"Too late," Gales of wind qi surrounded his body. He held the handle and lashed with the nine tails that each had a blade at the end. These blades were sky blue and released dreadful yin qi, and five small cyclones made of wind and serene ice force belted into the dark elves surrounding the Blue Waves Ice Demon Wolf. At the same time, the Blue Waves Ice Demon Wolf released a mighty howl that blasted through the city.

"Fuck! This is bad!" the dark elf vice-troop-leader under Louis Black was not at all keen on fighting a losing battle, in spite of a Dark Elf's heralded pride. Just one Osiris Trilleck that had come out of nowhere was already enough to slaughter them. Louis Black was dead in an instant, and they would soon follow. The dark elf vice-troop-leader was unwilling to die, "Quick, you fools! Retreat!"

However, just as that man started to lead a few team members away, he noticed that every step they took was shrouded in shadow. In spite of their frantic attempts to escape, they actually hadn't gotten anywhere this entire time.

A soft bell chimed, and Ke Si's voice drifted into their ears, causing their backs to fill with cold sweat, "My apologies gentlemen. Tonight, as per my lord's command, none of you will be leaving."

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