The Heavens Shall Fall

King Valasiy remained on one knee even after finishing his prayer, making Siu almost gawk at him before glancing back over the others. When he did, he realized the others weren't that freaked out by the situation, making him quickly turn back towards the king.

“Haaah…” He let out a quiet sigh, looking at the old king kneeling before his feet. “Your Majesty, please stand.”

Before the man could say something, Siu reached down and grabbed him by the forearm, pulling him back onto his feet. Despite the size difference between the two, the mortal king offered almost no resistance, allowing Siu to pull him upright, not that he could resist. By now, Siu's body was way stronger than any regular human could become, no matter how long they trained.

“You don't need to kneel to us,” Siu continued, trying to sound friendly. “We came because you asked for help, so let's not put us on a pedestal, please.”

“Then...” His damaged voice betrayed his surprise. “You have my gratitude.”

“I would rather have information.” Siu joked, making the king's lips lift into a smile too. “All of it.”

“Of course.” He said, then looked toward the people standing around the hall, straightening his back in a snap. “Bring it back to place and bring out all the reports!” He yelled, snapping his fingers and pointing toward the moved table, which was soon pushed back into the middle.

Then, a moment later, a pair of scribes disappeared through a side door and returned carrying a pile of parchment, maps, and several small boxes stuffed to the brim with letters. They had to make multiple trips to bring out everything while the group just watched the pile grow, making even Ruben whistle at the end.

“That's something.” He chortled, making Seloryn elbow him.

“We asked for everything; be glad they listen."

“Of course we listen,” King Valasiy said, standing with them. “And you shall have everything.” Then he turned to the gathered nobles and continued in an authoritative tone. “And nobody leaves anything out. If your land was lost because you ran, say it now, because you may hide it from me, but not from a cultivator's senses!” As he was speaking, the king's fist tightened into a ball as he was finally able to say what he had only thought about before. “I have no patience left for pride; we are way past that point.”

Siu's opinion of him rose slightly upon hearing him be so firm, and so he just nodded when the king turned back to him.

“Your Majesty is right.” He stated, also throwing a look at the gathered nobility. "We can't help if we don't know everything."

“We have already lost enough because men wanted to protect their reputations,” Valasiy added, while the scribes and clerks finally finished bringing all the evidence forward.

Turning toward the table, the king unrolled and pinned down the most detailed map they had, which showed the kingdom in its past glory. The map took up more than half the available space, showing the kingdom stretching from southeast to northwest, looking elongated, with Sumeck sitting well within its southern half. Most of its western territory was dominated by forests, farmland, and small towns spread around the center and south, with another forest forming a natural border behind them. The hills multiplied toward the northwest before eventually giving way to a mountainous land that was the Stormglass-controlled border. As the Wardens studied the map, three military officers finally walked to the table and stood with their king. The first was an old, muscular man with white hair shaved very short, wearing an eyepatch over his left eye.

“This is my General Devren,” Valasiy introduced when Siu looked up at the trio, and his eyes fell on the oldest. “He is the chief commander of my armies.”

"It is my honor," The man bowed, barely daring to look Siu in the eye.

"This is," The king turned towards the second, younger man, perhaps around forty years old. “This is General Kost. He has coordinated our militia and local village defenses.”

"It is my honor," He repeated the same line, while Siu just nodded at him, too.

"And you already met Lord Captain Harel," The king pointed at the third figure, who was the Royal Guard captain who had escorted them into the castle. “And this is what remains under reliable control...” Valasiy then continued as his finger traced the southern half of the kingdom.

“Only that much?” Siu asked, surprised, because it was basically the capital where they were, and the land behind it that they cut through. Everything else, by the king's words, was lost already.

“Sadly, yes.” He answered, while his generals looked ashamed.

"Are you telling us," Rinmei leaned closer, looking incredulous, “That everything north of this line,” she asked, pointing at the map, "You have no idea what is happening?"

"I am ashamed to say, but that is exactly our current situation."

"We lost absolute control of those regions," Devren joined the discourse just then, “We can't enact our laws and will with how much we lost. However, that does not mean we send people there. We just can't enter with an army. Some villages still answer us when we send runners in the night. We just... can't protect them.” He finished, finding the words slowly and feeling it disgraceful to speak out loud. "We cannot guarantee safety for any of them.”

"We do have places that no longer even answer us," Kost also added just then as he pointed at several markings on the map, way behind the frontline. “These were our northern key towns and cities.” He said as Siu watched seven red circles on that side, four of which had black crosses over them. "The blackened ones no longer reply if we send a messenger. Those are considered wholly lost."

“One of these was Lord Marven's estate, which was burned to the ground.” Devren pointed to the westernmost black mark. “Everyone inside who did not flee was killed or disappeared. Sadly, it wasn't the only one. Fort Kelebra surrendered to the enemy, got raided, and then destroyed.”

"Huh?" Bren frowned at hearing that. “Surrendered? To bandits?”

“It was what one survivor claimed.” The king said, throwing a quick glance towards the nobles present.

“What happened afterward?” Seloryn asked, following his gaze for a moment.

“We don't know anything besides that it was burnt to the ground.” The king answered with a shake of his head, "We sent scouts, but none returned, as they were probably killed. As for the rest," he pointed at the remaining marks, "Darrin's Watch was lost in the past month, while Lord Belgar's manor was occupied about the same time. We know of that because one of his servants escaped, bringing word that they hold the duke and his family as hostages."

“There were cultivators involved.” General Devren said in a cold voice, making the Wardens look at him. "We confirmed it when we lost the Watch. However, we don't know... um... the correct strength they wield, but it was described to us by the servant that one of them managed to punch through a knight's armor and kill him in one strike."

"That could be both the Bone Tempering stage," Ruben shrugged, "And the Blood Resonance stage."

"Or Flesh Morphing," Joren added, also shrugging the same way.

“How many cultivators are there?” Siu asked, looking at the group. "Do you have a number?"

“The servant saw three who could fight on that level,” Devren said after exchanging glances, reaching for a few parchments, flipping through them, and presenting them to the group. "These are the servant's recollections, recorded when he reached us, giving the news."

"Even if we knew their strength, there is a great difference between vagabonds reaching a certain stage and us." Bren crossed his arms while speaking. "Unless we compare techniques, we have to take this carefully. Only if they turn out to be rogue cultivators can we start moving more openly and crush them one by one."

"You already want to fight them?" Ruben's eyebrows rose a little, smiling, but Bren remained silent, studying the map. “Do we have any news about what kind of affinities they displayed?” He asked then, making the people look at each other, while Rinmei was already flipping through the hundreds of parchments.

“I see nothing in here about that.” She answered before the king or his generals could.

"That's a sign we aren't dealing with Blood Resonance people," Vael spoke up, but Siu was not that sure.

"Or they just didn't need to use spells against knights and soldiers." He said, also deep in thought.

"Excuse our ignorance," the king managed to interject, looking at him. "What is an... affinity?"

"Oh, oh!" Arya giggled. "Master, let me!"

Before Siu could say no, Arya's body suddenly darkened, and in a moment, she disappeared from view. Not just from mortal eyes, but nobody else could sense her anymore, except Siu. Then, like a shadow, she stepped out from behind the crowd, making the nobles yell and freak out at how she appeared among them without anyone noticing.

"Incredible!" The king sighed, watching the demonstration. "And to own someone so strong..." He muttered, and Siu had no chance to correct him.

"Ahaha, my Master is even stronger, so of course, he owns me and my body. Fully!" She said with a seductive grin, making herself jiggle more than necessary.

"Arya!" Siu raised his voice, but she just laughed, settling down next to him, while Marly's head popped out from his robes, climbing out, yawning.

"What's the yelling for...?"

"Nothing," Siu answered with a shrug, handing her off to Arya. "Instead of creating trouble, take care of your sister." He added, turning back to the table as if nothing had happened.

His mind mostly focused on how a Blood Resonance cultivator raised without a proper sect's resources, their already tested forms, and experienced instructors, or just without any access to healing baths really, could vary greatly. What if the injuries they suffered while cultivating weren't healed properly? What if their methods were off? Their breathing technique faulty? They may be at the same stage as he or Vael was, but they may already be damaged and thus much weaker. Still... he didn't want to let himself be lost in that thought, because that would make him and everyone else walk into a trap.

"Do you have cultivators to dispatch?" Siu asked suddenly.

"Not anymore." The king answered, his voice low and his eyes closing in defeat.

“How many cultivators have you lost?” Seloryn asked, already guessing why he looked so sour.

“All eleven we had.” The Lord Captain answered, and by the fact that they were so shocked about Arya's trick, it was clear those cultivators were only comparable to the Hollow Song's Outer Disciples. Meaning, at best, they were at the Marrow Cleansing stage. "They were hunted down systematically, and we sent all six remaining of them to retake Darrin's Watch with the bulk of our army when we lost it.... That place was and is at a crucial spot, but none of them returned."

Siu looked down at the map again, furrowing his brows as he stared at the spot in the middle of the country. They could be dead... Or captured. And if they dealt with six of them, that could mean a lot of things.

“They're establishing safe positions.” Bren suddenly said, holding some of the papers Rinmei began handing over to Seloryn, who then passed them down to the others. Siu was glad she came with them, as her organizing skills came in handy once again. Without any order, she had already sifted through the reports, found what mattered, and discarded the useless ones.

"I think so too," Seloryn nodded, lowering a parchment and pointing at the map, “Also, look at this. They're clearly setting up supply points, going by how they expanded and captured their objectives..."

"Speaking of that," Siu asked, looking up at the king, “Do we even know where they're being led from?”

"No, not really," Valasiy shook his head, but then Kost leaned a bit forward.

“Actually," He began, but his voice was uncertain, "We have, um, guesses, but they are only guesses, drawn from how this all started.”

“Show us,” Siu ordered, while Kost didn't wait and began explaining, placing three red stones down on the map. "This is Fort Marden.” He pointed at the first one. "It was the very first military outpost they occupied instead of burning it down, and from here is where they launched their attack against Darrin's Watch. The Watch itself is a key location and can overlook a wide area. It's on open land and easy to besiege. However, it also has stone walls and two towers, tall enough to see very far in good weather. We had a permanent garrison of one hundred and twenty knights there when the attack happened.”

"The Watch itself could be a strong contender." Bren chimed in, while Kost pointed at the second marker after nodding at that possibility too.

"This is Lord Belgar's manor, and it is another possible spot, because they took him hostage instead of killing him. Naturally, we don't know if they just say that and may have already killed him and his family... And sadly, it doesn't even matter. The land there can sustain a small army if they keep occupying it and is close to the forested border region, to run into and hide if the manor falls."

“What is the last one?” Ruben asked, since that spot hadn't been mentioned yet, not even in the reports Rinmei had handed out to the others.

“An old iron-working settlement, the Smelted Hollow. The mines we had there had run dry a long time ago, so it could be infested by these bastards. We only have rumors that they may originate from there, but staying there would also be a death sentence, because there is only one way in and no other way out. Getting trapped there would mean we can bury them alive, so it is the least likely spot."

"True, but it is also close to the borders," Vael offered. "An ideal spot from which jumping forward or backward is possible, depending on their situation."

"I want to know more about these three," Siu said, his eyes moving back and forth between them. "Do we have individual maps of their lands?"

Valasiy just snapped a finger, and the clerks began hurrying to bring the new maps in, and by the time the briefing ended, the hall had emptied of almost everyone except the king, his closest officers, and the Wardens. It was deep into the night when there was nothing new to report or say, and Siu kept staring at the maps without saying anything for more than ten minutes.

“We check all three.” He said suddenly, as everyone looked at him. The king and his generals were flabbergasted, while Seloryn just raised an eyebrow.

“At once?”

“Yes." He muttered, slowly blinking his blue eyes that looked more focused than when he was training, "We will split into three groups.”

"Splitting up?" Joren immediately looked unhappy. “Siu, that reduces our strength a lot.”

“We're not going there to fight.” He said, shaking his head.

“Yeah? That is what everyone says before getting forced to fight.” Ruben warned him, joining his brother by crossing his arms the same way.

“No need to fight,” Siu repeated as he looked around the table. “I'm serious. We are scouting, understood? That's what we're here for. We have to see this for ourselves, determine their numbers and cultivation levels, and decide whether we are enough to handle this or send word to bring in an Elder. If this invasion is too much, the sect must know about it and send out someone who can sweep them out in one move.”

Hearing him say that, the king was just slack-jawed while listening, exchanging glances with his generals, deciding it was best to just stay silent for now.

“I agree,” Bren said first, while Nokoh tilted his head, thinking.

"Cho'Wa and I can easily sniff them out, so it shouldn't be hard to go, take a look, and retreat."

"If it's only scouting, we should be fine," Seloryn also agreed, and soon, a decision was made, so Siu began dividing them.

“I'll take Fort Marden. From what I can gather, it's that after launching their attack on Darrin's Watch, they most likely emptied their previous holdout. Which is reasonable, because to reach behind them, the king's army would have to move around the Watch, and, by what we were told, they would be spotted if they tried. As cultivators, they could move out, intercept the king's forces, or reinforce where they needed to before they arrived. No wonder they wanted it so much; they can spot any large operations from there."

"That is exactly what has been happening," the generals said at the same time.

"However, as cultivators," Siu smiled, "We can move around them without being seen. We aren't an army. That also gives us an advantage, so we can go and investigate behind their backs. They probably don't expect anyone like us."

"And if their leader is there somewhere, we can sniff them out," Seloryn muttered, catching on to what Siu was putting down.

"Mhm." He nodded. "I will take Arya, Marly, and Rinmei with me." After they nodded, Siu looked toward Vael. “You take Smelted Hollow. It is the farthest and maybe the more dangerous one, but you should be fine. Take Bren and Ruben with you. Bren knows a lot about mines, and if they are hiding down there... Ruben could flood them.”

"Wait... Didn't you say no fights?" Ruben asked, almost laughing.

"No fights indeed," Siu answered with a smile. "But if the opportunity is there to kill their leader so easily... take it."

"Ruthless," Ruben said with a grin, while Bren suddenly nudged him.

"He can be... I experienced it."

Siu ignored that and moved to Seloryn, as only one target remained.

“I'll check out the manor.” She nodded immediately.

"What if we find them alive? The nobles, I mean." Nokoh asked, making Siu think a little, but then he shook his head.

"Nothing. You wouldn't be able to retreat with people like them in tow, so... No. If they're alive and we kill their captors, they will simply be recaptured and then killed. Maybe tortured. Let's get a clearer picture of what we are up against first." He added with a smile, looking over his friends, "Then if we confirm what kind of people we are facing, cultivators that we can take on... Then we will do so. And if not, we call in an Elder. Either way, our mission to free this land of this scourge will be completed."

"When do we leave?" Joren asked, yawning a little.

"Now." Siu smiled, looking out the window while Joren almost fell over. "And I want to be back before dawn."