It won't even take a day

Although Jacob had succeeded in his wish to kill his father, it was a horribly rushed job. Even if the main family wasn't alerted immediately, it was only a matter of time before he was proven as the culprit. Furthermore, as Anders had gotten close with one of the elders on the invader's side, he definitely wouldn't have much time to live freely. Therefore, after arranging a letter to be sent to Sia's family, he also started making preparations for his wife and child.

Maybe it was cruel that he didn't regret what he did even when he saw their smiles which he knew would be lost, but that didn't bother him. Although it was ultimately his loss, his chest felt free knowing that he had finally taken a point from his father.

'If I get the chance, I should thank him for this.'

Anders' death was a shocking event that should have been a big topic once it was exposed, but because of another event it was completely overshadowed.

Early in the morning two days after the dome sealed them, an old man in a dirty robe stained with his own blood, sat in a meditative position within a cell. If this was an ordinary cell then it would have been but a decoration to him, but there was an array here that suppressed his strength to a level where he was helpless. However, when this old man suddenly opened his eyes, they exposed a firm will.

"No matter how many times you come, my response will be the same."

"Tsk, tsk, old man why must you be so stubborn?"

Along with quiet footsteps, a youthful voice came from the stairs leading down to the Henry's cell. The one responsible for interrogating the former mayor was a man who didn't look a day older than twenty but had a cultivation in mid Earth Realm. It still seemed rude for a junior to be in charge of him, but Henry had no right to voice out such concerns.

"No matter what you say I won't betray my ancestor."

"Ha..., it's not a betrayal. That exists so that we can defend against external threats so why does it matter who uses it?"

"Hmph, of course someone who hails from a city of invaders would think that."

"You-!"

At Henry's comment the man's face turn ugly as he leaked heavy killing intent. Although you almost never heard someone talking about it, there were originally four cities rather five cities. The four cities except for Silver City were made around the same time by disciples of the same major-rank force. However, later on, Silver City was created by several powers from the capital and resources were pumped into it until it was stronger than the other cities. Therefore, there were some old texts which described them as parasites who forced their way into the area.

After taking a few deep breaths, the young man managed to restrain his anger and asked, "Will you continue to be stubborn once we kill off your descendants?"

"If they are true members of my clan then they'll understand."

"Tch, fine. We didn't want to do this but since you insist on being so stubborn we'll make you talk whether you want to or not."

As he watched the young man, Henry knew that he wouldn't have much longer to live. His mind stopped on Shui, but he shook his head. It would be nice if he was here but he couldn't expect him to save this city before the secret was taken. However, as he had loved ones here there would be a day when he overthrew these tyrants.

Two days after he received a sudden call for help from Lily, Shui arrived at the entrance of Cyrus. Since he was sure that there would be trouble, he tried to get an extension of his time but the red spirit didn't agree.

"I need to regain my power."

"But you've already waited for who knows how long, can't you wait a little longer? I promise that after I leave Cyrus I'll head straight there."

"I'm not adjusting your deadline. And it's not just because I'm impatient. I hope I'm overthinking but with you having god inheritances and the awakening of that fallen something tells me that a chaotic age is coming. I need to regain my power as quickly as possible."

It was a reasonable response so Shui found it hard to argue against it. And so, he could only settle things as quickly as possible.

The dome that covered the city was unable to stop or detect him so Shui managed to make it into Cyrus rather easily. Though he was thinking of using a brute force method to resolve things, Shui tried to gather some information first. He headed towards the slums at first, but then, he noticed one of his cloaks being worn by someone. Even for him, it wasn't easy to see through one of his cloaks so he followed this person to find out who they were. If it was an ally then he could ask for information, and if it was an enemy then he could force out information. A win-win so to speak.

The one wearing the cloak constantly looked around so if it wasn't for the concealment function of the cloak, they would have been very suspicious.

'It's not a professional but I doubt it's Lily's group either.'

The figure eventually reached the red-light district and surprisingly seemed less anxious. Even if this was their base Shui found this change in attitude strange, but he figured that it had something to do with the recent changes. He continued to follow the figure until they entered a large brothel that seemed to be closed during the day.

He noticed a small detection array set up at the entrance but since he had a good idea of who he would find inside the brothel, Shui purposefully set it off when he approached.

"Someone's coming!"

"Who is it?"

"I don't know!"

"Go through the back, hurry!"

When he heard how panicked they were, Shui couldn't help feeling guilty so he quickly opened the door to show them that it was him. Behind the door was a dense gathering of attractive women hurrying to pack their bags and run to the backdoor, but those who heard him enter froze in place with pale faces.

"He's insi-, huh?"

"I wanted to surprise you, but I guess it was too much."

"Shui!"

Once they realized that it was the familiar Shui, all of them jumped to embrace him, and since there were over ten of them it didn't take long before Shui was smothered in softness. They wept as they hugged him, but Shui couldn't feel happy since he wasn't sure if the only reason behind their tears was because they were glad to see him again.

Shui wondered how he would talk to them once they finished crying, but by the time he stopped hearing their wails, they had gone to sleep.

"I'm sorry about them." said Jeanne who also had swollen eyes though she had stopped crying before the others.

"No, it's fine."

Since even Jay was apart of the group who had cried themselves to sleep he knew that they were surely under a lot of stress. After carrying all of them to their rooms, Shui gratefully accepted the cup of tea that Jeanne offered him. Once he enjoyed the nostalgic flavour of the tea, Shui wore a solemn expression and asked Jeanne, "Could you tell me what happened?"

Before answering, a guilt-ridden expression appeared on Jeanne's face.

"Honestly, I would rather that you leave as soon as possible."

"You know I can't do that Big Sis Jeanne. I won't do anything I don't think I can handle, so can you please tell me?"

"...Fine."