After war cleanup

At the bottom of the hill every spy but one was accounted for so only one death was calculated on the Bombyx families side.

The fleeing villagers were quickly subdued and captured, the unconscious men or women lying on the hill were checked for their vital signs before being tied up and brought away to be imprisoned and tortured for information by Isaac and Rashida.

The collection of information on everything the group was involved in would soon be collected to hand over to the martial alliance along with the prisoners.

Not only did the prisoners get escorted to a secure location but the innocent villagers who survived the war began to be escorted back to their homes and received assistance to start up their lives once more.

Some that wished to leave the village received compensation after encountering the sudden threat and enough money for their land or homes while those that expressed their wish to stay would have better preparations made to improve their livelihood.

However Isaac explained to the villagers that while they can leave the village they must remain within the walls until the martial alliance arrive to conduct their investigation since they are witnesses.

Ki walked back to the walls and saw her grandmother looking at her with eyes full of gratitude mixed with a little unease.

Agnes knew that her granddaughters path would be a difficult one but she would still walk down it without hesitation.

She was grateful that the family survived the battle, had this been the forces she cultivated or the bodyguards she employed for the family then they would not be able to match up to the enemies fought today.

The biggest factor was the strategy employed to poison and slowly wear the enemy down and keep them from reaching the final wall.

With her forces even if she used a similar tactic she was not sure she could come out as the victor of the battle because while Isaac was able to strategise a battle plan, Ki was also able to grasp the changes in the flow of the battle and the blood shadow group had been well trained and followed their masters orders without question.

Had it been done by anyone else there would be problems with people fleeing the battlefield, betraying or making silly mistakes resulting in death.

The most important part about the battle was that none of the people on Ki's side suffered an injury during the battle and thanks to the assistance of Ki, Marilyn and Rashida the group did not need to use their mystic arts or blood sects martial arts in front of any spectators.

This helped to not expose themselves as blood sect martial artists or mystical arts users during the martial alliances investigation and arrival.

Once any of Ki's people are identified as either of the two it would put the family at risk of being put under further investigation or even targeted by the martial alliance or even the blood sect itself.

Maybe in the future Ki could be confident enough to expose her cards but now was not the best time as she and the family weren't yet strong enough to even defend against the outer recruits and a recruiter from the blood sect without the help of the blood shadow elite group.

If she cannot face the blood sects attacks then there is no chance that she can possibly defend against the combined forces from the martial alliance once they began to target her.

The best option was to stay low key and slowly build up her strength and influence.

Agnes walked to Ki and gently rubbed her head messing up her hair a little. "Thank you little Ki for protecting our family."

Ki became a little emotional and began to hug tightly onto her grandmother as if she was just a small child in front of her loving grandmother seeking comfort. "It's all over."

Ki realised she had many regrets in her life after her rebirth but the biggest one she ever had was running away while leaving her family to die, even during her days as a slave, living in the dirty slums, travelling light and hunting in the forests or in difficult terrain she carried that guilt along with her desire for revenge until the end of her life.

Finally she overcame her biggest regret and the thing that had most tormented her, she no longer ran away when her family was left behind but bravely faced the crisis head on.

As Agnes held her gently and lovingly comforted her, Ki felt a sense of relief and a sudden feeling of weight lifting off of her shoulders.

Wolfden City Slums, Gambling Hall

Within the dark and damp underground prison sat the family of Celene the sister of Agnes the grandmother of the Bombyx family.

Compared to their usual arrogant appearance with their displays of their wealth or their future potential they looked a lot more hopeless.

Previously when Celene gave up all she had on the Bombyx family she expected to be treated like an honoured guest but instead the men outside the prison only treated her with more disdain and the look in their eyes were full of contempt.

After using her and getting everything out of her since she was so ready to betray her sisters family she no longer held any value.

They gained everything she and her family had and now they were nothing but living goods which could be traded.

As for Agnes and her husband they were not very valuable to the eyes of the men but the others may sell well.

Soon followed was their lecherous gazes which turned to her sons wife, she was the first to be humiliated and then sold.

As if sensing their intentions and the atmosphere outside the cell, the wife bit her tongue off during the night before.

Celene's husband sat on the other side of the cell alone cackling to himself trapped in his madness and dark thoughts.

Celene looked towards her son who now had lifeless eyes looking towards a pool of blood within the cell.

He just sat there unmoving while holding his sons close to him, it was unknown if he was trying to comfort them of himself.

The children were visibly weaker and skinnier during their imprisonment and were full of dirt and small wounds.

The smell within the cell was terrible, the people within the cell had long given up hope of surviving while one had gone to the afterlife before them.

Soon a cluttering noise was heard and several small plates of food were pushed into the cell.

Celene and her husband rushed towards the food with greedy eyes and began to devour their share.

Celene pushed the remains to her son and grandchildren with a kind smile. "Eat up or I will have to force you all to eat. We need to survive."

Her son lifted his head revealing his lifeless eyes looking at his mother. "How was it to betray your own sister in order to save your own skin? I'd understand if you could of negotiated our release for the families support in our crisis but what you did was despicable and stupid. Not only did you give them everything they wanted without so much as a hint of proof that they would uphold their side of the deal but worst of all you gave up our only chance to survive willingly without even negotiating a deal. Seriously how has this family survived until now don't you even realise it… had it not been for that sister of yours we would of long been ruined by you and father."

The old man at the other side of the room began to murmur to himself in a low voice. "Ungrateful wretch…ungrateful wretch…"

Celene looked at her son with a look of hurt in her eyes. "Agnes.. always Agnes. What is so good about that woman that you can respect her but the moment you speak to me you treat me like dirt! I am your mother!"

The son frowned as he slowly fed his children and placed some food in his mouth. "Without her support I would of never been able to face my wife with confidence every day, i always keep thinking…. If we never received the Bombyx families help maybe one day my wife would one day leave once things became more difficult. It's thanks to them I could live a stable life with my wife and children and be able to walk with my head held high within this city. All you have brought me have been disgrace because of your vanity and foolish acts. In the end you betrayed our only benefactors and put your own sisters family in danger and for what? Did it change anything? Did it feel better to drag her down with you?"

"…" Celene opened her mouth to speak and then closed her mouth again, she then put on a complicated look on her face.

A guilty look appeared on her face as she turned her eyes away from her son as if he had accurately seen through her, she muttered in a low enough voice that nobody could hear. "Even if I can't survive, they won't be any worse off than us…"