50. Rescue(3)

Merin's father stands frozen, overwhelmed by everything unfolding around him. 

Just moments ago, he had braced himself to die in the jaws of a wolf. 

Then a flash of light tore through the beast, erasing it from existence. 

More flashes followed—swift, precise—each one claiming another wolf.

None survived more than a single strike, except for the two massive wolves whose brute strength allowed them to endure a few blows before they too collapsed, lifeless.

Silence falls, but only for a breath.

Heads tilt upward as shadows pass overhead—gryphons circling in the sky. 

Their wings beat the air with thunderous force, and one by one, they descend, landing heavily and shaking the earth. 

The eyes of all present—Konasi, Yumora, Sato, Merin's family—fix on the majestic beasts and their riders.

The gryphons are darker than the night, each with eyes of deep violet that seem to pierce straight through the soul. 

Their riders are uniformed in black cloaks, chest armour, and masks concealing their faces. Each carries a bow, with a quiver of arrows strapped to their back.

All except one.

He stands out in dark red armour, a massive battle axe across his back. 

Merin's father, still catching his breath, instinctively guesses he's the commander of this force—an elite unit from the kingdom, perhaps.

The man in red and two soldiers dismount, boots thudding against the soil. 

As they approach, Merin's father feels the man's gaze settle on him and his family.

And in that gaze—beneath the stern helmet, behind the violet glow—he sees something unexpected.

Relief.

The man in red armour climbs the short hill, two soldiers flanking him in silence. His eyes never leave Merin's family. 

With each step, the tension in his shoulders loosens—just slightly—and as he reaches the crest, he exhales quietly, thinking to himself, "I arrived just in time."

A moment later, and Kanoru's father would have been dead.

And with that death, an unbridgeable enmity would have been born between him and Kanoru. 

A life-and-death grudge. Not even royal status could escape.

Though the Sky Sword Sect would bear the brunt of responsibility, he knows Kanoru would eventually trace the roots deeper. 

He would find the rot beneath the surface—the secret desire the prince once harboured. 

That Kanoru's assassination and making him a criminal.

"But now I've saved his father," the prince tells himself, "Surely, Kanoru won't seek to punish me."

Still, uncertainty gnaws at him.

No—he must sever the last thread tying him to the assassination attempt. 

Elder Kruren. The only member of the Sky Sword Sect who communicated with him. 

If Kruren dies, the link dies with him. 

Then he can claim the elder acted without approval, used the prince's name and power for his own ends.

With that decision burning in his mind, he resumes climbing.

At the top of the hill, Konasi and Yumora watch the new arrival. 

The moment he nears, their bodies tense. 

Exchanging a silent glance, they nod, stepping forward in unison to stand protectively between Kanoru's family and the approaching man.

Konasi raises her voice, sharp but calm.

"Who are you?"

The first prince meets their gaze and calmly states, "Taiga Yashigami."

Konasi and Yumora silently repeat the name in their minds. Their eyes widen in recognition, and they quickly bow.

"Your Highness."

Though their tone is respectful, both remain tense. The prince's sudden appearance raises suspicion—after all, everything that has happened is indirectly connected to him. No matter which angle they look from, his arrival is far from simple.

Konasi stays quiet, but Yumora steps forward and asks, "Your Highness, may I ask why you're here?"

As the city lord of a prefecture capital and a fourth-rank official of the Owani Kingdom, Yumora is within his rights to question royalty under such extraordinary circumstances.

Prince Taiga glances up at Kanoru's family, who are still standing on the hill, their eyes wide after hearing his title. He offers them a faint, reassuring smile before turning his attention back to Yumora.

"I received word that the Sky Sword Sect had captured Master Kanoru's family," he says. "I came to rescue them—so that Master Kanoru would not direct his anger at the kingdom."

His gaze sharpens as it shifts to Konasi and Yumora. "And who might you two be?"

Yumora bows again. "Your Highness, I am Gato Yumora, City Lord of Ryoukezen."

Konasi follows. "Toro Konasi, elder of the Sky Sword Sect."

Prince Taiga's expression cools. "An elder of the Sky Sword Sect..." he repeats, then adds flatly, "You and your sect would do well to pray for Master Kanoru's forgiveness. If not, your existence may no longer be necessary."

He lets the words hang in the air, heavy with warning.

Konasi stiffens, her voice edged with disbelief. "What do you mean, Your Highness?"

Prince Taiga doesn't hesitate. "Your sect attempted to assassinate Master Kanoru. When that failed, your elder misused my royal token to declare him wanted—and then captured his family to threaten him."

Konasi's body trembles, not from fear but fury. 

The prince was shifting all the blame onto the Sky Sword Sect. 

If his words took root, then even if Master Kanoru forgives her, the consequences would be dire. 

Master Kanoru wouldn't need to act—the other forces eager to align with him would crush their sect, force it into decline, and erase it from history.

Before she can respond, a voice drips with sarcasm from behind the prince.

"Your Highness, you don't think you can simply push all your responsibility onto our sect, do you?"

Taiga turns, his expression sharpening. "Who are you?"

The man bows, either in respect or mockery—it's hard to tell. "Tsuga Sato. Also, an elder of the Sky Sword Sect."

Sato had arrived moments earlier, watching from afar. 

He didn't yet know the full story surrounding Kanoru, but hearing both Konasi and the prince refer to him respectfully as Master Kanoru told him everything had changed. 

Something significant had elevated the boy's status.

While making his way up the hill, he had overheard enough to understand what the prince was doing: unloading blame.

With Kanoru's family present, the truth would not stay buried. They would recount everything to their son.

Taiga studies the new elder with a cold, steady gaze.

"Did you not understand what I just said?" he asks, voice sharp. "Or must I repeat it for your benefit?"

Sato meets his eyes, unfazed, and replies with a hint of sarcasm,

"Your Highness, did you think you could stay out of this?"

Taiga's jaw tightens. 

His gaze flicks to Kanoru's parents and the two small children still staring up at him with wary, uncertain eyes. 

He exhales slowly, reining in his temper—losing control now would serve him no good.

"What do you mean by that?" he asks.

Before Sato can reply, Konasi speaks up.

"Your Highness… have you ever heard of the Cloud Spirit Serpent?"

Taiga narrows his eyes. 

The name is familiar. 

He recalls the Cloud Spirit Serpent as an exceptionally rare beast, mutated from the Wind Spirit Serpent.

Over time, when a Wind Spirit Serpent dwells in the cloud layers of the world, it absorbs vast amounts of cloud-aligned natural energy, gradually transforming into its rare form.

More notably, Cloud Spirit Serpents are known for producing cloud spirit crystals—mystical stones capable of storing their memories. 

They use these to teach their young, allowing them to inherit knowledge of the world and its dangers almost instantly.

Taiga begins to piece things together. His expression tenses.

"I know of the Cloud Spirit Serpent," he says cautiously. "But what does that have to do with your baseless accusation against me?"

Sato's lips curl into a smirk.

"Elder Kruren carries the bloodline of a Cloud Spirit Serpent."

Taiga's eyes narrow as he recalls the information he once received—Kruren was said to have the blood of a fire-attributed beast. 

That had surprised him at the time, considering the Sky Sword Sect is renowned for its wind-based techniques. 

Typically, all disciples with beast blood in the sect possess wind-attributed lineages. 

Even Asuna, who carries a beast bloodline of fire and yin attributes, had to become a personal disciple of the sect leader, who follows the spiritual path rather than the traditional beast-blood based. 

Had she been wind-aligned, she might have been placed under an elder instead.

Back then, Kruren's unusual bloodline had puzzled him. 

But after learning that Kruren's family lineage could be traced directly back to one of the Sky Sword Sect's founders—and that every generation of his family had been part of the sect—it made sense why Kruren held the position of elder despite the discrepancy.

But now they were claiming he bore the blood of a Cloud Spirit Serpent?

That was supposed to be impossible.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I sensed fire-attributed beast blood in him," Taiga snapped, though even as he spoke, a sinking feeling crept into his chest.

Konasi replied calmly, "Your Highness, I thought you would understand this better than anyone. After all, your father possesses beast blood of a blood attribute, and your mother carries the white elephant's lineage—yet neither of those passed to you. Instead, you were born with yang-attributed blood."

Taiga wanted to curse. Why hadn't he verified Kruren's bloodline himself? Because of one careless mistake, he now found himself unable to shift the blame entirely.

There must be a way out.

He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the familiar turbulence rising inside him—his inner energy growing unstable, the violent tendencies beginning to stir again. 

The technique he'd received from the mysterious stranger helped curb the madness that came with his inner power, but it required the yin spirit of a virgin, and now it is impossible to get it.

Inhaling sharply, he forced himself to think. He couldn't make an enemy of the Sky Sword Sect—they were a top sect, and he lacked the power to challenge them outright. Blaming the entire sect was dangerous and unrealistic.

But blaming just one elder? That might still work.

After all, his father had only wanted to prevent Elder Kruren from falling into the hands of the kingdom's ministers. 

Killing Kruren inside the sect would be nearly impossible… but if the Sky Sword Sect themselves made Kruren disappear?

That would solve everything. Let Kruren bear the entire weight of this mistake.

He looked at them and said, "Then tell me—did Elder Kruren show you any memory proving he communicated with me directly?"

Seeing the silence on the faces of the two Sky Sword Sect elders, Taiga pressed, "Then why would he claim I ordered Master Kanoru's death? And why would I want Kanoru dead?"

Konasi answered, "Because you wanted to marry Asuna."

Taiga's eyes flashed. Marry Asuna? When did I ever promise that? He couldn't remember making such a vow—and even if he had, it would have meant nothing. 

As a prince, his marriage was never his to decide.

He needed Asuna, yes—but not as a wife. 

She was the only one who could help suppress the violent chaos in his inner energy. 

She would have worked under him, remained hidden from the world.

But then he learn about Kanoru.

If Asuna fell in love, he could never control her. 

She'd become a weakness, a liability. 

And Kanoru? He had been an insect, an ant not worth a second thought.

So Taiga had asked Kruren and a few loyal men to crush that ant.

Now, that decision returned like a poisoned arrow aimed at his back.

His gaze slid to Yumora, who had remained quiet during the exchange. "You're an official. Tell them—can a prince choose his marriage?"

Yumora inclined his head slightly. "No, Your Highness. The marriage of every prince or princess is decided by the royal elders, His Majesty, and their mothers."

Taiga nodded. "Exactly. So now you understand. Elder Kruren may have lied… about many things."

Konasi and Sato exchanged uncertain glances, still not grasping where the prince was steering the conversation. But Yumora, more seasoned in court intrigue, began piecing it together.

Then he noticed something.

From the hilltop, he saw flickering shadows forming around them—odd shapes shifting in the dim light. He looked up. The night sky was blanketed by clouds, yet the wind did not move them. The clouds remained fixed… unnaturally so.

The other three followed his gaze. Konasi's and Sato's eyes widened at the sight.

A voice echoed from above, layered with calm menace.

"Your Highness," it said from within the clouds, "it's not wise to place all the blame on me."