Chapter 144: Chou Part 7: Accidental Mass Brainwashing!
Shinji's POV:
After leaving the boss to handle the soldiers, me and Sakura went to round up the shaken soldiers in the center of the camp. And upon reaching them I discovered both some good news, some bad news and some worse news.
The good news, were that Sakura had already given the order for them to get ready for our assault on the palace. The bad news, I discovered why we were discovered by the enemy.
"They just want the girl!"
"They promised us, if we just hand her over, they will let us all go free!"
"And not just that! They said there is even a bounty on her! If we just hand her over alive, they said they would just treat us as bounty hunters and let us go home with a bag of money for our troubles!"
We had apparently been betrayed by a group of soldiers in our camp. They were in the middle of convincing the other soldiers to hand Sakura over to the enemies. And the worse news was that their plan was actually working as I could see more and more soldiers approaching us with greed and desperation in their eyes. Some of them even started unsheathing their swords as I stood in front of Sakura to shield her.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?! STAND DOWN! NOW!" I shouted.
"Come on kid! Just hand her over! Nobody needs to get hurt!" One of the soldiers said.
"Yeah! Just hand her over so we can get out of here!"
"So. Its. Betrayal. Again!" Sakura muttered, in a depressed tone.
"Oh, someone's going to get hurt alright! That is if you don't cut the shit and do as I say!" I spoke as I was getting ready to kick their asses.
"Sir, Shinji! You, can't!"
"Yeah, listen to the lady! Even she knows it's for the best!"
"Hehehe! HAHAHAHAHA!" I laughed.
"Did he lose his mind or something?"
"Doesn't matter! Just take the girl!"
*Thud*
"What's that fire?! Hey, get up!"
"He can't! He's dead!" I said, after showing my white flame in the face of the soldier who moved to grab at Sakura.
It's something I learned at that 'summer camp' as the boss called it. That place is insanely good for practicing and learning to use your aura. I once heard it could take decades for someone to just grasp the first stage of it, yet here I am, a 3rd stage aura user after only half a year of training in that place. I still don't get how she convinced them to not just kill us on sight. Well, it doesn't matter right now.
"Go to hell you bastards!" I said as I finished preparing my spell.
*Crackle*
*Crackle*
*Crackle*
The 3rd tier spell Chain Lightning is a lightning element spell, perfect for facing large groups of armored enemies, as it not only penetrates metal armor with ease due to its electric properties, it also hops between targets to deal additional damage to nearby enemies.
This allowed me to make quick work of most of the soldiers around us. Now, I only killed a hand full of guys, but many of them ended up getting paralyzed or knocked out as a result of standing to close together. But even still, I only knocked down 10 or 20 guys. Only a fraction of the number of soldiers in this camp. Fortunately, it was enough to intimidate them into backing away.
"If you think that's bad, then just wait until the boss gets here! She'll slaughter the lot of you if you don't move your asses!"
*Frightened muttering*
It seemed like my intimidation tactic was a success, as they soon backed away as they recalled the person they watched slaughter any number of giant beasts over the course of our journey.
"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! THAT BITCH IS ALREADY DEAD! THEY KILLED HER IN THE FIRST VOLLEY OF ATTACKS!" One of the instigators shouted.
"HAHAHA! IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK?!" I laughed confidently.
"IF SHE WERE ALIVE THEN SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN HER BY NOW! THE FACT SHE ISN'T MEANS SHE DIED!"
"Then riddle me this! Why hasn't the enemies stormed the camp yet?"
*murmuring*
"WHAT ARE YOU GETTING AT?!"
"BY NOW THE ENEMY WOULD HAVE HAD PLENTY OF TIME TO MAKE A MOVE! BUT EXCEPT FOR THAT FIRST VOLLEY, WE HAVEN'T HEARD A PEEP FROM THEM?!"
*murmuring*
"YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY THE BOSS ISN'T HERE! IT'S BECAUSE SHE IS OUT THERE SLAUGHTERING THEM ALL ON HER OWN JUST LIKE IN THE EQUESTRIAN MOUNTAINS!"
*murmuring*
"LIES! THERE IS NO WAY SHE COULD TAKE ON AN ENTIRE ARMY OF SOLDIERS ON HER OWN! WHY ELSE WOULD SHE DRAG US HERE, IF SHE COULD TAKE DOWN A FORCE EVEN GREATER THEN OUR OWN?"
*murmuring*
"Haven't you realized it by now? She's a warmongering sadist! She brought you all here to see you fight for your lives! She told me that anyone still here by the time she finishes playing with those fools in the forest would be her next target! If you don't believe me then go, see for yourselves! I for one would rather take my chances with the Ryu royal guard than that lunatic!"
*Distant screams*
Just then as the soldiers' muttering quieted down, the distant screams of the enemies could be heard throughout the forest. I could see nearly every man here turn pale as they realized who was responsible for those screams.
"Hey, maybe we should go check it out first? You know! Just in case!"
"WHAT NONSENSE! THIS IS ALL JUST A TRICK! THE MOMENT THEY SEE AN OPENING, THEY WILL TRY TO ESCAPE! IF WE DON'T HAND HER OVER THEY WILL KILL US ALL! DO YOU REALLY WANT TO GAMBLE OUR LIVES ON THEIR LIES?!"
"Hmph! It's your funeral!"
"There are plenty of men here! It won't matter if we send just a couple of guys to investigate!"
"Go ahead! We'll wait right here!"
"Sir, Shinji?"
"It will be fine Sakura! My master may be crazy, but she never loses a fight!"
After about ten minutes, the scouting team came running back from the dark forest.
"ITS ALL REAL! OH GOD! *bleurgh*! SHE'S A MONSTER!" The leader of the scouting team vomited out.
"Get ahold of yourself! What happened!"
"W-w-we watched her *bleurgh*! No! It's too much we *bleurgh*! No God! Please don't make us relive that!"
Every time they tried to get an answer out of them in regard to what was happening in the forest, they all only rambled out something about a monster. We barely got them to confirm who that monster they were referring to was, as every time they would start recalling the events, they would start vomiting uncontrollably.
Seeing the traumatized men, one thing became abundantly clear to everyone here. The boss was certainly not dead.
"I told you she wasn't dead! So, if you don't want to be her next victims, then I suggest we need to go now, before she finishes playing with those chumps outside!"
Hearing my words, everyone grew nervous while recalling the state of the scouting team.
"L-LIES! THEY MUST BE ACTING! THERE IS NO WAY –!"
*Bleurgh*
The traitors tried to discredit the scouting teams' words, only to be interrupted by their vomiting. Seeing their reactions the soldiers finally seemed to change their tone a bit.
"Even if we do as you say! There is no way we will survive with just us! Attacking the palace is meaningless!"
"Why should we listen to you?"
"If she can't find us, she can't kill us, so let's just run away!"
The soldiers chimed in, as they were still not keen on storming the castle of a superpower with just a few hundred men.
"That's -!"
"YOU ARE WRONG!"
Just as I was going to try and dissuade them from running, Sakura shouted over me in clear yet short words as she addressed the crowd.
"IT IS. NOT MEANINGLESS! FOR. I. AM. HERE!" She spoke, as she removed her helmet to reveal her face.
*murmuring*
"I AM. RYU SAKURA! THE FIRST. PRINCESS. OF THE RYU EMPIRE. AND. THE RIGHTFULL HEIR. TO THE THRONE!" She spoke, revealing her true identity to the men.
*murmuring*
"MY FATHER. THE LATE EMPEROR. WAS BETRAYED. BY MY UNCLE. WHO WANTED. THE THRONE. FOR HIMSELF! BUT. I. MY FATHERS ONLY CHILD. SURVIVED! THERE. ARE MANY STILL. WHO ARE LOYAL. TO MY. FATHER! THOUGH. WE ARE FEW. IN NUMBER. I AM CERTAIN. ONCE WE. ATTACK. THOSE STILL LOYAL. SHALL SOON. COME TO. OUR AID!"
*Murmuring*
"WE DO NOT. NEED TO. TAKE THE CAPITAL! BUT IF. WE WERE TO. TAKE THE. TRAITORS HEAD. WE WOULD. WIN THE BATTLE! THERE WOULD BE. NO ONE. TO STAND. BETWEEN ME. AND THE THRONE! AND YOU. WILL ALL BECOME. HONORED. AS THE HEROS. OF THE RYU EMPIRE!"
*murmuring*
"GLORY! WEALTH! STATUS! ALL THIS. AWAITS YOU. SHOULD YOU NOT FAULTER HERE! SO, I ASK YOU! AS THE PRINCESS! NO! AS THE NEW EMPRESS. OF THE RYU EMPIRE! WILL YOU NOT FOLLOW ME INTO THIS BATTLE?!" Sakura spoke, her words becoming more fluent towards the end of her speech.
As the soldiers looked upon the young girl, I could feel something start to change in the atmosphere. I could see the traces of her will spread throughout the camp with her every word, as the soldiers' attitudes began to change.
"IF YOU ARE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS! WOULD YOU TURN IT DOWN?!"
"No!" Some of the soldiers muttered.
"THE CHANCE TO CHANGE YOUR FATE ONLY COMES ONCE! WILL YOU LET IT SLIP THROUGH YOUR FINGERS?!"
"No!" More soldiers chimed in.
"WHEN OUR DESCENDANTS HEARS OF YOUR ACTIONS THIS NIGHT! WILL YOU SHAME THEM WITH YOUR COWARDISS?!"
"NO!" Nearly the whole camp screamed.
"THEN WILL YOU LET ME LEAD YOU AS WE CARVE OUR NAMES INTO THE ANNALS OF HISTORY?!"
"YEAH!"
"THEN FOLLOW ME!"
And with those words, the soldiers were thrown into a frenzy as they all picked up their weapons at her command, and so we rushed towards the secret entrance to the Ryu imperial palace.
"Hm? Was this part of your plan boss?" I muttered to myself.
…
It was a quiet night in the capital of Ryu. Perhaps it was too quiet.
At the gates to the royal palace one of the gatekeepers could be spotted dozing off from the lack of tension.
"Hey! Wake up newbie!" The other gatekeeper said while shaking his colleague awake.
"*snore*! Ugh! What! I'm awake!"
"*sigh*! You are never going to make it as a gatekeeper if you keep falling asleep on the job!" The senior gatekeeper sighed.
"Come on! Cut me some slack! It's not like anything is going to happen just because I catch a few z's on the job!"
"You would have never made it through the past years with that attitude!"
The senior gatekeeper's words were no lie. In past years, there had been many gatekeepers and palace guards who had been fired or worse for far less than falling asleep on the job like this newbie. Up until this year, the palace had suffered countless break-ins and assassination attempts targeted at the royal family. As a result, anyone who was found slacking off or making any sightly suspicious moves within the vicinity of the imperial palace would come under suspicion as a potential perpetrator of some of these events.
Should they find even the smallest hint at this suspicion being true, being fired from the palace guard would be the best-case scenario, as most were executed along with their families as suspected traitors to the Ryu Empire. Because of this there wasn't a soul in the palace who wasn't on edge each and every day to keep themselves from falling under suspicion.
However, one year ago, while visiting the mansion of his younger brother, a tragedy occurred. His last remaining child, princess Ryu Sakura, fell victim to an assassin's blade. They say, once he caught word of this, the late emperor went mad with grief and killed himself. Lighting the entire mansion on fire as he let the fires of grief consume him. Being the closest living blood relative of the late emperor, Ryu Hinata, ascended to the throne as the new emperor of the Ryu Empire. Or that was the official story anyways.
The circumstances around the death of the previous emperor along with the princess were rather suspicious. The majority of the palace officials who wanted to investigate the matter were quickly silenced and replaced, along with a good chunk of the royal guards from the last emperor's regime. Also, the numerous assassinations and break-ins that had plagued the palace for years, suddenly stopped all together after that. Because of this, most of those who still remain, suspect the new emperor to have been the one behind his brother and niece's deaths. However, with no proof, nor the power to survive the new emperor's wrath, nobody has the courage to speak their suspicions out loud.
"Hm? Something is off!" The senior guard spoke, as his senses picked up on something.
"Quickly! Go wake the others! Tell them to sound the alarm!" He ordered his colleagues.
Over the course of his service to the imperial palace, he has honed himself to detect any signs of danger. And right now, his instincts were telling him that something big was about to happen. But of course…
"Hehe! Like we will fall for that!"
"You tryin to get back at us for pranking you last month!"
As the majority of the palace's security detail had been replaced with new and inexperienced young men, it took them far too long to respond in times of crisis. With things as they were, it was a miracle no incidents had occurred within the palace this year. Which is why what happened next may have been inevitable.
*BOOM*
*Battle cries*
"What was that?!"
"It came from inside the palace!"
"STOP, JUST STANDING THERE! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! NOW MOVE!" The senior guard screamed as he was losing his patience with these youngsters.
…
*BOOM*
Inside the imperial palace, a certain group of soldiers led by a pink-haired princess came bursting out of a secret underground escape tunnel within the palace.
"WHAT THE! WHO ARE YOU-!"
Before the unfortunate palace guard could finish his sentence, he was silenced by a white flame that killed him upon contact.
They were currently right outside the palace's inner courtyard, not far from the emperor's quarters. Their initial plan was for a small group to sneak under the cover of night to assassinate the emperor, while the remainder of the soldiers were to act as a decoy by rushing through one of the other secret entrances.
However, due to a charming speech made by a certain pink-haired princess, the entire group had been thrown into a battle hungry frenzy that could not be controlled. Hence, despite Shinji and Sakura's best efforts, they all just sprinted towards the most visible exit to the underground tunnel, which was the one leading out into the inner courtyard. Soon after, they reached the sliding door disguised as a wall, the berserk group of soldiers just smashed right through it as they started cutting down palace guards left and right.
"AAAAAHHHHH" A soldier let out a war cry as he savagely beheaded a young guard.
The reason for their current frenzy was not because they were inspired by Sakura's speech, nor because of the threat of becoming Nox's playthings should they not aid in this battle for the throne. It was because of a skill Sakura had subconsciously used on them as she gave her speech. It was the mind control method Madam had subjected her to in the past. After being released from the Madam's mind control and spending months trying to defend her mind from the CEO's repeated attempts to reclaim her dominance over Sakura's mental state, she had subconsciously started picking up bits and pieces of the technique inner workings until eventually…
"THEN WILL YOU LET ME LEAD YOU AS WE CARVE OUR NAMES INTO THE ANNALS OF HISTORY?!"
She had gotten a little too absorbed by her own emotions while giving her speech and before she knew it, she had ensnared the entire group with her hypnotic words. Unfortunately, she was not experienced enough to remain in control over even just one of the soldiers once she calmed down, and so she soon lost control over the hoard of berserkers.
Under normal circumstances, even an experienced user of this ability would be hard pressed to enthrall this many people at once. However, due to the stress that came from crossing the Equestrian Mountains, the shock from a sudden night attack, and the scout's incoherent report on Nox's actions in the forest, their mental defenses had been worn down to a point where they all were susceptible to Sakura's mental influences. On top of that, she was currently surging with emotions of frustration, fear, and hatred from being betrayed right before reaching her goal. Hence, her ability to influence their minds was temporarily enhanced to a point where she could reach the entire camp.
Unfortunately, this kind of mind control mostly affects the individual's state of mind, and the mindset Sakura had planted in their heads came from her desire to take revenge on her uncle. Hence, the moment her surging emotions calmed down, she lost control, and they all started rushing off to kill the current emperor of the Ryu Empire.
"AAAAAHHHH! *squelch*!"
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!"
Just as one of the berserkers was raising the severed head of his newest victim as a trophy, he was flattened by an elderly man with a flowing white beard, who came falling from the sky. He sported light armor, while giving off a fierce pressure of qi belonging to a nascent soul cultivator.
"AAAAAHHHH! *squetch*"
Paying no heed to the old man's words, another soldier came running up to the old man, only to have a hole blown through his chest by a jet of water coming from the old man's fist.
"Elder Riku?!"
"Hm! What! N-No it can't be! Princess?"
Just as Sakura was about to approach the elderly man she once knew.
"WATCH OUT!"
*Swoosh*
*Crash**Splash*
Elder Riku had launched a water-based qi attack at Sakura, only for Shinji to push her out of the way last second as the burst of water drilled through the wall behind them.
"YOU DARE SULLY THE MEMORY OF THE IMPERIAL PRINCESS! HOW DARE YOU IMPERSONATE HER HIGHNESS YOU HARLOT!" Elder ming screamed, intending to kill Sakura for impersonating Sakura.
"Sakura! You go and hide! I will take care of this old guy!" Shinji spoke.
"No. You can't! He is too strong!"
"Trust me! I can handle this guy! Now go!"
Seeing the determination in his eyes, Sakura used her superhuman strength from her awakened bloodline to jump up on to the roof of a building as she ran towards the emperor's chambers.
"GET BACK HERE YOU CUR!" Elder Riku shouted as he manifested a water whip to launch a whip-strike at the fleeing Sakura.
"OH, NO YOU DON'T!"
Just as the water whip was about to strike Sakura, Shinji launched the 2nd tier ice spell 'Ice Shot' which, much like the other basic offensive 2nd tier spells of the 'Shot' category, fires a small projectile of its corresponding element at a target.