"What do you think you're doing, Astral Emperor?" the Alliance Head asked coldly, not pleased at his hostility towards John.
"What am I doing? This brat here tricked my daughter into giving him her soul-seed, which I will be taking back," the Astral Emperor replied coldly, "surely the life of this one brat is not worth drawing my ire, or the ire of my Empire," he said, clear warning in his words which also hinted at the value he put on Laia's soul seed.
"If you dare make a single move towards this boy, I'll raze your Empire to the ground," Thunderfist warned coldly, his words surprising the Astral Emperor as how sincere they were. He could tell that Thunderfist wouldn't hesitate to do that, although he scoffed at the threat.
"Tch, you are biting off more than you can chew, Daoist Thunderfist," the Astral Emperor replied coldly. "You and your little sect are no match for me, or the might of my Empire, and neither is this boy worth the cost of making me your enemy."
"Is that so? Then I'll be sure to visit your Astral Empire shortly, with my brother and his pet in tow, to test the truth of your words" he replied with a heated tone, as if he were itching to start a fight with the Astral Emperor at this very moment. "I've been itching to bathe my fists in combat once more, and this seems like the perfect opportunity to do so."
The Astral Emperor frowned, as Thunderfists warnings had even included Thunderzen and his Dragon. Thunderzen's lightning dragon was famed throughout the Divine Martial Continent, and no one, not even the Astral Emperor dared to look down on such a foe.
Even if he were able to defeat the lightning dragon and the two thunder brothers, his victory would be pyrrhic at best, which he could not afford while other threats loomed in the background, waiting to pounce at a moment's notice. Not only that, but no one knew the true strength of the thunder brothers or the lightning dragon, as they had not shown their might for thousands of years.
The Astral Emperor's cold gaze locked with Thunderfists unflinching gaze, and he clicked his tongue in frustration as he turned his attention to the Alliance Head.
"Honorable Alliance Head, are you willing to stand by and do nothing as one of your underlings fractures the relationship between our two powers?" the Astral Empire asked, as he could tell he would get nowhere speaking to the hot-headed Thunderfist.
"Daoist Thunderfist and his sect are allies of the Alliance, not underlings, and so he is not mine to command, and you have also made the ‘relationship' between our powers clear throughout throughout the years," the Alliance Head replied calmly yet dismissively. "Regardless, his words are also my words. Or do you truly think so little of my Alliance that you would dare to take action against our Prime Disciple?" he asked.
"What? This brat is your Prime Disciple?" the Astral Emperor asked, shocked to hear such a thing. "You must be joking," he scoffed.
Even Thunderfist glanced curiously at John, not expecting to hear that such a thing had happened.
"We both know I would never joke about such a matter," the Alliance Head replied, some frost in his voice for the first time as his patience was clearly running thin dealing with the haughty Astral Emperor.
"Since you know this boy is our Prime Disciple, you also know of his value to my Alliance," the Alliance Head continued. "Taking action against him is the same as taking action against my entire Alliance, and I will not hesitate to mobilize my entire Alliance should harm befall this child at your hands," he warned.
A scowl appeared on the Astral Emperors face as he heard this, and his cold gaze shifted towards John once more, who gazed back with equal iciness, not intimidated by the Astral Emperors powerful gaze.
"The position of Prime Disciple can be replaced, but Laia's soul-seed cannot," the Astral Emperor replied, "they are not equal in value."
"I'm afraid your assessment of their values couldn't be further from the truth," the Honorable Alliance Head refuted, "but I'm done dealing with pleasantries. Take your daughter, and leave my city."
The Alliance Head's words were firm, indicating that there was no more room for discussion on the matter. The Astral Emperor gazed at both Thunderfist and the Alliance Head, and then John shortly afterwards.
"I hope you don't come to regret this decision in the future," the Astral Emperor said before gazing at his daughter. "We're leaving!"
Laia nodded her head and glanced at John one last time before she was wrapped up in the Astral Emperors power, and the two vanished from sight.
John stared at the now empty space where Laia had been standing, and sighed as the situation had finally been dealt with.
‘Well…at least now I know what the ‘calamity' she mentioned before is about,' John sighed internally. Just based on Laia's feelings towards her father, John could tell there was something going on there. Now that the Astral Emperor knew he had Laia's soul-seed within his own soul, he was involved with this ‘calamity' whether he wanted to be part of it or not.
"Motherfucker, I'm going to beat that asshole to death one day," John cursed, as his anger towards what had happened was ignited once again. However, he quickly remembered the two standing near him, and turned to them hastily, bowing his head slightly with the utmost respect.
"Thank you for helping me," he thanked both the Alliance Head and Thunderfist.
"Haha, don't worry about it! You did well, keeping your composure under the power of someone as strong as the Astral Emperor. Not bad! Not bad at all," Thunderfist boomed while patting John on the back with obvious approval several times.
"My Alliance will always defend its own, no matter who the enemy may be," the Alliance Head replied while smiling at John.
"Ah…about the Prime Disciple thing," John couldn't help but mention.
"Oh, that. I fully accept your refusal of the position, but the Astral Emperor doesn't need to know that. As far as he is concerned, you are the Prime Disciple of my Alliance, which should shield you from harm for the foreseeable future," the Alliance Head replied warmly.
"What? That was true, and not a lie to protect you? And you actually declined the Prime Disciple position? Are you an idiot!" Thunderfist boomed with disbelief.
"I have my reasons," John replied with a wry smile while shrugging his shoulders, while Thunderfist shook his head as if he were staring at a true idiot.
"Do you know what kinds of rewards the Alliance would shower our sect with had you accepted the position! Ahhh, whatever, it's in the past," Thunderfist sighed.
"I will take my leave. You will be safe as long as you are within this city," the Honorable Alliance Head said to John, "but be warned. The Astral Emperor is an unpredictable man with endless ambition. He will most likely not take any action against you, but you can never be sure when it comes to someone like him. Be careful from now on."
"I will be. Thank you," John replied respectfully, truly appreciative of the Alliance Head's help, who nodded his head and vanished from sight, leaving John and Thunderfist behind.
"Come on! Let's go to a bar and grab some drinks while you tell me everything that happened! My treat!" Thunderfist said as he whisked John away to the nearest tavern.
