Thaletus had to knock out his stubborn granddaughter unconscious, the young Salaphertise was way too stubborn and naïve even at her age and current Rank. She wanted to help her grandfather was much as possible and fight at his side, like she was always taught to fight.
She was after all, raised by her grandfather since her own parents had died in battle, for her, her grandfather her father and her grandmother her mother… she couldn't properly let them go to die miserably.
A woman of old age stood at the side of Thaletus, with a contempt in her pitiful smile.
"You did the right thing, dear." She sighed.
She as an old woman as well, around her 200's years of age, she had clear wrinkles all over her body and her face looked old and dry like an old bark, similar to her husband.
Despite their current looks, they were once youthful and beautiful, a couple of assassins that had begun has rivals and ended falling in love with one another.
"Zelethe… This was what I had to do. She's too stubborn, she wouldn't had listened to reason! She's now the last of the family, she had to live on and one day bring our sect back to its glory." Said Thaletus.
"You got a lot of hopes for that little girl." Sighed Zelethe.
"Don't you?" asked Thaletus.
"I would be lying if I said I didn't." sighed Zelethe.
In front of the sect's entrance, Drake and the rest of his group stood there glaring at the large walls and the door.
There were disciples pointing with poisoned arrows at them from all above the walls.
They were being threatened from the get-go.
"State your purpose here!" they said.
"We came here in peace. We want to hold a meeting with the Sect Master." Said Mikohime.
"T-That's the Winter Lotus Sect Master!"
"No way… why is she here?!"
"She's obviously lying! She wants to kill us off!"
"She's a Rank 4, remember? She even got a dragon!"
"She'll surely kill us if we lower our guards, don't let her trick you!"
Mikohime sighed.
"Why are you all so suspicious of us? We just came to talk; I had brought my grandchild so he could apologize for what he did against Zephyr." Said Mikohime.
FLASH!
CLASH!
Suddenly, an arrow reached the middle of her feet…
"Don't talk anymore until the sect master is here! He'll decide your fate!"
"So that's how things are going to be. Maybe we'll have to get a bit rough." Said Drake with a smile. A domineering presence suddenly emerged from his entire body, emanating a large aura of ice and wind. Everyone present in the area suddenly felt chills run through their spine… well, anyone not used to him yet.
The other sect members atop the wall glanced at the man as they felt a powerful presence coming from him… Just what was he?
"W-Who is that man?"
"I've never seen him in the Winter Lotus Sect before."
"He's stronger than the… Sect Master!"
"How…?!"
The Gates never opened, but a larger group of people reached the top of the walls once more, led by two people, an old man of Rank 4 Upper Stage and an old woman of Rank 3 Peak Stage.
"Who are these?" asked Yuki at the side of Drake.
"I can see them well… they're the sect's strongest people. The sect master and his wife." Said Mikohime.
"Oh, so that's who they are…" said Drake. His eyes opened wide in surprise as he noticed their Status Windows, they showed all sorts of skills and techniques he had not seen before. This sect was just as unique as the Winter Lotus Sect.
Just how many unique Sects were out there? Perhaps every sect had some secret hidden bloodline they all enjoyed, giving them special benefits and techniques?
If that was the case, then this entire continent was way more diverse and interesting that Drake had ever thought, his heart began to pump faster as he realized that they might have some graveyard lying around… this might be a bit repetitive, but it would be nice if they had the mana cores with the corpses of their ancestors…
"Ugh, the Jade Snake… these bastards are still up? Drake, this is a sect not worth saving! Even though they claim to be righteous, they're all cold and merciless assassins trained from a young age with deadly techniques that manipulate toxins and venoms to fight… They're also the bests at backstabbing!" said Yukihime's ghost at the side of Drake.
"Is that so?" wondered Drake while squinting his eyes in suspiciousness, he didn't knew if he could trust her completely. Even if they were taught such things, that didn't inherently made them evil people, it was just another way of fighting, even if it was scummy.
Also, disputes from the past were from the past, he couldn't simply bring out stuff from the past and blame them for what someone of their ancestors did more than a hundred years ago… Drake specially disliked this point of view of blaming the new generations for the sins of their ancestors, it was just bullshit.
"Snakes! All of them are snakes! In the past, we had done an alliance with them too, but their sect master, the founder, had betrayed us and waged war against us…" said Mikoto.
"Yeah, these bastard don't deserve any pity." Said Yukihime.
"I don't really care what you think as of now, I am going to see what I can do first." I said.
"Mikohime Winter Lotus…" said the Sect Master with a loud voice.
"Here I am." Said Mikohime.
"What is what you need?" asked the Sect Master.
His entire aura began to emanate from his body. His sharp purple eyes glowed brightly, as his mana emanated a deadly and poisonous cloud, which took the shape of a hissing snake coiling around his body… Indeed, the Jade Snake Sect was very unique in that the majority of their descendants were all… Poison Attribute Magus, not Ice Attribute!
"The same old deadly presence…" sighed Tsukuyomi.
"He hasn't changed at all." Sighed Mikohime.
