The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

"Excuse me, is she ok?" A passing guard asked Gail, garbed in lion's armor.

"Thank you for worrying. My friend here has had too much to drink. I warned her even though it's broad daylight, but she's quite reckless." Gail said in a convincing innocent voice, holding Avril up by wrapping her arm around her shoulder.

Rage surged through Erden, barely holding back his instinct to tear this woman apart. He clung tightly to Avril's leg under her dress, held his breath just in case, and focused on the objective while Gail separated amicably from the guard. For now, Gail seemed unable to sense him inside Avril's clothes as she dragged her out of the coliseum.

"Is she really an enemy?" Arinn asked from the side.

"She lied about expecting a child. That husband of hers might not even be her husband. How interesting! I wonder where the so-called husband is. Maybe he's searching around some other place." Gail laughed. "Was that beast theirs? So many interesting things to figure out. She doesn't even have a space pocket."

"Then what do we do with her?" Arinn stayed a step back.

"If we're being followed, then we'll head to the one place they can't so easily enter. Ah, I would love to see the look on their faces when they realize." Gail seemed excited and hastened her steps.

Step by step, Erden noted their direction and distance, using Oscar's location as a compass to figure out where they were headed. Anger constantly spilled over into him from the connection to Oscar, getting worse the farther Gail went. He could feel Oscar holding back to the fullest from going berserk.

At first, there were many feet and steps around them, some hurried, some slow, but all went about their business, filled with laughter and joy, in the thick of the festivities. Gail's destination was not the market street by the coliseum, taking a sharp turn around a corner. Where was she going? The streets fell quiet, and only the steps of Gail and Arinn could be heard. The pavement of the road changed from cobblestone to a mix of marble, stone, metal, and glass, the signs of a high-class area. Gail turned into a narrow road between two high walls, just enough space for them to go in single file, and knocked several times on an unassuming wall.

"Gail Wunther from Thousand Storm Palace. I came here to discuss further negotiations on behalf of my superiors and to give you a gift." Gail said, swaying Avril's unconscious body around. "She's a spy. You can extract information from her for us and use her for your means. We'll be cleaning up the other one soon."

"Hehe. A Middle Knight Exalt? That's some good material. Come in." The voice disappeared, replaced by a series of clanks and a final click to end it. An opening slid into view, and a bright light flooded the floor. Erden still held his breath and further quelled his Ein deeper within.

"This place is so boring, as always. Can we hurry up and step inside?" Gail sounded impatient. "It's so interesting to see your work."

"Remember to leave your space pockets and armaments outside per protocol. Once you step inside, your bodies will be subject to examination, understand?" The stranger said.

"Is this truly appropriate? Making us hand over our space pockets." Arinn warned.

"This is your first time here. But it's the norm here. If you're that worried, then stay outside." Gail said, walking over with Avril to another side.

There was no helping it. He couldn't be caught here by a search. Erden slowly crawled down Avril's leg and rested on the cold floor. His steps went by with good timing so Avril's dress didn't make a strange movement that could alert this sensitive person. Thankfully, she didn't notice him and went through the second door after giving up her space pocket. Perhaps she wasn't as alert in this place. Arinn also gave up his space pocket and followed after Gail before the second door closed.

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Alone inside this room with a single large shining light from above, Erden wriggled his way to the corner, covered in invisibility elixir. He communicated to Oscar, asking, 'Where am I, Oscar?'

'...you won't believe it. But it confirms our suspicions.' Oscar replied, his voice so cold it was like icicles stabbing into him.

…….

"Are you alright? You're bleeding." Helen called out from behind.

Oscar snapped out of it and raised his hands, which bled onto the floor from how hard he had clenched them. All attempts to relax them failed, only digging his nails deeper into the palm of his hands. Oscar turned to Helen and said in an icy voice, "Are you and the City Lord friends?"

"We had our past together. Yes. Why?" Helen replied, standing up from her seat.

"Then can you explain why they took my wife to a corner of the City Lord's palace?" Oscar bared his teeth, ready to kill anyone. The entire time while Erden relayed his number of steps, Oscar had kept track on the map, unable to believe that they entered through a small corner of the City Lord's palace. But all the signs pointed to the truth being so.

"That's impossible!" Helen shouted. "Aldric has been a good friend and leader for Convecia City. He would never betray his principles by stooping to lowly kidnapping. Why do you even know?"

"My Soulbond beast had been following them undercover. I can feel his location in the City Lord's palace." Oscar revealed his secret to try to convince Helen once again. He rose to his feet and walked over to her, the anger about to erupt. "Even if you don't help, I'll barge into the place myself. I will never let any harm come to my wife."

Helen, for the first time, withdrew her gaze and looked disturbed. She had faint beads of sweat on her forehead, wiped them off, and stood up to face Oscar. "You expect me to believe that? Aldric has always been a good friend."

"Believe it or don't believe it. But–" Oscar raised his bloody fist out to her, not a single shred of fear against the Marshal Exalt, all washed away by the tides of fiery rage, "-you promised to protect us." His other hand lowered to his side, finally relaxing, and grabbed something from his pocket.

They stared off for a few minutes in silence, no other sound but the blood dripping off Oscar's fist. In the end, Helen relented.

"I'll contact the other branches for assistance and ready my Alchemist Guild for a battle. But, first, I'll go in and talk to Aldric." Helen walked past him and stopped. "You truly were prepared to fight me even though it would mean your death. I can't fully believe your claims, but I can't ignore our pact. I'll find out the rest from Aldric."

"How long to get ready?" Oscar asked, lowering his hand but not facing Helen.

"The other branches outside will need a few hours to get there. But my forces can be ready in one hour and assault the palace if needed. Do you need anything else?" Helen said, sighing to herself.

"I need to do some cleanup. Can you help me with that?"

"What do you mean?"

…….

Oscar sprinted across the busy streets, uncaring about the people he bumped into. Luckily, Helen gave in and went out to confront Aldric. He took out the vial of Wildersap from his pocket and stored it in his space pocket, relieved that he didn't need to use it. He planned to pour it on Helen and let the rampant, untamed Ein hurt her to create a chance for him to escape to Hector, who would be his only option.

The scenery changed from the sprawling metropolis of high towers and large crowds to a serene blue sky overlooking a bed of grass and flowers, the garden district. Here, a person could buy or rent amazing villas filled with well-maintained gardens, terraces for relaxation, and great homes with plenty of rooms. Oscar ignored most of them and charged through, breaking the serenity and kicking off dirt and grass.

According to Helen's information she gained from the registry, they should be living here after having lost their remote hiding spot. What better place to hide than in the peaceful garden district? A small villa appeared over the horizon, and Oscar punched through its gates and rose to the sky, raising his hands to fire a barrage of golden rods formed by Eirin to increase their potency.

The villa was instantly reduced to rubble under his initial wave, and Oscar didn't stop and flicked his hands again, shooting out more and more and more until nothing remained except for the two who flew into the sky to meet him. Their garbs of black and green stayed tight to their bodies against the breeze.

"Who are you?!" The man from the Earth Core Academy shouted. "Do you realize what you are doing? This is Convecia City! Just wait for the guards to capture you."

"No. There's no one coming to interfere in this. I made sure of it." Oscar gripped his hands and unleashed his Ein. He entered the Pseudo-Guise, great Eirin flowing along his arms and legs. He hadn't fought in a while, not since the survival against Okeanes. He hadn't been this angered in a long time, and his heart felt heavy, darkening his expression.

"Your lives are forfeit." Before him, the two Exalts were naught but prey.

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