by Jason Hale
"What's wrong with her?"
"Did she finally lose it?"
"Who cares about her? Let's play a game!"
The maids clamored in the vicinity.
And seeing that this place could not help her cope, Jasime stood up and left.
It still rained. The cold quickly spreading through Jasime's body and invading her bones, but she still carried on at a slow, wavering pace, not knowing that in the shadows, she was being observed.
Ultimately, she reached a desolated pathway occupied by nothing but the high walls of the inner court.
Night had fallen, and the rain slowly subsided. But her drenched clothes outlining her body and the tragic beauty within her face only made her look more appealing.
At least, that's what Wenzel, the sixth prince thought has he trailed her alongside a group of head eunuchs.
"Is she the one your highness fancies?"
"Your highness' tastes are truly refined. It will be that girl's honor to become your highness' woman."
The eunuchs bootlicked.
Although they were head eunuchs, they had exhausted their potential, and their future prospects were not high so, they sought a sturdy tree to rely on. Wenzel Von Juras was the perfect tree. Easy to please, and always providing abundant rewards.
In the last three years, they had captured many low-ranked and mid-ranked palace maids for him to enjoy.
This time would be no different.
"Don't forget to give her the opportunity to struggle. You know what to do. Give me a good show but remember that I must bed her tonight."
"Yes, your highness!"
Being of a high position with distinguished status, there were some things he didn't need to personally do. He only needed to hang some reward at the nose of well-trained dogs, and they would carry out the task for him.
Still, he was eager to see how she would squirm in vain struggles. It was a sight not to be missed for sure.
Using six head eunuchs to capture a low-ranked palace maid was overkill. So only one actually shot toward Jasime while the others stood watch to prevent any outside interference.
The shadow flashed in front of her, too fast for her mortal eyes to follow.
"Are you the low-ranked palace maid Jasime?"
The sudden appearance of the head eunuch was not spotted by Jasime who carried on with her walk while still being lost in thought.
The head eunuch thought she was purposely ignoring him and so was enraged.
"I'm talking to you!"
He snapped, and the pressure of the seventh step True Knight Rank came crashing onto her.
She staggered, and a thin line of blood trickled down her lips.
"My apologies, head eunuch. I didn't see you."
Was he that hard to notice? Was that girl purposely trying to enrage him?
"Regardless, you are in luck. The sixth prince fancies you and requests your presence."
"No thanks."
Jasime directly replied and carried on with her walk.
The reply was so spontaneous that for an instant, the eunuch was taken aback. Even Wenzel in the distance felt his cheeks burn. Was he truly that unappealing? He would definitely ravage her until even the strength to beg for mercy would vanish from her body.
"Lowly maid you better listen carefully. Being graced by the sixth prince's attention is your greatest honor. You better comply with haste and serve him well. Otherwise, don't blame me for being merciless. In any case, you will be in his bed tonight!"
Life really was cruel to the feeble. Was a moment alone too much to ask for?
"He can have my dead body."
She category refused.
"That's not for you to decide!"
The eunuch's hand formed a claw that snatched Jasime's neck and hauled her into the air.
"Needing to send his goons to obtain a woman. The sixth prince is really…brilliant!"
She spat, and although her neck being squeezed caused her to quickly lose strength, she fought hard to free herself from the eunuch's grasp.
But to no avail.
The eunuch sneered, spun and tossed her onto the ground. Jasime tumbled in a loud thud, and her entire body ached.
"Since you don't cherish yourself, why should I?"
"Hahaha…is the emperor really that much of a cuckold to allow his son to act unruly in his harem?"
"You!"
The Holy Emperor was the only man allowed to touch the women of the inner court. What they were doing was not only illegal but punishable by death. Naturally, nobody cared about the disappearance of a low-ranked palace maid every now and then.
In any case, within the inner court, people disappeared all the time…
Jasime dragged her body from the ground and stood up straight with a defiant stare and fists balled up for a fight.
"Me what? Did they not only remove your balls but also nail your tongue?"
Although she was weak and unable to escape. Although the situation was hopeless, she would fight with all she had!
Her teeth were now planted on her tongue, and she was ready to bite it off if the need arose.
"Impudence!"
The eunuchs' pressure once again directed at her. She was about to stagger when suddenly, the pressure vanished and was replaced by a warm hand at her back.
The tall figure of a jet-black haired godlike man appeared at her back, and a warm stream of energy spread from his hand to alleviate her pain and mend her wounds.
"Y..you?"
She stuttered in surprise.
"Shush. Now is not the moment to talk. Let me first treat you."
Konnor gently replied with his gaze solely focused on her, as if unaware of the eunuch's presence.
"Boy, this isn't a matter you should meddle with. Seeing that we both are eunuchs, and I am your superior, I advise you to step aside!"
The eunuch inferred Konnor's status from his clothes. But Konnor spared him no glance which only served to infuriate him.
Why was it that all those low-ranked peons were looking down on him today?
"Since you don't value your life, die!"
The eunuch snarled as he pounced toward Konnor with his bared claws.
*CRACK*
Konnor's left fist crashed into his face, causing his bones to crackle, his skull to fragment, and his body to fly through the night sky and crater the faraway ground. His blood spurted from both the front and the back of his shattered face, and life no longer existed within his body.
"Are you feeling better now?"
Konnor asked in the same gentle tone with his right hand still pouring energy into Jasime as if nothing had happened.
"Y...yes. Thank you."
She replied, with a blank stare. It was the first time in her life she had seen such a terrifying punch. The ferocity contained within was too stark a contrast with Konnor's gentle gaze.
But immediately, a group of five figures dressed in head eunuch clothing encircled them.
"Who the h…?"
"Wh….AAAAAAARGH!"
*BANG*
Before they could finish their inquiry, Konnor made a grasping motion, and vast telekinetic power wrapped them, compressed their bodies and bones, and ground them into meat paste in a feast of blood and gore.
"That's good. Fortunately, we both have good fortune. Otherwise, the rest of my life would have been full of regret."
He declared while stroking her cheek. And he wasn't lying. While crossing the alleys back to his den, a female sounding mental message echoed within his mind, only saying a few compelling words.
"She might not survive the night."
Then it gave him a direction, and he shot toward it.
But although he looked at her with a gentle, reassuring gaze, his heart boiled with rage.
Chapter 22 - Always Be Wary of the Oriole
The change was too fast and brutal for Wenzel to respond in time. By the time his goons had opened their mouths, the telekinetic power had already trapped them, and
before he could intervene, they were obliterated.
Now he was annoyed. Finding goons within the harem without drawing attention to himself was not an easy task. And all his efforts had been ruined by that eunuch!
Worse, seeing the way through which they stared at each other, he could bet there was an illicit relationship going on!
And the feeling of having his meat spoiled by a commoner soured his mouth.
In a flash, he appeared in front of the pair and cast a fierce gaze at Konnor.
"Was life so sweet that you had to throw it away to play the knight in shining armor? Fool!"
Although he was dressed as a low-ranked eunuch, it was clear that his cultivation had at least reached the Grand Knight Rank. That being the case, the situation was severe.
Just like head palace maids had court ladies above them, head eunuchs also had their superiors. Grand eunuchs, royal eunuchs, and imperial eunuchs. Who respectively were at the Grand, Arch, and Transcendent Ranks. The main difference, however, was that unlike court ladies who belonged to the Holy Empress and the Dowager's jurisdictions the grand eunuchs and above belonged to the Holy Emperor's!
This was the type of witness he absolutely could not afford to leave.
But Konnor's gaze still didn't move from Jasime.
"Why is it that tonight, my ears are full of the barking of dogs?"
He inquired with a mischievous smile.
"Maybe because they are missing their kennel."
She laughed, a delightful laugh that could effortlessly lift the spirit.
"Bastards!"
Wenzel's bloodshot eyes would have fired daggers if they could.
But they could not so he opted for a more practical approach.
"Energy sword!"
Sky-blue energy condensed within his palm and morphed into the textbook longsword used by most knights of the Holy Flame Empire.
Meanwhile, his eyes glittered with silver rays, and like a meteor, he shot toward Konnor.
Konnor grabbed Jasime by the waist and turned into dozens of afterimages to escape Wenzel's sword stroke.
As a paragon spirit prince, Wenzel was no pushover. Worse, his cultivation was higher by four steps. However, Konnor was unafraid.
He dropped Jasime by his side, and his eyes finally fell upon his foe. But the smile with which he stared at him made Wenzel feel uncomfortable.
"I will break you."
Konnor calmly pledged and stretched out his hands.
Sky-blue light gathered within his palm and turned into a two meters long war hammer.
The fool wanted to be fancy with his sword? Let him be fancy.
He then stomped his feet, and at more than thrice the speed of sound appeared at Wenzel's front.
*BANG*
A leftward sweep of his hammer crashed into Wenzel's shoulder and sent him spiraling into the adjacent wall. Konnor gave him no respite and immediately pursued.
"Hateful!"
The energy signature was clearly of the fifth step Grand Knight so why was that eunuch so powerful?
"Energy armor!"
Wenzel adorned his sky-blue energy armor and drove his sword into a diagonal slash.
The silver rays within his eyes turned into a silver mist that spread within a thirty-meter radius and assaulted Konnor's mind with phantasmal blows.
"Insignificant parlor tricks!"
Violet light flashed within his eyes, and the illusions assailing him instantly collapsed.
He curved his back to let Wenzel's sword slash fly by his nose and sent his hammer right into his chest!
*BANG*
Wenzel flew into the air with blood spurting from his lips. Konnor stomped his feet and flew after him with a maniacal laugh.
"Why is my spiritual mist not affecting you?!"
"Ask my hammer."
*BANG* BANG* *BANG*
The flurry of hammer blows came crashing onto Wenzel at breakneck speed, oppressing him and sending an increasing number of cracks to spread through his energy armor.
Konnor vanished, appeared above him, and trampled his face with a series of violent kicks!
And in an earsplitting explosion of dust, Wenzel cratered.
"I heard paragon spirit princes were the most outstanding juniors of the empire. But I suppose that as it often is the case with the imperial families, your reputation is…overrated."
Wenzel's energy armor shattered alongside his dignity, and his bloodied teeth were clenched to near collapse.
If he could see the foot imprints on his face, he would have probably suffered a heart stroke.
"How d…"
*BANG*
In a golf swing that scattered broken stones across the field, the war hammer bashed Wenzel's unprotected chest. It caved in, causing his bones to snap and his blood to drench the cold ground as he once more flew into the air.
"I expected breaking you to be a tad bit harder. Oh well, last swing."
*BANG*
Positioning himself like a baseball player, Konnor waited for Wenzel's falling body to align itself with his hammer and batted him far into the distance with another swing.
"I think that's a…homerun! Maybe I should go up there and check the state of the "ball?""
Wenzel's body was perched on top of a high wall with all his bones shattered, his orifices dripping with blood, and his pupils dilated.
Meanwhile, Jasime had observed the battle with astonished eyes.
What battle?
This was butchery!
"Actually, I forgot I could just pull it back. Return!"
He made a grasping motion and pulled by the telekinetic power, Wenzel's limp body flew back toward him.
"Daring to lay your filthy hands on my woman? Tss, tss, tss, say goodbye to your balls."
*BAM*
A brutal hammer blow battered Wenzel's groins, destroyed his family jewels, and caused his already unconscious self to awaken due to the horrendous pain.
"AAAAAARGH! Heeeelp! Meeeercy!"
His mournful howls spread within the night sky. But thanks to his own planning, they currently were in a deserted area with no one across several miles. The bloody mess he had become writhed on the ground, in loud wails, causing Jasime to instinctively recoil and close her eyes.
But at that time, two arrows carrying a weigh of close to ten thousand kilos in succession flew toward Konnor.
He managed to avoid the first one with a backflip, but the second one lodged into his right leg, threw him off balance, and forced him to tumble onto the ground.
Two masked forms wielding bows and arrows then appeared on the scene. They had been observing everything from the very beginning. But Konnor included, no one could feel their presence.
"You have done well. Now you can die."
Said the man on the left while conjuring his sword and shooting toward Konnor with the tyrannical aura of a mid-level Arch-Knight exploding from his body!
Inwardly, Konnor cursed. How was it possible to have so many twists and turns in one day.
"The mantis stalks the cicada unaware of the oriole behind. I never thought that in that idiom, I would one day be the mantis."
And seeing his injured leg, Jasime subconsciously rushed toward him. She was, however, far too slow and by the time she took one step, Konnor had already pulled out that arrow and was exchanging blows with the Arch Knight.
With one damaged leg, the fluidity of his movements should have been greatly hampered. But his body regeneration abilities kicked in and treated the wound at fast speed.
That, however, couldn't prevent him from being suppressed by the Arch Knight.
His sword slashed Konnor's right leg, further harming his mobility while another kick sent him spiraling into the air.
"Forget about me and run! You're so strong, I'm sure you could escape them!"
Jasime screamed as she reached his side.
