Chapter 176 – Play on Fate
*Whack*
Aiko whacked yet another robed figure... guy... whatever that was.
She currently had somewhere between 50 to 60 bottles filled with Berserker Powder, which meant she whiffed a lot of that powder.
Her hair turned black and her eyes grew hazier over time, but it was not to the point that she would lose all sense of self.
That is not to say she was unaffected and she felt like she had enough for today. It will take another day or so to clear up that poison inside her system.
Aiko hoped that Lady Liu had returned so she could sleep on her lap, but... she stared towards the Blood Fox, that tail is not bad... she then stared towards the Lion, that mane looked fluffy too...
Aiko had a dilemma about who to assault with her sleeping habits. The Lion was friendly, but the mane was not a tail. It was close to the head, so he might be upset if she slept inside there.
Meanwhile, the Blood Fox was part of her team and didn't mind her sleeping habits...? Or at least Aiko thought, but she never asked... She should ask later once she could talk again.
The Blood Fox noticed Aiko's gaze. "Are you alright?" She was concerned that Aiko would assault others with her sleeping habits.
Aiko nodded a bit, she was fine, other than the fact that she couldn't speak again.
She skipped a few steps, she was not really in a rush, but that Berserker Powder would either give her a temporary burst of energy followed by intense sleepiness, or sometimes just straight up drowsiness. Currently, she was still energetic stage, but she felt it start to run out. At that point, she just wanted to lie down and sleep it off.
They arrived back at the Royal Grounds. Before the Lion could say anything, Aiko and her group had already sneaked inside.
The Lion's lips twitched, but he didn't stop them. He understood that not everyone wanted to deal with Humans. Well... he also didn't want to deal with Humans, but it needed to be done for the time being.
They can then return to being spiteful towards Humans, and Humans would return to trying to hunt them...
...
The Blood Fox returned to the table where she always chatted with the Umbra Fox.
Lady Liu and Chen Shi hadn't returned yet, so Aiko had to pick the Blood Fox's tails to sleep in.
She slowly sank into them and drifted to peaceful slumber.
...
"Do you think she is really alright?" The Umbra Fox asked with concern. This time, Aiko had hazy eyes instead of the normal red colour.
"Even if she isn't, we can somehow subjugate her if something happens. Aiko is creative, but Beasts that are affected by the Berserker Powder are not." The Blood Fox said slowly, she was not concerned that Aiko would do something since they trained quite a lot, especially their cooperation.
"That's... fine." The Umbra Fox was concerned, but what the Blood Fox said was true, Aiko was a mischievous brat, but when it came to Aiko under the Berserker Powder... She would be very straightforward and easy to fool.
That was one of the reasons why Humans used Berserker Powder, since highly intelligent Beasts that are normally very hard to subjugate would have their intelligence regressed back to that of the Animal Rank.
This allowed them to fool the Beasts, and lead them into traps that normally would not work. Just make things easier overall.
This meant that Humans had a great arsenal when it came to subjugation if the Beast was under the effects, but there were some Beasts that were immune.
...
Those Beasts were currently heading towards the Human Capital to protect the Core Disciple and subjugate Humans with the Berserker Powder.
"What do you think that Roaring Lion is currently doing?" A cheetah asked.
"Beats me, he already has a strange Bloodline that allows him to walk on two legs and act more or less like a human with his paws. I have no idea what you like so much about him." Another cheetah snorted at her. He had a crush on her since she was fast, yet still retained her elegance at top speed.
The Black cheetah with a white diamond on her forehead frowned.
"Smelly Wind, you shouldn't talk like that." She reprimanded him. She had a crush on the Lion, since he was valiant and powerful, but hated this bastard that would demean anyone that she liked.
"Y-you!" He couldn't believe she used his Nickname like that! He was not proud of his name and he couldn't change it since all Elders came to an agreement! He could only grit his teeth and run along.
"We have 40 members in total, that should be enough..." The Black Cheetah said.
"It should." A hawk drifted above them. "I will scout the city ahead of time, so we can make quick work of them." He said and suddenly sped up, leaving only a streak of lightning behind.
"Thunder Hawk is amazing..." She said with admiration.
He was always very Stoic and he would always fulfil the mission with perfect precision. He never failed a single mission and he prided himself with his speed.
He was able to pretty much leave every other Beast in the dust when it came to sight and speed, not even the Nightmare Cheetah could match him...
...
Back in the city, the storm was starting to pick up, unfortunately, they were unable to lure out those Foxes from that courtyard so they couldn't place down the sealing stones. Moreover, for some reason, more and more of their guys disappeared.
This was very concerning, since they now didn't have enough people to safely activate the sacrificial ritual.
They had to call into their HQ for reinforcements, but that would still take a few days for them to arrive.
For the time being, they hid away in the shadows, so they wouldn't be found out and mysteriously vanish like their colleagues. They could not afford that since that would mean they would have to offer their lives to activate that huge Array...
...
Chen Shi meanwhile had already swiped a few flags from the Grand Array. It would no longer activate correctly.
How did he find that Array? Those idiots forgot to hide the Energy that emanated from the Eye of the Array.
Thus, it was rather simple to find the Anchor Points of the Array and remove a few select Flags, so that the Array would still activate. However, the moment it activated, it would collapse upon itself, sending back backlash to the ones that tried to activate it...
Thus, one less issue he had to deal with, but he didn't like this.
Why did that brat cause so much ruckus!? It made finding this Eye so much easier that he wanted to beat Aiko! They didn't even notice him and most of them even hid away like they were completely ignoring his presence! What the hell did Aiko do to cause all of that?!
He could only question it, but he would find out once he returned to the side palace...
Lady Liu waited in the restaurant. The whole room of the restaurant was covered with Runes. When one looked at it, it looked a bit sinister, since there were so many Runes everywhere it looked like someone was writing 'Die, Die, Die' all over the walls.
Fortunately, Lady Liu was already used to this sight and the over-protectiveness Chen Shi displayed.
She gently sighed as her eyes slowly turned an azure colour. She checked the prophecy and once she knew that everyone would be alright, only then her eyes turned back.
Lady Liu... was overusing her lost Abilities. Her body was unable to safely use them, which shortened her lifespan further.
This fact did not sadden her. She lived a fulfilling life and she was happy for that. It was a much happier life than the previous 50 or so, where she didn't have Chen Shi by her side all the time.
Lady Liu... pitied him. She knew that he had been in love with her for far too long, but because of those cursed Sages, they were unable to marry...
Who would've thought that one of the Sages would take a fancy to her and suddenly most of the Sages followed...
She... could not understand. Those spineless bastards bothered her day after day and made her glorious Empire suffer through disasters that she had to fix on a daily basis.
'Yet that bitch...' Lady Liu's gentle eyes turned chilly. 'She killed me just because she was no longer adored by the other Sages...'
If sight could kill, Lady Liu's current expression would be able to wipe the world clean. She was upset that those 'Venerable' bastards hid their ugly faces in front of normal Cultivators, yet behind the scenes they pursued her shamelessly with derogatory remarks.
"Little Fox..." Lady Liu's eyes softened. That unfortunate Fox will have a rough life. Not every Sage likes her, one could say that Aiko stands against almost all Sages.
"She will soon lose the 'gift'..." Lady Liu was concerned that Aiko would lose her way if not for those gifts, but... for some reason, she was unable to predict the whole future for Aiko.
Her fate was so heavy that she could barely glance at it and even then she could only glimpse a few days in advance. Well... if Aiko was happy, she could see a few months in advance, but that rarely happened to match her 'awakening'.
"I hope she will do fine..." Her concern only grew over time, she knew that Chen Shi disliked that little Fox, but that Fox's future was similar to theirs if she attracted unwanted attention.
The Sages behind Aiko were weakening and if she lost her status, the Sages would be permitted to go against her openly...
"I will do my best to slow them down." Lady Liu's eyes shone briefly with azure light. Her fate was both a curse and a blessing. Even if she died, she would reincarnate again. In other words, this curse didn't allow her Soul to disperse. It would use the Providence of those bastard Sages to keep repairing endlessly, until she submitted to them.
However, they made a slight oversight. She was able to gently twist that curse, temporarily wiping her memories each time she reincarnated.
This allowed her Soul to strengthen and heal over time, there was also less burden on her body, which allowed her to live longer, as long as she didn't use her Abilities.
She smirked like an unruly child, which was unlike her normal demeanour.
She would make a complete mess in the Immortal World until the Buddhists exorcised her. She would no longer take it lying down after she saw Aiko going against that heavy and overbearing fate!
