Chapter 204: One Moment/Mistake
One mistake.
That is all it takes for the most well-laid plans in the universe to suddenly and catastrophically implode in one’s face.
It was said that the famous assassin Jing Ke became famous because of how badly botched the asssination attempt went when he tried to kill the mane who would become the First Emperor of China. His assistant froze up like a deer in headlights and the timely use of a physician’s throwing arm stopped him from stabbing the man with a poisoned dagger.
The Spartan army fell at Thermopylae pass because of a traitor showing the Persian army a hidden shepard’s path.
The Titanic sank because they didn’t account for the cold when they decided to ram a glacier.
All it takes is one miscalculation, one overlooked factor, one mistake, and a moment of assured victory can suddenly go sideways.
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[Milord, Nepherage checking in. The Wolfe family has indeed sent a retinue of warriors to try and capture your clansmen. They used some weird smelling smoke to render a majority of them into a deep slumber and have been capturing them in a methodical manner.]
‘Of fucking course…’
[The protos and I have managed to take out a third of the invading forces from the Wolfe Family. Also, your cousin broke through and took out enough for the total number of enemies taken down to be half.]
‘That’s good to hear.’
[But she’s now staring down the two Aether Masters that were leading the group and the Acolytes who hadn’t been taken out yet.]
‘That’s bad.’
[They also appear to have captured Master Viento and are using him as a hostage, alongside with several of the other clansmen.]
‘That’s worst.’
[We can’t interfere without us blowing our cover as Aether Puppets. What do we do?]
‘Not necessarily…I have a really dumb idea. You’re gonna have to repeat what I’m about to say when the time is right.’
[Which will be…?]
‘When they start asking questions.’
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“You fucking despicable dogs!,” Zhen Yue yelled as her aether began to flare up. Silvery blue and white tattoos in the shape of beasts began to appear on her skin.
“Easy princess, one wrong move and I might tug on this chain a little too hard,” Gregory threatened while tugging the chain, illiciting a groan from Ricardo. The former had managed to secure his chain around the latter’s neck, the iron ball it was attached to acting like an anchor point.
“As well, I would hate to see this pristine courtyard painted red,” Sieger added on. The Acolytes under his command proceeded to brandish their blades against the throats of the unconcious Zhen clansmen being held hostage.
Zhen Yue’s aether began to cool down at the sight, but she still kept her guard up.
Apparently, while Zhen Yue was dealing with the invading Acolytes, Master Ricardo Viciento was being tag teamed by Gregory and Sieger Wolfe.
It was a tad overkill, since Gregory and Sieger were a second ring and a third ring Aether Master respectively and Ricardo was only a first ring, but the Wolfe Family didn’t want a single thing going wrong. The fact that Zhen Yue appeared out of nowhere as an Aether Master, was a…mild inconvenience, but they knew how to deal with sudden bullshit like this.
“Now Miss Zhen, I suggest you drop your weapons and cool the aether flow before things get…messy.”
“Don’t do it young mistress! Just get the hell out of here!,” Ricardo shouted.
“Shove it!,” Gregory shouted back as he stomped on the stable master’s back, causing another groan of pain.
Zhen Yue was all set to rush in and slice Gregory’s offending leg, but stopped once she saw the Acolytes starting to close the distance between their blades and her clansmen necks.
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[We should go in, kill them now and rescue the hostages already.]
[Not yet, we have to wait for the right moment.]
[Right moment?]
[I read it in a book, the best time to launch a sneak attack is when your opponent thinks they have already won.]
[Uh…okay. When is that?]
[Usually when they start gloating or making unreasonable demands.]
“You know…now that I have a good look at you, you are quite the beauty…Tell you what moon girl, our men have been rather…on edge lately, especially with how you managed to kill a good chunk of their friends. If you can provide them some…relief, we’ll let your clansmen go. On our honor.”
[And there it is. Razor, Spring, we attack in three.]
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“What did you say?,” Zhen Yue asked with fury coursing in her veins. She had clearly heard him the first time, but she wanted to make sure that she heard what she heard.
“You heard me,” Sieger said in a taunting voice, ” It’s been the talk of the town about how you managed to snag that foreign prince, but it’s also known that you are as untouched as freshly grown flowers. If you provide me, my friend and our men here some pleasurable company for the evening, we’ll let your clansmen go. What’s a little dishonor for the sake of some lives?”
“Dishonor and despoilment! Haha!”
In this moment, Zhen Yue wanted nothing more than to jam her blade down each and everyone of the Wolfe practitioners hateful fucking throats and watch them bleed out. Unfortunately, if she did, then the lives of over a dozen or so clansmen would be lost in an instant.
‘There’s absolutely no way they’ll keep their word here. I should just go in and die kicking and fighting like a warrior! But…if there’s even a chance…’
She was forced to remember the fundamental truth of the universe: power was everything.
The worst thing about this predicament though, the Aether Masters of the Wolfe Family didn’t plan to honor their word in the slightest.
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‘Haha! Yes you fucking bitch! Squirm and panic! Lose yourself in this emotional despair. If you attack, you’ll die and so will your clansmen. If you surrender, we’ll still kill you and your clansmen! This utter hopelessness is always intoxicating,’ Sieger thought to himself as he watched the young mistress of the Zhen Clan struggle to make a move or come to a decision.
As the “enforcement” elder of the Wolfe Family, there were many, many times he and his partner had been sent on assignments to “convince” others to see things the family’s way.
In these little moments, he felt he was the most powerful being in existence. No patriarch, no rules, no higher powers, just him. The life and death of others were hanging by threads and he was the puppet master.
As far as he was concerned, there was no power here or beyond that could stop him.
But the funny thing about this gloating: pride comes before the fall. And right now, Sieger was looking pretty high right now…
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At the exact same time.
As the party at the Wolfe Family Manor went on, a question began to form in the minds of the party goers: where was the guest of honor?
It’s not often that one gets to meet an Aether Lord in their lifetimes and while the reputation of the Wolfe Family was rather mixed, meeting an Aether Lord was still a sight to behold.
However, the sound of a glass being struck grabbed the attention of everyone in the room.
“Attention, attention everyone. I would like to say a few words in order to formally thank everyone here as well as honor my father” Jacob Wolfe said as he placed a glass and a little wooden stick onto the tray of a nearby servant, who proceeded to leave with the items in tow.
Everyone in the room paused their conversations in order to fully listen to what Jacob had to say.
