Chapter 18: Rescue Strategy
After returning to the castle under the protection of Quartz and the guards, Ruri headed straight to the garden of Sector One, on top of the mountain. From there, she had a sweeping view of the city and the harbor. She could see a set of unidentified ships afloat in the sea, a group of kraken, and the Nation of the Dragon King ships. She could see the ships moving, but not the people, so she couldn’t tell from a glance which side had the upper hand.
As Ruri watched the battle unfold, many of the smaller spirits gathered around her. According to them, Kotaro had told them to evacuate because Spirit Slayer was present. There was only one thing that popped into Ruri’s mind upon hearing this: Yadacain. Rin affirmed her suspicions, stating that it was highly likely.
The spirits weren’t the only ones to assemble, however. Euclase and the main aides, who hadn’t gone into battle, came to the garden as well. They were there to get updates on the situation from Rin, who was giving a play-by-play while watching the battle through Kotaro.
“Those cannons and the ships are using Spirit Slayer. It must be Yadacain’s handiwork. Only their witches could construct such things,” Rin said.
Everyone’s faces turned grim.
“I assume those suspicious ships we’ve seen recently are one and the same,” Euclase said, referencing the ships that had been making frequent appearances near the capital as of late. Whenever the navy tried to apprehend them, krakens would appear and impede their arrest—just like now. It was natural to assume there was a connection, just as Euclase had said.
“It seems we have the upper hand here. Though I suppose that goes without saying since Kotaro is with them.”
Even if the witches of Yadacain were using Spirit Slayer, they stood no chance against dragonkin with a supreme-level spirit on their side. But even though everyone already knew that to be true, it was a relief to hear it aloud. The only thing left was to remain calm and wait for the battle to reach its end—at least, that was what everyone assumed.
“Oh. Well, that’s not good...”
“Is something the matter?” Euclase asked.
“A few dragonkin were captured.”
“They were what?! What do you mean?!” Euclase shouted. Their eyes bugged out, and they looked ready to grab Rin at any moment.
“I can’t say for sure. It seems that some sort of power captured the dragonkin and took them to a ship. And this power, it’s...” Rin trailed off.
They couldn’t make out any details from their vantage point in the garden, but the one thing that Ruri and the others could see was that a lone ship among the fleet was heading out into the open sea.
As panic and frustration mounted, Jade finally made his return. His aides gathered around him, trying to get details, but Jade didn’t know much more than what Ruri and the others knew.
Jade had been slightly surprised to learn that the ships probably belonged to Yadacain, but at the same time, he couldn’t think of any other group who would use Spirit Slayer. Once they questioned the crew of the captured ships, they would know for sure if they were from Yadacain.
The interrogation was currently underway—a somewhat rough interrogation by Jade’s own prediction. Several of his fellow dragonkin had been captured, so it only made sense. The biggest problem, aside from them being captured, was that they needed to get them back as soon as possible.
“Finn, assemble the troops immediately. Once we have conclusive evidence that Yadacain is behind this, I’m sending our men there posthaste,” Jade stated. He was obviously willing to go to war.
“Your Majesty, I would, but what of the alliance agreement?”
Finn referred to the set of rules agreed upon by the Alliance of Four Nations. That alliance comprised four nations: the Nation of the Dragon King, the Nation of the Beast King, the Nation of the Spirit King, and the Imperial Nation. The agreement stated that the Nation of the Dragon King was not to incite war. If they were to do so, they would need a suitable reason and the consent of the other three nations.
“If we need consent, then now is the perfect time,” Jade stated. Not only was the Beast King here for the tournament as a guest of honor, but so were the Spirit King and the Emperor as well. “Request a meeting at once. Time is of the essence. On the double.”
“Very well, Sire,” Claus, who was also present, replied before rushing out of the room.
That was when Kotaro returned, entering the room as if taking Claus’s place.
“Kotaro, were you okay?” Ruri asked. She was confident that nothing had happened to him since he was a supreme-level spirit, but she’d been concerned that he hadn’t come back to the castle until now.
“I’m fine. I was trailing the ship that took the dragonkin. As suspected, it was headed to Yadacain.”
“I see,” Jade said, uttering what everyone else had dreaded to hear. The dread even started to show on their faces.
“King,” Kotaro said, addressing Jade, “we simply cannot let Yadacain go unpunished. If they continue to use their Spirit Slayer, then it might harm our fellow spirits as well. I want to use this opportunity to completely remove the Spirit Slayer magic from Yadacain.”
“If that is what you’ve decided, then we have no objections,” Jade said. “We simply wish to help save our comrades. Our interests are aligned. I cannot think of anything more reassuring than you gracing us with your cooperation. After all, we dragonkin can’t use magic when they use Spirit Slayer.”
“Quite. Are you all right with this too, Rin?”
“Yes, well, I wouldn’t have said anything if Yadacain had remained docile, but now that they’re running amok on the outside, it’s best to eliminate their power once and for all. After all, we’ll be fine, but the other spirits might end up getting wiped out.”
As Rin and Kotaro both discussed removing the Spirit Slayer for good, something about how they spoke disturbed Jade. He couldn’t pass it off as his imagination either.
“One thing, if you don’t mind? By saying you wish to ‘remove the Spirit Slayer magic,’ do you mean along with Yadacain itself?” Jade asked, hoping to quell his concerns.
The two glanced at him as if he’d asked a ridiculous question.
“Quite naturally,” Kotaro replied.
“Well, of course. Destroying the whole nation would get rid of it for good.”
Everyone’s faces turned deathly pale.
“Wait a minute, both of you!” Ruri exclaimed. “Destroy the whole nation?! I don’t think we need to go that far!”
Jade hurriedly added, “Yes, I can’t really agree with that method. We may be at war, but we have no intention of destroying a nation because of it. I would like to settle this while sparing them in order to prevent any needless disputes. Eliminating the whole country is a last, last resort.”
“But you can’t erase people’s memories, can you?” Kotaro asked. If they were to destroy just the Spirit Slayer magic, someone was bound to remember how to create it.
“We’ll handle it,” Jade replied.
“Oh dear, I think it’d be easier to just erase the whole nation,” Rin said. “But we’ll leave it in your hands if you insist. As long as you make sure that the Spirit Slayer can’t be used in the future, then things will be fine.”
It was a relief to hear them agree, but it was a wonder why spirits’ methods were so radical.
“But there’s one problem, isn’t there?” Rin said cryptically after exchanging glances with Kotaro.
“That being?” Ruri asked, tilting her head.
“And you’re sure about that, right?” Rin continued.
“Yes, I am very sure,” Kotaro answered.
Kotaro and Rin shared a conversation only they understood, but judging from Kotaro’s stern expression, it certainly wasn’t good news.
“It’s likely—no, more than likely that one of our brethren, the Spirit of Darkness, is aiding Yadacain,” Rin explained.
“The Spirit of Darkness?” asked Jade.
“It was the Spirit of Darkness who took away the dragonkin. I sensed their power, so I am sure,” said Kotaro.
“Why would the Spirit of Darkness join forces with Yadacain?” Jade asked. Yadacain, from a spirit’s perspective, were murderers of their kin who used their devilish Spirit Slayer magic. No one had any idea why a spirit would affiliate with people like that or why they would take away dragonkin in the first place.
That included Kotaro, who was just as clueless. “I fail to understand this myself. Not unless I speak to Darkness personally.”
“So, what will you do if the Spirit of Darkness is siding with Yadacain?” Jade asked, a dour look on his face. He feared the worst.
“Would you end up fighting?” Ruri asked, worried that their difference in opinions would lead to a fight between spirits.
“No, that’s not going to happen. Spirits would never fight among each other. You can rest assured of that,” Rin said, much to Ruri’s relief. “However, if Darkness is going to side with them, there are two or more supreme-level spirits who can stop them. We can essentially talk it out, and if that’s not possible, we’ll decide by majority vote.”
Since they had four supreme-level spirits, the numbers were overwhelmingly in their favor. Nevertheless, it was hard to understand why spirits aimed for peaceful solutions through discussion when their attitudes toward everything else was so extreme that it involved either crushing, erasing, or destroying.
“That being said, we don’t know why Darkness is siding with them. Nor do we have any way to predict how they’ll strike,” Rin added.
“Another question is who do we leave by Ruri’s side,” Kotaro said.
“That’s right. I’d really like all four of us to go since we don’t know what lies in store. But since Earth lives by his own whims, there’s a chance he might just side with Darkness instead if we brought him along, so that’s out.”
“Yes, sounds like a surefire way to make things more complicated,” Kotaro agreed, his mixed feelings painted on his face.
Ruri wasn’t sure what to do either. Even though the unknown entity that was the Spirit of Darkness had sided with the enemy, Chi just might flip sides and say it was simply because it was “interesting.” He might say he wanted to go to discuss things, but it was too dangerous to bring him along.
“If anyone is going, it’s Fire and me,” Rin said. “Kotaro, you have your barrier around Ruri, which means you staying with her is the safest option.”
“Yes, I agree.”
The problem was whether Heat would actually comply. It was safe to say that he would have no intention of coming at all. He wasn’t the type to prioritize something potentially bothersome if it had nothing to do with himself. They pondered over how to lure him in this time around.
Just then, Claus came back to inform them that a meeting with the other rulers was ready. It was surprising that he’d set things up so quickly. Perhaps the other kings had received a certain degree of information as well.
Then, almost at the same time, a new piece of information came in. The interrogation of the enemy crew had revealed that they were indeed from Yadacain. It seemed that the interrogator had done a thorough job. Ruri didn’t want to know what kind of interrogation tactics he had used to get them to talk so quickly.
Though they now had confirmation, something about Yadacain’s plan felt amiss. Their purpose was unclear, but they had succeeded in taking the dragonkin with them. However, leaving their other ships behind would inevitably lead to interrogation and leaked intel.
They should have expected that the Nation of the Dragon King would move to rescue their men as soon as they found out Yadacain was at fault. Were they just that confident that they stood a chance against the Nation of the Dragon King?
They probably thought that they could repel the dragonkin with the Spirit of Darkness’s power, but wouldn’t the Spirit of Darkness know that Kotaro and the others were in the kingdom? Spirits were said to have a unique communication method with each other, so the Spirit of Darkness should have known this even if they were in Yadacain. Why would they oppose Kotaro and the others as enemies, despite knowing they would be outnumbered?
While the designs of the Spirit of Darkness and Yadacain remained unclear, the kings held their council and decided to send troops to Yadacain to recover the captured dragonkin.
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