"This boy will do just fine," a voice whispered from the shadows of a narrow alley.
"Well, you guys are really bad at this," Saturu's voice cut through the tense air, cold and clear.
He untied himself with a few efficient tugs and walked closer to the bandits who had dragged him there.
"Stop him—!" The leader's scream was cut short.
Shink!
Saturu's sword flashed. It struck the stone wall an inch from the leader's head, the wind of the strike grazing his cheek and drawing a thin line of blood.
'Where did that sword come from?' The leader's mind raced. He hadn't seen a weapon.
"How dare you!" another bandit roared, lunging with a rusty dagger.
Saturu's eyes glowed with a predatory light. He moved—a blur that was more a displacement of air than motion. He caught the attacker by his tunic and slammed his head into the wall with a sickening thud. The man crumpled.
The last bandit leaped, axe raised high. Saturu stood motionless.
To his heightened senses, the world slowed. He watched the man hang in the air, muscles straining. In one fluid motion as the bandit descended, Saturu sidestepped, grabbed his arm mid-swing, and used his momentum to hurl him sideways.
CRASH!
The bandit smashed into the wall beside his leader and slid down, unconscious.
The leader's face drained of color. 'No ordinary person has that kind of strength.'
"Who are you?" he breathed.
Enraged and desperate, the leader charged, blade a silver streak.
One moment he was running; the next, he was face-down on the ground, the breath knocked from him. Saturu's boot was planted firmly on his back.
Saturu held the man's other arm up by the wrist, his grip like iron.
The leader gritted his teeth. "Reinforcements will be here soon! When they come, you're done for!"
"Then I will do the same thing to them that I am doing to you," Saturu said, his voice flat. He grinned, a merciless flash of teeth, and applied precise pressure.
"GYAAAH!"
The leader screamed as three of his fingers broke.
"Please! Spare me! I'll give you all my money!" he wailed.
"First question," Saturu began, conversational. "If I had not retaliated, what would have happened to me?"
"I was only doing my job! They sent me to— GYAA!"
"Wrong answer."
Two more fingers snapped. The screams echoed raw and ragged off the stone.
"Second question. Do you know who is spreading the corrupted essence in this region?" Saturu's voice turned lethally sharp. "Answer wisely. You only have one hand left."
"Corrupted… what?" The leader's confusion was genuine, laced with panic.
'It looks like normal people don't know about it,' Saturu thought. If a major figure was involved, it was a deep secret.
"Looks like the lead will require quite some work," he murmured.
The leader, tears streaking his dirty face, seized on the pause. "If you let me live, I can find out! I can get what you want!"
"Wrong."
Two more fingers. The man's hand was a ruined, purple mess. He bit down on a scream, trembling violently.
"Three left. Now, answer carefu—"
Saturu froze.
His head snapped up, staring into the darkness of the passage beyond. He sensed it instantly—a rapid, violent rise in the corrupted essence, far denser than any trace before. It was close. It was coming.
He released the bandit's wrist and vanished from his back, a shadow melting into deeper shadow.
The leader, shuddering and sobbing, lay still. When he finally gathered the courage to lift his head, the cavern was empty save for him and his unconscious men.
Saturu was gone.
Saturu felt it a faint but unmistakable pull of energy. The same vile, clinging essence that was behind Kayon death. It was here, in the heart of Skyridge.
His gaze narrowed, tracking the sensation like a hound on a scent.
'This place is bigger than I remember. It will take too long to reach the source.'
The trail led him to a shadowed alleyway near the back of the square, a place oddly dark despite the bright sun. Then, the energy vanished, cut off as if a door had slammed shut.
He stared down the empty alley.
'No. I'm definitely lost.'
Frustrated, he decided to regroup. His steps led him to the first open door he saw: a bar.
---
Inside, the air was thick with smoke and low conversation. At a nearby table, two men spoke in hushed tones.
"Hey, have you heard about the Vermillion palace?"
"Yeah. I heard from someone who was there. They say it was completely wiped out by a single person."
"So much for the mighty Vermillion Clan. They never did anything for us anyway."
"Hey, don't say that here. You never know who's listening. You could be watched." The first man scolded his companion.
"You're right." The two men stood, dropping a few coins on the table before leaving.
A waiter passed by, collected the coins, and then approached Saturu's table.
"Are you sure you can handle that much? Another one?"
Saturu thought he should have worn a mask. News of the Vermillion Clan would draw unnecessary attention.
He sighed.
The waiter poured another cup of wine and slid it over.
Saturu sat, staring into the dark liquid. He had drunk many cups, yet he felt no effect. In his previous life, he'd spent more time planning wars than celebrating victories. Maybe that had killed his taste for it.
'No, that can't be it. The previous owner of this body must have drunk a lot.'
The waiter stared, bewildered. 'How is this possible? He's had more than ten cups, yet he's perfectly fine.'
The bar door swung open. A group of men entered. Among them was the man Lin had beaten earlier in the square. His eyes immediately locked onto Saturu.
"It's that young man who was walking with her."
The group's leader swaggered over. He draped an arm over Saturu's shoulder and snatched his cup of wine, gulping it down.
"Hmm. You have good taste, kid."
"What do you want?" Saturu asked.
"One of my men got beaten up by a lady earlier. It looks like she was with you. Would you mind telling us where she is?"
"Hmm. I don't know her whereabouts," Saturu said, removing the man's arm from his shoulder.
"You don't know? That's not an answer. Tell us, unless you want to end up in a mess." The leader crushed his empty cup in his hand, spilling dregs across the table.
"It looks like you're after a fight."
"If so, what will it be?" Saturu said.
The leader signaled his men. They stood, circling Saturu with smirks and ugly grins.
The waiter, fearing the coming fight, hurried out the back to "check on supplies."
Saturu smirked as he stood. "Ready when you are."
The men charged, weapons in hand.
Saturu kicked a nearby table. It flipped and spun upwards. He jumped, caught it mid-air as if dunking a basketball, and brought it down in a sweeping, brutal arc.
---
Southern Arizona Empire
The courier arrived at dusk, breathless and torn. Two soldiers took the report in silence. One scanned the official seal, his jaw tightening.
"The Vermillion palace was wiped out. No witness."
The other soldier exhaled sharply. "How can this be the Vermillion palace was the most formidable knight in the southern Arizona Empire."
"Escalate it. Immediate report to command."
The second shook his head. "If this goes to the Emperor and detonates. He'll move fast, and when he moves, everyone bleeds. The Vermillion palace is the root of the Empire, the court will posture, and we'll be holding the fallout."
"So we bury it?"
"No," he said, his voice flat and final. "We control the narrative. Quiet channels. Verify, recover if possible... if not, we take it to the patriarchy he'll find our who's behind this.
"On it" the second knight left.
'Once it's on the Emperor's desk, it stops being a rescue and becomes a purge. And we'll be the ones blamed when it turns ugly.'
---
Saturu was the only one left standing.
The men from the group lay strewn across the floor. Tables, chairs, and half the bar's furnishings were shattered.
The waiter returned, his gaze shifting from the wreckage to Saturu. "Are... are you okay?"
For a full minute, Saturu didn't answer. There was only the sound of a few groans from the floor.
Then Saturu asked, "Where is the bathroom?"
"It's just left, down that passage," the waiter said, pointing.
Saturu looked at him, grinding his teeth slightly. "Thank you," he said, and walked toward the restroom.
The waiter stared at the destruction. "Looks like God is fair sometimes." He sighed, shoulders slumping. "I'm getting fired."
---
The streets of Skyridge were a river of noise and motion. Lin moved through the current alone, having lost Saturu in the crowd. A heavy doubt pressed on her.
'Should I just leave? Run? Or should I keep looking for him?'
That was when a familiar voice cut through the din.
"Lin? Is that you?"