Chapter 208: A Haunting Encounter Of Figures From The Past
The week pressed on, and at last, humanity had been convinced; cultivation was becoming the norm. Elizabeth and her clique trained within the confines of the beach resort as the Mage King watched over her apprentices. But on the last day of the boot camp, just a couple hours before she was scheduled to return to the Shadow Realm, Elizabeth was challenged.
Standing by the gates of her beach resort, Elizabeth, Sun, Tristan and Jane stood, each displaying vastly different expressions along the spectrum of emotions. Elizabeth stood smiling with her trademark schadenfreude for the misfortune that would probably descend upon the idiots who dared challenge her without knowing their limits. Sun glared ever-hateful at a young woman that stood along with the group of challengers; she looked back at him with a brilliant smile. The light in Tristan's eyes seemed to have been lost as they set upon the sagely old man, while Jane was squinting in apprehension; there were several Spirit Realm combatants before them.
"So," Elizabeth began, "To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting with you all today?" It was stomach-turning how much derision her few words contained towards the opposition.
To meet her question, an otherwise completely unnoticeable old man who was fumbling with his hands took a step forward and said, "To a friendly exchange between schools…"
"I came to pay my 'favorite' brother a visit! Look how eager he is to meet me," the woman that Sun had been eyeing so callously spoke as if ignorant to that fact. Her words bringing about corporeal phenomenon manifesting from the sheer hatred Sun had for her; literally causing his rage to warm up the local environment.
"Hmph, I here to settle matters with my grandson. Or rather… the devil that's been masquerading as my grandson." Said the sagely old man that had been staring intently at Tristan.
"Great!" Elizabeth unintentionally yelled, "Come, let's discuss this further inside~" She practically beamed at the prospects these 'exercises' would have in store if not for her apprentices, then for her close confidants.
Rather calmly, the enemy was invited into her domain. Moreover, they were dragged over to where the apprentices were training at the moment so that they could listen in on the discussion. Elizabeth was never one to miss a chance for being efficient — and what better way was there for her precious apprentices to learn about the real Martial World than to see its ugly side as she had when she was at the trifling Mortal Stage?
"Now then, how do you want to do this?" Elizabeth asked, with her chin resting on her hand.
"Um… Anything works for me," the unassuming man started, "We could do group battles between disciples or one-on-one spars…" Neither he nor the dozen-plus Mortal and Pawn Stage Martial Practitioners behind him had so much as a hint of malice as they interacted with Elizabeth and her Mage apprentices.
"Mhmm… Fine," Elizabeth said. She almost sounded depressed about her opponent's lack of aggression. She turned to Sun's sister, only to hear, "I just want to talk to Lorenzo…"
She was cut off quickly enough by Sun whose already boiling hatred for her crossed yet another threshold, "This fucking… you dare call me by that name?! Listen bitch, and listen well…" The space around Sun started distorting as Pure Yang tainted Sun's yellow flames with crimson highlights. He continued, "This 'Lorenzo' that you speak of died almost a decade ago when you and that worthless family of his cut off all ties, remember?" He was really struggling to keep that desire to lash out at bay.
"Hahaha," Meeting his threat with giggles befitting of a teenage girl, Sun's sister wagged her finger back and forth as she said, "It's like we keep telling you: Just forget about the past and come home! We promise we'll…"
"Enough!" At last, he snapped, "I don't want to hear from you, mother, father or all those hypocrites back where you came from. Just fuck off and be glad I'm not inclined to get revenge! For what you fuckers did to me, dying a thousand times over wouldn't be enough compensation, so if there's anything else you want to add, shove it up your ass and fuck off!"
Sighing, Sun's sister looked just a bit disappointed, though not by the savage words Sun had thrown her way. She materialized a purple card with red indentations and threw it Sun's way before saying, "I didn't want things to end this way, but you've left me with no choice… Come Lorenzo, fight me one-on-one. If I win, you have to come home with me."
Catching the card, Sun almost caved right then and there; wishing for nothing but this fight to be realized. However, they were still at Elizabeth's beach resort and he didn't have a clear grasp of that 'bitch's' cultivation base. Looking over at Elizabeth, he felt his feelings for her redouble after hearing her say, "Mhmm… An Early Stage Transcendent Foundation Cultivator really just wasted a Crimson Command Card on my poor little Saint Sun. Ah, whatever… Sun, you can take her. She's not even that well adjusted for someone in the Spirit Realm. Carry out your sibling's quarrel or whatever out over the ocean though… I don't want your fight to interfere with those of my apprentices."
"Early Stage Transcendent Foundation?" Sun muttered to himself, a slight grin forming all the while. He gave Elizabeth a thanking nod before addressing his sister, saying, "Emilia… Che!" She understood as she followed Sun without a fuss.
"Now then," Elizabeth grinned so hard the ends of her mouth almost touched her ears, "What about you?" She was addressing Tristan's alleged grandfather.
"It's the same deal as her's, only… I don't think I need to bring out any cards from the Martial Society, right Qwetzel?" The sagely old man said, whilst staring right into Tristan's eyes. For a moment, Elizabeth's human servant seemed to react to that strange name; the light in his eyes returning. However, before Tristan became any more ingrained in whatever stunt the old man was pulling, Elizabeth came over to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder; instantly bringing him back to full consciousness.
"Ah, how truly unfortunate," she said as the arm that had been placed on Tristan's shoulder lowered onto his back and began locking up his soul with Elizabeth's Soul Variation method fully activated. As the locking was progressing, Elizabeth turned to the old man and asked, "Did you really think I'd let you possess him? Hmph! Being in the Mortal Realm is starting to strain my patience…"
A couple of seconds later, Tristan awoke completely from the sedative attack his grandfather had been slowly using to corrode his soul's resistance, and with Elizabeth's temporary lockdown, he became able to express his own desire to fight, saying, "You… I'll settle this with the rest of your Faction some other day. But for now, fight me, old man." Though he had been sedated, he hadn't been unconscious so he knew of all the events that had transpired with Sun and his sister. So, by taking a page out of their book, he issued a challenge; one without the command of a card, not that one was needed in the first place.
"Ho? A young miss capable of dealing with Soul Obfuscation? Indeed, it is as they say you were during the Wushi Tournament; completely and utterly ridiculous… Still, my business here today is with Qwetzel." Turning to address Tristan, the old man said, "Fine, we'll have this pointless bout, but after I beat you into submission, you're coming back with me to the Skullflesh Faction."
As Sun and his sister had done just a minute prior, Tristan and the old man flew over to the ocean to have their grand battle. Leaving Elizabeth and her apprentices to deal with the last unassuming old man and his disciples, Elizabeth started, "Now then, who wants to go first?"
…
"Please, Lorenzo… this will be the last time I ask nicely. Just find forgiveness in your heart and return home with me! Mom and Dad have been worried sick about you since you started ignoring us during the Tournament."
"Forgiveness? Ok then," Sun started as a most malicious smile manifested on his face, "I'll forgive you, all of you." Sadly, not for a moment did his sister buy the saintly act; and she was right to. Sun continued, "But first you all have to follow the rules of our family, no? It's an eye for an eye, right? So then, please, I'll wait till the end of time, but you lot have to cripple your cultivation bases and offer them to me! Just like they forced me to do for your sake!" Again, Sun began to release a devastating pressure that warped the local space around him and let off scorching waves of pure yang flames.
"Er, that would… kill us. We're all in the Spirit Real-"
"I didn't have a choice, so why should you?!" He virtually teleported over to her side, landing a devastating punch against her short sword. "And don't you ever feign ignorance about that day, bitch!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone