The War of the Four Kingdoms

(The Four Kingdoms Volume 3)

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King

What started as murmurs in the throne room resounded into audible proclamations of disbelief and shock. General Tori watched their reactions with extreme satisfaction.

"Father, how could you?" Prince Ren's voice quivered. He couldn't bear to look at his fiancée anymore. He did not understand why his father of all people had tried to hurt his girl and her family when he knew too well how important Anna was to him.

"I... I did acquire the services of foreign mercenaries but it was just to scare the Kyouyamas off and put the blame on Kasai or Kouri. It was not my intention to kill them. Believe me," the Tao monarch pleaded to his son who was staring at him as if he were some vile criminal.

"Hideki was blind to our neighbors' threats. I needed to convince him before those two kingdoms could take up arms and march against us. I was introduced to this organization called the X-Laws who accepts missions from royalty usually to deal with other difficult royal bloods when peaceful negotiations between them fail. I swear to the Great Spirit that all I wanted was to shake things up a bit. YOU were with me when I met up with them, were you not?!" King Yuan pointed menacingly at the Kouku military general.

"Perhaps you didn't read the fine print on the contract, Your Highness? They ARE a group of assassins. Well... I may have tweaked the order a bit after the meeting. I wouldn't want you to take sole credit for shaking up the four kingdoms, now would I?" General Tori smiled at the Kaminari king. "What I did not expect though was for someone to escape alive." He turned his gaze to the blond girl standing in front of her dead savior.

Princess Anna grasped the edge of the funeral table for support and stained it with the blood from her wounded palm. She had turned deaf to this recent admission by her father's most trusted men. All she could feel now was an overwhelming sense of betrayal from the people whom her family considered allies. Her blood boiled with rage and she couldn't ignore this developing hatred for the Kaminari king inside her. She had known King Yuan to be quite assertive but she had never imagined that he would resort to violence to get the response he wanted. Her parents became nothing but pawns to his campaign against his perceived enemies. And her Yoh... was just an unfortunate victim because of his status as heir to an enemy kingdom's throne.

"You are truly a strategist, " Faust exclaimed. No one was sure if he had said it out of admiration or sarcasm. "We've been looking for you for years, you know. Have you resurfaced to continue your family's legacy of war?"

"My family's legacy of war?" General Ryuuken Tori chuckled. "Yes, you can say that. After all, my great grandfather, King Asaha Douji attempted to conquer the four kingdoms while his son, my grandfather, started the second war because of his obsession with a Kouku princess. He confessed about the rape and murder on his death bed by the way. The guilt had been gnawing him up to his very last day. He handed the heirloom to me before he passed. Of course I was elated when I found out I was royalty. I was sick of taking orders from the king who was beginning to leave me out of his overseas engagements even though I was his right hand man. I felt so powerless. I'm the true Kasai heir and I would love to get the throne back from the Asakuras. But I have no kingdom to rally behind me. So I used King Yuan's paranoia to plant a seed of discord. The X-Laws plan was initiated thanks to him. I must say I wasn't confident that the group would be able to acquire something from Kasai but they were quite resourceful. They managed to retrieve the Asakura heirloom which I intended to leave at the crime scene after the assassins have done the job. However, there was still a major setback to our plan. The palace was well guarded so the hired killers wouldn't be able to sneak in without getting noticed. I finally got the answer one day when one of the Kouku soldiers-in-training met an accident. His leg had to be amputated and the central town's doctor was able to perform the operation while he was in a deep sleep. He mentioned about this blacksmith who had been selling sleeping serums as a sideline."

Faust gritted his teeth. His concoction which was meant to save lives had instead become an instrument in this bastard heir's master plan. He could not fathom how something innately good can be turned into something evil. What's even worse was that an innocent man who was just trying to make ends meet got caught in the middle.

General Tori continued, "I purchased his entire stock but I had no means to pay him since the royal treasurer would only open the vault in King Hideki's presence. So I paid him with something valuable but completely worthless to me."

"The Asakura heirloom..." Prince Hao guessed.

"That's right, boy. After the murders were carried out, I went back to the blacksmith's hut. He knew too much so I had to get rid of him and get the heirloom back. Alas, it wasn't there."

"Because my son had asked the same blacksmith to reproduce the missing heirloom." King Mikihisa deduced. He was beginning to understand how the pin managed to end up into his heir's possession again.

"I began to panic but then I realized that the Asakura pin was an ugly copycat of mine. So I left my precious heirloom in the crime scene. The people of Kouku and Kaminari would not be too keen on the details anyway. So Kouku was left without any ruler and good old loyal me, the right hand man and most trusted advisor of King Hideki, took his place. Now, I had an army of my own. However, majority of the military leaders were reluctant to march with me as it would disrupt the so-called peace that we were enjoying in the land for more than a century. I was just appointed as the new king of Kouku and if I were to become unpopular with the generals, I would most likely be sacked."

"So I had to sign a new contract with the assassins to blow up the Raikou to put an end to their doubts that we were being targeted. Not everyone would believe that a small piece of jewelry found in the crime scene belonged to the enemy but everyone would sympathize with a grieving father. We would expect for Kasai to deny everything but then you appeared here, Princess and attested that the pin found did not belong to the Asakura heir. To add a great deal to my disappointment, the Tao prince managed to escape as well. Perhaps I should ask for a refund from the X-Laws." General Tori sneered at Prince Ren.

"I did get what I wanted though - - - well partially. The Asakura heir is dead. What I did not know until now is that there are two of them."

In one swift motion, he pulled Lee Pailong who was standing nearby towards him. He plunged his sword unto the foot soldier's belly then quickly grabbed his bow and arrow.

"I will put an end to this wretched clan's lineage!" He managed to launch an arrow towards the unsuspecting Prince Hao before the combined forces of Kasai, Kouku and Kaminari soldiers had surrounded the general.

When she heard a body drop and a woman shriek from behind her, Princess Anna unsheathed the Harusame strapped on the dead prince's body. She stormed pass the soldiers who were taking turns punching and kicking the former military leader. Men of his status had ambitions but he was never part of the royal family's circle. Yes, his betrayal was enraging but it was easier to accept. She would enjoy hurting him later if she would still find him alive. Right now, there was only one person in this world whom she wanted to kill so badly.

King Yuan did not flinch when he saw the Kouku princess rushing towards him with a steel that was as deadly as her resolve.

"Die!" she screamed.