Harry stood on his speeding raft, headed towards the shoreline as quickly as his friends could push it. He could see it wasn't going well for their side, but with the rest of the Elders arriving, he knew the tide of the battle would turn.
With the pills his friends had taken, their power was temporarily increased. Their pursuers were falling behind, and it seemed they would be safe if they could last just a few more minutes. Although they were still far in the distance, one boat of Elders was definitely heading right towards them.
Just as Harry thought he would be saved –
"Mayson, what are you waiting for? Attack now!" Macnair's voice rang across the Swan Sea.
'Who the hell is Mayson?' Harry wondered, but his friends seemed to recognize that name, judging by the way their faces all paled.
"No way!" multiple people yelled. "Mayson?"
"Mayson? Isn't he the Patriarch of the Ivory Fist Clan?"
"It can't be!"
For those who recognized the name, they whirled around with shocked expressions. It was only to see a small army of white-armored cultivators storming into the battle.
"Men, the time for our Ivory Fist Clan to rise has arrived! After today, we shall be the sole rulers of the Swan Sea City! Go! Kill off the Swan Sea Sect!" they heard the Patriarch of the Ivory Fist Clan roar.
In an instant, the Swan Sea Sect sank into despair.
The battle in the center of Swan Sea was initially an even fight. Each Elder of the Swan Sea Sect faced off against an Elder of the New Port Sect, while the Sect Master did her best to face her three opponents. The fighting was a stalemate, the New Port Sect doing their best to stall their opponents while the Swan Sea Sect tried to break free and rescue their disciples.
But once the Ivory Fist Clan entered the fray, the battle quickly turned. The Patriarch of the Ivory Fist Clan was first to charge into the center, and he launched his spear through the air, straight into the back of an Elder of the Swan Sea Sect. The Elder only had the time to turn around, shock written all over his face, before he vomited out a mouthful of blood, and crumpled.
And the moment he turned, Harry recognized him as Elder Eustace, the Elder who administered the recruitment event all those weeks ago. This was the Elder who defended him against the man from the Ivory Fist Clan, the one who initially welcomed him into the sect.
"No!" Harry yelled, but his weak voice was lost in the chaos over the sea.
Elder Eustace fell into the Swan Sea, but not before the Patriarch of the Ivory Fist Clan bent down to take the Space Ring off his hand. Withdrawing his spear, he let out a war cry and shot off to the next Elder.
"Our Ivory Fist Clan has waited years for this day! I offer the blood of the Swan Sea Sect as a sacrifice to my son, and after today, the Ivory Fist Sect will be known as one of the Tier 2 sects of the empire!" the Patriarch howled his intent across the Swan Sea.
"For the Young Master!" the white-coated men behind him roared together. Their eyes were filled with fury, fury along with suppressed rage. For the past weeks, all the Swan Sea City talked about was how thoroughly their Young Master had been beaten. The first time, he was beaten before he even entered the Swan Sea Sect. Then after he entered the Qi Absorption Realm, he rejoined the sect and within a few hours, was beaten even worse than the first time. All sorts of jokes and mockery had been made of the Ivory Fist Clan, leaving them stewing with anger. They were all itching to go out into the city and put anyone who spoke ill of their clan to death – it was only for the sake of today that they endured. Now it was time to let all their anger out.
At the same time, a number of Elders in the center switched sides, landing surprise attacks on their former colleagues. Their sudden strikes caught many unaware – in just a few seconds, three more Elders of the Swan Sea Sect fell.
In the blink of an eye, the battle at the center of the Swan Sea turned for the worse. And not far away from Harry and his companions, two Inner Disciples from the Ivory Fist Clan caught sight of them. Their eyes lit up, and they changed targets, sailing directly to Harry.
Near where the Sect Masters and Elders were battling, three figures stood on three rafts, silently gauging each other. They were the Core Disciples of the Swan Sea Sect, minus Wendell Hopkins, who had been teleported away with the rest of his clan.
"Our job is just to pin you down, and prevent you from aiding the sect," Mark finally said, breaking the tense silence around them.
The woman, Hestia Jones, looked at the pair of them with a resigned expression. Her chances against either one of them were 50-50 at best. If it came down to life or death, she was confident in her ability to flee. But she knew there was no way she could help her sect while these two were around, and there was definitely no chance of defeating the two of them together.
"Is the Ivory Fist Clan really so cruel-hearted? The Swan Sea Sect has been an ally to the Ivory Fist Clan for over a century now. We have trained generations of your clan – and now, you're turning on us?"
"The cultivation world is one where the strong rule the weak," Mark stated flatly, without a hint of emotion in his voice. "The winner is the king, the loser is the bandit. Macnair offered us a chance, and our clan took it. After today, the city will be renamed to the Ivory Fist City, and the Ivory Fist Clan shall rise to become a Tier 2 sect. For the sake of such a chance, anything is worth it."
"James said it well during his fight against Maynard," she murmured. "Your Ivory Fist Clan is shameless to an extreme."
"Who cares what James said?" Maxwell sneered. "If the New Port Sect doesn't put him down today, then we will! We have an agreement – Macnair can have his body to study the source of his strength, while we'll keep his head and mount it above our clan, so Maynard can rest in peace."
Hestia Jones gave a painful sigh, and looked around the Swan Sea.
Not just the Elders and two Core Disciples, but also the regular disciples from the Ivory Fist Clan were attacking their former sect members. The Swan Sea Sect disciples were already being killed off in huge numbers, and this betrayal cut off all remaining hope.
Hundreds of the disciples were dead or dying, not just from the Swan Sea Sect, but also many members of the New Port Sect. Yet, while the Swan Sea Sect members wailed in grief, the New Port Sect disciples didn't shed a single tear. The Swan Sea Sect was a rare place in the cultivation world, where bonds of friendship and brotherhood could form. There was no such thing in the New Port Sect, and it plainly showed. When someone from the New Port Sect fell, another disciple came to take his place.
In the midst of it all, Magic Beasts could even be seen leaping out the water and dragging wounded or dead cultivators to the depths. The reek of blood and guts permeated across the sea, attracting countless beasts to the surface. In the chaos, it was impossible for one to defend against a human enemy while also watching their back against a grindylow. Countless cultivators met their ends at blade, but for many, their last sight was a hungry Magic Beast.
"Very well," she finally said, and much like her sister, a pair of wings manifested on her back. Unlike the large, feathered ones her sister grew, Hestia's were wide and translucent, like the wings of a butterfly, or perhaps a fairy.
"I know I can't win this fight, but for the sake of the sect, I have to try."
Without any more words, another fierce battle broke out on the Swan Sea.
Harry watched all the unfolding events with horrified yet helpless eyes. He had never seen so much blood and carnage in one place, so many dead and such widespread fighting. Even for him, it was too much to take in. Everywhere he looked, Harry saw the New Port Sect or the Ivory Fist Clan gleefully hunting down the members of the Swan Sea Sect. He wished he could do something, but at this moment, he couldn't even save himself.
Once Slade and the others took the power-boosting drugs, they actually started to outpace Theodore Nott and the other pursuers. The gap was steadily widening, to the point where Theodore couldn't even reach them with his sword now. Even better, the Elders would be here soon. As long as they could keep up this pace for a few more minutes, he would be saved.
Harry was just about to breathe a sigh of relief, when he caught sight of an ornate red boat approaching the Elders. It was large and flat, with a small cabin built in the middle so the occupants didn't even have to be outdoors. Lit-up runes covered the surface, providing the source of power for the boat to propel itself without any human effort. Compared to the utilitarian rafts everyone else was on, this boat stood out like a sore thumb.
Just a single glance, and Harry could tell one thing – the owner of this boat was very rich. He also knew this was the boat owned by the Alchemists from the Swan Sea City's Alchemy Guild.
The boat intercepted the raft of incoming Elders, who had no choice but to come to a sudden halt.
"What are they doing?" Sam panted as he watched the unfolding events. "Did the Alchemists join with the New Port Sect?"
"Impossible!" Scott exclaimed. "The Alchemy Guild is a neutral power, not interfering with other sects!"
"Then why are they here?" Harry managed to wheeze out, but when he saw who stepped out of the boat, his stomach sank even further.
The first to come out was an old man, with a long white beard that stretched to his chest. He wore the robes of the Alchemy Guild, but more than that, one could tell in a glance that his position wasn't low. Though Harry didn't recognize the old man, he certainly recognized the person who stepped out next.
It was Noah, from the Swan Sea Sect's Alchemy Hall.
'Don't tell me…' a horrible thought arose in Harry's mind.
Too far away for Harry to hear, a verbal confrontation was occurring between the two groups.
"Senior from the Alchemy Guild, why have you stopped us?" an Elder in the raft urgently asked. Despite the situation, he still had to maintain the proper courtesy to these people.
"We saw you were heading to rescue James," Noah stated. "I will not allow it."
"Noah, you don't have the power to order us," another Elder snapped.
"But I do," the old man spoke up. "While I am here, treat my grandson's words as my own."
That momentarily shocked the Elders into silence, and Noah pressed on.
"James is a lawless troublemaker who has offended the Alchemy Hall. I refuse to allow him to remain unpunished. If the Swan Sea Sect won't do it, then the New Port Sect will, or the Ivory Fist Clan shall for us. I will not allow anyone to save him today."
"You – Senior, is this your meaning?" the Elder turned to Noah's grandfather.
"He dared to touch my grandson – of course, the punishment is death," the old man calmly said. He acted as if he was discussing some insignificant, like the weather or the shape of the clouds in the sky, not a human life.
"Senior, don't you care about the lives of these disciples at all?" the Elder seethed. But though he was furious, he had to reign in his temper when speaking to an Alchemist. This was an Alchemist from the Swan Sea City's branch of the Alchemy Guild, and commanded a status that was well beyond that of an Elder of the Swan Sea Sect.
"My grandchildren are both noble Alchemists, or at least, Alchemists in training. Their lives are ten times more precious than some miscreant who managed to worm his way into your sect. I may not have the authority to demand your Sect Master to hand him over, but murdering with a borrowed knife is also fine. As long as the end result is satisfying, the method is irrelevant."
"If you want to save your sect's disciples, then there are plenty of them across the sea. Go to them. But if you insist on saving that James Evans, then I absolutely will not permit it."
The Alchemist's voice was hard, and as he spoke, he pulled out a jade token from within his robes. On it was carved five words.
Alchemy Guild – Writ of Execution
"Do you see this? While I hold this, you best obey. Disobey, and your disciple won't be the only one who loses his life today."
The Elder's face sank completely. He was one of the few who knew how the Alchemy Guild operated – they never got their own hands dirty, instead opting to use other people to do their bidding. Alchemists couldn't be known as murderers. Whenever someone offended them, their process for getting revenge was extremely simple.
All they had to do was label the offender as a criminal, and spread the word.
As long as it was from the Alchemy Guild, no one would question it. Once the news spread, cultivators would go out their way to capture the criminal and hand them over to the Alchemy Guild for a reward. Some people would even do it for free, just to further their relationship with the Alchemists. And after the offender was dead, the Alchemists could invent whatever charges they liked and attach them to his corpse. Though this was well-known among the experienced cultivators, to the masses, the Alchemists maintained a clean reputation.
The Alchemists wouldn't normally do such a thing to an Elder of a large power, like the Swan Sea Sect. But it was clear that after today, there would be no more Swan Sea Sect, and no more protection against a Writ of Execution.
These Elders were just here to save as many disciples as possible before fleeing. When faced against this move, the Elders had no choice.
"We understand," they bowed, and immediately turned their boat to another direction. All thoughts of rescuing James vanished from their minds.
"Do you see how it's done?" once they left, the old man turned to address Noah.
"As an Alchemist, how can you get your hands dirty? You command the masses, and can make them do your bidding. I just had to pull out this token, and look how frightened they became. Remember this lesson, Noah. Cultivating strength is a thankless path, an uncertain path reserved for fools. Build up your status and influence, and you'll never worry about such things again."
"We form the true power of the Swan Sea City. Whether the Swan Sea Sect, the New Port Sect, or the Ivory Fist Clan end up in charge after today, what does it matter to us? No matter who it is, they will always be subservient to us."
"I understand, grandfather," Noah smiled.
"Very good. Let's go back inside, and watch as James is cut down."
Back on the raft, Harry and his friends just stared at the retreating Elders in shock. None of them could believe the events playing out right in front of their eyes. Harry, in particular, thought he was going to drown in despair. He felt like a whirlpool appeared beneath his feet, dragging him straight towards Hell.
Without even realizing, Harry collapsed onto the boat, silently watching as their saviors sailed away.
'My fault,' he thought with muted horror. 'It's my fault.'
Though he couldn't hear their conversation, there was no doubt as to what took place between the Elders of the Swan Sea Sect, Noah, and the older man behind him. The Alchemists wanted him dead, but didn't want to join the fighting themselves, perhaps to keep their reputation clean. Instead, they prevented their rescuers from approaching.
"James, after this, we're going to have a talk about your temper," Slade scowled. For the first time, Harry saw the Inner Disciples were glaring at him.
'This – this can't be…'
The Elders were just a few minutes away! A few more minutes, and their lives would have been saved!
Why?
Why?
WHY?
He felt the familiar stirring of his blood, the glaring haze of red that settled over his vision. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to steer the boat towards the two Alchemists, and give them the most painful beating he could imagine.
'No! This isn't the time!' With a great effort, he shook that thought out his mind. He channeled his rage into rowing, exerting himself to 100%, pushing his body until he thought he'd collapse. His arms and lungs were burning, but he continued on. Since the Elders weren't coming, every bit of distance he could put between himself and Theodore Nott was crucial.
Then at this critical moment, the effects of Slade's pills wore off. Whatever drug Slade had brought out lost its effect, and the entire group of Inner Disciples collapsed, exhausted and panting for breath. Like a carriage whose horse ran off, their boat ground to a halt. They were practically sitting still on the water.
'No, no, no!'
This couldn't be happening!
Not now!
Behind them, from the south, Theodore Nott and a small group of New Port Sect disciples were rapidly closing in. They would be here in a minute, maybe two at most. And from the northeast, the two from the Ivory Fist Clan would be here in a matter of seconds.
"Haha, James, it's the end of the road for you! We'll use your head as an offering to our Young Master!" the Ivory Fist Clan members yelled from the front.
From behind, Theodore Nott roared something similar, though Harry was in no condition to pay attention to it.
Both groups were quickly closing in, and seeing them getting nearer and nearer, Slade swore and looked around for any help. On their left was a sheer cliff wall, with nowhere to dock their boat or hide. And to the right was the center of the sea – where the Elders were fighting. There was nowhere to go. In a few minutes, the New Port Sect and Ivory Fist Clan would have caught them in a pincer trap.
Finally, he towards James with a conflicted expression.
"James, I'm sorry. Forgive me."
"For what?" Harry began to ask – and then, without any warning, Slade turned and attacked Harry.
A blast of Qi came out his palms, not enough to injure him, but more than enough to launch him off the raft and sailing through the air, landing far away. Caught by surprise, Harry didn't defend against it.
The next thing he knew, he was soaring over the Swan Sea, towards the direction of where the Ivory Fist Clan was coming. By pure chance, he landed on a broken raft, just barely floating in the water. The impact sent his head ringing.
'What the –'
"You only want James, right?" Slade yelled over the din. "He's over there, with the Heaven Grade treasure! Go get him!"
'Wait, no! No!'
No!
With a sinking feeling, Harry realized what just happened.
He looked back, only to see the Inner Disciples, the people he thought were his friends, sailing away as fast as they could. And when he looked forwards, he saw the two strong men from the Ivory Fist Clan staring back at him with delighted grins.