Nandra and Salia returned together. The town was deadly quiet because Chief Avourel's people ordered them to stay inside the house and told them not to go out until they were ordered. Their return was greeted with empty streets.
Both exchanged glances and nodded, communicating without words. They split up, going in opposite directions. The reason they returned was that Khaya didn't show up in the Administrator Space for almost a day. They were worried and returned to save her if she was in a dire situation.
They left their juniors, who suffered heavy injuries in the Administrator Space, and returned to their home, or maybe they could call this home anymore, considering the people in this town wanted them to die. If Khaya appeared, or maybe gave them an update on what happened, they would never return to this place again.
Nandra and Salia split to look for Khaya. They could not hear or sense a battle nearby, so they figured that the battle must have taken place far away from the town. Considering Khaya's nature, she was not going to involve the innocent in this stupid fight.
Khaya should be luring those people far from the town. It would be quicker to split up, even though that might put them in danger.
Nandra rushed toward the south of the town, where a wild forest was, a place for them to hunt beasts and monsters. That might be the place Khaya picked to be the battlefield. Far from the other clan's territories and also the town.
She quickly arrived at the gate in the south and found something amiss. The guard was too lax, and she could not find a single God Rank among the guards. There should be at least one God Rank to be in charge of the town's defense, but none of the guards were of a God Rank.
She arrived on top of the wall unnoticed by the guards and looked toward the south. She overheard the conversation about how Chief Avourel asked for a reinforcement, which caused concern among the guards. They were fighting one person, so they wondered why Chief Avourel asked all the God Ranks to come over.
That worried Nandra as well, but she was also surprised. That meant Khaya might still be alive and was still fighting for her life. The realization caught her, and she was about to interrogate the guards about where the fight was, but she stopped because her senses picked up someone who was coming closer to the town.
This person didn't hide the aura. It was not strong, but it was not weak either. It was typically someone who didn't really control their aura.
Nandra turned in the direction and saw a familiar figure. When she gave a closer look, she immediately recognized the person. The person was Khaya, walking back to the city with a troubled look on her face.
She rushed out without hesitation, not even checking whether Khaya was being chased or not. She covered the distance within a few seconds and appeared in front of Khaya.
Khaya merely looked up, not even alert when someone appeared in front of her. She was relieved to see Nandra. She was about something, but Nandra hugged her before she could say anything.
"I am glad you are alive… I am glad you are fine… I…" Nandra didn't know what to say but to hug Khaya tightly.
"I am alive, but everyone else is dead," Khaya informed listlessly. She already made the decision, but this was much harder than she thought.
It was Chief Avourel and the Elders' fault to cause this disaster, and the people in the town were innocent, yet they were the ones who would be affected the most. The thought was what burdened her.
Nandra slowly released her friends from her hug and asked in a surprised tone, "Did you kill them all?"
Khaya was without a doubt the strongest God Rank in the Daenelis Clan, but Chief Daenelis and the Elders were not weak either. In fact, Khaya would be the one who would die if she tried to fight them at once. With the Daenelis Clan's elites, Khaya would not be able to win, let alone kill them all. That was what caused her shock.
Khaya let out a sigh, slowly shaking her head, "Not me, but Tang Shaoyang. He came and killed them all. Do you know how much time it took for him to kill them all?" She let out a satirical chuckle at the end.
Nandra blinked her eyes a few times, trying to process the information. It didn't make sense for Tang Shaoyang to be here when he was in the Shadow Star. Unless Tang Shaoyang used his Executive Administrator's privilege to use the Universal Teleportation.
It was a known rule that administrators were not allowed to use the Universal Teleportation for personal matters. It must be used for the work of an Administrator, or the Administrator who abuses that privilege would lose their status and be kicked out as the Administrator. Even the Executive Administrator was not an exception to that rule.
With that knowledge, Nandra was confused how Tang Shaoyang could get to their world. That was why Nandra was confused about the new variable.
"How?" She didn't ask how long, but how Tang Shaoyang got here.
"Right, how?" Khaya caught the intent behind her friend's question with a forced smile, "Apparently, he put a shadow-type spirit in Chief Avourel's shadow after the meeting…"
She remembered something, recalling what happened the moment Tang Shaoyang returned from the World of Beast Spirit.
"Ah, he put the shadow spirit when he killed Elder Oriphine. That was the only moment he got close to us. It made sense how calm he was after killing Elder Oriphine because he could finish us anytime with a shadow spirit in Chief Avourel's shadow. You know what's next: he switched places with that shadow spirit."
"That's how he came to our territory, and next he killed Chief Avourel, the Elders, and all God Ranks in our clan except us, who are in Team Reds. How long does it take… maybe half an hour, or even less than that. It's just eleven against the Daenelis Clan's main force. Our Captain is indeed something…"
That was too much information for Nandra to proceed. Everything that Khaya told her was still hard to believe, but she knew Khaya was not lying.
"Ah, Salia is also here…" Nandra remembered about Salia, and she had not sent Salia a message that she had found Khaya.
"What now? I don't think we can defend our home anymore…"
"Ah, that's right. Sir Tang Shaoyang offered us to join the Tang Empire, just us and our family. That's the condition, and I agreed to that on your behalf…" Khaya slowly looked at Nandra's face, trying to see her friend's reaction to the news because she had made the decision without consulting Nandra and Salia.
Nandra was surprised at first, then she was relieved that Tang Shaoyang didn't cast them out for what Chief Avourel did, "I am okay with that…" She paused after completely processing her friend's words.
"Just us and our family?" She asked to make sure that she didn't hear it wrong.
Khaya slowly nodded again.
"What about the others? The people in the town? They are innocent! They have nothing to do with Chief Avourel's plan!" Nandra didn't want to leave the people behind. Those people were not at fault for Chief Avourel's stupid decision.
Khaya then explained the reason why Tang Shaoyang didn't want to accept those people. She also didn't forget what it meant for them if they decided to stay with the people.
Nandra didn't like what she heard. She understood that Tang Shaoyang was angry, but she didn't take him as callous to let the innocent suffer for someone else's mistake.
"They will die, Khaya! Those six clans will soon hear about this, and they will swarm into our territory to kill us and take our home!"
Khaya smiled weakly, "I know. That's why I will try to persuade them to move out to the Starter City. With our clan's treasury, it should be enough to fund them for at least ten years to live in the Starter City…"
"…Ten years should be enough for them to decide what they should do with their future. The Daenelis Clan is no more!"
What she meant was not to change their names, but the actual faction their ancestors formed. The Daenelis Clan will no longer be a faction from today.
With the death of Avourel and the Elders, the system put her as the new Chief of the Daenelis Clan. She could disband the faction right now, and she could see how much the clan had in the treasury. That was why she was confident that this should be enough for the people to live in the Starter City for ten years.
"I see…" Nandra could not get mad at Tang Shaoyang for the decision.
There should be people who would take the side with Chief Avourel. It was indeed right that many people lost their son, father, and husband to Tang Shaoyang. They might not show their resentment right now, but they might do something against the Tang Empire in the future.
*** ***
Tang Shaoyang returned to the Starter City. He appeared in the same room where he met with Clementine and Arion. He went home right away and appeared in his office.
"Where are my daughters, Origin?"
The moment he returned, he asked Origin about his daughters' whereabouts. The AI replied promptly.
[Young Ladies are still sleeping right now, Your Majesty. They cried a lot, looking for you when they returned, but they are resting right now.]
The moment he heard they were sleeping, he was relieved. However, that emotion turned one hundred and eighty degrees when he heard they were crying. He felt like punching the wall behind him.
Thanks to the Essence of Tranquility Breathing, he stopped himself from making a hole in the wall. He calmed down a little. The anger did not completely subside, but he managed to keep it in check.
In the next moment, his anger slowly turned into guilt. He was not with them when they needed him the most. That was why he felt bad and blamed himself for failing to control himself. There was no need to go after The Shadow Star and the Daenelis Clan right away. Maybe he could come up with a better plan if he didn't rush it up as well.
[It's pointless to feel guilty! It's pointless to blame yourself! You can't change the past, but you can change the future. Just make sure you are on their side when they wake up. That will make them feel better!]
Tang Shaoyang snapped awake, controlling his breathing for a moment. Avyn was right; it was pointless to lament his past. He calmed himself down and went straight to his daughter's bedroom.
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