Emerging from the spatial rift, Honest tore the hat from his head and hurled it viciously to the ground.
Panting heavily, he looked like a man-eating Danger Beast, the fury radiating from him so intense that even his nearby subordinates cowered back, faces pale and anxious.
"Phew… My thanks to you all."
With visible effort, Honest took a deep breath, forcibly reining in his emotions. At least outwardly, he had regained his composure.
"Lord Honest, what should we do next? Are we going to the Imperial Fist Temple—"
"No," Honest snapped. "That man already suspects the Imperial Fist Temple. Every one of our hideouts in the Capital must be abandoned. As for the temple… it's beyond saving. I wouldn't be surprised if it's already encircled."
Though Honest's expression had softened from its earlier viciousness, a menacing gloom still surrounded him, oppressive enough that his subordinates felt suffocated.
"Then… Young Master Syura…"
"That worthless fool? Ignore him. He knows nothing useful—even if they capture him, he's useless. Besides, I'm still young. I can have as many sons as I want!"
With a dismissive sneer, Honest strode away.
His original scheme—controlling the Capital, then the entire Empire—had collapsed. Now he had no choice but to pivot to a new plan!
...
"Great General!"
"Budo!"
The instant Honest vanished, Lancer and the Emperor rushed to General Budo's side.
Budo no longer held his usual majestic bearing. His armor was cracked and battered, his right shoulder bent grotesquely.
"It's nothing! Just dislocated..."
Crack!
With a sickening crunch, Budo forced his shoulder back into place. Even then, the scarlet fist-mark on his shoulder and his pallid complexion painted a grim picture.
"HONEST!" roared the Emperor in fury.
"Your Majesty!" Budo cut in urgently. "You must command Lancer to lead a force directly to the Imperial Fist Temple! According to intel, Honest's only son is still there!"
Although Budo shared the Emperor's rage—after all, they were not just ruler and subject, but friends—he maintained a cooler head. Besides, unlike Budo, the Emperor wasn't injured, which allowed him the clarity to act.
"You're right!" the Emperor snapped decisively. "Lancer! I hereby command you to lead the First and Second Divisions of the Imperial Guard and encircle the Imperial Fist Temple! If they hand over Honest's son willingly, stay your hand. But if they dare resist—kill without mercy!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
...
"Elder! The Imperial Guard has issued an ultimatum—they demand we hand over Honest's son or they'll storm the temple!"
A middle-aged man glared hatefully at the white-haired youth trembling behind an elderly monk.
"Have the temple warriors ready themselves!"
"Elder!" the man insisted, raising his voice deliberately.
Finally, the elder opened his eyes, a flash of cold sharpness making the other man shudder involuntarily.
"Do you still not understand? Do you think the Emperor is here just for Honest? If it were only him, why send an entire army to besiege our temple? That man's true target is us! We had no way back from the beginning… but I never expected we'd fall so swiftly."
The elder could not suppress his resentment. Who could have imagined Honest's downfall would be so rapid, or that the flames would engulf them this quickly? He didn't even know if Honest was alive or dead. Yet one thing was certain: from today onward, the Imperial Fist Temple would cease to exist.
I only hope that man remembers old ties, and someday allows the temple's revival...
...
"Commander! The demands have been delivered, but the temple shows no reaction. Our next step..."
"Proceed according to plan! Archers, prepare flaming arrows! Flush the bastards out—or burn them alive!"
Both the Imperial Fist Temple and Honest topped Lancer's personal kill-list. Even without the Emperor's explicit order, he would have found some pretext to exterminate them anyway. This development merely saved him trouble.
The archers swiftly assembled, dipping arrows into small flasks attached to their belts. Ahead, several soldiers raised flaming hoops.
"Fire!"
Arrows ignited as they passed through the flames, streaking across the sky like meteors. Within moments, the Imperial Fist Temple was engulfed in an ocean of fire.
Yet bizarrely, not a single person emerged.
Would those bastards rather burn alive than surrender?
"Use poison!"
Following a second command, several specially marked arrows soared into the temple, igniting to release a sinister green smoke.
These poison arrows, crafted from extremely rare Danger Beasts, were exceptionally scarce. Only the extravagant Imperial Guard could afford to use them as disposable weapons—anyone else would painstakingly recycle them dozens of times.
Though this wasteful act was painful to behold, its effectiveness was undeniable. Soon, the tightly sealed temple gates burst open, and a swarm of temple warriors charged downhill in desperation.
"Form the spear wall!"
"Haa!"
At the sharp command, Imperial Guardsmen swiftly adopted their practiced formation:
Frontline soldiers knelt with shields braced against the ground, gripping spears tightly beneath their arms, weapons protruding through shield gaps. Behind them, the second rank laid their spears across the top of these shields. The third rank balanced theirs on the shoulders of the second.
Individually, the Imperial Guard might have been weaker than the temple warriors—but without top-tier martial artists, this confrontation was nothing short of a massacre.
The soldiers didn't possess intricate combat techniques, but they'd spent endless hours mastering coordinated formations. United, they became an unstoppable killing machine—a grinder of flesh and blood that no ordinary opponent could withstand.
Lancer, clutching his lance, watched the burning temple coldly. He knew perfectly well that the leaders of the Imperial Fist Temple weren't foolish enough to believe such a reckless charge would succeed. They had to be preparing their real counterattack—the temple's strongest experts, soon to emerge.
And he, along with the other Teigu and Shingu users at his side, awaited that moment eagerly.
Bathed in the glow of raging flames, his heart thrummed with excitement.
From the instant Honest was exposed, the "history" he knew had been utterly overturned.
And these flames now heralded a new future!
---
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