D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

The man tapped his chin a few times, pretending to gather his thoughts as if Xiang hadn't just tried to cut off his neck. It truly didn't seem to bother him. The use of 'a fly' as a descriptor for Xiang… was unpleasantly accurate for the moment. *I thought we weren't going to have to deal with this guy! Isn't that the whole reason I was able to take this mission! Shit um… what the heck do we do in this sort of situation? Keep him monologing I guess? Lily Ideas?*

[Keep him monologing]

…

Fine ok… "You were talking about leniency and how you couldn't offer it…" said Kat hoping to, if not get things back on track at least keep him talking. Fighting already seemed out. He was so much faster than Kat was that letting things get to a fight meant they'd already lost… probably. Hmm… could Xiang in his freaky monster mode win the fight? Kat thought back to the last time she'd seen him and… the answer was no probably not.

The patriarch gave a loud clap, "Ah yes of course. See… I know you three don't have anything on you from my treasure room… but at the same time… the chance that you had at least something to do with it is rather high. Additionally the time it'll take to repair my poor alchemy instructors home and redo the inscription is significant. I can't just let that sort of thing go in good faith you know?

"If things were different I would have loved to properly recruit Xuena to my sect you know? I might've even taken on you as well Yang. I might not have any cultivation methods suitable to take you past Rank 2 but well… if you took up a position as Xuena's body guard or something I'm sure resources could have been arranged. It really is a waste for things to end this way…

"But we cannot change the world. Though… I suppose I will be a little generous. Do you happen to have a replacement cocoon? I might still have to kill your friends but if you did have one… you could live… and if it works well… I suppose simply maiming them would be acceptable,"

"At this point does it even matter if we had on-?" Yang spat but Xuena slapped a hand over her friend's mouth.

"I'm afraid you know just as well as I do that those things are exceptionally rare. We don't have any spare, and you would've been the first to know if my family did. I'm also sure that Yang isn't so disrespectful as to try and free me if she had something like that to trade for my life. That being said… you could simply take us back? Use Xiang and Yang as prisoners for my compliance and I'll come up with something to heal your sun with whatever ingredients you provide…" offered Xuena.

The Endless Blizzard pulled on his beard as he seemed to think the words over. His expression barely changed and Kat just couldn't bring herself to think he was seriously considering anything. "Hmm… you insist you are more capable then all of my current staff?"

Xuena carefully shrugged, "I wouldn't want to presume anything of course but you did insist earlier that I was a rare talent with great potential. Perhaps you are willing to believe that I have enough skill and knowledge to fix whatever ails him…"

EB gave a 'sad' shake of his head, "I'm afraid that things have progressed too far at this point. Even if I believed you could figure something out you'd need to be Rank 2, maybe 3. That's also assuming I could ever trust you enough to be in the same room as my son to diagnose him and administer the cure."

"I'm a professional alchemist aiming to be one of the greatest healers in the world. I would not compromise myself by doing something so low as poisoning a patient. It would cause a heart demon so large I would neve recover… assuming I could stick to my dao at all after that. It would shatter me," insisted Xuena.

EB waved her impassioned statement off. "I don't doubt that it would shatter you… but your friends courted death at least once trying to free you. You also said you would need to stand by them earlier. If you thought it would be your last chance at revenge… if you decided it was worth the cost… well… I only have one son after all. The risk is too high for me to take…"

Xuena pursed her lips and looked ready to say something when the sound of thunder echoed across the valley. The Ice Sect Patriarch, the Endless Blizzard… showed a single flicker of fear on his face. "No…"

He dashed off towards Xiang, the others following not the movement itself but after effects. They had barely managed to turn to look, and perhaps that was for the best. A blinding flash of pure white light as lightning struck the Ice Sect Patriarch. He was thrown back towards the group singed and burning. The place he had been standing was directly in front of Xiang, who was kneeling on the ground.

That same ground was completely glassed. Snow for a good twenty metres was completely melted and the heat was spreading clearing off more ground. There was no dirt, no grass where the lightning had struck. It had completely glassed over. Another strike, this time aimed squarely at Xiang who simply took it without flinching. "Tribulation clouds!" hissed Yang.

That snapped Kat out of things as she turned to see the Endless Blizzard shakily standing up and looking at Xiang in horror. "Chosen of the heavens…" whispered the winds. Kat was pretty sure nobody was meant to be able to hear that whisper from the shaking man. Perhaps he was too shocked to keep the words inside his mouth, or perhaps the world needed them to be spoken.

Another strike of lightning slammed into Xiang to limited effect. This seemed to snap the patriarch out of his stunned state as he stood tall. "I see… I will deal with that soon but first…"

He flashed over to Kat, in response she managed to bring up both arms crossing them over each other and jumping ever so slightly. She rode the impact as his palm slammed into her arms, the bones creaking and Kat could feel breaking ever so slightly in the moment before she exploded away. Kat pulled herself into a ball, protecting Lily as much as possible when she slammed into the ground and continued to roll uncontrollably.

Back in the clearing, Endless Blizzard raised a hand to strike at Yang only for the tribulation lightning to strike him again. He bit back a curse. He couldn't help but consider if there were TWO chosen of heaven of if destroying the little sunlight welp would count as interfering. He didn't know, but he wasn't happy about either option. "You are a pair of extremely lucky women right at this moment…" he whispered menacingly at Xuena and Yang. "Though… you know what they say. Lady Luck always has her due…"

Over with Kat, she was trying to ignore the feeling of her wings popping back into place after being slammed into the ground multiple times during her role. It didn't take long, it was a common injury she was getting far too use to… but it was an issue. "Lily… I need you to stay here… safe-ish… while I go back in," said Kat with a sorrowful tone.

[Kat you can't! I… I don't think you can win this one…]

"That's ok Lily…" Kat said with a hiss as she felt the muscles in her arms springing back into place. "That's not the mission. It's to make sure that Xuena gets away from the ice sect. We thought we were safe… and we were wrong. Still… D.E.M.O.N.S won't let me die and ice isn't really an issue for me,"

[Kat please don't do this. Don't make me stay here without knowing what's going on…]

"Well Lily… would you rather be in danger where I need to constantly get hurt to protect you?"

[That is NOT FAIR KAT!] Lily hissed mentally as another strike of lightning sounded from where Xiang must've been. It was actually quite far away from what the pair could tell.

Kat just gave a shrug, "I'm afraid that I don't really think this could ever have been fair. Plus, with your safety on the line I was always going to or say whatever I need to. I'll use any excuse I can to keep you safe. Especially when the danger is so obvious. In the end… I trust this won't be fatal to me. Then again… while I might not be willing to die for others… for you it's a different story,"

[Well… what if he finds me here?]

"Without qi to track you? Without any proper skills for tracking? If I had to guess he's abusing the fact he can see using the blizzard. So if you stick to the massive crater that's been left behind… you'll be safe. And if you're not well… god help him if he tries,"