Plans

" So? What do you suggest we do, old man flowing water?" Old master lightning fist asked.

" We shouldn't do anything, yet. Because of the impending war with the divine dragon continent, even if the second prince has returned, the king would still need our clans for the war."

" We have two options, kill the second prince during the confusion, or leave the cloud continent." Old master flowing water said.

" Wouldn't killing the brat be easier?" Old master scorching sun asked.

" Not necessarily, remember that he is always surrounded by those soldiers."

" We could send some from the younger generation, but then there would be a chance of them dying, and then our attempt to take the second prince's life would be made known."

" We could also go ourselves, but then the king would also come out." Old master flowing water explained.

" And how do you suppose we would be able to leave?" Old master lightning fist asked.

" You should all know, only a few miles from the imperial city is the demonic forest where a lot of mutated beasts reside." Old master flowing water said.

" You are not suggesting that we take our entire clans there, are you?!" Old master scorching sun slapped the table, causing smoke to rise.

" During the war, we will send some of the stronger ones from the younger generation. During their time there, they will build 3 ships big enough to carry our 3 clans." Old master flowing water said.

" Build ships? We didn't exactly teach them to become shipwrights. And even if these ships were built, where will we go? The divine dragon continent?" Old master lighting fist asked.

" Of course they will take a few shipwrights with them, their only job would be manual labor."

" We can't buy any ships, because the king would become suspicious."

" As for where we will go, if we went to the divine dragon continent, they would probably try to kill us all. So we will be going to the supercontinent." Old master flowing water said.

...

" Oh? So my second brother has returned? Hmmm...." The first prince began thinking.

" The soldiers he left with all appear stronger too. Now that he is back, getting the armies on my side will be significantly harder....what to do...." He mumbled.

Knock knock!

" It has been a while, first brother." The second prince walked into the room.

" What are you doing here?" The first prince asked, his eyes narrowing.

" For as long as I have known you, you were always plotting something, so I just came to have a friendly chat." The second prince said as he walked towards the first prince, a slight smile on his face.

" I have no interest in the throne, so remove me from whatever scheme you are planning. I don't show mercy to enemies." He said.

"...Is that a threat?" The first prince asked as qi erupted from his body, causing the white stone table to tremble.

" Think of it as a brotherly warning." The second prince disregarded him and left.

Bang!

" Dammit! Why is he always a step ahead of me?!" The first prince shouted as he hit the stone table.

" Huff huff...suuu...fuuu." He breathed in deeply.

" But wait, even if he knows, so what? If the person I sent was stronger than him by folds, what could he even do?! Only die!! Hahaha!" The first prince laughed crazily.

From a young age, although he and the second prince were both better than the third prince, the second prince was always the one thought to be superior.

The first prince was scarred by the fact that his younger brother was better than him, and closed himself off from the outside, only scheming from the shadows of his estate.

...

After the second prince left, he went back to his estate.

" It has been 5 years since I have seen you, second prince." A gentle voice was heard.

" Hmm? Who is in my estate without my permission? Do you know what i do to uninvited guests?" The second prince's face cracked into a wide grin.

" My my, what do you do to uninvited guests?" The voice asked.

" I-?!?" He was about to say something, but as soon as he open the door, the words didn't come out.

" Big sister?!?" As he saw who the person was, like a child finally reunited with his parents after a long time, he rushed up to Anastasia and hugged her.

" My my, you are still the same as ever. When we were younger, only you would cling to me. Ezikiel would be off somewhere reading, and Berum always tried to keep a certain distance." Anastasia said with a smile.

" Well, putting aside our little brother, Berum has never been easy to deal with. He is always scheming something." The second prince said as he released Anastasia.

" Hmmm, I hope you two are getting along. I went to visit him, but oddly enough, i couldn't get into his estate."

" From what father has told me, he rarely leaves." Anastasia said.

" Getting along, hmmm. I went to see him just earlier, snuck in with his butler." The second prince said.

" Oh? What did you talk about?" Anastasia asked.

"hmmm, just some brotherly things." The second prince said with a slight smile.

" My my, when did you learn to lie? Well, it doesn't matter, just don't kill each other." Anastasia said.

" Are you leaving?" The second prince asked, disappointed.

" My my, what am i going to do with you? You don't have to be so disappointed, I will be in the imperial city for a little while. I'm going to see little Ezikiel, to show him something." Anastasia said, as she left.

The second prince stood silently, looking at the empty doorway for a few minutes.

" I didn't expect to see big sister here. Well, since I am so happy, I should go share my happiness with the men." He said, as he left his estate.

" !!" At the camp, a soldier shivered.

" Huh? What's wrong with you?" Another one asked.

" Nothing, I just got a bad feeling." The soldier said.

" A bad feeling, huh...." An image of the second prince appeared in the soldier's head.

...

A dense killing intent loomed in the back room of the clothes shop.

Levi sat before the table, his fingernails digging into the large book's cover.

" How long are you going to keep me here?" Levi's eyes were completely red.

Every time he blinked, old gray would try to smash his head in with the piece of wood.

He didn't eat or drink anything for the past few days.

" Who knows? A few more days? Weeks? A month maybe? Or maybe even a year?!" Old gray said with a large grin on his wrinkled face.

" I'll kill you!" Levi shouted.

" Blood g-Cough! Cough!" Levi coughed as if in pain.

" Did you forget? You can't use any of your tricks here! Hehehe, just read like a good boy. Let me feel the pleasure my master felt as he taught me!" Old gray laughed sinisterly.