XXII: Kingdom under fire Part 3

I jumped to my feet and walked away with Kumiko in my wake and half of my guard. The remaining members of my guard were still patrolling the walls in case we were attacked overnight. I thought it would be unlikely, but Bao Hu didn’t want to be remiss in his duties of protecting me and the empire.

It felt odd to be surrounded by six men in black armors and know that from all our group, even with their armors and weapons, I was the most dangerous.

And that by his eight tribulation, Shen Mu was just as, if not more, powerful as me in my tenth…and that had been some centuries ago.

It was a sobering thought.

‘How could I ever compare to that? Will we ever be equals?’