I have the power!
After holding and crying over Liu's body till it turned cold, Alex finally laid him down, sobered up, and got to digging a hole to bury Liu's body. After he's dug a hole, Alex puts him to rest, carves his name into a rock for a headstone, and sends him off with a prayer and chants "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao" on some water to purify it. He then pores it over Liu's grave so it won't be disturbed. Knowing Hsi Wu has to hurry before he comes back with help, Alex goes through the camp and collects everything that will be helpful before he leaves.
After living in the nether realm for so long, Alex and Liu have made a few hiding places, so Alex heads over to the one closest to Shendus territory. It was time he made a plan to kill him, take his power, and get out of here. But at the same time, get back at Hsi Wu by making his life miserable forever. Running and jumping to the hiding place, Alex starts planning what to do, first using everything he can to get prepared. He has enough material to make good armor and a durable belt so he won't lose his dagger.
Getting to the hideout Alex finds some old stuff Liu used throughout the years: old candles Liu used to celebrate my birthday when he turned 14, an old book stolen from Shendus library Liu used to teach him Chinese, and worn-out mats and weapons Liu used to teach martial arts and meditation. Feeling sad, Alex turns away from it all and looks to Shendu's territory. Feeling angry, he then gets working, and for the next few days, Alex makes everything. Ready to go, he collects everything, takes a few mementos, and makes his way to the edge of Dai Gui's territory.
Alex's plan is to get to Shendus's territory and meet the remaining humans that live there, under Shendu's protection, by being his jester and janitors. Demons are lazy, and if it's unimportant, they won't waste the power to do it. Alex is going to get into Shendus Library to learn more about him and hopefully find the right time to kill him and escape.
When Alex gets to the edge of Dai Gui's territory, he makes his way through, watching out for traps left to deal with intruders. Is currently staying on Po Kong's mountain, so his territory has a lot more traps set up than before. But Dai Gui is the stupidest demon here, so all his traps are easier to spot, so Alex makes his way through. After he gets to Shendus's territory, he slows down due to the shadow khan. You can handle them fairly easily, as without Shendu's orders in person, you can trick them, as they're not living creatures with thoughts, and if they're spread apart, they can't communicate and rally. When Alex runs into one, he throws a stone to misdirect them and get past them. Doing this, he makes his way into the city that surrounds Shendu's palace. After breaking into an abandoned house, Alex goes to sleep. When he has had enough sleep, Alex makes his way to the living area for the servants to talk to the one in charge of them. Kai (which means victory in Chinese) knocks on the door and sees him. He ushers Alex in, closes the door, and then turns to talk to him.
"What are you doing here? We have a set point to meet with people!" he hushedly yelled at me. "Even in an emergency, we don't meet here!"
"My group was found and captured, and my grandfather was killed," Alex tells him, seeing him look down. "I'm here to learn in the library, so I need Shendu's schedule and information."
"I can't; ever since the war prep, things here are very unstable. "While Shendu stays here most of the time, if anything happens, he'll blame us, and we'll get killed." He tells me he's looking scared.
"Even if you don't help me, do you think he'll leave you alive while he fights with no one to guard you?" I ask him. "Or would you rather help me find a way to get out here and live?"
"I... I... I don't know, what do we do?" "We have served him for so long," he says, trying to make excuses.
"You should know more than anyone that demons don't help us or uphold any deals they make." Alex reasons with him. "I need to know more about him to find a weakness, and we need to know more about the shadow realm to see if there's a way to earth."
After convincing him, he gave Alex a uniform to blend in and took him to the librarian, who takes care of the books. Convincing him was easier, as he's a very old man who has seen his generation fall and more to demons. Spending a few weeks in the Liberty and hiding from Shendu Alex starts learning more about him, his history as the son of Trigon, his rule of China and his later banishment, and how he used to be as strong as his sister Bai Zta but later stole the powers of noble animals, forming the Chinese zodiac cycle in his body and becoming the strongest of his siblings. (Read how my talisman powers work in the auxiliary chapter), and finally, Alex learned more about the shadow realm. It's ruled by Tarakudo, the King of the Shadowkhan and Lord of all Oni. However, they have been sealed in their realm like the nether realm, but they have an exit that has been sealed by Japanese chi wizards. But Alex thinks humans can get through with the right chi, spell "Nukeru He Men Ja'aku," and use it to get home. Shendu has been researching why the shadow realm is so close to the nether realm, and it's because of him. When living on earth, he fought some of the Oni in Japan, and Shendu stole half the essence of one of Tarakudo's generals, Rairakku, allowing him to summon the Ninja-khan. With that as a bridge, it brought the realms together slowly over centuries, and now there's a way between the two.
Done learning Alex makes preparations to kill Shendu. First, he makes sure of his schedule for the next 2 weeks, which has him doing nothing and likely sleeping for a long time so he can sneak into his room and stab him with the poison and absorb his powers. He'll use a chi spell to avoid absorbing his demon chi and turning himself into a demon and only absorb his dragon power of combustion along with the other noble animal powers. Alex informed the others that he'd start his plan, and they should be ready to run if he fails. If everything works out, be ready to get to Po Kong's mountain to escape into the shadow realm.
While waiting for the right day, Alex did something he had done a few times in the years stuck here: take a bath. Afterwards, he looked in a mirror and saw how much he'd changed; his brown hair was overgrown and needed to be cut, his brown eyes looked heavy, and Alex's body looked too skinny to be healthy, looking malnourished. (Image here)
Days later, the opportunity arrived. Shendu's been irritated, cursing his siblings for wasting his time and ordering everyone not to bother him, and after eating a big meal laced with sleeping drugs, Alex researched. After waiting a few hours, he sneaks into Shendu's room through the servant's doors, having oiled the doors before today to avoid any unnecessary noise. Alex makes his way to Shendu's bed and climbs up, pulling out his dagger. He opens the secret compartment and puts the poison on the blade. When he almost drops the absorption potion, he quickly catches it and puts a fourth of it on the blade. Alex gets ready to stab Shendu in the back where his heart is when Shendu flips around and his front is facing me, and when Alex looks at Shendu's face, his eyes are open, looking right at him. Having no time, Alex stabs forward, aiming for his heart, and seeing Shendu's eye widen as the blade sinks into his skin makes him satisfied. A moment later, Alex hears his scream.
"NOOOOoooooo!!!" Shendu screamed so loudly that it made Alex's ears hurt.
I start chanting "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao" over and over again as Shendu screams louder and louder while trying to get up with me holding onto the dagger. I feel the power rushing into my body as Shendu's body starts showing purple and green veins glowing, and in a great burst of energy, Shendu, the fire demon, the noble dragon, the greatest evil, exploded into raw energy, sending Alex falling as what Alex didn't absorb, the evil demon chi burst through the roof and flew away, and with that, Shendu was dead with Alex leaning against the wall with a giant smile on my face.
Getting up, he looks at the wall and cocks back his arm as he thinks about the power of the ox and swings his fist forward, crushing the wall and sending stones flying around himself. "Ha ha ha"
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