13 Chapter :-13 Kiyohime (Part-2)

1226, Japan, Otsu...

ᒥ...I need to escape....ᒧ

The sound of hurried footsteps could be heard clearly. A beautiful woman with long white hair, sky blue eyes, snow-white skin and sharp eyes wearing a red dress with beautiful design stood in the middle of a forest, eyes closed.

Her white palm held a long-barrelled single-handed flintlock from the handle while its mouth rested on her other palm.

ᒥ...Thump....ᒧ

ᒥ...Thump....ᒧ

Her heart was beating rapidly, not because of fear but because of anticipation. She knew that these assassins had also participated in killing her clan so she wanted to kill as many of them as she could.

She had to escape as fighting an army of assassins was no less than committing suicide even for a Mage like her.

Kiyohime Corona of the Corona clan was the daughter of the current clan head. She was treated like a princess and was personally taught magic by the [Shogun] of Kyoto.

Her family was one of the followers of the [Shogun] of Kyoto, for 200 years they have been faithful followers of the [Shogun] and had participated in many battles, earning many titles and land as the reward for their services.

Recently the [Shogun] was assassinated by one of his followers and his clan was eradicated in an ambush set up by some of his followers. Their greed for power and wealth started a civil war inside Kyoto.

To decide who will be the new [Shogun] of Kyoto, his followers had waged war amongst themselves.

Usually, the [Government of Shoguns] is responsible for appointing a new [Shogun] in case something happened to the previous one but the various clans of Kyoto refused the decree and decided to select the next leader within themselves.

Even the neutral clans were dragged into the war, the new faction that rose in power had first decided to eradicate the clans who were loyal to the [Shogun] after eliminating his clan.

The Corona clan was attacked by a group of clans and its men were all slaughtered by the new faction while the women were held as breeding cattle.

Kiyohime Corona a 23 years mage who excelled in fire-magic and barrier-magic was sought after by many.

Her father named her Kiyohime (Pure princess) due to her snow-white skin and sky blue eyes. Her father sacrificed himself to give her enough time to escape from the killers and survive a fate worse than death.

She had escaped from Kyoto and was currently inside a forest beyond which was Otsu.

Ōtsu is located in the southwest of Shiga Prefecture. The city is "L"-shaped and stretches along the southwest shore of Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake.

Ōtsu ranges from the densely populated alluvium depressions near the shore of Lake Biwa to sparsely populated hilly and mountainous areas to the west (Hira Mountains and Mount Hiei) and south of the city.

Somehow those assassins had tracked her down and were currently approaching her with the intent to kill.

She was ready to avenge her family no matter the cost, she would not die here and waste her father's sacrifice. No....she will become even stronger, gather allies and once the time is right, she will strike back.

But first, she had to kill at least some of her pursuers or she would eventually be tracked down and killed.

Kiyohime took a deep breath and calmed her nerves and spread out her awareness to locate the trackers.

She hid behind a tree with her one-handed, long-barrelled flintlock. A Katana hung from her waist inside her cloak.

She closed her eyes and tried to listen to the sound of someone approaching. She blocked out all other sounds and just focused on this particular sound.

Sound of unhurried steps and slightly unsteady breath entered her ears. Kiyohime smiled as she pointed her weapon towards the unsuspecting group of assassins.

ᒥ...Once I attack my location will be exposed, I need to act quickly and take out as many of them as I can....ᒧ

ᒥ...After that, I can use the smoke and dust as a cover to slaughter the rest of them....ᒧ

ᒥ....Watch over me Father....ᒧ

"O Agni, burn them to ashes and leave nothing. Agni is the source of life and the symbol of piety and purity."

Kiyohime softly mumbled the chants as runes appeared on her weapon. She pulled the trigger and a huge ball of fire burst forth from the muzzle before heading towards the unsuspecting assassins at a neck-breaking speed.

"Look out...!"

"Arghhhh...! "

"Fuccckkkk...!"

"That bitch.....!"

"That fireball hit us from west.....!"

"Find that slut.....! "

Kiyohime had successfully killed 4 out of the 10 assassins sent after her with her surprise attack. She used the smokescreen created by the explosion to run in a different direction.

[Meanwhile]

"An explosion....? No....it looks like a spell but why is it that the thing attracting me is closer to the explosion. It may be something beneficial for me but I have no interest in finding out why....."

After leaving the port, Henrik continuously traveled while taking breaks after a couple of hours so that the horses that he bought could properly rest, eat, sleep, etc. Being immortal, he didn't need to eat, sleep, rest or anything.

Only drinking blood after a couple of days to keep himself in peak condition was a requirement for Henrik.

He craved the blood of humans as his body couldn't ingest animal blood, so he had to stop at a place to compel some people to offer him a drink before he continues his journey. It took him a few months of constant travel to reach Otsu.

He had to visit Kyoto to get his hands on the ingredients required to unseal his siblings. He was currently in the forest which is located after exiting Otsu. While only his way he felt a strong disturbance in the air when suddenly a part of the forest was blasted by a huge fireball.

Over the millennium of watching the Mikaelson clan, Henrik knew that half of the danger his family faced was created by themselves or due to unnecessary meddling in other people's business.

Thus he grew to be more of a rationalist who would avoid trouble and wouldn't fight if it is not necessary or doesn't benefit him in any way.

Surely the thing that was attracting him to the explosion site would be quite something but by the level of the explosion he observed, he knew that things were very complicated and it wouldn't benefit him in any way to search for this 'thing'.

He had to unseal his family first and he would like to do so while attracting minimum attention. He can always find the 'thing' on a later date.

Henrik turned towards the direction opposite to the source of the explosion and started traveling forward. He managed the horses that were pulling his carriage and steadily traveled towards Kyoto.

But what he didn't know was that the [Author-dono] had something else planned for him...