Tainted

The scenery continued changing for hours in Tenebris' eyes as he continued staring out of the carriage's window, lost in his thoughts and recollections. 

The five Imperial Intelligence members were not visible to him at all, or audible to him, but he could feel that they were out there, looking attentively at the carriage, and him. 

He had yet to realize what the goals of the Imperial Intelligence were, the Omniscient Eye that John had mentioned, or anything. These bunch were even more secretive than those shrewd old inspectors back at the mine who went through any plan or tactic possible to profit as much as they could from the children and not get found out by the chief inspector. 

Ten and his group had suffered numerous times too, from a bunch of ore mysteriously disappearing from their cart when they left it alone, so they learned to keep it with them at all times. 

Regardless, Ten's current situation was much the same. He had to keep his friends close and leave as little information as possible to the other party. After all, any good politician would always smile at the front and hide a knife behind their back. Although he did not yet know what would come out of being escorted by Uncle Mike and the Imperial Intelligence, it was most definitely something he needed to be wary of, despite the possibility of them being useful allies. 

Soon, John said with a calm voice, 

"My Lord, we are soon going to leave Obsidian Reach and pass the border to Wycliffe. We will move onto the main road to cross the border, there shouldn't be any issues, but be ready at all times."

The first sentence was aimed at Ten, while the second sentence was aimed at Uncle Mike, he was warning him to take good care of Ten in case of anything unexpected. 

'Very vigilant... is there any reason they should be this vigilant? In the first place, the small group, the plain but exquisite attire, the carriage with the emblem of the Black Empire, yet the low-key plain black design that looked as if it belonged to an ordinary merchant. These characteristics all seem contradictory, but they all serve a purpose...' 

Ten thought as he analyzed and fully put his brain into gear.

'Why would they need a small group yet dress us in such exquisite attire? They couldn't possibly want us to be bait unless... right, right, it must be that. The small group will avoid any onlooking eyes from people of high standing, who would imagine that a high-priority target would be escorted by an old man and a coachman with half a mask? No one personally knew the identities of these two people. But the attire is there to drive away any small fry that might try to start something.

After all, who would want to become a target for a noble family? Then, the emblem of the Empire... it must certainly not be a rare emblem, but for it to be on a plain black carriage would drive away any petty bandits or criminals, however, it would not catch the eye of any person looking for Tenebris. After all, why would such a shabby carriage be used for a future Imperial heir? The two details also correlate, because even if they did guess that the plain carriage was simply a disguise, the lacking number of guards would make them overlook something crucial that wouldn't be known unless they interrogated the carriage. The fact that the 11th Elder of the Imperial Coven was in this plain carriage.'

Ten brainstormed multiple ideas as he came up with multiple plans and connected the dots between the actions of the Imperial Intelligence and their arrangements.

'How ingenious... if it was any average spy or informant, they would not be able to spot anything wrong...' Ten shuddered for a bit as he realized that his actions of inviting the 11th Elder, Uncle Mike, had been predicted. After all, the Imperial Intelligence, no matter how strong, in Ten's opinion could not hold off against an entire battalion, or worse yet, a regiment.

'How? How did they know I would choose Uncle Mike to come with us? How did he act almost as perfectly as me? How could he possibly assume that a child like me would make such a decision?' Ten felt chills going down his spine as he stared at the front of the carriage, through the front window, and at John's back. The seemingly young man had been driving this carriage for hours on end, at least 12 hours, at that. Yet he had not made a single noise, he had not said a single thing this entire way, he had not turned his body once and had only commanded the horses on how fast to go or which way to turn. 

Ten became engrossed in numerous thoughts as he learned that, perhaps he did not have as big of an advantage as he thought himself to have. 

'I underestimated their intelligence, planning, and meticulousness. I became too conceited.' Ten said in his mind as he sighed. He was not a man, or rather, a boy who took things to heart, nor was he narrow-minded and stubborn. He could understand his mistakes and learn from them.

'Sigh, back to getting more information.'

Ten turned to Uncle Mike who had long woken up. 

"Uncle Mike, what are Tainte-" Ten's words fell short as his ears perked up and he instantly became alert. 

'Footsteps? But we are still not at the border... how could there...' Ten thought to himself as he faintly heard numerous faint footsteps. It couldn't possibly be the five Imperial Intelligence members, because they had been deathly quiet while following this entire time. 

"John!" Ten yelled out in an instant as he rose to his feet. "There are people!" 

John turned his head swiftly and looked behind, at Ten who was inside the carriage, his eyebrows seemed to furrow as he stopped the carriage swiftly and signaled the inside of the carriage to be quiet as he listened intently. 

After a few seconds, he finally turned his head back.

"There are indeed people ahead... far ahead..." John said in a low voice as he contemplated.

'How did he hear those extremely faint footsteps from this far away?' John thought to himself as he made a signal with his hand and five figures swiftly jumped out from the shadows surrounding the old dirt road and surrounded the carriage. The five masked men of the Imperial Intelligence immediately took out what seemed to be short black dual blades from inside their cloaks as they raised their vigilance. 

"Alright, let us go outside, it will be much safer by the side of the agents." Uncle Mike said calmly as he led the children out of the carriage, with his characteristic smile on his face. He didn't seem worried at all.

John also hopped off the coachman spot and signaled for everyone to follow him as he led the way. The three children, the old man with his iconic cane, as well as the five fully masked agents, followed closely as John seemed to carelessly make his way forward, his weapons still sheathed, if he even had weapons on him.

Soon, after thirty seconds of walking forward, John abruptly stopped as he gazed around. Everyone turned their head to look around, and they finally spotted an odd sight.

Out of the thickets, soon stepped out thirteen Silver Guards, a short man leading in front, a cold expression on his face. 

"You're..." Uncle Mike uttered as his eyes widened, while John let out a soft chuckle. 

"Roland?" Ten asked out loud as he gazed surprisedly at the short man, donned with shining armor. He sported that same cold expression on his face.

"Although I had expected this, we couldn't do anything to hide him from the prying eyes of the Silver Guard. How laughable, do you think you'll accomplish something by taking us on here?" John asked mockingly as his bright white teeth were revealed as he made a rather cruel smile. 

"Fucking pigs." Roland blurted out as he spat on the ground and approached the group closer. 

"It doesn't matter what you expected, or what you think you're capable of. All of you are going to die here today miserably. Your corpses are going to be mauled and eaten by the beasts." The short man said malignantly as the Silver Guards behind him glared at them fiercely as they drew their weapons. Two of them sported halberds, while another three were holding a shield and sword combination, five more of them held greatswords while the remaining two had maces. Roland himself drew a simple shortsword as he harrumphed arrogantly. 

However, what seemed like a simple harrumph to Ten, was incredibly bone-chilling to John, Mike, and the rest of the Imperial Intelligence. Soon, all the other Silver Guards harrumphed in the same manner. 

"Ten Tainted, two Reformed, and... one Mutated..." Uncle Mike said with a rather solemn voice as he gripped his cane tightly. 

"This Purity... how? Our information can't be wrong... you were a Reformed a month ago..." John muttered as he withdrew two black, short blades from within his cloak, lowered his center of gravity, and adjusted his stance. 

"Was I?" Roland asked mockingly as a crazed smile appeared on his visage. 

The Imperial Intelligence members tightened the formation even more as the situation tensed. Ten could hear the rapid breaths of the people around him. Baron and Nessie looked around anxiously as their chests heaved up and down. The much more composed Imperial Intelligence members were regulating their breaths to their best efforts as their hands trembled slightly while gripping the black blades in their hands.

Uncle Mike stepped out forward, close to John as he said quietly:

"We only have five Tainted... and us two. Can you handle Roland while I take care of the two Reformed? Unfortunately, they have ten Tainted... we will have to work hard." Uncle Mike said solemnly. 

"I'm a Mutated as well, I can handle another Mutated. Old man, are you sure you can handle two Reformed at your age?" John asked while chuckling. 

"Bah, brats like these are still centuries too young to even touch my clothes. Maybe if I was still a Cleansed, I would've had some trouble." Uncle Mike said as he laughed arrogantly. 

Suddenly, the old man tapped his cane on the ground three times hard as he bellowed out: 

"Earth upon Heaven!" 

The ground shook immensely as if an earthquake had happened right at that instant. Out of the ground, a dozen pillars of earth rose swiftly as if they were made of air, and not rock and dirt. The dozen pillars immediately created a complicated prison of pathways in the area where the thirteen Silver Guards were in, as three Tainted and one of the Reformed were launched into the air as if thrown from a catapult. The Reformed Silver Guard immediately ditched his shield as he gripped his sword with both arms and managed to slide down an earth pillar by using his sword as a claw. The three tainted, however, were not as skilled or lucky, as they quickly fell to their deaths because of the heavy armor, or ended up paralyzed. Either way, they were out of the battle. 

In an instant, John ran forward crazily as he laughed and pounced on Roland, who deflected John's two black blades with his short sword. 

The five members of the Imperial Intelligence swiftly moved as they jumped around in the pathways created by the massive pillars, in just three seconds, two Tainted Silver Guards had died miserably with blood spurting out of their necks. 

It was clear that the Imperial Intelligence agents were a notch above these Silver Guards. 

Uncle Mike also moved calmly as he raised his cane again and tapped it two times. This time, he didn't say anything, but numerous tendrils of earth sprouted from his back as he was lifted from the ground, soon, he rose high and started pounding on the Reformed Silver Guard who had lost his shield while in the air. 

Roland immediately screamed out and sent John flying away as he charged forward, not in John's direction, although, but in the direction of the three children. Nessie screamed out loud as Baron stepped in front of the two while Ten narrowed his eyebrows.

Not fitting his expectations, though, Roland's charge had stopped suddenly as if he had never started it in the first place. Ten noticed the shadow Roland had stepped on and saw Roland's extremely fierce expression as he tried his best to break free of the invisible hold on him. 

Soon, though, he had no chance to break free as John immediately flew in like a streak of black lightning, stabbing Roland's side with his two black blades and twisting them. The armor on Roland had stopped a good part of the blades, but they damaged him nevertheless as Roland gave up and let himself be blown away towards the earth pillars again. 

The Imperial Intelligence agents had been reduced to four, however, the Tainted Silver Guards were all but wiped out, all that remained was Roland and the two Reformed Silver Guards who were battling with Mike. 

One of the Reformed, who was without his shield, was extremely beaten and bruised as he kept trying to dodge or deflect the earth tendrils that continuously struck at him, however, it was fruitless as the tight pathways of the dozen earth pillars made movement precarious and tiring. It felt to him as if he was scaling a mountain with each step. 

The other Reformed with his shield on him was in a much better condition, but he still showed signs of exhaustion and tiredness. It felt as if tons of earth struck his shield each time one of the tendrils struck him. Of course, he was not wrong. Mike's tendrils truly had tons of earth in each of his tendrils, every strike, every moment of movement, every whip and bash, every one of his actions carried along thousands of kilograms of weight. 

While it was a clear showcase of what a Transcendent like Mike could do, it also showcased the immense fortitude and capability of the Reformed Silver Guard, it was not easy to withstand thousands of kilograms of force in such a treacherous environment he couldn't even get out of. 

Despite Roland's best efforts to destroy Mike's entrapment and tendrils, John's constant harassment and sneak attacks hindered him massively. 

John smiled wickedly as he shouted out loudly and asked Roland: 

"What's wrong? Feeling sluggish?!"

"You damn pig bastards! Did you poison me?!" Roland spat out in rage as he felt his body slowly getting slower and slower. 

Soon, after almost 3 minutes of battle, Mike had utterly annihilated the two Reformed into meat paste. He turned his attention to Roland and John, as he saw the latter constantly circling and toying with the former. 

"Is he done yet?" Mike asked as joined the four Imperial Intelligence agents watching from the distance. 

"He seems to be in his last throes, sir." One of the masked men answered.

Mike had not joined the battle out of respect, while the four Tainted agents had not joined because even the shockwave of a strike from a Mutated could damage their internal organs.

Ten and company watched ever farther from a distance in a daze as they looked at the things happening.

"What in God's name is this..." Ten muttered to himself as he recollected the unbelievable battle that had occurred as he remained stunned.

"Which God?" Baron asked curiously, having calmed down after seeing that the battle had almost reached its end. 

"What do you mean which Go- ah, never mind... let's just continue watching." Ten said as he shook his head. 

In the distance, Roland kneeled on one knee as John stood before him. 

"Damn you, fucking dogs of the Intelligence! I curse you all to your death, I hope you all follow that wretched old man into the afterlife!" 

"I'll make sure you have a painful, horrible death, Roland," John spoke as he flicked the blood off his blades. He began taking a step before he suddenly stopped and turned to Ten. 

"My Lord, do you wish to come here? He is harmless at the moment." John spoke kindly as he smiled through his half-mask. 

"Sure, why not?" Ten said as he stepped forward under the hesitant glances of Baron and Nessie. With Ten's urging gesture, they too followed him closely. 

In an instant, Ten was before Roland, staring down at the wounded and exhausted man.

"Why?" The boy with slick black hair in front of Roland asked.

"You would never understand, brat, your death is necessary for the continuation of the Empire... you must, absolutely you must die..." Roland said with bated breath as he stared at the young child before him with hatred. 

"What about my friends, why must they die?" Ten asked.

"Everyone who knows of you needs to die. It does not matter, even if I have failed my mission, my death will serve as a warning for further preparation." 

"So there's no chance of you forgetting about your mission, huh? Alright then."

Ten said with a dejected expression as he extended his open hand outwards, in John's direction who was extremely close to him.

John paused for a second, before smiling devilishly and handing Ten one of his black blades, under Mike's astonished and alarmed gaze.

"I will give you a painless death since you've told me who ordered this."

"What? I never told you-" Roland's words were cut short as Ten swiftly and precisely stabbed Roland's throat with John's black blade and twisted it. 

Blood gushed out like a fountain as it drenched Ten's face, clothes, and hands. Roland's tenacious vitality was slowly slipping away, until, after a few seconds, his eyes were nothing more than empty shells. 

"Let's go." Ten said as John had an excited expression on his face while Mike watched on with a grim expression. His two friends, however, despite being children, had unconditional trust in Ten. They simply watched on, discomfort running through their bodies, but nothing more. They had already seen such gruesome scenes, after all, child slavery was not exactly the safest occupation out there. It happened more than once that a random child would have their head bashed in or whipped till they died because of insulting an inspector or some other minor thing. 

The fact is, this scene wasn't disturbing to them at all, the only thing that gave them discomfort was that Ten was doing it himself. 

The Imperial Intelligence agents watched on silently, as Ten finally realized that one of them was nowhere to be seen. He turned his head and spoke to the remaining four agents:

"What happened to the fifth one?"

One of the agents bowed slightly as he began to speak.

"He was unable to avoid a greatsword and unfortunately died in the middle of battle, My Lord." 

Ten creased his eyebrows as a contemplative expression overtook him. In just an instant, he immediately bowed down. 

"I am sorry for your loss while protecting me. I am sure he was a valuable ally to everyone." 

Ten said with a solemn expression on his face as he rose after a few seconds. 

Soon, all the agents immediately kneeled on the ground and shouted.

"Please do not worry yourself over us petty servants, My Lord!" 

"We are tools that you can use as you wish, such a loss is nothing!" 

The men yelled out as they spoke with emotional voices. Maybe it was the fact that Ten had bowed to them, or maybe the fact that their comrade had been at least noticed or honored. Whatever it was, Ten was surprised that such a small gesture could garner such a reaction.

John swiftly came up behind Ten to his right as he watched on with a smile on his face.

"My Lord, even a single word of yours is an honor to us hounds of the Empire. Let alone such a gesture of honoring the dead. This small action of yours could be interpreted in many different ways. For example, your enemies may use it as an excuse to call you a cowardly, barbaric, and worthless person, because you've bowed at a bunch of lowly servants and apologized. For others, they may praise your integrity and selflessness in such an action. What do you think would be said about this action if you were to do it in front of other people?" 

"Does it matter? What matters is the fact that the interaction involves me, them, and no one else. The only thing that matters in this case is the opinion that these men have of me. If I were a servant, would I want to serve someone who didn't even bat an eye when my comrade died?" 

Ten said in a low voice as he responded to John's question. After all, Ten was quite familiar with the political schemes and plans that surrounded the social world. Public opinion was quite a valuable thing, after all. 

Of course, any subpar politician would think that public opinion of themselves was the most important thing. A master-class politician though, would realize the fact that public opinion is only a tool that can be transformed, modified, and switched however you want. It was very, very easy to change how others thought of you through some simple actions like saying thanks, being respectful, or on the other hand, being disrespectful, rude, arrogant, and more. 

Precisely because of this, Ten paid no mind to how the political world thought of him in his past life, but instead paid close attention to interpersonal relationships, where you could build trust, loyalty, dependency, and more by interacting with the other party in a personal way. 

"I guess your words do make a lot of sense, My Lord." John said with a subtle smile as if he had expected this answer. With an unnoticeable signal, John ordered the four kneeling agents to rise. 

"Off to Wycliffe." Ten said as he walked forward to the carriage. 

A long, long journey awaited them.