56

Saint Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, Russia.

A priest walked with purpose through the backhalls of the cathedral. He was an older gentleman, gray and wizened by the passage of time. He wore his age with dignity, but the expression on his face reflected the frustration and fear he bore within.

The priest reached his destination, barely stopping himself from barging into the bishop's office. He took a breath to calm himself and knocked. A voice from inside called for him to enter.

The bishop was sitting behind a desk, going through paperwork. He looked up at the priest as he entered. A small smile graced the slightly younger man's face.

"Brother Aleksandr," the bishop greeted. "What brings you before me today?"

"Have you heard, Bishop Ivan?" Aleksandr asked, cutting straight to the chase.

"Heard what, Brother?"

"Those… heathens in the east have managed to lose a nuclear weapon. No, more importantly, they've managed to make an enemy of an unknown supernatural being and managed to lose a nuclear weapon."

"Be calm, Brother Aleksandr. Surely it is not as grave as you make it seem."

"... I believe it is worse, Bishop. I am almost positive that the North Koreans I spoke to were lying when they said that they 'lost' the weapon. I believe the unknown supernatural being stole it."

The younger bishop rubbed his chin, "That is certainly grave news. I shall speak to the Vatican. Hopefully, they will be able to spare an exorcist or two to look into things."

"Hopefully?!" Aleksandr said, losing his cool. "Hopefully?! This is not some devil deviant messing around with the populace. This could very well be the beginning of nuclear war! The supernatural could be revealed to the world because of this! A nuke is in unknown hands, for God's sake!"

The bishop fixed Aleksandr with a stern glare, "... I understand that the situation has you heated, Brother. But that is no reason to invoke the Lord's name so casually. Surely, if the situation is as dire as you believe, the Vatican will see that and send their best."

"I apologize… But what if the Vatican's aid is not quick enough? Should we not take this straight to the top? To the Heavens themselves? Surely, the holy servants are interested in preventing nuclear armageddon?!"

Bishop Ivan nodded, "Of course, Brother. It costs us nothing but time to pray."

Aleksandr seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Bishop."

"Save your thanks for God, Brother. Come now, let us pray…"

The Sixth Layer of Heaven, Heaven.

"Haaaa…" the Archangel Gabriel sighed, slumping over a table made of clouds. "I don't wanna do any more paperwork right now…"

Gabriel was a beautiful woman who radiated purity and innocence through everything she did and was. Her pure blue eyes and heart-shaped face only added to her innocent aura. She had long, golden blonde hair that fell down her back.

Her pure white sundress hid a surprisingly lewd figure underneath. Gabriel's breasts were massive, perky, and so perfect they could literally only be crafted by God. Her waist was slim enough to wrap two hands around. Her hips and thighs were just as full as her breasts, giving the Archangel an hourglass figure that had granted her the title of 'Most Beautiful Woman in Heaven'.

Even to one of God's original Angels, the paperwork sprawled out in front of her seemed never ending. So many prayers. So many requests. So many thanks. It all just managed to make her mind overload and spin.

Gabriel clapped her hands against her cheeks, "Yosh! One more prayer and I'll take a break!"

She reached out at random with her powers, using the access her brother Michael had given her to the Heaven System to pick a prayer. She soon landed on a pair of twin prayers that seemed to be being uttered by two people next to each other. She grasped their faith and pulled, bringing the prayer into her mind.

"Oh… Oh my…" Gabriel gasped. "That's not good. That's not good at all…"

Onari observed his surroundings as Scarlet led him and Yu Wu into the sect. They stuck to the outskirts, traveling around the edge of the large compound instead of going straight through the center. There weren't many people around, but Onari would occasionally see one or two women who looked thinner than any cultivator had any right to be.

"Apologies, but this young mistress is not sure she follows," Yu Wu said.

Scarlet nodded, "I understand. Even for me, it is like something out of a nightmare. To think that the little girl I used to know is so far gone in her own pride and arrogance is almost unfathomable to me…"

"No, that part does not surprise this young mistress. Xiao Li was an absolute bitch when we met her. What is surprising is that you allowed her to gain so much power in such a short period of time. Your mistress has not even been gone a week!"

Scarlet bowed her head in shame, "Unfortunately, I believe this coup has been a long time in the making. I can only speculate as to why she struck now, but I assume it is because of you, young mistress Yu Wu."

"Of course it is because of this young mistress! Are you slow!? This young mistress' very existence threatens Xiao Li's feeble ego!"

"Of course, young mistress Yu Wu," Scarlet demurred. "I believe you are correct. Xiao Li most likely saw you as a threat to her desired position within the sect. When Lady Yu Long did not return immediately, Xiao Li took advantage of the lady's absence to put her plans in motion."

"And why have you not stood up to her?!" Yu Wu demanded. "You do not seem to support her ambitions, and yet you have allowed them to come to fruition!"

Scarlet hesitated, "... I… cannot hope to match her anymore. Xiao Li had taken advantage of a secret technique that our sect holds to increase her power."

"Does that secret technique have anything to do with how drained the members of your sect appear to be?" Onari asked, speaking for the first time in the conversation.

"I… would rather not say…"

Yu Wu sternly lectured Scarlet, "The time for secrecy has passed, Scarlet. You cannot come to us, beg us for aid, say we are your only hope, and yet still try to keep vital information from us. That is not how this works."

"O-Of course, young mistress Yu Wu. I apologize. To answer young master Onari's question, yes, the technique and the current state of our sect members are in fact linked…"

"Please elaborate," Onari said, frustrated with Scarlet's lack of candor. The only reason he was giving her a pass was that this was a sect secret and he knew how seriously sects and their members treated those.

"... Lady Yu Long has done much to prepare and defend this sect. Along with the barriers around the compound and valley, she also made an array that was only designed for the gravest of emergencies.

"This array is connected to all members of the sect. When activated, it takes a portion of our members' lifeforce to empower the central pillar of the array. Usually, the central pillar would be Lady Yu Long. Xiao Li, however, has usurped control of the emergency array and is using it under false pretenses to increase her own personal strength."

"Of course," Onari sighed, muttering underneath his breath. "Fucking cultivators… This is what we get for trying to do the right thing…"

Yu Wu shot Onari a quick "I told you so" glance as Xianxia tropes were once again proven to be true in real life. She turned back to Scarlet, "And that is why you believe only we can help you? Why should we even bother? All we came to do was deliver Yu Long back to her sect and inform you of the Heart Demon she is currently battling."

Scarlet blinked, surprised Yu Wu wasn't instantly jumping to help her mother's sect, "I-I had assumed you would be interested in protecting your mother's legacy… With our lady currently incapacitated, only you have the right to challenge Xiao Li for control of the sect."

"Fuck that," Yu Wu snorted, dropping her young mistress persona for a second to be frank with Scarlet. "I am my own person. I have my own life to think about. I want nothing to do with my absent mother's legacy. I don't even know if I want anything to do with her as a person.

"I've decided to just wipe my hands of her. If she still wants to reconnect with me when she comes out of her coma, she knows where to find me. Hopefully next time, she'll be more stable and we can actually have a reasonable conversation. The only reason I would help you is to get revenge on that bitch, Xiao Li."

Scarlet blanched but quickly latched on to the only sliver of hope in Yu Wu's words, "But you do want revenge, right? Xiao Li has wronged you. Is it not right to see her dead for her impudence?"

Yu Wu snorted again, "I was gonna kill that bitch anyway. I'm just saying that I'm not the solution to all of your problems. Find someone else to take responsibility for the sect. In fact, I hereby revoke any claim I may have on the NTR sect and give them to you."

"I-I don't understand…"

"Try harder."

Seeing Scarlet's confused expression, Yu Wu continued, "Look, I'll still kill Xiao Li, but I'm doing it for me. Not for the sect. Not for my mother. For me. After that, I don't really care what happens to the sect. That shit is on you."

"On… me…?" Scarlet looked confused and lost, like her whole worldview was shaken because someone didn't want anything to do with the sect that had given so much to her.

Scarlet had been at a difficult age when Yu Long found her and took her in. She was old enough to realize that the world didn't care if she lived or died and young enough that she couldn't really do anything to change her fate. Yu Long gave her a chance to do something about that.

Yu Long gave her knowledge and an avenue to power. She gave Scarlet shelter and food. She gave her a family to call her own. Sure, it wasn't a traditional family, but Scarlet didn't care. Even if they weren't related by blood, she had people she could call sisters and a mother-figure for the first time she could remember.

The fact that anyone, especially Yu Long's own daughter, could be so apathetic towards everything Yu Long had done and built just didn't make sense to Scarlet. She couldn't understand that, while NTR had given everything to her, it had taken a mother from Yu Wu.

"Yup. And honestly, if you're going to thrust responsibility on someone, you should be ready to take on that responsibility yourself as well," Yu Wu said, ignoring the obvious turmoil on Scarlet's face. She was absolutely not going to get sucked into running a sect she didn't even care about because some woman she didn't even know flashed her puppy-dog eyes.

"I-I'll try my best," Scarlet said.

"I'm sure you'll do great! Now, let's get this show on the road. I have an appointment with a bitch named Xiao Li. And I wouldn't want to make her wait any longer," Yu Wu's lips twisted into a malicious grin as she spoke.