Slicking some of my hair back, leaving just the streak of purple to hang in front of my face, I exited our residence, Illumia following closely behind as I made my way to the Heavenly Empire's residence, where Ivan and a few of his siblings were staying, though I couldn't care less. Ivan was already insignificant, so his unknown siblings were even more so.
Walking across the street, I ignored the women who yelled out to me; Illumia's mention of Sarah had worsened my mood, and I didn't wish to deal with them. When I neared Baihu's residence, I saw her resting on a tall tree in the back of her courtyard while in her true form; she opened an eye and gave me a slight nod before closing her eyes once more, while I continued past her residence.
Ivan's residence was a bit further down the road, so after another few minutes of walking, I finally arrived at his residence, where I found guards standing at the entrance, attempting to look intimidating, and while it worked on weak-minded fools, it did nothing to me.
"Bring Ivan out… I have some words to give him." Stated Elif blandly as he glanced at one of the guards before summoning his Quạt tay and fanning himself with it.
The guards gave each other weird looks but eventually did as I said; I was the heir to another Immortal Hegemony, so they couldn't just ignore my words; even if I were spouting nonsense, they would still inform Ivan just in case, as I wasn't someone he could just brush off.
While waiting, I leaned against the wall, gently tapping myself with my Quạt tay, feeling frustrated with myself and everything that's happened so far.
'Maybe if I were overbearing from the beginning, they wouldn't have targeted Sarah… Haa, doubtful; Aurora would probably have only done it earlier.' Thought Elif lightly with an irritated expression as he rubbed the bridge of his nose while staring at the sky before sighing.
Eventually, Ivan arrived, standing just outside his residence while he skeptically gazed at me in annoyance, though whether that was because he didn't like me or because of something else, I had no clue, not that it mattered much since after today, he was going to hate me to death.
"What do you want, Elif?" Asked Ivan firmly as he folded his arms and looked at Elif, who pushed himself off the wall while storing his Quạt tay into his dimension ring.
"I want to send a message and make an example… Unfortunately for you, you're the person I picked, though the odds were one-in-three, so they weren't good odds." Replied Elif lightly as he looked at Ivan, who furrowed her brows before scoffing.
"Hmph, the hell are you talking about, Elif?" Asked Ivan in slight confusion as he glared at Elif in annoyance, who softly sighed before with a shake of his head before waving his hand, manifesting a large purple palm.
I didn't feel like wasting time and attacked him right then and there, taking him aback as he shielded himself, though I forced him back, and that was the whole purpose of my attack; if he entered his residence, using him would be impossible as the guards would be allowed to defend.
Now that I was standing between him and the entrance to his residence, I attacked him once more with a palm while he slashed at it with his sword, leaving behind a gash in the palm, but it continued unhindered. Ivan wasn't much weaker than the likes of Tiamat, Aurora, and Cordelia, but without Immortal Will to bolster his strength, fighting him felt almost trivial; granted, I wasn't using my Immortal Will either, but still.
As I launched palm after palm at him, which he would focus on diverting rather than destroying, I added a few Gyakusatsu in between each palm of mine, making it more difficult for Ivan, who, despite being overwhelmed by my powerful attacks, still managed to hold on, which prompted me to raise an eyebrow.
"Huh, it seems you've taken your training seriously after that encounter we had nearly a decade ago. If it were before, I'm somewhat confident you would've fallen already." Remarked Elif lightly as he gazed at Ivan, whose sword released a wave of bright light, engulfing all his attacks and slowing them down just enough for him to escape.
"Why are you attacking me!?" Yelled Ivan furiously as he glared at Elif in confusion while dealing with an onslaught of purple palms and spinning beams of compressed Qi.
"I already told you. I plan to make an example out of you for the other five Immortal Hegemonies. Everyone is getting complacent, and I'll make sure that isn't the case, of course, unless they wish to be mocked about, and no one wants that." Replied Elif lightly as he glanced at Ivan, who gnashed his teeth while continuing to deal with the non-stop attacks heading his way.
Although I held back slightly, Ivan lasted far longer than I had expected; I thought he'd already be unconscious on the ground by now, but no, he was still resisting with a tenacious spirit, something I never noticed during our first encounter.
However, eventually, despite his impressive display, he could only resist so long with the ever-growing number of attacks I sent his way. Launching another Gyakusatsu, it speedily shot through the air before penetrating through Ivan's side, momentarily stopping him, which was enough for two of my palms to slam into him before violently exploding.
Catching Ivan's body with a palm, I squeezed him tightly before throwing him towards me, to which I grabbed a sheathed Hokori and slammed the scabbard against his face, doing so while transferring an abundance of Qi into his body, filling every part of his body, only for him to collapse unconsciously.
Hitting him with the hilt of my sword for good measure, I stored my blade away and dusted myself off before summoning six golden lassos, to which I tied one to Ivan's leg while letting the other five drag alongside him.
"I suggest you all watch." Said Elif blandly as he glanced at Ivan's siblings, who all stared at him from within the residence.
The guards were furious but could do nothing against the unspoken rule; so long as I didn't seek to kill him, I had nothing to worry about.
"Come, Illumia, let us do a lap." Said Elif lightly as he waved at Illumia while walking down the street, Ivan and five lassos dragging behind.
As of by now, everyone who cares about the Triad Constellation has arrived, except for the leaders of Ancient, Divine, and Immortal Hegemonies, so everyone within our generation saw me, and of course, several took pictures while numerous whispered about what my intentions were, which was pretty obvious, I was making a statement, one that the Heavenly Empire and the five other Immortal Hegemonies wouldn't like.
'Heh, I can already envision how this is going to spread. 'Crown Prince Elif defeats Crown Prince Ivan… Who can possibly stop him!' None, that's who.' Mused Elif with a faint smirk as he glanced at Ivan behind him before looking at Illumia.
"I can only recall Her Majesty being this bold a few times." Said Illumia softly, her words causing Elif to nod while faintly smirking.
"Oh, don't worry, Illumia, you'll see far more than this… This is merely the beginning; in due time, I'll also have the other five tied to the lasso." Declared Elif loudly while glancing at Illumia, allowing everyone nearby to hear his claim and causing them to widen their eyes in awe further.
Although it took some time, we did a lap around our little section of Bubble Dome City; Ivan did regain consciousness once, but that was quickly solved with a few swings of Hokori. Once we returned, it was night, and I tossed Ivan over the wall into his residence before returning to my own, only to be taken aback when I saw several bisected demons sprawled in my courtyard, their blood staining the grass.
"Eh, Elaine?" Asked Elif with a raised eyebrow as he looked at Elaine, who suddenly appeared from the void beside him.
"Hehe, like my collection? I killed nine of Aurora's little minions; he still has many more, so I've still got a bit of work to do." Asked Elaine with a faint smile as she glanced at Elif before gazing at the corpse-riddled courtyard.
"I wasn't expecting you to be so efficient." "Ah, well, it's nothing special, really. Aurora prefers quantity over quality when dealing with unimportant minions, so there are probably a hundred or so." Remarked Elif and Elaine, respectively, as the former smiled and looked at the latter, who softly chuckled while shaking her head.
"Hmm, you seem to know a lot about Aurora. Why is that, Elaine?" Asked Elif with a raised eyebrow as he narrowed his eyes at Elaine, who cutely smiled.
"W-Well, we both operate from the shadows, so it's not hard to guess his ideas; I'm an assassin, remember, Brother." Replied Elaine awkwardly with a smile as she looked at Elif, who skeptically eyed her.
"Haa. I'll— If you don't ask questions." Added Elaine softly as she whispered into Elif's ear with a faint blush, causing his eyes to widen while he nodded.
"Deal." Said Elif with a smile as he kissed Elaine's cheek while she simply blushed.