Chapter 436: Paying The Shaki Clan A Visit
Three days later, two moons hung over the world, their pale light pouring across the capital and turning the countless rooftops, towers and streets into a sea of silver.
The city had settled into the quieter rhythm of night, but within one of the grandest residences in the capital, dozens of guards remained stationed throughout the compound, their presence making it clear that whoever lived here did not consider darkness an excuse to lower their defenses.
It was precisely because of that security that the shadow crossing the compound was so unsettling. It flickered over the outer wall, slipped past the first line of guards and crossed the courtyard so quickly that none of them noticed anything more than a brief distortion in the moonlight. By the time the shadow stopped, it had already reached the center of the grand compound.
"Who goes there?!"
One of the guards finally noticed the lone figure standing in the courtyard and immediately shouted.
Several heads snapped toward him as soldiers on the walls tightened their grips around their weapons and began turning toward the intruder. The figure stood completely still, seemingly unconcerned by the number of weapons now pointing in his direction. He was concealed beneath an expensive purple cloak, its hood pulled deeply over his head and obscuring most of his face. Only a few strands of long black hair escaped from beneath it, drifting gently in the night breeze.
Damian slowly looked around.
His eyes moved across the residence with open curiosity rather than caution. He had already visited the Kosak compound, and there were some similarities between the two residences.
Water fountains were everywhere, placed along the pathways and surrounding the main buildings, but the similarities ended there.
The Kosak Clan favored wyverns and other land based creatures in their sculptures, whereas this residence was dominated by aquatic imagery. Statues of serpents, enormous fish, crustaceans and other strange creatures Damian couldn’t immediately identify decorated the courtyard, with water constantly flowing around their carved bodies.
Even the guards reflected the identity of the household.
They were humans with the heads and physical traits of aquatic creatures, their bodies covered in polished armor decorated with shark motifs. Each one carried a long trident, and unlike the ordinary palace guards Damian had encountered during his first days in Velmora, these soldiers looked considerably more disciplined.
They were already surrounding him, yet Damian simply stood there with his hands beneath his cloak, studying them as though he had walked into a museum rather than an enemy compound.
Then one of them moved.
Swoosh!
A soldier appeared directly in front of Damian, his body surging forward with astonishing speed as his trident drove toward Damian’s chest. The attack was aimed directly at the heart and delivered with enough force to kill an ordinary warrior before they even understood what was happening.
Peng!
The trident struck the ground.
The stone beneath its point shattered violently, cracks spreading across the courtyard as fragments of rock jumped into the air. The soldier’s eyes widened as he stared ahead.
Damian was still standing exactly where he had been.
He hadn’t dodged or blocked or even moved.
The soldier’s expression gradually changed from confusion to disbelief as several others exchanged uncertain glances. They had seen their comrade cross the distance. They had watched him thrust the trident forward. Yet somehow the attack had failed to connect, as though reality itself had shifted backward for a moment and dragged the soldier away from Damian while leaving the Prince untouched.
It made absolutely no sense.
Before anyone could understand what had happened, a cold feminine voice rang through the courtyard.
"Stand back, it’s a Demi god!"
The moment those words were spoken, the guards immediately retreated several steps. Damian’s eyes narrowed slightly, not because he was frightened but because he was interested. The voice had barely finished echoing when a brilliant blue beam erupted from the residence and shot toward him with enough force to tear through the courtyard.
Damian’s brows lifted.
"Oh?"
The beam wasn’t even the most interesting part.
As the woman emerged from the building, the fountains surrounding the compound suddenly exploded upward. Water surged through the air as though responding to her command, twisting around her body before rapidly forming into an enormous aquatic beast.
Within moments, a massive shark made entirely from condensed water appeared behind her, its body several meters long and its jaws opening wide enough to swallow Damian whole.
The woman thrust her hand forward and the water shark surged toward him.
The pressure created by its movement sent a powerful gust through the courtyard, and Damian’s hood was ripped from his head, leaving his face completely exposed beneath the moonlight.
The woman had already reached him when a panicked voice suddenly erupted from the residence.
"Stop it, it’s His Majesty!!!!"
Lord Jugo came rushing out of the building with several attendants behind him, his expression changing dramatically the moment he recognized the person standing in the courtyard.
The woman’s eyes widened.
"His Majesty?!!!"
The guards collectively shouted in shock and the water shark immediately lost its shape.
Splash!
Thousands of liters of water crashed down over Damian, completely drenching him from head to toe. His purple robes clung to his body as water poured from his hair and down his face. The woman who had launched the attack immediately abandoned all dignity and dropped to both knees.
"Your Majesty, forgive me!" she screamed.
Lord Jugo rushed forward and dropped onto his knees as well, followed by several guards and attendants who began kowtowing repeatedly.
"Your Highness, forgive my rash daughter!" Jugo pleaded.
"Forgive us!" the others chorused.
Damian remained completely still.
Water dripped from his hair and robes while his expression remained remarkably neutral. Instead of looking angry, however, his eyes were fixed upon the woman kneeling before him with genuine curiosity.
She possessed deep blue skin with patches of scales covering portions of her arms, neck and face. Her fingers were linked by thin membranes, yet they remained surprisingly delicate and feminine, with carefully polished nails that looked completely out of place alongside her aquatic features. Even while kneeling, Damian could make out the graceful proportions of her body and the unmistakable hourglass shape beneath her clothing.
Damian raised one eyebrow.
"Forgive you for what exactly? It’s not like she put a scratch on me."
The courtyard became strangely quiet as Damian’s body began to change.
The woman kneeling before him watched in confusion as the soaked figure slowly broke apart, his flesh dissolving into thousands upon thousands of tiny particles of purple dust. The fragments scattered into the night air, passing through the hands of the guards who had been standing closest to him before disappearing completely.
Everyone froze and Lord Jugo’s eyes widened. The woman’s face went pale.
The guards slowly looked around the courtyard, trying to understand what they had just witnessed.
Had Damian been standing there at all? Had he created an illusion before the attack even began?
Had he substituted himself with an illusion during the attack?
Or had the entire confrontation unfolded inside some illusion without any of them realizing it?
None of them could answer. Then Damian’s voice came from behind them.
"Or did you think your Prince would be cornered so easily?"
Every head snapped toward the sound.
Damian was seated casually beside one of the large water fountains on the opposite side of the courtyard, his robes completely dry and his legs crossed comfortably. Rah stood beside him while William occupied his usual position on the other side, both of them appearing completely unaffected by what had just happened.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Even the Demigod woman stared at Damian with undisguised disbelief.
She had attacked him with the confidence of someone who knew her own strength. She had expected to force him into defending himself. Instead, she had apparently been attacking nothing.
Damian hadn’t even bothered to move.
"Sire!"
Lord Jugo finally recovered and immediately lowered his head. The others followed him, bowing toward Damian once again.
Damian casually waved his hand.
"There is no need for formalities. We have a lot to discuss in private."
He rose from beside the fountain and casually adjusted his damp cloak before looking toward Lord Jugo. There was no anger in his expression, which somehow made the situation more uncomfortable for everyone who had just attacked him.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Lord Jugo immediately responded.
He scrambled to his feet and hurried after Damian, with his daughter and the other guards following closely behind. Rah and William walked alongside Damian as the group disappeared into the residence, leaving the courtyard behind them in a state of nervous silence.
Nobody dared mention what had just happened. But every guard in the compound had reached the same conclusion.
The rumors about Damian being terrifying were not exaggerated. If anything, they had been understated.