Chapter 459: The Final Act of the Redtree Rebels

The Redtree rebels running into emergencies was far from rare - sometimes, Kai felt like his entire role was pulling them out of problems, half of which they'd created themselves. So he didn't think much about it when they called him to stop another attack on their lines.

Once he arrived in a clearing, surrounded by the group's strongest cultivators, however... clearly, this was nothing like what they claimed. There were no enemies within sight, only familiar faces. He saw medallion after medallion, yet he realized that he was no longer among allies.

"Why are we here?" Kai asked.

"It's time for you to die!" one of the cultivators shouted.

"Why? What does that gain you?"

"We're sick of you ordering us to share the treasures, never letting us take our due. Why follow you if you're just going to try to force some unrealistic equality?"

Kai slowly cracked his knuckles and shifted from foot to foot. He'd considered that they might turn on him one day, but he had expected it to be their desire to fight more aggressively instead of striking strategically or consolidating their gains. As he looked around him, he saw a lot of angry faces, including those who had been most selfish when it came to distributing resources.

"You're strong, but you have no idea what you're doing." A thin man in black robes appeared from behind them, the first person who didn't look like one of the Redtree rebels. "You think you can lead rebels or create a sect like this?"

"Oh, so you're the one actually behind this." Kai turned to face him, ignoring the cultivators menacing him from all sides. "And who are you?"

"You played your games for a while, but eventually you caused losses too large for the Masterful Crown clan to to ignore. And so they dispatched the Dark Crown sect."

That was the hidden sect underneath the clan, though as far as he was aware, this was the first time they had taken any kind of direct action. "And how did you convince them to turn?"

"We simply offered them what you never would," the thin man said. "What do cultivators want? To advance beyond their peers and rule over them. All you can give them is a few trinkets after their victories, but we can offer them a place in the world. If they eliminate you, they will be able to recreate the Redtree sect as a proper branch of the Masterful Crown clan."

"Huh." Kai turned his gaze to the other cultivators, focusing on those he knew. "When we met, you were just individual cultivators being slaughtered. I took you this far, gave you those medallions, and helped you regain your lost lands. Is that not enough?"

The Dark Crown agent only smirked, and eventually one of the Redtree cultivators spoke up. "Everyone uses one another," she said. "You helped us because we were convenient, and we needed a champion. Now we don't need you anymore. We've fought enough to be acknowledged by a greater power... that's just the way of the world."

"Why do you think they won't just turn on you as soon as you've proved useful?"

"Don't talk nonsense," the Dark Crown agent said before any of the cultivators could grow nervous. "The Verdant River sect is growing weak and failing its obligations. This group was wise to see that and fight against them. Soon the Masterful Crown clan will rebuild this failed region, and we need local allies at the forefront of that effort."

That sounded like a lie to Kai, who had seen the extent of their power. But he saw that the red-robed cultivators all around him listened with eagerness... perhaps the same sort of eagerness they felt when they responded to his own promises. He'd hoped, just a little, that he had made a difference here.

But he hadn't assumed that he would.

Kai let out a long sigh and rubbed his eyes with one hand. Everywhere he went, there was an old Goralian part of him that was looking for allies, fellow hunters who could face a real threat. And so often, the people he met disappointed him. Even when the revolution in Krysal had been between two different classes, they had stolen Kratius away from him and the betrayal had almost cost him.

"Are all of you in agreement on this?" Kai asked in a dull voice. "I gave you those medallions, and now you turn them on me... if you want no part in this, give them back to me. Don't throw your lives away."

"Formation!" the Dark Crown agent called, and the ring of cultivators drew on their qi.

In an instant Kai felt the power constrict around him, trying to bind him in place. It was similar to many of the formation techniques he'd seen used in the south, but this one was far more potent, different from anything he'd seen the Redtree rebels use before. As their qi gathered, a dark halo began to form in the air over the center, closing in on him.

"No one?" Kai had to push his strength to turn around. "I thought there would be at least one."

"Are you stupid?" one of the cultivators shouted. "If you really believed we were loyal to you, then you deserve this!"

"I didn't," Kai said, and snapped his fingers.

And in that moment, all of the Redtree medallions exploded.

When he had first encountered them, he had been worried about the medallions being activated remotely by an enemy, but he had also realized that he was handing a weapon to people he couldn't really trust. So he had asked Omilaena to enhance them: not solely to increase security, but to leave a flaw. Someone with exactly the right mana - the savage mana he could still touch - could activate the explosion function of the medallions.

One shockwave was dangerous enough for most cultivators, but an entire ring of them was devastating. Some of the weaker cultivators were blown in half and even those who hadn't been wearing medallions collapsed immediately. Some realized that something was wrong and tried to run, but they had been doomed, many by the status symbols they wore around their necks.

The Dark Crown agent was the only one to escape, and even he was buffeted by the explosions. Kai was on him in an instant, stabbing claws into his shoulder. Even as the agent cried out in pain, he thrust out with his other hand, revealing a darkly glinting knife.

Kai took it off at the elbow and then smashed the man to the ground. He had been more durable than the others, but now that he lay on the ground with two ruined limbs, he coughed up blood like all the rest. When Kai landed on top of him and put a foot on his chest, the man smiled grimly.

"So you just bought them off to target me," Kai said. "What else did you do?"

"You have no chance against the patriarchs." The Dark Crown agent's eyes suddenly blazed and something pulsed within him.

When his dantian exploded, Kai was blown into the air. The explosion managed to cut his body in a few places, but by the time he landed, Kai was already healing thanks to Behemoth's Heart. He wasn't sure if it had been an attempt to harm him, or if the agent had just killed himself to prevent questioning.

If Omilaena had been present, she might have been able to stop the suicide and extract more information. Thinking about her made Kai recall that the others were likely to be attacked as well. At minimum his wives would be able to handle themselves, but he had no idea what to expect for the others. Maybe they had all been bought off... the idea of Hul Ping trying to stab him with that tiny knife just made him sad.

But the last statement about the patriarchs worried him, because it meant they might have finally attracted true retaliation. Kai considered that it might be misinformation, but didn't see how it could lead him into a mistake. Regardless of how the enemy was attacking, his plans to prepare were the same.

As Kai looked around at the bodies, his disgust merged with the constant hunger and finally something clicked. He bent down, opened his maw in Isulfr's Bite, and consumed one of the dead cultivators whole.

And this time, he felt a glimmer of essence remain within him instead of being absorbed.

Focused on those dark emotions, Kai began to consume them all, gathering together the tiny fragments of human essence into something enduring. It wasn't rage, in the end, but disappointment. He'd saved so many of their lives and led them to take their land back, but in the end, they had just been... like all the others. "Like other cultivators," he thought at first, but a dark part of his mind thought "like other humans."

When it was done, he was sick of the taste, but something new burned within him:

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Redtree Betrayers - I (alpha)

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The "Redtree Betrayers" essence wasn't strong, but it was distinctly human, a first for him. And unlike the strange remnant of Anaelina, this power felt malleable. It was the combination of all their emotion and betrayal, concentrated into something potent. Not only was it the first human essence he'd retained, it was what he needed to combine with Banchlain's Aura.

Part of him wanted to sit down and merge the essence right then, but Kai decided against it. This attack had failed, but he had no idea how many more were coming. If the Masterful Crown clan was really moving, then the game had changed.