The booming voice projecting from the descending airship rattled the stone buildings of Oakhaven and echoed through the narrow streets. The sudden declaration of lethal intent directed at the royal noble caused a shift in the atmosphere of the battlefield below. The surviving guards belonging to the Bloodied Fangs stopped their frantic movements and stared up at the imposing vessel in terror.

Li Yu stood in the center of the ruined courtyard with his flying swords orbiting his black robes and he was surprised by this unexpected development. He had marched into this town with the singular goal of dismantling the enemy forces using brute force to rescue the captive Nightfall Corps members. He never anticipated that another powerful faction would arrive at the exact same moment with the explicit purpose of hunting down the prince as well. The unfolding situation had grown significantly more complicated in an instant.

Just as the heavy shadow of the airship blanketed the central plaza, a sudden burst of violent wind erupted from the pavilion situated at the end of the main avenue.

Prince Darian burst through the ornate wooden doors of his temporary residence. His usually pristine silk robes were rumpled and his face was twisted into a mask of panic. He did not bother ordering his remaining guards to protect him or mount a counterattack against the hovering vessel. He only cared about his own survival and was now trying to secure it.

The prince channeled his Qi and summoned his personal mount from a specialized beast taming ring. A grand Storm Griffin materialized a deafening screech that pierced the ears of everyone standing nearby. The beast was an imposing creature possessing the muscular body of a golden lion and the broad wings of a giant eagle. Crackling arcs of ambient lightning danced across its dense feathers.

Darian scrambled onto the leather saddle secured to the back of the beast and kicked his heels into its flanks. The Storm Griffin beat its heavy wings and generated a sweeping gale that knocked over several wooden market stalls as the creature launched itself into the sky with incredible speed. It was a beast renowned across the region for its ability to ride out violent attacks and outpace nearly any aerial pursuer.

Li Yu watched the fleeing noble and narrowed his eyes as he was about to take action. He gathered his Qi and prepared to launch Gilded Calamity to bring the flying mount crashing back down to the cobblestones with the prince alongside it. He was not going to let the primary target escape his grasp so easily.

Before Li Yu could send his golden sword streaking through the sky, movement on the deck of the hovering airship caught his attention. A middle aged man wearing elegant silver armor stepped onto the wooden railing of the ship. He possessed a stern face adorned with a neat beard and his eyes locked onto the retreating form of the Storm Griffin. The man drew a grand longbow crafted from dark polished wood and pulled the glowing string back to his cheek.

Li Yu paused his own attack and analyzed the gathering energy from the man. He could clearly see the intricate weaving of laws forming along the shaft of the manifested Qi arrow. The archer was seamlessly blending the swift laws of wind with the destructive laws of lightning. The combination created a projectile vibrating with lethal kinetic potential. Judging by the density of the aura radiating from the silver armored man, Li Yu recognized that the archer rested firmly within the Tribulation realm, a realm higher than his own.

The middle aged man then released the bowstring. The Qi arrow tore through the sky like a bolt of divine judgment and left a trail of sparking ozone in its wake. The glowing projectile rapidly closed the distance and aimed directly for the heart of the flying beast. However, just as the arrow was about to pierce the thick feathers of the Storm Griffin, the fabric of space itself rippled and tore open a few yards away.

An old man wearing simple gray robes stepped out of the spatial void and placed himself directly in the path of the incoming strike. He raised a withered hand and summoned a swirling vortex of spatial energy. The lightning infused arrow crashed into the vortex and produced a blinding flash of light and the force of the impact pushed the old man back several feet through the air but he successfully neutralized the attack. The shattered remnants of the Qi arrow dispersed into a harmless rain of sparks.

Li Yu watched the old man stabilize his footing in the sky and noted that this new defender also possessed a Tribulation realm cultivation. The old man smoothed his gray robes and looked toward the silver armored archer standing on the airship.

"You step far beyond your borders today, Protector Vance," the old man called out with a voice that carried clearly over the roaring winds. "You have no jurisdiction in this area."

Protector Vance lowered his grand bow slightly but kept another arrow knocked and ready. He glared at the gray robed defender with a look of deep familiarity and lingering disdain. They clearly knew each other from past encounters.

"Do not get in the way of justice today, Protector Silas," Vance shouted back while channeling more wind Qi into his weapon. "Your master reaps what he sows and his day of judgment has finally arrived upon his doorstep. You cannot protect him from the consequences of his vile actions. No matter what happens or who tries to intervene, the prince will die today!"

Elder Silas just chuckled softly while clasping his hands behind his back. He did not summon a weapon to press an attack. He simply stood there like an immovable mountain in the sky between the airship and the quickly fleeing mount.

"I do not need to defeat you in a duel of martial prowess," Silas replied with a confident smirk. "I only plan to stand here and block your path. I just need to hold you back for a few precious minutes while my prince escapes beyond the horizon. You cannot break my defenses in such a short amount of time."

The Storm Griffin continued to gain altitude and distance while the two Tribulation experts exchanged their heated words. The beast was already becoming a small speck against the afternoon clouds.

Before Vance could loose his second arrow to test that arrogant claim, a loud and booming laugh erupted from the highest deck of the airship. The sound was not exceptionally loud but it carried a strange resonance that seemed to vibrate directly against the souls of everyone listening.

"You believe you can dictate the flow of fate simply because you understand a fraction of the void?" An older male voice spoke from the shadows of the ship. "Your confidence is severely misplaced today because I am standing on this vessel."

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The confident smirk vanished from the face of Protector Silas in an instant. The gray robed defender paled drastically and his eyes widened in genuine terror as he looked upon the man below.

"Grandmaster Orion?" Silas stammered while his spatial vortex flickered with instability. "You were able to bring the supreme protector of the capital with you for an assassination mission? This is madness!"

An older looking man stepped out from the shadows of the upper deck and into the sunlight. He wore plain brown robes that looked better suited for a humble farmer than a supreme warrior. However, the aura he projected was heavy enough to make the surrounding air physically warp and distort.

Grandmaster Orion also held a simple wooden bow in his hands. He did not pull the string back with dramatic flair or gather a blinding storm of elemental laws. He simply raised the weapon, knocked what looked like a plain wooden arrow and let it fly.

The action looked incredibly mundane but the result defied common sense. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The wooden arrow moved so quickly that Elder Silas could not even track its trajectory. Silas did not have a single fraction of a second to react or shift his spatial defenses. The projectile seemed to bypass the physical distance separating the airship from the fleeing beast.

In what seemed like an instant, the arrow materialized high in the clouds and pierced cleanly through the right wing of the Storm Griffin before driving straight through the left leg of Prince Darian. The projectile carried so much momentum that it passed through both targets and disappeared into the horizon without losing any speed.

The wounds left behind by the strike looked incredibly small and superficial from a distance. There were no explosive shockwaves or massive bursts of blood. However, it was clear that the wooden arrow was not a simple physical weapon. The lingering laws attached to the strike instantly paralyzed the majestic beast.

The Storm Griffin let out a weak chirp and folded its wings helplessly. The creature dropped from the sky like a heavy stone and Prince Darian screamed in terror as he tumbled through the air alongside his paralyzed mount. Both of them were completely unable to circulate their Qi or do anything to slow their rapid descent.

Down in the ruined courtyard, Li Yu watched the turn of events and display of power with surprise. He felt the heavy and oppressive aura radiating from Grandmaster Orion and recognized the depth of the Sovereign realm, just like his cousin Zhan Chen. While Grandmaster Orion was at the Sovereign realm, he didn’t radiate the same density and power as his cousin though.

According to the scouting reports provided by the scouts of the Zhan Clan, the Sovereign realm represented roughly the peak of martial power currently active within the Mosaic Realm. Seeing an expert of that caliber acting as a bodyguard for a diplomatic airship spoke volumes about the political landscape between the two kingdoms.

Li Yu mentally compared his own Karma Severing foundation against the Sovereign pressure pressing down on the town. While the gap was a full three realms, he felt confident he could hold his own in a life or death struggle if he used up all of his means but it would certainly be a difficult and destructive battle. He didn’t think he could win but he felt relatively confident enough to escape away.

Heavy footsteps approached from the main avenue. Borum stomped into the courtyard and returned to stand next to Li Yu. The earth golem had stopped his rampaging assault the moment the airship arrived and the enemy forces lost their will to fight as the soldiers poured out. The two of them simply stood in the rubble and watched the events unfolding from below.

The freed members of the Nightfall Corps had mostly regathered as well and formed a tight defensive circle in the center of the plaza. They held their scavenged weapons tightly while observing the shifting tides of the conflict, unsure if this was good news or bad news.

The town of Oakhaven was quickly secured by the new arrivals. Disciplined soldiers wearing silver armor flooded out from the lowered ramps of the airship. They moved with ruthless efficiency and swiftly wiped out any remaining members of the Bloodied Fangs who tried to resist or flee.

Once the hostile forces were eradicated, the silver armored soldiers surrounded the mercenary group. However, they did not raise their weapons or approach the Nightfall members any further. They just stood guard in a wide perimeter to ensure no one interfered with the royal business above.

Everyone standing in the cobblestone streets kept their eyes glued to the sky to see what would happen next.

Elder Silas hovered in the air while trembling slightly. He looked down at the distant crater where the prince and the griffin had crashed into a grove of trees. He then turned his gaze back to the airship.

"Are you truly sure your kingdom can take the responsibility for what you are doing here today?" Silas asked with a voice laced with lingering fear and political warning. "Striking down a royal prince in broad daylight is an act of open war. Your borders will burn for this transgression."

A calm and melodic woman’s voice answered him from the concealed deck of the airship.

"You do not need to worry your mind about the political fallout of this execution," the woman said with a tone of supreme confidence. "I will personally take full responsibility for the death of your vile prince."

Li Yu listened to the steady voice and noted the cultivation base of the speaker. She rested firmly at the King realm. While her personal power was not overwhelmingly high, her authority clearly commanded the respect of the Tribulation archer and the Sovereign grandmaster standing beside her.

Elder Silas gritted his teeth and glared at the hidden speaker.

"You are Princess Lena!" Silas revealed her identity for everyone to hear. "The crowned princess of the Kingdom of Lunaris. Why would you risk a devastating war between our nations over a rogue mercenary group?"

Li Yu absorbed the new information given by the man in the air but he didn’t act. He only stood quietly beside Borum and waited to hear the justification for this grand intervention. They all could only listen to those talking on the ship since they couldn’t actually see them from below.

"The reasons are quite simple," Princess Lena stated plainly. "Debts of gratitude need to be properly repaid and your prince has made one too many foolish mistakes during his travels. He believed he could torment the innocent and destroy lives without facing any consequences. His time ruling over others is now finished and so is your time protecting his corrupt legacy."

Hearing the finality in her voice, Protector Vance stepped forward and drew another arrow.

"I have waited a long time to settle our score, Silas," Vance declared while aiming his bow directly at the gray robed elder. "I am going up there to end things with my own hands."

Vance leaped from the railing of the ship and soared into the sky to engage his long standing rival. He wanted to secure the victory personally even though he knew Grandmaster Orion could easily kill Silas with a single casual strike. The Sovereign expert simply watched the two Tribulation cultivators clash in the clouds and allowed Vance to claim his vengeance with his own hands.

While the high tier battle above shook the heavens, Princess Lena issued a swift command to her soldiers on the ground.

A squad of elite silver armored troops broke away from the main formation and rushed toward the grove of trees. They were sent to collect the broken body of the prince and drag him back to face his final judgment before the princess.