152 Tai's Decisions

Ed headed directly towards the small room used to access the city's underground tunnel network.

There was a new young woman sitting at the desk managing the entrance. She glanced up. "Do you have an appointment?" She asked.

"No, but I need to see Tai. Tell him his friend Ed is here to see him." He replied.

"Ed..." The woman began flipping through some papers on her desk. "Ah, here it is. You're on the preapproved visitor list. Go ahead."

'Hmm. So, Tai already expected me to come here? Or was it just in case?' He nodded to the woman and jumped down the hole behind her desk. After falling for a while, he landed in the tunnel system.

He walked through the tunnels, passing various streams and pits of lava along the way. Soon, he reached a pair of large obsidian doors. However, they no longer glowed red like in the past. They were solid black in color. It seemed that Tai couldn't come close to the same heat output as his father, or perhaps he just wasn't training at the moment. Ed reached for the doors and shoved them open.

As the doors opened, Ed's eyes widened in shock at what he saw. Tai was lying down on the hard ground, and he was completely naked! However, the more shocking thing was the naked Rubi lying next to him. With how feminine Tai looked and as large as Rubi was, one might even mix their sexes up if not for Rubi's breasts.

"ED!" Tai screamed in an unusually high-pitched voice while covering himself. "Didn't your parents ever teach you to knock?!

Rubi seemed to be fast asleep and didn't even wake up from the noise. Her snores were loud enough that one might even expect the cavern to shake.

"Excuse me." Ed coughed into his hand, feeling embarrassed as he hurriedly shut the doors.

A minute later, Tai reopened the door, now fully dressed. He closed it behind himself, allowing Rubi to remain asleep. "Seriously? Who just opens someone's door without knocking?!"

"To be fair... this is basically the Sect Leader's office." He replied. "You can't blame me for this any more than you'd blame someone for walking into the oval office to find the President hooking up with an intern."

Tai snorted. "Are you implying President Walker would cross that boundary? He's way too old fashioned, being obsessed with honor or whatever."

"Well, why are you sleeping with Rubi anyways?" He countered. "What happened to the whole marriage with Yuki and true love shtick?"

Tai's face darkened, becoming noticeably more depressed. "I still love Yuki." He sighed while shaking his head. "But I was turned down. I wouldn't be a real man if I continued to insist despite that. It would be far too shameful."

"Eh, but didn't Sect Leader Long turn you down and not Yuki herself?" Ed questioned in confusion.

"My father dragged me over to her afterwards, insisting we'd sneak her away if she liked me. But she turned me down all the same." He sighed again. He quickly recovered his usual calm and grace. "Enough about that." He smiled. "Have you come to side with the Fire Dragon Sect for the upcoming war?"

"So, you really do plan to participate in it?" Ed asked.

"Of course." He nodded. "It's not like I have much choice in the matter. If we stayed neutral, then either winner would hate us and seek to destroy us after the war. There will be no Switzerland amongst the sect wars."

"I see..." Ed nodded. "So, care to tell me what's really going on with your father's death?"

Tai grinned and pulled out his fan, using it to cover his smile. "It's exactly as you've heard. Everything until now was all for today, and I only went to America to raise my own forces. How could the sect elders possibly support somebody with no practical force? But with my new forces, not only was I equal to the sect elders, but I also showed them astonishing potential. Such a large force at a young age, not to mention the special chimera powers you granted all of us. It'd be weird if they didn't support me."

Ed skeptically rose an eyebrow. "And how did you pull it off? I can assume that Sect Master Long is nearly as powerful as President Walker at the very least." He looked around the cavern. "There are no signs of a battle. Not to mention that Sect Master Long is the founder of the sect, seemed extremely popular, and would have been an extremely valuable resource for the upcoming war."

"Indeed." Tai agreed. "Even with all of my accomplishments, I would normally have no way of defeating my father. However, the war was my opportunity. If you haven't noticed, most of our sect actually indulges in laziness and luxury goods. We wish to live the highlife without sacrifice. My father definitely would have sided with the Purple Origin Sect, and our easy lives would be over. The war would drag to a stalemate, devastating both sides. Us siding with the six sects is best for everyone. Casualties will be brought to a minimum, and the overall strength of our country won't fall by much."

"And how did you kill him?" Ed questioned.

"It was an assassination actually." He replied. "The elders staged a party and poisoned his wine with a special blend of toxins acquired from various special mutants. After weakening him, it was easy for them to overpower him in a short instant and finish him off."

"And you were willing to have your father killed? The father that wholeheartedly supported your marriage proposal and decisions? And you even planned it before news of a war started circulating?"

"Things are not always what they seem on the surface." Tai sighed. He looked Ed in the eyes. "I thought you of all people would understand that, Forge."

'So much for raiding the six sects then...' Ed thought to himself. 'Still, is Tai really telling the truth? To finish Sect Master Long off with no commotion and no signs of battle left behind? It seems impossible. Especially when considering the kind of damage he should be capable of doing. Hell, I probably couldn't assassinate President Walker even if there were ten or twenty of me working in perfect harmony. Not to mention the sect elders would almost definitely leave signs of battle from their own attacks.'

Having noticed Ed going quiet, Tai continued. "To be honest, it's not like I truly wanted to go against the Purple Origin Sect. After all, Yuki still lives there. Even I had trouble choosing which side to support at first. However, there was something that finally made my decision for me."

"Oh?" Ed rose a curious eyebrow.

"From what I know, Sect Leader Fang has suffered a massive injury in the past few years." Tai explained. "There's been news of hundreds of different healers visiting him from all over the world. My father was familiar with many of these espers, as he employed them himself when my mother was sick. Sect Leader Fang must have promised a high price for all of these healers to visit him. Unfortunately, Sect Leader Fang is a solitary man that rarely meets with others, making it difficult to find proof of his injury." His eyes narrowed. "But there's an exception to this rule. The man is a huge art and history lover, and he cherishes opportunities to converse about such topics. He's held several small get-togethers over the past few years, and multiple espers that attended claimed they saw him cough blood. Even my own father went to one and seemed concerned, though he didn't tell me all the details."

"So, you think Sect Leader Fang is too injured to fight the war properly?" Ed asked, recalling that he had also seen the man cough up blood just recently.

"Exactly." Tai nodded. "There's no way I could risk the lives of my valuable sect members by betting on a dying horse. So, I made the difficult decision to side with the six sects."

"But what could even permanently injure someone at Sect Leader Fang's level? Ed skeptically asked. "Hell, I've lost just about every body part there is, and I always recover."

"To prevent healing, there naturally must be a law in place to prevent it." He explained. "Right now, there are two theories agreed upon by the elders. One, he got in a fight with his son, Mr. Sai. Two, the Zombie esper of Africa managed to land a blow on him."

"Zombie esper..." Ed frowned. "I've heard of him several times now. Just who the hell is he?"

"Don't know." Tai shrugged. "In fact, nobody does. As far as I'm aware, no one has ever even seen his true body. Other than some aspects of his powers, all we really know about him is that he claims the entire continent of Africa as his kingdom, and any that trespass earn his wrath."

"I see..." He replied. 'I planned on going to Africa after Europe... is that decision a mistake?'

"Well." Tai smiled, lowering his fan from his face. "The start of the war is a mere five days away. I had a feeling you'd end up siding with my sect. Would you like to come to the Seven Sect Alliance war meeting with me?"

'So, their starting on the wedding day as I expected?' Secretly, he felt relieved. Though he wouldn't be willing to admit it to anyone. "Sure." He nodded in agreement.

"Excellent." Tai smiled. "With the two of us working together, we'll be nearly unstoppable." He chuckled. "Just between you and me, the strategists of the other six sects aren't worth the dirt they stand on. The meeting will be held tomorrow. I'll meet you at my house then."

"Alright." Ed agreed. "Have fun with your new wife." He chuckled as he turned around to leave.

Tai seemed momentarily flustered, but he quickly recovered. He reentered the Sect Master's room and slammed the doors shut behind him.

Ed frowned as he left the tunnels. 'Something's not right. The war is sounding like it'll be way too easy... And where does Nexus come into the fold? I know for a fact they're involved in the war. Feather's goals... Two possibilities. One, it's to attempt getting me killed. Seems likely, but there are probably better ways to do it. Especially when considering I've joined the so-called easy side. Two, she wants to raid a sect for their resources? That's what I want to do, so that makes perfect sense. Feather started Nexus right around the same time as I started Harmony. It's probably safe to assume her organization is much larger than mine given her international influence through the use of dreams. Can she fight well herself? Or is she only good as a communicative leader?' He scratched his hair in frustration. 'Damn! There are too many factors and too many unknowns!' He was starting to miss the simpler days when he knew exactly who his enemies and friends were.

Just as he was returning to the mansion, the ground started to tremble. A large booming sound followed, and he saw a huge dome of elemental energies exploding in the backyard of the mansion. "The hell?!" He stared in shock at the explosion. It wasn't that large, but it could easily tear an esper to shreds from what he could tell. He frowned. 'That explosion had all seven elements involved.' Expecting a strong enemy, he cautiously approached the mansion. A seven-elemental cultivator couldn't easily be underestimated.

As he got closer, he heard a masculine voice shout loudly. "Again!"

A feminine voice replied. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

"I can do it!" He replied.

"Alright." She chuckled in reply.

A brief moment later, another big explosion followed. The ground shook again, and Ed's ears rang from the noise. Interestingly, it seemed none of the neighbors were concerned with what was happening. More confused than ever, he approached the backyard of the mansion. Just as he turned the corner, he saw Flair kneeling while holding what looked like a purple sniper rifle. Across from her stood Haru, and his body was glowing in a yellow light. He stood with his legs spread apart and his arms crossed defensively over his chest.

Suddenly, Flair squeezed the trigger. A flash of light followed and slammed into Haru's body.

BOOM! The ground quaked again as a seven-elemental storm of energy engulfed Haru's body. When the energy cleared, Haru was revealed to be completely unharmed. The only difference was his yellow light was slightly dimmer and he seemed to be completely exhausted. He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily, and the yellow light soon vanished.

"Was that the rigid body part of your powers?" Ed questioned curiously as he walked over.

"Sensei!" Haru called out excitedly. "Pretty awesome, right?"

"Mm." He nodded. "But wouldn't it be better to just dodge in a real fight?"

"That..." Haru blushed. "I move really slow while using rigid body, and my defense is really weak when using agile body."

"Ah, so that's the trade-off." He nodded. He turned to Flair. "And what toy is that?" He questioned, a gleam of greedy desire appearing in his eyes.

"I made it because I was bored." She shrugged while smiling cheerfully. "I traded for the materials back when we were staying at the Purple Origin Sect." She held the rifle out towards Ed. "It's made of purified manullium. A trigger slams the manullium hammer into the bullet to shoot it. "She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of shells. "I based the bullet design on your mana batteries. Seven mini batteries are kept in the shell. When fired, a stream of seven elemental energy propels the bullet forward until it makes impact and explodes."

"Interesting." Ed smiled as he took the gun. 'So, it's basically a watered-down version of when I explode my own mana-batteries.' He admired the gun briefly before handing it back. "You should keep this. You'll probably need it soon." He sighed. "A pity that the ammunition is worth more than its weight in gold."

"Mm." She nodded. "I only managed to get a few hundred rounds."

"A few hundred?!" He replied in shock. "What the hell did you trade for it?!"

She pointed at her back. "Jet packs."

Ed's eye twitched. "Hopefully they don't use them against us during the war... Well, we could always shoot them down if we need to." He waved his hand as he turned around and headed for the mansion. "I'll be gone tomorrow for a war meeting. Try to conserve your ammo. You might even want to make more of it."