(Brendan POV)
Hearing Master was locked up by the Dongs was the last thing we expected.
I almost thought to question why Master wouldn't just break Himself out of whatever the Dongs had locked Him in, then I remembered how benevolent Master was and retracted my question.
Those Dong dogs would definitely take advantage of Master's benevolence.
I heard that the Dongs had managed to create soldiers who were able to nullify Techniques, so they might have created something even bigger than that and nullified Master's Techniques and trapped Him too.
But speculating about Master's circumstances will do no good, what is more important is what should be done now.
"I… Can't sense Master at all. My telepathy isn't getting to Master either," Manami told us, clearly frustrated.
Guiying gritted her teeth, "The Dongs must have improved their skills in countering Practitioners. This must be why they were so confident in facing us again after that loss."
Diao Chan gasped, "Does that mean… Master is…"
"No, my life is tied to Master Lin's. If he dies, I die as well," another voice informed us.
We turned to see Sophia appearing out of the shadows, her expression just as grim as ours.
None of us questioned why she was here, we already knew she was our ally in this at least.
Guiying nodded, "Then Master is still safe for now… Is there any way we can extract Master from there?"
Lian Li shook her head, "Unless we know where Master is being held… We wouldn't even know where to start looking."
"Don't suppose you would know where Master is too?" I asked Sophia.
She shook her head, "Master Lin does not allow me to know his location. So I am unfortunately not able to know his current whereabouts."
Manami furrowed her brows, "Even I can't sense Master… Is there any other way we can find Master?"
Elaria took out a small box from her pouch, "Before Onii-sama left, I gave him a bracelet that could somewhat track him. If the bracelet is close to this tracker, the light here will blink. The closer the bracelet, the faster it will blink."
Lian Li nodded, "I suppose that's the best thing we have now. We'll make use of that to rescue Master."
Diao Chan scratched her chin, "But why would they even want to imprison Master?"
Just as those words left her lips, there was a knock on the door before Alpha entered the room.
"High Priestesses, Your Majesty… There's an envoy from Dong…"
"In the middle of the night?" Guiying asked, bewildered.
"Yes, Your Majesty. If I can hazard a guess, this envoy has been waiting within the city for some time and most likely came to us after knowing Master has left."
"I'll meet him in the throne room and call everyone for an emergency meeting. Let's see what the Dong dogs have to say."
Alpha bowed and left to carry out her orders.
Soophia nodded to us, "I'll go back and tell the other servants about the situation."
Shadows converged on her and wrapped her in a dark veil, the woman disappearing right in front of us when the shadows dissipated.
"Ugh… I'm going to need to change too… And I just got comfy in these Pajamas…" Guiying groaned.
That's probably my cue.
"I'm gonna go have a walk around then. I'll see you all at the throne room," I suggested, making my way out of the room tactfully..
"Allow me to accompany you, High Priest Brendan," Beta offered, falling in step beside me.
I nodded to her before the two of us left the room, closing the door shut behind us.
"It's been a while, High Priest Brendan," Beta bowed, her cat ears twitching slightly.
"Indeed it has. I think I haven't saw you guys since our beach vacation with Master. I see you four are now employed under Guiying?"
"It was High Priestess Diao Chan's idea to move us here for her protection. We are already integrating our members into the court after we had purged the heretical Noble Houses. I believe High Priest Brendan's family played a big part in it too."
I nodded, "I am aware."
After my family knew I was already part of this, there was no reason for them to hide their involvement from me after all.
Even my elder brother who had been missing returned. The Dark Sect had locked up all the knights who were against their take over and replaced them with fakes.
Thankfully, they had kept them alive to use as hostages instead of killing them like they did the Royal Family.
With elder brother Basil taking care of the family, I could fully devote myself to Master without worry.
"So were there any troubles with those Noble Houses? Surely they didn't take the purge lying down?" I asked.
"Of course not. The more compliant ones we simply gave them a thorough reeducation before letting them join our ranks. The less cooperative ones though… Well… There's a reason why I was trained in assassinations, High Priest Brendan."
"Oh, I am aware. No one knows it is us, right?"
"Disappeared without a trace in the night. Naturally."
I glanced at her, "Speaking of which… Does that mean the entire council of ministers are our people now?"
She nodded, "Pretty much. There were a few Houses that were already loyal to the crown, so we just needed to send some people in to educate them on who is the bigger one they should worship."
"I see… How is my family doing, actually?"
"Your father is one of the ministers now. Minister of Domestic Affairs to be exact. Your elder brother is still a knight in the knight corps, and your other siblings have taken up administrative positions within the palace as well."
"Huh, I didn't know about that particular bit. They doing good?"
"Yes, they are, High Priest Brendan. They know who exactly they are serving after all."
Glad to hear my family's supporting us wholeheartedly too.
I took the long route towards the throne room where the audience with the envoy will be held, giving the Queen and the ministers enough time to reach there before I show up.
Sure enough, my senior sisters and the Queen had just reached the doors leading to the audience chamber at the same time I did.
I fell in step behind them, Beta joining Alpha, Gamma and Delta a step behind us.
"Had a good walk, Brendan? Talked her up didn't you?" Diao Chan smiled at me.
I rolled my eyes at her and kept my mouth shut.
Guiying turned back to face us, "Shall we?"
We nodded back at her, letting her lead the way in.
All the ministers were already gathered there, having rushed here after receiving the Queen's summons.
The murmuring in the hall stopped the moment we entered, all of them bowing their heads and giving the standard greetings with the usual prayer to Master.
"Send the envoy in," Guiying ordered from her throne, the rest of us taking our own seats at the side of the room.
A tall, bespectacled man entered the hall with quick steps, dressed in what seems to be peasant's clothing.
If it weren't for the official seal he had displayed on his belt, I would have thought him to be some farmer and not Dong's envoy.
"Queen of Beiyang, I bear a message from my King. We have received your envoy and have no interest in your peace. Surrender your country to my King and your people will be spared."
Guiying sneered at him, "You would breach the trust between countries by laying a hand on our envoy?"
"As I said, we care not for your petty demands for peace. Surrender or you will find out that expeditionary force that was sent here before pales in comparison with the full might that my King would lay on you if it comes to war."
"Go back and tell your damn king to hand us back our envoy before he can even make such demands from us!"
"I take it that you have no interest in surrendering?"
Guiying slammed the armrest of her throne with a fist, "You Dong dogs have touched someone you should not have! If your damn king wants a war, we will give him one! And there will be no mercy from us!"
The Dong envoy grinned, "Very well then… My King has a present for you in the event that you disagree…"
He reached under his sleeve and tossed a black ball at her, a short length of rope connecting to it that was lit aflame.
I was the first to react by tossing a vial at it, the glass shattering midair and flash freezing the bomb before it could explode.
The sound of the frozen bomb shattering against the ground woke everyone out of their stupor.
"Seize him and throw him in the dungeons!" Guiying ordered, standing up from her throne. "I hereby declare that Beiyang is now at war with the country of Dong!! They want war? We will give them WAR!!"