Ken Yuan was used to having a bad life. Since the great Han Yuan found the land of Rossum, life for the Yuan family had never been the best.
There were many sects all over Rossum, each with its own style of fighting and preferred method of cultivation. Some used spirits, others used talismans or charms, and some focused entirely on body refining. The Zzhang sect was the faction Han Yuan created, resulting in the Yuan Zzhang name being a title given to those who followed its path. This sect was mostly simple. They practiced martial arts and body refinement, as well as raising spirits to absorb as a Core, but their true strength lay in the art of Joint Cultivation, also known as Dual Cultivation.
Despite the fact that Joint Cultivation required a partner, other than their spirit, many people in the Yuan family didn't get along with others.
Ken Yuan was no different, and yet, she was shocked in a way that she failed the Knight's entrance exam. She was even more enraged by what the king had claimed. That she held all those horrible thoughts.
Because of that bastard Core, she had been forcefully captured by the Knights and was now in the back of a room, her wrists bound tightly in chains that she totally could have broken out of if she wanted to, but she just didn't feel like it.
The room she was in was frigid, chilled to the point that her breath became visible, and frost clung to the stone and the walls. Her flesh clung to the metal chair she was forced to sit in, and there was a table that was directly in front of her. Seated at the table was a man she had both wanted to see and dreaded at the same time.
Captain Crow was very famous. He wasn't part of the branch family and also possessed shadow magic. Not all shadow mages were looked down upon, as if they were connected to the Ebony Knight, but many were still discriminated against more than other types of magic users, with the exception of blood or flesh magic.
Despite all of that, Crow had still managed to become a famous Arcane Knight, allowed to hold the title of Captain, all with the backing of a mere noble family. This was, without a doubt, because of the level of wit, power, and skill that he had. Rossum didn't often do battle with Esteria, but when they did, the Cultivators would speak of the Captain of Umbra Mortis as if he were a legend.
This was the man Ken Yuan currently had to face down.
Crow had messy red hair that was tied back into a ponytail, and his face was disheveled, being only partially shaved. One of his eyes was hidden behind a black eyepatch, and his clothes were thrown together and mismatched. He certainly didn't look like a mighty Knight.
The aura he gave off was intense and cold. It told Ken everything she needed to know. This man could, and would, kill her if she stepped out of line.
"Alright." Crow's finger tapped down on the metal table. "Listen up, little fox, did you know your existence has bothered all the higher-ups?"
Ken made a face and turned her nose up at the man. "Whatever. Why would I care?"
"You really should." Crow gave a half-smirk. "After all, we're trying to decide what we should do with you."
"Isn't that obvious?" Ken's eyes narrowed. "Go ahead and give me back to my father."
"We can't."
"Huh?"
Crow let out a sigh. "You're not the first time we've had a noble brat from another land try to join our group and learn the secrets of Haru's power. It happens a lot—"
"That's not what I was doing!"
"-and so we usually deal with you all the same. We'll contact a family member in your homeland and return you to them safely and in good condition in exchange for a bit of Bells. Ransom, basically. This is so we prevent any incident from occurring or a fight between the lands from breaking out. It's usually more a formality than anything else."
Ken smirked slightly, and she looked at the Knight. "Let me guess. You weren't able to get ahold of my father?" It made sense. After all, with the war going on, he likely was way too busy dealing with the Emperor of Mordheim and couldn't afford to listen to any Arcane Knights. Rossum was also far behind the technology level of Esteria and Gallenth, making it harder to communicate over long distances with them.
She was willing to bet that the people in charge of setting up the ransom were simply ignored, and that was now causing a bit of a panic.
Her smirk quickly faded when Crow shook his head. "No. You're wrong." The man said flatly. "We did hear back from your father."
Ken suddenly felt a sinking feeling in her gut. "Y-You did?"
"We did." Crow's look was dead serious, his single eye boring into her. "See, there are times when we're unable to get in contact with someone from another land, or they simply refuse the payment. When moments like that happen, we usually send the kidnapped noble back home anyway. We do this because the king's trial gazes upon a person, knows everything about them, and will know how much information they truly know. If it's too much, we'll have a mage with memory magic get rid of any pesky thoughts or memories. If they don't serve much of a threat, we'll simply send them back right away, free of charge, in order to prevent any needless fighting, and because we've come out on top since the king will know any information that the spies have. Nowadays, it's actually extremely rare for spies to be sent in, and so we were all left confused as to what to do with you and had to be instructed by the king himself, who told us to get ahold of your father. By luck, we managed to do that, and we told him that we had you here and that we wanted payment for your return."
Ken gave a slight nod. "And I'm guessing he refused?"
"That's putting it lightly." Crow's finger tapped on the table. "He laughed. Haru, did he laugh… We've had families refuse the payment, as I said, but this is a first. Your father, that old monster, decided to pay us." Crow lifted his hand, curled as if he was holding a gun, his finger pointed straight at her head. "For a pretty fortune, your father asked us to execute you and ensure you died."
A wave of fear finally settled into Ken, and she felt her face pale. She could practically hear her heart beating, and she tugged on the chairs trying to get away, but they wouldn't break. Crow remained sitting across from her, his calm look not changing.
In the end, she was just an object. One, her father created and used as he pleased. Like any of her other siblings, she didn't matter. She was something her father simply wished to draw all the use out of and then discard. Now, it was time she be thrown away like trash.
Her father didn't want her to come back to his land. Her father didn't want her to be part of this world anymore.
"W-What are you going to do with me?" Ken spat out, and she tried to look confident, but it held no weight. She didn't even have Yujin's gourd with her, so she couldn't summon him even if she wanted to.
"The king asked me to deal with you," Crow stated. "Recently, I lost someone I cared for deeply, and it was said that the attack came from Rossum. I don't believe it was you, but I'll admit, I'm still holding some bitter feelings." His voice was completely cold and devoid of emotion. The look in his eyes was one a person would give to a dying animal. "The wealth your father offered up made us all wonder what sort of twisted things you could have done to your homeland. Of course, the king didn't see anything out of the ordinary when he checked your memories, but even he was flabbergasted by the amount of Bells he could get if you were to die. At the moment, the deal hasn't gone through. Instead, your life is in my hands. Since your father doesn't want you, we can either kill you off and take the offered Bells or throw you into a prison and let you rot away alone. Either way, you're going to die. The only difference is whether it'll be on the execution block or in a cell. Your life is literally in my hands."
"W-Why are you telling me this!" Ken yelled out in rage. "A-Are you trying to mock me?"
Crow shook his head. "No. The truth is. I don't want to pick."
"What?"
"I don't see anyone bad when I look at you." He admitted softly. "I see a scared young woman who has been dealt a bad hand by life. I don't think you're a monster. At the same time, I also doubt the others will simply let you go and allow you to do as you please. Neither option is good for you, so I am here, speaking, because I want to ask you. What do you want?"
"I want to go free!" Ken said quickly. "J-Just let me go, and I'll leave the kingdom myself! O-Or you can send me somewhere else! T-Try Mordheim! They'd take the ransom bait, I bet!"
"We can't do that."
"Why not!"
"Do you want to die?" Crow asked simply.
"Of course I don't!" Ken felt tears of frustration appear in her eyes. "I don't want to die! What kind of stupid fucking question is that! I haven't gotten to live a good life yet! I deserve so much! I've come so far and had so much shit happen to me, so why do bad things like this keep recurring? Why can't I get to be happy? Don't I deserve something good!"
Crow clasped his hands together. "Most of the Knights simply want you dead. They'd rather take the Bells from your father and earn something from it. To go against that, I need something. Anything. I don't know who you are or what you've been through, so convince me. What's an outcome that ends best for everyone?"
"How should I know?"
"I had something I wanted to ask you," Crow said suddenly. "It involved a way that could maybe make everyone happen, but in the end, it would likely have the same outcome of you dying. You're just someone not a lot of people seem to care about, as sad as I am to say."
Ken clenched her hands tightly and gritted her teeth. Then she stopped, and her head bowed down. "Oh yeah? No one from this kingdom cares about me? Bullshit. I know someone did. I—I have something to tell you." Crow stared at her and then gave a nod for her to go on. "It's about your sister Raven. I was there when she died—"
The table was suddenly gone.
The coldness in the room had grown so intense that Ken could feel ice rapidly coating her flesh, and the chair she had been stuck to was peeled away as in an instant she was rammed into the wall hard enough to crack the stone.
The look in Crow's eye had changed yet again. Now it was one of anger and hate, and she realized he had his hands on her throat and was squeezing down. She couldn't breathe. He was choking her!
"Why would you say that!" Crow roared, and his voice bounced around the cell. "I asked you to fight for your life, and you say something like that! Do you seriously want to die?"
His arms were shaking, and his eye was bloodshot. Ken gasped and grabbed at the hands on her throat, but he easily overpowered her. Somehow, she managed to speak. Her lips moved, and she said something in a quiet and soft tone.
"What?" Crow growled, and his hands grew tighter. "What did you say?"
Ken tried again, this time speaking a tiny bit louder. She managed to spit out the final words Raven had said to her. As she spoke, Crow's rage slowly looked like it was fading, replaced with shock and confusion. The hands on her throat grew slack, and no longer was she choking, but he still kept her pressed to the wall and ordered her to explain.
And so, Ken did. She told him everything. She spoke about how Raven had saved her life and found her. How the woman and she had become "friends," if such a thing could even be described, and then how they fought together on the battlefield, only for Raven to lose her life. When she was finally done, Crow let go of her, and she dropped to her knees, breathing heavily.
He also collapsed back and let out a bitter laugh, staring down at the floor with blank eyes. Raven's final words were for him, and him alone. A story that only Crow and Ken Yuan would ever know.
"And she actually wanted you to join the Knights?" Crow gave her a strange look. "Is that seriously why you showed up?"
"O-Of course not!" Ken rapidly shook her head and forced her face to remain calm. "I just wanted to pass that message on to you. That's what she told me to do. Now, y-you owe me one because I did that! I don't know how you do things where you're from, but where I am, we make good on debts!"
Crow slowly stood back up. "Right." He ran a hand through his hair in stress. "I told you, I didn't want you to just die or rot in a cell. I did have an idea, but honestly, it was a stupid one and one I didn't want to offer. The more I look at you, though, the more mixed feelings I get."
"What are you trying to say?"
"There's a guild I think you'd be perfect for. I'd have to convince the king, and I don't know if he'd be fine with it, but if he is, it could result in an outcome where the Knights who want you dead are happy, while still giving you a chance to live." Crow stroked his chin. "After all, many consider it to be a form of delayed execution. It would likely even win your father over, and if you truly survived an encounter my sister was unable to, I'm confident you won't simply die."
Ken's face once again paled, and she felt her stomach partially flip. "Uh oh."
"I don't know when they can send you to them, though." Crow hummed. "Recently, a mutant that was supposed to head to them broke out and flew off in their direction. We managed to teleport him back, and now he's on house arrest. You'd like to be in the same boat as that Sieg fellow. Still, if I do convince the king, once all that is settled, you'll be able to walk around in the world's biggest cell, because effectively the whole kingdom would be your prison."
"Y-You're not actually suggesting I join Phoenix Flight?"
Crow glanced back down at her. "I'll be honest. That's the only one you could join. No other guild wants you or simply can't. I'd like to offer a spot on my own so we can talk more, but there is no way the king would let you join one of the big three." Crow folded his arms. "So. What is it? Execution. Delayed execution. Or life imprisonment."
***
Obviously, she joined Phoenix Flight.
Crow had barely helped her. He had been truthful when he said he didn't want her to just die, but he also wasn't on her side. In the end, he had done the bare minimum.
It wasn't like it mattered, though, because she was sure she was dead. So many memories flashed through her mind, and Ken knew why. She was dying. Her life was being relived rapidly now that she was at the end.
White simply sliced his swords out, and in an instant, they cut through her neck. She was unable to dodge or even move due to the jagged spikes that were in her body. Because of his magic type, his mana was able to invade her, and after using Core Mask, he gained the ability to cast wood-based spells alongside his regular spells, which meant she was impaled from all sides from the inside out.
Ken watched in horror as the blades severed her head, cutting through flesh, veins, and bones like nothing. That was when the flow of memories hit her.
Just like that, she was dead. Not even Yujin's healing could regrow her entire body. Maybe if her head could get placed back onto her neck, but she highly doubted White would do that for her.
What a terrible story…
She almost wanted to laugh. Her whole life was mistake after mistake. Bad luck seemed present even before she joined Phoenix Flight. It only got worse once she arrived in this kingdom.
Why did she never get a happy ending?
Sure, there were good moments, but what did that matter if there was more bad? Did it matter? This land had hurt her. She had been beaten down over and over again. In the end, this was her fate. To die like some beast.
Yuan's were famous for Joint Cultivation, but they rarely ended up with partners they truly cared about, aside from their spirits. This was because it was hard for them to truly form connections. Yuan cared for people. Very deeply. They wanted what was best for the ones they loved, and they couldn't stand to see any setback befall them. They loved more than most and gave so much, and when they lost someone they loved, it would often set them back. They were able to form bonds and connections, and so it was that they also hurt more than anyone else.
This was the curse of the Yuan family. They loved so much that they pushed everyone away so they wouldn't have to be hurt. They closed themselves off. She had been no different. That was why she was alone now.
"Oh well. At least it's over now." Ken felt her head start to slide off her body. Finally, she could stop pretending.
"No!" Suddenly, a pair of hands wrapped around the severed head and jammed it back down onto the neck. "Vil Blood Mend! Row Blood Mend!"
The brain could survive for a few moments even if the head were severed. Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for a severed head to be reattached to a body and healed back on unless a potent healer managed to do it seconds after the beheading.
Ken's body and her traits allowed the impossible to happen. Healing magic was highly effective on her, and her own body was able to heal naturally and could reattach limbs like her arms. As soon as her head was slammed back down, two spells hit her. One was of the level of Vil, which was greatly enhanced and boosted past what it would generally be. The second was Row, which followed after the Vil spell and rapidly mended her neck.
Even then, the healing wasn't enough to entirely fix her severed head; however, it did connect nerves and the tissue, and her own body's healing factor rapidly kicked in, setting the road for her to speak. "Vil Flame Feel! Vil Flame Feel! Vil Flame Feel!"
Ken used her own healing spell, added it onto the others, pushing it over the edge, and mended her head, her spine, her nerves, and everything else.
This happened so fast that White was caught completely off guard and stalled for a fraction of a second as he stared in shock at Ken.
The flames ate away at the wood that jutted out of her, and the blood magic flowed into her, mending her flesh and instantly healing her. In only a matter of moments, his killing blow had been undone.
Behind Ken, Olivia's legs gave out. The potion Merlin gave her had been fully used up. Vil and a Row spell took its toll on her body and left her exhausted. She was unable to dodge as White sliced out with his blades, but Ken simply picked Olivia up, and she leapt away as fast as she could.
She held Olivia in her arms, bridal carrying the girl. "Ken!" Despite the exhaustion, Olivia's eyes were wide with panic. "Are you okay? Are you still alive?"
Ken grunted and moved her head from side to side. "I think you healed everything just in time—wait! What are you even doing here?"
"I came to get you," Olivia said simply.
Ken's eyes widened, and she felt a new sense of emotion hit her. Why? Why had someone come to rescue her? She quickly shook her head and ignored it. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but that guy isn't going to let us go so easily."
"I know." Olivia squirmed her way out of Ken's arms, and her body glowed with a flash. When she landed on her feet, she was dressed in a familiar witch outfit. She stared blankly at White, and the man frowned beneath his mask. "Let's take him out."
Ken smirked and cracked her knuckles. "Alright. Sure. Just try to keep up, little snake."
"Little snake?"
"That's what you are," Ken stated. "A serpent that crushes its prey with as much brutality as it needs. So, just do what you do best. And let's take this fucker down."
White raised both his blades once more. "Very well. Two on one. It matters not. I'll simply behead you both!"
And with that, Olivia Lot joined the battle.