Evil Samurai In Cultivation World

Inside the Royal Palace.

Prince Blake Bancroft was on his chair, sitting inside his room. In front of him, on his desk, were two detailed reports with information about the invasion of Gottfried's Army onto Copenea. The Prince had two separate informants working for him to snuggle out information, so as to make sure that there aren't any errors in the reports. Of course, the informants were't aware of each other's existence.

'I know we already made preparations specifically for this, but I just can't believe it's really happening..' The Prince frowned as he looked at the two reports. 

A massacre. That's how the reports described the attack of Gilbert Gottfried and his army. There wasn't anything the Capenean soldiers could do to defend against them, and as such, a country that was known for its rich history and background was no more. It's existence completely erased and reduced to dust.

It was shocking and terrifying. It brought out a lot of emotions from the Prince.

'That could've been us. That could've been Argria.'

It was a disgusting and bitter realization, but they were powerless to do anything. They weren't strong enough to stop Gottfried and his men. So their only hope was to get on his good side, in hopes that he will spare them.

'We're lucky that we can live for now.'

The Prince still wished to wipe out the current academies if he could rebuild it from scratch while having complete control over them, as it was much more straightforward. But with Gilbert Gottfried and his army fast approaching, it was simply too dangerous and risky to cut down the academies.

'For all their talk about saving the people, they sure went against their beliefs easily.'

The Prince had received information from General Ivan that the reformer group from the Trinity Academy had agreed to cooperate with the Royal Family in order to 'protect Argria and its citizens,' and anyone who were in disagreement with these members would be dealt with immediately.

'What a bunch of nonsense. They will go off the limit for their own safety.'

The Prince gritted his teeth as he read through the report. He thought that most of these so called 'reformers' would have at least rejected the cooperation at first, but it appeared that a majority of these members were only in it because the success of the reformation movement would result in higher position for those that took part in it. In other words, they were a part of it purely because of their greed for power.

Of course, there were those who wished to wipe out the Royal Family as it was hindering the growth of the nation and the academies. But these opinions were only voiced by the minority. It was the majority of these members, even though they knew how it went against the ideology of the reformation movement, who decided to join hands with their enemies.

'I'll deal with them later, but now is not the time.'

The Prince knew that keeping these people who weren't reliable on his side for too long wasn't a good idea. And so, he decided to use these people to deal with the internal problems within the academies and if the Royal Family is successful with their plans and became strong enough that he no longer needed these people…

'I will end them then!'

As the Prince was thinking about his future plans, someone knocked on the door to his room and he turned his head.

"Prince. It is time for the coronation!" The voice of Minister Burne was heard through the door, and the Prince smiled bitterly.

"Oh… already?" he replied as he got up from his chair, and walked towards the door.

'It's finally starting… huh.'

*********************

Inside the Inner Hall Division. The Training Grounds.

The Night before the Coronation.

Claude Rayforth was standing inside of one of the closed training ground sectors. The training grounds were only available to the inner disciples who had reached sky realm, which was why it took Claude so long to find a training sector.

He had Senior Beldon authorize entry into the training grounds and added his name to the registry right after the Second Elder's meeting, so that he could get started right away.

He had been training in his courtyard for quite a while now, and the servants were having a hard time cleaning up the mess and refilling the ground that was destroyed by his attacks. It was time for him to move on to the training grounds, which was the designated area for Inner disciples to go all out.

The training ground sector was a lot bigger than the courtyard that Claude had been using to train. 

'I asked for a lot of space, and sure enough, they did give me a lot.'

The training ground sector was prepared according to Claude's wishes. It was designed specifically for him.

'I can practice here all I want, without worrying about destruction.'

Claude didn't waste any time and started training right away. The first thing he did was practice all of his cultivation techniques that he had learned.

Swoosh!

He first practiced the Invisible Sword Technique, combined with the floating footsteps technique. 

Swish!

He then followed it up with cultivating the Pure Iron Technique, which was the body strengthening technique, to properly strengthen his muscles, and then he practiced with the astral wing blades.

Whoosh!

Next came the Beau Paradis Technique, which was now a bit more easy thanks to Claude breaking through to the Sky Realm. It would've been a lot difficult for him to utilize the technique had he been stuck in the Earth Realm.

Slash!

And then, finally, he trained using the Sunrise Sword Technique, as he summoned his katana and practiced.

The day went by quickly, but Claude was still in his training ground sector, practicing his techniques and trying to push his limits. Cold air brought steam over his breaths.

"You know, you shouldn't train so hard. You need to rest as well,"He then heard a voice and Claude stopped his practice, and the training ground went silent at once. It was Senior Beldon, who was standing next to the doorway. It seems he had been observing Claude, which made him furrow his eyebrows.

"I've gotten used to it. And I have to push myself. It's necessary, in order to move forward." Claude turned back and spoke quietly, and Senior Beldon began slowly walking towards him. "I remember telling you that we're similar, but I'd say we're pretty different when it comes to training."

He spoke softly. However, even though he was whispering, his voice was laced with spiritual energy that spread through the training ground, which showed Senior Beldon's sheer power.

He wasn't a nobody.

"Surely Senior didn't just come here to talk about how lazy you are..."

"Hah.... A sense of humour. That's new!"

Senior Beldon chuckled for a few seconds and then shook his head. "I came here to tell you about tomorrow."

"The coronation?"

"That's right, tomorrow is the day of the Prince's coronation. We have to reach Josenheim before the coronation takes place, so don't forget to sleep early. Oh, and Claude!"

Senior Beldon looked at Claude for a second, before continuing, "Be careful tomorrow."

Claude's eyes grew large and turned to Senior Beldon, who simply walked away.

*******************

The faculty building, inside the Headmaster's Office.

The Headmaster was walking back and forth, an ugly expression covering his face as he walked.

"Headmaster!" A voice was heard from the other side of the door, and the Headmaster replied, "You can come in, Baron!"

Clack!

The door opened, and the Second Elder walked in with a panicked expression on his face.

"It's Carlos, Baron.." although reluctant, the Headmaster spoke slowly, "It seems that Carlos is missing.."

"Are you sure, Headmaster?" The Second Elder asked seriously and the Headmaster shook his head with a sigh. "I am, Baron. It appears that someone got to him before he could reach the meeting place in Canteburne City. I'm positive that he's been killed."

"This is bad," the Second Elder gritted his teeth as he spoke. "Who else knew about Carlos?"

"No one except his crew, us, and the Trinity Academy reformers!" The Headmaster bit his lips in anger and continued, "Who do you think betrayed us, Baron? Who was the good for nothing who thought it'd be a good idea to make enemies of us?"

The Second Elder looked at the Headmaster with a bitter smile. "I'm afraid I do not have an answer to that, Headmaster. But we can't trust the Trinity Academy reformers anymore."

"You're right Baron," the Headmaster nodded his head as he sat down on his chair and took a sip out of his coffee, dissatisfied. "But if we can't trust the Trinity Academy reformers, then who do you think is trustworthy?"

The Second Elder moved to the window and looked outside as he spoke, "Headmaster… I think right now, we can only trust each other."