[Chapter Size: 2300 Words.]
Third Person POV
Toussaint.
...
...
"Listen, I want to hear any report while you surround the duchy. Stay alert to everything. We placed the sorcerers precisely to make communication easier and to search for the two. Be careful as well, the boy is slippery, since he disappeared from everyone's sight a few hours ago.", Ardal var Ekkerni, the Nilfgaardian noble who was commanding all the troops there in the duchy and also assuming control of Toussaint's own forces, said through the magic mirror.
"We will do that, my lord!" The voice came from the mirror of each of the squads walking through the duchy after Madara and Ciri.
"My lord, do you think we can handle those two? I've heard stories about the boy. They say he is some kind of demon who can destroy everything...", murmured one of the Nilfgaardian soldiers behind Ardal var Ekkerni, while the noble mocked him with his gaze.
"I know about the war. That same boy massacred my uncle and the entire family of my wife during the war. But our mission is simple: deliver the letter and demand that he accompany us to Nilfgaard. Besides, he isn't all that everyone says...", he said with a mocking look.
"What do you mean, sir?", murmured another with some caution, in the Nilfgaardian language like everyone there.
"I mean that the boy who was seen in the war, the one everyone said appeared like the very God of Death, slaughtering soldiers like no demon could ever do… no longer exists. Think with me: he hid for so many years, appeared now, but keeps dodging. He doesn't face any kingdom. Tell me, if you had such power, why wouldn't you dominate the entire continent? But no, he didn't do that. Which indicates he is weakened. It means that whatever he used — whatever he summoned during the war — he cannot do it again", he replied, while his men seemed to nod at the reasoning.
After all, whoever had the power to summon a giant like the one that appeared during the war could be, right now, conquering the entire continent and forcing everyone to their knees. That was how most men would think of acting.
"The power to create monsters… If you have the power to crush the whole continent, massacre thousands of people and any opponent, why would you stay hidden?", recited the noble; it was this line of reasoning that kept him from fearing Madara as much as everyone else.
"Anyway, now we have control over the duchy. This is good. I always wanted to know Toussaint and with the emperor's approval, well… we can play a little with this country-bumpkin duchy, although beautiful", he said, opening a malicious smile, while the only one of all the sorcerers who had come was at his side, and this one smiled as well.
"You are very intelligent, sir. We can obtain some benefits while we are here... Anna Henrietta is a very beautiful noblewoman", the sorcerer replied, while the noble stared at him.
"You will not lay a finger on her", he said, without removing his malicious smile. "She is mine. I will have her tonight, and she will have no way to deny me."
The noble had an easy time conquering women below his status. They were quickly impressed by his value to the Empire, and he, as a trusted man of the emperor, received many favors. Many ladies — or their fathers — offered their own daughters to get close to him in search of benefits, taking advantage of his direct contact with the Imperial court.
He might have been married, but he had his lovers.
However, when he arrived in Toussaint, he did not impress Lady Anna Henrietta. Quite the opposite: she was stubborn and found it absurd that the emperor revoked her rule over Toussaint through Emhyr's own order. She did not want to hand over the duchy's power to him, and the noble had to take extreme measures. Even so, he was moved by her beauty and intended to have her without her clothes over her skin that night — whether she wanted it or not. She would have no one to complain to.
He expected the mage in front of him to nod, for he knew that anything he wished to touch the other would never dare lay a hand on. But instead of submissive eyes, he found the sorcerer's dazed eyes, glazed, staring fixedly ahead.
"Are you alright?" Seeing the trembling gaze, the noble furrowed his brow as the sorcerer remained motionless, staring into emptiness.
He heard groans coming from behind before seeing his men falling one by one. He immediately turned and found a boy standing over the bodies of five soldiers, all lying behind him — including the one who had complained earlier.
"You…"
Immediately, Ardal var Ekkerni took a step back, turning his attention to the sorcerer, expecting him to protect him with some spell. But the mage remained paralyzed, not moving a finger, as if under the effect of absolute terror before him.
"I immobilized him. He won't help you. I mean, he won't save you," Madara replied calmly, while the man quickly moved his hand to his waist, where he kept the magic mirror, ready to summon troops.
However, as soon as he touched the object, it was simply thrown far away, spinning in the air with a type of kunai characteristic of Madara, piercing the glass as it cracked.
"You won't call for help either… Your name must be Ardal," Madara said calmly, staring at the noble, who now seemed terrified, even though Madara had not taken a single step with the intention of approaching.
"Y-you… you don't know who I am. It's better if you don't come closer!" he said nervously now, even though he still clung to his own arrogance.
But Madara did not respond. He merely let his red eyes lock onto the noble's. Then the noble stopped resisting.
He immediately placed him in a Genjutsu.
There had been explicit instructions not to look into the boy's eyes… but the noble seemed to have completely forgotten that. It is also difficult not to look at a predator.
Madara wasted no time. He quickly began to search through all the information: everything the man knew, his intentions there, his past. He saw his entire life — someone born into a privileged position, who had gained even more status due to his services to the Empire and his connections upon arriving at court, playing around in the political game among so many other nobles.
The emperor had a good opinion of him, although he was nowhere near as important as he believed himself to be. He could live at court, but he was not someone of true trust to Emhyr. Madara also seemed to be seeing the emperor's appearance for the first time through that, and he saw the conversation they had before coming to Toussaint.
In any case, the letter was a direct demand from the emperor. Madara would not kill him, since that would draw too much attention to the duchy and make things more tense for Anna Henrietta now, with a murder occurring in the castle.
What he did was simple: he approached the noble, lightly touched his chest, and emitted a small glow of Mokuton chakra. Inside him, he inserted a fungus.
From that point on, the Nilfgaardian would have serious problems — but this would most likely prevent tensions between Nilfgaard, the duchy, and Anna Henrietta, with him dying some time later.
Madara also entered the sorcerer's mind right afterwards. His mental defenses were pathetic, and Madara ended up learning some interesting things — spells that would be useful for other clones. But he did not like that magic user at all; the man was a rapist just like his companion. He placed the fungus in his chest as well; he would be dead in a few weeks, and until then, he would suffer greatly.
Madara finished everything there. He made them all forget what had happened, woke each of the guards, erased all their memories, and convinced the sorcerer not to touch Anna Henrietta — in fact, he would leave. The mental command was simple: he had already delivered the letter to Madara with false memories and needed only to withdraw the troops from Toussaint.
Perhaps the emperor would find the quick return a little strange, but it no longer mattered.
Madara returned to Ciri, who was waiting for him on the rooftop. She stared at him when she saw him arrive with a letter in his hand.
"Do you want to read it?" he asked.
She nodded, though she was a bit uncertain and frustrated. Madara handed her the letter, and she opened it, beginning to read before furrowing her brow.
"Look at this…", she complained, while Madara took the letter back and read:
[Madara Uchiha and Princess Cirilla, who find themselves in the duchy of Toussaint, as my spies have reported.
I must admit that you are quite bold to set foot on Nilfgaardian imperial land. My first intention was to send an army to exterminate you.
Even if I devastated the region, I assure you your death for the threat you represent.
However, my advisors have stated that it would not be wise of me to cause a great number of casualties for Nilfgaard now, for I know that even though you no longer possess the strength you had during the war, there are still many rumors about your power being stronger than that of the most powerful mages.
But I do not believe you can still face an army.
That is why I summon you to the royal court of the Empire, so that we may speak and, who knows, reach an agreement amidst all this madness.
This is not a request. It is not an invitation.
Refusing means becoming an enemy of the Empire for the rest of your life.
Do you desire that, Madara Uchiha?
If you do not accept, we will hunt you.
If you cause trouble, we will destroy you.]
The letter ended there, and Madara scoffed. "This man still has the courage to say such things? He truly believes that just because I haven't done anything relevant in recent years aside from dealing with dragons, Nilfgaard can handle me now?"
Madara stored the letter. "What will we do?" Ciri asked, still angry.
"Forget it. We'll simply ignore it," he said, putting it away among his tools, seeing no use for it at the moment. He would leave it there in case he needed it in the future.
Ciri nodded. Despite the feelings she had toward that damned man who should have been her father, the letter said nothing about her directly — it was only a threat against Madara.
Ciri had not been accused of anything for obvious reasons. Anyone who knew about the relationship between the emperor and her would not be surprised.
"Anyway, let's wait for our things. I want to check one more place and then we'll leave," Madara said, while Ciri nodded.
They returned to the weapon shop, where all the armors were boxed in wooden crates, waiting for the wagons of the wealthy noble couple.
Madara simply appeared, pulled out a scroll, and began sealing everything there. The sellers were surprised before Madara erased their memories and inserted the false information that knights had arrived, taken the armors and weapons, and left.
Madara's clone who had been at the Viper School arrived with a scroll. He had found some hidden tomes after digging through the place and discovering secret passages by excavating areas no one else had managed to uncover.
The knights had already rescued the hostages some time later, so there was no longer any concern about the place.
They still traveled through the region, finding members of the Nilfgaardian army hurrying back to the castle.
Madara and Ciri ate at an inn without drawing attention, using Ciri's concealment spell with their hoods up. Madara always resorted to the Sharingan when necessary. And, by late afternoon, it was time to head back north.
He sent a clone to Anna Henrietta, this time wanting to introduce his other clone dressed in the Akatsuki cloak if she agreed — the Akatsuki member would remain there to protect her and ensure she upheld the agreement, should she accept.
"Let's move away to summon Ignavros and head north, to Sodden," Madara said, as Ciri, he, and Eira left the village limits and entered the forest.
However, something caught their attention: an explosion erupted at least two kilometers away from them. Ciri looked at Madara, and he narrowed his eyes, activating the Sharingan. He saw flames in the distance — spells, by the chaos energy his eyes could perceive.
"It seems Nilfgaard wasn't convinced by the noble. They probably know I entered his mind, controlled him, and sent some other sorcerers… at least twenty of them, and they're trying to get our attention. We can simply leave…" Madara commented without much concern; he found it ridiculous that they were casting spells just to see if the two would appear from anywhere in the duchy, considering how difficult it would be to find them in the entire region.
"Those bastards…" Ciri murmured.
Madara shrugged. "Well, it seems even Nilfgaard still doesn't understand the danger we pose. Do you want to deal with them?" he asked in a dangerous tone.
"Yes, let me deal with them, Madara. Let me show that I am not a defenseless damsel to that man, and that I can be as much an enemy to them as my husband. Isn't that what we will be when we take Cintra? Let me make that very clear to my supposed father," she said.
Madara observed her for a few seconds, seeing her determination, and nodded.
If she wanted this battle, very well.
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