"How Long Until The Crown Breaks?"

Warning: Briefly contains graphic violence

11. Naminek, the country that lies on the southern tip of the eastern Ashio continent, is known for its vicious take on life, people, their royalty, resources, and it's love of gold.

When Takashi had come back from fighting the Adenian demons, he came back to chaos. It turns out that while he was gone, the people had wondered what to do with him when he came back, some didn't even think he would come back and that he would die.

But that was obviously not the case.

The people of the villages, town's, and suburbs were happy to get the news that the Twilight Warrior was back, but, the people of the central city had questions. 

After making it to the city, Takashi was brought to the Empress, who fell on her knees for him, happy to meet the man who in her words, "got rid of a big, lingering, and nasty pest" Which is referring to her much older brother, the past Emperor who Takashi had killed.

The Great Speaker though, hated Takashi being brought into the palace, and even advised to his men to keep watch of him. 

Takashi ignored everything about The Great Speaker and instead kept his attention on the Empress and her plans for him, since she brought him in to be the new Captain of the Guards, since the Captain of the Guards before was just executed for treason of conspiring with the Doulishii Nation, the people who have been under Naminek rule for three hundred years.

The Empress's love for Takashi was so strong that she instantly made him the Captain of the Guards, and even offered for him to be her partner, and by being her partner that means that they can practically be lovers.

When the Empress wanted to lay with him one night, Takashi casually refused her, but the Empress didn't take to it lightly.

Through all of this, it eventually lead to the Empress suddenly being sick. A prolonged sickness that is considered, "the strangest of all sicknesses" As she is slowly bleeding to death internally, which kept her in bed at all times, even to where her daughter Marishi, would barely see her.

The people wondered where this could come from, or maybe it just ran in the family like the Emperors and Empresses before her about two hundred years ago.

But what is said from the Empress herself is that her and Takashi started fighting, and that he hit her so hard that it caused internal bleeding.

The people, not sure how they felt about Takashi's presence after learning of his past past, immediately conclude this nonsensical act to be the reason for her prolonged bleeding. And with The Great Speaker giving these words in speech to the city, and sending the governors to send the word to the rest of the country's states, Takashi had no choice but to deal with the word that was going around, and how people really felt about the Twilight Warrior.

To him, it felt unnatural for something like this to have happened this way; he knew still that he didn't cause it, he knew that what she described didn't happened, he only but pushed her, and she didn't even call from it.

As if someone had set him up or something.

During the second year, it caused Takashi to be hated, as The Great Speaker kept pressing the idea that Takashi had caused this disease. This even caused the Empresse's daughter to hate Takashi.

For the umpteenth time in Takashi's life, he had felt depressed again. Instead of taking all his problems to the Creator Yah, he delve deeper into it, which is how he came up with his master plan, a plan he made through the chaos of his own guards trying to throw him in prison for attempted murder to the Empress by the vicious word of her daughter Marishi.

And this same plan, he brought up to Morlagon as well.

They chased after Takashi, but he always made a way to get away from them, since apart of his plan is not to end up in prison, obviously.

With this going on for about three months now of Takashi being looked into from the Empress's devious words.

But still during all of this chaos, the questions would be answered sooner than he thought.

.......

Strolling in the dark, rainy, and gloomy night, Takashi gets off of Meteor and stares down the six guards guarding the doors to the training grounds of the Haliki Guards (strongest warriors of Naminek, also to train assassins) where the men and women practice martial arts on the grounds of the ancient temple. 

He jumps down from Meteor, keeping the horse out of sight from the garden gate that leads to the pathway up to the temple.

Takashi puts a hood over his head to match his covered body, keeping his face covered with a different golden mask that hides his face completely.

Now walking to the men, Takashi nods to them and with a different tone of voice, he says to the guards, "I am Norshi, I am a new trainer that was called to master tonight."

The guard he is talking to looks him up and down, whispering to the other guard before saying to Takashi, "who sent for you this late at night? It can't be from Captain Takashi, he is soon to be thrown in prison once caught, he no longer controls or speaks to the guardsmen."

"The Great Speaker himself sent for me, to master his son, Calshi."

 Takashi takes out a letter and hands it to the men, they look at it, and studying it deeply, it matches the handwriting of The Great Speaker.

"You may go in." The guard says after.

Takashi nods and walks right in, feeling only slightly accomplished.

Takashi made his way into the temple while walking under the glowing golden lamps, making his way to the training grounds, doing what he came here to do.

Now Takashi ruled over all of this, but recently he hasn't even stepped foot into the pathway that brings you here from him running away from the law.

Trying his best to stay quiet now, Takashi does his best to continue looking for clues that prove the Naminek house and people wrong. He has tried this the past three months, but it wasn't until he remembered something small, but now valid, to prove his point.

A piece of his cloth has been torn by the Empress herself, and he wanted to prove this of her attacking him, and that it has nothing to do with him attacking her.

Regardless, he did push her, but Takashi became so high in rank and power, that the Empress didn't mind a little touch from him.

He wanted to make her confess, and he doesn't care now what it takes to do that. If this plan doesn't work, Takashi will for sure be taking peoples blood more than an of the medicine man's have.

Looking directly at what looks like the cloth, lying on the gold flowing floor, Takashi walks up to it and grabs it instantly, putting it in his pocket as soon as he hears footsteps approaching him.

Then hearing a voice call out to him by the name of Norshi, Takashi stands backs in position as he waits and the watches the Great Speaker's make his way out.

The large doors open up and good pours out to fill the floor, then stepping down the good stairs is Calshi, he stares at Takashi, who he thinks is his master Norshi.

He bows as Takashi says in Norshi's tone of voice, "are you ready for you training?" Taking out his sword, Takashi stands in balance as he awaits Calshi's next words. 

Calshi bows down and then says, "I am master, I am ready."

With the both of them in position, Takashi swings first as the two of them clash swords for about ten minutes, until Takashi strikes him right by his chest, causing Calshi to back up and almost drop his sword.

With wide eyes, Calshi says to Takashi, "wow master, you almost got me."

Takashi stands straight while wiping his sword clean of Calshi's fabric, then looking directly to him, he says to Culshi, "never let you guard down."

"Right...I won't master."

Takashi forces himself to continue the hour long training, but....It didn't last that long this time.

As Takashi swings towards Calshi, Calshi makes a swing that hits Takashi's mask, practically knocking it off as Takashi has to hold on to it so that it doesn't fall completely off.

Calshi though, keeps swinging still, even as Takashi yells to him, "hold out!"

Then putting his sword down, he gasps seeing a glimpse of Takashi under the mask, not his master Norshi.

"Wait? Captain? What are you doing here training Captain??? You should be arrested for what you caused the Empress!"

Takashi chuckles as he holds the mask.

"What's funny??"

"Just how stupid my plan was..."

"Your plan? Your plan to ruin my training time with my master? For what? To reminisce on how this temple is where you have caused our Empress internal bleeding!"

"That is not even remotely true, and I will prove everyone wrong. She was attacking me and I have the cloth from my outfit to prove that she attacked me, I remember the lipstick mark that was left on it."

Calshi lowers his sword as Takashi speaks out, but, the large doors from the outside gates open wide, and rushing in is the six guards from outside, with the head guard saying "Captain Takashi! You are under arrest for plotting to murder our Empress!"

All of them surround Takashi as he says, "I have a piece of cloth from that day to confirm that I was the one hit, whatever is happening to the Empress is not me? I feel for our Empress just as much as you all do?"

Trying to get them to listen, the head door guard replies with, "I want you to bring this up to the Empress herself, if not, then we will arrest you regardless, and then you will be questioned there..." 

Saying this to Takashi harshly, he can still feel the anger they have for him, even with Calshi trying to calm everyone down now, still, the guards don't look to believe him. 

Takashi shows them the cloth, but the guard says, "we can't trust you with that, if you don't come with us right now, we will send Torrid on you. (Torrid is the largest lion like creature living in the dungeon right behind the palace, it can't be sent on any call, and it will for flying out to attack said person, in this case, Takashi.

Takashi just smirks, "you guys are quite stupid."

"Come with us and things will be well."

"By imprisoning me?"

"Your choice."

As they get closer to him, with their swords drawn, Takashi puts his mask back on, with Calshi saying to him, "we know your identity, what's with the mask?"

He turns to them all while drawing out his sword, saying with slick banter, "I just don't want your blood to get on my face..."

Without hesitation, he charges at them all, except Calshi who backs up from the fight.

Tearing through all six of them, Takashi slices and stabs through them with ease, with only one of them able to slash through his clothing from the back. It doesn't do enough to penetrate his skin, meanwhile, he turns to the guard who does so and slices his neck, then as one guard comes up behind him, he stabs the guard through his neck.

The other three guards are who he slices through with ease, and the last one, the head guard himself is who he embraces combat with.

But only for little time, as Takashi breaks through the head guards shield and then he takes his sword and stabs through him. The head guard falls to his knees and Takashi takes this opportunity to take the head guards shield and smash him on the head with it, letting the now lifeless body fall down.

With the men's blood splattered on the golden ground, it starts to reach Culshi's feet, with Culshi standing there in shock from the quick and easy, but bloody battle.

He stares at Takashi with pleading eyes, and the young mans eyes even start to tear as he watches Takashi walk up to him.

Attempting to hold his sword up as if the bloody Takashi is going to fight him to, Takashi stops him by saying, "I am not going to fight you, you are not my problem, but if you want to stay neutral to all of this, I will need you to do me a favor."

Saying this casually, not even showing a bit of tiredness from the fight, Calshi looks back to Takashi with complete fear, stuttering to say "What-What favor?"

"Take me to the back entrance of the palace."

"Are you trying to hide? I don't mean to...Um...Budge in but...You will easily be caught now??"

"Culshi, if you want to meet with your actual master, then just do what I say."

"Why? Did you hurt him too??"

"Only enough to take his clothes and voice."

Takashi, still serious, starts looking annoyed now by Calshi. "Let's go before the other guards show up, walking and talking is useful you know."

Calshi nods and takes Takashi out back from the palace by using the secret passage way which takes them out to the large cave outside of the temple.

Running through the forest trees sprinkled with golden sparks flying by them, the two of them make it to the cave, walking past the writings on the trees that tell you not to go this way.

Calshi standing back out of fear, saying "Torrid is in there, we don't want to wake him up, do we?"

Without saying a word, Takashi takes off his bloody clothing, only revealing a linen garb that he was wearing under it. And after doing this, he takes his hair and puts it into a man bun.

Turning to Calshi, he says "Just shut up and watch, you'll be okay if you don't move."

Grabbing his clothes and lifting his arm out, he simply closes his eyes and makes his way to the cave, then getting close enough step inside the rock covered cave, he instead puts the clothes down into the cave floor and slowly backs up from it.

With his eyes still closed as he walks out, all you start to hear in the cave's darkness is the roaring sound that echos throughout the entire area.

But...Takashi opens his eyes with no fear. Taking out his charm that was returned to them from Southern Island, Takashi presses the charm like its a button.

Pressing the charm creates a powerful wave of hot air that blows through the air, and from out of the charm comes the vicious sound of a dragon.

The Red Dragon that helped the warriors on Southern Island still has contact with them all, and Takashi takes his chance here as he uses the dragon's sound to seemingly scare off Torrid.

And hearing the sound it seems, the roaring voice stops, the sound of five different creatures in the one body of Torrid stops.

Takashi walks closer to the cave and when he does, he can see with the glowing light of his charm the vicious two headed creature staring back at him with its four glowing eyes.

And it's four glowing eyes are the only thing you can see in the caves darkness.

Culshi stands farther away, completely afraid, but Takashi stands closer, saying something to the dragon that is only spoken to by the Emperess herself, which is who he learned this language from.

Speaking this will only bring a bond with the creature, he just had to scare Torrid is some type of way to get his attention but not get him out of the cave.

With Takashi coming out of the cave and back out into Calshi's view, Calshi looks to the cave then back to Takashi saying, "what just happened?"

"I made a new friend...Now...Take me back. I have many things I must propose to this very...Sad empire."

"So you'll surrender?"

"In a way..."

Calshi, still shaken, takes up Takashi's words and makes his way out to the temple doors, letting Takashi be taken up to the Empress herself.