175 Sect Leader Fangs Wisdom (1/2)

Ed stared at Yuki's veiled figure. He felt a complicated mix of emotions, but mostly just a desire to control her. A red gleam sparked in his eyes as he took several steps towards her. On the outside, he appeared fine, but internally, his thoughts were a jumbled mess. 'Mine! Mine! She's all mine and no one else can touch her!'

[Get ahold of yourself.] Blue Ed calmly interrupted.

[Disgusting.] Silvery-red Ed scoffed.

[Eh, I think things will work out though?] Reddish-blue Ed smiled.

'Shut up!' Reddish-black Ed shouted in his head. 'This is something that we should've done a long time ago!' He grinned as he reached his hand for Yuki's veil. Just seeing her wear the red wedding clothes angered and displeased him. ”You shouldn't wear this.” He commanded as he ripped the veil off her head.

As Ed finally looked at Yuki's beautiful face, his eyes widened in pure shock. His heart rate rapidly sped up, causing his face to flush red. His hands trembled as his expression darkened. ”WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” He angrily yelled while grabbing the woman by the throat.

The woman beneath the veil was not Yuki. She looked similar and had near-identical proportions, but the face was slightly different. She could easily pass as a sister and maybe even a twin, but she definitely wasn't Yuki!

The woman struggled to breathe as she clawed at Ed's hand around her neck. Her face was turning red due to the lack of air.

”Why not let her speak?” Dupe interrupted.

Ed turned his glare towards Dupe, causing him to slightly shrink back in his chair. Right now, Ed's face was more terrifying than it had ever been. Not even his anger over his loss to President Walker or Ochre's death matched his current feelings. 'This is all a sham! Do they think I'm a fool?! Is Dupe in on it?!' His eyes shook back-and-forth as his purple shadow spread from his back and arched up over the thrones, covering all three of them inside. He released his grip on the fake's neck, causing her to coughingly gasp for air. ”Speak! Where is Yuki!”

The woman trembled in fear as she looked up at the madman in front of her. She shook her head quickly while scrunching back in her chair. ”I don't know.” She whispered.

A shadow tentacle sprawled towards her and wrapped around her neck. ”Then who are you?” He asked. ”And when did you replace the real Yuki?”

The woman gulped in fear. ”I... I'm just a commoner. I was told that I looked like the Sect Leader's granddaughter, and they'd pay my family a lot to be her stand-in. I've been here for over four months.”

”Four months?!” Ed's entire body trembled. 'She's never been here! Hell, I was still in prison six months ago!' Madness flashed in his eyes as the tentacle began constricting around her neck, corroding her skin.

”That's enough!” Dupe shouted as he rose his hand towards the girl, creating a white light barrier around her and pushing Ed's shadow back.

Ed glared at Dupe again and didn't hesitate as he shot his purple shadow towards him. A bright flash appeared as a white barrier protected Dupe from the shadow's attack.

”I see.” Ed nodded. ”So, you've been focusing on the paths of light?” He activated his chimera form, covering his body in scales. His clawed hand reached forward and gripped the light barrier, causing cracks to spread over it. ”Do you think that'll be enough?”

”Calm down.” Dupe calmly replied. ”You know as well as I do that killing me won't do anything. This is just a clone.”

”Speak!” Ed commanded. ”Why are you here with her?! What's your game?!”

Dupe smiled. ”I naturally came to watch the show. You know I just can't miss something so interesting.”

”That's it?” Ed skeptically questioned.

”Of course not.” He shook his head. ”I've acquired some news recently, and I needed to inform you. However, I couldn't find you anywhere on the battlefield, so I came here instead. After all, I knew you'd be coming for Yuki eventually.” He laughed. ”I was pretty shocked when I discovered the fake Yuki as well.”

”What's the news?” Ed asked as he retracted his shadow.

Dupe released his barrier while still smiling. ”Your personality really has taken a turn for the worse ever since your soul shattered.”

Ed's eyes narrowed. No one should know about his soul being shattered, as it had just happened recently. In fact, he himself didn't know what had happened until just a few hours ago when he was at the Light Tiger Sect's headquarters.

”Ahem.” Dupe coughed awkwardly into his hand. ”The news is that the Earth Dust Sect should be invading very soon with plans to eliminate the remnant forces of both sides.”

”I already knew that.” Ed scoffed, as he had deducted such a thing happening a long time ago.

”No.” Dupe shook his head. ”I meant that I Specifically know who is invading.” He held up four fingers. ”Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar are invading from the south. Individually, each of these countries is weak, but together, they make a fairly strong force.” He lowered three fingers. ”Additionally, Mongolia is invading as well. This is the bigger problem.”

”Mongolia?” Ed questioned in confusion. As far as he knew, the relations between China and Mongolia were fairly good. Additionally, Mongolia was a weak land-locked country with no significant military. The three southern countries had rough relations at one point or another with China in the past, so they at least made sense, but Mongolia was completely unexpected.

”Right.” Dupe nodded. ”Together, the three southern countries will invade north and northeast. Mongolia will invade south and southeast, likely invading Beijing due to their close proximity. Apparently, Mongolia has an especially strong esper that calls himself the new Great Khan. He wants to restore the Mongol Empire and is working with Nexus to make it happen.”

”Foolish.” Ed scoffed. The chances of Mongolia becoming anything except a puppet of Nexus was extremely slim. If this new Great Khan was so great, then he wouldn't be relying so heavily on outside forces.

”Even if he is foolish, he is a force to be reckoned with.” Dupe shook his head. ”From what I've heard, he's at least comparable to President Walker and Sect Leader Fang. At that level, he really may have what it takes to expand his country. On the other hand, the three southern countries lack an overwhelmingly strong top-level leader, though they have stronger militaries.”