I Choose Violence.

  Jianrong moved through the Palace at a steady pace.

  What she found was more of the same.

  She was talking to herself, narrating what was happening because she could not believe it, could not accept it mentally.

  Meanwhile, inside the Bloom, nearly every single Ironwood resident was present, sitting on stone benches, watching the horror unfold outside.

  Shepard and Andrew sat in the lobby with their significant others and their parents.

  Gaila was with Investigator Jang, watching the horror of their city being devoured by the people tasked with keeping it safe.

  Nadia sat with baby Auriel and Ai, who clung to her. Matron Bright sat beside her with Shen asleep against her.

  She had been integrated as family before she could spell “Bloom of Returning.

  Lin Su was with Shen Vey and Elaren, explaining how their world worked.

  Sulara stood with Dar Luso, Valen, and Taleth, who watched a separate feed that wasn't being filtered. Along the wall were gear and supplies that Jianrong could call for.

  Jianrong’s voice came to them all clear and steady.

  She came across the older elder who guarded the gate; he was not assaulting women.

  He was murdering them.

  Jianrong chose not to kill him; she squeezed him quite literally for information.

  “AAAAAAAAAA STOPPPP, PLLEEEASSSSEEE!” The old elder screamed as Rong rotated the man's arm until bone shattered and flesh tore.

  “Tell why you are murdering, why everyone has lost their fucking minds!” Rong screamed at him, terrified that this was going to turn into a Rwanda-level massacre.

  “THE MINISTERS ANNOUNCED ALL WOMEN TO BE DETAINED, ALL FOREIGNERS TO BE CAST OUT, ANYONE WITH LESS THAN THREE GENERATIONS OF HISTORY IN TIANRELION!” He screamed, and he collapsed when she let him go, stunned.

  Her hands came to her face in horror at what had been unleashed.

  “Even without killing Ning Ya, even without Jang and Yue searching for her family, this would tear the city apart…there was no recovering from this….Even if they enacted Marshal Law…no one would return to Seldara, a place where foreigners and women had no rights.

  This was insanity.

  The fox's eyes flared as Rong looked down at the man. “WHY! WHY! DID YOU KILL THEM!” she screamed.

  The man was weeping. “They rejected me, REJECTED ME!” he screamed at her, his face showing that he thought that it was justified.

  Rong did not remember killing him, but she saw the blood that clung to her Aura when she realized she was on the street, walking, killing anyone and everyone who attacked the weak.

  Jianrong did not know that when she had entered Sulara’s apartment, the world had already started to burn.

  That she wasn’t the only one who would be fighting for autonomy and their lives.

  A full chime earlier.

  Outside Sulara’s apartment – Ministers were waiting around Velran.

  Minister 1: "He did it. Grand Elder actually did it."

  Minister 2: "The Empress submitted. Soon we can go public."

  Minister 3: "This is it. The turning point."

  Velran smiled. "Gentlemen. The new order begins now."

  Minister 1: "Should we wait for Grand Elder to—" The man's eye moved to the door.

  "No." Velran's voice is firm. "He has given us the foundation. We build the structure, besides." He chuckled. “He will be busy for a while.”

  The other ministers grinned.

  Velran pulled out prepared orders - already written, waiting for this moment.

  "All women to be detained pending loyalty verification."

  "All foreigners expelled."

  "Three-generation purity standard."

  He stated it as if it were common-sense policy.

  Minister 2: "This is... comprehensive."

  "This is NECESSARY." Velran looks at them. "For decades, we've watched foreign corruption seep into our institutions. Women in positions of authority. Barbarian influence in the Palace. That fox creature compromised the Empress herself."

  "Grand Elder has shown us the way: hierarchy must be ENFORCED and not requested. Not negotiated. ENFORCED."

  Minister 3: "The people will resist."

  "Let them try." Velran's smile is cold. "Grand Elder controls the Empress. General Jang controls the military. We control the bureaucracy. Resistance will be brief."

  He handed the orders over.

  "Distribute these immediately. Frame them as the first decree of the new administration. Let the city know: ORDER has returned."

  The Minister took it with a bow and headed out to disseminate it.

  Inside the apartment

  Ning Ya did not know that the orders were going out.

  He's too busy gloating.

  Too busy feeling victorious.

  Too busy being RIGHT about the natural order.

  Then Jianrong's blade entered his ear.

  By the time Jianrong entertained Velran, Seldara was already changing rapidly.

  Town criers read the orders.

  Guards nodding with satisfaction - "FINALLY, someone with sense!"

  People looked confused, then alarmed.

  Ministers watching from windows, PLEASED with themselves.

  "Look how orderly the implementation is."

  "See? The people WANT structure."

  "This is what proper governance looks like."

  They genuinely believe they're FIXING society.

  By the time Jianrong left the Palace, the orders had become an excuse to do whatever people wanted, under vague rules and a growing mob mentality.

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  Jianrong moved, stunned as some people stole, others fled, while still others simply watched in stunned silence.

  Those whose nature was to take moved quickly.

  Those who believed in the word of law fell first, assuming guards and the watch would lend a hand.

  Guards turned on their own; some barracks had blood from old slights, others had their own people being used for the pleasure of the group.

  With a leap, Jianrong landed on a roof and raced forward. She knew someone who would help her and did not want to see that person get hurt.

  Master Weapon Smith Wang Pan Rui had secured herself in her arms room, but the number of people outside was growing as her forge was being stripped of everything of value by competitors and former customers alike.

  “Rui, open the door and surrender yourself. The sect will take you in; you need to understand the world has changed, and now it is time for you to change with it.”

  When Rong landed in front of the shop, she found the door torn from its hinges.

  A young man who had eaten with her, whose name she could not remember, lay there dead. His head had partially crushed by something blunt.

  She remembered him handing over an extra piece of meat….he lived with his dad.

  Tears came unbidden.

  She felt hollow.

  Then she heard laughter, and then a womans screams.

  Her eyes began to glow amber as she let go.

  She would not think.

  She would kill.

  Wang Pan Rui screamed as her own tools were used to destroy the door she was hiding behind.

  The first face she saw was one of her own apprentices who had always found her attractive and had been rebuffed gently.

  Now he was leading a mob to pull out and let fate decide if she lived or died.

  Then the world seemed to shudder, and two weapons that hung on the wall began to ring loudly.

  Jianrong used nothing but her armor's claws and fangs.

  She did not fight; she surrendered.

  If a person stood in Rui’s shop and was not fighting for their life, they were dead to her; all she was doing was sending them off.

  Bone fractured, flesh was torn away, and blood covered her form.

  People screamed and tried to escape, but she wouldn't let anyone leave.

  She was trapped in the knowledge that her own species would do this; they were trapped with her consequences.

  Some tried to fight, but it was equivalent to fighting time; she was inevitable.

  She had removed all the guardrails that would have kept her from doing something she would regret.

  She now only regretted not killing more people sooner, stopping this from turning into a genocide of people she knew and loved.

  Rui listened to the screams of despair and roaring of a beast as she fell back into the corner of the hall, gripping the great Dao that was singing.

  Finally, silence reigned, and the sword became quiet in her hands.

  Then a clawed hand tore the door from the wall; a moment later, Jianrong entered, her eyes soft.

  No blood on her form, but the smell of death rolled in like a dense Fog.

  “Sister Rui, are you ok?” she asked, not moving to startle her.

  “Jianrong?” Rui gasped, upset and emotional.

  Jianrong moved forward, “Yes, they put out orders, terrible orders…. the city is on fire.” She said softly.

  Rui felt a rush of relief and ran to her.

  Jianrong held her softly, then Rui looked at her again. “You’re an animal-kin?!”

  Rong smiled and kissed her forehead. “It’s a long story, I have a safe place, do you want to go there?”

  Rui clutched at the sword, then looked around.

  Rong nodded, “We can take it all.”

  Rui held out the Dao, “He and the spear you danced with called out to you.”

  Rong took the Dao and looked at it. “You and me, huh?” she asked.

  “YES” Lei Zhenyu admitted.

  “Take the spear too,” Lei Zhenyu ordered.

  Rong blinked, day one, and her sword was making demands.

  The heavy spear landed in her hands.

  She reached up to the thick red spear tassel and sighed.

  “What is your name?

  “Miè Jiè Fēng!” he told her.

  Rong blinked, then took in a slow breath, looking at ‘Thunder that shakes the heavens’, then at ‘World-Annihilating Edge’.

  “Modesty is a virtue…you know that, right?” Rong said evenly.

  “The spear disassembles into two pieces,” Rui explained.

  Rong nodded and hugged her friend. “I am just glad you are okay.”

  The Dars appeared one by one and helped Rui gather her things.

  Jianrong did not let Rui step outside the weapon hall.

  When Rui saw there was enough blood to soak the ground in an ever-growing puddle, she did not fight Rong and remained inside.

  Later the four siblings stood in a part of the forge that was not covered in blood.

  “What is the plan?” Rong asked as Andrew put his arm around her, her head leaning into his chest.

  Dar looked between them. “Mom, Elaren, and Sulara all agree we need to leave Seldara. The problem is both Nascent Souls are likely to-“

  Dar stopped when they felt power flow around them, then the cities' Arrays came to life.

  “Well,” Shepard started.

  “Damn.” Andrew finished.

  The Ministers reconvened - smiling, congratulating each other.

  Smiles were warm, hands reached out brotherly.

  Each person here understood that there would be concern and unrest, but with three Nascent Souls and the Empress reassuring the public, it would pass.

  They had held meetings and had political thinkers review their plans.

  Everything had moved exactly as planned.

  "The orders are being implemented smoothly—" one stated proudly, but was interrupted.

  A clerk burst in, pale.

  "Sirs... Grand Elder Ning Ya, High Minister Velran, High Minister Elaren, and the Empress are all …gone."

  Silence.

  "What do you mean by 'gone'?"

  "The apartment was sealed. Arrays triggered. When we breached... he wasn't there. Neither was High Minister Velran."

  Minister 1: "Find them. Now."

  "Sir... there's more. The city. The orders. People are... they're interpreting them broadly."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Guards are detaining women without verification and killing those who resist. The foreign quarter... there's violence. Widespread."

  "That's not... we specified REGISTRATION, not—"

  "Sir, the orders say 'resistance will be met with force.' Guards are deciding what constitutes resistance."

  A man appeared in the doorway.

  For a moment, they thought it was Velran.

  No.

  A messenger. Pale, breathless.

  "Sirs... reports from the field."

  "What now?"

  "Sect Master Yue is withdrawing from the city."

  Silence.

  "What?"

  "He sent word. With the mass killings, he would be obligated by Heaven to intervene if he remained. Such intervention would constitute seizing government authority—putting him in legal jeopardy with Heaven's auditors."

  The messenger swallowed.

  "He's removing himself from the situation. To avoid... complications."

  One minister's face went white.

  "And General Jang?"

  "Mission failed. The Bloodforge Matron could not be recovered. General Jang is returning on foot to conserve Qi."

  The ministers stared at each other.

  No Grand Elder.

  No High Minister.

  No Empress.

  No Nascent Soul backing.

  No military success.

  No way to stop this.

  "We're alone," one whispered.

  No one disagreed.

  They had:

  - No Grand Elder

  - No High Minister

  - No Empress

  - No central authority

  But they did have:

  - Orders spreading citywide

  - Guards enforcing "broadly."

  - Violence escalating

  - Chaos building

  "Recall the orders!"

  "We CAN'T. They've already been distributed. Hundreds of town criers. Every district."

  "Then issue clarifications!"

  "Under whose authority? Grand Elder is gone. The Prime Minister is gone. Who signs the clarification?"

  Silence.

  They watched from the window as the city began to burn.

  "We were supposed to restore order," one whispers.

  "We did," another says hollowly. "This IS the order we created."

  A man cleared his throat behind them.

  Turning, the ministers saw Marshal Jiroth standing tall, his face pale.

  The Ministers glanced at one another. Finally, one spoke.

  "Marshal Jiroth. Report." He stated, terrified of what was coming.

  “We have lost many men, apparently. We have internal powers that moved during the chaos and have emptied the Palaces' treasury.”

  All the men there stared at him.

  “That is impossible….The treasury is the size of a great hall. Thousands, no, millions of spirit stones. Gold, silver, artifacts. It would take DAYS to move even with spatial rings."

  The minister laughed it off.

  "Someone used a spatial treasure. A large one." Jiroth's voice was hollow.

  "We found four bodies. Guards. Keys missing. When we used the backup keys to breach the vault..." He gestured helplessly.

  "Nothing. Bare stone. Everything is gone." One minister sat down heavily. Another's hands shook.

  "How... how much?" One minister stammered.

  "Centuries of imperial accumulation." Jiroth's voice cracked slightly.

  "The operating budget. The emergency reserves. The diplomatic gifts. The cultivation resources for the next decade."

  "Gone." He added in a voice fill with pain.

  Silence.

  "We have no treasury," one minister whispered.

  "No authority," another added.

  "No backing."

  "No Nascent Soul."

  "No Empress."

  "No way to pay the guards."

  They looked at each other. Outside, the city burned. Inside, they had nothing.

  "We're finished," one breathed.

  The oldest minister shook his head slowly. "Not yet. The guards were paid... what, two weeks ago?"

  Jiroth nodded. "Fifteen days. Next payment due in thirteen days."

  "Thirteen days." The minister's eyes sharpened.

  "The guards don't know the treasury is empty yet. They'll follow orders. For now."

  Understanding dawned on the other ministers' faces.

  "We have a window," one breathed.

  "A small one." The oldest minister stood.

  "Thirteen days before the guards realize they won't be paid.

  Less, if word spreads.

  But it's enough." He turned to Jiroth.

  "Marshal. Full lockdown.

  Every gate, every district checkpoint, every patrol route.

  The guards will respond—they think they're still getting paid."

  "And when they find out—"

  "They won't. Not yet. Keep it contained. Need-to-know only." His voice hardened.

  "By the time next payment is due, we'll either have recovered the treasury or we'll be dead anyway."

  Jiroth saluted. "Understood. Orders?"

  "Citywide manhunt. The fox girl—attendant to the Empress, animal-kin, fox features, young woman, mid-to-late teens. She must have a spatial treasure capable of holding the entire imperial treasury."

  "Someone saw her leave. Someone knows where she went. Someone will talk."

  "Reward?"

  "Make it substantial. Imperial bonds, land grants, noble titles. Whatever it takes. If we don't recover the treasury, the rewards are meaningless anyway."

  Another minister spoke up. "We need to vote. Emergency leadership. Acting High Minister to coordinate the search."

  "Agreed. Quick vote, right now." The oldest minister looked around. "We have thirteen days of functional authority. After that, the city collapses completely."

  "What about the chaos? The killing?"

  "Secondary priority. Finding the treasury is primary. Once we have funds, we can restore order. Without funds..." He shrugged.

  "The chaos won't matter. We'll all be dead." Another murmured.

  Silence.

  Then Jiroth cleared his throat. "There's another consideration. Pills." The ministers looked at him.

  "The treasury held the next decade of cultivation resources. Pills for maintaining the Foundation and Core cultivators. Without them..."

  One minister's face went pale.

  "We degrade."

  "In months," another whispered.

  "Maybe weeks, depending on realm."

  "So even if we survive Heaven's audit—"

  "We die slowly from cultivation collapse." The oldest minister's jaw clenched.

  "Then we have even less time than I thought. Thirteen days until the guards rebel. Weeks until we start degrading without pills. And whenever Heaven decides to audit, we're executed if we haven't recovered the treasury and the Envoy’s murderer." He looked at each of them.

  "Every chime matters. Every lead matters. Every witness matters."

  "Issue the lockdown NOW. Use every guard, every resource, every contact. Find. That. Girl!"

  Jiroth saluted and left. The ministers looked at each other.

  "Thirteen days," one said.

  "Maybe less."

  "But it's something."

  They began moving, issuing orders, coordinating.

  Desperate, yes. But not hopeless.

  Not yet. They had time.

  Not much.

  But enough.

  Maybe.