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Cyno thought he was finally done with Azar and his stupid dictatorship. Cyno thought that after his confrontation with the Ex-Sage at the Sanctuary of Surasthana, he’d have a change of heart. But of course, Azar would never change, and he was right back on his bullshit. Cyno was furious.
First, he went back on Tighnari’s rather merciful offer of a peaceful life of reform in Gandharva Ville. Then, he banded together with the Eremites to try and overthrow Lord Kusanali. And finally, as Cyno would find out later, he’d somehow managed to get inside Irminsul of all things, throwing the entirety of the nation into absolute disarray. It was sickening. Cyno’s blood threatened to boil him alive out of sheer anger and disbelief. He decided to use that as fuel to find that tactless excuse of a man.
Finding Azar was all too easy. Cyno knew every nook and cranny of Sumeru City, and he especially knew were the guilty liked to hide. Azar would need a place that wasn’t easily accessible by regular people, but also was able to function as a headquarters for technological operations. The storage room beneath Zubayr Theater was the most likely option. Cyno kicked down the door without regard for stealth. He could feel the air start to crackle involuntarily the moment he laid eyes on Azar.
The Ex-Sage yelped in surprise when the door clattered off its hinges. “You Eremites are far too brutish! We cannot risk this location being compromised! Or else—“
“Or else what?” Cyno growled.
“C-Cyno…?” Azar’s eyes widened, then quickly narrowed into a scowl once the realization hit him. “Of course it’d be you…”
“If you knew I’d come for you, why not prepare yourself more thoroughly? I hardly had to lift a finger to find you.”
Azar sighed and stood up from his chair. “Oh, but I did. See, this time, I’m not alone.” A few burly looking Eremites melted out of the shadows, but they were noting Cyno wouldn’t be able to handle. Although, he’d have to lead them out of the storage room if he wanted to have a fight with minimal collateral damage.
Cyno wanted to scoff, but he didn’t. He fixed his gaze on Azar. “I’d rather avoid a fight, if possible. Do you surrender yourself, Azar?”
“Oh, no. This won’t be like last time. Aren’t you getting a sense of deja vú, General? I’d like to change things up, if you don’t mind.
And then the Eremites rushed him.
In such an enclosed area, Cyno couldn’t call on the spirit within him for help. He didn’t particularly need it, per se, but Cyno felt like going all-out to release some of his pent up anger. No matter. He could go find some Primal Constructs to beat up once this was all over.
The Eremites had nothing on him. Though there were four of them, Cyno blocked all of their attacks with ease and poise. One by one, he dealt blows only strong enough to knock them out, not bothering to watch their bodies crumple to the floor. They’d be alright, he didn’t hit any of them hard enough to seriously damage anything. Cyno figured these Eremites were intimidated by him, which was good. That meant they didn’t go all-out either. If Azar thought these apprehensive mercs could do anything but fail, he was in for a rude awakening.
“It’s over, Azar. Come out and—“ Cyno looked to where the Ex-Sage was just standing, only to find him missing. Had he escaped while Cyno was fighting? No, Azar would’ve had to walk right into the middle of the brawl to even reach the doorway. Unless there was another exit he didn’t know about…?
Before Cyno could turn to check the doorway, sharp, stinging pain exploded from his abdomen. Cyno looked down in shock. There, protruding from just under his ribcage, was the distinctive steel of a blade.
“Never thought a humble Sage such as myself could ever get the jump on you, hmm? Well, allow me to defy your expectations.” Azar purred from behind him. He retracted the knife, a fresh wave of pain rolling through Cyno. Thankfully, Azar hadn’t been going for the kill, and the blade had missed any vital organs. Cyno slowly turned to face the Ex-Sage.
Azar now held the bloody knife in front of his face, watching Cyno’s blood drip onto the stone floor. “Now. My colleagues have told me that the one they call Wanderer is currently defending the Sanctuary, and by extension, the Dendro Archon. I’ve heard he’s quite adept, but I assume he’ll back down if you’re the one to enter those doors, correct? You will take me to the Dendro Archon.”
“Like you’re in any position to make demands of me,” spat Cyno.
“Oh, I do believe I am.”
Dread filled Cyno’s stomach as the Eremites he’d just knocked out began to rise once more, effectively surrounding him. Azar with a knife wasn’t much of a threat, admittedly, but he had just managed to catch Cyno off guard. Add in the four Eremites who were now pulling out elementally infused weapons… Things were getting a little more complicated.
“You want to get to Lord Kusanali? Fine. But you’ll have to go through me.”
So much for avoiding collateral damage. Cyno called on the power of his Vision to blast away his adversaries, though only three of the five were affected. Azar and two of the Eremite guards were slammed into to storage room walls, the latter recovering quickly. Cyno exhaled slowly. He’d been through worse.
That didn’t mean that the fight was easy, though. Cyno threw away his reservations and tore into his enemies like a hungry wolf, self preservation hardly a thought in his mind. If these goons were working directly with Azar, then they knew the consequences. They knew their adversary. Let judgement fall by his hand, justice upheld by the edge of his blade.
Cyno never called the spirit. The fight was a blur, an unconscious recollection not dissimilar to the feeling he would harbor if he had called the spirit, but Cyno emerged victorious. Of course he did. Titles are more than just honorifics in the Matra. Cyno earned his rank.
Finally, he faced Azar, various areas of his body covered in blood. Whose blood? His? Theirs? A mix of both, he thought. Cyno’s head threatened to float away into the vast realm of unconsciousness but Cyno tugged it back down, shuffling over to Azar with a hardened stare.
“Got any more surprises?” rumbled Cyno.
The Ex-Sage trembled. Good. “No,” he managed. He dropped the knife and held up his hands defensively. Had Azar really never seen Cyno get angry before? Maybe he was a little harsh on those guys…
“Hands where I can see them. Ex-Grand Sage Azar, you’re under arrest for treason. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…” Cyno recited the rest of the standard spiel thanks to muscle memory. His brain was too groggy to really think about anything at all. He led Azar outside of the storage room and was thankfully met with a few Matra. They seemed to be cleaning up a slew of unconscious Eremites that Cyno swore were absent when he arrived at the scene. He shrugged it off.
One of the Matra spotted him immediately. “General Mahamatra!”
“Take Azar to a holding cell,” he ordered, figuratively handing the reins over to his subordinates, “I will deal with him myself after he’s had the chance to think about what he’s done. There are four Eremite mercenaries in the basement, proceed with caution.”
“Sir!” his subordinate took Azar away with urgency, something Cyno was extremely grateful for. He mingled around the Grand Bazaar for as long as his stamina would allow him to, issuing orders to Matra as he went. Eventually, though, the blood loss caught up to him.
Well, it was time to visit the Bimarstan, so he could tell Tighnari about the mess he’d made.