Chapter 2

The next day, my three junior brothers showed up at my door, the junior sister in tow.

Wyatt swept a glance over the ruins on the ground, then looked at me, his eyes rimmed red.

"Just because we let your junior sister pick first, you had to destroy everything?"

"Wrecking your own house is one thing. But you snatched her blade, threw away her medicine, and you even killed her spirit beast."

"Cloralie Yardley. You have the heart of a viper."

I looked down at the body of the spirit beast dumped in front of me.

They had died horribly, torn to bloody ruin.

The other two junior brothers glared at me the same way.

A frame-up this crude, I didn't even want to explain myself.

But Sabrina was already tugging at Wyatt's sleeve, the picture of pitiable fragility.

"Let it go, senior brother. Maybe senior sister didn't mean it."

The fury rose out of nowhere, and in the next breath I lunged forward and seized Sabrina by the throat.

"I, Cloralie Yardley, have always owned what I do. If I did it, I did it. If I didn't, I didn't. Not even a god come down from heaven gets to pin a crime on me for nothing."

"You keep saying I didn't mean it, and every word of it nails the charge to me. So do you dare stand before the Grandmaster's Mirror of Truth and let it show the truth?"

Sabrina's face went red from holding her breath, but she stayed stubborn.

"Senior sister, even if you... even if you strangle me to death, I won't lie!"

Sabrina almost made me laugh from sheer anger, and right then I meant to drag her straight to the Grandmaster.

But before I could move, a surge of powerful spiritual energy came at me and slammed me clean off my feet.

I couldn't hold back the mouthful of blood that came up, and I stared at Wyatt, unable to believe it.

Wyatt drew his hand back on instinct and avoided my eyes.

"Cloralie, if you weren't trying to strangle Sabrina, I wouldn't have raised a hand against you."

"I held back my strength. You shouldn't be hurt at all!"

At that, I clutched my chest and couldn't stop the sneering laugh, as though I'd lost my mind.

Something flickered across the three of them, and Ferran started forward to help me up, only to catch Sabrina falling into his arms as her legs gave out.

Sabrina, all weakness, said,

"Three senior brothers, it was all my fault. I lost that sword, I ate the medicine, and I killed the spirit beast too."

"I'm willing to confess my wrongs before the Grandmaster!"

While Sabrina spoke, I forced myself back to my feet and closed in on them, one step at a time.

The three of them went instantly on guard and drew their weapons.

Seeing them braced for a fight, I stopped where I stood and gathered a surge of spiritual energy of my own.

"Senior sister, don't try anything else, or don't blame us for casting aside our bond as fellow disciples!"

"Cloralie, stop!"

I paid them no mind. I simply used my spiritual energy to cut through my own robe and threw the cloth down in front of them.

"I cut my robe to sever all ties. I was a fool before."

"From now on, don't ever appear before me again!"