Author's Note 1: I'm a little bit worried that some of you haven't read Chapter 19, and are confused why Yasuo is missing an arm, so I'm jotting down a reminder here.

Author's Note 2: I'm a little bit worried that some of you don't quite remember why Jooe would have the power to kill someone, so please read War and Romance pt.III for the answer to that statement.

Author's Note 3: I'm a little bit worried that some of you don't know what happened between Yasuo, Dabin and Sana, so please read NINJA (a Reply 1430 story) (link in Author's Thoughts down below). Mentions of NINJA will appear throughout this chapter. NINJA is non subscribers-only, and it consists of around 8000 words, so breeze through the story and you'll further understand the chapter.

That's all, enjoy!

Volcanicdevil

The soldier started to take his pants off. It looked like he really needed to pee in the bushes, judging from his anguished expression.

He did not mean to offend her, but Jooe found his action to be simply too vulgar and rude to exist on this world. Her fear turning to rage, Jooe's consciousness faded out as her anger took control of her body. Her veins cooled until they felt like icy slush.

She had, for whatever reason, a parasite like characteristic. A pillar of fury, wreathed with fury, so strong that she could lose control. She had already killed a number of people, and though she hated this fiery temper, she could not control it.

Springing up, she locked her cold hands around that soldier's neck, choking him so fiercely that he fell down. Her eyes glazed red from rage and concentration, and even her knuckles turned white. The soldier struggled and tried to break free, but honestly! Not even a fully grown bull could escape her unrivalled strength.

After a few moments, the soldier's mouth foamed, and he went limp. Satisfied, she reverted back to her normal self. 

But she had failed to notice the patrolling squadron coming up. She was supposed to escape discreetly, but that simple rule was broken. Because of her pride and lack of control. She. Had. Been. Exposed.

With a surprising speed, the squadron surrounded her, restraining and arresting her. A couple of soldiers tried to revive their friend, but it was too late. He was gone.

They prepared to send her to the Emperor.

Everyone could feel it.

The air seemed to flow slowly, the ground seemed to shake, the sun went dimmer. And all that seemed to foretell a big event. A tremendous battle. A war for the ages.

And even Death was surveying the city, scanning for souls to take away.

The Queen locked herself in her room, still furious with Sejong. She did not want another daughter to die, yet she was doing nothing. She was not even taking measures to prevent deaths. She just wanted to shrug off responsibilities; to escape the dreaded reality. Her remaining daughters, however, were engrossed in romance and love.

Yeonwoo had taken the liberty of accompanying Nancy to the palace doors. They wanted to see how the Jurchen - Japanese War had fared. Although Yeonwoo would much prefer charging to the battlefield, she did not want Nancy to get hurt. Not now, not ever. And so she was forced to use a pair of binoculars to gaze at the enemy. Which, of course, infuriated her. But although her face was a shade of scarlet, she maintained her posture and coolly spoke to her beloved.

"Look, there are... corpses everywhere." Yeonwoo smiled creepily, knowing that her plan worked, but it only spooked Nancy. The sheer mention of corpses just... lying there...... made her want to vomit.

"Aww come on." Yeonwoo, sensing her discomfort, hugged her. She knew that the battle would be over in a few moments, and so she tried to make it up for Nancy by adding some 'couple time' to her timetable.

"Unnie, can we please go back?" Nancy pleaded. "I can smell... corpses. Like everywhere. This is very scary, and please, just... can we go back? I’ve been, like, writing a book about you, and I can’t wait to show it to you.”

Yeonwoo sighed. Loudly. "Fine. But you'll get bored and poke me again."

"I won't." Nancy promised. “You’ll love my book.”

They talked, and once they had left, a shadowy figure appeared. A shadowy figure with only one arm left. In that one arm, he held a single knife, encrusted with jewels and stones. It was a fancy knife, and he was going to use it.

He motioned for his troops to move. Well, troops could mean a squadron or an army. In this case, troops meant fourteen ninjas.

"We eliminate her." Yasuo Namekawa, leader of the ninja squad. "At the moment, she poses the biggest threat to us. Once we take her out of the equation, she does not matter anymore, and we can win."

And so, with a powerful sprint, he dashed to where Yeonwoo had been, and ran along that path. He disappeared in moments, leaving the other ninjas behind. Even though they tried very hard - really hard to catch up, they were still slower than him. And so, they turned back and stayed hidden on the palace gates.

Yasuo Namekawa could glimpse the shadows of the two girls along the ground as he neared them. He quickly dove for the flower bushes, his uniform blending into the deeper shaded regions of the plants. Around the oblivious duo, flowers trembled and leaves rustled, concealing an ebony black figure that darted around the garden. It was obvious that the timing was not yet right, otherwise there would be two more corpses on the ground.

Frustration clawed at his heart as he missed another chance. He was nearing the heart of the palace, and he did not want to alert the royals of a Japanese attack by dying there. He had to make a move.

But then, something amazed him.

He had sent hand knives whizzing through the air right at the princess, but she had merely just ducked and kept on walking. She did not even call for the guards. 

She knows my presence, Yasuo Namekawa thought with horror, but she’s protecting the girl walking with her.

With that thought in mind, he quickened his attacks, each one more lethal and unforgiving than the next. He sent all kinds of weapons flying towards the princess, but she kicked and deflected them all while walking normally. Nancy did not feel a thing.

A building was on the end of the road they were walking on, and Yasuo cursed internally. Buildings meant people. It was perfectly simple to kill a person on a stray alley or in a forest, but in a building? Buildings contain people, and people were troublesome. He might have to get his hands dirtier.

And so he quickened his pace. He aimed to kill them before they reached the build