Chapter 840 The Bard
In the past timeline, after we defeated the shogun, she became the next ruler of the Kamikaze Continent. Due to the shogun's previous actions of killing the potential rulers that might usurp his ruling, Kamikaze Continent ended up losing all the people who are in the knows of the ruling. And since the only one who was left behind who knows much of the situation and ultimately the key factor to the shogun's ultimate defeat was his wife, the decision was entirely decided after that.
But right now, things have changed and I didn't even manage to do what I planned to do. The things I have cooked might not be wasted but I made a lot of it just so I can persuade her to join the faction of the rebels later only to see this twist of a development. Did I perhaps screw up the storyline in the past?
NO.
As far as I know, nothing should have changed except for the total plot of the situation here which was the overall power of the shogun and his army and the destruction of the various clans has yet to happen as well though they are currently being done right now, they are not yet fully gone in the first place, meaning, the shogun's wife's role shouldn't have changed this much.
However, there is one thing that I can think of that might be the reason why it turned out like this.
The last timeline's Shogun's Wife manipulated us all. Since many years have passed since the Shogun's possession happened, it's kinda odd that the only one who is not being controlled is the shogun's wife. Aside from the fact that she is a bard, she doesn't have much use for the rule of the shogun. And even if we use the reason that she was spared because the shogun still thinks she is his precious wife, it's not a good reason either due to the fact that the shogun has disappeared from his body and has been taken over by the parasite.
Also, all of the retainers, maids, and even the servants of the palace have been controlled as well. So, why is the wife still herself? There is no way she will be spared...unless she was behind it from the very beginning.
She manipulated everything and during the past timeline, it all came to fruition after the rebellion force attacked. The main reason she decided to join the rebellion is to ensure she remains alive after the battle and she will not be shown as the main reason for all of this. She deceived everyone and with her "efforts" of intel to the rebels, and without any rivals after the war, she basically ends up ruling the Kamikaze Continent as a whole, basically conquering it without much effort.
How cunning indeed.
But since things have not worked so well in this timeline and the execution of the Shogun is much earlier than expected, the plan was a failure. Since the rebel army has yet to be formed and the union of the shogun and the parasite did not bloom further, and yet someone who can stop the effects of her abilities appeared, she feared the rebellion group has already been formed in Soyokaze City which made it harder for her to follow her original plan. Her plan was good, if not for our arrival. If we didn't arrive much earlier than she expected, then she might have a chance and the situation in the past timeline might have occurred again. But because it changed, she also have to change tactics to ensure that things follow her plan.
This is why the attack from Soyokaze City happened. To dispose of the early transgressors that will mess up the plan entirely. And she failed.
Now, we are here standing in front of her.
"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" Queen Tanya readies her fists.
"Who am I? I see... so the rebels that managed to free some soldiers from my control are outsiders. No wonder the plan failed. But I guess there is no need to keep up any kind of facade here any longer. I am Suzune Uramuto, the wife of the shogun and the great bard of the Kamikaze Continent."
"W-Wife? So that means..."
"Yes. The one you all just killed is my husband indeed."
"What?! Did you make your husband like this? I can't believe his wife will even use him for this and make him a monster!" Queen Tori grit her teeth in anger.
"Hehehe, oh, he was a good tool for a short time. He managed to do some things that I needed him to do. But in the end, time was not on my side and you three ruined all of my plans. If you all have arrived much later... or perhaps you all have just left after the deal of what you all are doing here after, then perhaps my plan had succeeded. But alas, you little sh*ts are making my plan worse!"
She held up her flute again, ready to play music once and for all.
"From the looks of it, we are not yet done with the battle, huh?" Queen Tanya readies herself.
"Hah, so the Shogun was not the final enemy but this woman? I am tired of this... I would rather deal with the beasts in the frozen region than keep on track with this crap..." Queen Tori muttered with a tired voice.
"I will make sure to let you all taste the pain that everyone experienced. Listen to my music and let the music flow through you!"
She started playing her flute. The notes started to appear on her flute and this time, in an attempt to corrupt us.
However...
"Bladeheart, why are we just standing here? We should just go and kick her *ss."
"I can't believe this but I agree with my sister, this time Bladeheart. The sooner she is gone, the better!"
I didn't expect that Queen Tori who doesn't like how much Queen Tanya likes violence agreed to her once.
Suzune, the bard who is currently playing her flute frowned when she saw us remain fine. She stopped playing her flute when she saw us still talking. She is still pissed.
"I am quite sure I played the notes correctly and I am sure that I am making it loud as much as possible...and yet, you three are not affected?! No wonder you all didn't suffer any after-effects from my songs, you all are not even affected!"
I can see in Queen Tanya and Queen Tori's faces that they really want to say that they can't even hear a single note from her music and mock her for it but keep themselves quiet.
Still, as I said during the making of the earbuds, bards are useless if the listener can't hear anything. With the specialty in using music to capture the hearts of the people, the bard is also capable of manipulation which is why, Bards are pretty strong in terms of debuffs and creating buffs, plus they also have curses on their skills that make them more dangerous, so when your sense of hearing is blocked or even rendered useless, a bard is nothing but a voiceless fool who can't do anything.
Queen Tanya didn't care much now what Suzune was talking about. She disappeared right behind Suzune like she just used a blink and hit her with an elbow blow on her back before Queen Tanya followed it up with a sweep kick.
"GAH!"
She was stunned and in pain, after Queen Tanya dealt with her while the flute she was using rolled to the ground. We were not yet able to do anything but the Versatile Weapon started reacting on the flute.
"Huh?" I didn't understand it at first but as soon as the flute rolled beneath my feet, the Versatile Weapon seems to vibrate a lot.
That's when it occurred to me. After it has drank a few bits of the Pendragon's blood and has eaten a lot of the Seven Deadly Sins Weapons, it gained the ability to sense the other weapons nearby. Does that mean, this flute is one of them?
"Let me go! Give back my flute! Give it back to me!" Suzune tried her best to scamper away and get the flute back but Queen Tanya pinned her down completely, stopping her advance to the flute.
"No chance woman. Because I don't know what will happen to you if you do approach it now."
"Let me go!"
Perhaps Queen Tanya's grip was not strong enough, but she managed to free herself and she dive right into the flute. Her face was full of delight when she got it back and raised her hands.
"I got it back!"
But...
GWARK!
Her hands disappear in a flash the moment the fangs of the shadow dragon snapped shut. Both her hands and the flute are now devoured by the Shadow Dragon in split seconds.