Ouch. Even preparing for it and running at top speed, the Tiger King’s domain hurt to go through. The near-constant qi drain was a hassle, but I endured in knowing it wouldn’t be a hassle for long.
Still, I was a bit tired when I reached the ruins of the White City.
The first thing I saw was a family, reduced to bleached bones on the side of the stone roads. The towers were massive, stretching higher than anything I’d ever seen. Kaoru told me once that the White City was considered a marvel by those who saw it, filled with wonders beyond anything this world had known before. Its people lived in peace and comfort, surrounded by convenience.
Well, those people were dead now. The conveniences rotted away in stores, broken and useless. Even the inanimate broke down without qi, and the Tiger King had almost entirely drained this land.
A tower in the distance collapsed, and I moved on. The lack of qi was messing with my senses a little, but I was still a rabbit at heart, and one of the first predators I’d ever encountered was an old house cat. From what I heard in the village, that old ginger limped until the day he died after I met him.
I’d only been two months old at the time. Just old enough to slaughter. And even then, I wasn’t easy prey. I was much older now, much smarter, and much, much more powerful.
There. Up on the highest perch still available. Cats are all alike. He wasn’t even hiding what he was anymore, so I didn’t bother either as I hopped up on the wall across the street from him.
“I’d start with the small talk, but you’ve sucked so much out of this area that there’s nothing nice about it. Name’s Xiang, and I’m going to murder you when my husband finishes with your last ‘friend.’”
The Tiger King opened one eye, and closed it again. “Names. Why bother with such stupid things? I’m better than a human, why should I take a name like one? You’ve spent too much time with them, just gimme your qi. I wanna nap.”
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…Seriously?
“Wow. I thought nothing you said or did would surprise me. But total apathy while you slowly choke out the world by eating its very life force? I was hoping I’d have fun saving you for last.”
“Lemme sleep.”
“Nope!” I jumped to where he was, and kicked him off his perch. He shifted to his natural human-shape and glared at me as he landed.
“Huh. Guess that thing about always landing on your feet is true.”
“I’ll enjoy eating you.”
“You don’t have the power to try. Or do you forget how I kicked your ass the last time we met?” That was quite literal. I’d enjoyed toying with the Dragon and Tiger Kings while Kaoru took care of the Vermilion bitch. Maybe I should’ve ended it then, but…”
“Seriously, I can’t believe I’ve been saving you for dessert! Weakling.”
“Weakling?” A growl as I finally made him genuinely mad. Good. “I’ll show you weak, prey!”
He started drawing in qi, hard. But this close to him, I could sense the flow and adjust myself in such a way that I wasn’t being drained. He wasn’t even getting any qi from elsewhere, thanks to me. The only thing he could do was activate that collar he’d put on the Dragon King.
And as he stopped, for just a moment, I shifted to my own human shape and smirked.
“Yeah, figured my husband would kill your last puppet the moment he saw the collar activate. I’ve outmanuvered you, little kitty. What are you going to do now?”
He roared, the qi around him surging as he took on the shape of a massive white tiger. His eyes… well, glowed would be the wrong verb, because they were all black. But the power within them was clear, even if the reverberation of his roar wasn’t audible across the world. The White Tiger God had ascended.
“Finally!”
I tapped into his qi, and unlocked the final nexus. The culmination of my dao demanded this fight, and the power of the world was backing me from every element now.
I opened my eyes, as if for the first time… and a carbuncle was born.