The air screamed as the mace bounced off an invisible barrier. Thunder crackled high above. Beyond the hole, high up in the sky, purple clouds churned in a storm and sent streaks of sharp winds down to the Library.
Lei’s Dao Seed fluttered in response, feeding the Maiden’s Flame like fuel created solely for this purpose. His fingers itched as the warmth took control. His heart thumped strong in his chest. The mace looked so small now, the handle thin like a stalk about to crack. The palm of his hand pulsed with a strength he hadn’t known existed.
And yet Voilanth was smiling. A triumphant, sick smile stretched his lips. With one clawed hand, he called a sphere of pure yellow and guided it toward the ceiling, where it patched over the hole to keep the winds outside. He then tore a piece of the sphere and snapped his fingers. A shower of yellow pus rained down and quenched the burning shelves.
“Fate,” he rasped as the others stirred behind him, confused and hesitant. “Ever the Maker that plays us like pawns on a wooden board. I’m afraid we have to accept that a different world comes with its own set of rules. Might as well play it, don’t you think? Might as well accept the gift.”
“It doesn’t matter how many times you ask. My answer won’t change,” Lei said as the spiritual energy-mana blend burned across his veins. He could sense it now with clarity—how currents of it boiled in Zhu Luli and Fatty Lou’s bodies, how Snake and Stone were full of it. It almost seemed their meridians had been changed for this moment, prepared to house this strange energy.
The only exception was Sun Hu. He was the strongest of them, and yet he seemed to have trouble just standing there on his feet. His face was pained. His meridians were empty. They felt normal to Lei now that he’d seen them—too normal to accept mana.
All that food. All those skills. And lastly, the Chef’s Touch. Is this why I was given the System? To prepare for the war this bastard had spoken about?
This gift was meant to be shared, that Senior Brother of his told him. Lei had been sharing it for the longest time. Every day they dined at the same table, all together, with Lei’s food on the plates. Every single day.
“I wasn’t talking about the invitation,” Voilanth hissed at him wickedly. “I was talking about you. Even if fate brought us here and played us like fools, it doesn’t change the fact that you are now standing before me. A budding Chosen. A chance for me to make sure this world will be ours in the end.”
“Try me, bastard!” Fatty Lou roared and lunged from Lei’s side, coming at the Master with his eyes blazing and fists screaming in the air. Zhu Luli joined him right after, the fingers of her right hand gleaming painfully sharp. Sun Hu’s chain stretched from her back.
Fists plunged into his face as Voilanth just… stood there. Bones snapped. Fatty Lou jerked back in pain, holding his right fist to his face, his knuckles all bruised and purple, a bone sticking out from his palm.
Then fingers drilled into the bastard’s rotten carapace. Zhu Luli strained visibly against the hard shell as Sun Hu’s chains coiled around his ankles. Lei felt the shift before it happened and was too late to scream at her when a rotten wave of mana splashed against her face, sending her reeling back.
Blood ripped from her fingers. Nut-sized holes opened in the back of her palms, the rot sizzling over their surface. Just the sight of it made Lei wince, but Zhu Luli didn’t seem too bothered by it. Instead, she was looking straight into Voilanth’s eyes with fury.
“A good opening,” Voilanth chuckled at them like a proud teacher praising his students. He then turned toward his own group. “But now, let us put an end to this game. Kill the others. I shall deal with the Chosen myself.”
Beasts lunged from behind him, unrecognizable faces oozing with pus. Voilanth’s aide and the Governor joined them as well.
“Brother Lou, your hand—“
“I’m fine,” Fatty Lou cut Lei’s words with an assuring nod. “You focus on that piece of shit. We’ll deal with the rest.”
“The flame!” Zhu Luli said as the beasts closed in on them. “I don’t know how you did it, but call it again. The rotten mana’s gone now.”
“Understood,” Lei said as he gazed at the kids. Worry clouded his mind just for a second before he steeled his thoughts. “Be careful,” he said to the trio that looked at him. “If something happens to us…”
He left the last part unsaid and focused on the Master.
The Maiden’s Flame still burned in his heart, but it was weary, almost too spent to pay heed to his calls. From how the Dao Seed kept feeding it, it would take some minutes before he could use it again.
He needed to stall.
Voilanth wasn’t about to let him.
He neared Lei with a lazy look on his face and tipped his head as if this was some medieval duel. When Lei didn’t return the gesture, the bastard frowned ever so slightly. He then stretched a clawed hand and pointed his index finger at him.
“You’re an abomination,” he said. “A being that can hold mana and spiritual energy both. I’m curious as to how that exactly works. When I’m done with you, I’ll be using that shell to study the intricacies of a being that should not have existed. Come now. Try your best. Show me your worth.”
Lei swung the mace yet again at Voilanth’s face, his Spiritual Sensitivity skill alerting him that the same barrier still stood strong. Like an extra layer of thick skin, it coated the bastard from head to toe, an armor mere flesh couldn’t hope to ever breach.
But there was no choice for Lei but to try. He refused to believe that the man’s shell would remain strong after a flurry of attacks. If more force was what it would take to tear it apart, then Lei would happily oblige.
The mace clanked harmlessly off the slimy skin, sending a jolt of pain down Lei’s arms. He used the momentum to turn himself around and dragged the mace horizontally to plant another blow to Voilanth’s waist.
Face creasing, this time the bastard stepped easily back and let the mace fly before him. His eyes glinted when Lei’s side left completely open. He let out a chuckle and lunged closer at him, driving a clawed hand into Lei’s gut.
Pain blasted into his stomach like a living fire. It streaked up his body. It was warm around his skin for a second, then it got cold, making him tremble. It took everything for Lei to tear himself back from the poisonous claws.
He could feel the rotten mana working its way inside his veins, filling his head with terrible pain. The world spun and twisted about him. Lights blinked in and out, breath wheezing in his chest.
Then came another one, this time right below his waist. When Lei forced his eyes to open, he saw the bastard there on his face, claws plunged deep into Lei’s gut, blood pouring out from their sides. A reeking, rotten breath splashed into his face.
“It hurts, doesn’t it?” Voilanth said and leaned closer before pulling his claws sideways to tear a long gash across Lei’s waist.
The mace tried and failed to force him back. It couldn’t even open a dent in that invisible armor as Lei wheezed out a breath. As Voilanth was about to swipe at his neck, chains stretched from behind and clanked hard against the bastard’s claws.
He retreated back in a shower of sparks that spattered from his claws, which gave Lei a moment to breathe.
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His eyes kept closing. He had to forcefully pull his lids back lest he’d lose his sight. The fresh pain that screamed from all over his body slowly turned into a dull sting that he barely felt anymore. Nothing to hear. Nothing to see. All blood and tears round his face.
Beyond, Zhu Luli and the kids were fighting a losing battle. The squirrel moved around them and made sure the kids remained safe, which put most of the pressure on Zhu Luli and Fatty Lou’s shoulders. With one lifeless fist, his brother-in-arms was having trouble fighting off against four monstrous beasts.
Their bodies were riddled with wounds. Blood had painted their robes crimson. Even Snake had a long cut around his right arm where he patched it with a piece of cloth. It was people against mindless creatures. The Governor’s men had only one thing on their minds.
Kill these cultivators.
Lei tried to shake himself off. He couldn’t continue like this. He had to do something, anything to change the tide.
Flame… Maiden’s Flame…
He called at it, but he could barely hear its pulse. Too spent to move. Too tired to hear his pleas.
“Off you go, Chosen,” Voilanth rasped a throaty laugh. “Off you go to the place you belong. The Depths will welcome you! It’s only right for you to become a part of that deep emptiness!”
The Master came at him slowly, smiling, the gash across his face still throbbing with a sharp spiritual energy. Lei found himself looking at that cut. Thinking. Questioning.
What could’ve caused this bastard to bleed like that?
“No!”
“Ah!”
A boy’s cry. Lei snapped his head at the sound. His eyes widened. Breath stuck tight in his throat when he saw the Master’s aide, or rather who he was holding with both his hands.
Clawed hands had wrapped around Snake and Stone’s necks, strangling them, their faces white and lips breathless.
“Get off me!” Lei roared and swung the mace with all his worth.
Voilanth waved the blow off with terrible ease. He looked at Lei with pleasure in his eyes.
“It hurts, doesn’t it? This is what the Everquest had reduced us to. You and me, young man, we mean nothing. Those kids mean nothing. Mere playthings. You just have to accept the fate you’ve been given.”
“No!” Lei screamed, and yelled, and tried to force his way, but Voilanth refused to let him. His claws tore chunks of flesh from his arms. Dug holes deep into his chest. Pain and fury struggled against each other. When they both receded, what Lei was left with was desperation.
He watched, blood dripping down his chin, the life slowly leaving Snake and Stone’s eyes. The boys were struggling. Both of their right arms were stretched.
Then it dawned on Lei the reason why. For one last time, before death claimed them, they were trying to hold hands.
Tears streamed down Lei’s eyes.
The boys managed to hold their hands as Sigul squeezed their necks tighter. Lei saw in that moment a peace in the kids’ faces. Metal clanked as they touched the copper rings they wore on their hands together.
Light bloomed.
An explosion rocked the Library.
The walls shivered and groaned. A pillar near the entrance broke off in a cloud of dust.
Lei swayed dangerously on the tip of his heels against the impact, barely making out a pair of little silhouettes who stood with their right arms stretched. Silver light had coated over their hands. The rotten aide that held them was… nowhere in sight.
What is that?
Lei scowled in confusion. Light was pouring out of those copper rings. Cruel, sharp lights that even looking at them made his eyes ache. They pooled somewhere above the kids and coalesced into a shape that looked oddly like a sword.
It turned ever so slowly and pointed its tip at the Master’s back.
"Master Grim, no!" came Stone's voice.
Voilanth’s eyes widened at the sight of the sword. “Can’t be…” he muttered. “You were dead! I killed you with my own hands!”
There was no response. Only a clear cry of metal as the sword darted forward. Voilanth tried to move out of its way, but the sword was too fast. In just a moment, it closed the distance and lodged deep into the bastard’s chest.
Something snapped. Sounded like a mirror shattered under a great force. The sword of light fell apart the moment its tip pierced Voilanth’s layer of invisible armor, its lights scattering across the Library.
Lei blinked at the sight as Voilanth floundered back to his feet. He looked unhurt, his chest as slimy as ever, but there was a panicked, almost pained look on his face.
In that moment, a sudden warmth coiled Lei like his mother’s embrace. It held him tight and gave strength to his feet. He winced, blinking at Voilanth’s shocked face. He caught the surprise before the bastard shaded it with a deep scowl. He must’ve felt it too.
The rotten mana that was wreaking havoc in Lei’s body… The Maiden’s Flame was eating it away.
“What is that flame…” Voilanth raised a hesitant hand at him, looking greatly troubled and confused. “How could you purify the death mana? That should not be real!”
“It is,” Lei said as he threw the mace away and willed the Maiden’s Flame to show itself. Tongues of it crawled from the depths of his eyes, stretching in fiery streaks over his arms before densifying around his fingers. “Now, it’s my turn.”
Lei leapt forward, fists blazing with flames, breath hissing in his throat. He came at Voilanth with such speed that the bastard could only raise a shaky hand at him when he had already closed the distance. Burning fingers clenched around his slimy neck. They touched the rotten, sickly skin. There was no armor anymore. Nothing that could protect it from Lei’s fury.
“I will kill you,” Lei said to him, looking straight into his slitted eyes. “And you’ll die knowing that even the fate that brought you here couldn’t save you from me.”
The Maiden’s Flame tore Voilanth’s skin wide open. Lei’s fingers clenched tight around his neck and squelched into the pouring yellow blood. With one last scream, he snapped the bastard’s neck off.
[You have defeated Voilanth - Level 125 Rotscale Viper]
[You have leveled up! 3 stat points gained!]
[You have leveled up! 3 stat points gained!]
...
...
[You have leveled up! 3 stat points gained!]
[You have leveled up! 3 stat points gained!]
[Achievement Unlocked - The Chosen’s Fate]
[Warning! The Overseer acknowledges your presence!]
[Your presence has been revealed to all the Everquest participants in the wide circle of your world!]
‘Ding!’
[Quest Available!]
Loud sounds rang in Lei’s mind as Voilanth’s limp body slipped slowly from his hold. His neck bent hideously to the side, yellow blood pouring out from where the Maiden’s Flame bit deep into his skin. Mana rushed in waves from his body into Lei’s chest, gravitating toward the Dao Seed and getting sucked into that tiny sprout.
It fluttered joyfully as it purified the energy, sending a part of it up to Lei’s meridians, another part of it oozing slowly to the round seed. The black sphere stirred and started shaking. In his mind-vision, Lei saw two more holes open around its surface where two little sprouts showed themselves.
They looked so pristine and felt so intimate that for a second Lei forgot where he was.
A guttural roar pulled his mind back. Through the corner of his vision, he saw the Governor sweep a hand toward the others and force them back before lunging furiously toward him. His whole body trembled as he kept stealing glances at the Master’s dead body. Behind him, Sigul was no different, looking shaken, face white as paper.
With waves of mana-spiritual energy blend coursing through his veins, Lei needed not to fear a mindless beast coming at him. His knuckles cracked loudly when he clenched his right fist. He stepped sideways, waiting, then ducked under the Governor’s sheeting blow and brought his fist up with crushing force.
His fingers plunged into the bastard’s stomach and sent him sprawling over to the side, skin sizzling as the Maiden’s Flame that spattered from Lei’s hand started burning his skin. He let out a terrible shriek.
A loud crunch sounded close by. Lei snapped his head back to the chaos and saw another beast being flattened by Fatty Lou’s fist. His wounded hand hung limp beside him, but it seemed his brother-in-arms needed only one hand to deal with this bunch.
What remained of the Governor’s men tried to attack him, but Zhu Luli’s fingers slashed across their necks, and they fell in a shower of rotten blood and pus.
In the thick of the muddle were Snake and Stone, punching a still-shocked Sigul and bloodying his face beyond recognition.
Sun Hu was there, chest heaving, trying to take deep breaths from the recently opened hole in the ceiling. Spiritual energy was washing in from the sky where the purple clouds could be seen, mixed with the tiny drops of rain that spattered against the puddles of rot.
Lei breathed in and dragged himself, wincing, toward the group as Fatty Lou and Zhu Luli handled the rest of the beasts. Altogether they stood behind Stone and Snake. The Master’s aide still lived. Little fists crushed into his chest, arms, and face.
“Hah…” Lei sighed heavily at the sight.
He wanted to tell them to stop, that everything was all right now, but he couldn’t. The boys’ faces told everything. The time they’d spent in the Mountain, all the things that had happened to their new family… It was because of these people. They tried to take away what was theirs, and now they had to pay the price.
This is a cruel world, Lei thought, and to our enemies, there’s no other choice for us but to act in a proper way.
This was their reality.
No matter how he wanted to deny it, and no matter how he wanted to tell himself that no kid should experience something this heavy, it didn’t change the facts.
So he let the kids beat the man into a pulp. He waited for them to get tired and then leaned slowly closer to them.
They looked up at him, faces smeared with streaks and blood. They looked confused. Angry. Relieved. All the emotions mixed into stares so blank that Lei’s heart ached facing them.
In the end, he gestured for Little Mei to get close. The girl obliged, nearing him.
Lei stretched his bloody arms out and cuddled all three of them. Others joined close after. They embraced each other and cried.
.........