Yoshika was getting frustrated with Yu Meiren’s machinations. She didn’t think she was underestimating the divine-born demon, but it pained her to be so outmatched. In a direct conflict, Yoshika didn’t think she could lose, but where she had her people and responsibilities to consider, Meiren didn’t hesitate to commit herself wholly to tormenting her.

The destruction of Longyan’s avatar was a double-edged sword. The demon lord was far more calculating and selfish. He wanted to rule, not just despoil. His control over Meiren was a moderating influence, but in his absence Yoshika doubted she’d be holding anything back.

It was only a matter of time before he returned, which put Yoshika in a difficult position. She needed time to recover after her last battle with the demons, but if Longyan had a foothold to return to she wouldn’t have any hope of defeating him. She was willing to bet that Meiren also felt pressured to deal with her before the demon lord could return to restrict her actions again.

All of that without even mentioning that they had Murayoshi and Jianmo as hostages.

It felt as though her only options were to rush in unprepared or give her enemies time to keep laying more traps.

While the army did what they could to tend to the Kasuga refugees, Kaede met with Yang Qiu and Long Ruiling to discuss their next moves.

“Yang Qiu, you spent the better part of two years under Yu Meiren. Is there anything you can tell us about her?”

“Nothing you don’t already know. She’s a wretched, petty bitch. If she’s got anything I could call a weakness it’s that she’s sadistic to a fault. The only reason she hasn’t managed to kill you already is because she likes to play with her food.”

Long Ruiling frowned.

“I don’t know much about the divine realm or demons, but I don’t think Yu Meiren is a particularly capable leader.”

Kaede raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

“She’s too singular in her motivations. She doesn’t care about this land or who rules it, nothing she’s done makes me think she has an interest in winning the war. Yu Meiren is here because her master commands it, but her interest here is only in harming you. That’s what makes her so dangerous.”

“I know, but I don’t know how to fight someone who’s willing to lose the fight as long as she can hurt me in the process.”

Yang Qiu shrugged.

“I say you should take advantage of Longyan’s absence and crush her. The more you let her prepare, the more she’ll make you regret it.”

Ruiling shook her head.

“You can’t be reckless against someone like this. We’ve already seen that she’s willing to burn down cities just to slow us down—we don’t know what they’ll resort to if cornered.”

“That’s exactly why we should strike first! Yu Meiren will spend every waking moment making your life hell until you put a stop to it.”

Kaede rubbed her temples. Far from helping her resolve the question, her lieutenants were making her even less certain. After her brush with death, it was much harder to take decisive action. Was it reckless to move against Meiren right away, or would she doom herself by being too passive?

“What I’d like to know is why Ryuuji wasn’t infected by her spell. She sensed my connection to Yuuko, so why not him? What about Fuijno and Fujiwara—are they alright?”

Ruiling and Yang Qiu exchanged a glance before Ruiling cleared her throat.

“Um, Yoshika, we don’t know who those people are.”

Yang Qiu scoffed.

“I swear, sometimes it’s like you’ve got half the continent on a first-name basis. Assuming they’re related to that nosey friend of yours, I can only guess but I think Yu Meiren couldn’t influence them for whatever reason.”

“The demon speaks truly.”

The girls jumped at the new voice as the command tent grew subtly darker and emptier, Void’s unusual presence asserting itself around then.

Yoshika sat up straight.

“Void? What are you doing here?”

“I am not here.”

She rolled her eyes.

“You know what I mean.”

“I would have contacted you sooner, but my attention was elsewhere. Longyan does not appreciate my obstruction.”

“Does that mean you’re going to help us fight?”

Yang Qiu chuckled darkly.

“Oho, hell yeah! I like the sound of having an all-powerful elemental god on our side.”

“I cannot. It is too dangerous for me to interfere directly. Preventing Longyan’s return is the most I can do. However, I can offer guidance.”

Ruiling swallowed nervously.

“I, uh, guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I didn’t know you were friends with...whatever this thing is.”

Jia scratched her cheek and cocked her head.

“Void is Iseul’s grandpa, Iseul is Rika’s adopted daughter, and Rika’s our sworn sister. So I guess in a way that makes Void more like...family?”

Yang Qiu snorted.

“You’ve got a fucked up family.”

Void ignored their banter, its hollow and soundless voice echoing in their heads like a memory.

“Yu Meiren is heavenborn, but she does not have the strength to project avatars into mortal realms.”

Eui furrowed her brows.

“Are you telling me that the demon lord’s right hand woman isn’t even a deity?”

“He does not tolerate competitors within his realms. She has delayed her ascension for millennia to preserve her place at his side. He rewards her submission with his favor.”

“Ancestors, he creeps me out. I’d feel sorry for her if she wasn’t just as bad.”

Yang Qiu nodded.

“They’re perfect for each other.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Ruiling sighed and shook her head.

“More importantly that means that if we kill her, she won’t be coming back. The question is, can we kill her? She’s been at the peak of xiantian for longer than any of us have been alive. That makes her comparable in power to Qin’s emperor.”

“That worthless hag is nothing like the God-Emperor!”

Yoshika was surprised by Yang Qiu’s outburst—the way she usually behaved made it too easy to forget that she was originally from Qin.

“Maybe in raw strength, but since my ascension I’ve really come to understand that it doesn’t work that way for xiantian cultivators.”

Void’s empty presence shifted.

“Indeed. As the sword demon taught you upon our first meeting, heavenborn cultivators often put too much emphasis on raw power.”

Yang Qiu grimaced.

“I’m not sure I get it. You mean like how Yoshika kicked my ass the first time we met because she was better at fighting than I am?”

Yoshika shook her head.

“Not exactly. I used to think that’s what it was, but there’s another layer to it that’s harder to explain. Oh! Is that why Meiren couldn’t influence Ryuuji?”

“Most likely. She exploits connections and incites strife, but she is not all-powerful. Her curses require a foundation to build upon.”

“Whenever I’ve fought xiantian cultivators before, it’s been in bad or neutral territory for them. The fire elemental we first met was in the middle of a cave and had already drained the Wood essence sealing Jianmo to the point that it was fragile enough for Yan Zhihao to break it. But when we fended off the attackers after taking my Soul Realm, it was at the core of my power.”

Ruiling leaned forward.

“You don’t fight a leviathan at the bottom of the ocean—you drag it onto land and take it down there.”

“Exactly! If we want to take down Yu Meiren, we need to create an environment that weakens her and strengthens us.”

Yang Qiu grimaced.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but we’re in the middle of a war. Strife and conflict are sort of unavoidable. Hell, that’s probably why they targeted this place—all the petty infighting must be like a feast for her.”

Yoshika felt the beginnings of a strategy beginning to form. As much as she wanted to rush to the aid of the people under Meiren’s thumb and save Jianmo, she didn’t have the strength—not while she was stuck fighting on the demon’s terms.

“Void, you said you were preventing Longyan’s return—how long can you hold him off?”

“I cannot be certain. He has the strength to overpower my obstructions eventually, but the demon lord is loath to commit such power to so minor a task. I believe he will likely search, in vain, for alternatives for some time yet.”

She could only imagine what kind of battles were happening in the divine realm to have distracted even Void.

“Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask something. You just said it was a ‘minor’ task, but I thought the Sovereign’s Tear was a much bigger deal than that. Yet, when Longyan offered a deal, he was more interested in Chou’s vault of divine artifacts.”

Yang Qiu glared at her.

“His what?!”

Yoshika waved her off.

“I’ll explain later.”

Void paused for a long moment before answering, which Yoshika took to mean it was something it didn’t want to tell her.

“The Tear’s power is immense, but each of the Divine Sovereigns already has access to and partial control of the font of creation. An unlimited supply of essence does not represent a significant benefit to them.”

“Then why all the fuss? The divine seal, sending their avatars down, the endless wars with Chou? If its power is useless to them, why do they care about it so much?”

She knew how it was going to answer before it even spoke.

“I cannot say.”

“Uuugh!”

“When I told you that I seek to preserve the natural order of existence, I did not lie. The knowledge you seek would threaten that order. If I appear circumspect, it is only because my power requires it of me.”

Yoshika sighed.

“I understand. Anyway, if Longyan’s going to be gone for a while, we might be able to do something after all.”

Yang Qiu clenched her fists and grinned.

“Murder that bitch once and for all?”

“No—or at least, not yet. The more I think about it, I think that’s what she wants us to do. If I fought her now, I might actually lose. She has too many advantages—I’m still weak from our last fight, she has hostages, and the entire country is embroiled in conflict.”

“Yeah, but as we already established, if you give her time she’s just going to keep making it worse. This city is just the first. She’s not going to stop until everyone left alive in Yamato hates you as much as she does.”

Yoshika stood and held her arms out to either side.

“That’s why we need to beat her at her own game. If we’re going to defeat Meiren, then we need to take away those advantages. I’m going to unify Yamato against her!”

Yang Qiu stared at her flatly.

“No.”

“Wait, what?”

“Okay, look, you’re probably on the right track, but slow the hell down for a second. Unifying the country sounds great, but you’re definitely not the first person to try, and people fighting for that very goal are the reason it’s so fractured in the first place.”

Kaede crossed her arms and scowled.

“Obviously I know that, but if there’s one thing this nation can always rally behind, it’s joining forces to drive off external threats. Meiren isn’t just a foreign invader—she’s not even from this world.”

Ruiling shook her head.

“But she’s hiding behind your father’s name. I have to agree with Miss Yang on this one—I don’t think you have time to unify the entire nation. That’s an effort of years or decades, and I doubt we have that kind of time.”

Yoshika sat back down and took a breath. Her friends were right. She had a bad habit of getting ahead of herself, and she needed to stop and listen for once.

“There has to be a way. Jin Hu has already started sowing the seeds of uncertainty among my father’s vassals. If we can get enough of the major loyalists to join us, then the others will fall in line quickly. It doesn’t need to be a lasting dynasty—just one moment of peace long enough for us to confront Meiren.”

“Well unless you plan on abandoning these refugees, we won’t be able to mobilize for a few days anyway. Perhaps you should go back and confer with the other lords.”

“Maybe. Void, what are you going to do next? I appreciate your help, but it’s hard to plan around you when you just appear whenever you want.”

The elemental’s formless presence began to depart, leaving its response behind with them.

“The rest is in your hands. There is a greater confrontation I must prepare for. We will speak again if you survive.”

Eui grimaced.

“Great. Thanks for nothing, I guess.”

----------------------------------------

Yoshika left the impromptu refugee camp in her lieutenant’s hands and flew back to meet the main force. The first person she met was Jin Hu. Qin Zhao was one of the oldest and wisest people she knew, and if anyone was going to tell her why her insane idea would never work, it would be him.

To her surprise, he actually laughed when she presented the issue of unifying Yamato.

“It’s good to see that you are finally beginning to understand what it means to pursue the path. Indeed, sheer strength is only a small fraction of the battle even in mortal conflicts. Ienaga Yumi is perhaps the foremost master of this concept in our world.”

Yoshika’s eyes widened in surprise. It wasn’t rare for Qin Zhao to acknowledge other masters he respected, but it was rare he would even insinuate that anybody could be superior to his grandfather, the God-Emperor of Qin.

“That’s because she specializes in duels, right?”

“To be specific, her entire domain revolves around turning herself into a weapon to protect her people. A dao so focused on killing is rare, and even the greatest elders are often caught off guard by how viciously direct and effective her techniques are.”

“But our domain is Unity. Just by engaging in a conflict, we’re already set behind.”

He nodded.

“True, but you’ve found the perfect solution to that problem, and executing it couldn’t be any easier.”

“You must be seeing something I’m not, because Yang Qiu and Long Ruiling just finished convincing me it’s completely impossible.”

“How ironic—they are the very reason it isn’t.”

Yoshika frowned.

“I don’t understand.”

“They are outsiders and pariahs, yet you’ve given them a place and united them. You were right to start by targeting the most influential lords among your enemies to bring into the fold. Presenting you alongside Ienaga Yumi was enough to give them pause, but to truly unify them, you need something greater.”

“Like what?”

Jin Hu smiled brightly.

“They need to see for themselves what you stand for. Perhaps something like an unlikely union of demons and fiends going out of their way to rescue enemies from their own masters’ betrayal.”

“I thought of that, but I don’t know how to convince them when Meiren’s already poisoning the well against me by trying to frame us for the attack.”

“Well, as it happens, political maneuvering is a specialty of mine. Let’s start by conferring with our allies here and go from there, shall we? Once we’re finished, we’ll lure Yu Meiren into a trap of our own.”