“Hmm, let’s see...if I invert this portion of the spell matrix, then add another formation here to balance the...no. That won’t work either, hmm...”

A complex map of interleaved spell formations twisted in the air above Do Hye as he puzzled over it, tweaking and adjusting things as he went. Parts of the formation shifted in and out of visible space as he moved it—an unfortunate consequence of working with more than three spatial dimensions.

None of it was actually real—just an internal visualization technique. Any mana he attempted to manipulate or manifest would be immediately whisked away by the Sky Hall’s altered formations. The same principles that allowed it to convert the excess power of a divine tribulation had been turned against him, converting it into a specialized prison just for him. It had been his home for the better part of two years.

He was bored. Playing around with theoretical formations only got him so far, and nobody even bothered to visit him anymore. He felt a bit like a potted plant.

“What are you working on?”

Do Hye was surprised by the sudden visitor. If he’d known he could summon company just by griping about it, he’d have tried that much sooner.

He turned around to see none other than Queen Seong Eunhee herself standing at the gates of his open-air prison.

“Your Majesty! I was just doing a bit of recreational theory crafting. Trying to design a formation that generates more essence than it consumes!”

“I didn’t think such a thing was possible.”

“It almost certainly isn’t! But if an artifact like the Sovereign’s Tear exists within the cosmos, then it stands to reason that it should be replicable within the cosmos. I can’t say I’ve made any headway, but I’ve got nothing but time.”

The queen smiled sardonically, her eight fox tails swishing gracefully behind her like giant calligraphy brushes. Do Hye wondered how she kept track of them all. Half spirit anatomy could get a bit strange under the best circumstances, but the Seong clan was particularly interesting.

She sighed, her eyes wandering across the heavily inscribed jade walls surrounding the open air meditation hall.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Do Hye. The Sky Hall is far too valuable to waste on keeping a single man prisoner indefinitely.”

He chuckled, making his way over to the gate so they didn’t have to shout across the room.

“My days are numbered are they? Has Hwang Sung finally convinced you to execute me, then?”

“As a matter of fact, Hwang Sung requested and was granted retirement from military and political duties shortly after your capture. He’s gone back to being a scholar.”

“Good for him! He was never cut out to be a politician. I’m sure he’ll serve you much better as an academic.”

Queen Eunhee’s eyebrow twitched slightly, and there was a subtle catch in the motion of her tails. Most might not have noticed anything at all, but to Do Hye it was quite apparent that he’d just reminded her of something unpleasant.

“Perhaps. In any case, I do need to decide what to do with you, one way or another.”

“How sinister! I’m probably not the one to be asking for advice on that matter, though.”

She chuckled and shook her head.

“Obviously not. I’m not here to discuss your fate, simply looking to get some answers in case it ends up being too late once your sentence is determined.”

“Hah! You always were a bold one. If I’m going to be killed anyway, why should I tell you anything?”

“Because you can’t resist. You’re many things, Do Hye, but if there’s one thing that rules you above all else, it’s pride. You’ll answer my questions just to prove that you know something I don’t.”

Do Hye laughed. She had him there.

“Well, feel free to ask. I’ve been starved for company anyway. Though being stuck here without access to my usual sources, my knowledge of current events will be sorely lacking.”

The queen paced in silence for a few moments, contemplating her first question. In all probability, she likely knew exactly what she wanted to ask. It was just a matter of phrasing it in a way that didn’t give away too much information.

“Just how powerful is Qin’s God-Emperor, really?”

Do Hye raised his eyebrows.

“Well now! You certainly aren’t pulling any punches, Your Majesty!”

“He’s been a sleeping giant since well before my time. Always a looming threat, yet never directly interfering. Even when Seong Heiran went on her rampage and captured Kucheon, the emperor remained silent.”

“Worried that the sleeping giant might awaken, are you?”

She didn’t answer, which was answer enough. Do Hye stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“It’s interesting that you should mention Seong Heiran. You were still young, then, but you were alive during her time, weren’t you? Do you know what became of her?”

“No one does. She just disappeared. Even now I sometimes worry that she might return somehow, especially after Eunae was born.”

“Well, you needn’t worry about that. She’s well and truly gone—and good riddance! I can’t speak with absolute certainty, but it was likely Qin himself who slew her.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

The Queen furrowed her brows.

“How can you be so certain that she’s dead without knowing how she died?”

Do Hye sighed, wondering whether or not it was really time to reveal such a dangerous secret. He tried calculating all the different ways it could cause a catastrophe, but without a better grasp of what was going on outside, his models were painfully inaccurate.

In the end, Eunhee was right—he couldn’t help himself.

“When I convinced Kumiho and the other great spirits to join themselves with your ancestors to avoid divine wrath, I was particularly careful to get a measure of your spirit-ancestor’s soul. She had always been one of my most dangerous rivals, and I confess that it was my hope she would never again fully manifest as the same entity she once was.”

He ignored the way her slit pupils narrowed and the fur on her tails stood on end. The Seong clan revered the Kumiho, and clan mothers like Eunhee were particularly invested in trying to embody her.

“I ensured that if the Kumiho’s soul ever fully manifested in our world, I would know immediately. And when Seong Heiran finally slipped all the way down into the abyssal depths of her madness, that’s exactly what happened. Her own soul grew too fragmented and unstable, and the spirit she cultivated within her consumed what remained to take her place. For all of a few seconds.”

Seong Eunhee blinked.

“Wait, what?”

“Her manifestation and embodiment should have invoked divine tribulation, but something—or rather someone—didn’t even give her the opportunity. As suddenly as she appeared, she was snuffed out. I only know of one being capable of such a feat.”

“The God-Emperor. He’s really that powerful?”

Do Hye scratched his head.

“It’s hard to say. He was reclusive even before his ascension, and he reached his peak after the divine seal was already in place. I believe that he is probably more powerful than you can fathom, and also less of a threat than you think.”

“What does that mean?”

“His ability to act is limited. I’m not entirely sure how or why, but I know that while his power is near absolute within whatever confines limit him, he has no influence whatsoever beyond that.”

The queen frowned, staring off into the distance as she contemplated something.

“That’s a very difficult claim to believe without more evidence. Even assuming it’s true, without knowing what those constraints are, it’s not very helpful.”

Do Hye shrugged.

“He’s a secretive man. At the very least, you know not to sacrifice your soul to fuel the reincarnation of your pesky ancestor while on his land, so there’s that. My best guess is that he responds only to direct and serious threats to his position.”

Eunhee’s face went through an entire range of microexpressions, none of which meant anything conclusive, but she was definitely trying to suppress her reaction to that. Do Hye paid close attention to her tails, but there was nothing new to be gleaned there—she’d consciously halted their movement altogether.

“What do you suppose constitutes a direct and serious threat?”

“Well, in his heyday, he was quite proactive. The empire didn’t grow so large by accident, after all. But these days? Seong Heiran conquering a portion of his empire wasn’t enough to move him. It was only after she transformed into a true incarnation of the Kumiho that he acted.”

He paced in a small circle, the conversation was quite stimulating, and he was beginning to sound out a theory.

“Kumiho was one of the world’s most promising young deities before the seal, but if that was all it took then I would have been struck down centuries ago myself. The trouble is that we only have one incident to go by. He is subtle. I wouldn’t have even known what happened to Heiran if I hadn’t been tracking your ancestor. There may be other cases that we simply aren’t aware of.”

“When you advised Yoshika, you never mentioned any of this.”

“That’s not true. I said that Qin’s power is immense, but limited. He cannot act outside of his domain, and as far as I can tell his domain is rooted in the heart of his empire. I didn’t give her all the details, but I had to compromise between what I wanted her to know, and what I wanted you to know.”

Seong Eunhee scowled.

“Slippery old bastard. Either way, you pushed her towards pursuing divine sovereignty over our world. Perhaps if she’d known that Seong Heiran had been slain in the blink of an eye the very same instant she became a real threat to him, it may have dissuaded her.”

“Well, yes. That’s why I didn’t tell her that. A path like hers must be walked with conviction. Sovereign Shen Yu is a cold and cautious man. He will see this world annihilated before he allows even a shred of Chou’s influence to seep back into the divine realm. He may not be as violent and brutal in his methods as the Demon Lord, but make no mistake—he is the greatest threat to our existence.”

“And what does that have to do with our brilliant little rising stars?”

Do Hye turned away and spread his arms wide, looking up at the sky.

“We’ve all grown too comfortable. Qin is in Shen Yu’s pocket, the Dragon Lord still considers himself an outsider, Kumiho’s daughters are rightfully terrified of their ancestor, the Moon Lady left without a trace, and I am stuck in a cage that I created myself.”

He sighed and turned back to the queen with a tired expression.

“She’s all that’s left. An unexpected anomaly. The single forgotten piece that may be the key to escaping the checkmate we find ourselves in. I’m not too proud to admit defeat, but as long as there are pieces in play, the game is never over.”

Queen Eunhee pursed her lips.

“I see. Hypothetically speaking, if Yoshika were to start an empire of her own in opposition to Qin, do you think that would be enough to spur him into action?”

Do Hye laughed harder than he had in years. Slapping his knee as he regained his composure.

“‘Hypothetically speaking,’ are the pieces still in play?”

“So far, yes.”

“Then the game isn’t over. I’m no longer your humble servant, my queen, but if I might offer one last bit of advice?”

She sighed and gestured for him to continue.

“When deciding where to place your bets, don’t just consider the chances of victory. The great game doesn’t end when the last piece falls, and winning won’t mean a thing if you lose your place at the table.”

“I’m well aware of that, old man. I outplayed you, didn’t I?”

There was something odd in her voice—a hint of familiarity that hadn’t been present before. Eunhee’s eyes carried a subtle green glow, and as her tails shifted behind her, Do Hye thought he spotted the shadow of a ninth tail. Then he blinked, and it all vanished.

If his mind hadn’t been so finely honed, he might have mistaken it for a hallucination or a dream, but he knew better than that.

“Ah. So you have. You always were a subtle vixen, weren’t you?”

The queen smirked as she turned to walk away.

“I learned from the best. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of your pawns.”

Do Hye chuckled to himself as she walked away.

“A partial manifestation, eh? Clever. Too bad she still hasn’t learned to check that arrogance of hers.”

He returned to the center of the formation and sat down as he went back to visualizing his previous model.

“Yoshika aren’t anyone’s pawns anymore. They’re players. If you haven’t realized that by now, old friend, then you’ve already lost.”