“Some people got a mad skill that overrides Masking, Foresight. I’d avoid people from the Royal Marshal or else they’ll see right through ya.”

In a sea of people crowding into a funnel-like gate, the man in the white robe saw me. He saw me even though he stood in the midst of Wakh’an Pass way far in the back. Even though I peeked from a small insignificant alley. That alone placed fear in me.

I retreated back as I wheezed. When his eyes locked on his presence became unbearing. Would he pursue now that he noticed me? We had to get through Wakh’an Pass to reach Koroné and Regione Straniera. I had to think.

“Are there other passages that lead into Koroné or?...”

“Hm…” Yuanyuan scratched her chin. “There’s Okayu Pass down south and Montagne Settentrionale up north, but they’re a few months' journey.”

“Tch…” I bit my lip. We shouldn’t waste more time traveling. Even from Kucha it would take almost a month to reach Koroné. “Let’s find a way around that crowd. The Royal Marshal is onto us.”

Ruri and Yuanyuan nodded as we exited the alley. Then there stood the man ahead of us. Behind him his henchman fell in line marching in unison. My eyes narrowed at the sight. How did they get through that entire crowd?

“You think your Masking is able to circumvent the Royal Marshal’s sight?” The Zhounese man fixed his white robe and adjusted his peaked cap. His hair was tied into a ponytail, his back straight and proper. “Devil, how will you escape from this predicament now?”[https://i.imgur.com/3eOjBF9.jpg]

My fear grounded me in place. I kept Ruri and Yuanyuan behind me. My legs wanted to pick up and run. But I didn’t let them and faced the officer. “Who might you be, then, officer of the Royal Marshal?”

He acted in surprise before putting his hand over his chest. “Ah, how rude of me to introduce myself. Fourth Officer of Brevity, Li Châtelier.”

“‘Officer of Brevity’?...” My head tilted back. I’d never heard that title before, but seemed familiar.

“That’s…” Ruri pointed at him with a slight shake. “Guiral was also referred to as an Officer of Brevity. I heard it back in the Guild in Itogutshi—”

“Halt!” Men in chainmail armor moved in between Châtelier and us. They held long spears resembling halberds. The one that shouted thrusted his spear to the ground as his demihuman dog ears dangled in the sunlight. “Stay back, you three. We ensure that visitors are protected under the Traveler’s Policy.” He then turned to the officer in question. “We don’t care that you are from the Royal Marshal, officer, but we cannot allow you to harass voyagers in any form in Kucha.”

“Insolent fools…” Châtelier covered his face, laughing under his breath. His escort stepped forward. “You lot are interrupting our order, our holy hunt to vanquish the devil himself. And those who go against the will of Loi the Transience will be crushed under the crusade.”

The demihuman guard spat on the ground. “‘The Transience’? Don’t give me that, lapdog of Aquitaine, traitor of Great Zhou. You speak of Loi, yet Kucha’s deity, Swañco the Equanimity, hasn't made their appearance in centuries, same as all others. The gods have abandoned us.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to see yourself in water’s reflection. Who is the damn dog? A Koronézuki serving under the Kucharen Guard? Or the high official carrying the warrant of death… for the devil named Kaizenji Kawari.”

“Who’re you calling a dog?” The guard growled and showed his savage teeth as his animal ears perked up. He aimed his single-bladed glaive at them. “I’m a Kucharen, born and lived while you are born Zhounese and live like an Aquitani. And I will not let you harm our visitors. Boys.”

The Kucharen sentries came to his side and scowled at Châtelier. But the Officer of Brevity appeared unfazed. He snapped his finger and his own men walked in front. “What a nuisance. I shall entertain you for a while.”

I barely said anything as the exchange unfolded. Too much to process. The guards met the Royal Marshal’s grunts as they drew their swords and the Kucharen their spears. With the extra reinforcements we would be able to take on the grunts with certainty, however…

The demihuman spearman collided with a white cloak and bashed his spear into their blade. He bounced off and deflected the weapon away. I didn’t know what decision to make. Either way I couldn’t see any path to escape past the Officer of Brevity who stood behind the skirmish. Around five Kucharen guards battled the Royal Marshal’s rank-and-file. A crowd stirred up in excitement and dismay.

My heart began to pound. The same feeling I had from meeting Officer Guiral. If Li Châtelier and Guiral were Officers of Brevity then I couldn’t do anything to stop them. I simply wasn’t powerful enough. Yet.

Remembering what happened last time with Guiral, I faced behind me and told the two a plan. “I’m going to help these guys deal with the officer’s men. Ruri, prepare to support me from behind. Yuanyuan, provide healing to any of us when necessary. Don’t waste your EP.”

I unloaded my yedo shortsword from my sack and unsheathed it. My turn to help. Maîtresse taught me the basic skills I hoped to use. She taught me to focus on living rather than winning. I met my first opponent while I couldn’t pace my breathing. I needed to calm down.

He stumbled forward with a shriek. I caught his sword with an X block and rotated mine downwards. My blade sank into the man’s shoulder. Flesh tore apart as I saw myself cut someone for the first time. My eyes widened. I wanted to apologize so bad. I rolled the yedo sword out and moved onto the next grunt.

Swift and smooth the next guy rushed at me. I voided him with a sidestep. But he moved immediately and slashed at my shoulder. My skin screamed as I arched backwards. I grabbed my shoulder to see no health warning appear before me. Just a scrape, then. My head whirled around and saw him a few strides away.

“Don’t let them attack the visitors!” The Kucharen guard with dog ears jabbed his entire glaive into the man’s stomach. “Violating the Traveler’s Policy is punishable by force if necessary!”

His chart appeared in front of him as he pushed a few buttons. He chanted a few words and plucked his spear from the body. In a flash his weapon took flight to the guard’s point of a finger. It zoomed past his comrades to take care of the remaining men. The spear flew just shy of Li Châtelier who merely tilted his head to dodge. The weapon hovered back to the demihuman’s side before grasping it down. It appeared he didn’t need any help at all.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Feiguandao, huh? The dog has cultivated his SP for some time now to unlock such an… intermediate skill.” The Royal Marshal officer walked forward lightly as his men stumbled behind them. “How poor. To think that the Kucharen refuse to inform themselves of the current situation—”

“Kucha is very informed about the Royal Marshal’s delusions.” He responded brightly with a hint of fire in his eyes. “But the City of CrossroadsKucha has nothing to do with your manhunt.”

“Kawari.” Ruri tapped me on my bleeding shoulder. “We should take our chance and leave to Wakh’an Pass.”

Yuanyuan started digging through her medical equipment. “We can’t. That officer would never let us through. Hold still.”

She patched up my shoulder with some minor treatment, while the standoff loomed between the two opposing sides. Unlike the Guiral incident I had a plan. Back in Itogutshi, the only way we escaped from there with no deaths. How Sorah, Ruri, and I escaped from Officer Guiral. If I utilized that then we could survive this confrontation. To be honest the more I thought about it the more anxiety poked my chest.

I wanted to call out to the voice again. How to use the skill granted to me by Qinfen the Diligence, ‘Interdimensional Gate’.

“Tubiao.” The Officer of Brevity opened his chart as hundreds upon hundreds of categories manifested before him. “Allow me to show you all real cultivation.”

“Ts’aoFuck! What good will it do causing a ruckus here?” The demihuman barked at him again and readied his spear. “Get—”

“Swords return, blade’s edge gleaming, descend into the world, life and death under my control.” Châtelier held his hand out pointing upward and closed his eyes. “San Yue Summon—Trine Sword Dance.”

He brought forth his hand to his chest. Three dao swords manifested into a crescent-shape behind him. Silver and sharp they rotated wildly as they levitated in place. The Kucharen soldiers stepped back. Even the crowd gasped in shock and retreated backward. What was going on?

“What are you doing? In position!” The rowdy demihuman yelled at his peers while some backed away.

“Are you kidding me, Tursun? That’s a Level 100 skill! How can you expect us to face that?!” was one of the guards’ excuses as they ran away into the vicinity. Tursun spat on the ground and dug his glaive harder into the sand. His dog ears flinched low for a moment.

“Little recreant puppy, back down now and hand over the Devil of the Apocrypha standing behind you.”

Yuanyuan finished up working on my shoulder and I could move it again. My hand grasped my shortsword as I stood up. Level 100… As expected. If I were to be hit by one of his attacks I would die instantly. A Level 0 like me wouldn’t stand a chance. Winning was out of the question. Even so… while they were bickering I managed to figure something out.

[System Announcement]

New Skill Unlocked

[Calm Amidst Chaos]

Ṫ̸̡̠h̷̩̳͛͝e̴̩̿̈́ ̶̻̖̔̌E̵̥͑q̷̟̅u̵̯̎͝ą̵̤͂̏n̴̼̟̅̄i̸̡͋̄m̵̝̣͛ì̵̗̜t̷͖̾̄y̸͚̌͆

Was this the ‘Effluence’ that they referred to? Not that it mattered. I already understood how some of these skills may work. It was time to test my plan. I held out my hand. “Tahblo.”[https://i.imgur.com/AApTuwz.png]

Seeing Divine Command and Interdimensional Gate I finally grasped what each meant. Divine Command was a passive skill. The latter I clicked on its name on my chart. Another screen flashed before me.

[System Announcement]

Skill Activation [Interdimensional Gate]

T̨͖̪̙̜̩̥͋̋ͤ̃h̤̥̳͆ͩ̎͝ͅë̷͉̰́͛ͩ̃ ̵͕̱͖̝̦̣̰͈̇ͣḌ̴̯̲̐ï̴̘̞̜̺͇͈̱̙̔l̶͚̯̪̬͔̫ͪ͊͛̿ĭ̵͓͙͕͈g͈͉̹̤̥̞͌ͪ̌̐͘e̴̥̙̩̞̲̗͈̗͗̎̉n̸̠̺̓͑c̛̺͔͈͓̙͐eͭ́҉̜͇̩͙̘͚

Activation Cost: 90% of Max EP.

[◯]

[╳]

With Divine Command I called out to the voice once again. I channeled my thoughts into that one desire just like my desperation back with the fight in Itogutshi. How badly I wanted to escape from this world. How I wanted to save Sorah.

Châtelier chanted again and pointed at me. “Using a skill? I won't let you.”

“Really?” I said in response, almost in a taunting voice. I clicked the circle button. My mind became clear.

[System Warning]

First Time Usage [Interdimensional Gate]

Select the wanted item in the vicinity.

My eyes darted around to find a door near the stream of buildings lining Wakh’an Pass. In the middle of my vision I could see a crosshair. As if I played an FPS game. I aimed the crosshair at the door and it glowed faintly. “Ruri, Yuanyuan! On my signal you go through that door!”

“To use the Diligence’s [Effluence], then repeat these words…”

The Officer of Brevity held out his hand while his flying swords rotated towards us. He covered his eyes with his peaked cap. “The reign of three blades…”

“By the ancient bonds that thread through time and space…” I thrust my hand forward towards the door in question. Ruri and Yuanyuan affirmed albeit a bit confused.

“Cleave through the skies…”

“Where realms entwine and secrets unfold…”

“Souls scattered…”

“Travelers of worlds, heed my call…”

“Annihilate the demonic powers ahead…”

“Reveal my path beyond the cosmic wall!”

“Interdimensional Gate.” I finished the chant and closed my fist. The gate I selected brightened with a mystical hue. My head turned towards the others. “Go now! Run!”

Ruri and Yuanyuan bolted to the door and opened it. Immediately they disappeared. I then faced Tursun who still stood in between Châtelier and I. This Kucharen and his people defended us until now. If he stayed any longer as the buffer then he would die. The officer’s triple blades began gyrating on their tips aimed directly at us.

“You! Get over here!” I waved towards the guy. Sweat dripped down my face frantically. “If you want to live then get over here!”

The demihuman heard my call and tilted his head slightly. “Sir—”

I already ran over and dragged him to the door. He gripped his spear as it drew a trail in the sand. My hands grabbed the door knob and I shoved him through the gate.

“Wuzhi Obliteration.”

My body closed the door with all my might from the other side. I fell to the ground, panting and choking on air. All my belongings dropped like kitchen plates. I touched the ground to feel concrete. Cool air comforted me in the twilight in contrast to the blazing desert sun. Trees surrounded us with their birds crying in confusion.

Ruri also sat down in the dirt a couple meters away. Yuanyuan grasped her knees standing. The Kucharen I pulled, Tursun, laid in my lap breathing heavily. Behind me was a door to a public toilethouse. We escaped in the middle of the woods.

“Kawari, look behind you…” Ruri’s eyes narrowed and she pointed. I angled my head upwards to see the door warp and bend. Something was off. I took Tursun by the collar and pulled him until my veins popped. I hauled him down the outhouse’s ramp and collapsed onto the dirt.

“Get down!”

The small public toilet imploded immediately. A violent explosion ruptured the ground as yellow sparks burst through the door. Fire scorched the forest around in a blast of light. Then the night sky set ablaze to the bright conflagration.