Wind blasted into the interior of the drop skiff as the reentry dome retracted from overhead, forcing us to shield our eyes as we went into freefall.

Hue Zen’s largest content loomed before us like a giant map, now pocketed with burning impact craters which now denoted the major cities destroyed by the trio of Lesser Deity Realm cultivators tearing the shit out of the planet.

I gritted my teeth as the wind pressed into my face, uneasiness building in my gut. I was heading into some messed up shit, but I couldn’t let my emotions get the best of me. For better or worse, I had to keep it together for the sake of my team.

“Deployment in one minute!” I shouted above the hurricane howl of the wind.

My platoon was spread around the edges of the skiff, each one of us grabbing hold of one of the smaller defense skiffs, preparing to leap over the side. There were two or three of us to each skiff and I was teamed up with Juk Sui and Dim Wei.

Jei Su Long was in the center of the main skiff, alongside the pilot now guiding us through a thin layer of cloud. As we headed towards our predetermined drop zone, I could just see the darkness of night cutting the ‘map’ of the world in two halves before us. Where the craters trailed huge plumes of smoke on the light side of the planet, they burned like erupting volcanoes in the dark.

That’s where we were headed.

The dark side.

Literal Hell on Earth.

Or a planet soon to be like it.

I looked to Juk Sui and nodded.

It was time.

“Let’s go!” I shouted the order. “Disembark!”

We hefted the canoe-sized skiff over the side and mounted it with a burst of propulsion from our flight techniques. Dim Wei, the smallest of us, took to the bow to steer, while I balanced the middle and Juk Sui took up the rear.

I bent my knees and took hold of the guide straps to keep balance as the skiff bucked and kicked like a surfboard beneath us. As planned, all eight of our skiffs departed from the main drop skiff, accelerating in a dive to hit the ground first.

The sky darkened as we slipped towards the umbral shadow of the planet, crossing the line between day and night. As we neared the burning remnants of a once major city, my heart sunk. The destruction was unthinkable. I wasn’t certain what kind of technological era these people had been in, but from the looks of the buildings, the place look like something out of the 1920’s on earth.

Low rise buildings made out of concrete or stone, were now crumbling and on fire. Remnants of vehicles made of steel and even something that resembled a trolly cart, now derailed, burned in the middle of a wide multilane street.

As we got even closer, I could see the people themselves. They were human as far as I could tell. We were still too high up to see any distinguishing features, but one thing I could see just fine.

They bled just like we did.

Huge piles of corpses lay scattered throughout the remnants of the city and as we entered our drop zone somewhere near its outskirts, I could finally hear screams. Below us, people ran for their lives in droves while the Warden’s imperial officers herded them like cattle.

My heartbeat sped with fear as memories flooded my mind.

I could only imagine what they were going through.

Families being pulled apart.

Mothers and fathers left to die, while their children cried out for them.

And then suddenly I realized, I wasn’t just imagining it.

It wasn’t my fear I was feeling at all.

It was [Everyone’s Fear].

I took a mental step back as I realized I could now sense the Fear of all these people.

But my Flame was in no state to process it.

It barely flickered as my resolve waned.

A sudden explosion rang out and something zipped past my head with a sonic boom.

“Resistance!” Dim Wei shouted, pointing ahead of her.

I followed her line of sight, to see a wall of what looked like medieval armor facing us. The things stood at least twenty or thirty feet tall, humanoid in shape with ornate crests embossed upon the chest plates that looked to be made of iron or steel. On the shoulders of the armor were what looked like guns or cannons and where the helmet would be, was instead a rampart where two or three soldiers were pointing what looked like rifles at us.

Muzzles flashed and with a boom from one of the cannons, one of our skiffs was blown out of the air. I couldn’t tell who it was, but all three cultivators jumped before the impact hit and landed on the ground below unfazed. I doubted anything they were shooting at us would penetrate even my natural defenses at the moment, but I bolstered myself with [Steel Skin] more out of habit as I gave the order to charge.

“Take down the golems,” I shouted. “Leave the soldiers alive!”

As another volley of cannon and rifle fire went off, another skiff was blown out of the sky. We pressed on undaunted, and I jumped from the skiff with [Lightning Walk] to barrel into the line of towering golems. I cleaved one of them in two with my Glaive, the Currupted Steel cutting through the armor like it was made of cloth.

Up close, I could see the horror and incomprehension in the faces of my enemy. They were fair skinned, with features that were reminiscent of people from the Mediterranean back home, like Greek or Italian.

They screamed in a language I couldn’t understand, but the mixture of both fear and lemonade in their souls translated into what could only be something like ‘Oh My God!’ ‘Oh My God!’, over and over again.

I suppressed the guilt and remorse building in my gut like bile as I cleaved through another suit of armor. My men quickly joined in to finish the job and in less than thirty seconds we had decimated all resistance from what would have had to have been the equivalent of a battalion of armored tanks.

I landed before the soldiers themselves in a burst of lightning and about half of them fell to their knees in what looked like prayer or surrender, perhaps both. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Or experiencing was perhaps a better word. I looked to the darkened sky and saw the moon glowing redder and the familiar tingle of Dark Frenzy came with it.

One of the soldiers, who looked to be an officer of some kind based on his headdress—a blue beret adorned with feathers—began speaking to me in his native language. He pointed to himself and his men and I realized he was offering himself to me in exchange for his soldiers’ lives.

My stomach soured.

They’d all be dead within hours anyway. Taken by the monsters of the Bloodmoon or mutated into demons themselves. I felt my Flame finally stir then. But not for the duty I was tasked with. I tapped into the same indignation I’d felt on Earth, but only now for the people here.

But it wasn’t just for the loss of their lives.

I looked at the scraps of golem armor and saw the bits of Qi Stone hidden within the interior, fixed within a complex set of gears and springs. That was human ingenuity at work and while it was primitive in strength compared to us, who knew what future innovations a technology like that might lead to.

But now.

After today.

It would be buried along with the rest of this world’s identity.

Lost forever.

I felt it then.

The true core of my Twin Dao reacting.

“Told you this would be easy!” a voice cried out from above, and I looked to see Jei Su Long at the front of the drop skiff, hovering above us. “What are you all waiting for? Kill all of them!”

Before my men could even think to comply, I shouted back. “Do not follow that order!”

Tension rose as my men froze and Jei Su Long looked down at me with contempt. “Did you just dare to contradict my orders again, Junior Commander?!”

“We’ve gotten our orders directly from the Princess of this realm,” I said with conviction. “Our mission is to subdue any resistance. These soldiers here have surrendered and show no resistance now. Killing them would be a cowardly act of slaughter. There is no honor in it.”

“You… you honestly think these savages worthy of honor?” He looked down at me and laughed. “You are a fool, Junior Commander!”

“Our honor is a reflection of who we are, not who they are,” I said and then I looked to my team imploringly. “As graduate legionnaires, we are all native tributes to the empire. It was not long ago that our very worlds were subjected to the same. We are all descendants of the lucky few who were selected for cultural appropriation. Let us not dishonor the memory of our ancestors by subjecting these few here to senseless slaughter.”

I paused as I said the words with [Struggler’s Resolve] and could see the looks of agreement in my men’s eyes as they all nodded, lemonade stirring in their souls. I then looked back up to Jei Su Long.

“It seems me and my men are all in agreement, Senior Commander,” I said. “And please don’t forget…while on the ground, its my orders that stand.”

Jei Su Long fumed and then stepped up on the railing. “Well then, perhaps it’s time I ventured to the ground to give the commands myself!”

My Flame flared.

“You’d better stay where you damn well belong!” I shouted with [Fear the Flame]. “That’s an order from our president! Or do I need to remind you of that, Jei Su Long?”

As my words resounded across the burning landscape, the native soldiers burst into cries of terror and fell on their faces, reacting to the technique. My men too cowered away from me as Jei Su Long fell back into the skiff as if my words had shoved him physically.

It was only then that I realized that I had tapped into [Everyone’s Fear].

The sea of raw emotions, flash converted to Frenzy as what had to be millions of souls channeled their anguish through my Flame.

I’d gone and pushed it with Jei Su Long, but I no longer cared.

No way in hell would I consent to slaughtering these people. I fully expected to face another court martial I could narrowly afford, but the reaction of fear within Jei Su Long said I had knocked the wind right out of his sails.

Lemonade streamed from my men, as they came to stand next to me.

I realized I had full center stage then.

I had to act quickly to capitalize on this opportunity to seize control and change the game plan. I knew what my Flame was telling me. I had to try and save these people somehow. The demon in me wanted to fight against the entire empire, but I wasn’t strong enough to defend my own planet much less this one, now under assault by three near gods on the rampage.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Still, I could do other things to try and save them.

But I wouldn’t be able to do anything in front of an audience.

“This area is secure,” I shouted. “We have lots of ground to cover. New orders. We’ve tested the strength of the resistance, and it is weak. Just one of us will be strong enough to level any resistance we might find. Spread out in ten-mile search areas. Destroy any golems you find. Once the natives have surrendered, move on.” I then looked up at the moon with disdain. “The Bloodmoon would have sealed their fate already.”

“Yes, sir!” they all chimed.

“Move out!”

As my platoon split up and departed in their various directions, Jei Su Long again looked down at me over the railing of the skiff.

“You’ll pay for disrespecting me in front of the platoon like that,” he said.

“You can send me the bill. I got work to do.”

He grimaced. “I’m not afraid of you, Iron Bull.”

“Interesting,” I said with [Indifference]. “Your soul says differently.”

It was true too. He was pissing with fear.

Whatever I’d said had just shaken him to the core.

And he damn well knew it.

Jei Su Long finally just harrumphed and then shouted to the skiff operator. “Move us now! Keep us ahead of this Bloodmoon. Go, go!”

With that, the skiff departed, and I was left alone.

I finally looked to the platoon of native soldiers surrounding me, gawking at me like I was some angel of deliverance or perhaps even the hand of God.

Shit, I thought. Now what?

* * *

I spent the next five minutes trying to communicate with the native officer.

“You need to go underground!” I kept saying in both English and Yee, trying to pantomime with my hands. “Below ground is safe. No demons! No monsters!”

He kept staring at me and saying things I couldn’t understand in return.

This wasn’t working. I looked at the Bloodmoon and sensed it growing stronger, howls of monsters in the distance getting closer.

Ah, to hell with it, I thought.

I finally threw caution to the wind and transformed right in front of them, putting on [Mark of the Giant] and [Mark of the Beast] combined. Fear spiked in their souls, as all of them screamed and some of them even ran. I ignored the reaction and immediately set to tearing into the ground, using my axe as a shovel. With my combined strength and speed, the loose earth and rock was jettisoned into the air like a geyser.

I used my [Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls] technique, to glaze the sides of the tunnel with molten glass, allowing me to dig even deeper. As I did so I began to sense something new. Something far ahead of me in the depths of the ground.

Emotions?

Grief, loss, fear, terror.

Were those the souls of more people ahead of me?

Did they have some kind of underground bunker as well?

The thought spurred me on and I began to dig faster.

I’d gotten to a hundred feet in about ten minutes but couldn’t seem to find the source of what I was sensing. I finally re-emerged on the surface, to see only about half of the soldiers remaining.

“You need to stay away from the moon,” I said pointing to the sky. I then pointed to the tunnel. “Stay safe underground.”

The commander and a few of his men ventured to the edge of the tunnel apprehensively. They looked fearful to go inside, but before I could try to encourage them further, snarls and roars filled the air as a pack of creatures that looked like mutated bears burst from a nearby tree line.

“Shit! All of you get back!”

I leapt forward, engaging two of the beasts. I killed them easily with a chop from my axe, but they slaughtered the native soldiers just as easily as one of them leapt into the midst of the platoon. More creatures came in a wave and then I saw something that took me off guard.

There, amidst the mutated beasts was a demon that had the body of an insect like a praying mantis, but where its head would be was instead a cluster of eyestalks that each ended in a single, bloodshot eyeball.

A star-born demon.

And one I had never seen before.

The sting of madness and Dark Frenzy streaming from it was enough to make me raise my [Soul Shield] in defense. But for the mortals around me, there was no such reprieve. They immediately screamed in madness and began attacking each other, killing themselves to flee from the cosmic horrors invading their very minds.

I spun towards the creature with [Ride the Lightning] and cleaved into its body with a [Three Log Chop]. There was a surprising amount of resistance, its body no doubt bolstered by Dark Frenzy, but I hacked through it with a push of strength and the creature finally fell dead and its aura of concentrated Dark Frenzy disappeared.

But as I turned about, I realized it was already far too late.

The men I had been trying to communicate with, were now all dead and even their bodies began to twitch in the strengthening moonlight of the Bloodmoon. My shoulders slumped in defeat. All that effort for nothing. Clearly there must be a gate on the surface of this world now, extending right back to the Hell Worlds if a star-born demon like that had gotten here.

I could try to seek it out and close it.

But what purpose would that serve?

These people were already dead.

I grieved with [Everyone’s Pain].

What the hell was the point of any of this?

At this stage the people here had already gone through the hellfire of King Theos and his crew as well as gotten picked over by the Warden and her team. There was no fate left for them other than the Bloodmoon.

But I couldn’t leave things like that.

I had to do something.

My mind reeled.

There was only one hope to save a portion of these people.

I had to get ahead of the storm.

Lifting from the ground, I engaged [Ride the Lightning] and tapped into the swelling Frenzy of [Everyone’s Pain] to move at supersonic speed.

* * *

Night turned to day, as a rocketed across the sky.

I crossed the great divide of an ocean and didn’t stop until the destruction of King Theos was far behind me. It was late afternoon wherever I was, and I found a mid-sized city that already seemed to be alerted to the attack on the planet.

Ahead of the city was an army of the same armor-suited golems, preparing for the attack. And just behind them was what had to be at least a thousand troops. I paused in the sky to consider my options. How could I explain in just a few minutes the complexity and horrors of what they were soon about to endure?

I thought a moment more, wishing I had one of those damn pearls the Warden had used on us when she had first arrived.

But then something else came to me.

I couldn’t communicate to them through words.

But there was an old saying I remembered.

A picture was worth a thousand words.

And damn it, I could now draw.

* * *

Chief Yora’s gift to me came in handy as I spent the precious time I had, to draw a crude comic book of the events to come. I depicted King Theos and the destruction of the Bloodmoon. Animals turning into monsters. I then drew images of them using their golems to dig into the earth to form a city underground and them stockpiling it with supplies.

Finally, I drew what would be them hunkering down while the surface was overrun with monsters and demons. I paused a moment more, before considering if I should draw one final image or not. It was crazy and I had no way of even being able to ensure it would happen, but I couldn’t leave that abysmal fate of them being stuck underground forever as a final image.

What kind of future was depicted in that?

I drew a picture of a radian godlike being with bull’s horns defeating the demons and then returning them to the surface. It was hubris to think I would be able to accomplish that anytime soon.

But I had to leave them with something more than just an advanced warning.

I needed to give them hope.

When I was finally done drawing, the explosions from King Theos’ techniques were on the horizon. I had to hurry. I swooped down to the assembly of soldiers and not surprisingly the cannons immediately opened fire on me.

The impact of the shells on my body felt like someone had merely hit me with a tennis ball. I was impervious to even their most powerful weapons, just as I had presumed.

Panic emerged from the soldiers, but I flew over them seeking out what I quickly discerned as a command center near the rear of the troops. Amidst rifle fire and turmoil, I weaved through the masses of soldiers to pause before a massive golem that was nearly twice the size of the others.

It was plated with white armor, decorated with gold trim and on the rampart was a handful of soldiers and an official who looked dressed in ceremonial garb. Two of the soldiers opened fire on me with rifles, but I put up no resistance and simply [Lightning Walked] towards them as they emptied their magazines and then began to reload in a panic.

I knew they couldn’t understand my words, but I knew they could sense the strength of my Flame.

“I come in peace,” I said with [Struggler’s resolve] and stowed my axe and bowed to demonstrate my non-aggression.

I wasn’t sure if it was the technique or the actions, but I sensed their fear subside a little.

The guy in ceremonial garb, an older man in his sixties it looked like, gave me a kind of salute with a small blade. I nodded and then approached further, stopping just short of joining them behind the rampart of their golem.

“You’re about to face a calamity,” I said and showed them the drawings. “I’m here to try and give you a chance to survive it.”

I pointed to the explosions behind me and then tapped on the image of King Theos. I pointed out the Bloodmoon next. Their fear subsided even more went they all seemed to realize what was happening and then the man in ceremonial garb barked an order.

It was echoed throughout the battalion and all gunfire ceased.

I handed the drawing to him and he took them with shaking hands.

“You need to do this right away,” I said and pointed to the image of them digging. “You must go now. Understand. Now!”

I pointed towards the ground and then back at the explosions.

“Now!”

He seemed to understand what I was saying and shouted more commands.

The troops began falling back into the city along with the golems.

I had no idea if they had catacombs or dungeons or even a subway system, but hopefully they understood what I was telling them and were seeking to get underground as quickly as possible.

I was just about to fly away to see where they were all headed, when the leader suddenly thrust his hands out towards me, as if to tell me to stop. I did so and looked at him quizzically. He began rambling on, pointing to the images as he did so.

I couldn’t understand a word.

Finally, he pointed at the last image and paused looking for some kind of answer. Clearly this guy was smart enough to be asking perhaps the most important question of all, either who this was or when would it happen?

I couldn’t answer the when, but I could show him the who.

Summoning my Frenzy, I engaged my [Spectral Body Projection] and the red-hued image of the Struggler formed about my body. Fear and lemonade both filled the man as he reeled back in shock. With wide eyes he stared up at me, perhaps even more convinced that I was some kind of god.

I pointed to the last image and then myself and he got the picture completely.

He fell to the ground the same way the other soldiers had, revering me with some kind of prayer. It felt awkward as hell, especially since I had no idea if I could live up to the promise I had just made or not.

“Go now,” I said, pointing towards the city. “Go prepare. I’ll buy you as much time as I can.”

The commander shouted more orders and the giant golem turned and began marching them into the city. I took off then, gaining altitude to see if they had indeed understood. I was relieved when I saw the armored golems entering what looked like an underground train depot.

Perhaps they were going to dig further from there.

I was just about to take off to head further across the continent to see if I could perhaps save one more city when a powerful voice came from behind me.

“What in the hells are you doing here?”

I glanced over my shoulder to see the massive form of King Theos standing in the sky.

He was indeed twice the size I’d seen him before, and his body radiated a golden light of its own. If I could detect Qi, I probably would have sensed him coming from miles away, but now I was suddenly caught flatfooted.

Shit…

My mind reeled for an answer.

Whatever I would say next, would either doom me, along with these people I’d just tried to save and indeed my entire life’s path. Including not getting back to Fia. I tried to place myself in his position. A man of such power that destroying an entire planet was a cakewalk to him.

“Apologies for my impudence,” I said with a deep bow. “But I was not satisfied defeating only the remnants of what this world has to offer. I sought only to test the strength of their defenses unsoftened by your great power, King Theos.”

The man scowled. “I told you and your people to stay out of my way. You’re lucky I sensed you first and didn’t just destroy this entire city and you from ten miles away.”

He probably wasn’t bullshiting either.

This guy could kill me in an instant.

The demon in me wanted to rise to the challenge, but thankfully there was enough [Struggler’s Resolve] in me to realize that was a fight for a completely different day. Now, I needed only to get out of here alive.

“This One apologizes deeply for slowing you down in this manner. My… curiosity got the best of me. It is not often one conquers a new world.”

“Not often for some,” he said with a scoff. He then studied me. “You’re that prodigy legionnaire, aren’t you? The embarrassment.”

A flicker of anger spiked in me, but I forced myself not to react with [Indifference].

“Nevertheless,” he continued, unfazed. “I see your Sacred Soul is quite strong for one so young. Go on then. You may have this city. But immediately fall back to your position afterwards. I won’t tolerate having to stop to avoid killing you again. You get me?”

“Fully,” I said. “This One again apo—”

He thundered away before I could even finish, leaving me with my heart racing.

But inside I jumped for joy.

I had damn well gotten away with it.

At least for now.

* * *

I returned to the city and assisted the people as much as I could. I found that they did indeed have a network of old sewers beneath the city with a subway running atop it. I helped by breaking through several layers of concrete and stone to connect the two, giving them quicker access to the lower chambers below.

I then dug through the earth even more, and like before I began to sense even more thoughts and emotions coming from people I couldn’t quite find. But they were less this time. By the time an hour had passed, I had dug a vertical shaft some three hundred feet deep.

I had no idea if it would even be helpful, but by the amount of lemonade I was now eliciting within the soldiers and people around me as I toiled, clearly, I had to be making a difference somehow.

When it seemed most of the nearby populace had gotten inside, I found the man in charge again and once more pointed to my drawing of the destruction to come.

“It’s starting now,” I said. “I need to go.”

I knew he couldn’t understand me, but I simply bowed to him and when he returned the gesture, I quickly disappeared into the night sky. I kept my promise to him and stayed as long as I could, battling the monsters and demons that appeared as the Bloodmoon rose.

I toppled buildings and debris upon the sealed entrances to the makeshift underground domain and prayed it would be enough to keep the monsters and demons out for the months and perhaps years to come and then prayed even harder than I hadn’t just buried these people alive in a massive tomb.

* * *

I eventually rejoined my platoon and sadly left the city behind to fall under the hordes of swarming demons as we continued our advance across the planet.

Fourteen hours later, when we had completed an entire lap of the world, we were squeezed back into our dropship and then collapsed with exhaustion as the pilot took us home. We all had no words, too worn down with massacre and grief to speak.

All save for Jei Su Long, that is, who tastelessly recounted his personal destruction of an entire platoon of armored golems and soldiers. I didn’t have the strength to say anything to him, but merely cultivated the ire he lit in my soul.

As the Xing Long came into view I felt a sense of relief.

This ordeal was finally over.

But perhaps it too was a planned stop along my path.

Now that I was finally off to the Hell Worlds, preparing to face the demon scourge, perhaps it was only fitting that the Flame had seen fit for me to tap fully into the other side of my twin Dao.

My hatred for the empire had grown more than ever.

Seeing this was a reminder of my original struggle.

My need to get back home, protect my family and defeat those in charge.

But I had planted the seed of my next struggle as well it seemed.

At some point in the future, I would need to return and hopefully liberate the hidden people of Hue Zen.