I was beside myself with questions.

How the hell could he be here?

Well… I kind of knew the answer to that one already.

Master Hei Dong had packed him off to military school after I trounced his ass nearly two years ago, so finding him in the army was perhaps no big surprise. But to find out that Hein and the person the Sergeant had begged me to save—the one now fighting the S Class behemoth in front of me to save his men—was one in the same, was what was now blowing my mind.

The little prick I knew was like a mini Jei Su Long.

But not this guy here.

Or was he still?

I just didn’t know.

“Are you here to help or just watch me be killed?” Hein shouted.

I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I nearly forgot what I’d come here to do.

Hein was now ping-ponging through the air with [Flash Step], barely keeping ahead of the Thrantor’s claw swipes and snaps of its jaws. He kept its attention by interspersing his dodges with radiant Qi blasts aimed right for its eyes.

It was a good strategy. It kept the giant monster both disorientated and pissed off enough to focus solely on killing him instead of rampaging across the planet. I cycled my Frenzy as I hovered in midair with [Lightning Walk].

Hein was providing the perfect opportunity for a full-charged opening strike.

I holstered my Axe, going full ‘bigboy’ mode with my Glaive.

The monster was powerful, both physically and spiritually and a preemptive attack like this would allow me the time to hurt it on the spiritual plane as well. Working my meridian sequences, I engaged my defensive techniques of [Steel Skin] and [Steel Lightning] as well as [Steel Core]. I then dove into my mind’s eye to summon my Sacred Soul.

“[Spectral Body Projection]…” I whispered as I annunciated the technique.

Instantly my vision doubled, seeing both the real world and the spiritual realm at the same time. The image of the Struggler emerged, red skin and bull’s horns superimposing itself over my body in translucent form.

I peered deep inside the body of the Thrantor and could see the pulsating black mass that was its demonic core. Dark Frenzy was cycling throughout its body, but it seemed it was using it for only one purpose now. I followed the thick rivulets of dark energy to where it was supplying its massive wings with power, slowly growing them in size.

There was no question now where I needed to strike first.

Once those wings were done growing, not only would it be able to fly, but who knew what other techniques it could then employ with that huge reservoir of Dark Frenzy at its disposal.

General Gong was right.

If this thing managed to get airborne it would be game over for this world.

I shot towards the monster with a burst of [Lightning Walk], pulling back my glaive to strike.

“[Struggler’s Lightning Blade of Fury]!”

I spun with the massive sword in tow, lightning trailing from its tip.

My [Spectral Weapon] briefly appeared as I made contact with the Thrantor’s giant wing and felt the resistance send a shockwave back through my body.

Damn, this thing is tough!

I poured on the Frenzy to break through and with a final push, both the boney structure within the wing and the Dark Frenzy running through it gave way. My Glaive spun free and the beast let out a horrid guttural cry as its wing collapsed in two pieces. Black blood jetted from the severed bone like an uncontrolled oil well and Dark Frenzy spewed along with it.

The Thrantor immediately fell on its side, mewling and kicking in pain.

The result was a mini earthquake that created a dust storm a mile wide.

I was just about to swoop down to get a couple more free hits in when I noticed my platoon of legionnaires had already arrived to do the same. Ten Chui was leading the pack, sending scorching Qi techniques into the huge body of the wounded beast. The rest of my team clambered onto it like a swarm of fire ants, eliciting more wails of pain as they cut into its hide with a variety of martial techniques.

They seem to have it under control for now, I thought.

Which allowed me the latitude to turn my attention to something even more important than an S class monstrosity with the potential to become a world killer.

My damn future brother-in-law.

“Yo, what the hell man?” I approached Hein across the air with a glide of [Lightning Walk]. “You saw I was on your ship, and you weren’t even going to say anything?”

Hein merely shrugged. “It seemed like the best strategy. Until now.”

I studied him as a stupefied pause fell between us.

The last time I’d seen Hein he’d been crying like a baby after I’d finished kicking his ass and breaking his dad’s prized sword. But a whole lot had changed since that day. His sister had become my betrothed and his family was now my own. Which made Hein my family now too, I supposed. In my mind, I still expected for him to be the same punk ass kid I remembered him to be. But I sure as hell had grown in leaps and bounds in the last couple of years and I guess it was naïve of me to think that he wouldn’t have done the same.

And grown he had.

Hein was perhaps close to twenty now, but looked somewhat older than that. Gone was the smug and boyish babyface, replaced by a visage that was far more gaunt and grave and marked with a couple of scars. Again, it was hard to recognize him fully without his long silver-streaked hair, but what I could see plainly now were his features. They hadn’t changed. Features inherited from his dad, Hei Dong. But what truly had changed the most, were his eyes.

They were still silver in color, but they had seen things now, I could tell.

Perhaps not as otherworldly as the unseen things that I had seen, but it was clear that he’d been exposed to the brutality of war, much like I had just experienced with the sudden loss of that sergeant.

Shit, I cursed inwardly. I still don’t even know her name.

“Is that all you’ve come to say, Chun?”

I grew suddenly agitated. “Look, I haven’t spoken to you in two years and a lot has changed between us.”

“Oh? Like you screwing my sister because I screwed yours?” He smirked at me. “Way to get even, my friend.”

I couldn’t believe this guy. “So, you want to go there right away, huh?”

“Apparently you did.”

My anger flared.

“It ain’t nothing like that between me and your sister!” I shouted and suddenly felt those old feelings of resentment return. “What you did to Yu Li was jacked up! What Fia and I share are different. Way different.”

I sensed some anger flicker within him as well. “Was that before or after you did the deed?”

“Bitch, I didn’t even know she was your sister at first. That’s how different it is between Fia and I compared to you and Yu Li.”

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“You really think that?”

He squared up on me, still smirking and it took all my wherewithal to maintain my composure with [Indifference].

“Well, I’m going to marry her for one,” I said with [Struggler’s Resolve]. “Not that I’d want you marrying Yu Li. Thankfully she’s found a much better guy for that.”

Hein scoffed, shaking his head. “I still can’t believe that one. Gui Zu of all people.”

I pointed at him threateningly. “You watch what you say about him. He’s twice the man than you’ll ever be for stepping up to take care of your kid.”

He grimaced as more anger flared. “Stop holding that over my head! I was just a damn kid mysel—”

An ear-shattering roar cut his words short.

We both immediately looked to the Thrantor and saw it back on its feet again. My guys were still doing their thing, shifting to aerial combat to keep attacking its lion like head. But the Thrantor seemed oblivious to them. It instead was gnawing at what was left of the wing that I’d nearly cut in half. It seemed to finally get a good grip and then with a whip of its head, it tore the dangling appendage straight off.

A painful roar followed as more blood and Dark Frenzy jetted from the stump on its back. It was enough to make Hein freeze with fear next to me, and I realized that he was perhaps sensing a bit of the Dark Frenzy now permeating the air.

I could see for myself what the creature was doing with it.

It was still circulating the Dark Frenzy throughout its body, but now it was stemming off the flow to its wings. As its one good wing folded to its back, the flow of Dark Frenzy to its wings ceased altogether. But then something else happened. Its Demonic Core began to pulsate and the flow was redirected not towards its wings but to its mouth and claws.

“Oh shit,” I said. “I think things are about to get real ba—!”

My words hung as the Thrantor opened its jaws and a stream of dark green flames shot out of its mouth and began saturating the ground at its feet. It was the same green flames that monstrosity had conjured up when I’d fought I’xol’ukz back at Du Gok Bhong. The emerald flames were thick and viscus like burning napalm, spilling and flowing like molten lava as it covered the ground. My men scattered, backing away as the Thrantor swiped at them, its claws now flaming as well. They had faced similar back at the academy, but perhaps not on a scale like this before.

“My men!” Hein cried and immediately flashed stepped towards the ground.

“Hey!” I shouted and then charged after him with [Lightning Walk].

I caught up to him with three rapid steps. “We’re not done here, Hein! There’s a hell of a lot more that we need to talk about.”

“Well can it wait?” he said. “My men are about to be killed by that thing.”

“Don’t worry about that thing,” I said. “Me and my men are taking care of it.”

“Then do so!”

“I Will!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

He then disappeared in another series of [Flash Steps] and I halted in mid-air, wondering what the hell had just happened.

Shit! I thought. Was I just on the emotional backfoot in an argument with damn Hein?

I tried not to think about it as I looked to the Thrantor again. The giant monster was wreaking havoc on the ground, killing indiscriminately, demons and soldiers alike. My legionnaire platoon was doing a good job at keeping it busy and in one place, but I could tell it would take them hours to take the thing down.

And likely not without incident.

The [Odds were Against Us] it seemed.

I tapped into the power of the technique, flushing my body with fresh Frenzy. Readying my Glaive, I charged at the Thrantor with [Ride the Lightning], becoming a missile. I punched through the sky and landed a smiting blow to the beast’s snout with all my might.

Its massive head snapped back like an invisible giant had struck it, causing it to cease its discharge of green flames. I marveled for a moment at how much power I was able to pack into that one hit. But as much force as I’d put behind it, I failed to break its hardened skin.

Damn, I thought. Could my guys even hurt this thing now?

With its inner strength now redirected to its physical form instead of its wings, the Thrantor had just grown ten times more powerful than before. As if to emphasize the fact, its massive, flaming claws sped towards me like a bullet train. It was quicker to block than to dodge, but I regretted my decision immediately.

Pain filled every cell of my body as the force of the hit was translated through my Phalanx Glaive and into my bones. I went flying backwards like a tennis ball hit by a racket, tumbling and spinning. When I finally got myself back under control with a burst of [Lightning Walk], I found I was over half a mile away.

Shit…

It looked as if I was going to need to pull out more stops than I first thought to face this thing. The translucent form of the struggler still surrounded me, but now I’d need to draw on the true power of the demon itself.

I charged forward with [Ride the Lightning], corkscrewing through the air with my Phalanx Glaive spiraling in front of me. The thing needed to die and fast. Before its flames killed anyone else. Even Hein as he tried to save his men.

I engaged [Mark of the Demon] enhancing my defensive techniques tenfold.

As I flew towards the Thrantor I aimed directly for its gaping mouth still spewing green flames. At this speed, no one would be able to see me in my demon form and for what I was about to do next, they probably weren’t going to see me at all.

I pushed into the Thrantor’s streaming breath and the effect of Dark Frenzy immediately attacked my Frenzied Flame. I protected it with [Soul Shield] and pushed right on through, seeing nothing but green flames licking about me. The flames themselves had minimal effect on my body as my [Steel Lightning] technique kicked in, keeping them off of me with its ablative effect.

I slammed into something that felt like skin and pushed right on through with my Glaive leading the charge, spinning like a top. Hot blood and offal pressed in on me and when I finally struck something solid, I let out a cry to push through to the other side, coming up with words on the spot.

“[Lightning Drill of Fury]!”

Okay, it was kind of a dumb name, but damn it, if it didn’t do the job.

I broke through what I figured was the back of the Thrantor’s skull, channeling through what had to be a good three feet of Dark-Frenzy-reinforced bone. As sunlight hit me again, I wiped my face to get a better view of the effectiveness of my impromptu special attack.

The Thrantor fell to the ground spasming, its eyes dilated and fixed.

As it fell, it was consumed by its own flames which now filled an area a mile wide.

That had to be my biggest kill yet, I pondered as my [Bloodlust] kicked in.

I cultivated the free Frenzy greedily, replenishing what I’d spent in addition to tucking a sizable amount away into my Dantian. I lowered myself to the ground to rejoin with my team and dropped [Mark of the Demon], although with as much blood as I was now covered in, they probably wouldn’t have even noticed.

Ten Chui was, not surprisingly, the first to reach me, followed by Dim Wei and then the rest of the team. The looks on their faces matched the lemonade pouring from their souls.

“Commander that was incredible!” Dim Wei blubbered. “You killed that thing in a single technique!”

“No question why you’re the Platoon Commander,” Jin Po said with a laugh and caused his fellow countrymen Li Hei and Ben Wu to do the same.

“What classification do you think that was?” Juk Sui said, folding his arms as he looked at the massive corpse of the beast. “S class?”

“At least a double S,” Le Hei said. “I’m glad you’re going to be on the ground with us on Fhae I’ung, commander. At least we know you can take out something that size with ease.”

I chuckled politely. “It was big, but perhaps not as strong as it looked.”

“I would say the opposite for you.”

We all looked towards the new voice that had entered the conversation and saw a man that looked in his forties, limping with the help of a stick. Joining him was none of than Hein himself, who walked a few paces behind.

“I thank you for your assistance legionnaires,” he said bowing deeply. “I am Captain Yungi, First Spear and leading commander of Onyx company. Your actions today saved many of my men, and also that of my second in command, Lieutenant Dong.”

As I looked at Hein, I could sense a mixture of fear, anger and lemonade all directed at me at once. I cultivated all three, but then had to admit that there were mixed feelings coming from me as well. I still didn’t know where we stood, but I couldn’t deny what I’d seen him do, or the respect I had for the lieutenant who risked his life to defend his men—all before I knew his name was Hein.

“Your lieutenant Dong acted admirably, captain,” I said with [Struggler’s Resolve] so that it was clear I wasn’t being facetious. “He perhaps saved far many more men than we did.”

The look of shock on Hein’s face was priceless.

I was sure he didn’t know what the hell to think.

As he opened his mouth to say something, the backwash from a descending skiff drowned out whatever he was planning to say. We all looked up to see the command skiff lowering from the sky.

Ah shit, I thought, already preparing to face the music.

It didn’t take long.

Jei Su Long and his prick of an uncle leapt over the side of the craft and came storming towards me.

“Insubordination!” Jei Su Long cried at the top of his lungs. “You are guilty of insubordination, Iron Bull!”

General Gong and his aides followed after them, looking peaked.

Hein raised a brow as he looked over at me. “What the hell did you do, Chun?”

I ignored the wise crack with a sigh of [Indifference]. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Don’t worry about it?” Jei Su Long echoed as he came to a stop in front of me. He then looked to the rest of the team. “You should all be worried about it. You are all guilty of the same!”

“No, they’re not,” I said stepping to him. “They were only following my orders. The only one guilty of not following your shitty commands… is me.”

That caused anger to flare within Jei Su Long and fear in everyone else.

“How dare you—!”

“A court martial,” Tai Su Long said, silencing his nephew. “That is the only solution for this insolent conduct. General Gong you should arrest this man.”

General Gong shuffled forward sheepishly. “Well…I can’t say that I would disapprove of the outcome the Master Iron Bull’s insubordination has caused.”

“Indeed,” Captain Yungi said, dropping to one knee. “Governor, this man and his team saved many of my own.”

“That is not the point,” Tai Su Long said. “The chain of command was broken and clearly remains so.”

“Yeah,” I muttered. “But not in the way that you think.”

“What was that?”

“Governor,” General Gong said. “While I agree in protocol, I remind you that the legionnaires do not fall under my command. I am simply their transport. They still technically fall under the authority of His Imperial Majesty’s Prisons. As such I could not confine this man under my military authority.”

Tai Su Long harrumphed. “That is why you are still merely a general. But no matter. I am certain there is a branch of His Imperial Majesty’s Prisons on this world. You will take us to one so that he can be processed immediately. Now arrest him in the meantime!”

Gong hesitated again while Jei Su Long smirked.

“Seems you’ve outsmarted yourself this time, Iron Bull,” he said.

I could sense anger building around me, coming from my men more so than from me.

“General Gong,” Tai Su Long said. “If you do not arrest this man, I will see to it that you—”

“No need,” I said, stepping towards the skiff. “I’ll come of my own free will. Take my native ass back to prison.”