Chapter 7

No sooner did the hologram monk disappear, than Ken started to blow out a sigh of relief… only to straighten his spine when Master Ryusuke glared. Whoever was behind Bodhi might not have the best of intentions—the whole story about a journalist monitoring Peacekeeper activity sounded too suspicious.

Still, a little part of Ken had to admit, their mysterious benefactor had been far more help in their escape from the bowels of Kyoto Central than Ken had ever been.

This, after Master Ryusuke had apparently started teaching him!

He had to prove his worth now, if he were to have any hope of going deeper into true martial arts. Trying to maintain correct posture, he picked his way through the unconscious Peacekeepers.

The steel front doors parted, letting in the damp scent and pattering of rain. Pushing past a cordon of Peacekeepers, who apparently had yet to learn about Master Ryusuke’s escape, was a male officer. Three shorter, pointed-eared beings in silken robes and glistening jewelry followed, striding in with the grace of poetry made tangible.

Ken had never seen an Elestrae in person, let alone three, since they very rarely left their embassy compound. He couldn’t suppress his gasp. Their long, billowing hair ranged from bright gold to lustrous silver, and large, almond-shaped eyes of emerald, sapphire, and amethyst.

Ever since their species met four hundred years ago, humans had idolized—no, envied—the Elestrae for their long lives, ethereal beauty, and ability to manipulate Istrium radiation. No amount of DNA manipulation could recreate their eye and hair color, at least not without leading to severe genetic defects.

“Fairies,” Master Ryu droned, eyes fixed on the female the golden-haired female.

Fairies? Those mystical beings appeared in the 2D Asian media of the 1960s, and enjoyed a resurgence in the 2010s. The Elestrae were decidedly not fairies. Ken shook his head. “They’re aliens.”

“Aliens? No, they’re daughters of the Gods, who have settled in the Land of Rivers and Lakes.”

Gods? Ken buried a chuckle. “Just where is this land?”

“Here, there, everywhere,” said Master Ryu, waiving his hands in circles. He pointed up. “Just not up there.”

The where seemed to fit with the master’s earlier description of planes stacked on planes. However, he master didn’t know everything. Ken shook his head. “We met the Elestrae in Alpha Centuari in 2392. They’ve told us how they first evolved on a dense planet orbiting a White Dwarf. The crushing gravity had made them short and squat. The unforgiving ultraviolet light killed off all those who couldn’t heal quickly. When they formed a symbiotic relationship with spacefaring creatures, they’d escaped that hell of a planet and colonized others. Then, their DNA allowed them to grow tall, thin, and healthy.”

Master Ryu’s brow furrowed. “I’m telling you, there are immortal beings who look just like them in the Land of Rivers and Lakes. And these radiate so much power, I can detect their Cultivation level.”

Cultivation? Were the fairies in the Land of Rivers and Lakes farmers? Ken started to shake his head—

“Is that him?” The silver-haired male pointed his chin at Master Ryu.

The Peacekeeper froze, then surveyed his fallen comrades with wide eyes. He drew his sidearm. “What… what happened here?”

Master Ryu bowed to the female. “Your Illustriousness, Your Humble Servant apologizes for the mess he has made.”

Ken cocked his head. The Elestrae must’ve been just as confused, the way they exchanged bewildered glances with each other.

The Peacekeeper shot. The blue trail of plasma sped through the spot Master Ryu would’ve been, had he not shifted his position.

“He’s the one you caught.” The female Elestrae clasped the stone of her necklace.

“Yes.” The Peacekeeper squeezed off another futile shot.

Still not coming out of his respectful bow, Master Ryu dodged again, then looked to Ken. “Stand there. Knees slightly bent, arms relaxed in front of you as if you were hugging a tree.”

In the middle of a fight? Ken stared incredulously.

“Tuck your tailbone and grip the floor. Like this.” The master came out of his salute and demonstrated an upright stance.

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Well, no one was shooting at Ken. As usual, he might as well have been invisible to the Xhumans and Elestrae, alike. He imitated the pose, or at least tried.

Master Ryu clucked while pointing two fingers at Ken, then closed the distance between him and the Peacekeeper in the blink of an eye. He seized the gun, which folded like leaves in his grip. Blue sparks flew from the ruined casing.

The Peacekeeper stared at the remains of his weapon for a moment, then swung a fist. Spinning around, Master Ryu’s arms twirled, one catching the Peacekeeper behind the knees, the other in his chest. The scissoring motion sent the poor man thudding into the ground.

The three Elestrae all clenched pieces of jewelry, which glowed a light blue as they chanted.

The sounds were so beautiful. Ken’s heart ached, even as his mind screamed at him. Their jewelry was most certainly made of Istrium, and if it was glowing, they were about to unleash some power. He came out of his stance. “Master, they’re about to channel!”

Master Ryu turned back to him. “What does that mean?”

“It means they might throw fire, lightning, turn you into a spider… they can bend reality!”

The master dropped into a low fighting stance, hands raised. The chanting stopped, and Ken braced for whatever would happen next.

Nothing.

The Elestrae exchanged glances with each other, then turned to Master Ryu and pressed their palms together and bowed.

“We have no quarrel with you.” The female extended her hand toward the exit.

Just like that? Ken eyed them for a long moment before looking to the master.

Coming out of his stance, Master Ryu returned their salute. “Thank you.” He took Ken by the arm as he walked by, heading toward the front steel doors.

They slid open at his approach, letting in a warm breeze and the hammering of a rain on flexcrete.

Ken jumped back.

Six Peacekeepers with drawn particle guns stood with their backs to the exit, their enhanced skinsuits soaked by rain.

They might not be a threat this second, but facing them were ten, no, twelve soldiers from the Ministry of Defense. Four shocktroopers in heavy power armor held both ends of the line. Most likely there for the intimidation factor, they were doing a good job. Six more shocktroopers in enhanced light plate occupied the middle, assault rifles in hand. At the fore of the formation stood two XHuman officers in skinsuits, both male, their bare heads drenched by the downpour.

“Again, I’m sorry,” the lead Peacekeeper said without a hint of apology in her tone. “We cannot grant you access to the prisoner or his effects until our Ministry approves the request.”

Ken chewed on the inside of his cheek. Unless Bodhi had hacked internal communications, surely every Peacekeeper from Kyoto to San Francisco to London would’ve heard about Master Ryu’s breakout. Was she just stalling?

“Our Ministry has waited long enough.” The MoD officer raised a hand.

The soldiers took aim. Miniguns sprouted from the shocktroopers’ power armor. The Peacekeepers responded by levelling their own weapons.

Maybe this would be for the better. Let them fight each other, and it would be easier to esc—

“How about if we tone down the hostilities.” Master Ryu shouldered past Ken and through the Peacekeepers, seemingly not to care that all he was wearing was underwear and a uniform coat. “Nobody has to get hurt.”

The Peacekeepers reached for him, but without even looking, he avoided their hands as he came to stand in between both sides, without a care in the world.

The tension melted from Ken’s shoulders. The master had only been taken prisoner because he didn’t want bystanders hurt; now, it was two opposing factions that both wanted to recapture him and do who knew what. He was going to avoid their shots and let them shoot each other.

In a rattle of armor and swishing of cloth, both sides trained their weapons on him.

“What the—” the female Peacekeeper said.

“You!” the MoD officer said, squinting through the rain. “You’re coming with us. Hands up.”

Here it was, another superhuman display of martial ability about to unfold. Ken backed up, lest he get hit by a stray particle bolt.

Master Ryu sighed. He raised both open hands.

Ken gawked. Surrendering, just like that? After all it had taken to get him out of Kyoto Central? He’d been serious about not wanting anyone to get hurt!

With a slow, deep inhalation, Master Ryu lowered his arms as he closed his fingers into fists.

Raindrops froze into sleet. The water on both Peacekeepers and Military iced up. Shocktrooper visors frosted over. Though the ones in power armor could move, their plates crunched at the joints. The rest could only turn their heads.

“I… I can’t move,” one said.

Amazing. With some effort, Ken was able to close his mouth. To think, maybe one day, he could do something similar. He looked over his shoulder back through the open doors.

The Elestrae stood just inside, eyes locked on Master Ryu as they huddled close and conferred among themselves. Their Istrium jewelry was glowing.

Just what were they doing? Had they known about the standoff between the Peacekeepers and Military? They had to, since they had entered just moments earlier.

Master Ryu followed his gaze. He pressed his palms together and bowed his head, then turned to Ken. “Lead the way.”

Looking back, Ken confirmed the Elestrae weren’t following. He hurried south through the rain, with Master Ryu a step behind. With citizens now getting off work, the streets were packed with people. Enough had activated personal water shields to keep the rain off of everyone, at least until they made way and stared as he and Master Ryu hurried to the south.

This was bad.

Although the Government had suppressed news of the fight, and nobody outside of firsthand witnesses knew of Master Ryu at all, he stood out like a beacon in the middle of a storm. Here was a man, standing a head above everyone else, walking around barefoot, wearing only an ill-fitting jacket and underpants that might’ve belonged to a sumo wrestler from history books. He would draw attention.

“I recognize this place.” Master Ryu pointed to Kyoto Station, a blocky silver monstrosity beneath the glittering skyscrapers. “The train station. It hasn’t even changed much.”

“On the outside, maybe.” Ken only knew about trains because of the opening credits to Once Upon a Time in China, and no one had used one since the Onslaught. It was amazing to think that the building had remained so similar that Master Ryu was able to recognize it after eight centuries.

“What’s inside?”

“You have to see it to understand. We need to go in, anyway.” Ken scanned the area for Peacekeepers. Seeing none, he joined the moving, orderly lines of people filing briskly into the transport hub.