When Tai Sho had been younger, he had been enthralled by the beauty of illusory arts. The ability to alter perception, to dictate sight and sound and touch for whoever crossed his path.
But as he matured, that power lost its lustre. What use was a fake image? A fake emotion? A fake reality?
So he had turned away from studying illusion, devoting his attention to divination instead. The highest art, derived from Heaven itself, with the power to not merely see reality as it was, but to change it, to take destiny by the hand and guide it to its proper destination.
To choose what reality to make real, rather than foolishly believe a lie.
Am I a lie now, Tai Sho? If that’s how you feel, why not simply discard me and start anew?
As he stepped neatly around a tree, his body propelled by multiple overlapping arts to the point he was faster than sound, a violent shudder went through his body.
As of late, his Path had become more… active, with its comments. Passive-aggressive, even. It was alarming, but not necessarily a bad thing.
A few steps ahead his master began to slow down, and a moment later Tai Sho did the same. His Silent Movement art wound down slowly rather than all at once, the qi in the spell burning away piecemeal with an efficiency an order of magnitude greater than any common movement art. The head of the group popped into visibility as he weaved through the forest; Winding Wind and Lu, the latter hovering above the ground with the aid of a treasure.
His mouth was moving, and as Tai Sho crossed the second threshold of the Elder’s bubble of concealment his words became audible.
“-Different somehow. I’m not sure how to describe it, but I think it’s safe to assume something’s breached through.”
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Lu had to force his lip not to curl as Elder Seventh Wheel and his dog of a student came up behind him. There was a diplomatic part of him that whispered he was being too harsh in including an Elder in his distaste, but that part of him could keep its mouth damn well shut. The connection between master and disciple is an intimate one. If Seventh Wheel doesn’t understand his subordinate’s crime, then he’s a fool. If he does and associates with him regardless, then he’s a man of low character.
Winding Wind’s voice snapped his attention away from the trailing pair. “In or out?”
Lu worried his lip. Ah, that question is… He hesitated before answering. “I’m not very familiar with demons, Elder, but it doesn’t feel any different from normal ki. I would guess out, but it is a guess.”
The complex concealment and movement spells, the divinations Tai Sho and his master are using, whatever it is the priests are doing… As if his thoughts had summoned them, a trio clad in gold stepped into the bubble tucking them away from prying eyes. There’s so many different things drifting around, it’s a miracle I can sense the breach at all.
Song, the priestess, flicked her chin up and gestured with her staff. “What’s the holdup?”
Ah, and so many annoying people in such a small space. Why did I volunteer for this again? “There’s a disturbance up ahead. We should prepare for resistance.”
“A demon?” asked Hun, the merely middle-aged priest. He seemed the most zealous of the three, at least where demon-slaying was concerned; when he had first heard of their encounter with that tiny imp, his eyes had filled with angry fervour.
“Unknown,” answered Winding Wind. He placed a hand on his temple for a moment, then continued. “Goldenseed’s treasures aren’t detecting anything. Assume Salt forces until proven otherwise.”
With a nod, the seven dispersed back into their groups.
Their travelling formation could be described as diamond-shaped. Lu and Winding Wind took the front, Seventh Wheel and his disciple one side and the priests the other, while Goldenseed and Mai Rong formed the rearguard. Giro acted as a go-between, smoothly moving up and down the column to ensure nobody mysteriously disappeared or went off-course.
Scouting ability first, then combat, with support in the back. Not that the divisions in skill were particularly clean; the special operators had their own stealth abilities and divinations to guide them, and the Heavenly servants were able to hone in on the breaches by the will of their mandates. Goldenseed had numerous treasures – in addition to alchemy she was also a skilled enchanter – while Mai Rong seemed to be an anti-demon combat specialist with some skill in illusions. White knuckle chose well. Excepting myself, every single person could act in any or all of the important roles that need to be filled. He couldn’t even fault the inclusion of Tai Sho; honourless cur or not, the man was useful.
Their pace slowed as they reached the breach. It was the same one that he had trained his students with less than half a week ago – besides being near the sect, and the exact location being known, it was also important to close it before Hell decided to take a second look. Lu felt additional illusions gather on him like cobwebs as the bubble of concealment shrunk down.
Crouching low on his treasure, he gestured with his chin, communicating his intent wordlessly to the Elder before ascending to the treetops. He inched forward, Eagle Eye allowing him to peer forward as though through a glass lens.
In the thin not-quite-a-clearing where his pair of tents had stood were a half-dozen figures.
Two of them were humanoid, though one was more human than the other. A man in black-dyed robes sat beside something like a living wooden sculpture, a sort of tree-man with leaves for hair and bark for skin. The robed man had a sword balanced across his knees, and a wooden mask affixed to his face. They warmed their hands on a fire set into a pit, deep enough the flames would be all but invisible from ground level.
A Junk Dog. More specifically, a Stinger-Tail cultist. No idea as to the tree-like one. Could he be the one who attacked us with the Grandmaster..? No, too weak by far. I have no idea where that one is from. As for the other four…
Something that felt like a tight string wrapped around his scalp began demanding attention. He focused on it, and Winding Wind’s voice filled his head. [You were right. Can you judge their strength?]
Lu could, and not just with his Comprehension. [The four larger ones around the perimeter are female, they’ll be at least core realm equivalent. The swordsman should be fodder; second or third realm.] The tree was the only unknown, but based on the intensity of his ki-scent… [The last one is in the middle. I’d estimate fifth realm.] Judging strength with his Comprehension was still a bit fuzzy, but he was confident in his assessment.
[We’ll attack as a group, then. Strike down from above when I give the mark – try and disable the weakest one nonlethally.]
Lu gave his mental assent, and backed away slightly behind the foliage. Thirty seconds passed during which he crafted forms in his mind, and then… [Mark.]
He released a Spacial Freeze wrapped in an illusion, and the technique descended silently to hit the two men at the same moment as a box snapped into place. Branches fell, cut clean through by a cube isolating this small pocket of the forest, and to his senses it felt like there was no space at all on the other side; nothing would be able to go in or out, even through teleportation. Ah, I wonder who did that. Winding Wind, maybe?
No, Winding Wind was already among the enemy, a dagger of whirling air stabbing through the neck of the nearest hulking woman. Unlike the duo of men, the women were nearly identical; great furred things, deer-like with their sharp antlers and long muzzles. But where a deer had hooves, the women instead had canine paws tipped with sharp claws.
Is that unusual? Every woman I’ve seen thus far has been unique… perhaps these ones are sisters?
The deer-woman’s head came off with eerie silence, and as the remaining three turned there was a sudden golden light, a ripple of darting figures, and a series of explosions all unfolding simultaneously.
When the cacophony cleared, the women were all dead. One was impaled by three lengths of metal, the priests encircling the corpse with shining eyes as golden dust leaked from its wounds and orifices. Where one had stood there was only a crater, an acrid scent the only remainder of its existence. And the final woman was slumped to the ground, her back torn open. Seventh Wheel dropped an oversized vertebra to the ground, his hands somehow free of blood.
Lu let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. [Are we clear?]
[I would say so. But I’ll ask you the same: are we clear?]
Lu blinked. He couldn’t quite cast out his Comprehension like he could his spiritual sense, but he concentrated on it nonetheless. There’s ki draining from the corpses. The two I froze aren’t moving- ah, no, I can see the tree-man’s pupils darting around. But they aren’t breaking out of my Spacial Freeze anytime soon.
He opened the Telepathic Bond wider to reply, but some twist of instinct pulled at his attention. Wait. Something doesn’t feel right.
Not the men. Not the crater or the headless one. Not the- He opened the Bond wide. [The one Seventh Wheel attacked is playing dead!]
The Elder’s head twitched minutely, no doubt in response to Winding Wind relaying Lu’s warning, then he went for the deer-woman’s neck with a savage chop, the edge of his palm glowing pale blue.
To Lu’s relief the sprawled body jerked to the side, revealing his paranoia to be real. Seventh Wheel’s form blurred as he followed the woman’s movements, his attack still on-target despite the thing’s attempt to dodge.
It rolled, claws flashing, its missing section of spine seemingly no impediment at all. The glow along the Elder’s hand extended, but it was met by a vicious rending energy left in the wake of the woman’s wolf-like claws. The boxed-in area filled with a wet scent as the attacks met, neither cutting through the other but rather mutually annihilating.
Then a hole opened all the way through the woman’s head, something invisible jammed through where the ears would line up on a human. A keening sound like glass being crushed in a mortar came from the woman’s long maw, and she bucked wildly – until a second crescent of pale blue sliced cleanly through her skull and neck, Seventh Wheel finishing things.
Tai Sho stepped into visibility as though from behind a curtain, a long blood-coated sword in his hand.
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The clean-up took many times longer than the battle itself had. As Elder Goldenseed gathered the remains into a closed space, the priests knelt and prayed. The ki soaking into the ground where blood had spilled was teased apart by threads of gold, dissipating until it was indistinguishable from the thin stream still wafting from the breach.
As the others did their parts, Lu drifted down to examine the sphere of frozen space, and the two figures within. His spiritual sense extended, not hampered in the least by the Spacial Freeze, to poke at the men.
Ah, they’re alive. I was a little afraid they would suffocate, but it seems they can survive a few minutes just fine without breathing. He would feel quite foolish if a poorly-chosen technique resulted in nothing to interrogate. But the swordsman isn’t doing nearly as well as the other. His ki was agitated, running through his body in waves to gather in his sword – but it was futile; whatever Stingy had done to deflect his Freeze during their spar, either this man couldn’t do it, or it didn’t work from inside the frozen space. The ki was cutting through his technique, yes, but not anywhere near fast enough to matter.
The wooden man was much more placid in comparison. No doubt he’s saving his strength, waiting for an opportunity. He definitely knew what was happening, his eyes following Lu’s movements unwaveringly. Is it because he’s a plant? Or perhaps I’m, ah, anthropomorphising in reverse – assuming he’s acting like a plant because he looks like one.
As he pondered, Winding Wind stepped up beside him. The Elder’s eyes vacantly inspected his work. “A potent art.”
Inwardly Lu preened, but he forced humility into his nod. “It looks more impressive than it is, I think. We attacked from ambush, and consumption is much narrower than cultivation – they don’t have any tools to deal with an esoteric attack.” Any spell with a spacial effect would allow someone to resist, and it doesn’t restrict spellcasting at all.
Winding Wind’s gaze flicked over to the air behind Lu’s head, before returning to the trapped warriors. “Even still. The others will be done momentarily – I assume you would not wish to be present for when we dispose of them?”
Lu’s blood cooled in his veins. “…No, Elder. I hope that isn’t trouble.”
The Elder gave him a look that was not kind, but that exuded a hint of sympathy. “It is not. Knifework has its place, and gentler trades theirs. It is rare for a man to do both.”
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Lu stood near the edge of the barrier, where there were enough trees to obscure… whatever it was that was happening.
Foolish. It’s not like I haven’t killed before. But this felt different; the warriors he had killed had been actively attacking him, not subdued and functionally harmless. But things aren’t that cleanly divided. These are invaders; they came here at the behest of their Gods to attack us, to take our lands for their own use. What other option is there but to kill them? Sending them back would simply allow them to try again, and imprisoning them…
That might be the more moral option, but the amount of complications would be staggering. It would need to be in Little Swamp Village, to keep all the ki contamination in one place. Would the swamp clansmen even take them? Something tells me they don’t deal with prisoners of war the way I would prefer…
He continued to mull it over, but soon a rustling in the foliage startled him. Mai Rong, the core disciple paired with Elder Goldenseed in the back of the formation, stepped through the underbrush towards him.
Lu did not know much about this woman. She was a martial specialist, someone who had fought demons in the past, but as for her personality he was in the dark.
“Lady Rong.” He bowed, as much as the wild plantlife allowed him to.
She inclined her head. “Disciple Lu.”
And then, silence. Long seconds passed, and although she did nothing more than stand solidly with her arms crossed, not acknowledging him any further, Lu began to feel increasingly awkward. Ah, she isn’t here to speak to me, that much is obvious – she’s here for the same reason I am. But still, perhaps I’ll attempt conversation?
“…So, Lady Rong. Might I ask what made you volunteer for this mission?” I don’t think you were part of the diplomatic effort, so it isn’t personal from that angle.
She gave him a side-eye. She was an older disciple, with grey in her hair and a roughness to her skin that she left unobscured, but her high realm gave her a vitality that made her seem much younger in motion.
Her voice was strong, without any rasp or imperfection. “I believe in what the Patriarch is fighting for. These men might be our enemies, but they are no different from any other hostile nation.” Her eyes returned to the barrier, the opaque wall shimmering like an unsettled pool of mercury. “This is not like our battle against Hell – it need not be to the death.”
…I’m not certain I can completely agree, senior sister. If the other Emperor-like beings are anything like the Rotting Sun… “I hope you’re right. I have friends among them; they are definitely not demons.”
Perhaps I shouldn’t have shied away from watching the execution. Is it cowardly, to agree with something but not look it in the eye?
He had no answer. Part of him wished to remain, and part of him wished to go back to the breach and bear witness. In the end, the former part got its wish; his legs remained firmly planted until Winding Wind came to retrieve him.
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There were no signs of the battle when he returned. The crater was gone, thin grass and shrubs returned to their proper place as though time had been turned back, and not a single drop of blood was left to soak into the earth. The firepit had been filled in, and even the women’s hoofprints smoothed over.
It looked exactly as it had a few days ago, when they had left it behind. The breach shimmered under a cage of roots, nearly invisible even when he knew it was there.
Like they were never here. What did the Ancestors even want them to do? That was neither an invasion force nor a scouting effort. And on that note, where were the sharpies? The swamp women had stopped giving birth not long after arrival, but that had been after several days of business-as-usual. We’ll have to sweep the area. If there are sharpies, they won’t have gotten far.
He, Mai Rong, and Elder Winding Wind joined the group of priests and Elder Goldenseed near the breach. Seventh Wheel and his student were nowhere to be seen – either they were hiding themselves, or they had left the sealed area to join Giro in keeping an eye on the perimeter.
With a gesture from Goldenseed the undergrowth bent, and the tree’s roots shuffled to the side to leave the breach in plain view. It had not changed from what he remembered, despite being used; just a crack in reality, its dimensions not conforming to sense in the least. The priests stepped forward, golden light shining out from under their robes as they moved in sync.
Lu leaned forward. This is it. I wasn’t here to witness that girl’s battle with the Patriarch, only got a glimpse of it when she cut off my cultivation, but if this is the same type of power… He didn’t acknowledge the Emperors as actual deities, but that they were beings of great power was undeniable. I want to see it. What the peak of human power looks like.
As one the three rods of gold rose into the air, then slammed into the ground. For a moment there was a great stifling pressure, as if they were standing on the floor of the sea, then the breach began to shudder.
It lacked sense even beyond the level Lu had already accepted; the cracks peeled away, not sealed closed but rather destroyed utterly. It was like he had been looking at a window shattered with a hammer, before a second swing revealed the damage to be merely painted-on, the false image jarred loose from the impact.
Destroying damage, leaving reality whole – I can’t even begin to understand what that power is doing. It seems to defy basic cause and effect. The only thing even remotely similar would be high realm divinations, but even those were like comparing a carp to a dragon.
The breach dissolved under a torrent of light, the paltry amount of ki in the air breaking apart and disappearing. Within three seconds there was nothing left of it, and the priests staggered, winded. Their eyes dimmed, their robes returning to woven fabric rather than molten metal, and for a moment everything was silent.
Then, with a terrible sound – the wolves were at the door, darkness and blood, hunger hollowing out his head until nothing was left – the tear reopened. It yawned wide, wider, encompassing everything from one horizon to the next.
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An eye opened, pupil-less, iris-less, just an expanse of pale membrane ringed with hair-like veins.
“I know you. My brother’s creature.”
Lu reeled. The voice was neither sound, nor in his head. It simply was, a blunt fact of existence. Whole in and of itself.
Once again, a God was looking at him. Something that wasn’t quite ki streamed around his body, burrowing into his pores like a river of parasitic worms. Somewhere in the distance he could perceive something else, something that was not the eye, but it was too far away to be of any help.
“Do you think you can slay My daughters without repercussion? Die.”
The eye became a claw, and the claw swiped through his body. Agony mingled with a numb emptiness as his lower body was torn away, the ragged edge catching and pulling his entrails, his lungs sinking down, his dantian-
His mouth filled with blood as he bit through his tongue. This isn’t- you aren’t the Sun. You aren’t here, you’re like Oldest Bones.
This isn’t happening, and you can’t hurt me. Not for real. A Numbing Illusion settled over his mind, and though the pain failed to disappear that only strengthened his conviction.
The eye loomed, as if inspecting him. “Oh? You resist Me?”
“I do. This is not your land; be gone.” Those distant impressions were suddenly closer, the tear in reality no longer taking up the entire horizon.
But still, it was most of it. Everything shuddered, and Lu’s Numbing Illusion snapped like an old and rotten string. The spell backlashed, corrupted half-effects scything through his mind, sending his thoughts into disarray.
“Not nearly enough. You might not be in reach of My teeth, but that does not mean I cannot crush you to slurry.”
The not-ki ate into him, not only his body but his soul as well. It was like sticking his spirit into a stomach, a fire, a whirling current of acid. Ah-! Okay, maybe you can hurt me a little, but-!
Golden light played over his body, the healing spell different from the light of Heaven but no less nourishing. I refuse to believe you’ve torn me in half! If you could do that through the reality barrier, you’d have no need to send worshippers!
Forms built in his head, and as the pain reached the innermost core of his being he unleashed every mental attack in his arsenal.
It was like a gnat attacking a bear; the borderline-unorthodox arts struck to nearly no effect, the eye reacting as if it had been hit by no more than a slight puff of air.
But it did react. The breach receded further, taking up less than half his perception, and in the distance those impressions of something else grew closer still. The others must be fighting too. And I’m the weakest person here by far – if you can’t kill me, you certainly can’t kill them!
…Unless you put all your attention on them, leaving only the smallest sliver to deal with the minnow of the school, a traitorous thought whispered, but he ignored it in favour of throwing more spells.
And miraculously they began to push the invader back. His spells might have been light puffs of air, but it seemed that the huge and domineering eye was little more than smoke. It began shrinking, pushed away by – retreating from? – his assault. That’s right! He ignored the terrible numbing emptiness as the caustic energy tore through him, more and more spells filling the space. I beat Oldest Bones, what makes you different?
Then, like a switch being flipped, the situation reversed itself. The eye rushed forward, the riot of liminal weirdness regaining the ground it had lost as his spells were snuffed out. Small teeth cut into his soul, removing more and more of his self.
“Do not compare Me to Him, small thing. How can death exist without murder? Without birth? I was the first, the first to stand up and rebel against the great powers, the first to strike a wound into their side.”
Everything shook, a weight greater than any mountain being projected from the glistening eye.
“I am hunger itself. I cannot be sated. The greatest of dragons rests in My stomach, and soon your kings and gods will join it.”
And then the eye shattered, golden light pouring into the liminal space and tearing it apart. A firm grip enclosed Lu’s shoulders, and he was dragged in a direction that could only be called away.
His feet touched the ground and he stumbled at the sensation of suddenly not being a mangled half-torso, his vision obscured by a sea of light.
But as the specks in his vision began to clear, a small voice whispered a parting comment in his ear.
“You endured only a splinter of a splinter, small thing, and look at the damage you have taken. Soon we will walk among you, and you will understand the laws of consumption.” He felt numb. He felt… like he had after cutting his heart demon loose. Like he should be more, had been only a moment ago. “Submit. It is not too late to join the winning side.”
And then it was gone. Lu swallowed back bile.
…One out of six.