We reached the East gate to the city, when several people, clearly having come through the swamp entered through the hole in the wall. Their clothing was clearly meant to blend in with the swamp terrain, dark greens and browns.

I also noted they had a cart full of crystals. “Champion Michael,” one of the women in the group stepped forward and inclined her head.

“You are?” I asked.

“Captain Olivia of the Fifteenth Independent Combat Unit,” she replied and saluted me. I returned the salute.

“And what are you doing here?” I asked her.

“Securing the arrivals tomorrow for processing and transport. Champion Michael.” I gestured with my head, and we walked away from both groups. I ignored the nervous look Bao Wang had given me.

“Let’s start with the current situation. How do things stand with the Divine Empress and her empire?” I asked.

“Currently we are engaged in multi-zone combat around Purgatory. The Empress’s army has pushed into the city but has not secured it. They are using Esperanza as a staging ground to try and push East. We lost a pitched battle against the Envoy. The Airship he brought unleashed several beam attacks shattering our positions.”

“At the moment, our forces have broken up into independent combat units of ten people each, consisting of two teams of five. The objective is to kill any Imperial soldiers, gather crystals, and push enemy forces back while avoiding any pitched battles.”

“And the arrivals? What are they for?” I asked.

“They are to be turned into hybrids and their meat processed for transport back to our staging city. Which is currently Heaven.”

“Clarissa ordered this?” I asked.

“Yes, Chief Administrator Clarissa is actively passing along instructions, but her location is considered top secret need to know information. Only her couriers know her movements.” All of that was interesting but nowhere close to what I really wanted to know.

“The Divine Empress? Has she been spotted?” I asked. Hope and fear battled inside of me in equal measure, waiting for the answer.

“There has been no sign of her. There are rumors she died in Purgatory among the Imperial soldiers but no one really believes that. She has taken long absences in the past and then suddenly shows up.”

I let out a breath I had been holding. That was not good and not bad. It was limbo. I hated being in limbo. But getting information out here was next to impossible. The fact that Clarissa’s soldiers were more than happy to answer my questions was a miracle by itself.

Perhaps the enemy movements would shed some light on the situation. Give it some more perspective. Who was running the show now if she wasn’t around?

“The Envoy, where is he?” I asked.

“He took the airship and left after winning the battle. We have had no word of him either or what he is doing. We can’t scout into level 3 zones easily. Teams are sent to get crystals, but consumption is the primary method we are using now.”

I didn’t like that Clarissa had released information on the technique, but we couldn’t afford to hold back against the evil empire or fight with one arm tied behind our backs. I would trust her judgement and not attempt to micro-manage the war effort.

We needed everything we had to hold the evil empire back. It didn’t matter what it took. But that was Clarissa’s job. My job was to find some way to kill the Divine Empress is she wasn’t dead. I kind of watched to switch jobs at the moment.

“Sir, um, Champion Michael, are you returning, we could use you?” Olivia asked me. I let out a sigh. “Sorry if that was presumptuous of me.”

“No, it is a valid question. The answer isn’t simple. While I could win battles, we would lose the war. Defeating the empire isn’t just about killing people. The right people need to be killed. They have endless numbers of soldiers to draw on.”

“You are going to take the fight to them?” That was a loaded question I wasn’t going to answer in full. The heist was top secret and Bao Wang only knew since he was key to the operation.

“Consider that information top secret. But yes. It is impossible to kill the Devine Empress in direct combat with the number of stat points she has. That is why I am working on alternatives. When I act, it won’t be quiet, but it also won’t be for some time either.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Thank you for your trust,” Olivia said. I put a hand on her shoulder.

“It isn’t easy, I know. But just like all of you are putting your hopes in me, I am putting my hope in all of you that you can hold out until I can work out my plan.” I let go of her shoulder and she straightened up.

“Yes, Champion Michael!” she gave me an enthusiastic salute which I returned. We slowly began walking back to our respective carts.

“Hope, do you know what happened to her?” I asked.

“Captain Hope leads the Twenty Fifth Independent Combat Unit.” If she had been promoted it was clear they were struggling. “I don’t know her area of operations, do you want me to enquire?” Ovlivia asked me.

“No. Also I wasn’t out here. My preparations are going to take a while, but Clarissa is aware. If someone is captured. Having them leak would be bad,” I explained.

“Don’t worry. We already know what happens if we are caught. Everyone carries a self-destruct device to take some of those bastards with us.”

“Well, try to make their side die not ours. Bomb production is up?” I asked.

“Struggling like everything else that needs crystals. We are hanging on. The summons and bombs give us an edge, but they don’t mind sending wave after wave of people to their deaths. It is scary how motivated they are.” I shook my head at that.

“They aren’t motivated it is fear. When one of their leaders is called Master Fleshcrafter, you can only begin to think of the horrors they engage in. Their capital is called the Forbidden City. I know there are allegories to ancient China, but this empire is evil.”

“Well I am sure you will be able to win in the end sir. I saw you beat those level 4 sky worms.” I wanted to cry at that. The Divine Empress beat me ten times more easily than round two with the sky worms.

We returned to our respective people and went on our way. I was thinking about the information Olivia had given me, especially how the war front had stalled at what was Purgatory or the reset Purgatory. It was a natural chokepoint which helped.

I explained to Bao Wang what I had learned. “Are you thinking about heading to the Forbidden City sooner?” he asked me. I considered the idea briefly, but no. Rushing ahead like that against a superior foe was how you lose. Better to take my time and prepare as much as I could. Once I entered the tower, there was no going back.

“No. Unless something changes. There is no need to rush. I would rather take my time to prepare and build up a larger advantage before rushing into that fight.” I could understand why he was asking. I had been up front with him in my planning.

If Bao Wang thought something didn’t work, we would have to find another way. The problem was there was still too much in the air or unknown. The missing presence of the Divine Empress kept nagging on me. Either die or come back. Don’t be missing, that is the most annoying outcome.

“If she returns then the crystals will be…” Bao Wang trailed off as we both looked up at the sky. An airship was flying very far overhead. It was quite small, but the white cloth balloon above the wooden structure with a large black dragon on it, made it clear who the airship belonged to.

It was small, very small. At most there could be three or four people if I had to guess. Less a ship and more a boat. Like a motorboat for the skies. My new Sense stat picked up on the trail of energy blasting out from the rear of the airboat.

Like a rocket strapped to a blimp. There were no propellors, just the single engine at the back. I stared up at the airboat in the early dawn. It was coming from the Southwest. It had to be really high up there and the speed was insane.

“Bao Wang, head South to the edge of the level 1, l will deal with them if they stop.”

“Running won’t help, but I will back off. If they have a diviner and you lose, I would rather kill myself before being captured.” I gave him a look in surprise. “I hear stories. An airship outpaces even the Divine Empress if the rumors are true and it is fast.”

I wasn’t sure about outpacing the Divine Empress with her insane Body stat, but it certainly was possible. The airship swerved around and began to descend on a trajectory with both of us. Bao Wang gave me some distance.

There was a familiar face. Well, I wouldn’t complain and was happy to start round two with the Envoy. I might be as strong as I would like, but I would not lose to him. Also, if I could capture that airboat, it would be a huge advantage for my plans and getting around.

I counted three other people with him. Two soldiers in white armor and black dragons. The Black Talons wore stylized black armor according to Bao Wang, but these could be elites. I would be able to get a taste of their combat potential.

The fourth person on the airboat was more concerning. He looked more skeleton than human. Old as well, with the wrinkles on his face. I hadn’t seen someone that old. In fact the Divine Empress was the oldest person I had seen.

Which made no sense unless there was a bigger pool or different criteria pulling in from the other cities. Something to think about later. The fourth person was wearing a traditional Chinese outfit in white with black dragons all over it.

It was much more ornate than what the Envoy wore which was surprising who had black shirt and pants with white trim and small oriental dragon on the collar. Not the large dragons on this other person’s clothing. As the airboat got closer I saw that the dragons were clutching eyes.

A diviner if I had to guess. They certainly got the best of the tailor budget in the evil empire. But it also made sense since the Envoy wanted practical clothing for combat. I readied up an Air Burst as I watched them with my new stat.

The Envoy and this other person had similar stats if the energy inside of them was any indication. The other two soldiers were like Bao Wang. So, elites, but not named combatants or close to my level. Still they could interfere and I would guess they had beam attacks of some kind since I knew the Envoy’s skills for the most part and the other person was probably a Diviner.

They had found us outside a city, but they had been high up and moving fast. The fact they were even in this area to being with pointed to a Diviner being the other special person on the airboat.

If and when the soldiers acted, it would be to target me at the moment of weakness. Right as I dodged or mid-air. I would have to be mindful of their firing direction. The danger sense from Perception was good, but it wasn’t honed to point in specific directions.

Time for round two.