Fuyuka

“Clear the path for the Divine Empress!” I shouted out. The soldiers shifted a bit but did not move from their spot in front of the gate through the burnt flesh wall. The Divine Empress came to a stop about twenty paces from them and she gestured forward with one and flicked her hand to the side, before putting it behind her back.

“My apologies Divine Empress,” the soldier in front said. “But as the Commanders of your Black Talons and defenders of the Forbidden City-“

“You stand before the Divine Empress. You have no right to question her!” I saw the Divine Empress nod slightly after I had brought my hand down in a chopping motion. The practice from before was quite useful so we could all attack their mentality at the same time to break through any opposition. “I am her Speaker, appointed by Divine Empress Hei Long herself. Clear the path or suffer her displeasure,” I commanded with absolute confidence.

“That does not explain her weird energy signature that looks like a monster and you. Someone who I have not seen who wears that armor.” This was it Fuyuka, no hesitation, no doubt.

“The Divine Empress was injured in battle and looks to rest and recover. Her energy is strange, her complexion off, and will not speak since she is focused on holding the curse damage at bay and stopping it from overtaking her body. Hei Nu and myself aided the Divine Empress, and she has seen fit to have me speak on her behalf while he kills all you might disobey. Are you disobeying?” I challenged the man loudly so that all who were listening could overhear.

He glanced at his companions who looked back at him. “That is not-“

“Insolence!” The Divine Empress pointed and Hei Nu was already moving. The soldier ducked out of the way of the sword swing, but it wasn’t a swing it was a throw. It impaled one of the other two leaders behind the first one in the head, shattering his face. Teeth went flying everywhere. He screamed in pain.

A follow up kick sent the soldier in front stumbling. Hei Nu rushed forward, and he grabbed the man’s waist as he tried to leap away. Hei Nu then squeezed him between his hands, and they went through the gap between the upper portion of armor and the lower portion of the armor.

Blood and guts poured out as his hands sank into the soldier’s body. The soldier screamed. Hei Nu grasped the man’s spinal cord through his body with both hands and pulled, separating the soldier in two. He held both halves by the spin as blood and guts poured out in a torrent. I had seen far worse and didn’t even blink. He tossed both halves to the side. He walked over and punched in the head of the soldier whose face had been smashed in by his throw sword.

Punch after punch rained down. The soldier’s screams stopped but he kept punching until there was only a bloody paste left and a rivulet of blood coming out of the neck.

After that soldier was dead, he retrieved his sword. Blood dripping from his hands and armor. Hei Nu then gestured at the last soldier who was looking at the entire scene and had backed up a few steps.

The Divine Empress shook her head slowly and began moving forward and around the corpses and blood. Hei Nu retrieved his sword. I looked at the last standing soldier as we went past him. “Be thankful the Divine Empress spared you for your insolence. Clean up this mess and make sure no further troubles come her way. She will summon you later to address this failure on your part personally.” I didn’t wait to hear a confirmation as I fell back into formation at the side of the Divine Empress.

We made our way past the flesh wall and into the inner ring. The buildings here were all five stories tall. They towered over the street. I could see the store pillars ahead in the distance and the plaza. I could see people rushing about ahead of us lining up with chests as we approached the plaza.

This was it. Just one last hurdle to clear. We needed to convince these people to just not pay attention or look the other way as Hei Nu cashed in all those points. This was going to be the hardest part of the entire plan.

That was when I saw a fat overweight man, who looked more like a whale rushing down the street towards us in his red and gold clothing. It was harder to tell if he was wider than he was tall. But he moved like he had stats and was not breathing too hard when he came to stop in front of us. He didn’t kowtow in the slightest but he was clearly looking anywhere than directly at her injury and face.

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“Divine Empress! Welcome back. Your injury, how-“

“Silence!” I commanded and stepped forward. The man glared at me. “I am the Speaker of the Divine Empress, and she will address you later. But she wishes no interruptions to her return.”

“Is this true your Majesty?” The Divine Empress nodded stiffly. There was no way this was going to work. This man, probably the Master Fleshcrafter with his red and gold robes, knew her personally. “Perhaps, I could see to your injury?” He began to approach, and she thrust out a hand and he backed off slightly shaking nervously and bowed his head. “My apologies your Majesty!”

“The Divine Empress wishes to address the injury herself. Once the Divine Treasury is brought forth and she has had a chance to rest, she will address you personally,” I said. The man looked nervously at me.

“Of course, Speaker. Divine Empress, there is one pressing matter. The prisoner has taken a seat upon your throne and refuses to leave. I cannot force her without risk of injury. I apologize for the trouble.” I needed to improvise here, but I already knew what to do if there was a critical decision that needed to be made and had planned for it ahead of time, so I didn’t hesitate.

“The Divine Empress will see to the prisoner herself and handle the situation personally.” The man paled but nodded. “I trust you can make sure the prisoner doesn’t cause any problems until the Divine Empress arrives to sort out the situation personally?”

“Of course, of course. I will see to her personally.” He then bowed his head at the Divine Empress before running off. I couldn’t believe it. All those other people realized, but this man who was clearly a big shot and in her inner circle didn’t. I had to clamp my jaw shut as we continued our advance forward.

It was too impossible. This couldn’t be happening. I had been sure it was going to fail terribly, and we were going to die. Now everything was just working out somehow. It made absolutely no sense. No one could truly be that dense and placed so highly, could they?

Plan audacity was truly that. It was just so unbelievable that the people who should know better wouldn’t even consider it. The middle managers were the ones who thought something was off, but they didn’t have the power or authority to stop Hei Nu from killing them. Since killing subordinates was such a natural part of the Dragon Empire, no one thought it was strange.

I wanted to scream that it was a pig in clothing! How could they not notice and do something? It was enough to make me lose all faith in humanity as we continued our march forward.

The closer we got to the plaza, the more I could make out chests being moved and prepared for him to take all the points. This was impossible! Once he got those points, there was nothing anyone could do to stop him. But it was too late for me to go back now. Also he wasn’t the Divine Empress.

I was committed to seeing this through no matter what.

Michael

I was paying close attention as Fuyuka argued with the soldiers barring our path. They clearly realized something was off about Abs. But she handled the situation well. I then heard the key word to start killing. I threw my buster stick, smashing one soldier and then got up close and personal with the second.

Reaching through his guts and grabbing his spine was something I would never forget. The blood and viscera poured out as I ripped the man in half. I didn’t wait to see his last feeble struggles as I punched in the first soldier’s head.

I looked at Fuyuka and she was already moving, so I quickly had Abs move around the corpses, retrieved my sword, and got back into formation. She something to the remaining soldier as we made our way past. I grinned under my blood splattered helmet.

The plan was working. Just kill anyone that disagrees in the most horrific manner possible to make a point and keep moving. That was the key, keep moving and don’t get held up.

That was when I saw a large fat fan rushing down the road towards us in a nice outfit. He began to talk but Fuyuka cut him off. I heard the key words and controlled Abs correctly. When the man tried to approach Abs I had to improvise quickly and had Abs hold its palm indicating he should come no closer.

Fuyuka kept talking with him and if I had to guess he was the Master Fleshcrafter. Using my Sense stat it was clear he had a high level of energy and therefore stats. He had more than the Envoy and every other person in the evil empire, not counting the ludicrous Divine Empress.

I had no doubt that I would be seeing this man again. He was put on my priority to kill list. Anyone dressed in fancy clothes or just in the city in general was a target of mine. But if he was the Master Fleshcrafter, killing him was even more important to disrupt the function of the Divine Empress’s research and how the evil empire functioned. First points, then mass murder. Had to keep my eye on the prize.

We kept moving after that after Fuyuka managed to get him to run off without having to kill him. I wanted to ask what black magic she had used. That was seriously impressive on her part managing to get someone who knew the Divine Empress personally and convince them to leave without killing them.

As we made our advance, I was more and more impressed by Fuyuka. She had really come through. I had my doubts replacing Bao Wang with her, but there had been no other option. Now it seemed like it was the best possible decision.

The inner city was impressive with its five floor buildings in tasteful black and white color combined with dragon motifs. Where the previous buildings kept their plain gray color, the inner city had been spruced up.

We were approaching the plaza and I saw a lot of people moving chests and standing at the ready. It was really happening. I was about to get around 10 billion points and rise up in power to become a real contender for the title of the strongest of the Systemic Lands. It would take more time and effort, but it was within my grasp.