To Whom It May Concern,

I have appointed Champion Michael to act as one of my representatives as Ruler of the East. This letter is proof of his credentials. For I go to climb a tower and claim the prize at the top. While the calamity may have set me back slightly, I look forward to speaking to the Divine Empress in person once more. She enjoyed my last gift. I look forward to giving her another.

The Astrologer, Master of Meta-Magic

Ruler of the East

Sword of the Stars

First Seat on the Council of United City States

My Envoy was kow-towing in front of me after passing me the letter. The sheer disrespect the gall of that man. He had not even bothered to face me himself and take responsibility and now he was sending proxies to deal with me.

Sending a letter. I took a deep breath and calmed myself. It would not do to become unbalanced as I slowly the last piece of foreign flesh very carefully from my body. I had finally discovered it after years and years of hard work. Soon I would be whole again and completely purified of the injustice that the Astrologer had done to me.

He was going to give me a new gift, then he best come prepared. For I was taking no chances this time. My skills were complete. Each one another beacon of power to enhance my Dragon’s Talon Kung-fu. I had practiced each of them against various level 5 roaming bosses to increase their might and to bring my Kung-fu to the next stage.

I focused my mind. My Envoy had dispatched the Divine Children across the boarder in hopes of drawing out a distraction. The link that had been placed in them from birth began to resonate as I carefully adjusted my energy.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was time to see what was stalling my Envoy so. Several of my Divine Children were already dead. I looked at the man standing across from me. “Another dog comes before me.”

I cut the connection. There was no Astrologer. There was no other people with a piece of divinity I needed to worry myself over. The Heavens did not favor just anyone.

“You have failed me my Envoy. The Astrologer insults me and has disappeared. Including the lapdog he has had running around.” I was annoyed at him. After all this time and no results. “And now he has a new dog. This Champion Michael. Is he the same man as spoken of by our guest?”

“Yes, your Divine Majesty. It is the same man.” I considered his answer. The Astrologer was cultivating another follower. Surprising it wasn’t a Valkyrie.

“Hmmm, how interesting. The picture grows clearer by the day. Their combat potential?” I already knew they were weak, but I was hope for some insight.

“Beneath your level without the Astrologer, your Divine Majesty. I have found no combatant beyond him who might possess a spark of divinity.” Just as I expected, but disappointing. I was surrounded by failure and laziness. It appeared that I would have to deal with this myself. The time for proxies was quickly ending. With my purification close at hand, I would crush all before me. Still the Astrologer eluded my Envoy and was doing unknown things.

Stolen story; please report.

“You should be ashamed. You failed me, and I hate failure. The Astrologer is free to act and his true whereabouts have not been discovered. You failed to retrieve his homunculus so I could trace his position with resonance. Now the East grows in strength to require me to intervene personally. I am the Divine Empress of the Dragon Empire and possess the Mandate of Heaven. I am not an errand boy. Now I must clean up after your mess. The failures have mounted despite how much leeway I have given you to carry out your task. Speak your excuses my Envoy.”

“I have failed. There is no excuse your Divine Majesty. All I can is to continue to try to the best of my ability, no matter how lacking it is.” I could not blame him entirely. So, I decided to be kind to my Envoy. It would be annoying to replace him.

“You are lacking. You just require motivation. Motivate yourself.” I watched as he began to cut himself up before me without a word. Not a single complaint or moan of pain escaped from his lips. He was clearly devoted to his task. I suppose that was why he was my Envoy. I quickly grew bored of watching him.

“You bore me. Go restore yourself and take your mess with you. It appears that I will have to act personally to flush out my rival. You are reassigned to rebel purging in the South my Envoy. Bring me at least one head to add to my throne.”

I did not pay attention to his useless words as he left. My attention narrowed in on another person of inner council. “The time for games is over. Lord General draw up invasion plans and mobilize all the troops. We will move forward in three waves.”

“I will go first and crush any opposition. The time for me to act personally has come. This will be followed by the Divine Children to demoralize any opposition and they grow restless. Let us prune the less capable ones. Finally you will mobilize my soldiers and new Lords to take the cities in the path of my conquest. I will not tolerate failure.”

“Yes, your Divine Empress.” I rose from my throne and left.

I paused at the intersection. To the right lay my precious Qi Ji Long. Purification could wait for a little while. I brought the letter from that man and put it on my personal desk. I would look over it later. It would only fuel my determination.

After leaving the letter behind I entered the chambers that held by Qi Ji Long. “Mama!” He quickly got up from his toys. He ran over to me and gave me a hug.

“Hello my little dragon. Are you having fun?” I asked.

“Yes, mama. But…” I kneeled down in front of him. “…I was hoping for a brother or sister. Inquisitor is okay, but it gets boring sometimes. I practice my Kung-fu and lessons…”

He was getting to that age. I nodded. He needed proper socialization and learning how to motivate people. “Inquisitor what schools are there?” I asked. I didn’t hear a reply and I turned to look at her and her face was a bit confused.

“Divine Empress, there are no schools. All children have been handed over to the Master Fleshcrafter.” I frowned slightly at that.

“All of them?” I asked.

“Yes. You commanded that the children be given to him after one ran in front of you.” Oh yes. I had forgotten about that. To step in front of this Divine Empress was a grave insult. That was why I had them all handed over to the Master Fleshcrafter along with their parents. It would not do to have their laughter and chaos instead of their screams.

I smiled and gave Qi Ji Long a hug. I was the Divine Empress, I would find him some playmates. “Well, we will just have to find you some playmates.” I looked back at my Inquisitor.

“Divine Empress, there are no children, even I cannot make them appear like a cabbage from the store,” she said.

“The Master Fleshcrafter should have some in stock. Find ones that are suitable for Qi Ji Long,” I commanded slightly annoyed. I had to think of everything myself.

“Of course your Divine Empress. I will depart immediately to make the arrangements.”

“See Qi Ji Long, your mother handled everything,” I said with a smile.

“Thanks mama. That way I can really train my Kung-fu. Woosh. Swoosh!” I smiled as he went through a kata. I quickly corrected several of his stances. My son and the inheritor of my legacy of Kung-fu. That made me smile as everything was finally coming together in this world. I just had one last person to kill and then my heart would finally be at peace.