Two Days Later
Slam!
The tall lady breathed.
She lifted herself up from the sandy floor after body-slammed a soldier to the floor. The latter was completely disbelieved as the visor of the helmet unhinged, revealing a battered face. Blood painted its nose and cheeks.
“Oh, come on, you did better the last time,” Gertrud complained.
The soldier grimaced. “I’m not a Kultivator (cultivator), eure Majestät (your majesty). I’m only a freaking human hanging on to dear life. I was only lucky the last time.”
“If only I could find somebody to keep me sane…You did enough.” Gertrud said, opening her hand out. “You’re back to your typical duties, am I clear?”
“Yes, eure Majestät,” the soldier answered, grabbing her hand. Immediately, she felt much better and lifted herself from the floor.
“Off you go, and get your helmet fixed,” Gertrud said.
The soldier bowed and was escorted out of the open arena. Afterward, Gertrud took a moment to breathe. Already relaxed, she observed the empty arena and turned her attention to the overcast sky. It was a rare day to have pleasant weather, especially when the Kingdom of Renos’ typical climate was nasty humid, and not to forget, a consistent downpour.
Gertrud’s moment of peace got interrupted as her body’s sudden jolt sent her to the floor, battering her knees hard flat. She gripped tightly around her upper head. No, not this again. Not now. Her mind grunted pleadingly, knowing how significant this was. Her eyes flashed for a moment, receiving vivid flashbacks.
Before she lost her sanity, somebody dragged her back to reality. “Gertrud?!” the voice called.
“Hilde?” Gertrud responded, seeing her firmly holding the left shoulder. She then asked for confirmation. “It happened again?”
“Yes, eure Majestät. You're lucky this was at the open arena, otherwise you would wreck a building again.”
Gertrud grimaced. “It keeps getting worse. Even with your solutions, it’s only temporary…God, when will this madness end?”
Hilde helped Gertrud up on her feet. She remained by her side and braced her left shoulder like a walking cane, keeping her straight up. “We need to get you back to the castle. There’s some pivotal news waiting for you.”
“Like what?”
“Remember that damn letter you sent to Empress Cai?”
Gertrud suddenly became confused, ignoring the groggy feeling earlier. She then took Hilde’s arm away from her shoulder. “What letter?”
Hilde, a little annoyed at Gertrud’s sudden jolt of mood, shook her head. “That’s the problem. The West Cai Dynasty’s newspaper press was back in business, and we received a recent issue released yesterday. You need to get back to the castle.”
“What the hell is going on?! Oh…” Gertrud’s legs went loose, falling halfway before regaining her footing. Hilde teleported right in front of her, putting Gertrud on her back.
“I told you many times to not be too worked up after an episode of madness. You need to give a few minutes to relax…Anyway, here we go,” Hilde reminded.
The two teleported in a blink of light, returning to the castle’s lobby with the dual stairs leading to the next floor. They sprinted up with Hilde behind Gertrud, making sure that she wouldn't trip off the stairs. When they made it to the higher floor which led to the hall, Gertrud forgot the castle hosted a socialite event. Awkwardly, she wasn’t interested in these wealthy activities. Hence, her being in the spot of one always brings questions. To not waste time, she ran right through the crowd with Hilde sped past her to guide the way.
Passing through another entryway arrived in the private section of the castle. Like every day, Gertrud sighed in frustration over another set of stairs.
“Fine. I’ll do another,” Hilde said after catching the former’s mood.
They teleported once more. Finally, inside the bedchambers. A grand size of a closed room filled with a double-sized bed; a sofa set with a coffee table facing towards the fireplace, and a couple of bookshelves. The room was not gloomy. Even without the lighting on, the paint was substituted as a source of light. Hence, the need to turn on the actual lights wasn’t necessary. Gertrud saw the newspaper at the coffee table. She went to the couch and sat down, breathing out consecutively. While calming her mind down, Hilde departed to one door next to the right of the fireplace, leaving Gertrud alone momentarily.
Feeling significantly better, Gertrud took the newspaper from the table. She ran through the first headline while surprised they were actually resuming weekly schedules despite what had happened. In fact, she loved “The West Cai Dynasty Newspaper Press.” It was her source of the world outside of Renos, except for regions of Kriegshan. The press managed only the weekly newspaper. There was a monthly book that was about the size of a typical hardcover. It contained every recorded event from the beginning to the end of the prior month. Seemed like they didn’t do that anymore. Today, compared to many weeks ago, she does not have that much input beyond the borders. This recent issue was the first since, and her advisors weren’t that great. Hilde tried her best but ended up in the same spot as Gertrud.
On matters of catching up, Gertrud was the least informed. She began reading through the front headlines, initially thrilled and hooked.
Not for long, as her emotions became boiling hot. The major piece of the story was the second headline, which read: “Julius erklärte den Krieg!”
Julius? Gertrud wondered. Who is he? She wanted to know. Hence, she read further down, revealing the truth.
„Danach der Angriff von Longyue, besteigen Julius den Thron. Der neue Kaiser schuf den „Mond Senat“, und sie verabschiedeten ein Gesetz. Das Gesetz gab alle Verbündeten von Kriegshan und Renos vernichtet müssen an. Ironisch, Julius hat das Aussehen von eins. “
“After the Raid of Longyue, Julius ascended the throne. The new emperor created the “Moon Senate,” and passed a law. The law stated all allies of Kriegshan and Renos must be terminated. Ironically, Julius has the appearance of a Kriegshan.”
Gertrud looked below the statement, displaying the art of Emperor Julius. Her first reaction was horrified. The art displayed the darkness shade around his neck and facial cheeks. She didn’t know if he appeared angry or if that was his naturally serious face. His nearly lifeless eyes concluded her outlook on this new emperor. However, there was one more paragraph on the same page below the facial profile art.
„Unter der Herrschaft von Königin Gertrud, wir drangen Südcaifischerdorf ein. Wir wollten Südcaifischerdorf nicht aufgeben, weil wir Fische aus Golf von Kaltstrudel (冷漩涡) liebten. Das Dorf ist unser Kontrollieren. Nein Wettbewerb! Einen schönen Tag noch!
Königin Gertrud
Königreich Renos“
“Under the orders of Queen Gertrud, we invaded South Cai Fishing Village. We didn’t want to give up South Cai Fishing Village because we loved the fish from the Gulf of Cold-Vortex (冷漩涡). The village is our control. No contest! Have a nice day!
Queen Gertrud
Kingdom of Renos”
Is this the letter?! Oh my god. Gertrud’s emotions riled. She was certain that she had never written the letter. The tip of her fingers quelled. Before losing it, Hilde returned to the bedchambers with two cups of coffee and a book hovering by her right shoulder. “Did you read it?”
“I did.”
“Can you please relax and take things slow for a moment? If I hadn't come through the room right now, you would have lost it.”
“You know I love newspapers,” Gertrud said. “But you're right. I should've waited. The fact we provoked The West Cai Dynasty without my knowledge or approval was shocking.”
“That's why I'm here,” Hilde said and walked to the empty side of the couch, placing the drinks on the coffee table. “I found out the culprit who wrote those letters, and it’s one of us…Specifically, very close.”
Gertrud turned to her with a heavy head. “Who? It better not be who I think it is?”
Hilde nodded. “Yeah fucking…General Hagel,” she muttered with an angry tone. “They deployed Adalbert to the West Cai Dynasty. Died during the raid, and then invaded a fishing village in their territory afterward. Everything so far was all because of Hagel. He hid it from us.”
Gertrud tossed the newspaper and rubbed her head, expressing her frustration. “That would explain why the numbers of arsenal were vacant, and how the fish market was cheap. My cultivators disappeared to now only ten from three hundred. Then, when I asked one of my advisors, I got nothing. They won’t tell me anything other than switching topics to end the conversation.”
“And how long ago was that again?”
“Not that long ago. Only five days,” Gertrud said. She went for her cup of coffee. “I should have been more vocal and aggressive rather than holding back. But damn, this madness problem. If only I had a cure—”
“We might have a lead,” Hilde interrupted. She showed the newspaper and pointed at the second page, which continued the news from the front page. “Julius had a moment of madness while in a meeting before the senate session that passed his first budget.”
What? Gertrud leaned herself up from the couch, not expecting to find another person suffering from madness. Among the total population of nearly six million, Gertrud was the sole number with this ailment. Hence, that makes the matter difficult to progress further on a cure. “Are you sure that he has this condition?”
“I'm certain. The paragraph then described his few minutes of abnormal rants. ‘The dark void overwhelmed his eyes the angrier he got. Everyone who attended the meeting was forced into silence and did not utter one word until he said so. Once there were sufficient answers to deal with such a crisis, Julius finally calmed down. The darkness faded away, and the meeting went back to normal as if nothing had happened.’
“It sounded like he could control it,” Gertrud said with doubt.
She insisted on the newspaper again, reading the paragraph herself. There’s no way. I can’t be this fortunate and unlucky. Her eyes scanned the second page, doubting that it was real. Only then, after reading it, she was left astounded, handing back the paper to Hilde.
“We made a big mistake on this. No, I made a big mistake,” Gertrud said. “I don’t want to conclude things abruptly, but I think we have to override everything from the ground up. We were supposed to ally with the West Cai Dynasty. Not offending them. I can’t make this mistake again.” She then stood, asking for the newspaper again. “Is this the only copy?”
Hilde shook her head; then she said: “No, there are a couple in my office.”
“Send them all to me. Right now.”
“Sure.” Hilde stood from the couch and headed back to the door next to the fireplace.
“And one more thing. Is the medicine in my coffee?”
“Yes. The whole cup is your intake for the day,” Hilde said.
Hilde left the bedchambers, leaving Gertrud alone once again. She sat back down, glaring over for any other important information. Once finished, she placed it down on the table and drank the coffee cup. The effects of the medicine rubbed her throat almost like a coolant. It was cold but soothing. Hence, after ingesting the cup, she let out one breath, condensing into the air.
“Here it is,” Hilde said.
Gertrud placed down her empty coffee cup. “Perfect, hand it over.”
After she grabbed the few copies of the newspaper, she tore it aggressively into bits right in front of Hilde. “Now, I can relax.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“You don’t want the people to know?”
“No, if they talk. The generals will overhear. So, we have to be hidden about expressing this problem, and we will start today.”
“Now?”
Grumble!
“Yes…But after that wrestling workout and the coffee, I’m famished to death, and I want Kartoffelsuppe and some Schweinebraten first.”
“We don’t have that for dinner.”
“Dinner? No. I don’t want to eat here. All this luxury has finally caught up to me, and I’m sick of it. I’m leaving,” Gertrud said, preparing to head out.
“Then, I’m coming too.”
“Huh? What about your family?”
“Oh, come on. You know I can teleport. It’ll be fine,” Hilde said, dismissing the concerns.
Gertrud grimaced. “I can’t allow you to go back-to-back. How about this? I will allow you to visit your family this time before we start. You understand?”
“Not even once?” Hilde asked.
“Nope. After today. We’re technically on our own. So, finish everything that you’re going to do now. I’m leaving first for lunch.”
“Wait.”
Gertrud stood silent as Hilde ran back through the door again. Immediately, she came out with two folded pairs of clothing.
“I have these cloaks. You take one; it should help with your stealthiness,” Hilde said while holding one black cloak in one hand and gray on the other.
Gertrud took the black, unfolded it, and quickly wrapped it around her shoulders. Like a long robe per se, she slipped her arms through the sleeves first. Next, the built-in belt was connected to the robe. Gertrud wrapped the flaps around her waist and tied it up. Upon finishing, she pulled up the hoodie, creating a dark space around her peripherals. It was odd because she could see through the clothing as if her vision had expanded. “Did you make this?”
“I brought it from a vendor,” Hilde said while walking up to Gertrud. “I modified the hoodie so that you get an advantage in dangerous situations…Looks good. From the outside, you look like a levitating dark ghost. That will help you during the night.”
“Am I pretty much transparent if I took my hoodie down?” Gertrud pulled her hoodie down.
Hilde took a step back, analyzing for a moment. “No. Your feet and hands returned. But I have one other feature I added,” she said while pointing inside of the robe.
Looking down, Gertrud found a layer of clothing hidden next to the hoodie. Following Hilde’s gesture, she yanked it out, revealing a long scarf. Oh, perfect. She tried wrapping her lower face, limiting upright to her nose. Hilde’s reaction came with a nod.
“That hides your face, so I guess we're good.”
“Is it transparent or you can still see me but only the eyes or something?”
Hilde twirled her index finger. “It’s the latter. If I did the former, that would be a little problematic.”
Gertrud accepted the cloak fit. “I think I’m good with what you provided. As long as I can be stealthy with it, it’s good enough,” she said and turned back to the door. “I’m going to Franz’s shop…He should have Kartoffelsuppe and Schweinebraten today.”
“I’ll be with you in a few minutes,” Hilde said.
The sounds of both doors opened. Hilde went back through the doorway next to the fireplace while Gertrud departed her bedchambers, returning to the hallway.
Here it goes. Gertrud breathed and lifted up her hoodie. She then sprinted down the stairs, hoping to pass quickly through the hall of crowded aristocrats like earlier.
----------------------------------------
4 days later (Y1010年 05月 21日)
Boom!
An overcast weather.
Julius stood on a hill with his hands resting on the hilt, viewing the entire fishing village under conflict. His new weapon was stolen from a Reno cultivator. He gave him a brutal death after encountering him at the edge of the village’s territory. The sword was soaked in a muddy blood mix, but the sharpness along the two edges at its center would do. Many of the similarities of this sword matched a miao dao; the longer blade length and hilt compared to the katana. Eventually, he’ll have it checked with Solomon and other swordsmen to confirm the origins of this sword.
--
Merit Universe Level Two Buffs Implemented. ↓
Level UP!
Flames of Wrath (愤怒) Level: 0 →1
+ 20% to Qi; + 5% to Power.
Cultivation Level 9 → 10
Total % Base Stats Buff: 9% → 10%
Base Stats w/o adjustments
Stamina (LV 7 → 8)
HP (LV 7 → 8)
300 → 325
96,000 → 101,540
Endurance (LV 7 → 8)
225 → 238
Durability LV 7 → 8)
240 → 250
Power (LV 7 → 8)
Attack (LV 7 → 8)
2,010 → 2160
6,060 → 6,560
Qi (LV 7 → 8)
13,405 → 14,405
Total Score
118,240 → 125,248
Cold Resistance implemented.
Ice Resistance (–50%) implemented.
--
Here it goes. Julius breathed as he finally placed the Level Two benefits online. He kept it suppressed under a request, which became a feature after the completion of Level Two. It was definitely much harder than Level One, which was what he needed after the Míngyuè fiasco. His face expressed his new traumatized emotion through his lifeless stares and the remains of his uncovered upper face. Hence, his mentality was troubling. Ironically, a lady’s punch screwed him over. He hoped going on the battlefield would recover his stakes.
As more ships arrived from the gulf, Julius breathed again but hoarsely. The appearance was reminiscent of corvette sail vessels during the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. There were multiple of them on the front lines, going full speed towards shore. Since Julius was on the hill with a full view, he saw everything. However, no one was seen on each deck. He turned to his army behind him.
“There's no one on the decks. Hence, we are free to march downhill at a stampede.”
“Would you think they are probably invisible only to fool us?”
“Hang on,” Julius said and closed his eyes. He exerted sensational vibrations that covered the entire village in a second. What followed was a loud whoosh, like a splash of water on speakers. Julius’s eyes opened, revealing a catastrophic mess. The rifts and waves crashed into the sail vessel’s hull, tipping it over into the body of water. The charade revealed the cultivators and soldiers all fell victim to this new move. This is nice. Julius thought about his new ability after finishing level two. Father Kang was right. There were plenty now in the sea after tripping off from the deck of these sail vessels.
“I stand corrected,” Julius said. “You’ll be free to barge in and invade the scene. But under one condition. You must keep the innocent alive and only wreak havoc on the hostiles. Am I making myself clear?”
“Yes, sir!” the army responded.
Julius nodded and followed a command, directing the cultivation army downhill. Father Kang, with his own army, went down too. To Julius’s left, Empress Cai, dressed in maroon, nodded before heading down with a squad of ten. Before he headed down, Solomon, behind him, walked right to the edge of the hill.
“How’s the mask?”
“The pain is still there, but it’ll do,” Julius said. “I wished the recovery was quick, but damn Míngyuè for making this.”
“But Level Two did help you, right?”
Julius nodded. “The qi cultivation training in a blizzard helped a lot. How many hours were we there for?”
“Actually, it’s ten days,” Solomon said and drew his battleaxe.
“Then it’s worth it,” Julius muttered before pulling up his new sword. “Time to test to see if I could wield a regular blade.”
The two took a couple of steps back. They lifted their feet like tiptoeing, forcing their calves to enlarge. The potential energy of their qi generated around that region spread up to their thighs, signaling them to launch. Thus, they sped off down the hill. Once in the air, Julius’s sole triggered a soundwave boost, thrusting him right directly above the center of the village. Below are already in conflict, multiple groups of cultivators and ordinary soldiers clashing themselves. Julius has one objective to fulfill. Either reclaim the fishing village or destroy it. One of them has to be completed, and the mission is done. He hopes it will be the former because the people love fish cuisine.
He went for the dive, exerting ice around his arms. An icy aura generated around his upper torso and white qi around the blade. Julius didn’t care and landed in a massive crowd. His feet took one of the enemy cultivators out of life, bringing the bone-breaking spine out from inside their body. It was like a lever being pulled upwards, and the upper end was originally attached to the skull. The blade’s tip cut that piece of the spine cold, detaching it from the vertebrae. He then swirled his torso with both hands on the grip, slicing the exposed spine like twigs. The body, substituted as a platform, collapsed flat afterward. Julius then made a backflip to get out of the radius of hostiles, not to interrupt his soldiers' moment.
The center of the village was exposed. Julius turned to his left, where a former house stood now in rubble. Not a mile away were the natural sandy shorelines and the body of water. Of course, not all the Corvette sail vessels succumbed to the forced wave. Many, that did, revealed the cultivators and soldiers survived the attack and were currently swimming to the shore.
Not wanting that to happen, he leaped from the scene right to the border of the water. Let's test this son of a bitch. He pulled the sword closer to his side, going into a guard stance. The weight of his new black uniformed Lamellar armor caused his feet to seep into the sand. On both of his shoulder plates, the center has the same outline as the dragon vinyl from his overcoat. Within the shape of the outline is a thin dent inward, and Julius, doing the guard stance, triggered a reaction, generating a flash of white qi. The qi gushed out from both shoulders like a hose squirting water.
He flexed his forearms to trigger the frosty qi glitter around the hilt and overwhelmed the blade with white color. Julius’s arms articulated in a swirling motion while holding the hilt in a tight grip so none of the qi leaked out. Afterward, the blade finally went parallel to the front of his face, and his arms lifted it up high. The overcast weather reacted to the tip of the blade, forming clouds and intensified out of nowhere.
Thunder roared freely all around the vicinity, striking multiple spots in the distance. Rain then swarmed the scene. Not giving them enemies one chance, Julius went for a downward gesture, dispersing all the qi right into the ocean. Fast as the speed of sound, the ocean’s water broke in two. A wide and deep-sea floor exposed to the dismay of the swimmers. Anybody who swam directly in the path of the attack froze and disintegrated into particles because the effect was a two-step. The first step was the absolute zero temperature followed by the second stage of carnage, cutting up anything it freezes a second ago.
Julius had to embrace his sight along with the assistance of Skoltor. When his vision was embraced, the whole crescent wave attack revealed a circus of slashing motions surrounding it and within. It decapitated at least a few dozen and half of their bodies were tossed up in the air. The next second, all gone. Three seconds. That’ll do. He thought, followed by consecutive hoarse breathing. His lungs hurt, tumbling to his knees on the sand. He opened the mask, gracefully coughing as if he was desperate for air.
Thump!
“Don’t go overboard!”
“I wasn’t. My lungs were already in a foul mood since this morning,” Julius said. “Thanks for being here.”
Slash!
Empress Cai deployed a heavy slash from her katana that was aimed at the closest corvette sail vessel. It broke in half, collapsing in the water. She then went to the water until it reached her ankles. When it touched, she thrust the heel of her right foot. A punching force sped right to the torn vessel and flicked it into the air, not to be seen again.
“That was a little extra.”
“Everything about Level Two was extra,” Empress Cai said and watched the scenery mess. “Besides, it was a net positive for everyone to endure that blizzard.”
Julius stood back up after giving a hell of a cough. He grabbed a bunch of sand, filling his palm. The sands hardened from the grains. Quickly, the ice overtook and formed into a ball. Like a snowball fight, he threw one at another incoming crowd.
Boom!
“Any more creative ideas to end this quickly?”
“I have a couple more in mind, but I don’t know if I want to drop that trump card yet,” Julius said. “I’ll save that something, major. I think we’re almost done, right?”
Empress Cai half turned left and right before responding. “Luckily, the citizens are evacuated because all the houses are trashed.”
Swish!
Julius nodded; then he handed his miao dao. “Hold this for me, will ya?”
He then went up high in the air with his mask closed back up. His hand summoned Licht, and for the first time, no fire ignited from the greatsword’s blade.
< Are you ready for the cold? > Julius asked.
<< I’m ready, give it! >>
The white overtook the blackness of the blade, gushing out ice and qi. The blade extended in length by at least a couple of feet. In exchange, he let himself be absorbed in a bit of darkness; black qi gushed out from his eyes and nose. Lifting the greatsword up high, parts of the clouds ceased, allowing sunlight to intrude. The facial mask opened only around the mouth for him to breathe out flaming black qi.
Umph!
When he felt it, he went mad and roared from the neck up. The roar triggered a mouth beam as he did a heavy swirl of his greatsword right down. The beam caught a second of the blade’s contents, turning the beam into a frozen and dark mixture of sorts. A moment of Improvision.
Suddenly, Empress Cai appeared behind and grabbed his shoulder, teleporting away. The two arrived back at the hill with everybody else. Julius coughed all the black qi remnants as his darkness faded away. His Lamellar armor’s shoulder plates stopped gushing qi of ice through the dragon-shaped dent. “Somehow that felt good,” he said before realizing that he controlled darkness for the first time.
Rumble!
Bright light flashed in the distance; a few feet over the gulf when it detonated. Celeste, from within the crowd, ran right to the edges of the hill and summoned a wide barrier. A couple of seconds later, the gusts from the shockwave clashed with the shield where the latter deflected it. Julius, happy from the successful use of his darkness without tragedy, observed quietly and rested his hands on his greatsword’s hilt.