The hill gave everyone a clear view of how wide and big the mushroom cloud was. A mystery at best because the key components all came from the clouds made by black qi. When Julius looked around at the scene, there was one problem. To the right edge of the shorelines, a platform peeked out from the edges of a high hill, blocking most of the view behind it. He moved a bit and zoomed his vision to the spot. Huh. I need that to be seen.
Julius pointed to where his eyes laid focus. “Over there,” he said.
Qiang, who appeared from the army crowd, walked to the shield's edge. By then, the effects of mushroom clouds faded. Hence, she elbowed the surface, shattering it into glass shards. The shield disintegrated. She drew her double-wielded revolvers. Her left pointed to the mushroom cloud, and in the right direction to the spot, Julius saw a platform. “This should help,” she said before firing.
Two humongous beams exited at once at lightning speed. Julius turned to the blast site of the mushroom clouds. In a whiff of getting touched by the beam, the clouds got sucked up like a vacuum and dispersed, revealing a shallower ocean. The latter fired right up the hill, smoothly obliterating the landform. Julius’s thoughts were correct.
“It is a damn port,” he retorted. “Wait, there’s more.” Julius slightly turned to the left and a sailing vessel, only around a mile away, sailed. That’s a fucking big ship. He thought, approximating it to be at least the length of three football fields. Of course, it didn’t come alone. An entire fleet guarding the wide and lengthy flagship. Renos brought their naval fleet. All for this one village? Crazy insanity. Julius went delirious by their presence. He ordered half of the army to return to the trashed village in defense. The last half to head to the port was the offense, which was where he would be heading.
Once the order was given, everyone was off to their positions. Julius launched himself right toward the demolished hill. He broke the sound barrier, arriving at the new short plateau within a second. Ahead of him and there it was. The docks are right in front of the upcoming fleet.
Bang. Bang.
Multiple frequencies of a broken sound barrier roared, and Julius half-turned to find Solomon, Qiang, and Empress Cai, already a few feet away. Half of the army subsequently stood behind the three. Hence, Julius resumed his focus on the upcoming fleet. So much manpower all for this village.
“You think you could perform the quake once again?” Qiang asked.
“I could do one more and that would be it for a while,” Julius said. “Once you see me do another one, y’all better go strike them as best as you could.”
“What about the flagship?” one cultivator soldier asked.
Julius turned to the crowd. “It’s in my hands. My order to you is only to take care of the fleets guarding the flagship. That’s it. Am I clear?”
He nodded.
“Kind of like the first one. The guarding ships will no doubt succumb to the waves.”
There were around at least a dozen ships guarding the flagship. Not to mention, it was a multi-layered strategic formation. The dozen was the innermost, and as they further spread out, the numbers escalated. Hence, adding up all the total ships has to be almost a hundred. Maybe more. That presence threw Julius off because he had thought if Kriegshan was involved in this, providing the numbers. On the map supported by partial intel, the numbers of the Renos Kingdom were significantly smaller compared to Kriegshan by at least tenfold. It was a strange revelation to consider. There was one thing that rampaged his mind upon witnessing the fleet.
Before he could even make the move, someone barged through from behind, forcing Julius to dodge in a twirl. In a glimpse, the individual beholds a full-body cloak that brought out its gloved palms, aiming not at him but at the flagship. Julius, in response, thrust his sword out in front of this person. The latter fired a weak spherical ball of qi. No color and faint, but sensible. Because Julius had his sword drawn, the miao dao’s blade sliced the spherical ball in two where the bottom half dissipated. While the upper half got stuck on the surface. He kept his eyes right on the fleet and performed a diagonal upward motion. The semi-sphere transformed into energy clusters with only a trace of his qi. It deployed from the tip and upper edge of the blade, revealing a barrage of raining spherical balls that were more profound than the individual’s.
The spherical balls would freeze, mimicking hail as it strikes a portion of the fleet. Julius immediately gripped the individual’s shoulder to pin it in place and stomped his right foot, triggering another quake. Everyone zoomed towards the fleet, leaving Julius and the individual alone. This person didn’t resist. Who is this? He wondered, then asked. “That was a weak qi ball, but you got the effort…Who are you?”
The individual, on its knees, has no trace of qi for him to trace. Julius, with his right hand gripped on the shoulder, effortlessly lifted the former up. Afterward, the cloak’s hoodie loosened, revealing to be a lady. Her long hair, with the half ends curly, popped out of the hoodie, reaching down beyond her shoulders. More tanned and appeared to be around at least the same age as Empress Cai. While she definitely has to be younger than his aunt, Tang Yifei. Like what Empress Cai told me, she has to be around mid-forties. But I can’t be fooled. Being old here is like being in the grave on earth, not fair. I guess that might explain why I didn’t age that much in my late twenties before ever set foot in Planet Raal.
“I thought,” Julius said, “we’ve evacuated everyone. How are you still in the war zone?”
The lady grimaced. “I stayed. I can’t leave my home.”
“Where’s your family?” Julius asked. “I suggest you leave before we destroy this fleet.”
The former refused, standing on her ground and maintaining her grimacing face. “I will not. My family is safe, and they know I would stay behind protecting my home.”
Julius was baffled at her remark. “You’re crazy. I don’t get a sense of your qi…That means you have to leave this place now. Otherwise, you’ll die trying to protect your lovely home. How would your family feel when they learned you’re gone because of this suicide?”
A moment of silence from her.
“Agony, guilt, sadness…I would rather have you be safe, and we do the work. So, you can come back and rebuild your home. Is that fair?”
She shook her head. That was when Julius had to make a choice and quickly because he half-turned and the escalation rose at the sea. Turning back to the lady, he made a proposition. “How about this? Look at my army! There are at least a hundred men fighting the ships, and at the center of the wrecked village are a thousand on the defense...We are here to get your home back...So, if you go back to your family and stay in a safe area, I’ll give you and the village survivors an opportunity for recruitment. How does that sound?”
“I—”
“You’ll only get one chance to accept or decline,” Julius said while noticing something about her. “Save those eyes. If you accept, you’re going to get the chance.”
The lady maintained her silence for a little longer until surrendered with a sigh. “I…fine. I’ll accept.”
Julius nodded. “Good, now go. We’ll handle this.”
“Promise?!”
“Yes! Now go.”
Julius watched her off, but before she could depart from his sights, he directed her to the site and threw an impotent fireball right near the defense team at the village's site. He raised two fingers; and added a sign expressing the army to give the lady an escort safely out of the village’s war zone. Two cultivators flashed into the thin air and summoned right next to her.
“Julius! Now!”
He heard the yell and immediately turned. Quickly, Julius, from the center of the plateau, launched himself with a nudge from his ankles. No sound barrier broke this time but was still speedy for an ordinary run. He went off in a sprint like no other. When he jumped from the surface, his eyes showed he was about as high as the sails and likely crashed right into it. The matter wouldn’t change anything as Julius raised both of his hands and did a vertical slash, cutting off the fibers. The foremast of the flagship was affected by the slash as the scorching heat of his sky-blue qi reached the wood, slicing it in half.
A battle on the ship’s deck was starting, only to halt as the upper half of the foremast came tumbling. Julius landed right at the forecastle, facing right towards the main part of the deck and the foremast crashed into the wooden deck, shattering bits of wooden panels. It spewed throughout, allowing him to run down the right stairs and strike at the distracted mob of enemies. Hence, dozens of cultivators, from his side that were at the forecastle spot, joined and reinitiated the conflict.
Despite being the largest flagship Julius had ever seen, there was not that much space in between each person battling on the deck. Both sides cut and beat each other while barely at the point of being squished. Julius’s visuals turned red as the lack of space was about to turn into a compression, prompting him to exert his new ice qi. Around him, the closest froze from the leg up, putting them in place. Only then did it overwhelm them entirely, covering the whole body. Here goes nothing.
Julius backflipped in the air and performed a horizontal slash in full circle, decapitating their heads off and a blood bath incited on the deck. The bombardment was hectic, and it caused wide attention from all the guarding vessels outside of the inner circle. Hence, all the remaining ships steered towards the flagship as the inner circle was broken. Julius’s army decimated them quickly.
Joining in on the fun rampage, he turned to his right and went on an endless massacre to beyond a hundred Renos’ soldiers. All were cultivators, but significantly low. They had to be a joke because Julius sensed no strong qi from them. It was more than the lady earlier but isn’t close to any of the weakest cultivators in the West Cai Dynasty. Thus, it was a piece of cake. The time to clear it wasn’t even that long before it all tumbled to the deck’s wooden floor.
“Sir, are we going to stop this ship or what?”
Oh crap! I forgot the captain is dead, too. Julius realized the sudden problem. The rest of the guarding fleet was focused on the flagship. He then leaned right to the rails and called out to Empress Cai and Celeste. “Can you tell,” he stated and pointed to himself and his men currently on the flagship’s deck, “the rest to handle the upcoming fleet?! Keep them distracted as we figure out with this big ass ship.”
Empress Cai looked at the far outreaches of the sea where the fleets were coming at full speed. She raised her hand, with her palm pointed in that direction. “Go!” The cultivation army heard her signal, and they all went offense at the upcoming fleet of ships.
Before Julius could look at the naval war scenery as the thunderous sounds picked up, he sensed something heading towards his neck. Too, Skoltor’s system received an alert, flashing red. Hastily, Julius tossed his miao dao sword to the side and slammed hard on the taffrail, spitting the wood out. His body went down as the whole taffrail shattered, leaving only the deck’s wooden floor. He felt his chest clashing with the floor, bouncing him up. Subsequently, he rolled away to find a tall woman figure towering over him before swiftly getting back up. That was a close one.
The woman went for a strike in an attempt to distract him, but Julius caught her on quick, using his left forearm to shield himself. With his metallic right hand, he went right for the blade and grabbed it. He thrust his thumb right on the sharpness of the blade, not affected by its sharpness. The woman’s blade shattered in half, startling her. Immediately, it transitioned to a martial fight. She brought up a fight, and Julius blocked it from striking his head. She was also in a cloak like the lady from earlier, except with more input into it. Both hands were gloved. The facial covering was exactly like when he first encountered Tang Cheung and Tang Li-Mei, all wrapped like a scarf with a hoodie. Curiosity overwhelmed his thrilling mind; hence, Julius went out in a barrage of punches.
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This lady is a dodger. Julius processed as he tried to punch all specifically toward her face. She displayed her absolute skill in defense, blocking every punch he thrust. That made Julius frustrated. I can’t land a damn hand on her face. His mind ranted.
He went for a sweep kick, causing the cloaked lady to leap at the last second. Oh crap. She got me; my damn insides burn! Julius thought angrily, while his lungs burned once again. The battle felt nothing of progress as the cloaked lady handled well with dodges, focusing on defense over offense tactics. Screw this. Julius went for another kick but went with a roundhouse kick, aiming at the opponent’s head. That’s it. Her head moved away in the opposite direction as his left foot went through the motion.
Crack!
Julius summoned an ice post that struck her head as she dodged away from his left foot. With her disturbed, he took the opportunity by rushing for an abdominal thrust, sending her off of the foredeck. Her back crashed right into the midship’s wooden flooring. Julius went for a leap, intending to thrust right down from above. Unable to see her facial reaction because of the cloak, he instinctively felt she was about to dodge again. Hence, he nudged his foot midair, and the glitter of ice shot out from the right side of his left boot’s sole. He saw the cloaked lady dodge, and her sudden jolt proved his glitter ice worked, continuing to break her defense streak.
Oh shit. Julius exerted his feet midair and dropped right onto a pile of dead bodies of Reno soldiers. When he dropped headfirst, blood splattered on his face. I swear, I always get the damn face splatter! Give me a damn break! He got pissed that a warning caught him off guard, nearly startling him.
--
Health Alert: Overheat! Overheat!
Urgent Cooling!!!
--
The sneak attack he did on the cloaked lady brought him some time. He rolled over onto his back, wiping his eyes. Across the opposite side of the midship, she lay, attempting to lift her body while parts of her arms were frozen solid. Julius resumed focus, feeling the urge to cough. His lungs turned chaotic, as if he inhaled plumes of smoke and choked them. Hence, he jerked his head to the right, viewing the ship’s wall. His fists clenched, and he thrust his right hand to the wall like a shank. A punch turned into a demolition because it tore off the entire wall, tumbling into the water. So, the flagship had lost its left wall on the deck, and a couple of bodies fell off the edge, leaving trails of mixed red and black liquid.
--
Internal Temperature: 115°F ↑
--
Julius, with his right arm still extended, eased his clenched fist and opened his hand. With his palm flat, he jerked his middle and index finger to ninety degrees, summoning a fountain from the sea. He then steered his fingers, pointing right at himself. The upper end of the water sped right until it hovered over him and downpoured many gallons of water toward his entire body.
--
Health Alert override.
Internal Temperature: 135°F ↓
--
He finally stood while the water continued to downpour. The aura summoned around his body to prevent his internal temperature from dropping too quickly. Skoltor’s warning ceded. Not for long, the cloaked lady stood once again while her arms remained frozen. Julius smacked the water, and the downpour stopped, raining its last contents all over the ship.
The cloaked lady lifted her arms upwards while keeping them extended. Her head was directed towards the arms for a second. Then she aggressively slammed her arms together, shattering all the frozen solid ice around her forearms. However, Julius couldn’t sense her aura, wondering if she was more specialized in raw power, which would mean she either mastered restrained strength or was truly physical.
The fight resumed. Despite having his aura for supplemental boost, Julius wasn’t able to cross his fists through her defense. It was as if she was progressively adaptive. As of now, it seemed so. That could be dangerous on time, especially when the gulf bordering the village’s shores is still under chaotic firepower.
Splat!
A large fish about the size of a small boat crashed to the stern of the ship, sending the two up into the air like a trampoline. While in the air, Julius was sideways but still had a clear view of the cloaked lady. Hence, he pushed his right palm forward, exerting a beam of sky-blue qi at her. A moment of glass shattered out of nowhere when it was inches close to her. And it finally struck right to her chest, widening the distance between them. For a moment, Julius felt his right arm lighten and less heavy, a reduction in resistance from the beam's end. He was about to feel progress on his side, then a sudden heavy weight pushed back. No freaking way. Holy hell, what kind of monster is she? He grew frustrated at this, potentially pulled back to square one.
< Hurry! > Licht yelled through his nerves.
<< What? >> Julius asked, surprised to hear Licht at this moment.
< The beam is coming back! Punch it! >
<< You know if I do that, it will ignite a bombshell. >>
< You are acting as if all the cultivation wasn’t worth it during level two. Considering the last time was way before it. Save yourself and punch it. >
Fuck it, I’m doing it my way. He summoned Licht to his left grip.
< Wait a minute; are you doing it this way? > Licht asked, sounding surprised and uncertain about why Julius summoned the greatsword.
<< I mean you pushed me to this point of suggestion, so I’ll do it my way…This is the answer >>
Licht was right. The end of the beam could be seen getting bigger every second he lingered. His right arm got heavier to where his elbow bent forcefully.
“Enough of this madness,” Julius said. His left arm was enveloped in dark qi, going cold. He went for an abrupt diagonal slash upwards, cutting off the power source to the beam.
One second.
Boom!
A plume of smoke exploded, and the force pushed Julius down with his back facing down. As he descended, he saw the cloaked lady come out from the plume of smoke, free-falling much faster than him. Both generated a trail of smoke from their feet like a rocket flying downwards in the air.
A couple of seconds later, the blue sea returned to view as the clouds ceased. Julius forced an exertion of his aura around his middle back, steering a one-eighty where he could see below. Next, he directed his aura right to his front torso, mainly the chest. Flexing it, the force exerted rapidly slowed him down. When he was around like a hundred feet above the boat, the aura shut off, and Julius thrust his legs downward, regaining a footing. His feet landed safely on the foredeck, back to the boat, along with some of the extra weight from his qi. The landing countered the large fish’s weight, causing the flagship movement to be directed towards him. Hence, the fish slid down from the stern. Somehow, the miao dao sword remained at its spot, and Julius grabbed it. He let his greatsword hang on his back while returning to using the former. The flagship stabilized itself after the fish reentered back into the sea.
Looking up and there was the cloak lady, not slowing down, crashing right through the deck. From the large hold that led down to the interior of the flagship, he could hear fragmented yells from multiple sources, indicating more people were down there. Julius glared at the blade of his miao dao before going for a move. He fired a watery beam right through the hole. It was cold as it did for his body. And the feeling inside his stomach made it uncomfortable. At least first-hand experience with that much water was finally successful.
Not even getting to breathe chilled air, a dark color shot out from the interior of the ship through the hole. It was pretty fast, and Julius hadn’t caught on to who it was. In reaction to the upcoming landing, he anchored his legs and feet to the deck, doubling his weight.
Thump! Splash!
A gush of water splashed onto the deck, strong enough to drag a few more bodies down to the sea and cleanse parts of the deck. Julius’s qi went a little further to unrestrained itself, evaporating all the liquid on deck.
To his right, it was the cloak lady. However, her right arm was gone, including the portion of the cloak. All torn around the area of the arm. Since it was still functioning, even with a large hole, the inside remained a dark void. Black liquid dripped off from the hole, with residue on the cloak. A sudden loud bang erupted, and Julius felt a vibration rubbing his feet. Both sides are surrounded by wood and structural debris, floating on the surface of the sea. Damn it. A potential flagship for myself is about to sink. Julius was disappointed with the situation.
Priorities have changed. He went right towards the cloak lady, grappling her to the floor with the miao dao sword still in his right grip. Because of his temporary increase in weight, he speared her to the floor, making a dent in the latter’s head. What terribly impressive for a damaged deck.
He stood up and took a couple of steps back, expecting she would be done. Observing his blade, he then heard her breathing aggressively like a bull. Oh, my god. Are you kidding me now?! He summoned a slashing motion of ice right towards her. Like a roly-poly, she rolled herself right to Julius, forcing a flash step.
The cloak lady crashed through the mainmast of the flagship, rendering the ship useless. It knocked her out of the rapid motion, tumbling her to a small pile of bodies that remained on the deck. Because she landed on her back, she could get up despite losing her right arm.
I will not embarrass myself again like at that damn large house of culprits! Julius took the opportunity as the whole mast and sail collapsed. With a few feet left, he ran right to her and followed up with a three-kick combo. First, he went for the right thrust, right on her abdomen again, but then his right foot steered the cloaked lady upward. A sonic boom generated from the toecap of the boot blasted her back in the air. Afterward, Julius leaped up in the air right up directly at her level. He attempted a flash step while in the air, summoned himself in front of her, and gave a knee, striking her abdomen again. Then he knee-kicked right what it was under her chin. Despite the cloak’s invisibility, his knee felt it. That brought the cloak up higher. Julius boosted himself right over her and finally went for a diving kick, thrusting his right foot with the left leg bent at the knee and pointing inward.
Slam!
The kick struck what Julius felt to be her facial cheek, casting a deafening shockwave. Suddenly, a black, hot aura summoned around the cloak’s hoodie. It smelled like reeks because of the heat, reminding me of death and sewage. The black qi exerted out and dissipated to nothing in the air. He heard an inhumane voice crying until the last bits of black qi decomposed itself.
The cloaked lady slowly descended. Her hoodie tore off after the kick, revealing her face. Julius suddenly went into shock. No…no. That can’t be her at all. He quickly grabbed her left hand before she could plummet. After the black, nasty gushed out of her head, he could finally sense her qi. While holding her, he turned her a little to have a clear view of her face.
“Helda?!” Julius said in absolute horror. He remembered her face but never paid attention to the facial features as much. They never talked enough since entering Planet Raal. However, it is her. He was certain, and he didn’t know what had happened beyond the past month. So much shit happened that he couldn’t keep up with everything. The left eye was masked by a wide vertical scar, intersecting the center of her eye. It doesn’t look new either; there was no redness, signs of inflammation, or any recent injury. Unfortunately, the beautiful complexion of her skin reflected in the sunlight, filled with horrific injuries. To the right of her were burn scars surrounding her right orbital. He still doubted that this was her because his first impression back at his Chief of Operations office wasn’t even close. He thought she was a socialite because of being the wife of Mayor Burman. In fact, she was, but now, a cultivator with a mystery power that put her equal to him. Her socialite looks degraded; the face’s beauty remained, but her hair was fully down and roughened, potentially she went through some torturous event.
Julius lifted her right up and put his other hand under her leg before descending from the air. He then hovered right next to the sinking flagship, kicking it right toward the shore. The flagship crashed over the sand and leaped into the air, revealing the torn bottom layer. It landed on the empty plains of the village, almost a mile away from the central site. Another battle on the land had already begun, bringing havoc ahead.
With Helda in his grip, he looked at the central site and the hill where he stood before the flagship arrived. The hill is now occupied by the medical tents, indicated by a green droplet graphic on the roof. Julius sprinted through the village, passing by various projectiles. Before getting into the proximity of the hill, he jumped upwards, leaving a crater behind. He manipulated his aura around his boots, landing abruptly on the hill with no damage.
“Emperor?” One doctor came out of a medical tent. He directed Julius in.
“She ain’t an enemy. Treat her well,” Julius said, walking into a spare medical tent. He placed Helda on the bed, letting the doctor do his job. Yellow blood continued to leak out of her amputated right arm. How the hell am I going to tell Mayor Burman about this? Julius wondered as he watched for a little longer. A few nurses came in through the tent’s entrance and assisted the doctor. Eventually, he left the tent and stared at the gulf with thoughts of others in mind. He hasn’t seen them for more than a month. He had moved on from the day at that hotel. What he worried about, now that Helda was his initial enemy, was to hopefully not have to deal with others that he had to put them out. Not even you, Liam, Xavier. Especially you, Mother Elaine. Stay away from me if you can.