Act Two: The Sky Burns
The defenders of Fort Deadsand weren't having a good time.
Even beyond this being the
Trials, and thus basically the most danger the defenders of a Fort within Clan lands would ever experience, the motley garrison was having a bad time for one reason and one reason alone.
They were currently the prisoners of a bunch of Fifth Sea trial invading bastards.
And one of them just wouldn't. Stop.
SINGING.
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Prakash was having a great time.
Big bro Kalki's honor guard had proved their worth once again, the Prana Gathering cultivators easily demolishing the other dudes who they were fighting, or something like that.
Honestly, he wasn't really paying that much attention, it wasn't like anything either side could do would be able to hurt him, it was
Prana Gathering, nothing important.
Except for big bro Kalki of course, but he wasn't exactly normal.
But anyways, once all of the foreign devils had been captured and stuff, Prakash was put in charge of keeping them prisoner.
And that meant he got to
sing!
Both big bro Kalki and also Kurma (but who cared about the lazy bastard's opinion anyways. Oh yeah,
he did.) had given permission to treat the captive prisoners as his captive audience.
So yeah, most of them were currently catatonic, probably from sheer joy at his amazing singing skills, since he was obviously the best singer in the entire Fifth Sea (Except for the people from the Sage-Dancing Apsara Sect, but they used Prana so that was cheating and didn't count).
There was one cultivator that wasn't passed out from excitement at being in his presence though, a paler one currently fiddling with some sort of abacus or tablet or whatever that was. He didn't really care to be honest, but the fact that one cultivator in Prana Gathering at all in this dead sea could even withstand his magnificence was something that was pretty unusual.
Prakash sidled up to the kid, floating up right behind him and tapping him on the shoulder.. "So… What's your name?"
Disappointingly, the kid didn't even give any indicators of surprise or shock, just looking over at him placidly, as if bored. "Abel Angelus."
Huh. Stupid name, no way that anyone in the
Fifth Sea would have a name like that. Imagine naming your kid something alliterative. Prakash Prital couldn't see anyone in
his family doing something like that. "Alright then, 'Abel Angelus', why exactly aren't you on the floor like the rest of your friends over there?"
'Abel Angelus' opened his mouth to speak "-
Oh wait. "Yeah, actually, I don't really care, have fun being our prisoner till your inevitable demise!"
With that, Prakash flew out of the 'jail' (making sure that everything was still secure of course, he wasn't an idiot), and just sort of drifted around for a bit, bored out of his mind.
He wondered how everyone else was handling the waiting.
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Kurma wasn't doing too well.
This fucking sea put him on edge, as if there was something huge just under the surface that instinctively terrified some part of him, and beyond that, not only was he stuck 'guarding the perimeter' instead of taking a nap like he wanted, he had to deal with, well-
"Am I just inherently unlovable? Is that it?"
-Yeah, that.
Specifically, Aavatri bemoaning her love life (or, well, her lack of one).
It wasn't even like he could tell her to get back to work, since she
was working, managing to draw defensive arrays while also complaining.
"So, Kurma, any thoughts on my general situation?" Ah, fuck.
Kurma looked down at Aavatri, the tiny cultivator barely coming up to his shoulder. "Yep. You're right. You're unlovable, absolutely terrible, you're gonna die alone. Glad that's taken care of, you need anything else?"
Kurma laughed as Aavatri tried to stab him with her Katar. Key word here being 'tried', for all her prowess, Aavatri was an array crafter, not a combatant, and Kurma was multiple small realms above her.
Eventually, Aavatri gave up her ineffectual assault, cursing him as she continued drawing arrays. "...fucking bastard, turtle shit asshole...fall in an ocean of blood and drown."
Amused, Kurma smiled widely, before getting a bit serious. "You've been around me for decades at this point Aavatri, you knew what I was gonna say even before you asked."
Aavatri sighed. "Yeah, I did."
"Then why even ask?" Kurma cocked an eyebrow.
Oh neat, Aavatri was actually kind of angry now. "What are my other options here Kurma?! I'm half convinced Rohini's figured out how to step past Atman Manifest, since I'm pretty sure a Severing is the only way she'd have so little idea about romance. And Prakash is, well…"
Kurma winced. Yeah, that would be bad for everyone involved. "And you can't ask Kalki for obvious reasons. Yeah, alright, I can see why I'm your best choice in this case."
The two worked in silence for a few minutes, Aavatri robotically carving arrays while Kurma scanned the area for any signs of enemies.
...God he hated his sense of responsibility. "Alright. Here's what you do."
Aavatri looked up at him, naked hope shining on her face. "Really? You're gonna help me?"
Damn, maybe he'd have to turn down the trolling a bit if this was what Aavatri thought of him. "Well, yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I?"
"Anyways, the best thing to do is, cheesy as it sounds, be yourself."
Kurma held up a hand right before Aavatri exploded with some sort of statement about that not working. "Yeah, yeah, I know, that's what you've been doing this long, but you gotta think about this from another perspective. Kalki cares about you, you know. Maybe not in the romantic sense, partly because I don't think the kid's ever actually thought about love, he's got his whole dream of equality and shit, but if he ever does, you're gonna be one of his first thoughts. So give it time. Act like you do now, be yourself, support him, and just wait until Kalki can rest and think about love."
"But." Kurma smiled, the smile of a cold blooded reptile. "Love, at its core, is war. If someone else tries to get close, tries to catch his eye, show no mercy."
Immediately after that little statement, Kurma was back to his normal carefree self. "So yeah, that help?"
Aavatri smiled, soft and grateful. "Yeah, yeah it did. Thanks Kurma. I'm glad I asked you for help instead of Rohini."
Kurma let out a bark of laughter, short and loud. "HAH! Yeah, imagine what'd happen if you got advice from
her."
As the two continued on their work, Kurma felt pretty happy about his advice. Yeah, things were going well.
His mind turned to Aavatri's second choice. How was Rohini doing?
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Breathe in, breathe out.
Rohini was currently meditating.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Or, at least, trying to meditate, and if she was being honest it wasn't easy.
Breathe in, breathe out.
The Prana in this area was so low it might as well be nonexistent, and that coupled with the howling wind and sand made it quite difficult to concentrate.
Breathe in, breathe out.
So Rohini did what she normally did when unable to concentrate; she thought of her friends.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Prakash was doing well nowadays, he'd really started maturing after reaching Chakra Opening. Rohini would admit that maybe she'd coddled him a bit too much as he was growing up, but her baby cousin (no matter how powerful he was, she'd always think of him as a cute little toddler) was just too sweet to say no to as a child. He'd grown up into an incredibly powerful cultivator though, his telekinesis able to do things that most cultivators would never be able to achieve.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Aavatri had also blossomed into a wonderful example of both a cultivator and a friend. Her array inheritance was a stroke of incredible luck for her, and the things she could do with that soulbond crystal staff were nothing short of amazing. Her arrays were fast enough to be drawn in combat, and while a freak accident a few decades back had taken her arms, the metal ones Aavatri had constructed to replace them were easily better than her originals. Aavatri had transformed from a 'lower caste' (something none of her group put any stock in, but outside prejudice still stood) servant to a brilliant array crafter that would be a valuable member of any dynasty.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Kurma was also making quite a name for himself. Unfortunately, Rohini wasn't privy to much of his life before he arrived at Kalki's side, citing a 'promise' made to some unknown individual, but from what she'd discerned after decades of working together, the former wandering cultivator had collected a set of incredibly powerful treasures, and somehow completed them while in Prana Gathering. Then, those treasures had evolved, and with his trip to this sea, Kurma had completed that second stage. Now, his path to the peak of Atman Manifest and beyond was laid out, clear and steady, ready for him to simply take it.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Kalki, well, there wasn't much that needed to be said about him. Rohini's 'lord' (though in truth he was more like a younger brother) had surprised even her with the scope of his conviction, conviction he was willing to brave a heretical path for. Truly, he was a genius among geniuses, ready to bring change on an unprecedented scale, change for the better.
Breathe in, breathe out.
And then… There was Rohini. Relying on talismans and single use treasures, cultivating slower than all of her friends and family. Kurma was already above her and widening the gap every day. Aavatri and Prakash were quickly catching up to her, and would surpass her if given time. And Kalki, well, when this mad plan of his succeeded, she wouldn't even be able to see his shadow (metaphorically).
Breathe in, breathe out.
But that was unimportant now. For now, she was still second in strength to Kurma, and for now, she still had to protect Kalki.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Rohini stood up, carefully donned her armor and sword, picked up her talismans and single use treasures, and walked back to the interior of the Fort.
There was work to be done.
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It was time.
Finally, after so long, Kalki was ready to ascend, to bathe the world in his glorious righteousness and bring the dawn on a new era, of peace and equality, of bravery and heroism, of camaraderie and friendship.
His comrades in the fight for righteousness slowly arrived, one by one, ready to assist his glorious endeavor. The first to arrive were of course his faithful turbaned honor guard, elites among elites who were all either at or close to the peak of Prana Gathering. Some had held off their breakthroughs, others had used secret methods to stay in the great realm, but all had made a vow only to ascend after their 'boss'.
Truly, they were men (and women) among men (and women)!
Each of them in turn bowed to Kalki, before sequestering themselves in warded rooms far, far away from his tribulation, rooms that just so happened to form an enormous half-complete array, broken up only by four empty points at the four corners of the forts.
Next was Prakash, flying in from places unknown, rings and gems floating all around him, before all going on his fingers at once and stilling.
He was uncharacteristically silent, only nodding once to Kalki before taking his place as guard, at a corner of the fort.
Second and third to arrive were Aavatri and Kurma, the former launching herself through the air via use of an array, and the latter arriving on a tide of seafoam that quickly disappeared in the desert heat.
Aavatri walked over to him, nodded once, hugged him tightly for a scant second, then took her place across from Prakash, launching herself over to the opposite corner.
Kurma patted Kalki on the shoulder, giving him a quick smile and a thumbs up, before drifting away on a wave of seawater, at another corner of the fort.
Last to arrive was Rohini, who knelt, gave a small little half bow, then stood up with a bittersweet smile on her face, crushing a talisman and appearing on the final corner in a pop of blood.
With the array complete, Kalki smiled, as with a pulse of Prana, the array activated, sending him to a secluded corner of desert near nothing and no one important, much to the surprise of his comrades, all except Aavatri of course.
He silently apologized to all his friends and comrades, but Kalki wasn't going to let them anywhere
near his tribulation, something that would most likely kill all of them if given the chance.
Kalki had a talisman that would send him back anyways, so the point was moot.
But that was enough diversion from him, as while even one searching for true conviction and righteousness could feel nervousness at the prospect of a bullshit powerful tribulation, the truly strong willed overcame that burden. Bravery wasn't the absence of fear, it was the overcoming of it.
Kalki took a deep breath, and flared his cultivation base, bottlenecked Prana ready to break through the barrier and trigger his tribulation, a tribulation for the Single Chakra of Chakra Opening.
Immediately, the world erupted in chains, chains glowing with blasphemous runes, chains pulsing with holy energy, chains bearing the blood of dragons and chains holding the wills of ghosts.
These chains wished to bind him, restrict him, bring him crashing down to earth as his dreams were shattered, a death of the body and the soul, in every way that mattered.
...Well, if his tribulation wished to bring him crashing down to earth, Kalki would soar through the heavens!
With a flicker of Prana, great gold and orange wings erupted from Kalki's back as he flew higher and higher into the sky above, chains snaking down from clouds like bolts of lightning, bearing the marks and Prana of every organization and force that would seek to bring him low.
Kalki laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed, pure, innocent
joy emanating from his features as he did battle with the chains of his oppressors.
A gauntlet shattered a chain that represented a great dynasty, a kick crushed a binding sent by a sect practicing one of the arts of the Saptarishi, a headbutt destroyed another great clan and their legacy, wings flared outwards to break the ropes created in imitation of the caste barriers.
Kalki did battle with every great power of the Fifth Sea, and laughed as he did so, breaking the chains of his oppressors and shattering the glass ceilings that held so many talents down, resources and bloodlines and nepotism being crushed one by one.
The chains, of course, fought back bitterly, with a ferocity brought on by the very world itself hating a single person, writhing and thrashing and bending him over and over again, wishing to drag him down to his own personal hell.
Kalki laughed as he was bound, chains covering his entire body from head to toe, leaving him plummeting to the earth.
Halfway through his descent, Kalki
flexed every muscle in his body simultaneously, and the chains exploded off him in a shower of dao fragments and twisted metal qi.
Once more he ascended into the fray, demolishing chains that seemed almost alive, animated by the sheer hatred the heavens felt for him.
No matter; they could hate him all he wanted, he would save them too, just like everything else.
Eventually though, there were no more chains left to destroy, and the clouds of his tribulation paused for a moment. Kalki allowed himself to believe his tribulation was over.
Then, the very clouds themselves fell from the sku as binding chains, as seven great heavenly stars hung oerhead in their place, oppressing all beneath them, battering people down into a hierarchy of inequality, to never rise up in righteous rebellion.
The first star loomed high in the sky, heavenly warriors carrying ropes of chain and jail cells, wielding lances made of subjugation and swords of conquest, horses roaring with suppressed fury, muzzled and broken down by their masters. As the army rode down to subjugate and oppress Kalki, the chains of cloud matter brightened and sparkled, growing stronger, being empowered by the very presence of manifestations of the star. Truly, just like everything else in life, the heavens were unfair, cheating and reinforcing themselves while Kalki was allowed no allies.
It was almost enough to break one's spirit, send one into the depths of despair, shatter their convictions utterly and plunge them into a pit from which there was no return.
Kalki laughed with excitement, wings flapping to meet this heavenly assault yet again. Now
this was a worthy challenge!
----
The telekinetic had been dealt with, but Ulysses's work was just beginning. Looking over the wounded, it was a miracle that the childish hunter had avoided killing any of these near-mortals. The most severe wound he had caused would have to be a junior in the 2nd heavenstage who had been struck in the head by a glancing blow. Judging by the wound the stone had flown by his head just close enough to abrade the skin and musculature away entirely and crack the skull such that a piece was entirely detached. Worse, if this junior had the Blood of Bronze then it was thin enough that Ulysses couldn't tell just by looking at him. Holding the skull in place while carrying him would occupy both of Ulysses's hands and he lacked the means to treat him here, so Ulysses had no choice in the matter.
"Juniors, those of you who are wounded but can still walk, please carry those who cannot to the fallback point, you will receive treatment there. If you have the hands to spare, do your best to apply gentle pressure to any wounds that are still bleeding." Ulysses said with authority he was unfamiliar with.
Moving with all the swiftness he could manage while carrying someone he didn't want to jostle too much, Ulysses arrived at the fall back point, placing his charge on one of the cots set up there. He had been the first to arrive here from that particular fight, but apparently other battlefields had resolved a bit earlier. The medical disciples gathered here were already slammed with patients, at least partially due to the fact that all those gathered here were in Qi Condensation. After all, if a Qi Condensation trial hunter found this place we could try to make a retreat with the patients, but if a Foundation Building expert took offense to us, then many would die in the crossfire, so Foundation Building doctors were treating Foundation Building seniors elsewhere.
Taking a quick look around, Ulysses came to the conclusion that his patient was still the most urgent that didn't already have a doctor assigned.
Pale from blood loss, missing skin and muscle, and a broken skull, if that was all there was, then treatment would have been simple, a Blood Restoring Pill would buy enough time to get the medicine to heal the other things, but a strong strike to the head combined with the patient's continuing struggle to sit upright almost undoubtedly meant there was bleeding in the brain too, and therefore restoring his blood would just kill him faster. Fixing the skull first would just make it impossible to treat the underlying hemorrhage, but if he kept losing blood like this he would die before Ulysses could finish repairing the hemorrhage.
"Is anyone here a wrestler? If you are and you have one good arm, please come quickly!" Ulysses barked.
"Please forgive me senior Ulysses, but don't you think the odds of a medical cultivator also practicing some kind of Dao of Wrestling would be too uncommon?" another doctor yelled, their arms buried in the torso of another wounded clansman.
"Then it's a good thing I didn't ask for a doctor who could wrestle, or a differential diagnosis for that matter, I need someone who can blood choke this man, and I need them immediately!"
"Well if all you need is a strong arm, I've still got one to spare, haha." a voice quite familiar to Ulysses rang out.
"Iasion, you're here? What am I saying, of course you're here, and for once I can't berate you for maiming yourself every time you fight seriously. Get over here and on my signal apply a blood choke for two minutes, no longer." It was only because the patient was a cultivator, whose body could subsist off ki for a few minutes that this was possible, on a mortal it would simply be an elaborate form of murder. Two minutes was a fifth of the time he would like for this operation, but needs must, and this patient would bleed out in one minute if nothing was done.
Ulysses slammed a Blood Restoring Pill down the patient's throat and gave the signal. The man's complexion immediately became much healthier about most of his body, only his head retaining its deathly pallor. With Scalpel and needle he set to work. He had no time to think, only to cut and sew, and he subconsciously drew on what Jian had taught him during his mission to Jingshen lands. All the training he had gone through back then had not borne fruit, scalpels and swords were just too different, both were tools of cutting, but for opposite purposes. Now that there was a life on the line, the lessons snapped into focus, the patient's flesh cleanly moving aside before the blade even reached it, as though cut by Ulysses Intent alone. Once he had found the offending artery, his other hand lashed out, drawing the wound closed and sewing taut the incisions he had used to get there. His work of the moment done, Ulysses felt much of that strange comprehension that had come over him slipped from his grasp, but some still remained, and judging by the amount of patients still remaining he would have plenty of practice before this was over.
The patient roused and Ulysses put a firm hand on his chest, pressing him back against the cot.
"You were gravely injured, but the imminent danger has passed now. Please remain lying down until further notice."
"My head, its bleeding!" the patient said, with remarkable energy given his condition.
"Yes, so I'll get you a bandage and everything will be fine as long as you do not attempt to stand up." Ulysses began moving towards another patient when Iason called out to him
"But what do I do? I know I'm a low priority and shouldn't expect treatment soon, but just standing around was getting way too boring, so what do you need from me?"
Ulysses thought about that for a moment. It was true that there were more patients here than the doctors could really handle, people who do unskilled work would relieve a great burden from them. They ordinarily had nurses to deal with such things, but the nurses were mortal, and were therefore not present here, which could turn into a battlefield if things went wrong.
"That's not a bad idea, thank you for the suggestion, let's do this all at once though" Ulysses said to Iason, before raising his voice to address everyone "if your symptoms consist of muscle weakness, fainting spells, and the feeling of pins and needles" then please take one of these pills and then stand by for further instructions!" Ulysses said, grabbing a bottle of Qi Recovery pills.
His patient, upon hearing his words, tried to rise once more.
"Not you, Junior, you are on bed rest, and if you mess it up and end up reopening that wound of yours, then I am revoking your tendon privileges, understand?" To accentuate the point, Ulysses brandished his scalpel while saying this.
The patient returned to his original position quite quickly.
"For those of you who can, please make a note of where the medicine storage is here, and then make yourselves available for any doctors who request medicines. All the bottles are clearly labelled, so if you can read you should be fine. For those of you who want to help more, I will be showing you how to bandage a wound properly, so that you can help with some cuts. The first step is to apply the strong Liquor to the wound to prevent incidental poison exposure, next you…" Ulysses continued to rattle off what he knew of first aid that was relevant, before returning to treating severely wounded patients.
From his own battlefield the wounds were rather mundane, mostly consisting of blunt force trauma and large puncture wounds, but other battles had more exotic injuries, some of which were tricky to diagnose. On one occasion, one of his impromptu nurses bandaged a wound that was bubbling and turning purple, and the mistake was only noticed when the patient's wound began to emit a noxious odor, but on a whole the nurses were a huge relief to the dedicated medical team, freeing them for work on more severe or complicated cases. Iason served as Ulysses's dedicated gofer, ferrying medicine and messages between Ulysses, his colleagues, and the medicine storage.
Ulysses went from one patient to another ceaselessly, from a man who'd been impaled to one whose skin was smouldering from a fire raging inside, to one who'd breathed in some terrible poison. He was the most senior doctor present, and as the hours ticked on, the amount of people with critical injuries diminished one way or another. He wasn't stingy when healing these people, if they needed a jolt of Qi to get their organs working again, he provided it, anything to get them stable faster so that he could help more.
"Oi Ulysses, gonna go do some first aid on a patient, symptoms include an unsteadiness in their gait, sweat all over even though they've been out of combat for hours, and purple discoloration of a shoulder." Iason queried.
Ulysses wondered what this new inanity from his companion was. That case was obviously a low priority. Nevertheless, ignoring Iason's questions always led to more hassle than it saved.
"Did you see any puncture wounds? Poison often causes such discoloration, but if it is just the shoulder, then it's probably just dislocated. If you saw them here, then the patient is a Cultivator, so the other symptoms are probably the early stages of Qi Exhaustion, rather than the mundane kind. Give that patient a Qi Recovery Pills and press their arm back into their shoulder socket and they'll be fi-" Ulysses prognosis was rudely interrupted when Iason rammed a pill down Ulysses's throat, and then felt a searing pain in his shoulder before he strengthened the Qi he had directed to mask it.
"What was that for? One if our warriors could have used that pill, and your arm is more.injured than mine, yours is probably broken even, so why would you use a broken arm to fix a dislocated one?" Ulysses snapped.
"Well first of all, in regards to the broken arm, I have at least one like half the time, so I'm used to it, and secondly, it took you three times as long to treat that last patient as it did one earlier." Iason said, in an uncharacteristically serious tone.
"So? Obviously different patients would require different treatments, that one must have just been more involved, and that wasn't an answer to my question at all!"
"They had the same symptoms, the same sort of injuries, and the same treatment. Take a break, everyone else has at least once. Come back when you can think straight again, maybe grab some water and a bite to eat."
"But there are juniors watching, I have to set an example for them, what if someone dies because I was lazing around?" Ulysses protested.
"It's been hours, anyone who was in imminent fatal danger isn't anymore, one way or another. Pushing yourself to extremes is badass when it's needed, and no one can say you didn't do your best when it was, but, at this point such stubbornness is just to show off, isn't it? Setting an example for juniors is a noble goal, but what kind of example do you want them to see, because at this rate the example you're likely to set is that of someone who worked himself to death for little gain." Iason retorted.
"Alright, fine, you have a point, I'll take ten minutes to drink and eat, but when we get back we're gonna smash that speed from earlier." Ulysses said with finality. And then they made it so, and several juniors were saved
---
The camp had never looked so damn good, and the company of heroes who dragged themselves back into it had never looked so bad. No-one had left the battle without any damage - the insane armory of weapons and treasures that the Hunters deployed made sure of that, and that was before the Dao protectors had stepped in.
But the worst of it was that they'd failed. Kalki had made it to Deadstone. Empty FUCKING Heavens.
Maria and Lyssa were the first back into the tent, heaving aside the curtains and stalking inside.
"Shrugged off an inferno twin flare," growled Maria. Lyssa's ever-present smile had dimmed a little, and taken on an angry edge.
"Shut up."
"Shrugged off. An Inferno. Twin. Flare."
"Gods damn it."
They turned to watch the rest of the troops march in after them.
"What now?" they asked in unison.
"Now we figure out how to get into our own damn fortress." Wei Feng grunted. His robes were in tatters, burned by his own power and ripped apart by blasts of water, and he was covered in blood. Most of it his own. Of all those present, his wounds were probably the least concerning, almost all of them completely sealed.
"Then we work out how to keep that turtle bastard off me long enough for me to fight a new single pillar. Preferably without having half the team collapse from just feeling his Dao emanations." He finished grumpily.
"Perhaps after that we might overthrow heaven and conquer all the seas as an encore?" Snapped Maria. Lyssa stared at her. What she'd said seemed to register.
"...Sorry, Senior. Been a bit of a day," she muttered, bowing in apology.
He rubbed his eyes and flicked a hand dismissively. "No, no I was at fault too. Put it from your mind. This day has not been a good one for any of us."
He observed the bedraggled company. "Perhaps we should take a few minutes to rest and clean up while the wounded are set up. Then we can work out what to do next." Putting action to words, he took a few strides away from the group and used a trickle of qi. Fire erupted from his skin, burning away the accumulated blood instantly.
The twins watched him with undisguised jealousy.
"Gods," they muttered in unison. "Gods, Imperator and Bronze."
"Need to get Amaranth to teach us that cleaning technique," muttered Lyssa.
"Yuh-huh," said Maria, nodding. She turned her head to watch the rest come in, one after another. They looked - beaten. Only word she had. Beaten, and broken, and bruised. This was it, was it? This was what heroism got them?
She thought of those bastards arriving on the field. She thought of Kalki, and his casual amusement at her and her sister-self's most brutal assault.
...Yeah, fuck that. Time for a do-over.
"Alright," she said, raising her voice. "No time for ceremony, boys and girls. We have a pack of fifth sea sitting in our damn fort. With them is a prick so detestable even *heaven* doesn't like him. What do we do about it?"
"We move to plan B. Most of what we've already planned is still relevant, it's just going to be a little harder than expected." Gaius groused, dragging himself onto a stray log and sitting down, trying to massage some kind of feeling back into his knee. "Break down the wall with the Brotherhood's demolition techniques, force them to come out of the fort and to us… only problem is how we actually win. I never expected there would be two different enemies on Wei Feng's level and I have no idea how to deal with that." He concluded morosely.
"... Actually, I can handle the water manipulator if I have some troops with me." Xiao Yingzi remarked, glancing at the rest of the legionnaires. "He's got a major weakness: based upon his reaction to my abilities, he likely bears an unorthodox path created by heaven, and those are designed to be weak to tribulation lightning as a failsafe. As I can wield that, or at least a shadow of it, my attacks should be far more effective against him than normal. That means I have a chance."
Gaius gasped, a glimmer of hope returning to his eyes. "That's perfect. That's incredible! If you face him, and Wei Feng faces Kalki, and we prepare the battlefield…" The Seeker muttered to himself.
"Then we can still win." Zeno finished the statement, voice filled with a grim but firm resolve. "That's good, that's the kind of attitude we need. I won't let that cruel future come to pass, no matter what it takes." He said weakly as a Legionnaire escorted him to the medical tent. "Appendix, take over for me."
Appendix floated over her own list of casualties and known combatants with their known abilities to the sturdy table, serving as their meeting point. Her voice was loud and clear. "Ask me for any clarifications, please. The boss will join after his visit with Ulysses. A round of nods is all that follows before the discussion continues.
"Before any of that, there is something else we need to address." Wei Feng interrupts. "Spirit stones. We're right on the edge of the qi draining desert, and the qi in the air is even thinner than normal. If we want to fight again soon, I don't think we can rely purely on natural generation." He shook his head.
"I have a few stones appropriate for Foundation Builders with me, as well as a certain amount of qi condensation ones, but we need to know if we have enough to allow all our forces that can fight to recover enough qi."
"I still have some Qi Recovery Pills left, but not enough for everyone." Ulysses replied sheepishly.
"We'll have to leave the wounded half-depleted and give all of their stones to those who can still fight." Gaius remarked after a moment of thought. "It's dangerous to recover from wounds without a full tank, but they all came here ready to die." The rest hesitantly nodded in acceptance of this plan.
"I should be able to handle the telekinetic. Or rather, it has to be me." Diomedes spoke, looking towards the rest of the group. "If Wei Feng and Xiao Yingzi are busy with the two head honchos, and Magnus is busy supplying us with material, that leaves me and Zeno. And…" he glanced in the direction of the medical tent. "I'm in better shape than him. I'm also sturdy enough that the enemy can't just crush my body - the same might not be true for Zeno."
"As for my century," At this Diomedes grimaced and looked out towards the medical tents. "The casualties were high, and even with Ulysses' prodigious skills and the blood of bronze
I do believe that only about half of them will be in any condition to fight again in time for the assault. The enemy Qi Condensation also took a lot of casualties, but by my reckoning, 70% of them will be good to go."
Acknowledging Diomedes' part, Appendix asks around the room. "Any other opponent we should talk about in depth?"
"Kalki's a fucking prick," said Lyssa, conversationally, "but a tough one. Even by Thirteenth Heavenstage standards. Hits like the Wei Princess if she was competent, tanks like a brick shithouse, and moves like… like…"
Maria shot her a withering look. "Fast. He moves fast. On top of that, wind techniques, and those gauntlets of his eat up power. He's a serious fucker, is where we're going with this."
"I was getting there."
"Like a mountain gets to be a stone, and about as quick."
"Fuck off."
"So he's a physical monster for his stage, he can control the wind, his gauntlets absorb energy and he'll be bringing out a fully unknown Dao ability the next time we see him on top of everything else." Gaius bluntly summarized. "I'm not sure what I expected when I thought 'Trial Hunter King', but that sounds about right."
"The wind aspect at least won't be a problem." Wei Feng offered. "Out of all the substances a person could attack me with, wind is one of the things I can handle the best, just after fire. I just have to burn hot enough that he can't blow me out."
From most people, such a simple statement would come off as obscenely arrogant, but from a proven hero like Wei Feng it was a simple statement of fact. Still, Wei Feng evidently wasn't feeling too heroic judging by his posture; the sting of his recent defeat hadn't quite worn off yet.
"I can help with all of this, I think!" Xiuying offered, trying her best to stay chipper despite the immense stress of the situation. "If I understand right, then this battle's going to be more about strength, right? I can make that work! With less of us fighting, I can make enough soup for everyone."
Xiuying then paused and scratched her head. "I've never divided up the soup that much before, but… it'll still be just as strong, it won't last as long. If everybody has some soup on them and drinks it when things get bad, maybe we can surprise the enemies!" Her face fell. "Or maybe it'll be too diluted and won't work… 80/20 odds on the first thing?"
"It'll have to do." Gaius spoke up, trying to keep the rambling to a minimum. He was no charismatic commander, but his propensity for intense focus had turned out to be quite useful in these meetings for keeping people on track. "Some extra power in the back pocket will be nice to have, but that won't be enough alone. What else do we have?"
Anuka reached into her bag and fished out a peculiar brass contraption inscribed with curse arrays. "Building things quickly is something of a specialty of mine. The one upside right now is that these guys have only one way to leave the fort if they don't want to be sucked dry. I can help prepare the battlefield with explosives and curse traps."
Xiao Yingzi raised her hand in turn. "I have worked with array-smiths and spirit-binders in regards to creating talismans of my abilities. If you require it, I can share ones with the effects of fire, lightning or shadow as well. The fire and lightning snares in particular can be set to transform sand into spiked glass for a weaker secondary effect."
The Builder stood up, snapped out of his fugue by the chance to make himself and his comrades useful. "We'll gladly help booby-trap the battlefield with anything you can provide. We will save you the trouble of placing your creations, so you just focus on making them."
Gaius snapped his fingers and pointed at the last three people to speak. "Now that's what I'm talking about. We've lost the initiative, but we've gained a lot too. We can do this." Gaius only hoped that this mostly-false confidence was convincing any of his listeners. "So, we lay traps, prepare power-boosters, I bring down the walls and…" Suddenly he stopped speaking, lost in thought.
After nearly a minute of muttering to himself under his breath, Gaius stood up, using his sword to prop himself up like a cane. He winced; he really hoped that knee healed in time for the next battle. "I just put something together. I hate to heap on even more pressure, but I think we're forgetting something: what about the Clansmen manning that fort?"
"Dead," said Lyssa. The smile was gone from her face.
Maria winced. "Lys-"
"Any of us have time for sugar coating right now? Rina Callista's evil twin, complete with goatee and big black moustache, just wandered in with all his little friends. There, they found juniors who fought hard and brave and did not stand a chance. Free Karma. Do the math. They're dead."
"Senior Abel was there, was he not?" said the third brother. "It can't be..." The second brother lamented.
Showing remarkable energy from someone so ill, the fifth brother spoke with dark eyes and even darker tone "If so, we will burn them, we will melt them using the creations of our seniors that we have."
The first brother made a sharp movement and made all the brothers look at him, only for them all to see that he was deep in thought. Still, they didn't dare interrupt, waiting patiently for their leader's direction.
"See, that's what I thought at first too. Harvesting us is the whole point of coming here. But…" Gaius trailed off, thinking of how to explain his hunch. "Abandon practicality. Put yourself in this guy's shoes: he came here to cheat through a tribulation. Heaven is so mad at him that it's favoring
us, a bunch of Devils. He needs every last drop of karma he can get, no matter what."
Gaius' face fell. "I'm betting he's taken any Centurions there prisoner to kill them after his ascension, and the Legionnaires might be held captive too, though I'm less sure about that. We've gotta get them out too. I can tunnel into the basement to extract them a few at a time, but unfortunately that means I won't be able to bring down the walls until that's done, and I'd of course be far more likely to be seen or captured before the job is done. I'll leave it up to the Seniors what I should do here." He concluded, sitting back down and fishing out a set of acupuncture needles for his knee - their doctor had far more gravely wounded patients to worry about at the moment.
Zeno's hoarse voice sounded like a distant avalanche, the room noticing only now his appearance, freshly cleaned bowl in hand. "Transport me and some scorpions in! There I can give Abel'er, or Imperator forbid, someone else the scorpion staff to enhance their chances of escape and port them out if necessary." Zeno's sitting form, clad in bandages all over, waiting expectantly for any response while Ulysses affixed the last bandage on his sword arm for mobility.
"When the fuck did-?" Marias question got stifled quickly by Zeno's rebuttal. "A careless mistake against their crafter; air designs through which she creates utilities for sudden power and explosions. My wounds are superficial for now so don't worry." his brittle smile on his ruined face telling all in attendance the information no one needs to be told. The next battle would be decisive.
"I can definitely bring you in." Gaius nodded. "If it's just the one trip then it won't take any time at all; I can begin with the sabotage right away after I drop you off." Gaius mulled it over to himself. "Yeah, that's a good compromise; if we pull everything off then we can not only save most of them but the prisoner revolt will cause more trouble for
his majesty." Gaius mockingly intoned.
"That works for me. Don´t bother about exfiltration. I'll find my own way through their lines and this time I even have a technique to minimize the suppression of that dao stuff!" Zeno remarked with little hidden glee. The freshly healing flesh pulsating and stretching under his bandages.
"Collapsing our own fortress to expose them to the Qi-Draining Desert and force them into a trap… we sure are keeping things lively, aren't we?" Wei Feng asked. "It could definitely work though. From my understanding, that deep in the desert no-one will be able to survive long. Left with the choice of falling to the qi draining desert, shattering their tokens or coming out to meet us, they'll pick the latter." He grimaced. "Still, we'll be damn close too. If we get hurt badly enough..." He trailed off.
"It's a risk we have to take." Diomedes asserted. "This is crazy, but no matter how many other ideas I consider, it's the best shot we have right now."
After listening to reports of the other legionaries that follow their seniors and from observations made by his own brethren, The builder shared the brotherhood's plan. "Outside of preparing traps, explosives made with gunpowder and the use of some bronze magnifying glass that we bought from Senior Abel. We can make a good distraction so that plan has a better chance of succeeding. Our reputation will precede us and force more than one of these hunters to waste some focus on us. Even to just see what 'the crazy grandparents' want to do now." he finished.
Gaius bit his lip. "It's true that once the pitched battle begins it'll get very chaotic and there won't be anywhere safe for you all, but…" He clicked his tongue. "Ah, what am I doing? We're all risking our lives, I won't condescend to you. Good luck."
"In that case I suppose I would best be positioned with the Brotherhood once again, since they are both the most fragile members of the attacking force and apparently the most… let's say bold." Ulysses said diplomatically.
With a sweeping gaze Zeno looked over the whole tent and stood up. Everyone seemed to have said their piece. "It looks like we can wrap things up. Make no mistake, friends. This will be hard, but toppling a King will be worth it!
……
Xiuying's body was sore but she was still in one piece. However, there was no time to rest, not with the current situation. Xiuying was an idiot so she left all the strategic thinking to those that had the smarts for it. Instead, Xiuying focused on what she could do and that was cooking noodles - more specifically, cooking up a batch of Thousand Year Heavenly Noodle Soup for everyone.
Xiuying had misjudged how many people would need the Heavenly Soup so there hadn't been enough for everyone. Instead, most of what she had made prior to the ambush were given to all the weaker cultivators to shore up their strength so that they would not fall easily to the Fifth Sea Invaders. This time though, she would definitely make enough so that every single member of their party had at least two servings of the power-boosting noodle soup.
Though it would not be fresh, the effects of the soup just needed to last as long as the fight did and there were ways of keeping the noodle soup hot and fresh for eating. At the very least, she could prepare containers that would keep the soup fresh enough for at least a half-hour boost of strength and speed. The only problem she had now was time.
The Thousand Year Heavenly Noodle Soup Pot only took minutes to make a large pot of noodle soup. However, cooking up every new batch immediately after the first without rest would take exponentially longer. If she actually properly tended to the pot as it was cooking though, the cooking time would be shortened somewhat. To make enough for everyone, however, would be cutting it close if the predicted timeline of events were to hold.
Failing to feed everyone again was not something Xiuying was going to accept. Her pride as a noodle chef refused to allow her to repeat the same mistake again. Everyone was going to have two bowls of Thousand Year Heavenly Noodle Soup, or she wasn't a noodle chef!
"You're damn right about that."
Xiuying blinked, and turned to find the somewhat battered and bruised face of one of her juniors, her tall and floppy white hat somewhat covered in dirt and smears of blood.
"Well, don't just stand there and look at me,
tell me what to do!" said Yang Fangxu, already rolling up her sleeves and moving to stand next to her. "If you're going to feed everyone on time you're going to need someone
who actually knows how to cook to speed you up, and the heavens
know I'm tired of being completely useless after getting my ass kicked by a bunch of idiots in stupid hats. I can stand being the side chef for
one day. Go on, swording noodle Chef, and
show me how that fucking artifact works hurry up gogogogo--"
...well, she wouldn't deny the extra help.
……
Magnus had been sitting out most of the discussions since his job was clear. Like in the last trials, he would spend most of his time brewing poisons and other concoctions to boost the fighting strength of others.
While he did not speak much, Magnus was not idle. He listened with half an ear as he pulled out various fruits and plants from his storage equipment. Fire Fruit Cactus, Copper and Tin Elemental fruits and plant parts, Spirit Bamboo shoots, Water Lotus, and Earth mushrooms were all neatly placed into different containers. Then with the new technique Magnus just learned, the Spirit-Making Method, Magnus made his famous Elemental Wines. They carried pure elemental Qi allowing one to improve the speed of their training, or in war, quickly replenish their energy.
Magnus handed a bottle to each member here warning them that while weaker than normal, a sip was more than enough to replenish a quarter of a 9th Heavenstage Cultivator Qi.
…..
Before they saw it or sensed it, they felt it with their bodies. A chill running down their spine or the hairs on their hands standing on their ends. Then they heard it, or at least they thought they did. Somewhere far in the sky, the irate rumbling of thunder echoed. Then they felt with their minds - a mass of qi like a sun in the distance, blinding them and then bearing down upon them.
Then they looked up and they saw it - those that could bear to look upon it. Others tried to look away, but the light burned through their eyes. Even turning away didn't work, it was a flash in their spiritual minds that shook their dao hearts. It was a bolt of lightning, far greater than anything most of them had seen or felt.
Then it struck the ground. It wasn't close - miles away but still the earth cracked and groaned all the way near - lesser men staggered and stumbled to their knees. Then the winds came, winds howling and rushing in its wake, blowing down those who dared to stand in the face of this power. Only those who had felt it's bite could stand.
Then came the light and the heat, scorching those who defied and submitted in equal measure. Finally the rumbling thunder that cracked the air and hurt the ears, reached them. Their teeth hurt as they shook from the force and the sound borrowed into their minds, and consumed their worlds in reminder of their place in the world.
But that was all. Closer, it would have burnt them with righteous fire. Closer, it would have shattered their bodies. Closer, it would have glassed the sands of the desert and scarred it as a reminder of heaven's supremacy. But it wasn't close. It's fury was not meant for them, those who were caught in the edges of its wake.
Instead, they merely witnessed. Those who could still stand and see, saw lightning so thick that for the time it lasted, it looked like a pillar of light. Those couldn't bear to see, felt it with their souls and their bodies, imprinting this memory into their minds. Then the pillar of lightning rippled and surged, blotting out part of the sky and visible from miles around.
And then, mercifully, finally it ceased.
Snuffed out like a light going dark. For a moment nothing happened. There were bated breaths around as some hoped that perhaps this man had failed his tribulation. Perhaps, even after coming so far he had been found wanting. Hope, desperate hope, filled the hearts of some of the devils who witnessed this.
Then a dao bloomed. In the wake of the lightning, it emanated to all those who had felt the wrath of heaven. All felt it, tasted it for the single moment that it echoes through the world. It made their hearts fill with a sense of pride and it made their backs straighter. It was a declaration of intent - it would make the world greater.
Just not for them.
Only one devil seemed truly unbothered by the display. "So this is what it feels like on the outside." Wei Feng commented nonchalantly. "It's much more eventful for someone on the inside."
There was a sudden laugh - one that sputtered out. But the atmosphere had changed with that. All those devils who felt it knew it for the declaration of victory that it had been. They could feel the sky rumble wrathfully, impotently but no lightning struck. The realization swept through them. They knew that they had failed.
But with that came a bloody sense of purpose. Heaven wasn't the only force here who had a say. They were the golden devils. They had a plan and they had pillars of their own.
Their enemy would break them, for his own.
They would do the same.
----
As Gaius, the scorpions and Zeno prepared to infiltrate, they kept a professional silence. Zeno cleaned his father's saber one last time and made sure the scorpions' scales were of good enough health for the oncoming battle. Meanwhile Gaius stored his needles, knives and other utilities in various places on his body to make them easier to reach for him and punish any foolish enemy.
Gaius called over three particular Legionnaires, each selected for their expertise in indoor fighting - an oft overlooked skill, but a crucial one when it mattered. He opened his bag and went through one last inventory check.
"Blasting array slips, stone-to-dust array slips, medicinal pills, lock breaking tools. In the dimensional pouch, ten shortswords to arm the prisoners. That's all we could spare." He explained in clipped tones before shutting the bag again. "As we discussed, I'll get you and them in, then move onto the sabotage. It'll be up to you to get out."
"Yeah, I know." Was all Zeno needed to say before the group descended into the earth. The suffocating darkness sped past them quickly, save for the shortstop to make sure no arrays could impede their movement under the fort.
Before long they appeared, the sun in these qi-less lands barely reaching into the walls. All the better for concealment. With silent steps they used the position of the sun and the lax enemies, attending some meal in the courtyard, to head down to the jails. Meanwhile their path of exfiltration was being dug by the few scorpions they took with them. The attention of the enemy would be more than occupied with the sudden collapse of the walls and the threat of death by qi-drain when the time came.
'By the Imperator, please let this plan work!' Zeno thought to himself, knowing any wrong sound could allow the enemy to detect their skulking forms in the lower walls.
Gaius quietly opened his bag and handed the dimensional pouch with the swords to Zeno, along with the lock-breaking tools. He looked like he wanted to say something, but in a situation like this, any unnecessary noise would be foolish. So, looking Zeno in the eye with a fierce, determined expression, he simply gave a salute.
The meaning was clear:
'Come back alive.'
——
The Seeker glided through the earth in solemn silence, placing array slips at select points along the southern wall's foundation. A huge blast was not needed, and in fact might cause more trouble than it was worth. He had comrades in this fort after all.
No, all Gaius needed to do was damage the foundation in just the right ways, by planting these arrays which would transmute the stone into dust. The wall would implode peacefully, or as close to peaceful as demolition gets. Placing the final slip, he turned and surged back toward the main fighting force, where the battlefield had been prepared.
Mines to release various obscene poisons, which they had all taken antidotes for. Similar devices which instead released localized curses, to sow all kinds of chaos. Yet more traps, in the form of Xiao Yingzi's many snares. Deep, sturdy trenches from which volleys of arrows would be shot. Hastily-prepared tunnels which led to caches of medicines and array slips.
And finally, the thermoses. Each one a competent piece of array engineering in its own right, designed to prolong the freshness of a small serving of Thousand-Year Soup as long as possible. Though greatly diminished compared to a full, fresh bowl, Xiuying had actually managed to make just enough for everyone. Each of them could, for a mere ten minutes, greatly exceed their baseline capabilities - their final trump card.
A triple serving had been prepared for Wei Feng, of course; The Phoenix had the hardest job of all ahead of him.
Returning to the surface, Gaius rolled his neck, producing a few soft, satisfying pops. He fished out and lit a cigarette - just one more before the violence, for good luck.
"Looks like it's just about time…" He muttered nervously, holding out his hand. A Legionnaire pushed a bizarre-looking device into his hand, some odd little brass contraption Abel had thought up. Zeno swore up and down that it worked better for remote array activation than thought alone.
Gaius took one last look back at the company in which he found himself. Heroes and champions, every last one a person of esteem. He smiled warmly, cigarette dangling loosely between his lips; it would be pretty nice to die on a day like this. Just about a perfect death, even. Too bad he still had things to do.
"Ladies and gentlemen. It's been an honor. Let's show them how Devils do things."
click
----
AN: THERE, IT'S DONE, WE ACTUALLY DID IT IN TIME
Wordcount: 10,022
