To Centurion Simon Euaerizo,
Thank you for being so willing to reply to my letters. I am well aware that my mothers, being the interfering busybodies that they are, have undoubtedly been writing to you a lot about me. Kokkinos Laoshi had been positively inundated with correspondence from them asking anything and everything. Were they always this inquisitive when you served with them? Sometimes I wish that they would have another child and spare me the smothering that comes with being their youngest. The way Eustacia tells it, that was how it was when they had others after her.
Forgive me for rambling on about my family. To get to the main reason why I am writing this letter, I am deploying as part of the 95th Legion's contribution to the war effort. I know that those of us of the Compass Rose, particularly the core members from the Delphi family do not exactly have the best reputation for martial excellence, but Legate Calliope wishes to change that impression and I agree with her. The 95th are craftspeople sure and we take pride in our ability to produce some of the best items available on the market but we are also sworn soldiers in the Legions of the Golden Devil Clan. To fight for the Clan, serving as its shield and spear are just as much central to our identity as any other force within the Clan like the 353rd or the 576th. I will admit that my Legion has less experience in offensive operations than many others but I am confident that we will prove up to the demands of war.
Command is drilling all of us relentlessly, harder than I remember Aspirant training ever being, to hone us into a razor's edge. The councilors of the family are addressing the issue of the Delphi bloodline curse being a known malus to combat. I have heard those senior to me talk of the Archegetes holding a special lecture on the eve of the last Hundred-Year Trial, supposedly gated behind a trial of willpower and self mastery. It would appear that the leadership of my family have been inspired by his example and are doing their very best to winnow out any they deem unfitting. I have screamed more under their sadistic ministrations that I could ever have been distressed as an infant. I cannot honestly fault their methods though even if I wish to impale them all on rusty spikes in recompense because the gains I have seen in my ability to handle the Harrowing have been nothing short of miraculous. As I am now, I have no doubt that I could have easily managed the breakthrough to the 9th Heavenstage without the injury I suffered in the Yuan Clan. I understand why the family prefers to have this tempering performed over several decades because so many have proven unable to cope and withdrawn from the secondment, some of the worst I know will require a long recovery in their cultivation despite the best efforts of our trainers.
All this is to say that I am assured of my ability to face the physical challenges of participating in the war, particularly considering the artifacts I will be equipped with. What I am concerned with are the immaterial demands of combat. I know that the Jingshen Clan has opposed our Clan for as long as we have been together in the Organ Meat Desert. With the Battle Blood Cannibal Sect defeated there is no longer a detente in the fragile peace so the Clan must act in self-preservation. One can point to the justification in the attack by Jingshen Jiao against Lady Zhihao when our ally stood as Dao Guardian for Legate Aretaphila Myia during her Heavenly Tribulation but what I know and what my heart feels are not wholly congruent. I do not doubt my ability to follow orders in invading the Jingshen Clan, to go into their territories and attack their homes, killing their defenders and pillaging their lands. I love my Clan and willingly put myself forward to stain my hands with the blood of its foes. What I am uncertain about is if in the aftermath I will be able to accept who I become. Whatever ill well the people of the Jingshen bear the Clan, their humanity is undeniable to me and I know that many will suffer whether in our victory or defeat for the designs of those superior to them. The question I ponder now as I make ready to set out to join the war is whether necessity justifies all acts. The Clan needs security and strength to survive and the Jingshen are a threat to that purpose. But is it just that in our pursuit of these goals we act as we intend? Your previous reply on the question of righteousness helped me resolve my questions on the matter so forgive me if I once again turn to you for assistance.
I pray that your response will be swift in coming and that whatever else may be, you and your command are safe and victorious. Perhaps we shall meet on the battlefield under the flag of victory.
Yours sincerely,
Legionnaire Lipita Delphi
XCV Legion
Simon Euaerizo read over the letter from Lipita Delphi for the second time that day. It had come just the week before, after his squad deployed with the rest of his Legion to the northern offensive. The bureaucracy of the Golden Devil Clan's Legions was second to none, but that didn't prevent things from falling through the cracks. Particularly when the Legions were on the move. By now, he expected his junior was somewhere in the their shared thrust making its way down the Scorpion Road into Jingshen territory. He was in no hurry to write back if Lipita had already spent so long waiting. Her request had been very provocative and heartfelt. His reply to her deserved his best consideration.
Putting aside the missive, he left his squad tent, putting him in the midst of a bustling camp of various Legions rallying for the upcoming assault. Everywhere in sight, soldiers were completing their last preparations. Simon found his squad doing the same close by. Sophia Choniates, Manuel Raoulina, Valens, Thekia and Simon were one of the squads assigned to the more daring and demanding aspects of the planned raid so they were all cycling qi from Spirit Stones to make sure they were in perfect condition.
"How's the preparation?" Simon asked the team, all seated on woven mats of glittering thread.
Manuel, the next strongest Expert on the team after Simon, opened his eyes and replied, "We are in tip top shape, boss. These cultivation mats you got for us are really something. The embedded arrays make drawing from Spirit Stones seem like stealing candy from a baby. Ain't that right folks?"
A chorus of affirmative responses came from the three other cultivators. Simon was glad for that result. It had cost him a pretty penny to outfit the entire squad with Harmonious Spirit Prayer Mats. The artifacts were woven from threads of Gravebronze, mixed with the pelt of certain Spirit Beasts usually unaspected to specific qi alignments and furthermore had qi gathering and guiding arrays embedded in them. They sped up qi regeneration and boosted refinement cycles for users. Useful artifacts certainly but not really cost effective unless one had an abundance of Spirit Stones on hand to justify the extra advantage.
Sophia asked Simon as the Spirit Stone in her hands sank in on itself, "Aren't you going to join us? We are almost done here and the mission kicks off soon. The plan for this raid is crazy enough to reach around to genius but everyone participating is going to need a full tank of qi."
Simon nodded at her. "I was reading my letters. I didn't want to miss anything."
"Ah, so our great leader is still feeling philosophical," Valens spoke up, "That junior of yours has you thinking too much. We are Legionnaires. The Elders and strategists say we do something, we obey. That's the life we swore to."
Thekia replied to Valens, her eyes still closed in half-trance, "And that, my dear friend, is why you've formed only one Dao-Pillar in all this time despite being my senior by what, several decades, now? We aren't naive juniors who only have to focus on stuffing themselves as full of qi as possible. We are Experts, seeking the Dao and trying to find the Truth of a Greater Self. We master the strictures of the second great realm by endless questioning, carving out our identity from the answers we find for ourselves. Between you and the boss, I think I'll follow the example of the man with four Dao-Pillars."
Simon interrupted the conversation as he sat down on his own prayer mat. "That's enough from all of you," he firmly commanded. "We can discuss spiritual advancement after we return from this raid. For now, please be quiet and cycle."
The conversation quickly died down as they each returned to their tasks. In any case, the reminder to focus was needed because they were not just filling up their dantians but pushing them to bursting. With no need for stealth in the upcoming raid, they were even employing the little used technique of dumping excess qi into their auras and holding it tight close to their bodies as a makeshift reserve. This was a rarely used practice because it made the cultivator under its effect blindingly obvious to even the faintest qi-sense and the reserve quickly dissipated, lasting barely a couple of hours. That was all right for today's mission. Shock and awe were to be the order of the day and every advantage to that end would prove crucial.
***
Guanxi Fort was a sizable defensive emplacement along the approach to Cloudy Jade City from Haoshen Fort. It lacked the strength of any of the three major hardpoints along the Scorpion Road that formed the main Jingshen defensive lines, but that simply meant that instead of obscene provisioning, it was only well stocked, with banks of Spirit Cannons, thick walls and a large troop complement. Legate Thanatos, serving as overall command for Expert forces in complement to Legate Agathangelou for juniors under the Protostrator, was not dissuaded by the threat potential of Guanxi. He considered it a useful opportunity to demonstrate the Legions' might in a show of force that would keep Jingshen heads down along the northern front. To that end he had dipped into the ranks of the junior Legionnaires to put up a truly incredible number of Formations centred around the Experts under his command against Guanxi. Anyone ignorant of the true nature of the Golden Devil Legions would have thought that Guanxi was being assailed by giants. The umbral forms of Hoplites armed with bronze weaponry and the brazen figures of charging Kataphraktoi came against the defenses of Guanxi, withstanding blows from Spirit Cannons and Artillery Arrays on the walls.
The battle had begun in the late afternoon with the first probing attacks against the walls, and now had advanced into a full on assault by massed formations. Sorely pressed, the defenders of Guanxi were hanging on grimly, fighting with a desperate intensity that was a credit to their spirit and tenacity against their well disciplined opponents. The Jinshen commanders hoped that beating back the Legions from the walls would make the Legions withdraw to look for softer targets.
In the midst of this furor, every eye upon the walls was fixed to the clash at the base of the walls. No gaze was heavensward when the first winged form streaked above from the western horizon. By the time any notice was made and sentries squinted against the setting sun to identify what approached, it was too late. With deafening screeches, an entire flight of Two-Headed Eagles dove down from where they had hidden themselves in the glare of the sun and delivered their cargo into the very heart of Guanxi Fort. Even as the alert rang out in the fortress from the first sightings, heated Spirit Cannons could not be raised quickly enough from their depressed firing positions to target the skies.
They were preceded by the alchemical bombs, choking and suffocating the unprepared Jingshen troops gathered in the courtyard. The first living thing to land was Simon, leading his squad. Quick-acting and fast dissipating, the poison gas let Simon clear out a safe landing spot for the rest of the squad to follow him into the fray. As the vanguard, their role was to strike deep into the lines of the Jingshen, going for the heart of the fort's command. Success was irrelevant so long as they pulled attention from the walls which were still under assault by the Legions outside and doubly receiving a second wave of air-dropped Experts. In synced formation with Simon in control, their Hoplite rampaged through the desperate reinforcements sent out from the interior of Guanxi. They never reached the senior command of the fort but that only slowed the inevitable. Behind them, breaches opened along the walls of Guanxi, caught between the pincer strategy of Legate Thanatos. Within the hour, the walls were the Legions' and Guanxi proper followed shortly afterwards.
***
A victorious squad returned back to base, exhausted from the strain of flight and then following that up with a fierce assault. The vanguard were drunk on victory and left the final conquest of Guanxi to the other troops. Simon nodded to Manuel to lead the rest off to relax while he attended to personal matters. Finding a quiet place in the camp in the wake of the victory was easier than normal and Simon began penning his reply to Lipita.
Dear Lipita,
One hundred and ten years ago, one of my cousins was enamoured of a young man named Yannis Anagnostopoulos. It was unfortunate for him that his dao was justice. He was a bright, questioning fellow, utterly incapable of the self-deception or cynicism or disinterest that shields most people, with his heart lens-focused on being perfectly good. Every harm he caused, even indirectly, tore at him. He understood the tragedy of this world, and it consumed him. Eventually, he immolated himself.
I don't know what clever thing I could have said, or great philosophy I could have invented, that could have saved him. I did try, I did fail. Each one's dao is their own.
I say this now with more experience, though I'm not sure it would have saved him. The way out is through. Now becomes the past in an instant, and everything shall eventually die. To look the world straight in the face, to understand the madness of it all without flinching, and without becoming a monster, that is a great strength.
Trust becomes necessary at this point. Allow me to explain. If you value everyone equally, then become a wandering mendicant in the green lands. Otherwise, you favor some over others, and you must trust. Trust that your group is worth saving, trust that your people are worthy of the value you place in them, trust that what people tell you is true, trust that they are true to their stations. Trust that your king is not using you badly. We don't have ideal knowledge, so this trust, this belief, must substitute. If we were all cynics or skeptics or monsters, we would perish. And then we could do nothing, right or wrong.
Therefore, I must believe in the Imperial Optimatoi, though I do not take leave of my senses or my own sense of right. I trust in Old Gold, and keep my sight to what I can reach.
Though maybe I should have just told Yannis he was being arrogant. Was he a god that made the world evil? No, he was one of the worms like the rest of us. If I'd knocked his head out of the clouds, maybe he could have walked along the ground to be with us today.
That's enough memory of Yannis. Accept what you become or change. You know what is to come, desert if it's unacceptable to you. Of course orders and necessity do not justify all acts, do not contemplate your toes, use your reason! Accept reality in its whole, and move through.
Yours
Simon Euaerizo
Blowing on the drying ink, Simon waited before calling for a messenger. He could have used a jade slip to record the message but he had found the exercise of calligraphy soothing and entrancing. It was one of his favored ways of unwinding after the stress and excitement of battle. Perhaps it was the memories he had of his adoptive family teaching him the Clan script or maybe it was the motions themselves, the smooth outpouring of thought into reality fixed into permanence upon paper. When it was done, he made his way to the couriers and dispatched his reply, payment for express delivery made.
***
Raid after raid followed after the taking of Guanxi Fort. Not all were as spectacular as that skyborne assault, none in fact. But there were other daring deeds racked up by Simon and those he led. If Legate Thanatos had any more rankles serving under Sheng Yu as Protostrator per the rumors about the relationship between the two, he did not seem to let it affect the discharge of his orders from his superior. The Elder of War had relayed the Archegetes instructions and he obeyed. The legate sent in the Foundation Establishment cultivators under his control deep into the Jingshen land relying on their prowess as Experts to conduct wide ranging raids to distract and destroy the Jingshen effort.
The Clan had about one hundred thousand troops committed to this war which was outweighed by the almost eight hundred thousand men and women the Jingshen could muster if given the opportunity. That could not be allowed to happen, Thanatos decreed. The legate of the Darksouth Legion was familiar with the means of sowing terror opposition, of creating the illusion of overwhelming strength in all directions to crush morale and confuse strategy. He demanded that the Experts he sent forth become the living manifestations of the Bronze Demons the Jingshen decried the Clan as, making them fear to come out of the holes and compelling the strategic reserve of the enemy Nascent Souls to take to the field in engagements as the Clan desired. As he asked, so did the Experts deliver.
Death came at the tip of bronze spearheads crushing fortresses and redoubts in the noontime sun. The night was not spared either for stealthy rogues slipped by sentries and watchtowers to reap a bloody-handed harvest of lives where the Jingshen thought they were safe. Teams of Experts spread discord and division throughout the four servant families making them balk at the cost of going up in open battle against the Clan's Legions. The Jingshen had never been a united polity and none were willing to make the first sacrifices for the others. Beyond the price in blood they were unwilling to pay, the swarming locusts of Legate Agathangelou were utilizing the cover provided by their seniors to steal a wealth of Spirit Stones from convoys and storehouses. Doubly threatened by loss of riches and life, the sub-families of the Jingshen hunkered down in their fortresses and the Legates were all too happy to keep them out of the fight.
Everything seemed to be going the way of the Clan, then a reminder came that there were teeth behind those mercantile masks. How or where they had abstained the materials and the means by which the defenses of the Clan were penetrated were of secondary concern to the sheer good fortune that had visited the Clan. The All-Blinding Array had struck at Haoshen Fort, a blow aimed at the Archegetes who shielded the entire offensive with his presence and the north was saved only by the triumph of a pitiful few, if very select ones at that. Simon's squad was part of the general recall back to Haoshen Fort and he witnessed the living evidence of how close they had all come to disaster. Simon Euaerizo, once named Qirong, loved his Clan and the brothers and sisters he shared blood with in the Legions. The unceasing pain from their wounds tugged at his heart strings and the count of those who were unable to continue any longer was one too many for him.
When word came down that the nodes of the All-Blinding Array were being captured, he cheered with his squad and other troops that the weapon that had wounded their corps was now theirs to wield. In the follow-up call for volunteers to penetrate the heart of the array below Wangshen Fort and cease final control, his conviction that he was needed grew with every lost soul. Sixty had fallen before him, he would sacrifice himself before he let there be sixty-one
"Are you sure about this boss?" Manuel asked Simon as the senior Expert prepared himself for the perilous undertaking. Every other member of the squad had made known their reactions to his volunteering, fear, acceptance, worry and ultimately pride in his decision.
"I've been asking around and there were some serious cultivators who went in before you. Secundus Athanotis was one hell of a tough bastard, we both well know that and that place ate her up as surely as the others. Brutus Zapadas, that old devil, walked in and never came out. Chang Jin, Abelllone Axia, Tianji Maximus, these were not weak Legionnaires and none of them made it. Even Old Gold himself couldn't suppress it try as he might so I am not really enthused about you marching out there to join the other five dozen brave Experts who thought just like you," Manuel said visibly worried, "I won't lie and say that part of it is that I don't want the headache of having to take over the squad if you're gone but there's more to it than that. You're a good leader who looks after us and you're a good friend beyond all that. I won't ask again if you're sure but I need to know if really you want to do this."
Simon looked at his squad mate and friend and smiled grimly. "Truthfully, I am scared to shit myself at the thought of going into that damned array. But the Clan needs this. There are only so many people qualified to try, and the Elders would trip the safeties. It's my turn to try, I cannot suffer watching another death standing on the sidelines. For the Clan."
Manuel sighed at Simon's words and held up his hands in surrender. "I hear you and like I said earlier, I ain't gonna ask you again. So what's your plan exactly? Do you have some shielding technique or movement art you've been keeping secret or do you have some miracle artifact like your Poison-Nullifying Incense Burner to carry through you?"
Simon shrugged. "I have none of those. The plan is to walk in and make my way to the targeting core using my perception and my agility."
Manuel stared at him and groaned. "You're absolutely bat shit crazy, aren't you? You know what I'm going to keep my questions to myself now. I don't even want to know what a fanatic like you has planned."
"You do that, but I have to unburden myself before I make the attempt." Seeing the look of confusion on Manuel's face, Simon continued, "Please, don't worry about receiving any antemortem confessions like me being the son of a Blood Path Elder. I'm going to use the latrines. I actually do need to take a shit and I'd like to have my corpse to have some dignity if I fail."
As Simon left Manuel, he thought to himself that it would be a shame if he never got to meet Lipita again. He'd never had children himself but his adopted siblings had given him nieces and nephews. The junior from the Delphi family had become something of the sort and he hoped that whatever might happen to him she came to no serious harm. Promising talents were a rare thing and needed nurturing.
***
He succeeded like the hand of fate itself guided him.
Meeting the Archegetes had been strange. The Grand Elder was known to uncover all secrets in his presence. Simon had been prepared for the revelation of his subterfuge, to be exposed as Qirong but nothing of that sort had happened. Oh, he had no doubt that the old monster knew but it didn't seem to matter. He thought this might be the case, but an invisible weight still lifted from his shoulders. Whatever else he had been before, whether Qirong son of Berserk Slayer, Lao alleged slave of the Battle Blood Cannibals or Simon adopted ward of the Euaerizo family, he was Bronze. By deed he earned his place in the Golden Devil Clan that took him by blood.
The Nascent Soul had met him in his field quarters, floating in mid air as though standing on flat ground. Much of the conversation was blurred to his memory and even now details curiously slipped from his recollection. The rewards and wealth that were given to him for his miraculous feat were far more tangible markers of that encounter. There was at least the singular imprint in his mind of the Archegetes thanking him..
He'd retreated from his squad afterwards, burning with the need to capitalize on his gains. Pill after pill had been commissioned from his Contribution Points Balance and his cultivation had soared until he was jittery with rushing spiritual energy ready to make the ascent into another small realm. By will and self-understanding he'd joined a fifth Dao-Pillar to the complex weave of truths that he was building around his identity. Some visualized totems or pillars in establishing their foundations but he had oddly taken to the representation of an infinity knot, growing ever complex with each epiphany about the cord of himself he added to it.
Rising to 5-Pillar had been a peak of good fortune soon drowned in bad. The Blood Mists left the squad injured. None of his teammates had been overcome by the madness of the corruption but for some it had been a near thing. Valens and Sophia asked to enter closed cultivation to deal with heart demons formed in the wake of the experience. It spoke to how much it had affected them both that Formations with the squad had been unusually fragile. Seeing the effect the matter had on their Dao-Hearts he'd supported their requests. That was two members down. Thekia suffered a minor qi deviation in the midst of that calamity and was sidelined for at least a couple of years as her meridians healed. Simon and Manuel remained, no suitable replacements available, and the demands of the occupation had run them ragged.
The Experts previously assigned to prevent local civilian sabotage during the war now had a greater responsibility in victory. The defeat of the Jingshen Nascent Souls marked the official capitulation of the Jingshen as a polity, but that did not prevent the threat of insurrection from within the remaining cultivators. Being able to walk unharmed among poison of your own making came in handy when you needed to suppress fools thinking of rebellion without handing them martyrs. The only thing he could say was that it was useful work, if tiring, and he was looking forward to when it was someone else's problem. He had considered making the trip to either of the secret realms the Clan had access to, but the spate of Blood Path rebellions in the Mountain clans had soured him on that idea. Better to look homeward and work there.
***
Lipita Delphi and Simon Euaerizo reunited in person in Wangshen Fort after the occupation settled down into routine.
Simon looked Lipita up and down, taking in the changes in her and on her person. "So I finally get to see the famed Orienting Compass. It must have served you well for you to make the 10th Heavenstage so fast."
Lipita flashed him a grin, confidence radiating off her. "It saved my life too many times to count and won me quite a bit of wealth so I might have spent a little too much time talking about it. Kokkinos Laoshi helped me construct it so when I introduce you to her please save some of your kind regard for her. I'm sure that compliments from the Glorious 61st will count for something."
Simon facepalmed in embarrassment. "I should have threatened Manuel better when he made up that ridiculous nickname. Now it's everywhere and I absolutely hate it."
Lipita's smile faded into a more somber look. "Hey you pulled off a miracle after sixty good Experts died trying what you did. Let the Legions celebrate you a bit. You deserve it."
"Sixty good men and women died before me. I succeeded where they paved a way for my victory," Simon replied, "I wasn't just lucky, I used what they showed me. They should be honoring them rather than me."
"I do. I remember every name. Their path was forward and through." Lipita said.
Simon nodded in surprise. He was thankful someone would remember them. And that she recalled the letter.
"On a lighter note, my mothers gave me something for you when I visited with my friend," Lipita said, "Apparently, you are looking for certain rare Spirit Herbs that grew in former Cannibal territory, specifically from the fief of that Blood Path Elder you told me about, Laughing Dog."
"Ah, they found those. That's great." Simon said, cheering up.
"Oh there's that and a whole lot more. Mama Augusta has apparently taken up knitting and she's given you some of her lovely products," Lipita said sarcastically.
"I'm sure that they are lovely," Simon said. He and Lipita shared a look before bursting into laughter.
"I think it would be lovely to meet Centurion Lihua Kokkinos with you. I've volunteered for the delving expedition into the depths of the Underworld Spirit Palace and I believe so has she. It would be nice to get to know someone I'll likely be working with before we have to risk our lives together." Simon said to Lipita after the hilarity died down.
"You know what?" Lipita said, "Why don't we make it a foursome? I'll get my friend Victor Wulf to join us and that should make for a fine party."
Simon had no disagreement and the two cultivators conversed lightly. There were harder conversations to be had later about experiences during the war but for now, it was enough to see each other again.
5160 words.
@Alectai @occipitallobe please index. Reward requested is LST. I already indicated on discord that I'm bravely aiding the clan in the secrets of the underworld.
