Fates Parallel Chapter 373 - Shift

Yoshika had a bittersweet feeling of nostalgia as the enemy arrived. The gently rolling hillsides that surrounded the academy were familiar, even outside of the shield formation. Surrounded by many of the friends she’d made during her time there.

Guan Yi and Xin Wei had barely changed—the two of them standing side by side as they prepared to face what all reason suggested would be a completely implacable foe. But nothing could be more implacable than Stoneface’s signature stoicism. Their sarcastic quips had been one of the first things that greeted Jia in the academy, and in hindsight, it had done a lot to put her at ease. Cultivators were people too.

Rika was there—Jia’s first real friend. She could practically remember the smell of blood, sweat, and burnt flesh from the moment they first met, after she’d lost a duel with Yan Zhihao. She vividly recalled awkwardly trying to support the ridiculously tall girl with her equally ridiculously short frame, even as Rika insisted that she’d be fine on her own.

Eunae, the terrifying princess who had nearly captivated Jia with her gaze. Eui hadn’t trusted her one bit, but Jia was determined to see past the status and power to the sweet misunderstood girl beneath. A treasured friend and ally, who’d repaid Yoshika’s kindness by using what little influence she had in their country to protect Eui’s family.

Hyeong Daesung—Jia’s first crush. Eui had been terribly jealous of the boy for nearly as long as she’d known him, but after a few years apart that faded, leaving Yoshika with nothing but fond memories. He’d helped her awaken her cultivation, never hesitated to aid in her studies, and was even crucial in assisting her with creating the trump card that had ultimately led to her defeating Yan Zhihao in a duel and earning one of her most prized possessions—and her greatest enemies.

Hayakwa Kaede was a tricky one. Their history with her was nearly as thorny as with Yue, and unlike their best friend it hadn’t really brought them much closer. Nevertheless, despite her shortcomings, Kaede had eventually lowered her barriers, and Yoshika could feel the strength of her trust and conviction—even if she wasn’t sure where it was coming from.

Even Harada Jun and Ishihara Nao were with them. Yoshika had never been as close with them, but they reminded her of Minami Yuuko and her other friends from Yamato. She wondered whether Hanako’s child had been a boy or a girl—she hoped to meet them one day.

It was an odd sensation to have, just moments before a life-or-death battle, but Yoshika felt at peace. She didn’t envy Jia and Eui, off in the tomb. They had each other, and Yan Yue was their closest friend, but Yoshika was at home. She was surrounded by friends and allies.

It felt as if her soulscape had been brought into the physical realm, even though she knew that it was the other way around. This was the place her soulscape was made to resemble.

For the first time, she understood exactly why a domain was called a domain. She didn’t need to expand her senses to feel the world around her and make it her own. She was already in her domain, and she could feel it strengthening her.

This was her place. These were her people. She wouldn’t let anything threaten them.

Dae’s Gravity Trap formation flared to life around them, and a dark figure crashed to the ground. Yoshika could feel the power radiating from him, but it didn’t scare her as much as she expected. So what if he was xiantian? He was in her territory.

He stood with a snarl and brushed off his robes. Aside from his ashen skin and glowing red eyes, he looked like a perfectly normal man from Qin. Yoshika could sense the demonic core in his gut—the source of his power, probably formed directly from a deviation in his dantian.

There was probably some history there—most demons didn’t end up that way on purpose, and his mostly human appearance suggested that he was particularly reluctant. Nevertheless, he was here to kill them, and Yoshika wouldn’t hesitate.

He spat to the side.

“Tsk, damn mages. This cheap trick has only accelerated your doom. I don’t know what you thought was going to happen, but I’m going to enjoy delivering your souls to Meiren.”

Yoshika narrowed her eyes. Now that was an odd thing to say. Demons weren’t exactly known for their propensity to share. She’d have to unpack it later, though—he was getting ready to attack.

The gravity trap had placed the enemy demon right in the middle of their formation, surrounded on all sides. It was a double-edged sword. The surround meant that he couldn’t easily retreat, but it also meant that wherever he attacked, those farthest away wouldn’t be able to respond as quickly.

The demon tensed, then practically exploded into motion, making a beeline for Harada and Ishihara, the two weakest fighters in the group.

A massive stone wall erupted from the ground in front of him—Dae had accurately predicted that he would go for the weakest links first and prepared the spell in advance.

With a contemptuous swipe of his hand, the wall crumbled.

“Weak! You thought you could stop Fan Zhu with this?!”

Hayakawa appeared out of thin air in front of him, her curved blade already swinging towards his neck as the dust blew away from the force of her nearly-instantaneous movement. Even the xiantian demon wasn’t fast enough to react to Kaede’s speed, and he barely managed to raise his arms in time to save his head.

His blood sprayed through the air as the blow knocked him to the ground, but miraculously, his arms remained intact. Beneath the slashed sleeves of his robe, his skin had turned dull gray, and the deep gouges left by Kaede’s sword had already stopped bleeding.

Harada and Ishihara followed up with a practiced combination—a heavy glob of magma paired with a razor sharp icicle. The demon dodged the magma and parried the icicle, only for the two to collide and explode into a massive gout of steam.

Yoshika jumped on the opportunity, casting her own lightning spell at the same time that Dae fired a carefully directed beam of high-pressure water that would cut through the steam without touching any of their allies.

They heard an anguished cry from the cloud of steam. It was working! They could—

Fan Zhu emerged from the steam unharmed, his face twisted into a look of unbridled fury, and his human facade completely abandoned. His entire body had a metallic sheen, and he was covered in spikes, blades and thorns. There was no sign of any of his previous injuries except the blood dripping off the tips of his spikes.

“Arrogant whelps!”

His voice had a tinny echo to it as he roared in anger.

“Enough of these games. You’ll all pay for embarrassing me.”

Fan Zhu’s domain crashed down on Yoshika's, suppressing it with terrifying ease and completely erasing the sense of serenity she’d had only moments before. He glowered at her as he advanced, his arm stretching out unnaturally as it transformed into a wicked blade.

“You...why do you feel so strange? You’re as weak as the rest of these idiots...weaker even. But you have a xiantian’s aura. You’re dying first.”

He lunged forward, and even pushing her Absolute Awareness to the limits of her current form, Yoshika struggled to follow him. Relying on the reflexes she’d honed with years of practice, she turned to one of her less-used techniques. A Warmth-element martial art that turned an opponent’s strength against them—the Soft Fist.

Spinning on the balls of her feet, Yoshika narrowly avoided the thrust of his sword arm. Ignoring the nasty spikes all over his body, she leaned further into the strike, disrupting his footing and moving into his center of gravity.

She winced as the spikes dug into her flesh, but forced herself to grab his arm and twist, redirecting his motion towards the trap her friends had prepared.

Fan Zhu toppled head over heels, but quickly righted himself as he landed, lunging towards the next nearest target without missing a beat. Rika dove to the side, but the demon quickly shifted his weight out of the feint and grinned as he spun in a circle and sliced right through her torso.

She fell to the ground in two pieces, but he ignored it, twisting around and thrusting his blade through the second Rika creeping up behind him.

“Morons! You think a demon can’t tell when their foe has no soul?! Your illusions are—”

Three of Eunae’s four Soulfire tails pierced his body as Rika’s second illusion faded away in front of her, her eyes locking onto Fan Zhu’s.

“Surrender!”

The demon winced, then screamed, clawing at his own eyes.

“NO! Not you! You witch! You won’t take me!”

While he struggled, the others renewed their assault. Hitting the demon with everything they had from all sides. Nobody trusted that Eunae’s gaze would be enough to end it on her own.

Fire, Lightning, Ice, Magma, blades of qi, and concentrated blasts of Water hit the demon from every direction, kicking up a storm of dust and steam that crackled with electricity as Yoshika’s lightning bolts grounded themselves on the demon.

Thin metal spikes extended from within the cloud of debris without warning, catching the group off guard as Eunae, Yoshika, and Rika were impaled. Taking advantage of their confusion, Fan Zhu caught Eunae by the throat and hoisted her off the ground.

“Nobody told me the fucking witch was reborn. Never mind the weird one—I’m going to make sure you stay dead this time.”

Eunae struck out with all four of her Soulfire tails, aiming one straight for his core. His eyes flared with a ghostly green light, but he just grinned.

“No no no. Not this time. Why do you think I became a demon in the first place, little witch? We know the truth about soul magic. Meiren was right—coming here was my destiny. I’m glad I could be the one to end you once and for all.”

Yoshika and the others didn’t just let him talk, but they couldn’t attack indiscriminately while he had a hostage, and the spikes he grew from his body fended off any direct assaults. She felt her heart drop as he lifted his bladed arm and swung it down.

A giant pillar of ice speared Fan Zhu from below, and Eunae fell to the ground, clutching at her throat—still mortally bleeding from the demon’s bladed fingers squeezing her in a crushing grip. Yoshika rushed to her side as up above a brilliant flash of force essence sent the demon crashing to the ground.

Seong Misun descended like a furious storm, surrounded by wind, ice, and lightning.

“Nobody kills my sister but me, you worthless piece of shit!”

She threw out a talisman, casting a spell that sent a tornado of cutting winds and icy shards descending onto the demon. She alighted next to Yoshika and glowered down at her.

“You’d better save her, or you're following right after.”

Yoshika focused on her Tranquility of the Verdant Marsh, infusing Eunae’s flesh with Wood essence and reknitting the torn blood vessels as quickly as she could before her friend bled out.

“You don’t have to tell me that! What the hell happened? I thought you were still tied up with the other one!”

“Sun Quan made his move after all.”

“He did?! Why?”

Misun grimaced.

“I don’t know, but if I had to guess—it’s because of whatever you’re doing with your domain.”

“What?! I’m not doing anything!”

“You’re so full of shit—we can all feel it. I don’t know how you’re doing it, but your aura is covering the entire battlefield.”

Yoshika shook her head, carefully removing her blood slick hands as Eunae finally started breathing on her own again.

“That’s not possible—Fan Zhu is suppressing my domain. I can barely sense the mana around me right now.”

“Well if you don’t know how you’re doing it, then I certainly don’t.

A metallic screech resounded through the air as Fan Zhu tore himself free of Misun’s spell. Misun scoffed.

“Chat’s over. I’ll take care of this moron, but don’t relax yet. With all of us tied up, the bitch in her ivory tower is bound to start something. Your little squad of would-be giant killers might yet have a job to do.”

The demon hurled himself at them only for another tornado to sweep him up into the air with Misun flying after him, hurling a relentless barrage of spells his way.

In his absence, Yoshika could feel her domain again, and the entire battlefield lit up within her senses. She reeled at the scale of it. The entire academy grounds, Mount Geumji, the surrounding armies, the demons they were battling—all of it was as clear as day to her. A wider range than anything she’d ever experienced.

She didn’t have time to question how or why. The xiantian beings in her domain all shined unmistakably bright within her senses. Lin Xiulan, Seong Misun, and Sun Quan were all locked in their own battles for supremacy, but a fourth presence moved unhindered.

Yu Meiren was headed straight toward the support camp—no, Yoshika paled as she followed the trajectory in her head. Not just the support camp. A small offshoot of the support camp, far behind the main fronts of the battle, where the civilians were prepared to flee at the first opportunity.

Towards Yoshika’s family.