Fates Parallel Chapter 366 - Beginning

It was hard not to be intimidated by Sovereign Chou. He’d just described himself as the greatest person who’d ever lived, and at least in terms of personal power he wasn’t bragging. Only the so-called demiurges—the mysterious creators of the entire universe—could compare, and from what Yoshika had heard there was some debate as to whether they were even people rather than some fundamental cosmic force.

The Sovereign’s Tear—the source of Chou’s immense power, and the artifact which was keeping her world from dying of essence starvation—allegedly contained an infinitesimal fraction of a demiurge’s essence, leftover after some cosmic battle resulted in the death of a demiurge.

Yoshika had a lot of questions. How did anyone know that the tear really was what they claimed? If a demiurge was an unfathomable cosmic force, then how did one die? How did anybody even know about it? Most importantly, though—wasn’t Chou supposed to be dead?!

Nobody dared move or speak as the Bloody Sovereign addressed them.

“You have all been deceived. Whatever hollow promises your masters gave you will never be fulfilled. You have come here to die, and in the unlikely event that you leave this place you will be cut down by the very ones who sent you. They will covet the riches you find here, demand you give up everything you found, and interrogate you about any wisdom you may have gleaned. Then, they will kill you.

“They will kill you not out of greed or envy, but out of fear. When the rulers of the divine realm sealed my tomb away, it was not my legacy or my treasures that they feared. Nor was it the artifact they so blithely attribute to my rise. No, what they fear is me. They fear that I am not truly dead, and that anyone who leaves this place might be my successor or worse—my return.

“From the moment you set foot in this realm, your fates were sealed.”

Yoshika felt a cold sweat forming. Was he going to just kill them? It didn’t sound like it—if only because it would be odd for him to bother giving them such a speech if that was his intention. As if he could read her mind, a thin smile appeared on Chou’s face.

“I sense your confusion, but rest assured—I am not here to execute you. I couldn’t if I tried. I am well and truly dead. What you see before you is only a construct made in my image—an administrator to maintain my realm after I’m gone. Killing intruders is not part of its function.”

A construct. Yoshika furrowed her brows. She wanted to argue about whether that really counted or not. After all, Li Meili was a person and she refused to accept any argument to the contrary. Xiao Chong beat her to the punch.

“What is your function then? You just here to bore us all to death?”

Chou’s cold gaze leveled on her.

“As I said, I am an administrator. Though you may all be doomed, I do not hate those who struggle against their fates. Marginal though it may be, you shall all have your chance. Make no mistake, however—I am not a merciful god. The path before you is difficult—some might even say impossible—and failure means death.”

Sovereign Chou paused, observing their reactions. A few of the Qin cultivators exchanged uneasy looks, and Ja Yun had gone completely pale, but most of the group met his gaze with firm resolve.

“I do not suffer fools or weaklings within my realm. You have come to despoil my tomb and enrich yourselves with the treasures that I earned after countless eons of persecution by the highest powers of the divine realm. Prove that you are worthy of the attempt.

“Your first trial is simple—reach the first gate alive. I consider this the absolute minimum threshold for third stage cultivators. If you cannot accomplish that much, then your lives were wasted and I will have done the world a favor by ending them. We will speak again if you survive.”

Without further warning or fanfare, Chou disappeared completely and the world began to shift. The oppressive feeling in the air grew even heavier, until Yoshika felt as though it would physically crush her. The ghostly forms in the fields stopped what they were doing and looked up, their eyes settling on Yoshika and the others.

Then, with a blinding flash, the physical and spiritual realms snapped together. The ghosts became solid, the gate in the distance became visible, and the pressure subsided. Even the pale blue flames hanging in the air took form, guiding their path towards the gate.

Zheng Long wiped the sweat from his brow and sighed.

“That’s the gate you saw, Miss Yoshika? It may take some time to reach, but I don’t see what’s so difficult about that.”

Jia frowned, watching the ‘farmers’ warily. Her domain was still suppressed, but even without being able to sense them directly, she felt something off about them.

“I don’t know about that. Let’s not let our guards down.”

He scoffed.

“I don’t know where they came from, but I think we can handle a few farmers.”

“Don’t be stupid—there’s no way they’re exactly what they appear to be.”

Bai Lin shrugged.

“Why not? Everyone knows food has to come from somewhere. If mortals can’t manage that much, then what good are they?”

Ruiling swallowed nervously, taking a few steps closer to Yoshika as the farmers continued to stare at them.

“I’m with Yoshika on this one. I don’t like the way they’re staring at us.”

As one, the farmers appeared to lose interest in the group, returning to their work. But as a nearby figure swung his scythe, Yoshika felt an insurmountable sense of dread.

“Look out!”

Yoshika grabbed anyone within reach, pulling Ja Yun, Yue, and Long Ruiling out of the way as the farmer’s lazy swing effortlessly cut through the stalks in front of him. Bai Lin snorted, but before she could mock Yoshika’s reaction, Zheng Long grabbed her and launched himself into the air on wings of fire.

He was just in time to narrowly avoid the cutting wave of qi that flew past beneath him. Not everyone was so lucky, as the invisible blade sliced through flesh as easily as wheat. Two of the Qin cultivators died outright—too slow to react in time—while a few others sustained injuries as they tried to dodge. Han Yu evaded the attack by sheer providence, lucky enough to be just outside the area even as Yu Xiang right next to him lost his leg at the knee.

The fiends and demons fared much better. Xiao Chong and the demon boy had taken Yoshika’s warning seriously, and moved immediately, completely avoiding the attack. Sukarto had reacted even before she did, and he was fast. He’d been clear of the attack even before the swing had completed. Melati, for her part, effortlessly flew up into the air on her insect-like wings.

Yoshika’s mind accelerated, a low-level of Absolute Awareness that she could maintain indefinitely. She wasn’t sure if people would listen to her, but they were in a combat situation now and hesitation could mean death. She immediately started barking out orders.

“Han Yu, grab his leg and start running!”

He blinked—reacting far too slow for her liking.

“What about—?”

“Dead, leave them. Zheng Long, stay airborne as long as you can, but don’t fly too high or you’ll be exposed.”

Zheng Long grimaced.

“I can’t carry Miss Bai forever.”

Yoshika didn’t bother responding. He could drop Bai Lin for all she cared. She had bigger concerns—another farmer swung their hoe and split the earth in front of him into a mile-long fissure. It was nowhere near them, but it confirmed her suspicions.

The farmers were dangerous—every single one of them. Worse, they weren’t actually targeting Yoshika or the others. Targeted attacks could be dodged, but the farmers ‘attacks’ created a chaotic pattern of certain death for them to weave their way through.

She cursed the weight of the mana suppressing her domain. Normally, she could observe a huge area within her senses and plot a course, but she could barely force her domain to encompass herself and her allies. She’d have to rely on her mundane senses and intuition.

“Ja Yun, how many people can you carry on your wind walking spell?”

Ja Yun winced as the compressed thoughts slammed into her aura, but she had enough practice with telepathy and her own mental techniques to take it.

“Not enough. And it will take too long to cast with everyone standing in one place.”

“Prioritize your own safety, then.”

“Yes ma’am!”

Yoshika focused on the problem before her. They had miles to go. Proceeding while avoiding the farmers’ attacks would be slow and exhausting, and she’d sensed the power behind the first attack—blocking them was out of the question.

She knew her own capabilities, and those of her friends. Yue’s Starlight Dance was perfect for this sort of thing, and she had the endurance to keep it up forever. Ja Yun’s bulky armor and shield worked against her here—neither was strong enough to withstand the attacks, and though they were enchanted to keep her light, they still slowed her down.

Xiao Chong and the other demon...had already taken off at full speed. Their choice—she wasn’t going to worry about them. That left just the Qin and Fiend groups. Han Yu was a monkey on their back, to say nothing of the unfortunate squad of extras—keeping them alive was going to be the biggest challenge. Zheng Long had improved since her last fight with him, and could take care of himself—Bai Lin could go fuck herself.

The fiends were the biggest unknowns. Sukarto, at least, seemed capable. If nothing else, he was well suited to this sort of danger with his quick reflexes and insane speed—Yoshika decided not to worry about him. Melati could fly, and she had more than one body, but that was about all Yoshika knew about her.

Out of time, Yoshika went with the first plan that came to mind.

Eui took to the air and began shouting.

“Fliers on me! Melati, Zheng, follow my lead!”

At the same time, Jia rushed to pick up Yu Xiang and called out to the rest.

“Sukarto is on point! Follow his movements exactly unless I call out something else. Move when I tell you to as fast as you can. Too slow and you die. Sukarto, we’re in your hands.”

The chimera fiend’s eyes widened in surprise, but he nodded.

“This way!”

While those on the ground followed Sukarto’s lead, Ruiling flew up next to Eui, demonstrating that her wings weren’t for show.

“Now what? Karto’s quick, but we’re going to overtake them quickly while we’re safe up here.”

Zheng Long shook his head.

“No, our job is going to be to take out the attackers to create space for those on the ground, right?”

Eui grimaced.

“Not quite. One—we’re not safe. Look, there and there.”

She pointed out two things that hadn’t been there before Chou’s announcement—a crude scarecrow on the ground, and a barely visible black speck circling high in the sky.

Zheng Long gave her an unimpressed look.

“You’re joking.”

“If you don’t think those are going to be just as dangerous as anything else around us, you haven’t been paying attention. Number two—take a closer look at those farmers. I figured out what was bothering me about them.”

Ruiling squinted down at the nearest one and gasped.

“Is that—?!”

Eui nodded grimly.

“Sovereign Chou—yeah. Every single one of them has his face.”

When they’d been ghosts, she couldn’t make out their faces and wouldn’t have known to recognize him anyway. Once they’d materialized, it was subtle—their skin was more tan, their faces ruddy, and they were dressed in threadbare working clothes. But once Yoshika knew what to look for, the face was unmistakable.

Zheng Long grimaced.

“Why would he debase himself like that?”

Eui rolled her eyes.

“Maybe because he used to be a farmer, dumbass. Damn, I think I’m starting to get a sense of what this tomb is going to be like...”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

“I mean, I could be wrong, but this is the beginning of the tomb, and the beginning of his life. If the pattern continues, we’re looking at the universe’s most ostentatious autobiography.”

“I see...and this worries you, why?”

Eui scowled.

“Because I’ve heard Chou’s life story, and there’s a reason they called him the Bloody Sovereign.”