Fates Parallel Chapter 362 - Rendezvous

Li Meili marveled at the nostalgic sight of Mount Geumji—the so-called ‘Forbidden Mountain.’ Having explored the Qin empire and witnessed the extravagance of their mountain sects, she could truly appreciate how impressive Geumji really was. Far taller than even the Purewater Peak, and resting in the middle of the largest confluence of leylines on the continent, it was quite a sight to behold.

And at its base, seemingly nestled up in its shade—though she knew it was actually miles away from the mountain proper—was another nostalgic sight. The Grand Academy of Spiritual, Martial, and Arcane Arts. Home.

It looked no worse for wear, despite the demonic invasion. If anything, the demons had even rebuilt and expanded it. New constructions sprouted up around the academy walls in the familiar form of a shanty town—the sorts of places Jia had lived in for most of her life.

After four long years, she was back. She had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, it was her home—her real home. The only place she’d ever felt like she truly belonged. On the other, as close as she was, the barrier separating her from it meant that she may as well be in another realm entirely.

The demons occupying it wouldn’t let it go quietly—and Li Meili shuddered as she recalled some of the atrocities the Qin troops had described on the way there. The demons had been raiding Qin ever since their arrival, slaughtering entire sects and villages and kidnapping the survivors.

Sun Quan’s Silver Orchard demon hunters had been stretched terribly thin trying to defend the borders, and though their master had been reticent to accept help from allies, the troops themselves sang another tune entirely.

“Thank the emperor for this alliance. It’s about time we did something about these foul demons terrorizing our people.”

Yoshika looked askance at the Silver Orchard captain beside her. As promised they’d met up with the elites on the way to the academy, and Yuan Xing had been assigned as the liaison between them and the remaining allies—Sun Quan had refused to ‘lower himself’ so.

“It doesn’t bother you working with ‘beasts and savages’?”

Captain Yuan scoffed.

“Four years ago it might have—but I’ve seen true savagery now, Lady Ambassador. Your people are different, but at least they’re still people. That’s more than I can say for these monsters.”

Yoshika wondered if she should mention that one of her own aspects had a demonic core—but decided against it. This wasn’t the time for provocation, and if having a common enemy helped their peoples unite, she wasn’t going to get in the way.

Aside from the Silver Orchard captain, she was joined by Guan Yi and Xin Wei representing the Flowing Purewater armies. It still boggled her mind that people she considered friends—who she called names and traded banter with—were in command of armies. Yoshika herself represented—well, herself. And her friends. ‘Irregulars,’ as Guan Yi referred to them.

After they’d arrived, the armies set up camp at the perimeters of the demon-controlled territory, as close to the shield formation as they could manage. They had yet to face any opposition, which Guan Yi explained simply.

“No shield city has ever fallen before. There’s no reason for the demons to engage us until we present a credible threat to undermine the wards. Time is against us in a siege—if Demon Lord Longyan returns, our chances of victory are slim.”

Yoshika furrowed her brows, looking back at the distant academy. Though it was invisible, she could feel the shield blocking her domain nearby.

“If it’s never been done before, how do we expect to do it now?”

Xin Wei smiled wryly.

“Well, if anyone knows, it will be Goryeons, no? That’s why we’re rendezvousing with the allied encampment now. We’re hoping they’ve got a better plan.”

Yoshika nodded. By the time they arrived, their allies were already present, and though she wasn’t sure who was leading them, she was feeling a bit giddy about meeting with her own people again.

As they arrived at the camp, Xin Wei looked around with a frown.

“Is it just me, or is this ‘Goryeon’ encampment rather disproportionately occupied by Yamato soldiers?”

Sure enough, a small squad of martial artists bearing the distinctive red armor of Yamato met them as they approached.

“Halt! State your names and business!”

Guan Yi put his hands together in front of him and bowed.

“I am Guan Yi, of the Earth Rending Sword Sect, leading an imperial expedition against the demonic enclave on behalf of the Spiritual Flowing Purewater Sect.”

Xin Wei copied the gesture, followed by Yuan Xing.

“Xin Wei, of the Spiritual Flowing Purewater Sect, commanding support and logistics for the same.”

“Yuan Xing, of the Illustrious Gate of the Silver Orchard, commanding imperial special forces under Grandmaster Sun Quan.”

After a beat, Yoshika realized that she was expected to introduce herself as well and hastily bowed.

“Ambassador Yoshika, of...”

She hesitated. She didn’t have any affiliated sects or organizations, and she didn’t want to identify with any single nation. Her influence was mostly defined by her friendships and the strange places her life had taken her. But something about being back in Geumji solidified the feeling that there was only one place she truly felt comfortable defining herself by.

“Ambassador Yoshika, of the Grand Academy of Spiritual, Martial, and Arcane Arts, representing the Continental Alliance of the Three Great Nations. I am joined by Li Meili, my assistant and guide within the Qin empire.”

Yoshika bowed a second time with her other body. She felt a bit strange referring to herself in the third person like that, but her domain didn’t stretch far enough for her to leave Li Meili behind without using Yue’s astral projection, and that was far too risky.

Instead, she came up with an excuse to have her two selves stay close to each other without having to explain everything. Dual cultivation was taboo in Qin, and while it was one thing for the grandmasters to be aware of her, she’d rather not go spilling all her secrets to every person that asked.

The soldier who’d addressed them nodded.

“Stay where you are. I will return shortly.”

The captain left them with the small squad of soldiers while he left to make his report. Xin Wei eyed the soldiers warily—not that they represented any sort of threat.

“Not quite who we were expecting, eh?”

Yoshika shrugged. She wished she could just use her domain to check, but she wasn’t as powerful without Jia and Eui, and she didn’t want to risk angering anyone in case the leader was a xiantian mage—or worse, one of the many ‘princesses’ of the Seong clan.

The captain soon returned, bowing as he greeted them.

“The commander will see you, please come with me.”

As they were led through the camp, Yoshika noted that it wasn’t entirely Yamato soldiers. While martial artists made up the bulk of the force, there was a smattering of Goryeon mages busying themselves setting up wards and formation batteries.

The command tent was quite large, and the formations around it were not only complete, but much more extensive than those that Yoshika had seen around the rest of the camp. Was there a xiantian mage present after all?

Their escort waited outside as he ushered them in, and all of her misgivings vanished when she saw who awaited them. The familiar faces of Hyeong Daesung, Hayakawa Kaede, and Tae In-Su, stood around a map, discussing strategy.

“Dae! It’s so good to see you again!”

Yoshika forgot herself and rushed over, sweeping the man up into a hug. He sputtered indignantly, unsure how to respond to the sudden assault.

“Wh—Miss Yoshika?! I-it’s good to see you too, hehe.”

Hayakawa Kaede gave her a light bow as she released the poor mage.

“Yoshika. I’m glad to see you well—though, I’m curious about the changes you’ve—oh!”

Kaede wasn’t a hugger, but Yoshika didn’t care—she was too excited to see her friends again. She gave Kaede her tightest embrace—knowing the martial artist could handle it.

“It feels like it’s been forever! I missed you!”

Hayakawa awkwardly patted her on the back.

“Yes...likewise. Please release me.”

Yoshika freed her taciturn friend and finally turned to Tae In-Su. The magus took an uneasy step back and she rolled her eyes before politely bowing.

“Magus Tae.”

He returned the bow, relieved not to get any more attention than that. Though Yoshika didn’t hold much animosity for the mage after he’d helped clear Eui’s name—more or less—she still hadn’t exactly forgiven him for having Jia beaten and thrown out of Nayeong City. He wasn’t her enemy, but she wasn’t eager to call him a friend, either.

Guan Yi cleared his throat for attention and bowed.

“Lady Hayakawa, we are here representing the imperial expedition. With your permission, I would like to discuss cooperation and coordination between our forces, siege strategy, and potential civilian evacuation.”

Kaede cocked her head.

“Civilians? The demons have already destroyed any undefended settlements nearby. Nayeong City has withdrawn its agricultural satellites, and the nearest Yamato village is far to the south through unclaimed wilderness and defended by a powerful guardian—I can’t speak for Qin, but I doubt we need to worry about them either.”

Yuan Xing grimaced.

“Most of the territory between here and the Illustrious Gate has been ransacked already, but the demons cannot push any further into the empire.”

Li Meili bowed, playing the role she’d assigned herself.

“The civilians in question are a smaller group that has traveled with our expedition. No mortals, but weaker cultivators and non-combatants assigned to support and logistics who would be left vulnerable in the event of a pitched battle, as well as Ambassador Yoshika’s family.”

Kaede gave Yoshika an accusing look.

“You brought your sisters here?”

“It’s a long story, we can talk about it later.”

Dae narrowed his eyes, glancing between Yoshika and Li Meili as his face twisted into a familiar frown of deep thought. She hoped that whatever realization he was coming to, he’d keep it to himself until they were in a more private setting.

Kaede tapped her fingers on the table and pursed her lips.

“Alright, let’s talk. I think we should combine our forces and establish a unified command structure. We’ll keep units together for the most part—to prevent confusion—but the war mages will function better if broadly integrated into the armies.”

Captain Yuan shook his head.

“Our elites are too tightly structured for such changes without extensive training we don’t have time for. Instead, I suggest—”

Yoshika checked out while better leaders than her worked out the logistical details of war. That wasn’t her area of expertise, and she knew better than to waste their time with her ignorance.

By the time they finished, night had fallen and they still hadn’t even worked out a basic command structure. Apparently organizing allied forces for a siege was quite complicated.

Guan Yi bowed as they bid farewell for the night.

“I believe that we have a good framework to build upon. I’ll confer with the rest of our leadership and return to continue this tomorrow.”

Kaede returned the bow.

“I look forward to working with you, Sir Guan. Ambassador Yoshika, could I trouble you to stay behind a while? There are a few matters I’d like to discuss with you specifically.”

“Of course.”

Yoshika waited patiently while Guan Yi and the other Qin representatives gave their farewells and left to return to their own camps. Once they had passed beyond the silence formation surrounding the command tent, Kaede slammed her hands on the table and practically hissed through her teeth at Yoshika.

“What the hell are you doing here?! I thought you were supposed to be recovering the Sovereign’s Tear! Now you show up here—in your spirit form, for some reason—with an imperial army behind you to throw my entire plan into chaos!”

Yoshika was taken aback. Kaede’s face was nearly as red as her hair and she was furious. She held up her hands defensively.

“Hold on! I can explain. We are recovering the tear—or trying to. Jia and Eui should be on their way across the ocean as we speak.”

Kaede furrowed her brow in confusion.

“Jia and—? What? Who are you, then?”

“We’re Yoshika. The same Jia and Eui you knew—uh, sort of. Ancestors, this is going to take a long time to explain.”

Dae snapped his fingers.

“Aha! That’s what I was missing! You’re...an image, yes? Both of you. Miss Takeda’s simulacrum technique pushed to its logical extreme—fully autonomous duplicates capable of acting independently from their creator! But why two? I have so many questions.”

She shook her head and sighed in exasperation.

“No—I mean, yes, sort of. We’re avatars but we’re also actually Yoshika—how did you know about Li Meili, anyway?”

Dae chuckled.

“Is that her name? You gave her Lee Jia’s face, even if the eyes and hair are different. The resemblance is uncanny.”

Kaede pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

“Perhaps, Yoshika, it would be best if you filled us in from the beginning.”

“Uh, right. Okay, well...”

Yoshika was interrupted by a violent tremor as the ground beneath her shook. Kaede snapped to attention and rushed out of the tent, followed closely by Yoshika and Dae. She grabbed the first soldier she saw.

“Report!”

“Yes ma’am! No sign of any disturbances—this appears to be a natural earthquake.”

Dae shook his head.

“This isn’t the right region for quakes of this magnitude. Something must be causing it.”

A wave of indescribable power washed over them and for a moment the world seemed to stand still as overhead, the moon was suddenly torn from the sky, disappearing over the horizon and plunging the camp into darkness.

Yoshika and Li Meili collapsed to the ground simultaneously, writhing in pain as something in their soul was stretched out violently—straining them almost to the breaking point. It was as though a fundamental part of them had suddenly been torn away. It felt exactly the same as when Jia and Eui’s souls had been torn apart by Yan Yue so many years ago.

This time, however, her soul held firm. Stretched, strained, but not broken. She returned to her feet uneasily. Wherever Jia and Eui were—it had nearly destroyed Yoshika’s connection to them.

Dae gave her a worried look.

“Miss Yoshika, are you alright?”

She nodded, wiping the sweat from her brows.

“I think so. I have no idea what the hell that was, but I suspect it had something to do with the Sovereign’s Tomb. Jia and Eui feel...impossibly far away.”

Kaede grimaced.

“I’m glad you’re safe, but I don’t like this. Stay on guard...”

The tremors slowly ceased, casting a quiet pall over the camp. Yoshika was very nearly about to let herself relax again when she heard the distant calls of alarm, which were soon mirrored by the local soldiers.

“Enemy attack! The demons are coming!”