Chapter 42: The Last Gateway (2)

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Having experienced his first territorial battle before he was even a year old, Huxian was intimately familiar with the concept and therefore had no trouble applying it to the alien world of void space. It was a game, and like any game, you could boil down the basics into a few short rules.

Try to maximize gains. Don’t show weakness. Minimize losses. It wasn’t necessary to kill your opponent, or even physically defeat your opponent—territory was all that mattered. When you had territory, you got resources, and when you had resources, you won.

The upcoming battle was fairly simple despite the spread-out battlefield. Huxian’s territory consisted of sixty-three void nodes centered around an artificial eight-node hub, and the goal was to build a sixty-fourth node to complete his formation.

His territory was surrounded by the Collegium on all sides. That being said, most of the Collegium’s forces were located near three nodes in his network that were difficult to reinforce should he mount an attack on any of his three targets.

His goal was obvious, and his enemy’s goal equally obvious. Both sides were operating with limited resources and were confident in their strategy. Huxian was playing with his entire bankroll while the Collegium was using around ten percent of theirs, putting him at a big disadvantage.

Huxian had a single shot at making this happen. The Collegium wouldn’t give him a second chance. Each side had their advantages. The Collegium had a vast network with superior resources, and Huxian and his allies, the void specters, had a higher quality network that allowed for greater mobility. This meant that it was much easier for him to reinforce his own territory should the Collegium mount an attack than the other way around, which was why the Collegium was on the defensive in the first place.

“It’s open intrigue,” the void specter general beside him said. The transparent, gender-neutral figure wore plates of crystalline armor much like Huxian did, which took away much of their creepiness but made them a frightening opponent on any void battlefield. “They know what you’re doing, and they don’t even want to stop you, because they’ll use the opportunity to attack you. Two out of three locations are too well defended, and the third is likely bait.”

Huxian had come to the same conclusion, which was why they definitely couldn’t attack the third location, or even the second-most-fortified location. They needed to go big or go home.

“We have the defensive advantage,” Huxian said. “Which means that we control the initiative.” Huxian’s void network increased their mobility in the void, and it was very difficult to pierce the protective membrane that surrounded it. An apt comparison would be a city’s void defense network.

Now that he had void specters patrolling it, the void network was completely free of spatial dust or turbulence. Their own troops would be able to defend the network without using much energy, while anyone attacking the network would need to not only pierce their defenses but would need to do so while withstanding the void’s corrosion.

“If you are determined with this course of cation, the key lies in whether or not your trump cards exceed theirs,” the void specter general said. “The moment we mobilize our forces to attack, they will defend with all available resources. They are likely aware that you can block off their communications and prevent them from transferring reinforcements using their network, which is why they relocated so many reinforcements.”

“And when we attack, they’ll counterattack,” Huxian confirmed.

“That being said, they will not be too aggressive with their defense,” the void specter general said. “They will give you hope, because otherwise, you will retreat and reinforce your own network. In other words, you’re dancing on a void shard’s edge.”

Huxian received a transmission from Cha Ming. After confirming everything was ready, he turned to the general. “It’s time.”

The general issued commands to his warriors, who hopped into slender ships and began to relocate. Due to the void fortifications in Huxian’s network, it was difficult to spy on them from the outside. By the time they realized their defenses were thin, the attack would already be underway.

“Let’s go,” Huxian said. He began walking forward. The void network was his territory, and it was formed via investiture. Every step he took reshaped and expanded his network toward Fierra.

Every plate and void pane that fell into place was accompanied by crisp sounds of crackling glass, which became more frequent as Huxian increased his pace. He began to transform the void at a rate that the ships could barely keep up with, far faster than he ever had previously.

“Contact is imminent,” the specter general reminded him.

“You take care of the general situation, and I’ll move independently from now on and only issue the occasional order,” Huxian said. The specter general was already issuing orders, so Huxian continued walking, building, and increasing his momentum.

I’m going to need all your help,he sent to his six friends. Six streams of power poured into his body as he shed his human form and assumed the shape of a six-tailed fox.

Two feet became four paws, doubling his rhythm and doubling the speed at which his void network expanded. He was still a late-investiture demon, but by using the power of friendship, he was able to concentrate the power of his six friends and force something that should only be possible at a higher cultivation level. His first trump card: partial fusion transformation.

His aura mounted. His size grew severalfold, and plates of armor appeared on his bulging body. He wielded seven dominions, one his own and six others from each of his tails.

His void network expanded like a battering ram that smashed into the enemy’s void-space fortifications, completely destroying the thin glasslike barrier surrounding the void space around Fierra. Huxian’s dominion expanded to cover the entire fortification, completely cutting off all communications.

“Kill!” they shouted in unison.

They entered the peaceful location like ghosts in the night, their void lances and void blades cutting down the surprised gold rankers who’d been expecting a breakthrough from the inside but not from the outside.

Huxian’s group blasted past the watchtowers marking off the city limits. They didn’t bother with the survivors and proceeded straight to the city’s void node, which was closely guarded by the Collegium.

They must have tripped an alarm, because the moment they crossed into the city’s void space, the enemy began to mobilize. I can’t let them communicate with the city guard in the material realm, Huxian thought. He let out a pulse of void energy that sealed off communications in a twenty-kilometer radius.

The Collegium’s void node was reinforced by a sphere-shaped formation. It contained fifty wizards at most, according to Cha Ming’s estimate, including a middle-gold-ranked one. The Collegium had gone all out and mobilized one of their powerhouses for each of the three potential expansion locations.

“Soften up that formation, will you?” Huxian said.

“Affirmative,” the specter general answered.

The fleet of twelve void-faring ships shot out a single lance apiece. Each lance was made of precious void-piercing materials reinforced with other heavy metals that would make them effective even against voidbane materials.

Space shook and shattered as the dozen spears struck simultaneously. The Collegium had been forewarned, so it came as no surprise to Huxian when they spat fire, lightning, and ice right back at them.

Huxian’s investiture, which had followed him into Fierra’s core, smashed into the Collegium’s shields, completely destroying them. The void specters swooped into the Collegium’s void space, jumped off their ships, then proceeded to face off against the band of frightened wizards. Everything devolved into a chaotic mess.

No sooner had they landed than a sinister voice called out. “You won’t us escape this time, you hateful fox!” A gray-haired, gray-bearded wizard in black robes, complete with a black hat and gnarled staff, appeared before Huxian. “I see that you’ve cut off communications, as expected, and have pierced our outer defenses. Well done. But don’t you think your forces are a little too pitiful? Quite frankly, I’m insulted.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” Huxian said. He covertly summoned a jade slip and broke it. “You’re not going to introduce yourself? I am Lord Eight Directions. I don’t believe we’ve formally met.”

“My name is Leviticus, and you are stalling for time,” the wizard said. He began to raise his staff.

“Don’t you think we should banter a little more, even if I am stalling?” Huxian asked.

“I have no interest in speaking to a trickster like you,” Leviticus said. A golden formation appeared around him, glowing with a horrifying aura. Yep. Definitely a middle-gold ranker. Huxian’s specters were doing a pretty good job against the wizards, since they’d closed the distance quite quickly, but this man alone could kill half of them in about three seconds.

Fortunately, Huxian similarly had someone to rely on. The spell charged up and fired a dangerous-looking lightning dragon… which vanished as a larger inky dragon appeared and swallowed it.

A woman floated down into the city’s void space. She wore dark-blue robes that complemented her flowing black hair. Her right cheek, right arm, and exposed right leg were covered in inky-black runes.

“Grand Elder Voidwake!” Huxian called out, relaxing.

“Inkwell Clan!” the Collegium wizard hissed. “I don’t recall our factions being enemies. Why are you interfering in this matter?”

“I simply owe the young fox a favor,” Grand Elder Voidwake said. “That being said, I never said I would assassinate anyone, and restraining a middle-gold ranker like yourself should be payment enough. Unless… Do you wish to exchange blows?”

The old man shivered. As a middle-fusion-realm demon of the Inkwell Clan, she could suppress him with great ease. “It doesn’t need to come to that,” Leviticus said helplessly. “I admit to being your inferior. Since you do not wish to kill me, what do you propose we do instead?”

“I will simply contain you as you try your best to disrupt the fox and his army,” Grand Elder Voidwake said. “I won’t allow you to communicate with or reinforce the Collegium’s attackers. If you manage to sneak any attacks past me, I won’t take it personally, and they will be hits fairly landed. What do you think?”

Leviticus swallowed his indignation and nodded. After all, it wasn’t just this void node at stake, but his life. “I will be sure to mention your impartiality in my report and confer your greetings to my elders. I do wonder if you could provide a small greeting gift, however. One that I could pass along?”

This seemed well within Grand Elder Voidwake’s expectations. She tossed a jade box at the old man, who opened it and sniffed. “Ah, a void spirit flower. The Collegium’s principal has been looking for such a thing in preparation for his breakthrough.”

“I am happy it is well received,” Grand Elder Voidwake said. “Now then, would you like to go ahead and try sneaking a few spells through, or would you prefer a more relaxed way to pass the time? Tea, for instance?”

“Tea sounds nice,” Leviticus said. Then, ignoring the indignant cries of his people, and Huxian’s astonishment, the elderly wizard walked over to a corner of the void, set up a table, and began steeping a cup for the grand elder.

***

He’s in, and he’s started drawing the formation, Cha Ming told Yu Wen and Xiao Bai. They sent him an affirmative, and he mobilized a part of his consciousness. He then stretched out his cat limbs, hopped over the wall and into the outer circle of the Collegium, then lay down near a shrub, like any good house cat would.

Cha Ming had been quite busy these past few days. He’d established contact with Iridescent Charity and Iridescent Virtue to procure a few useful consumables, painted talismans, and directly absorbed eight immortal jades to solidify his Accumulation and Eruption runes.

He now had three pairs of black-and-white runes floating around his core. His domain had not grown, but his qi had grown more potent. His control over Accumulation and Eruption had skyrocketed, and his creation and destruction domains had therefore doubled in effectiveness.

Even so, they were weak. Far too weak to simply barge into the teleportation hub, which stiffly regulated traffic into and out of the city since the disappearance of the Holy Provenance Plate.

On the other side of the Collegium, another one of his incarnations supervised two women and one man. They all wore the same black cloaks and were extremely conspicuous. As such, they quickly drew the attention of a pair of local gold rankers.

“Hey, you! Yeah, get over here! We need to question you!” One was a cleric, and the other an archer.

The three individuals looked at each other, looked back at the pair, then bolted. What followed as a comedic chase scene that involved a barrage of stink potions, several jars of gas-form aphrodisiac, and several dozen glass spheres filled with pine nettle extract. Though not lethal, the resulting skin irritation and embarrassing arousal greatly disturbed the gold rankers, who quickly called in reinforcements.

A group of twenty or so gold rankers soon joined them, forcing the two women and one man to make their way to an unpopulated corner of the Collegium’s defenses.

“You’ve nowhere to run!” one of the gold rankers shouted.

“Watch us!” the man in the group said. The trio threw a jar of explosives, courtesy of Iridescent Charity, which knocked out a section Collegium’s outer wall opposite cat Cha Ming’s location. The inner wall fell soon after.

The Cha Ming in pigeon form observing all this from above was quite pleased with how things were playing out. The gold rankers poured in and surrounded them but quickly came into conflict with the greater portion of the Collegium gold rankers who had come to investigate. This was Collegium property, after all, and if anyone was going to punish these troublemakers, it was them.

The argument escalated, and the three individuals continued to fling inflammatory remarks and sow discord. Fighting nearly broke out, but a reasonable wizard discovered what was going on and silenced everyone.

Alas, it was too little too late. Cha Ming didn’t need them to fight, because the three individuals were also Cha Ming’s clones. One of them summoned a potion, and all three of them proceeded to self-detonate as they shattered the vial, vaporizing its contents.

A total of thirty-two gold rankers were instantly struck by a half-step-immortal-grade sleeping potion and fell asleep within three seconds flat. There would be no waking them today.

Let’s move! Cha Ming sent. He opened a portal into the Clear Sky World, and Yu Wen and Xiao Bai emerged. They’d rehearsed their attack many times, and as such, had no problem locating the teleportation hub’s control formation.

“We’re under attack!” one of the wizards shouted. They began slinging spells, but Cha Ming and the others had no time to waste on silly things like fighting. They were on a clock, and they needed to get into position.

How are things going on your end? Cha Ming asked.

Almost there, Huxian said. You have no idea how annoying these formations are. Or… wait. I guess you do. That is your job.

Did everything go as planned?Cha Ming asked. How’s the fighting?

Half the wizards are dead, and the other half is tied up for ransom, Huxian said. Oh, and Leviticus is having tea with Grand Elder Voidwake.

Cha Ming paused. What?

You heard me.

Let’s talk later, Cha Ming said. He set his sights on the central formation.

The first thing they had to do was deactivate the Collegium’s teleportation formation and decouple it from the void node. This was necessary for them to establish their own formation and to prevent reinforcements from transferring in.

The three of them spared no effort in destroying the formation’s key points, which Cha Ming had identified beforehand. Cha Ming was much sturdier than the others, so he allowed several spells to land on his body in order to land a few more strikes with his destruction qi and destruction domain.

Yu Wen and Xiao Bai had a strong demon link, just like Cha Ming and Huxian. By using the power of time, they could easily avoid a few pesky spellcasters who were doing their best notto strike their own formation. Xiao Bai’s powerful body and Yu Wen’s half-step-immortal flying sword easily cut through their respective formation nodes.

“Done!” Yu Wen shouted.

“Done!” Xiao Bai shouted.

“I’m done as well,” Cha Ming said. “Start the next phase.”

Any second now, an army of gold rankers would be appearing above the Collegium regardless of city regulations. Their answer to this was just like their answer to the first problem: consumables. Cha Ming first activated a half-immortal-grade Void-Repulsion Talisman to blast away the remaining wizards in the teleportation hub, then pulled out a second talisman to lock down the area.

Unfortunately, he was a half step too slow. “Stop! You’re under arrest!” a voice boomed. The new arrival’s aura was far stronger than he’d anticipated.

“Snap out of it!” Yu Wen shouted. She sent a current of Grandmist qi into him to purge the new arrival’s paralyzing presence, giving Cha Ming the split second he needed to activate Demonbane’s Mighty Rampart.

As a middle-rune-gathering talisman, it would summon an impressive fortress with adaptive responses to external threats. It was both its greatest strength and greatest weakness.

A half-immortal-grade Demonbane’s Mighty Rampart was far more impressive than that. In fact, the talisman’s name had directly changed to Immortal Vanquishing Fortress. Golden walls appeared instead of stone ones, instantly encompassing the void node in a spherical protective barrier.

“Attack the fortress together!” the same voice yelled. By now, over a hundred gold rankers had arrived. Spells, blades, and arrows rained down on the fortress, but no matter what they did, they could not breach half-step-immortal defenses.

The talisman-summoned fortress was practically immune to the five elements for its entire five-minute duration. Physical and mental attacks were also ineffective. It was possible to overcome it with brute force, but given the enemy’s strength, that wasn’t happening anytime soon.

If the fortress had one weakness, it was that it did not protect against attacks through the void. This weakness was immediately remedied the moment Yu Wen activated a unique talisman she’d once purchased, a Void Locking Talisman. The upgraded version formed a void sphere that encompassed not only the physical realm but adjacent void space. This would serve to protect both them and Huxian as he completed the rest of the formation.

“All right, we’ve done all we can,” Yu Wen said. “Do your thing.” She and Xiao Bai looked up at the shaking fortress, which by now was likely suffering from the combined assault of a hundred and fifty or so gold rankers and increasing by the minute.

Since these outsiders were no longer a threat, Cha Ming could focus on the third part of the plan. He got into position atop the void node, and on the other side, Huxian mirrored him. Their presences overlapped across the void, and almost magically, their perspectives merged and shifted.

***

Cha Ming is one with his brother, the Bagua Fox Huxian. They move in tandem, perfectly mirroring each other’s movements. The human grows claws to match his demon brother, while the fox’s demonic features humanize.

Then they begin. They dance with space and time, carving the air in unison. Their claws pluck at the void as though it were a musical instrument, carving out tiny sigils with utmost precision.

They are perfectly synchronized. The material-void boundary resembles a mirror.

The patterns they carve are tears in space, cut from both sides. They do not fade, as the tears carry runic claws from both the void and the material realm. The sigils fill in the gaps on the signstone discs on the material side, and the painted formations on the void side complete the hybrid formation circle.

Demonic energy crystals light up the formation from void space while a small piece of immortal jade powers the formation from the material realm. The superior power surges through the cuts in space, activating the formation plates that tear a hole through the boundary of the Inkwell Plane.

A rift is formed. It widens, and they pull back. The teleportation formation synchronizes on both sides, creating a stable void passageway. The fox’s investiture reaches out to the void node, officially adding the last of sixty-four void nodes to the teleportation network. An elderly wizard’s sigh can be heard from void space.

A ripple passes through the void. The Immortal Vanquishing Fortress Talisman and the Void Locking Talisman instantly lose their effectiveness, exposing the two humans and the one demon in the material plane to a barrage of deadly attacks.

But it is too late for these outsiders to interfere. The fox and the human shift. The Bagua Fox grasps the Jade Rabbit, and the human his own companion.

One moment, they are in the material realm, and the next moment, they are in the void. The concentrated might of a hundred and fifty gold rankers devastates the Collegium teleportation hub, reducing it to rubble, but to their surprise, this does not fracture void space. The void is quite stable here.

The two humans and two demons are now safe in the void. This is the fox’s domain, and also his human brother’s. No one can enter this place without their permission.

A ripple passes through the void, encompassing all sixty-four void nodes in the fox’s network. All three Collegium armies currently invading are instantly repelled. Their attacks strike an impregnable barrier, and the defenders are now safe.

The network is complete. The battle is won. The fox’s network evolves, transforming into his first void kingdom.

The man and the fox are surprised by the quick turn of events. They look around in awe as the void transforms and expands. Vast hallways transform into gigantic bridges that anchor themselves to the adjacent material plane.

Wherever the bridges touch, the realm heals and stabilizes. Any loose spatial debris is reabsorbed by the realm, and the material that cannot be absorbed is redirected to the sixty-four outposts and nine central palaces in the void kingdom.

Once-desolate lands are now habitable, and the cloudy sky of the void is now clear. The stars, once blotted out by the dust and pollution thrown off by the realm, can now be seen.

Nine palaces slowly take shape as the kingdom absorbs raw materials from the void. Eight palaces form a ring, and six of them are lit. Each palace is built according to the tastes of the fox’s six friends. The central palace, the ninth one, is split into two portions, one shaped by the fox, and the other by his brother.

The fox and his brother soon discover that they are in possession of new abilities, which they use to traverse the breadth of the void kingdom in a single step. They quickly arrive at the central palace, which overlaps with the void network in the Shanarah Mountains.

The void specters return to this marshalling point, since from now on, their help is no longer needed. Words are exchanged, congratulations are in order, and a pledge is made to forge deeper relations.

The fox’s six friends quickly realize the changes to the network. Gua, Mr. Mountain, and Miyue open portals to pull back their beleaguered troops. Lei Jiang, Silverwing, and Bifang muster reinforcements from the south. They travel the void in minutes and launch a heavy counteroffensive. The Boneshift Badger Lord’s troops are forced to pull back.

As for the fox and the human, they attempt to untangle their thoughts. The experience is surreal, and the human finds it especially jarring. Before the connection ends, the human hears something intended for demons.

Space-time Quest Completed: Stabilize the local void space adjacent to the Inkwell Plane by completing a sixty-four-node teleportation network centered around the Shanarah Mountain Range dungeon core.

Rewards: Massive demon bounty awarded. Nine Palace Governing Formation Overlay awarded. Nine Palace Governing Formation Overlay grants spatial protection, enhanced teleportation, and special teleportation privileges for palace owners.

Consequences: You have attracted the attention of the Pale King. The Paper Tiger Clan will now direct their aggression toward the Shanarah Mountain Range and allied forces.

The human feels the fox’s friends break through one after another. Those who had not broken into the late-investiture realm do so now. The remaining energy is diverted to Mr. Mountain, who breaks through to the peak of the investiture realm.

Before the connection fades, the human senses one last thing: In this place, he is king. Wherever he wishes to travel, he may go. No one can impede him.

***

Cha Ming collapsed as the link ended. Yu Wen caught him and held him close. “There now. It’s all right. You’re Cha Ming, remember?”

Cha Ming? he thought. What happened? Where are my claws? Where is my tail? Why can’t I feel my kingdom? This and other questions raced through Cha Ming’s mind.

Cha Ming eventually realized that he was, in fact, human. The nine palaces were real, and he could sense them, but not as vividly as Huxian could.

Xiao Bai whistled. “Nice. Nine Palace Formation. You’ve got it made.”

“I didn’t know what the reward would be, but I had my guesses,” Huxian said, rubbing his hands together. He was grinning from ear to ear. “Let’s see how the Collegium deals with me now!”

“That was… that was…” Cha Ming said.

“Trippy, right?” Huxian said. “Man, you humans have no awareness. Getting boxed in like that is awkward.”

“Boxed in?” Cha Ming asked, confused.

“Imagine what merging our awareness made you feel, then take that in reverse,” Huxian explained. “It’s like suddenly becoming blind, but simultaneously developing a taste for lemonade.”

“Lemonade?” Cha Ming asked. He shook his head. “Whatever. It doesn’t have to make sense.”

They were no longer completely entangled, but he could still sense his surroundings a bit. In fact, he could sense that should he choose to do so, he could immediately teleport to Titanvale. This applied not only to teleportation nodes, but any location within the bounds of the teleportation network. “This is broken,” he couldn’t help but say.

“Yep,” Huxian said. “In theory, I can even shift the nodes around if I want to spend the energy. City of Alchemy, you’d better watch out, because there’s a new monopoly in town, and he drives a hard bargain.”

Noticing Cha Ming’s confusion, he clarified. “I kicked them out. The Collegium. Space is so stable there that people can maybe do short teleportation hops at most. But void travel and teleportation networks? Not a chance. Not without my permission.”

It was no wonder Huxian had been so dead set on completing his sixty-fourth teleportation circle. “I doubt the Collegium had any idea what would actually happen,” Cha Ming said. “Because if they did, they would have assassinated you months ago.” He looked to Yu Wen and Xiao Bai. “So. What next?”

“I’m pretty free,” Yu Wen said.

“No third devil deal with Locke and Trevonay?” Cha Ming asked.

“Afraid not,” Yu Wen said. “I drive a hard bargain, Cha Ming, and now that our deal is finished, they won’t be harassing me anytime soon. Why, did you have something in mind?”

Cha Ming shrugged. “I have a few errands to run, and since we can essentially bypass the teleportation network, I figure it’ll be pretty safe.”

Yu Wen seemed amenable to the idea. “Why not? It’d be nice to go somewhere without having to plan an escape route. What about you, Xiao Bai?” She turned around and saw that the Jade Rabbit and the fox were already gone. “Traitor.”

“What, she’s not allowed to do her own thing?” Cha Ming asked.

“That’s not it,” Yu Wen said. “I just wanted to say that she needs to accelerate Plan Honey Trap. This network is going to make tons of money, and we need in on that.”