The sky was bathed in the crimson rays of sunset as we gathered at the edge of the barrier. The entire assembly was ford, just as President Tzu Li Zen had promised. I found myself tethered to Blue Rose, Song De, Wu Liang and Wing Pho, all of us representing the lost deploynts returned.
We were grouped together and positioned atop a dais that had been erected close to the barriers edge. Front row seats for the main event that would soon transpire. Out about a hundred feet from the edge of the barrier and staked to the ground by a set of chains, was Jei Su Long.
He was in a set of gray robes.
A true prisoner now.
He wasn’t gagged, but for once he wasn’t saying anything.
I could sense his fear from even where I stood a hundred feet away. In re minutes his life would be violently ripped from him and for once, there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. At the far end of the dais his uncle looked on.
The man hadn’t risked a look at as yet, but I could sense a seething mixture of fear and hate inside of him as well. The fact that I could cultivate it however, said it was truly all directed towards .
President Tzu Li Zen and Chief Yora then joined us on the dais.
We saluted them and then Tzu Li Zen took center stage, bringing us all to attention.
“Tributes!” he shouted in a resounding voice. “We gather this evening for an occasion that will be forever marked in the history books of Du Gok Bhong. One of our own has been found guilty of not only cris against his fellow legionnaires, but of a sche to both cover it up and shift the bla to soone else.” He then paused and glanced towards Tai Su Long. “There was a ti when such things were tolerated at this institution, but the dawn of a new era is at hand. The ti of seeing good legionnaires lost from outside influence is over. We will stand proud as those who are charged to do what the rest of the empire dare not. To face the horrors of the Hell Worlds. To see the unseen. And tell tales of the unspeakable. We few will now stand tall upon our accomplishnts and resist those who war against us, both inside and out.”
As his words echoed across the expanse of the desert, a sense of pride welled within , and within the faces of my colleagues as well. For Tai Su Long however, it was as if a dagger had been plunged into his back. He shot the President a glancing stare and from within him a new sense of hate erged.
“The Bloodmoon now rises,” he continued. “Jei Su Long, for the cris you have committed, you are now condemned to die. The first wave of demons is already on the horizon. If you have any final words, now is the ti.”
The entire assembly went silent.
Jei Su Long looked up at .
For a second, I almost expected to see so kind of contrition.
But then, true to form, he scowled.
“You’ll all pay for doing this!” he shouted. “Think you have won? My family will crush this institution and everyone in it! Starting with you, President Tzu Li Zen! You could have granted rcy, but you didn’t!” He then looked at . “And you… you’ll die at the hands of one of my family. It will not be forgotten what you did to , Iron Bull!”
Tzu Li Zen harrumphed. “Sadder last words have never been spoken. Only the heavens can have rcy on your soul.”
“To hell with all of you!” he scread. “Even you uncle! To hell with you!”
Jei Su Long then began pulling on his chains as he looked over his shoulder behind him. A weird, gurgling cry then escaped his throat as he gazed towards the Bloodmoon now cresting over the night horizon. It was then I realized he was already under the effects of the Dark Frenzy. His eyes were wild with fear and panic and within his soul I could already sense it succumbing to the Demonic Qi.
Without a Dantian to push back against it, he was the embodint of what would happen to any mortal caught under the effects of the Bloodmoon. He began screaming like a banshee. Howling and crying.
“This is barbaric,” Tai Su Long muttered, as he averted his gaze.
But for and everyone else.
We just looked on.
The rays of the Bloodmoon were not strong enough to transform him physically like it did Dim Wei and the rest of my platoon, but he at least experienced the sa agony they did before they died.
Of losing his mind to the otherworldly presence of an outer god.
Even as the thought erged, I could sense the monster’s presence consuming his soul.
Jei Su Long began laughing then as well as screaming, fits of hysterical laughter between wails of sheer terror and pain. After a while he ceased to be Jei Su Long and just beca the latest poor bastard to fall victim of the war between humanity and Hell.
Suddenly, he stopped screaming and looked right at .
His eyes were pitch black circles and I could sense a new presence there.
“Curse you Iron Bull!” he spoke with words not fully his own, his voice reverberating with a dual tone. “I see what you are now. A tool of hell! A fla of destruction that will burn the empire down!” He riled up in a frenzy again, screaming and ripping at his chains. “Foul husk! Cursed traitor! Thy seed is now mine!”
My ears sharpened at that.
That wasn’t Jei Su Long at all.
That was I’xol’ukz.
And what did it an about my seed?
“Let go!” Jei Su Long suddenly cried, reverting to his true self again. “I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die like this! I don’t want to go where they are!”
His pathetic pleas for help continued amidst the laughing fits as a stampede of demons barreled across the desert toward him. They were the normal variety, not a Star Cursed in the bunch, but still more than capable of tearing him apart, body and soul.
“Please!” he cried. “Help ! Please!!!”
His final cry drew into a high-pitched wail of panic as the horde slamd into him. The monsters ripped him from where he stood, tearing the limbs from his body as his arms were still tethered to the chains. There wasn’t anything to see after that.
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Only the chilling screams of pain and horror as he was torn apart.
Finally, after a few seconds even they were silenced.
When the demons finally moved on, the chains were empty and bloodied.
Jei Su Long was no more.
* * *
What should have been a mont of triumph and justice, for beca one of contemplation and concern. What the hell had I’xol’ukz ant about my seed? I instantly thought of Fia and Bryce. Was it sohow aware that I now had a son?
Shit… I cursed inwardly. I need to get the hell ho.
Just as I felt like breaking formation and running into the effects of the Bloodmoon to make a long-distance call, Governor Tai Su Long stepped across the dais towards us. His face was a visage of pure anger and grief.
“As my nephew rightly said,” he spoke to Tzu Li Zen directly. “Your lack of rcy will not be forgotten and nether will your words.” He then shot a glance at . “I will see you in court.”
He turned and left then, storming off the dais.
Tzu Li Zen let out a scoff. “And so the die is now cast. Fates be with us.”
It was my turn to give him a stare of question. “Sir?”
“We will discuss it all, in a mont,” he said. “For now, there is so unfinished business to yet complete.”
Before I could understand what he even ant, President Tzu Li Zen took center stage again and then addressed the assembly. “Now that that unpleasant but necessary business is over, I wish to now switch focus and honor those who have returned to us from the Hell Worlds. May the legionnaires of the 29th deploynt step forward.”
Confused looks shot between Blue Rose, Wu Liang, Song De and Wing Pho, before Chief Yora gestured for them to stand next to the president.
“These here have survived not just one, but two official tours of the Hell Worlds,” Tzu Li Zen said. “Let us honor them as they take on now, their well-earned jade trim as full-fledged legionnaires.”
The assembly broke into whistles and applause as Chief Yora did the honors, granting each of them a strip of jade ribbon that she placed bout their necks. Blue Rose looked back at and smiled excitedly.
It was the first ti I could rember seeing her looking so happy for once.
“I now call forth the sole survivor of the 28th deploynt,” Tzu Li Zen said. “The Iron Bull!”
As I stepped forward, a hail of applause and lemonade washed over .
“It goes without saying that the Iron Bull has made history at Du Gok Bhong,” Tzu Li Zen continued. “Having officially survived three tours, he is now granted the title of not only legionnaire, but Imperial Marshal.”
Chief Yora then approached and stood on her tiptoes to drape a set of jade and gold ribbons around my neck.
“Congratulations,” she whispered. “Marshal Iron Bull.”
A chill ran through as she addressed by my new title.
I was still reeling from that when Tzu Li Zen addressed the assembly again. “It will go without saying that the rank of Imperial Marshal is woefully understating what the Iron Bull has accomplished. He has survived on the surface of a Hell World for weeks and is the sole reason these mbers of the 29th deploynt have returned ho safely as well. Their combined fortitude sets a new standard and will see the Academy achieve new heights of success. We now eagerly await the secrets the Iron Bull has gleaned upon his excursion, as it will no doubt aid us in our battle against the Cursed Stars. Let us, once again, congratulate him for this remarkable achievent.”
As the applause went up, I was faced with an ocean of adulation and praise.
I was almost too embarrassed to cultivate it, my eyes welling with tears.
In the crowd, I spotted Hein, along with General Gong and Captain Li Jeng. They bowed to and then President Tzu Li Zen did as well. The assembly finally broke and I was mobbed by the hundreds of Black Robes surrounding , starting with Blue Rose.
“An Imperial Marshal?!” she said, her eyes wide with awe. “Holy shit! Congratulations, Max!”
“Congratulations, Imperial Marshal!” Wing Pho said with a bow.
“All hail Marshal Iron Bull!” soone else shouted. “Master of the Hell Worlds!”
“Marshal Iron Bull!”
“Marshal Iron Bull!”
The shouts of praise and slaps on the back continued, causing my head to spin.
“Let us not forget,” Tzu Li Zen said, more to the Black Robes than the full assembly now. “The Iron Bull has spent more days upon a Hell World than anyone in history. He outranks now in terms of ability.” He then cracked a smile. “But he will have to return to serve his full duty to wear those already well-earned stripes to outrank officially.”
I shot the president another quizzical stare, but he rely laughed again, causing everyone around us to as well. I spent close to half an hour, being greeted by every color of robe in the assembly.
Finally, Ling Wei found as the crowd thinned out.
“The imperial transport is ready to depart,” she said. “I trust you have now served your duty and are free to leave Du Gok Bhong?”
I looked to Chief Yora and the president.
“Not until you have a full debriefing,” Yora said. “And rember you need to transcribe your new art collection as well.”
I chuckled. “I might need an extra day or so Ling Wei.”
She smiled. “I’m sure the princess wont mind. It will give a chance to communicate your arrival to her in advance.”
As she turned and walked away, President Tzu Li Zen slapped a hand on my shoulder.
“Well done, Marshal,” he said. “But now that we are alone, I wish to make my true intentions known to you.”
“True intentions?” I said.
“The execution today was more than the putting down of a vile coward and a monuntal pain in the ass,” he said. “For the Su Long family and indeed even the Princess Rheutera, it was a declaration of war.”
I stared back at him stupefied. “What?”
“They would have expected to offer Jei Su Long clency,” he said. “By not doing so, I crossed a line. But it was your return that gave the courage to do so.”
“What do you an?”
He chuckled. “I ant what I said just now, about you returning to earn your stripes. I realize you have other matters to address, not least of which will be defending your princess against the accusations by princess Rheutera. I have no idea who they will put forth to challenge you, but after what you have accomplished, I have no doubt, that you will soon be, the strongest cultivator in the mortal realm.”
He said it without a hint of bullshit or humor and the steady look in his eyes said he was seeing the unseen.
“For now, your exploits upon the Hell Worlds will be a thing of whispers and rumors. This will work to your advantage while you consolidate your power. People will be wary of you. But when the ti is right, you must return to Du Gok Bhong to finish what you have started here. In preparation I will write to the emperor himself to establish a new ranking of Supre Grand Marshall. One you will imdiately qualify for.”
I looked at him, stupefied again.
Yora laughed. “You really can not grasp what you have accomplished, can you?”
“How can he?” Tzu Li Zen said laughing with her. “He is too humble in his ambitions. But trust Iron Bull, once your exploits beco widespread, you will be tested, as will this academy. They will fear you, but with the granting of this title, you and by the extension, the Academy will be protected by will of the emperor himself.”
“Indeed,” Yora said. “We need only suffer the loss of funding till then.”
Tzu Li Zen harrumphed. “I would suspect the Governor is even now planning to beseech his elders to withhold our funding for next year. Which is why you must return as soon as possible, Iron Bull.”
“I don’t understand. How would returning have anything to do with funding the academy?”
“When you reveal your true power, people will fear you, so may even try to destroy you if they believe you are still weak. But when the emperor himself acknowledges what you have achieved, every cultivator in the realm will cower, just as Tai Su Long did in court.” He then looked out at the Bloodmoon. “For all the strength of cultivators, they lack the ntal fortitude necessary to face the unknown. You will have accomplished sothing impossible in their eyes. You will be feared as a dark god. When that happens, I will be in a position to seek patrons other than the Su Longs, but also of greater support by the emperor himself.”
That suddenly made think of Blue Rose and her family ties. “Actually, I know soone who might have access to a lot of money already.”
So long as I could restore her family title, that was.
“That is good,” he said. “The academy has fallen out of favor in the public eye, but with you, it will be placed squarely in the forefront again. It’s your accomplishnts that gave the fortitude to make this step, Iron Bull. For too long I have had to endure the mockery of people like the Su Longs. But I ant what I said in my speech just now. With your triumph, all that ends today.”
I suddenly felt a new weight of responsibility fall upon my shoulders.
A Supre Grand Marshal?
I couldn’t even fathom it.
But everything Tzu Li Zen said, was right. A title like that would paint a huge bullseye on my back right now. And I had a lot to achieve before then. But the stance he had just taken set the stage for a greater conflict to co.
That against not just the Hell Worlds, but the very scum of the empire who ignored it.
The thought brought on a stirring of my Twin Dao and a flare of my Fla.
This was indeed both the Demon and Struggler’s new path combined.
I chuckled inwardly with chagrin.
The scope of my battle against the empire, just got a hell of a lot wider.
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