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Fates Parallel Chapter 566 - Riot
🕑 Added 2024-09-27 16:30:48 +0000 UTCAll it took was one spark. One person to step over the line and push too far. Once it happened, the fighting spread like a wildfire. There was no thought or organization to it, just raw emotion beyond what the brothers and sisters of Qin could keep contained.
It was always a danger with cultivators. Though they had a reputation for being cold and heartless, that was a mask they wore to keep their heightened emotions from rampaging. In truth, cultivators were more in tune with their souls, and felt not only their own emotions, but also those of the people around them far more strongly than a regular mortal.
The doctrine of meditation and self-control helped, as did Qin’s tradition of giving face, and speaking obliquely to avoid giving direct offense. Yet, when so many were gathered together, faced with a controversy that challenged the very foundations of their faith, emotions could not always be contained, and when that containment failed, it failed explosively.
Not that even the greatest experts could always keep their emotions in check. The stronger one’s soul became, the more discipline was required to maintain control. Some put greater emphasis on power than control, and as such, some of the most legendary tempers could come from Qin’s greatest experts. There was nobody more renowned for this than Yan De, the Grandmaster of the Great Awakening Dragon sect.
So then why, Sun Quan wondered, was he so stoic in the face of open revolt?
“Grandmaster Yan, we are doing what we can to contain the riots, but our elders cannot be everywhere at once. I fear that without greater intervention, our armies will tear themselves apart.”
It shamed him. He had hoped that his sect, at least, would rise above the others, and prove that their discipline was greater. From what Sun Quan had heard, it had been Silver Orchard cultivators who cast the first blows—in defense of his decision. The wrong actions for the right cause—he would have to revise his sect’s disciplinary practices.
Yan De was unmoved by the report. If anything, he seemed pleased.
“Good. Have your elders take note of who the mutineers are so that we can punish them later, but keep them clear of the fighting—any elites too, if they aren’t already embroiled.”
Qian Shi slammed his hands on the map table and snarled at Yan De.
“Our men are killing each other out there, Yan De! We must put a stop to it.”
“And they will be disciplined accordingly, but this was necessary to root out those too weak to face our enemy properly. If it hadn’t occurred naturally, I’d have ordered Yan Ren to incite it.”
“What?!”
Yan De rose and began slowly pacing through the luxurious command tent.
“Qian Shi, you are a brilliant military mind, and a natural leader, but that becomes a weakness in situations such as this. You think of things in terms of forces and strategies, attack, defense, maneuvers—none of that matters to our true foe.”
He turned to the map and dramatically swept aside the models there—Sun Quan felt for whoever had to keep resetting them.
“She can turn our forces against us, appear and disappear anywhere on the battlefield at a whim, move her own forces around in ways that we cannot possibly prepare for. This army is meaningless—a mere distraction from our true goal.”
Sun Quan frowned.
“Yoshika.”
“Indeed. Kill the girl playing empress, and the rest will fall into place. If we must sacrifice half or even all of the forces gathered here to do it, then that is a worthy price. My sect and allies will arrive after that, and we will lead a glorious crusade to bring the southern frontier to heel at last.”
“You would have our people make that sacrifice, while yours benefit from its products.”
The Grandmaster of the Awakening Dragon turned and gave his peers a condescending smile.
“Elders, I am not heartless. Of course, your noble sacrifices will be rewarded. I am prepared to offer artifacts, techniques, and promising young talents to replace those lost. Think of it not in terms of sects and provinces, but one empire united.”
Qian Shi scoffed.
“Fine words when our armies fight each other as we speak. What purpose does that even serve?!”
“It weakens our foe. Yoshika is a unifier. She draws strength from alliances and companions. It is how she won over even our misguided peers in the Flowing Purewater and, indeed, my own daughter. It is why she was able to bring the beastkin and barbarians together against us.”
“I know how domains work you insufferable snob! What is the point of weakening her if we cannot draw her out? What is to stop her from simply letting us exhaust our own forces from infighting?”
Yan De laughed, and Sun Quan silently agreed that his condescension was grating, even if he wouldn’t voice it as directly as Qian Shi did.
“We all met Yoshika during that ill-fated gathering for Yan Yue’s wedding, before it was tragically canceled. Did either of you think to actually bother speaking to her?”
Sun Quan crossed his arms and scowled.
“We don’t share your personal grudges, Yan De. At the time, we had little reason to expect that she would become such a dangerous force.”
“Tsk. Then you weren’t paying attention. I invited her to join my sect, you know.”
Qian Shi gasped.
“They were beastkin! One of them was even a demon at the time, no matter what that moron Qin Yongliang ruled.”
“So? I thought you of all people would understand, Elder Qian. The Great Austere Mountain doesn’t concern itself with origins, does it? It’s strength that matters.”
“W-well, yes, but—”
Yan De waved his hand dismissively, not interested in arguing the point.
“It doesn’t matter. What I mean to say is simply that I know them. They are naive, idealistic, and inexperienced. Yoshika will come to us, despite her disadvantage, because she cannot do otherwise. If you are pained by the suffering of our people, then I assure you, she is pained even more.”
Qian Shi scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“Truly, a monster unlike any other.”
“Sarcasm does not become you, Qian Shi.”
“I was not being sarcastic, and I was not referring to her.”
Sun Quan stepped forward to interject before Yan De could take offense to the insult.
“Can you be certain that your lure will work, Elder Yan? It’s been over five years since you spoke to those girls, and Yoshika has changed since then. The Hayakawa girl drove her to conquer Yamato, and the Fox Princess—”
“Hah! Sun Quan, please, you don’t actually think she’s been subsumed by that old spirit, do you?”
He blinked. Of course he did. That was his entire reason for supporting Yan De’s ridiculous war.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I parleyed with her as soon as we arrived. She met me in one of her qi clones, but I felt her domain quite clearly. I’ve met the great spirit you fear, Sun Quan, and there was no trace of it in her aura. Whatever fragment once existed in Seong Eunae’s soul, she was the one to subvert it, not the other way around.”
Sun Quan didn’t trust Yan De’s word, but even if he were to take it at face value—
“Then why are we even here? We’ve never acknowledged petty savages putting on crowns and calling themselves sovereign before. Why her? Why now, if not to prevent the return of the great spirits?”
Yan De met his eyes impassively, and there was a coldness there that even Sun Quan shuddered to see.
“Because she is dangerous. She upsets the stability of the Jade Pillar, with or without the resurrection of ancient enemies. The false Empress Yoshika will be eradicated, or we will all face the true God-Emperor’s wrath. That is why. Do you have any further complaints?”
Sun Quan and Qian Shi both averted their eyes. They couldn’t gainsay that, no matter how much he might have wanted to.
“No, fellow Grandmaster. It is as you say. She dies.”
“Good. Let us move, then—the time is nearly upon us.”
—-
Jia shot across the sky like a bolt of lightning. She’d hoped for more time to consider Shun Song’s words, but fate was rarely so kind. There was no more plan, except for whatever tattered shreds remained of Yue’s scheme. Yoshika was acting fast and playing things by ear. She knew it was reckless even without some of her friends and advisors begging her not to go.
Not all of them, though. Ashikaga Sae, Lin Xiulan, and Hwang Sung all warned her against reckless action, while others like Ienaga Yumi and Yan Yue simply accepted that it was who she was and moved to support her.
Yoshika was glad of both, even if she knew that she wasn’t often very good at listening to her more cautious influences.
She wanted to. Yoshika understood and even agreed with their reasoning. It was dangerous, she was weakened, the enemy was probably planning an ambush. She knew all that, but they didn’t feel what she did. The anguish and betrayal coming from Qin’s armies was like a hot rake against her soul. She had to do something.
So Jia flew. Once, it had been a great struggle for her. Though she had acquired a flight technique among her very first spiritual arts, the Path of Heavenly Ascension was incompatible with the alignment of her soul, and extremely difficult to practice. It had taken Eui years to master it, while Jia simply couldn’t perform it at all.
Since then, by inventing and mastering her Lightspeed Traversal technique—a rare combination of all three traditional disciplines—Jia had become among the fastest beings alive. The moment between her decision to act and her arrival in the sky above Qin’s camp lasted less than a second.
It was a scene of complete chaos. It wasn’t a simple matter of one side against the other. Nobody had organized it, and there were no clear goals on either end of the fighting. Some fought in defense of their sect’s honor, while others accused them of betraying their own. More still were just confused—desperately trying to defend themselves as they fled the chaos. A few, Yoshika noted, even reveled in it—intentionally taking advantage of the riots to take on old grudges or just indulge in their baser violent urges.
Jia was still considering her first move when the first domain clashed with hers—one of the many elders that had been keeping her in check during the conflicts. She wore the bright white robes of the Austere Mountain, and unlike most of her sect, she favored speed and precision just like Jia.
Even with Absolute Awareness slowing the world around her, the Austere Mountain elder was too fast for Jia to ignore. The xiantian woman’s domain was precision itself, and the artifact blade she wielded cut a bolt of Jia’s lightning in half as she advanced.
Jia tried to reposition, but her opponent was frustrating. Though Jia was faster, the elder exceeded her in sheer economy of movement. Every motion she made placed her in the perfect spot, each parry flowed perfectly into the next strike. Even Master Yumi wasn’t so perfect in her movements, and while the elder lacked power, she was one of the best among the enemy at harrying Yoshika, and especially Jia.
“Stop! I’m not here to attack, I want to help!”
Of course, that got her nowhere, and in just a few exchanges it became clear why they’d sent that elder in particular after her. Another xiantian soon joined the fray, followed swiftly by yet another.
It was a trap after all.
Within seconds, Jia was faced with over half a dozen xiantian foes—an absurd number for anyone to face alone, but Jia was never alone. Kaede and Eui leapt from Jia in an explosion of violence, each of her aspects checking two enemies on their own. Her enemies tried to match their strengths to her weaknesses, but while the ancient masters knew their craft well, they were not accustomed to working together.
Yoshika’s coordination was perfect, and her reluctance to field Eui was paying off, as none of the enemy xiantians were used to the sheer threat of her Destruction essence. Jia was everywhere at once, Eui’s every strike was a lethal threat that couldn’t be ignored, and Kaede’s technique could match even the Austere Mountain elder’s expert precision.
Still, it wasn’t enough. A stalemate at best, and while some of the rioting soldiers had stopped to gaze up in awe at the spectacle above them, the fighting still continued.
Eunae emerged with a snarl of frustration.
“Enough! How heartless can you be for your own people, to waste your time fighting me while they suffer and fight?”
Five more auras arrived at once, and even Yoshika’s domain was forced back by the sheer weight of so many powerful presences.
“It’s not their time being wasted, young lady—it’s yours.”
Yan De had arrived at last—along with Yan Ren and three other grandmasters.
The trap was sprung.
Comments
Marcelo Vansk
Tensions are quite high. I can't wait for the next chapter.
Azgaroth
Thank for the chapter. This chapter validate my idea/doubt, the "Jade Pillar" is the "Authority" of the Emperor/Empire, and because Yoshika is so different from other cultivator, her methods and idea will truly shake the Empire..... Well, the trap is sprung, but not for the one they thing it is.... It time to play Jiaguo's Trump Card: Unleash the Yoshika, let's those old bastard who play with human lifes, fear the Wrath of the Unified/United Yoshika, let her bear Her Fusionned Aspect, The Empress, on the BATTLEFIELD!!!!!!!
