Corrupted Crimson

by Patrick Laplante

  “Why did the marshal assign you as a deputy anyway?” General Qin said. “It’s not like you’re much stronger than me. Besides, we’re both goons. All we can do is fight on the battlefield like they tell us to.”

  Feng Ming shrugged. “Not everyone who gets a promotion deserves it. I just got lucky, that’s all. Regardless of my title, I’ll be trading blows in the battlefield alongside you.”

  They soon passed the active formations and entered a pathway that ran through a “buffer” courtyard that surrounded the reception hall. A wave of brilliance assaulted their eyes as they approached one of the most mystical buildings in the fortress. Mysterious white glyphs rapidly faded as thousands of men appeared one after another inside it.

  So we can teleport people anywhere on this wall? Feng Ming asked General Qin mentally.

  Not exactly, General Qin answered. We can technically send them anywhere within ten miles, but the wall itself counts as a single entity. As such, we can teleport people safely within the three fortresses. Some time ago, the marshals experimented with teleporting troops outside the walls, but they got extremely mixed results. I’m not sure about the actual details, but a single man could be teleported with 100% success, while ten could be sent with fifty-percent success.

  Feng Ming breathed in sharply. What happened to those who failed?

  General Qin remained silent about the obvious answer: They’d died a terrible death. Still, Feng Ming felt a familiar itchy feeling in his fingers. Oh no you don’t, Feng Ming thought, supressing the tingling. Teleporting was far too risky.

  “Greetings, generals,” Feng Ming said as he received the ten thousand men in the abnormally large hall. “Thank you for making it here so quickly. The situation is dire, and we need all the help we can get.”

  The general frowned. “And who might you be? Why are you a deputy marshal when I’ve never heard of you?” The middle-aged man was a foundation-establishment cultivator. Judging by his appearance, he was over a hundred years old.

  Feng Ming was a bit embarrassed about his sudden rise through the ranks. “I guess I got lucky and broke through to core formation. The marshal took a liking to me, so here I am.”

  The man snorted. “Just a young buck. Make sure you don’t trip on that cape of yours.” The man swished his own cape and walked away. In the process, however, it flew back and tangled between his legs. The grumbling general tumbled a few dozen feet before planting himself face-first into the ground.

  A younger general ran up beside the older man and helped him up. He bowed to Feng Ming apologetically. “General Liang has not returned to the capital for some time. As such, he hasn’t heard of the illustrious Lucky General.”

  Feng Ming coughed awkwardly because at that moment, another young general, along with a few other colonels and captains, pelted him with voice transmissions requesting an autograph.

  “No offense taken,” Feng Ming said. “Please make sure you report to Relief Barracks 11 through 20 for duty. I’ll have to see you all later—we’re currently taking heavy enemy fire, so you’ll likely be needed to provide immediate relief to those manning our defensive formations.”

  Like this, the ten thousand reinforcements trickled out of the reception hall and proceeded to their appointed stations. General Qin left after an hour, while Feng Ming decided to ponder the ten spatial transmission formations in the reception hall.

  Five days passed. In that time, one cannon after another rose up and joined the offensive. Defending against the spider cannons proved to be more exhausting than they’d anticipated. It wasn’t long before a steady rotation of fifteen thousand men was established to maintain the barriers. These men could only tirelessly cultivate day and night to replenish the energy stolen from them with each successful defense.

  On the surface, it seemed that the 40,000 troops they possessed would be enough to support against the salvo. However, this was not accounting for any other cards the enemy had yet to play. Marshal Yong refused to believe that the enemy was so stupid as to play all their cards from the get-go.

  “Marshal Yong, I have some disappointing news to report,” Deputy Marshal Mo said as he approached the grizzled man.

  “Speak,” Marshal Yong said.

  “It’s about the reinforcements,” Deputy Marshal Mo said hesitantly. “I’m afraid that Marshal Tian has refused our request for reinforcements. Apparently a beast tide has just begun near the eastern wall, and they are already stretched thin as it is. Meanwhile, the rest of our forces are tied up in the capital.”

  Marshal Yong briefly sent his resplendent force into a black-and-gold medallion on his chest, confirming this information. While he noticed that Marshal Feng had not been notified, both Marshal Feng and Marshal Tian were in the capital and in constant communication.

  “That damnable fool,” Marshal Yong cursed. “What’s more important to him, the throne or his country? If the southern wall falls, we’re all doomed. You know full well how savage those southerners are.”

  “In their defense, it’s not like we need any immediate reinforcements,” Deputy Marshal Mo said. “Even with all ten cannons fully activated, we can still hold out. Besides, I’ve inspected some residual shrapnel. Do you know what those spheres are made of?”

  Marshal Yong shook his head.

  “They’re made of star steel, and their runes are traced with immortal jade! That means that the cannons must be built from even more impressive materials. I refuse to believe they can take more than a few of them out at a time.”

  Marshal Yong sighed. “Fair enough. I just hope I’m not overthinking things.” As he said this, the furniture in their small room shook. Marshal Yong immediately summoned a report from the control room and confirmed that the last volley had breached their defenses. He paled as he tallied the casualties caused by the backlash to his troops. “We’ve just lost ten thousand men in one fell swoop.”

  “Impossible,” Deputy Mo cried. Then he looked at the other generals. “Tell me exactly what happened!”

  A few nervous generals approached. “It seems that they suddenly changed up their munitions, substituting their previous black spheres for clear ones with different runes. We don’t know how many they have, but their striking power is much higher than before. A bit less than double!”

  Marshal Yong’s expression turned grim. “Send out an emergency distress signal to the capital. All generals prepare to subsidize the formation where required. Bring out all our energy reserves and activate the remaining defensive formations. Meanwhile, the deputy and I will stand by and assist where required.”

  Various figures hurried off to relay their orders; no mistakes could be tolerated. The sudden changeup meant that the entire fortress’s forces would be mobilized.

  “What about Deputy Marshal Feng?” Deputy Marshal Mo asked. “He’s been in the receiving hall all this time. Isn’t this a waste?”

  “Leave him,” Marshal Yong said. “Pretend he doesn’t exist. Just a single Deputy Feng is not enough to turn the tide. Not by supplementing the shields, at least.”

  Feng Ming was in a daze. He wasn’t experiencing sudden enlightenment, nor had he reached a crucial point in his cultivation, but he was paralyzed with indecision.

  “To suggest or not to suggest,” Feng Ming mumbled. Fifty-percent odds of death for a group of ten was ridiculously high. “We’d need at least a hundred men to jump out at once to make a difference, including me. How low would the odds get with that many men?”

  Still, his fingers itched, and he couldn’t shake the feeling. It was like he was at a high-stakes table where a single roll stood between him and a massive fortune. But he knew this was fundamentally different. At a high-stakes table, he would only be gambling money. Here, he would be gambling lives.

  “To suggest or not to suggest,” he mumbled once more. Suddenly the fortress shook. He immediately ceased his contemplation and rushed out to the focus points, where troops were rapidly rushing to their stations. Corpses littered the floor, and lar
ge bags of spirit stones had been split open and poured into the channeling formations.

  “What happened?” he asked a passing soldier.

  “Reporting to Deputy Feng, the enemy’s attacks have grown much stronger,” the soldier said. “I can’t stay and talk. The whole fortress, including the generals and the marshal, must man their posts.” The man immediately ran off to a nearby focus point and began channeling his energy.

  “Damn it all,” Feng Ming yelled. He flew toward the war room. In the process, he crossed General Qin, who was running off to a nearby focus point. “And where are you going?” he asked the burly general.

  “My qi may be weak,” General Qin said, “but I can take backlash better than anyone else here. I’ll do what I can to help everyone through this assault.”

  “No, you won’t,” Feng Ming said. “As a deputy marshal, I’m commandeering you.” Then he threw out a red token with black lines. “I need you to find the hundred strongest fighters you know within a quarter hour. I also need you to go to the quartermaster and take all their inferno flasks, fire-based talismans, and as many frost shield or similar talismans as you can find.”

  “But—” General Qin started.

  “No buts!” Feng Ming said. “The marshal gave me this cape for a reason, and I’m going to use it.”

  General Qin saluted and ran off while Feng Ming continued to the war room. When he entered, he saw that several focus points were hovering before each of the generals, who sat in meditation and channeled their qi to defend the fortress. Only Marshal Yong and Deputy Marshal Mo were still pensively looking at the map while trying to find a way out. Occasionally they would use their qi to send out probing shots at the cannons with some of the fortress’s offensive formations. Unfortunately, each of the cannons was protected by a hemispherical shield that deflected any blows from their direction.

  “Deputy Feng,” Marshal Yong said. “Have you thought of something?” An eager glint had appeared in his eyes.

  “Marshal Yong, this deputy requests your permission to mobilize one hundred troops through the teleportation array,” Feng Ming said. “Our target is the spider cannons!”

  “That’s madness,” Deputy Mo interjected. “Marshal, we’ve only conducted testing up to groups of ten because it was inhumane to send so many good men to their deaths. A group of ten only had fifty-percent odds of success, and it was speculated that a group of a hundred would reduce the odds to one tenth. Failure would mean the death of a hundred of our best combatants!”

  Several generals who were busy funneling their qi in the formations mumbled in agreement.

  Marshal Yong, on the other hand, looked at Feng Ming thoughtfully. “How confident are you in this gamble? And what’s your plan when you get there?”

  “I’d gamble my own life away in a heartbeat,” Feng Ming said. “While I’m hesitant to gamble away the lives of our men, I don’t see any better options for us. The reason I stayed at the reception hall was because it gave me a special feeling. I think this is a turning point for the battle. I’ve already sent General Qin to recruit the men and procure as many explosives and defensive items as he can lay his hands on. When we get there, we’ll destroy those cannons and try our hardest to survive.”

  Marshal Yong took a deep breath before nodding. “This is why I assigned you as deputy marshal. I approve of this mission.”

  “Marshal, please reconsider!” Deputy Marshal Mo said.

  “It’s decided,” Marshal Yong said decisively.

  At this moment, General Qin returned with a hundred scar-covered soldiers who had fought in many battles. Many of them weren’t high ranking, but Feng Ming could tell that their levels of qi and physical strength far exceeded even many of the generals here.

  “Captain Tong?” one of the generals in the war room said. “When did you break through?”

  “Just this morning.” The man called Captain Tong grinned. “I had a lucky breakthrough. Funny enough, Sergeant Shen broke through as well.”

  “Wait, you just broke through this morning as well?” another man in the group of men said. They looked at each other with wide eyes.

  “Can everyone who broke through this morning raise their hand?” All hundred men, and even a surprised General Qin raised his hand.

  “Do you still have any objections, Deputy Mo?” Marshal Yong said dryly. Seeing Deputy Mo’s confused expression, he chuckled. “You don’t need to understand, you just need to obey orders. Please bring Deputy Feng and these men to the departure hall for teleportation. Follow Deputy Feng’s instructions to the letter.”

  Chapter 28: Surprise

  As the hundred men and two generals marched to the departure hall, they set up a rough pecking order and divided the men into ten-man units. The two generals would carry the explosives while the individual men would carry the shielding talismans. They would escort and protect the generals as they did their best to destroy the cannons.

  The technician looked on in confusion when they entered the departure hall. “Send them to these coordinates,” Deputy Mo said as he handed the balding man a folded sheet of paper.

  The old man paled when he read the sheet but nodded. “You are aware of the risks involved, correct?”

  “Naturally,” Deputy Mo said. “But these are the marshal’s orders and are not to be questioned. I want these men gone as soon as possible.”

  “Very well,” the technician said. “Have them ready to go. In an incense time, I’ll send them out.”

  Meanwhile, the men were all laughing and joking as they awaited their imminent demise. They were under no illusions about their odds of survival, even if they succeeded in their mission. “Who would have thought we’d have the luck to go out on a final desperate charge with the Lucky General. How many do you think we’ll kill?”

  “At least twenty thousand,” a man said. “Otherwise we’ll be dragging his reputation through the dirt.

  “That’s fair,” another man said. “By the way, what kind of defensive goodies did you get?”

  “Me?” one of them answered. “I got an Earth Shield Talisman. What about you?”

  “An Earth Shield Talisman? What shitty luck, I also got one.”

  “Wait, you got a few of those as well? Aren’t those useless in hand-to-hand combat?” Captain Tong said. “Can everyone else who got Earth Shield Talismans raise their hand?”

  Everyone did.

  “I thought I told you to get Ice Shield Talismans or something like that?” Feng Ming said.

  “I’m sorry, I thought that they said ice shield,” General Qin said. “If you think about it, both characters look very similar.”

  “Similar, my ass!” Feng Ming said angrily. “They look nothing alike! How the hell did someone like you become a general? Deputy Mo? Cancel the teleportation, we need to get something.”

  “Right away!” the old technician said. As he reached toward the “abort” formation, however, he accidentally tripped. His hand ran past it and reached another formation, the “launch formation.” A white glow rapidly filled the room.

  “Can you stop it?” Deputy Mo asked.

  “I’m afraid not,” the technician said as they looked at the expanding white diagram. “In fact, I didn’t get to input all the coordinates. It would be a miracle if they end up where they’re supposed to.”

  Deputy Mo sighed. “Godspeed, General Feng!” he yelled.

  Meanwhile, Feng Ming and the others readied their weapons as they prepared for their surprise teleportation. The white glow intensified, and Feng Ming gasped as he was whisked away by gray spatial light along with the 101 others. They screamed in unison as their surroundings jolted before they appeared somewhere to the south.

  They rubbed their eyes as the light faded, only to realize that they were surrounded by men in red armor who looked at them with slacked jaws. Feng Ming was the first to regain his bearings. He realized they’d appeared in an empty parade ground where the opposing army ran drills. He looked around and soon located
what they were looking for—the five cannons and the sixth cannon that had yet to finish being constructed. As soon as it was complete, it would join the others and break through Southhaven Fortress’s defenses.

  “What are you all standing around for?” Feng Ming yelled. “Charge!”

  His yell was echoed by the battle-hardened veterans beside him as they realized that not only had they survived, but they’d caught their enemies flat-footed and unprepared. Feng Ming and General Qin led the charge. Feng Ming’s steps were swift and his spear incisive; he covered their group in a defensive molten cloud. General Qin’s 10,000-jin greatsword, which was twice as tall as him, cleaved through large swaths of men, mounts, and machinery as they advanced.

  In sixty breaths, they had covered half the distance to the cannons. Feng Ming casually tossed out an explosive flask, a single-use alchemical item that would detonate upon impact. It landed on a nearby wagon that carried a spare cannon. Pieces of shrapnel flew out toward nearby enemy troops. Conveniently, the large cannon landed on one of the few obscure black tents belonging to the Spirit Temple.

  “Keep at it, men!” Feng Ming shouted. None of the hundred had fallen yet. They unloaded technique after technique, strike after strike toward the tender opening in their opponents’ formation. Every strike felled three or four elite troops.

  “Deputy, I found a weapons shack!” a man yelled.

  “Stow away any weapons you find, and destroy any combustible goods,” Feng Ming shouted, tossing out three other bundles of explosives.

  This time, a large wind swept them up and brought them directly to the Spirit Temple tents. Dark crimson plumes emerged and let out tens of thousands of agonized wails. The screams sent shivers through Feng Ming’s spine. At the same time, he noticed a large amount of merit rushing toward him. The men in the tents were incomparably evil—it was no wonder that fate wanted them dead so badly as to push the explosives in their direction.