by Yuri Ajin
“What do you mean dead? He was right there with us!” Lily said. “Did you kill him? Or did something happen?”
“No.” Kai shook his head. “Jiang Si died in the hive.”
Everyone seemed shocked.
“Died in the...? He was right there with us!” Elize protested. “Are you saying that it wasn’t him with us on the plane? Who was it then?”
“No one except you noticed this,” Shacks added. “Why are you mentioning it just now?”
“I’ve only recently realized. After the fight in the hive, we all forgot about someone,” Kai said.
“About whom?” Diamond asked.
“About the worm in that guy’s brain.”
Elize opened her mouth to argue, but froze. As did everyone else. No one seemed to be able to figure out just why they had forgotten about this. If Kai hadn’t mentioned it, they were sure that they wouldn’t have remembered either the parasite or the guy it had been controlling.
“I assume that it, or its host, influenced our minds with some kind of technique, making us forget about it,” Kai said.
“But what does this have to do with Jiang Si”? Diamond asked.
“I see…” Shacks spoke before Kai could answer. “So, you’re saying that Jiang Si was killed by that worm and that his body was used as its new vessel?”
“Exactly.” Kai nodded. “Urion said that even a peak-stage Holy Lord wouldn’t be able to detect the Lighthouse. But our pursuer somehow still managed to track us down even after changing course. So I wondered — what if someone was transmitting a subtle signal to it directly from the plane?”
“You’re right…” Shacks’s eyes widened. “In such a case, one could see through the Lighthouse’s invisibility.” He sighed and then smiled. “So that’s why you insisted on your plan...”
“Yes. It was only when we took off that I noticed that something strange was going on with Jiang Si. It felt like his body was emitting something... odd. Just don’t ask me how I noticed it,” Kai added. He didn’t want to talk about his energy vision. “I brushed it off as a coincidence at first, but when the insectoid appeared near the plane, I started connecting the dots. It was then that I discovered that it was the one transmitting the strange signal. After observing Jiang Si a little more, I realized that his aura was slightly different. And then I remembered the parasite. I killed Jiang Si before jumping off so that we could leave the plane safely.”
“But why didn’t you tell us about it before?” Lily asked.
“Don’t ask stupid questions. He didn’t want to make a fuss about it. If the parasite figured out that it was discovered, it would’ve reported it to its boss,” Shacks replied instead of Kai.
Lily shot him a glare, but then abruptly turned away.
“He’s right. I wanted the worm to believe that everything was going according to plan.”
“Hmm... Interesting. Fascinating as this theory is, do you have any proof? What if the worm is in your head, and you killed Jiang Si to save your ass?” Elize asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Calm down,” Kai replied, turning to her. Putting his hand into the hidden pocket of his robes, he took out the black pea, which began to grow rapidly. “If you need proof, it’s here. You just need to enter.”
***
Fifteen minutes later, having seen the proof of Kai’s story, they headed east until they finally reached the Novosibirsk highway. Considering their average speed, their journey promised to take no more than two hours.
“Well, since we have time... Let me tell you what I found out about that tattoo you mentioned,” Rune’Tan picked up where he had left off.
This story began long before Rune’Tan himself and even the last emperor of Belteise, back when the empire had just acquired its divine status. Its then ruler was the first in their history to achieve the Divine Stage of cultivation. It was in that era that the rapid development of their state began.
With it, the golden age of cultivation began.
Every millennium brought more talented people to Belteise. Next to them, the heroes of the past seemed mediocre. And among them, he was born — the greatest adventurer, traveler, and general of the Divine Empire of Belteise — Eurian Sky Tread, Unbreakable Pillar of the Obsidian Throne.
Eurian was born in one insignificant, but old aristocratic family that had been fortunate enough to have landed in Belteise’s main world. By the age of eight, Eurian had finished tempering his body, and by ten, his mind. At twelve, he reached the Source Creation level, thanks to which he was able to get into the empire’s best school, where he became the youngest student in its entire history.
After two and a half years, Eurian became an Exorcist. It was then that his life as a great warrior began.
At twenty, reaching the middle of the Exorcist Stage, he left the school to join the Imperial army. Thanks to his talent, achievements, status, and knowledge gained during his training, he was immediately given the rank of a junior officer, after which he was sent to one of the distant worlds, which Belteise had captured a few centuries ago.
The conditions in this world were extremely harsh. The place was crawling with monsters and was uninhabited by any sort of intelligent life forms, which gave those who visited it only two options — to die or become stronger. Eurian possessed immense talent, but he had spent twenty years within the safety of the capital’s walls. The time had come to see if he could make it in the real world.
Eurian decided to take the chance, and came out as the winner. For twenty years, he fought day after day, gained strength, and honed his skills. By the end of this expedition, he was an Elementalist.
And then the head of his family summoned him home, where he ordered him to act as the family’s representative in the upcoming tournament.
He gladly accepted.
The tournament helped Eurian to discover a new kind of power, gave him the opportunity to combine twenty years of cultivation experience, and made his name known throughout the empire. He became not just the strongest among the initial-level Elementalists, but the strongest among all the Elementalists of Belteise.
Being only at the initial stage, he was able to achieve not only the perfect understanding of the Force of Fusion on the path of Spear and Lightning, but he also created his own Wind Sphere. Thanks to his hard work, Eurian could now fight, and even win, against peak-stage Elementalists.
The best imperial cultivators could no longer sit idly and keep turning a blind eye to the existence of someone as powerful as Eurian. Even the emperor became interested in him, so he invited him to join the Holy Legion.
Eurian wasn’t interested in status, wealth, fame, or power. He longed for only two things — traveling and fighting. And the Holy Legion — the strongest military force in the Belteise Empire — could provide both.
Joining the Legion marked the beginning of a new chapter in his life. He grew stronger, developed, explored new worlds, and fought against various opponents. Once he had reached the last level of the Holy Lord Stage, the System gave him a new name — Eurian Sky Tread. During this time, he discovered a new hobby — writing. He began to record stories about his adventures, and his books became incredibly popular in the empire. He became an example for a great number of young people. Wishing to follow in the footsteps of their hero, they, too, joined the army.
One day, the Holy Legion stumbled upon a world with two Gates. One led back to Belteise, but the other was closed. However, the key was still inside. Following the emperor’s order, the Gates were opened, which led the Legion to a new world called the Mid-Northwest Crossroads.
And that day everything changed.
The Empire of Belteise met worthy opponents for the first time in the history of its existence.
This new world was where the interests of three powerful divine organizations (a sect, a clan, and an empire), striving for expansion, intersected. And Belteise became the fourth competitor.
The four forces entered a bloody war that lasted for three thousand years
, and which greatly weakened one of the parties. Realizing that they had a chance to get rid of one of the competitors, the other three forces began to put more pressure on it, eager to finally obtain a way to a new corner of the Ecumene. During the decisive battle, the losing party used one of its oldest and strongest artifacts, filled to the brim with the power of hundreds of thousands of their own soldiers.
This move put an end to the three-thousand-year war.
The huge planet called Mid-Northwest Crossroads was almost completely destroyed. All the Gates that ever led to it disappeared. The Holy Legion and a part of the Imperial army were declared dead. Peace finally came to Belteise. However, it came at a great price.
Time passed. The first emperor, who had ruled for more than a hundred thousand years, abdicated in favor of his son. Having passed the throne to the prince, he left Belteise.
Several centuries later, a legendary warrior suddenly appeared in one of the worlds.
Eurian Sky Tread had returned.
He had not only survived but also managed to achieve divine status. However, when he returned to his homeland, people were frightened rather than glad to see him. For most of them, he was nothing more than an old legend, which they heard about from their great-grandparents. Who knew what he wished and what he was capable of?
When he appeared, Eurian proclaimed that he didn’t come to take the throne. He didn’t blame Belteise for not even trying to look for their fallen. And he didn’t demand anything from the empire. Instead, he knelt down and swore to the new emperor and childhood friend that he’d protect the empire and its ruler once more. After that, he again became a loyal citizen of the empire and told his story to all who wished to hear it.
On that fateful day, an hour before the battle, one of the Legion’s scouts reported that their opponents were planning to use some sort of a powerful artifact, which only confirmed Eurian’s assumptions. An uneasiness had been gnawing at his chest for days now, and his inner voice told him that something terrible was about to happen and that they needed to escape.
Unfortunately, too many of the officers were blinded by the possibility of victory, so his pleas fell on deaf ears. Eurian had no choice but to obey his superiors, even though his inner voice was screaming at him to run away.
He decided to do something about it on his own.
When the battle began, Eurian and his men had only one goal in mind — to get to the nearest of the four Gates.
However, they had nowhere to hide on the enemy territory, so they had to fight their way through the enemy lines. A lot of blood had been spilled even before they managed to reach the Gates and escape. But, unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of their troubles.
It took them a very long time to flee. Centuries, or even millennia. The ruling sect possessed no fewer worlds than Belteise, which forced the Legion to flee from world to world. Not a day went without a battle, and their ranks began to thin out.
They all wanted to go home, but out of hundred warriors, only one survived. Eurian, who had reached divine status during the journey, finally returned to Belteise.
After that, he was appointed general of the Imperial guard. Not only because he was a great warrior, but also because, like this, they could keep an eye on him.
With time, Eurian earned the full trust of the imperial family and was given the title of the Unbreakable Pillar of the Obsidian Throne, for his service to as many as three emperors.
Simon Starlight was the last emperor, under whose rule Belteise suddenly collapsed.
Following the advice of his inner voice, Eurian never became Simon’s servant. Instead, he left the empire the day before Simon’s coronation, leaving behind all his belongings, except for his beloved spear. Nobody saw him leave, but there was no trace of him anywhere in the empire.
His last story, written in the journal found in his house, described a part of the Holy Legion’s journey that he never told to anyone before. It said that looking for a way home, Eurian and his fifteen companions went to a nearby world in hopes that they’d find their way home from there. The inhabitants of the previous world strongly advised them not to go there, but the warriors decided to take a chance as they had little choice.
The new world greeted them with some kind of dark energy and Forces that negatively influenced them. Having nowhere else to go, however, they decided to explore this unusual place. Judging by the many artifacts and ruins they found, it used to be a home of a powerful civilization. But now it was a desolate wasteland.
But what made their blood run cold was the fact that the sun didn’t shine there. No matter how long they waited, the night didn’t end. The only light was coming from a huge moon looming above them.
Having realized that there was nothing of importance in this place, except for rare artifacts, they decided to return to the previous planet. But before they did so, Eurian found a temple that was remarkably well preserved. Inside it was a portal leading straight to the world’s moon.
In his journal, Eurian wrote that he still had no idea what made him pour energy into the portal, but he activated it. It transferred him to the entrance of a strange palace. To his surprise, the moon’s atmosphere was suitable for life.
And then he felt something calling to him. An unknown presence forced him to enter the palace, in the depths of which he found a mummy wrapped in chains. He could swear that the metal was so strong that even the emperor wouldn’t be able to damage it.
Moving closer, he realized that the dark Force that ruled this world was emanating from the mummy, which, as it turned out, was still alive.
“You will do...” it spoke as a large tattoo of five multi-colored eyes appeared on its chest. “You have incredible talent… I can help you develop it... Come here...”
As if possessed, Eurian did as he was told. The chained man raised his withered arms with a rattle and put his finger to the warrior’s forehead. A stream of knowledge rushed into his mind, and the same five-eyed mark appeared on his hand.
“Now, you are my apprentice...”
In one thousand and one years, Eurian reached the first divine level. Then, he was finally able to fulfill his mentor’s wish — to break the shackles that bound him to this cursed place.
The chains fell down with a clang, and Eurian was transported back to the planet in time to observe its moon disappear.
“Here’s your last gift…” his mentor’s voice spoke, and he was bestowed with a detailed map of the middle, far, and peripheral worlds of the Ecumene. “If you want to know more, go to the center...”
When Eurian’s journal reached the court, the officials disregarded the story as the babbling of a lunatic, traumatized by years spent in battle.
“Is that all?” Kai asked when Rune’Tan took a break.
“Not really. The epilogue mentions a war,” he replied.
“Interesting. And what does it say?”
“Long story short, there was a war between three incredibly powerful parties, who had many soldiers of divine status. According to Eurian, or rather, his mentor, who told him this, the war took place in the previous era and affected the entirety of the Ecumene,” Rune’Tan said. “Symbol of one of those parties were five eyes.”
The redhead fell silent, and Kai pondered.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” Rune’Tan added. “One of those three parties called themselves Or’Drok Oka Yashnir.”
The image of the azure cube, the statue inside it, and the amazing dream Kai had had that day resurfaced in his memory.
Chapter 23
THE CULT OF FORCE
After arriving in Novosibirsk, they met with a local military group that consisted of a couple dozen Mind Stage soldiers. The hosts, instantly realizing the gap between them and the guests, remained calm and reserved, as the newcomers didn’t seem to be hostile.
Diamond negotiated with the head of the group, who then contacted the authorities, and told them that they were allowed to enter. After a while, a couple of Exorcists arrived to
escort the guests to the city.
“To be honest, we expected to see a plane,” said a large, dark-haired man who introduced himself as Dmitry Kovalev, major-general of the Russian Liberation Army.
The armed forces of the former Russian Federation were among the few that were lucky to survive the chaos that followed the System’s appearance. Over time, they managed to clear many cities from Demonids and gangs, and then to unite into a single organization. That is, they managed to unite only the area stretching from the Pacific to the Urals. In the western regions, where there used to be many large cities, including the former capital, Moscow, the power was in the hands of several rather strong clans and guilds. These regions were the most populated ones and their representatives didn’t seem interested in joining the RLA. Instead, they pursued their own goals.
“Unfortunately we had to leave the plane early,” Diamond replied, without providing any further explanation.
“I see. Alright. Come, the bus is waiting to take you to the city.”
Once they were at the city center, they were placed in a former hotel and told to wait, while Diamond left to negotiate with the head of the army, taking only a couple of Union soldiers with him. They returned a few hours later.
“So, how did it go? Did they tell you where the tower is?” Kai asked as Diamond entered the hotel lobby.
“Not really...” He sighed.
As it turned out, the Russian army knew nothing about the Gates. They didn’t know about their purpose, nor their location. However, the RLA’s intelligence group heard news about a strange structure that suddenly appeared after the System had arrived. This information came from one of the spies who had infiltrated the ranks of the so-called Cult of Force — a religious and extremist organization that occupied the vast territories of the Far North. Currently, this organization was the main opponent of the RLA.
Two weeks ago, a rather large aircraft landed near one of the Cult’s cities, carrying a group of incredibly powerful cultivators.
