Savage Divinity

Dire though the circumstances might be, Taduk’s heart leapt with joy at the prospect of having yet another Ascension to study, marking this the third he’d been blessed enough to witness firsthand.

The first was almost two decades ago, when little Lin-Lin transformed from a Cloud Chaser Hare into the most darling and adorable daughter in the world. Not only was this his most cherished moment in history, it was also the most enlightening experience he’d ever encountered. Until now at least, for Zhen Shi’s Ascension was equally enlightening, but only because he’d seen Lin-Lin’s and Vyakhya’s first. If not, he would have no basis for comparison and nothing to contrast this unprecedented event against. Where Lin-Lin’s Ascension was organic and natural, Vyakhya’s was unnatural and forced, an affront to the Heavens which resisted his efforts to Ascend every step along the way. For all the strife and struggle the Heavens threw his way, the Demonic Divinity still succeeded in spite of it, and Zhen Shi’s Ascension was similar in this manner, yet wholly different as well, both familiar and unrecognizable like a song played in reverse with half the notes played out of tune.

The process was more or less the same for all three Ascensions, though the means and methods differed greatly. Essentially, to become a Divinity, one first had to be reborn and baptized anew by the Energy of the Heavens. As far as Taduk could tell, the Manifested Domain served a similar purpose to a woman’s womb, wherein it was used to nurture and refine the subject’s body, mind, and soul in order to endure the stress that comes with Shattering the Void and the deluge of Heavenly Energy alongside it. He knew now that this was the Refinement process, though Taduk suspected that undergoing this step so late was a mistake given how Spiritual Beasts began the process much earlier on, resulting in the formation of Spiritual Hearts. Yes, Hearts, as in multiple, for as far as he could tell, Pong Pong’s entire body and organs were all technically Spiritual Hearts, making him a teensy tiny treasure trove for any Warriors under twenty centimetres tall. Granted, Lin-Lin’s progress as a Cloud Chaser Hare had not been so far advanced, lacking quite a bit in comparison to the most Divine of turtles, but the theory was still sound. Despite Pong Pong’s success however, there was still something missing considering the fact that even a Divine Beast such as he was not yet ready to wholly Shatter the Void and ascend to a new plane, but thus far, all signs indicated that the Refinement and unification of the body, mind, and soul were all pivotal to success.

A suspicion proven quite readily by Zhen Shi himself, who went through this same process as he Shattered the Void outright, though not without all the fuss of what others called the foul gaze of the Father Above. Taduk had long since theorized that this was merely a Manifested Domain containing Laws which should not be present in this world, a bending of the rules as such. That’s why Demonic Transformations always felt wrong and unsettling, whereas Lin-Lin’s Ascension was beautiful and pure, the beauty of birth without all the mess of blood and other fluids, only the raw, unfiltered Energies of the Heavens themselves. There could be other reasons for this disparity, such as the direction the process took, in that an Ancestral Beast was a creature of the physical world with roots extending into the metaphysical, whereas a Demon was the reverse, but Taduk didn’t know enough about the subject to really comment on the matter, much less come up with a possible theory. This one belonged to Rainy boy in fact, which was mostly based on wild conjecture, so while it made enough sense to seem plausible for now, they lacked the means to prove or disprove the theory just yet.

Right up until Zhen Shi started and finished his own Ascension in a matter of seconds, and Taduk witnessed two ostensibly parallel and divergent Paths come together to form a complete whole, a process which drew upon the Void even as it drew upon him.

How irksome. Zhen Shi understood simply from watching Vyakhya’s Ascension to a Demonic Divinity, but Taduk needed the answers presented to him in complete form. Well, perhaps not entirely complete, for though Zhen Shi’s Ascension was less flawed than most, Taduk would still hesitate to call it a True Ascension to Divinity, for he was still mortal yet. Powerful yes, with a presence that outstripped even the Demonic Divinity and continued to soar as the old wolf took the fight to his foe, but it was far too soon to act. Rainy boy’s fault for getting ahead of himself instead of waiting to see things through. No matter, for he was young and impulsive, while the old wolf had no such excuse as he followed suit without thinking and landed himself in hot soup. Though the ‘foul gaze of the Father’ had fallen off, this was no regular Demonic transformation, so the unnatural Laws were only necessary for part of the process and there was still more to go. The Energy of the Heavens continued to surge into Zhen Shi, remaking and reforging his very existence, the power of Creation and Destruction both building him up to something greater than what he was, and for the first time in Taduk’s long life, he was finally able to catch a glimpse of what the Dao might look like in its entirety.

Rainy boy likened his pursuit of the Dao as trying to put together a puzzle without knowing what it should look like or having all the pieces in hand, as apt a comparison as any. Taduk saw things the same way, except now, he knew enough to not only put together most of the pieces he had in hand, but also make an educated guess regarding the pieces he was still missing. In short, as Zhen Shi fended off the old wolf’s attacks with the effortless ease of one bolstered by the Energy of the Heavens remaking his physical and metaphysical form, Taduk watched it all come together like the weaving of a tapestry controlled by ten-thousand different hands, a most fitting description Rainy boy once used which Taduk could never get enough of. This was not the mere movement of needle and thread, but rather the creation of reality itself, and though it appeared as if it violated Rainy boy’s law of conservation of mass, this was only because there were energies in play that Taduk was unable to perceive much less identify.

It was so easily seen once both Paths converged, for it had long since been theorized that Imperials and Defiled were but two sides of the same coin. After putting them both together however, the interaction between the two Paths showed that there were clearly still more powers at work, not just Creation and Destruction, but something even more profound and ineffable interwoven between them to complete the union of two Paths. It wasn’t something so fundamental as the glue that held it all together, but Taduk could see that without it, this Ascension would be no different from what he saw from Lin-Lin or Vyakhya, an ultimately flawed process that resulted in something less than a True Divinity and little better than your standard Ancestral Beast or Human Divinity. It was part and parcel of the whole, yet not required for the process at all, a curious and almost conflicting circumstance indeed, like building a wooden bridge and placing every other plank aside, resulting in something that was still serviceable, but not quite as sturdy. At least that was how Taduk saw it, for this unknown energy seeped into the cracks and crevices of Zhen Shi’s tapestry, the concrete to the rebar frames to put it into better perspective, or perhaps even taking it one step further to add crushed cobble to the mix and further add to the wall’s tensile strength.

All of which was only apparent due to the negative ‘space’ Zhen Shi’s efforts left behind, for try as he might, Taduk was unable to see or sense any other energies at work despite knowing they must be present.

It was something of an abstract concept, like negative numbers except even more so. It was impossible to possess a negative amount of anything, but such concepts were necessary to denote incurred debts. This unknown energy was the same, in that it wasn’t exactly present, but the absence its presence left behind was telling and significant in a way Taduk didn’t entirely understand. There was power there to be sure, power drawn from this perfect Balance of Creation and Destruction, positive and negative, physical and metaphysical, and more, but he was at a complete loss as to how it might come into play, save to state that it most surely existed.

Bah. If only Taduk had been three steps quicker to catch Ping Ping’s ascension and see how it played out from start to finish, then he might well have had all the answers he needed here today. How could one harness the twin powers of Creation and Destruction in perfect Balance without them cancelling one another out to result in a stalemate? Why did Spiritual Beasts turn into humanoid Ancestral Beasts instead of bestial Divine Beasts like Pong Pong? In what direction should he take his next steps along his own personal Path? What was this newfangled energy and did it have something to do with why the old wolf was old and why humans only lived for a hundred and twenty years while demi-humans lived for five-hundred? There was so much to learn and study, Taduk could almost dance with glee if not for the fact that he was now standing before the most powerful foe he’d ever seen and might well not make it out of here alive.

That would truly be a shame, to have come so close to a proper answer only to die before he could put it all together, but alas, such was life.

Keeping an eye on things through Scrying so that he could review it all again later, Taduk looked down at his sweet daughter and hugged her close. At first, she hugged him back on mere reflex, until she sensed something off about him and squeezed him even tighter. Though he wished nothing more than to hold her for forever and a day, he saw that the old wolf was outmatched and would need help soon enough, especially seeing how the likes of Zhu Chanzui, Mataram YuKon, and the other Enemy Divinities were getting ready to act. Pulling back from his daughter’s embrace, he tried to stay strong as she clung to his hand and peered up with her big, brown eyes, like limpid autumn pools threatening to overflow with tears for fear of what would come next. “Don’t cry now, my brave and beautiful Lin-Lin,” he crooned, pinching her soft cheeks before breaking eye contact for fear of spilling tears of his own. “Give Daddy a smile or else I’ll be too worried to concentrate.” Giving Blackjack a little nuzzle as he kissed Lin-Lin’s head goodbye, he took a moment to commit her teary smile to memory before flashing her a smile of his own, and praying she didn’t see the tears streaming down his cheeks, for he feared he might not make it out of this mess alive.

Much as he would love to bid Rainy boy farewell too, he was engrossed in controlling his flying sword and studying Zhen Shi’s Ascension, so he was best left undisturbed lest he miss out on some vital piece of information. There was something about the way he saw things that made it oh so applicable to the Dao, though Taduk had no earthly idea how or where the boy came up with all his wild notions and theories. No matter though, for even if Taduk died here today, Rainy boy was beloved by the Heavens and would likely make it out alive, hopefully with Lin-Lin and a few others at his side.

This was no longer his fight, but a battle between Divinities, and Taduk was unwilling to give up even if it meant breaking the Treaty in its entirety.

The old wolf had given it his all in the seconds since the battle began, but Zhen Shi had hardly paid him any mind, anchored in place whilst unravelling the mysteries of the Dao as the Energy of the Heavens remade him in body, mind, and soul. As noted before, there was more to it than just Heavenly Energy, and not all of it was unrecognizable, leading Taduk to reaffirm his conviction that Imperials were missing out on so much by disregarding the Defiled branch of the Martial Path. An obvious conclusion to make, given how Balance was so pivotal to the Dao, but even then it was difficult to understand how a Path of medians and a Path of extremes could come together so perfectly in Zhen Shi’s Ascension. Alas, the time for contemplation was over and done with, and now it was time to fight, but Taduk was not the first Divinity to step forth and support the old wolf in his fight.

That honour went to sweet and somewhat crazed Ling Lu, a fine woman and Ancestral Deer who’d made it her mission to bed Taduk for the sole purpose of one-upping Hua Lie. Though beautiful and shapely, she was little more than a girl in his eyes despite her centuries of life, so he never was too too tempted by her advances, but he was more tempted than ever upon seeing her courage and determination here today. Amongst all the gathered Divinities, she was the youngest and weakest save for Lin-Lin, yet she did not hesitate to put herself in harms way to save the man she saw as her father. The old wolf was a gruff and unsociable sort, but deep, deep, deep down, hidden under all his disdain and hurtful comments, was a soft heart that loved his people so. Only a select few were ever able to worm their way into his good graces, and Ling Lu was most certainly one of the most favoured, a spoiled girl who ran rampant throughout the province because she knew her adopted father would protect her without fail.

A headstrong girl, though she could hardly be faulted for turning the Ancestral Stag Ba Khe Zhu against them. They’d been friends once, or at least as friendly as two Divinities could be, but now Ba Khe Zhu was racing forward in an eager bid to take the old wolf’s head instead of standing side by side on the battlefield. Theirs was a rivalry older even than Taduk, which made Ba Khe Zhu’s interest in Ling Lu all the more distasteful, but much like how stupid Hua Lie refused to acknowledge the difference between rabbits and hares, the Ancestral Stag was convinced that a union with Ling Lu would result in a viable and suitable heir. It wouldn’t. Though she was a deer and he a stag, that was only in name, as Ling Lu’s ancestry hearkened back to a breed of ungulates common to North, while Ba Khe Zhu was from a long extinct breed that originated from the Central Plains. They were as different as lions and tigers, both from the same family but not the same breed, which had long since been proven to be an unviable pairing between Divinities. An experiment Da Hui had not been pleased about mind you, though he happily bedded the Ancestral Black Bear despite being a Grizzly himself, but even if Ling Lu and Ba Khe Zhu were able to have children together, then he should at least wait until she was willing.

Which meant it came as no surprise when the Ancestral Stag’s attack on the old wolf was revealed as a feint, one made only so that he could get closer to Ling Lu and capture her. Though helpless to defend herself against him, she flashed a smile at her assailant as her protective ‘older brother’ struck Ba Khe Zhu down and sent him crashing to the sands below. Whirling his staff about faster than Taduk’s eyes could follow, the golden-furred WuKong smashed the Ancestral Stag time and time again while shouting all manner of meaningless drivel, revealing his true strength for the first time in centuries and earning himself a place alongside his Mentor and father figure, the old wolf. Already, the old wolf had shown that his fangs had not dulled, and now the world would know that his mind was keen as ever, for there was no Divinity alive who’d raised more promising Disciples than he, whether it be Peak Experts or Divinities alike.

A shame the ornery old mutt refused to teach Taduk anything of value, but to be fair, he didn’t teach Hua Lie either and she was powerful enough to rival him. The Ancestral Rabbit was true to her nature as she charged headlong into the fray, embodying the same reckless and foolhardy tactics as her flea-bitten vermin cousins. At least she didn’t strike with her head, though she might as well have for all the good it did her, a punch containing more force than Taduk could ever hope to match blocked by little more than a wave of Zhen Shi’s hand. Perhaps it had to do with metaphysical mass, another of Rainy boy’s theories that made too much sense to ignore, but not enough to understand the picture as a whole. With the Energy of the Heavens still surging through him, Zhen Shi possessed far more mass and presence than any two Divinities combined, and it was only growing with each passing second.

Which was why Taduk was unwilling to delay any longer to build up a more powerful strike, and instead unleashed the power of the Explosive Wind upon his foe, a move he spent the last few hours practicing in order to use here now.

A terrible name which put him in mind of a fart, and it had much the same effect, a loud noise but no real lasting harm as Zhen Shi continued to ignore his surroundings. That had to be aggravating for the old wolf, and it irked Taduk no small amount either, to be dismissed out of hand as if no threat at all. In fact, the only attacks Zhen Shi truly paid heed to were Rainy boy’s, as the Uniter pivoted about to keep an eye on the flying sword and catch it every time it came close. Why though? How was it possible for Rainy boy’s sword to pose more of a threat than Hua Lie or old wolf’s domineering attacks? The latter had even gone so far as to disregard the Treaty and was unleashing his full strength while manifesting his Domain to suppress Heaven’s Wrath, yet Zhen Shi allowed those attacks to land on bare skin and moved not a single step from where he stood.

Until he did, staggering back with a brief look of shock and rancour directed at none other than the Abbot.

Pursing his lips in what Lin-Lin would call a pout but was most certainly not, Taduk set a portion of his mind to unravelling the mysteries of the Abbot’s attack and Rainy boy’s sword while simultaneously picking out a target from amongst the Enemy Divinities, who’d finally arrived to support the Uniter. The Abbot wielded empty hands as he waved his arms about, yet Zhen Shi retreated as if the old monk was hurling flaming poop about and could not bear to be dirtied or set aflame. Was this the same unseen and unsensed energy from Zhen Shi’s Ascension? If so, then why had the Abbot not undergone a more complete Ascension as well? Strange that, but battle was hardly conducive to study of the Dao, and he had to focus on the enemy before him.

With matters quickly spiralling out of hand, it was all up to Rainy boy and the old wolf to prevent the worst-case scenario, but things were not looking bright. All it would take was one errant strike to set off an explosion of Divinity-level attacks, and miracle-maker though Rainy boy might be, even Taduk had no faith in his beloved student and son-in-law to prevent Shi Bei from going up in flames. Much as he would love to run off with Lin-Lin and Rainy boy, the cold, harsh truth of the matter was that if they didn’t stop Zhen Shi here and now, then there might no longer be anywhere safe left to run to. Such a shame, but Taduk would fight tooth and nail to keep this calamity from taking place as he unleashed the full force of his Blessing of Cloud to call forth a storm powerful enough to hamper even the Divinities before him, or possibly unleash Heaven’s Wrath to clear them all away.

For Taduk was of the illustrious lineage of a Cloud Chaser Hare, and it was his right as King of the Skies to go out on his own terms.

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“Halt.”

A single word with the weight of a mountain behind it, a compelling command Vithar dared not disobey. More accurate to claim that the thought of disregarding this command never once entered into mind, the urge to comply so natural and instinctive that he only realized it after he turned his garo about and headed back towards Shi Bei. The world stood still as Vithar’s tribesmen and so-called allies did the same, a chaotic rout of millions stopped in an instant. There’d been no fear in his heart as he rode away from the city, only an eager determination to return to Asmani’s side, but all that was gone now as the command took over his every thought and instinct and left him no recourse but to obey.

The Ancestors had fallen suspiciously silent, a deafening stillness disturbed only by the wafting wind blowing over the hot desert sands. Though they’d gone quiet before, their silence this time was not from a lull in their whispers, but from their complete and utter absence, one which left an emptiness inside him and left him yearning for their familiar presence. He couldn’t remember a time when he didn’t have the Ancestors with him, whether it be to guide his steps or annoy him with their incessant blathering in the background, but now their voices were no more and their whereabouts unknown. Their absence left him dazed and dismayed as if poised just over the precipice of a steep cliff, and as he gazed down into the darkness below, it rose up to swallow him whole and engulf him in empty isolation. Here amidst the greatest horde this world had ever seen, Vithar experienced true solitude and silence for the first time in living memory.

And it terrified him like nothing he’d ever faced before.

The silence unmade him and he yearned to move or speak, do something, anything, if only to remind himself that he was alive and well instead of trapped in a noiseless and lifeless prison of nothingness, a murky abyss devoid of anything and everything. The harsh light and scorching heat of the afternoon sun failed to reach him here in the darkness, so distant and remote it might as well not exist, and though a small part of him knew that not even a full second had passed since he turned about-face, it felt like he’d been trapped here for an eternity and a day. The silence was crushing and suffocating, an oppressive weight pushing in from all sides even as it left him aimless and adrift in a sea of nothingness that stretched beyond the horizon and back again. Though still seated on his garo with the sand below and skies above, Vithar was lost in a moment and frozen with fear as he gazed upon perfection itself.

For rising up over the city itself was none other than the true Commander of this fleeing army, one who had finally taken the field to lead them all to glory and victory. There he stood in the skies above Shi Bei, the Uniter in all his naked, radiant glory, so calm and composed as he fended off a foe faster than Vithar’s eyes could follow without shifting a single step. He’d seen the Uniter once before, briefly during his conquest of the Northern Wastelands, a seemingly decrepit, aging old man affixed to a six-legged, spear-tailed Transcendent. At first glance, the Uniter’s appearance had left Vithar sorely disappointed, for he appeared weak and frail with only a few years left to live, but the Ancestors whispered their warnings and shared what secrets they could while cautioning him to be wary. He could sense their fear and trepidation, emotions he thought beyond the grasp of those shadows of the dead, and it was most infectious indeed, leading Vithar no choice but to bend the knee to a foe so overwhelming he could barely even perceive the threat.

A good thing too, for those who would not kneel were slaughtered and fed to the Transcendents, a sight which became all-too-common as the northern wastelands gathered under the Uniter’s banner.

So much had changed in time since, for that was months before Vithar led his tribe south to the city of Sanshu, then back North over the Wall to take an even longer journey all the way around to the Western Province. The Uniter’s presence had been felt over the course of that arduous march, maintaining discipline with an iron fist to keep the tribes of the North in line, yet neither Vithar nor any Chieftains he spoke to ever saw the Uniter again. Instead, all his messages had come through his Transcendent mouthpieces, delivered in the same harrowing and agonizing manner as always. When Bai Qi took over as Commander General, the Uniter all but disappeared, leading Vithar and many others like him to question their allegiance to a cause not their own, for through the Western deserts were not the most hospitable of climes, it was a paradise compared to the cold, bleak darkness of the Northern Wastelands. That’s why Vithar and his favoured Chieftains were amongst the first to retreat from Shi Bei, moving even before Bai Qi’s corpse settled into the sands, for despite the Ancestors’ insistence that they fight on to the last breath, this was not a battle worth winning, much less one worth dying for.

Now, the old, decrepit Uniter was no more, and in his place a creature of sublime perfection, the sight of which filled Vithar with overwhelming adoration. It wasn’t lust or desire which drove him so, the hungry fascination which accompanied the temptations of the flesh, but a yearning to submit and devote himself to this most flawless of beings, one whose presence and appearance went beyond mere beauty of form and into the realm of divine fascination. To kneel was but the sane and rational response to seeing this Divine being before them, the same way a garo submitted to its pack leader or a tribesman his Chieftain. Strength above all else, and the Uniter’s newfangled form possessed strength aplenty, so powerful and overwhelming there was no need to even question it.

This yearning to serve billowed up from within, Vithar’s own aspirations given voice in the ensuing silence left behind by the Ancestors’ absence, and it filled him with purpose and contentment unlike anything else. All he’d done was obey a single command and he’d been rewarded with unrestrained bliss, a euphoric joy that overshadowed even the happiest of memories he possessed and left him aching for more. This was a sensation greater than the pleasure of lust, the gratification of gluttony, and the thrill of wrath combined, the pinnacle of indulgence made possible through compliance, for the Uniter’s voice alone demanded reverence and submission to say nothing of his sublime form itself. There was no call to surrender like with the Ancestors urging him to comply, no insistence he take heed and do as they command, yet Vithar found himself fast falling under the Uniter’s compulsion and eager to hear his next order so that he might display his obedience once more.

Not all of Vithar’s allies felt the same it would appear, a minority of the whole yet no small number altogether, and their heresy was swiftly punished. The blasphemers broke the silence with tortured screams of furious denial and unfettered agony as they turned against one another, the disbelievers culling themselves out of some twisted sense of righteous justice. They rejected the Uniter’s glory and in doing so rejected reality itself, their minds broken and souls mangled by their stubborn unwillingness to comply. The disbelievers died swiftly as they fought without rationality, culled in an instant once the Transcendents took action, and their corpses melted away same as the rest. For a moment, Vithar felt a pang of fear and outrage, only to be replaced by envy of their good fortune for having joined the Transcendents so that they might serve the Uniter in death after their refusal to serve him in life.

How euphoric it must be to serve the Uniter for all eternity, a being who transcended mortality and touched upon the Divine.

Do You Desire Strength?

The question was asked and answered in an instant, as Vithar had no need to even consider the implications of anything the Uniter might demand of him, for he served in body, mind, and soul. As reward for his reverence, Vithar was amongst the first to benefit from the Uniter’s blessings as his body swelled with power and his mind filled with the answers to questions he had not even thought to ask. The path forward was clearer than ever as his bone axe came to life in his hands, its barbed haft biting deep into his flesh to drink of his blood and share in the strength bestowed upon him by the Uniter above. Vithar claimed this battle-axe from his father before him, who claimed this prize from a rival Chieftain he slew in battle before setting forth to lead his own tribe, but that was the sum total of what he knew about this bone axe of his. Though he’d carried it for years and saw it as his most trusted companion in battle, one he relied on more than the garo beneath him or Asmani beside him, it was only today that he realized there was something lurking within, a feral, voracious spirit of slaughter and mayhem which Vithar connected with on a base level.

This Spirit’s voice was different from the distant and sometimes conflicting advice of the Ancestors, wherein their goals were separate and distinct from Vithar’s own and sometimes even contrary to his well-being. No, this was a union of partners, of equals in all ways, an intertwining of their fate and existence into one inextricable thread. He was the Axe and the Axe was he, a melding of man and weapon that went beyond what he’d experienced before. Though the axe had always felt like a part of him, their previous connection was a shallow one that never went beyond physical familiarity. He wielded the weapon in body, but now he would wield it with mind and soul as well, guided by none other than the spirit residing within, one which was as ferocious in death as it had been in life.

With his partner leading the way, Vithar transcended the limits of his frail mortal body to become more than just man and weapon, but both as one in harmonious unity. The barbed spikes dug deep into his flesh and bone, but there was no pain, only the thrill of advancement as power surged through those barbs and into his body to transform and empower it to better suit their needs. The pangs of hunger overwhelmed him in an instant and Vithar lashed out at the closest food source at hand, the garo beneath him. An unthinkable betrayal in times past, for even in the hardest of times, his mount was more boon than burden in the wastelands of the North, but Vithar no longer needed it anymore, for he had his axe to replace it.

The garo’s rough leathery hide and tough, resilient flesh gave way as Vithar bit down upon the base of its neck, paralyzing the creature without killing it so that he might indulge in its panicked terror. The stupid garo had yet to understand what just happened, and it died in ignorance as Vithar tore into its body with tooth and nail to partake of its flesh. The beast alone was far from enough to sate his hunger, but when only bones remained, he looked up to see a Transcendent offering itself to him, a feast in this time of famine presented to him by the Uniter himself. Rather than tooth and nail, this time Vithar utilized his battle-axe, which bit deep into the Transcendent with a spray of Ichor which was so tantalizing to his senses. Without even thinking of the consequences, he brought his lips to the gushing wound and drank deeply of its lifeblood. Rather than the burning pain one might expect, he experienced a heady rush as the sweet nectar brought him to new heights of pleasure and strength.

Even the pain of his transformation was pleasant and alluring in its own way, a change of pace that made him relish the pleasure that much more. His body was not the only thing to benefit, as his battle-axe partook alongside him, its barbs anchored to his bones and organs to connect them as one. On the surface, the changes were even more apparent as the battle-axe melded itself to his skin, covering him from head to foot in solid, interconnected plates of yellowed ivory. The axe itself had not changed, but the spirit inside was no longer confined to its physical vessel, freed from its prison by Vithar’s hand and eager to join him in the physical world once again. To this end, it took hold of the garo’s skeletal remains and breathed new life into its carcass, using the lifesblood of the Transcendent to fuel its vision. The skeletal mount swelled in size and grew thick and supple until it looked like a living garo once more, except rather than flesh and blood, this was a creature of chitin and Ichor, a Transcendent in all but name. It was not the Spirit which commanded it alone, but Vithar as well, a melding of man, weapon, and now, mount that made him stronger than he ever dared dream.

When the first Transcendent was drained and devoured, Vithar found a second waiting for him to consume, and he finished a third before he felt the pleasant discomfort of complete satiation. Letting loose with a triumphant roar, he relished this heady achievement and took it all in, going over the process in memory once more if only to experience it a second time. For his loyalty, the Uniter had rewarded him, and now Vithar was finally strong enough to take his place as the true Chieftain of Chieftains and rule over his people as the most powerful tribesman alive, one in dedicated service to the Uniter.

Reeling from the fast-fading waves of pleasure and fond memories burned into mind, Vithar staggered about in an effort to find his new bearings and discovered a whole new world of possibilities before him. It was more than just strength of body, but strength of mind and soul as well, a truth he only uncovered after the fact as he took in everything around him. He was not the only tribesman to be graced by the Uniter’s blessing, nor were the Chosen left out in any way, shape or form. Not all had been gifted with a Transcendent either, which explained why this army of millions had been cut down in size, for the strong thrived while the weak died to fuel another’s transformation. That and the fact that not all of them had stopped to heed the Uniter’s initial command. In fact, the vast majority had continued fleeing, except Vithar’s senses had been too weak to pick up on it before, and a good number of those cowards had been his own tribesmen and allies. Gargeera led them now, riding fast through the desert sands almost a kilometre away, yet Vithar knew he could catch up to them in a matter of seconds and claim the life of the once superior Chieftain with little more than a wave of his axe.

Not worth the effort. Let the traitors run. Their time would come soon enough, after Shi Bei was razed to the ground and the Central Province brought to ruins beneath the Uniter’s heels.

Turning his attention to himself, he preened at the sight of his formidable form, the Chieftain of Chieftains seated upon a Chieftain of garos worthy of his magnificence. That’s how it would appear to others, but only Vithar and the Uniter knew that this was not so, and he looked forward to surprising his Imperial foes in battle. Aside from himself, there were others who’d Transcended alongside him, Chieftains of cunning and strength who appeared at his side to offer their fealty to the Uniter’s Champion. The Chosen themselves had also undergone similar transformations, with the bulk of them becoming Half-Demons while a select few might consider themselves Vithar’s close peers, but there were only two who surpassed in raw, unfettered strength.

And not by a small margin either. Where Vithar’s transformation had been fuelled by three Transcendents, Mao Jianghong had already consumed four and was working on a fifth, the only one on the battlefield still yet to complete his Transcendence. His translucent blue armour was a sight to behold, shimmering and radiant like the shiny rocks these southerners so loved to adorn themselves with. The armour grew before Vithar’s eyes, encasing him in a crystalline shell that shimmered in the afternoon sun and emitted a haze that made it seem as if a portion of reality was fluid and fast melting. Even from a distance, he could feel the chill emanating from the Ice-Blessed south-lander, a bleak and bitter bite that reminded Vithar of the cold and inhospitable nights back home. As the fifth Transcendent died and withered away, Mao Jianghong’s figured swelled until it seemed ready to burst before contracting back into his slender, whiplike figure, one which was slowly revealed as his armour melted away until only a skin-like layer remained. Clear blue clothes appeared about him, cut and embroidered in the style of the south-landers Vithar was most familiar with, and the same clothes he’d seen worn by the young boy they called the Legate.

This was Mao Jianghong in his most natural form, almost no different from before save for an almost translucent, blueish cast to his skin and clothing that cast his human features in an eerie light. There was no reaction from the man as he underwent his Transcendence, no sign of pain or delight to be seen at all, nothing save for a focused intensity that was almost inhuman to behold. Vithar had never seen a man so determined, and only now did he realize that Mao Jianghong had not been content to stop at his limits, but had pushed past them in his bid for even more. This man was not stronger or more talented than any other on the battlefield, merely more determined, so much so that he would stop at nothing to obtain that which he desired more than anything in the world.

Vengeance.

The former Guard Captain’s Transcendence completed without fanfare, but he stood so still and expressionless that Vithar wasn’t entirely sure if the man had succeeded or if he’d Transcended in truth to become yet another of the Uniter’s puppets. Then, without warning, Jianghong’s head turned to Vithar and his blue, unblinking eyes fixated upon him as if peering into the depths of his soul. So transfixed by this stare, he almost failed to notice the amber-eyed Warrior appear alongside them, his familiar form similarly enhanced and empowered as he radiated even more threat than Mao Jianghong. Even with his enhanced perceptions, Vithar had failed to take note of this mysterious Warrior’s Transcendence, yet there could be no doubt of his strength as he radiated quiet threat by virtue of existence alone, as if the world itself was ready to crumble apart if he should so choose to destroy it. This one was no leader however, and he fell in line readily beside Vithar without so much as a word, his amber eyes fixated on Shi Bei as Transcended human and half-beasts fell into formation around them.

“Come,” Jianghong Sent, turning about as two icy swords formed in his hands with little to no effort at all, twin to the swords he wielded in life save for the icy cast to their steel. “The Sovereign calls us.”

And we must obey. That was the unspoken implication to Jianghong’s statement, and for a moment, Vithar resisted the urge to go along, for he was Chieftain of Chieftains and no dog to be ordered about. Then, the urge died away and was replaced by mild bemusement, for it was his good fortune to serve one so Divine as the Uniter. This newfangled strength was merely the beginning, a reward for his loyalty thus far, and there would be more to come in the battles ahead, more to kill and consume.

To the victors go the spoils, and no mortal could stand against the Uniter. No one.

Chapter Meme