As the Enemy smashed down the gates of Shi Bei, Nian Zu raised his Runic Shield and readied his Shooting Star for glorious battle once more.

Having served the majority of his career at the Northern Wall, he was no stranger to long, drawn out sieges, but thus far, everything he’d seen from Hongji had filled him with the utmost of respect. If only the man had been born in the Northern province instead, then Nian Zu would have long since taken him under his wing to raise as the next Shield of the North. Not that Baatar was unsuited for the role, only that Hongji exceeded him in every metric available aside from personal strength. Considering his record of achievements in the last two years, Chen Hongji might well become the next Living Legend of Central, for his tactical acumen was second to none, and his mastery of the Ethereal Palm was awe-inspiring and imposing indeed. What it lacked it power, it more than made up for in versatility, as this technique of Domain manipulation was now spreading like wildfire amidst the soldiers of Shi Bei, but none learned faster than the pioneer of the skill himself. Every foe who approached him was shoved, tripped, clinched, or struck by an invisible attack, which didn’t seem like much, but it was always difficult to deal with the unexpected, especially in a high-speed battle between Peak Experts. Though still lacking in many ways, Hongji was a reliable Warrior and outstanding commander who remained cool and composed under pressure, showing no signs of cracking even after fifteen long days of siege warfare which he spent reading and countering Bai Qi’s tactics with ruthless efficiency and effectiveness while taking part in the fighting without missing a beat.

In contrast, Baatar was… a more emotional Warrior than Nian Zu first realized, one prone to rash and hot-headed action despite his aloof demeanour. When they first met, he seemed like a cold and stoic individual who fought with the fury of ten men, a fierce and cunning commander who knew how to best utilize the soldiers under him and would stop at nothing to achieve victory against the Enemy. While all this still held true, Nian Zu had since come to realize that the half-wolf was not cold at all, but rather a man of passion and instinct who merely never showed it, someone beholden to his emotions and willing to throw far too much away in service to them. It showed in his response to the Wedded Exarches deaths, wherein he flew into a rage and set out to avenge them before almost getting himself and his retinue killed. Only Akanai’s presence kept him alive, and many of his comrades were still recovering from injuries taken in that ill-advised offensive, and Nian Zu shuddered to think what might’ve happened if she had not been ready and waiting.

Granted, Baatar’s passion was hardly a flaw, all things considered, especially given how loyal and devoted he was, a quality which greatly endeared him to the soldiers under his command, but Nian Zu’s issue stemmed from the fact that Baatar’s loyalty lay not with the Empire itself, but with the people he held dear. For his family, he would rebel against the Emperor in a heartbeat, and past events showed that each and every single member of Akanai’s Khishigs would join him, alongside a good number of the countless soldiers and Officers whose hearts he’d won over, like Jia Yang and Han BoHai.

The man was a leader born, but his precarious loyalty was not a quality which inspired confidence in a man whose sole duty was to hold the Northern Wall no matter the cost.

Perhaps Nian Zu had erred in choosing Baatar as his successor, for he was no better than Han BoHai, too impassioned and zealous to become the reliable neutral pillar that the Northern Province so desperately needed. In South and Central, the bulk of their Warriors enlisted in the Imperial Army, the former because they were the most united Province of all, and the latter because rank and prestige were seen as a sort of currency and honour among the populace of the safest Province in the Empire. Up north however, most Warriors were kept close to home as part of the Imperial Defense Forces, because most of the province was still wild and untamed with many a threat lurking about. For this reason and many more, the Imperial Army lacked the manpower necessary to guard the entire Northern Wall unaided, to say nothing of the various palisades and fortresses dotted all across the various mountain pathways. Thus, each year, the Marshal of the North would make a call to arms requesting the various powerhouses of the provinces dispatch a miniscule fraction of Warriors to aid in the defense, a call which went answered because the factions of the North knew Nian Zu could be counted on to hold the line and never use the drafted soldiers under his command for personal gain.

A fact which would not hold true once Baatar took over entirely. Whether a Warrior was part of the Army or the Defense Forces, once placed under a military officer’s command, disobedience was punishable by death, and while Nian Zu liked to believe that Baatar would never intentionally make things difficult for the Warriors serving under him, the various factions of the North would be hard pressed to trust the man at his word and willingly send their best. Even with the full force of the Society and the Khishigs behind him, the half-wolf would find it difficult to defend the full breadth of the Northern Wall all on his own, for no amount of skill or expertise could ever make up for a grievous lack of manpower.

With all this in mind, Nian Zu had long since realized that Akanai would make for a far better successor, though in her case, perhaps it would be better to call her a replacement instead, for she was already more qualified for the position than he would ever be. Despite that same willingness to rebel against the Empire, she was far more reasonable than the Disciple she’d raised, to say nothing of her Grand-Disciple, the young Dragon and Legate of the Outer Provinces, Falling Rain. At least the boy had youth to blame for his failings, though in retrospect, Baatar wasn’t nearly as old and mature as his years would imply, for even though he had more than eight decades of life behind him, he still had four more centuries left to live. When compared to a human with a lifespan of a hundred-and-twenty years, Baatar’s proportional age was comparable to a youth of twenty-four, which did much to explain the presence of such impulsive tendencies when he should have long since grown out of them. Before, Nian Zu saw the longer lifespan of a half-beast as a boon, for it meant Baatar was capable of holding up the Heavens for at least the next two centuries provided he didn’t fall in battle, at which point he would still have plenty of time to raise a successor of his own. Alas, this was not the case, but it was too late for regrets now, and Nian Zu hoped his decision had not sealed the fate of the Northern Province.

Unlikely, given how even if she wasn’t his successor, Akanai was hardly the type to stand around and do nothing while her Disciple faltered and failed so grievously as to doom an entire province, to say nothing of the contingent of Ancestral Beasts backing the Khishigs from the shadows. There was also Legate Rain and all his recent personal, social, and technological advancements to consider, as Irregulars and Runic Cannons would go a long way to help securing the North not just against the Defiled threat, but from wild beasts and bandits alike. It was possible Nian Zu was just being dramatic in his old age and everything would work out for the best once his chosen successor took over in full. Even if it didn’t, he wouldn’t be around anymore to see everything go to shit, so why worry about something he couldn’t fix?

Especially considering there was a good chance he and most Warriors of Shi Bei would die here today, rendering all his concerns moot.

Having long since run out of traps and tricks to keep the Enemy away from the gates, Nian Zu stood and watched as the Defiled hacked their way through the wooden doors, iron portcullis, and the thick concrete slabs behind them. Every gate in the city had been sealed with concrete the second they sighted the massive army which had come to lay siege, forcing the Enemy to either ascend the walls in order to fight or funnel outside the gate entrance. The latter made it that much easier to rain bolts and cannonballs down upon them from afar, and trap even more under the tunnels with no room to move or retreat. After fifteen days of fighting however, the Enemy had finally managed to mine their way through most of the blocked tunnels and would soon come pouring into the city itself, where it would come down to bitter hand-to-hand combat in the plaza to keep them from overrunning the Imperial forces in full.

It started out as a trickle of combatants squeezing their way through the openings, a mere handful of tribesmen and Chosen at a time who were easily dealt with by Nian Zu’s waiting soldiers, but the more industrious Defiled stayed behind to continue widening the gaps in the barricade so more of their brethren could come pouring in at once. Casting his gaze across the city through Scrying, Nian Zu spied many a similar scene playing out at the other three main gates, and the Imperial Army stood ready to stem the tide in a desperate, last-ditch effort to hold, but thankfully, spirits and morale were both still high. All thanks to Legate Rain’s domineering arrival atop a tidal wave no doubt, though Nian Zu was still annoyed the boy had wasted so much effort on a showy entrance instead of wiping the Enemy army out in one go.

To be fair, the boy had a good reason for not doing so, namely the fear of breaking the Treaty invoking reprisal from the Enemy Divinities, but Nian Zu could not help but grumble about the waste. The Medical Saint was a far more reasonable sort, one who was surprisingly also a Divinity yet knew how to make use of his power in a way that would not violate the Treaty outright and render the surrounding lands uninhabitable for centuries, if not millennia. A second round of restorative rain would be most welcome right about now, but the afternoon sun was still shining brightly overhead with nary a cloud to be found, so the Imperial Army would have to hold Shi Bei with naught but grit and determination alone.

And a little bit of cunning as well.

All across the city, the Defiled broke through the barricades and came streaming through in droves to do battle with their foes. Having long since handed overall command over to Hongji, Nian Zu only needed to wait and watch as the Enemy forces crashed against the line of staunch Imperials stationed outside every gate entrance to hold the Enemy at bay. While the blocked tunnels were not visible from a cursory Scry, the gate courtyard designs were known to all, a simple square with high walls overlooking the courtyard on the left and right and only the way forward left open, largely negating the Enemy advantage of numbers and forcing them to fight man-to-man without the ability to encircle their foes. Some of the crazed tribesmen tried to leap over the ancillary walls, but there were Imperial soldiers waiting atop those angled battlements ready and waiting to spear anyone who dared show their heads. The majority of Chosen however were too weighed down by their armour to even attempt such a feat of Lightening, not without nails driven into the concrete to use as foot and hand holds like they had on the outer stretch of the walls. As such, the only thing left for them to do was to march headlong into the teeth of the Imperial Army, but even as they fought to push their way forward, Nian Zu smiled in gleeful anticipation of the slaughter to come.

One on one, the armoured Chosen were typically superior to the average Imperial Soldier, but Chen Hongji was a devious tactician who’d quickly learned the best way to use the Runic Cannons to maximum effect. Ear-shaking roars rumbled all across Shi Bei as those weapons of war sounded once more, loaded not with solid cannonballs like before, but with canvas bags filled with a cluster of iron spheres which Legate Rain called grapeshot. When Nian Zu first saw the wagons laden with canvas bags, he thought the boy overly optimistic and more than a little foolish for regarding provisions more important than ammunition or Peak Experts, but then BoHai explained what the bags really contained and how effective grapeshot had proven to be in testing.

A description which paled in comparison to seeing a cloud of blood billow into existence as hundreds of iron projectiles tore their way through the Enemy ranks.

While a single pellet was unable to pierce through Runic Armour, the sheer volume of projectiles was enough to drain even a Peak Expert of all his Chi should he try to resist a hail of grapeshot point-blank, and they spread out so quickly that the corpses formed a neat little triangle with the mouth of the Cannon at the tip. The cannoneer himself was already long gone, reloading and repositioning to unleash death at another gate, but as the Enemy recovered from their shock and awe to rush forward into the breach once more, a second cannoneer arrived to put them in their place for the second time inside of a minute. That was Hongji’s hand at work, coordinating the timing and positioning of these invaluable weapons right down to the second to keep Bai Qi guessing. In a battle this frantic and chaotic, it was all but impossible to lock down a single Cannoneer, not without risking valuable Peak Experts who might well be slaughtered the second they made a move. Throughout the course of the siege, Nian Zu had watched how Hongji traded moves with the Lord of Martial Peace, and while the results said they’d both matched evenly thus far, Hongji was mentally going toe to toe with a veritable Living Legend and brilliant tactician while at a disadvantage in almost every traditional metric imaginable.

Meaning that all else being equal, Hongji was undoubtedly the superior commander between the two and quite possibly the greatest military mind alive, a truth no one could deny in good faith.

The results of which could be seen now, from Bai Qi’s silence and lack of presence upon the battlefield as his rattled Chosen slowed their advance to a crawl. Their hesitance was evident to all, struggling to decide if they should charge in to support the fearless tribesmen or hold back and let the suicidal foreigners soak up the cannon fire for them. In the days to come, military ‘analysts’ and armchair Generals would likely look at this exchange in a vacuum, the breach of the gates and the unveiling of Cannon Grapeshot, and conclude that Bai Qi was not deserving of his reputation. The ‘obvious’ correct answer was for the Traitor General to spur his troops ever forward and keep their momentum going since there were only so many Cannons to go around, but it was not so simple a decision to make in the heat of the moment. Oddly enough, the Lord of Martial Peace was a commander who highly valued the lives of his soldiers, not because he cared for their well-being, but because he expected to trade their lives for the highest profit possible. One of his greatest victories came from leading five-thousand Imperial soldiers to kill a hundred thousand Defiled, and this was the standard he held himself to, twice that of what standard Imperial doctrine deemed reasonable, and Mother knows what his standards were for fighting other Imperial soldiers. Regardless of what his expectations might be, Bai Qi had clearly failed to meet them, and now, after fifteen days of bitter fighting without making any headway or progress, the seeds of doubts had not only been planted, but were also beginning to sprout.

The reveal of the Runic Cannons meant Bai Qi could no longer hide Wraiths or Peak Experts amongst his rank-and-file without considerable risk of losing them to grapeshot, as even the Half-Demon armour was likely not enough to protect them. More than one of the vile monstrosities had died after being struck by a cannonball, though Hongji had soon forbidden the cannoneers from targeting the Enemy elites since he deemed it was a waste of ammunition to just kill one, singular Peak Expert. Nian Zu might not have made the same decision, for the allure of killing elites was tempting indeed, though statistically, Hongji had more than likely made the right choice. The man was nothing if not brilliant, and Nian Zu was more than ready to offer him a place in the North should Shuai Jiao ever bare his fangs at the man most likely to replace him, though many would argue that this had already come to pass given the complete and utter lack of reinforcements from Central.

Nian Zu only hoped that Yuzhen was unharmed by all the politicking about, for she was not one to remain quiet in the face of a threat. If she’d been harmed by that snake of a politician, then he was more than willing to take Du Yi’s place and demand bloody and vindictive justice on his behalf, for the old fart would sooner see the world burn than let his daughter come to harm.

A matter for another day however, as today, Nian Zu was focused wholly on survival. That was the key to victory here in Shi Bei, outliving the Defiled hordes pouring in from all sides, though to be honest, he was more than a little amazed that the Imperial forces were still holding strong. Again, most of the credit belonged solely to Hongji, while the lion’s share of what remained should go to the various members of the Spring and Autumn Consortium. Quartermaster General Cao Cuo’s new and improved supply lines meant Shi Bei had enough food and water to last another week if need be, and they only ran out of ammunition because it couldn’t be produced any faster. Dame Cixi drew up the plans for Shi Bei’s vast array of improvements, including the various corridors of trapped areas between the new concrete wall and the city’s original sandstone fortifications, which was largely the reason why Bai Qi’s forces took the time to tunnel through the blocked gates in the first place rather than making a new opening in the wall instead. Not only would he risk losing troops to pitfalls, buildings rigged to collapse, and other devious traps, but the inhospitable terrain would prevent him from massing his forces for one, concentrated push against the inner city. Then there was Stonemason Gwangjong who oversaw the construction himself, else they might never have completed the outer walls in time, not to mention how it was his idea in the first place to block up the gates with concrete blocks. Once the fighting started, the Stonemason even joined his labourers on the front lines to ensure the work was done as quickly and efficiently as possible without sacrificing structural integrity, and Nian Zu wholeheartedly believed that the Empire would be lessened by the loss of any one of the three brilliant minds listed above.

Luckily, Quartermaster Cao Cuo wasn’t here in Shi Bei, but the other two were stuck here alongside their trained scribes and labourers who represented a wealth of practical skills that would be difficult to replace. In the event the Enemy overran the walls, Hongji had tasked several elite retinues with ensuring the members of the Spring and Autumn Consortium escaped unscathed. There was also a smattering of other civilians present in Shi Bei, mostly staff the city could not do without, but thankfully, the bulk of the Western prisoners of war had long since been moved to Meng Sha and shipped away in secret to a destination only known by a select few, though Nian Zu suspected it would be somewhere isolated in the North. As heartwarming as it might be to save so many lives, it was difficult to disregard the sinking sensation of future repercussions to deal with, whether it be former prisoners turning Defiled and causing a full-blown outbreak in the North, or the Emperor condemning them for ignoring the Imperial Mandate expressly ordering them to blockade the West and treat all refugees as Enemy combatants.

A mistake that, cutting off the West so quickly, Nian Zu realized this now. Tactically, it’d been the right move and he even agreed with the Emperor’s rationale at the time, but having seen the irreparable harm caused by the Enemy in the two years since, he wished he could step back into the past and do something for the poor, beleaguered people of the West. What’s more, even though this crusade West was an ill-advised move, liberating four harbours and two cities had won Legate Rain the heart of the Imperial peoples, an outcome he no doubt never expected but worked out in his favour nonetheless.

And now that bumbling boy was something akin to a Divinity, simultaneously stronger and more vulnerable at the same time.

Turning his attention to the young Legate, Nian Zu studied the boy’s expression in depth. His clear amber eyes emanated dark fury as he stood upon the wall in plain sight, daring the Enemy to attack him once again after the last attempt almost cost him his sister’s life. Foolhardy is what it was, leaving himself out as bait in so obvious a manner, especially considering how little there was to be gained, but Nian Zu suspected that Hongji would go along with whatever mad scheme young Rain proposed while Baatar refused to set his boy in line. This was why Nian Zu never wanted children of his own, because it turned reasonably intelligent people into slavering incompetents whenever their children were involved. They would all be better off if the boy would hide himself in Concealment to strike at his foes with his flying weapons and Spiritual Rifle, which he used to fire off what could only be described as Chi bullets whenever the mood struck him. Every now and then, he’d kill a Wraith long before they reached him, but Nian Zu noted that the corpses were appearing closer and closer to his position on the wall before melting away into the sands, consumed by the hidden Demons no doubt lingering nearby.

Another reason why the young Legate ought to be kept safely out of harm’s way. The fact that he could conjure tidal waves and kill a Divinity was impressive to be sure, but it meant nothing so long as the Treaty held true. His real value came from the fact that his presence alone was enough to keep the Enemy Demons at bay for fear of being Devoured, so even if he sat in Concealment and didn’t so much as lift a finger for the rest of the siege, he would have done far more than his fair share in battle today.

Unable to make rhyme or reason of the young Legate’s logic, Nian Zu resisted the urge to lecture Baatar about what to do and instead turned his attention to the battle at hand. Hongji’s thorough preparations never failed to impress as the sequence of events unfolded as if every step had been planned out in advance, a true master-class in deception on the battlefield. In response to the grapeshot Runic Cannons, Bai Qi chose to risk his elites in open battle rather than continue hiding them amongst his rank and file. Though they might still be susceptible to cannon-fire during the approach, they would be safe from those devastating weapons of war once they made it into close combat, which resulted in many a Peak Expert Cloud-Stepping directly into battle. A risky move that, one usually which was usually avoided due to the fact that approaching at such high speeds left the Peak Expert with little time to react to unforeseen threats, of which Hongji had left plenty scattered about.

In the fog of battle, it was almost impossible to distinguish a lowly private-first-class from a Brigadier so long as both were dressed the same, and Hongji used this to great effect here. Any ranking Officer without a retinue of their own had been ordered to dress in standard issue gear, and now, after fifteen days of bitter fighting, the sown seeds of preparation were ready to be harvested. As the Chosen Peak Experts alighted upon the frontlines, the majority were cut down where they stood by Experts and Peak Experts in disguise. In a direct, one on one fight, those Chosen Peak Experts might well have put up a good fight against their Imperial counterparts, but two hands could not block four swords, especially if one was wielded by a foe of comparable skill. Finally, Nian Zu understood why the young Legate had forbidden the Imperial forces from engaging in duels, because on the surface, refusing had seemed like a losing proposition. A series of duels could have bought precious time for the defenders of Shi Bei, minutes or even hours to rest and recuperate while watching the greatest Warriors of the Empire trade blows with the traitors who spurned them. This battlefield was home to the greatest concentration of Peak Experts and Living Legends in a thousand years, so Nian Zu was more than confident they would come out on top in a series of duels, especially considering both Baatar and Akanai had proven themselves more than capable of matching Bai Qi in single combat.

The young Legate had declared that all Enemy Peak Experts were open game, and now, Nian Zu understood what he meant. Why partake in a fair duel when you could instead slaughter them without reprisal in the chaos of battle? Many of these disguised Officers would have been called upon to duel the nameless Enemy Peak Experts, revealing the trap long before it was sprung, but again, it wasn’t entirely clear if the young Legate had planned for this eventuality or if things just happened to work out in his favour like they almost always did. No matter, but Nian Zu gave thanks to the Mother Above for having been born a hundred years earlier, if only so he wouldn’t have to compete with Her Chosen Son, Falling Rain.

All across Shi Bei, hidden Imperial Peak Experts revealed themselves to strike down Chosen and Half-Demon elites before withdrawing to blend back into the crowd. Major Vichear of the Khishigs, Du Kang Bin of Central, Broken Blade Pichai of the South, these were but a few of the faces Nian Zu recognized as he cast his Scying gaze across Shi Bei, and the havoc they wrought was beautiful to behold. Difficult to say how many Enemy Peak Experts died in the next minute, but it had to be dozens at the very least, slaughtered where they stood before they realized they’d delivered themselves to death’s doorstep. Though the Enemy could afford such losses, there was no doubt in Nian Zu’s mind that Bai Qi was grinding his teeth in frustration as he gave the order for his elites to withdraw, for Warriors of this calibre could not be so easily replaced, unlike with full-fledged Demons. Perhaps there was a way to mass produce Half-Demons, for there were thousands of them at the very least, but not all possessed the strength of a Peak Expert, though most were comparable to Demon Slayers at the very least.

To everyone’s surprise, Bai Qi’s next move was even more aggressive than the last, proving to them all how he earned his name as the Lord of Martial Peace. Two dozen Peak Experts appeared at the southern gate, Half-Demons all, led by none other than Mataram YuGan himself. As they led the charge, the hidden Imperial elites revealed themselves to strike back, only for a second wave of Half-Demons to make their presence known solely to counter them. Time slowed as Nian Zu spotted Han BoHai amidst the Imperials, his hulking frame covered in eight Spiritual Weapons too obvious to be hidden by anything outside of Concealment, but he’d shown himself regardless of the risk. A losing gamble that, for Nian Zu’s right-hand man was a powerful Peak Expert in his own right, but far from able to match the Mataram Patriarch.

A fact which was immediately proven correct as their first exchange sent BoHai reeling back while YuGan’s subordinate followed up with a thrust that would undoubtedly claim the Northern Dreadnaught’s life.

Nian Zu moved without even thinking, Cloud-Stepping over and throwing his mace in a desperate effort to save his closest comrade, a man with a shared history of conflict with the Clan and Society that raised him. They were kindred spirits, BoHai and he, brothers in exile who bonded over the blood of the Enemy, and there was a time when Nian Zu had hoped BoHai would succeed him as the Shield of the North, but the bearish man never learned how to put aside his rage and enmity. Given the chance, BoHai would go to war with his older brother in a heartbeat for control over the Han Clan, a battle which would not end well for anyone involved.

Their conflict would soon be put to rest it would seem, for even though Nian Zu had reacted immediately with all haste, there was no doubt in his mind that he would arrive far too late to save his nearest and dearest friend.

The Shooting Star flew towards the Mataram Half-Demon even as his spear lanced out towards BoHai, but the difference in speed was far from enough to make up for the disparity in distance. Mentally prepared for this grievous loss, Nian Zu almost missed seeing what took place before his eyes as the Half-Demon froze ever so briefly and lost all strength and impetus. The dark-steel spear hurdled forward on sheer momentum alone, dragged down by the weight of its immobile wielder behind it, a moment of hesitation that lasted less time than it took to blink an eye, yet made all the difference in the world. The Shooting Star struck true and pulped the Half-Demon where he stood, the armoured frame exploding in a mist of gore and viscera that washed over Nian Zu as he arrived a half-second later with Runic Shield raised to block the Mataram Patriarch’s follow up attack.

Steel chimed and the world lurched as the air shot out from Nian Zu’s lungs. In his dazed fugue, he wondered just where in the Father’s Maw that charging elephant had emerged from, only to belatedly realize that there was no elephant at all, and the Mataram Patriarch was just that damned strong. Coming back to his senses, he pushed off of BoHai while they were still flying back from the impact of YuGan’s powerful thrust, only to crash headlong into the second follow up from the fearsome Clan Patriarch. An intended outcome, he rationalized, for surely the combined force of their momentum was less than the force of an all-out strike from his foe, though it was difficult to gauge in his rattled and possibly concussed state. The Runic Shield was still intact and his bones unbroken behind it, which was a conflicting surprise given how his entire left side was screaming in sheer agony. Calling his mace back to hand, he grimaced as YuGan’s spear smashed it aside as he drew back for a strike, one which was far less powerful than the previous two thrusts but still enough to send Nian Zu staggering away.

So shaken and unnerved by his foe’s relentless assault, he didn’t even think twice when the idea came to him and just acted on instinct instead. Gritting his teeth with a rumbling growl, he squared up behind his rounded shield and charged headlong into his opponent’s chest, a move that by all rights should have killed him. There were so many options for Mataram YuGan to counter; a low sweep to the leg, sidestep into a delayed but well-aimed thrust, or even a backstep which would see him impale himself on the spear, any one of these moves would have won him the match if not killed Nian Zu outright, but then, miracle of all miracles, the Mataram Patriarch froze in place a second time, his entire body involuntarily tensing up for the briefest of moments and utterly destroying his flow, rhythm, and momentum.

Which allowed Nian Zu’s nigh suicidal shield charge to connect with full force.

Unfortunately, this was a Runic Shield rather than a Spiritual one, meaning he was unable to Amplify the strike, but even as he lamented the lost opportunity to deal his foe a most devastating blow, he wondered, “Why not?” Even though he couldn’t directly channel his Chi into the Runic Shield to Amplify the impact, he had a Domain, did he not? Everyone else was learning how to Domain Plate, a skill which had thus far eluded him, but there was no harm in trying. The first impact was gone and spent, but since following through would only push YuGan away, Nian Zu might as well draw back and try to deal a second blow in quick succession. Easier said than done, for this had to happen while he was sprinting full-speed ahead. Not an impossible feat for a Peak Expert, but his abs and lower back would not thank him for trying. Covering his Runic Shield with his Domain, he envisioned them melding together like sugar in tea or dye staining into cotton. Then, in a moment of Insight, he not only Amplified the strike, but he also Guided, Lightened, and Reinforced his Domain-Plated shield while Honing the edges to cut clean through the air resistance and speed his charge along.

And as he crashed into Mataram YuGan a second time, he combined all of the Chi skills above with Reverberation to make his Domain-Plated Runic Shield oscillate at speeds invisible to the naked eye, emitting countless pulsating shockwaves of destruction which shredded apart Demonic Chitin, flesh, and bone in the blink of an eye. Now, he had become Shooting Star Nian Zu in truth, with his body and Domain at the core of his titular skill as he battered the Mataram Patriarch to a pulp in a single, transcendent blow that combined six of the eight basic Chi skills into one. That was the true secret behind his Shooting Star, not the process of utilizing those six skills in tandem, but combining them together to become something greater than the sum of their parts.

Never one to waste an opportunity, Nian Zu held onto this sensation for as long as he could while blasting past the corpse of his defeated foe, propelling the Shooting Star ever forward into the Enemy ranks in a one-man cavalry charge that pulverized every Chosen and Half-Demon he collided with. His calves and quads screamed as he tried to stop, but the skill pulled him ever forward straight through the tunnel and out the city gates, killing with every step along the way and wondering how in the Father’s Maw the Wedded Exarches had ever maintained control of their heading. His boots dug a deep furrow in the blood-stained sands as he slid to a stop a good fifteen metres outside the concrete walls of Shi Bei, and try as he might, he could not muster the strength to Cloud Step back to safety. For long seconds, he stood there and glared at the Enemy army before recalling his mace to hand, for if he were to die here, then he would do so with honour and dignity, but thankfully, he heard the boisterous din of Han BoHai smashing his way through the Enemy ranks to reach him.

So shocked by Nian Zu’s dynamic entry, none of the Defiled made a move against him. A few seconds and an eternity later, his right-hand man arrived with no less than seven of his famed fifty. “Damn you, Colonel General,” the big bear of a man huffed, feigning as if he were out of breath to hide his burgeoning laughter. “How do you expect me to go around calling myself the Dreadnaught after all that?”

“Wisecracks later,” Nian Zu Sent, and something in his tone alerted BoHai to the severity of the situation. “Withdraw now. I’ve thrown my back and torn the ligaments in my legs, among other things. Carry me out of here if you have to, but do it quick.”

Within seconds, he found himself back in the Healers’ tents with Healer Lishan Suzhen fussing over him and being all liberal with her hands on his bared and bruised chest, but he paid her no mind as he Scryed over the battlefield. Once might be a coincidence, but twice now, he’d seen Peak Experts freeze in place for no discernable reason at all and now he needed to know why. Gerel was the first Peak Expert who caught his eye, the Demon Reaper locked in close combat with a Mataram Clansman named the Crimson Reaper, and though the young Bekhai Warrior seemed outmatched at first, Nian Zu saw his foe freeze up at just the worst timing to cede Gerel the upper hand. It happened again as Situ Chi Gan traded blows with the Whirling Dervish Mataram Minzhe, the old goat eager for a rematch after fighting to a draw in Meng Sha. A dozen exchanges took place in the blink of an eye and neither of them gained an advantage, but then the loathsome Half-Demon froze just like all the others only to be cut down in a single blow by the strongest Situ Clansman alive.

It was so faint and subtle Nian Zu would never have noticed it if he wasn’t expressly searching for the clues, but as the battle escalated and Peak Experts clashed all across Shi Bei, the Enemy combatants would inevitably be struck by some inexplicable attack that caused them to freeze in place ever so slightly. In most cases, it wasn’t enough to decide the battle outright, such as in Du Min Gyu’s duel against a horned Half-Demon that looked far too much like his adopted grand-daughter to be mere coincidence, but even then, the significance of these unseen attacks could not be denied. The Enemy elites who survived were flustered by the unknown assailant, while Imperial morale soared to new heights as famed Warriors cut down their foes in droves and seized the momentum of battle for the first time. After fifteen days of non-stop fighting, the defenders of Shi Bei were able to see the light of victory once again, a faint and distant glimmer of hope, but there nonetheless.

Was this the work of friendly Divinity, tipping the scales in their favour? If so, then Nian Zu prayed their efforts went unnoticed, for despite the extraordinary results, he feared that the consequences of his or her actions might be too much for the Empire to bear.

Chapter Meme