by Virlyce
“Lucia was practicing a cultivation technique she obtained from one of the invaders,” Ilya said. “You know about the invaders, right, Mr. Thunderfire?”
“Yes,” the man in the sky said with a grimace. “At first, I thought they were people from the river and thunder plane that the plants had come from. After capturing someone and interrogating him, I found out they’re from an even larger world than both the river and thunder plane and our plane. Apparently, every thousand years or so, experts from the Immortal Continent open a rift to enter our world for their disciples to seek treasures and grow stronger.”
Ilya nodded. “That’s what I found out before the person I was interrogating exploded.”
“Your prisoner exploded too?” the man in the sky asked, raising an eyebrow. “Did you find out anything else?”
Ilya shook her head.
The man in the sky nodded. “Well, I also learned that they’re only going to be here for a month before they’re summoned back to their realm. The most valuable item our plane has to offer are our spirit seeds. There’s a massive competition amongst the invaders to see who can bring the most spirit seeds back.” The man in the sky stared at me. “I’m thinking of entering the Immortal Continent in a month. What about you?”
Like I already told Puppers, I have no interest in inflicting suffering upon myself. “Nope. Not going.”
“Are you sure? You’ll be stuck in the legendary realm forever if you stay here,” the man in the sky said with a smile. “If I leave, the next time I see you again, I’ll be stronger than you.”
He’s telling me to beat him up now before problems arise in the future, right? Right? That was clearly a threat.
“Going to the Immortal Continent to become stronger? Of course Lucia’s going. Why wouldn’t she?”
…Durandal? I turned around, and yep, I was right. Durandal smiled a smile at me that sent chills down my spine. The last time I felt this way was back when Durandal was teaching me…. I know there’s absolutely no chance of it happening, but why do I feel like my peaceful life is about to crumble once more? There’s really no chance, right!? No matter what happens, I’ll cling to this peaceful life of mine!
***
I can’t wait to go to this Immortal Continent. The best way to grow is to overcome adversity time and time again. Lucia’s relaxed for far too long since she entered the legendary realm. Hmm? She deserves it? Maybe, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is there’s a higher peak for her to climb. How can she be a true legend if only the people in a pocket realm know her name? True, I didn’t know there was another world that was greater than this one. But now that I know, a new goal has been acquired. I’ll make her into a legend of the Immortal Continent. It’s a completely selfless goal, purely for Lucia’s sake. Ignore the fact that I can also grow stronger by eating swords from the Immortal Continent. I’ll be able to surpass Lucia—before, I was limited by her strength, but now, I’m able to grow on my own. If I enter a higher realm before her, I’ll be able to bully, err, educate her properly! I’ll finally overcome the frustrations that’ve built up this past year.
“Think of the predators, Durandal,” Lucia said with a flustered expression. “What’ll happen to them if I go to the Immortal Continent? No one will take care of them!”
“You don’t do anything to take care of them anyway!” Reena shouted before shrinking back as Lucia glared at her. It was true—Lucia made Reena clean up after and feed the predators. If anything, Lucia occasionally gave the predators head pats, but that was it.
“We’re going to the Immortal Continent.” This is nonnegotiable. I’ll never surpass Lucia if I’m stuck here. It’s my duty to help Lucia grow!
“I don’t want to,” Lucia said, shaking her head rapidly. Her hair flew up from the motion. “You can’t make me! I want to enjoy a nice cozy life and die of old age once I’m a great-grandmother!”
It’s a good thing I have a trump card. I fixed my expression and spoke with my most serious voice, “Lucia.”
Lucia flinched. “You’re going to tell me something I don’t want to hear, aren’t you?”
“I’m sterile.”
Lucia stared me in the eyes. Then her gaze lowered to my crotch. Then it went back to my eyes. “Really?”
“Weapon spirits are sterile.”
Lucia avoided my gaze. “I wonder where I can find a sperm donor….”
If it weren’t for the fact that she could beat me to death, I would’ve smacked her. “Lucia. There’s a way for me to become unsterile.”
Lucia’ eyes narrowed into slits. “Let me guess. You have to become stronger, right?”
…She became smarter. Or maybe she was always this smart. But that doesn’t change anything; she won’t be able to resist the temptation once I agree. “That’s right. And the only way for me to become stronger is to enter the Immortal Continent.” Though, I’m not sure if it’s true or not.
Lucia sighed as her tail drooped to the ground. “I guess I can adjust my dreams to not include children,” she muttered. Then she nodded to herself. Her tail perked up as she smiled at me. “That’s okay. Even if you’re sterile, I won’t abandon you.”
Alright. That settles it. We’re going to the Immortal Continent whether she wants to or not. “Ilya. How do we get there?”
“Don’t tell him!” Lucia shouted and tackled Ilya to the ground before she could say anything. Thankfully, there was someone else.
“The invaders should have an item that allows them to return once the month is up,” Cain Thunderfire said. “And they have an item that allows them to leave by breaking it. I’ve seen one use one to escape from me. They act like instant-teleportation buttons, but they leave this dimension instead.” A round item appeared in his palm. “Like this.”
Oh, I found a lot of those from the interspacial rings of the people I cleaned up outside of Lucia’s lakeside home. There were easily forty to fifty of them. None of them got out alive. Why didn’t I spare anyone? Simple; dead men tell no tales. Lucia probably won’t be too happy if she finds out I killed everyone because despite being a murderer herself, she thinks she’s a good person. That’s why I framed Mrs. Wuffletush and had her maim all the corpses. Lucia loves the predators a lot and will forgive them for anything. To quote her, “A squirrel will never betray you unless someone offers them acorns! But no one carries more acorns around than I do.”
Lucia stared at the orb in Cain’s palm. Her tail flashed, and the orb disappeared. “Oh darn. It disappeared. What a shame.”
“That’s okay,” Cain said. “I have plenty more.”
“As do I. Mrs. Wuffletush killed a lot of the invaders in the field of spirit seeds. I collected all the loot on their bodies.” I collected the spirit seeds as well, so no greedy intruder would ruin Lucia’s home while she was gone.
Lucia’s eyes widened. “A, a weapon spirit should listen to his master, right? That’s what weapon spirits do, right!? Put down that orb, Durandal!”
“This orb?” The one in my palm? I wonder what would happen if I applied a teensy bit of pressure to it.
Beads of sweat formed on Lucia’s brow. “Durandal…. You’re, you’re not angry at me, right? Let’s discuss this peacefully, okay?”
“Me, upset with you? What would make you think that?” I’m not a vindictive person. I don’t hold grudges…, usually. “By any chance, have you done anything that would make me upset with you?”
A dry laugh escaped from Lucia’s lips as she scratched her head. “Err, no? Right?” She glanced at Ilya, who looked away, before turning towards Reena, who also looked away. She bit her lower lip as she stared at Cain, and he looked away as well. “Puppers…?”
Puppers’ flat voice came out of her socks. “You didn’t do anything wrong to Durandal. Nothing at all.”
“See?” Lucia asked me, her eyes lighting up as her tail twitched.
Why do I enjoy seeing her desperate expression so much? Well, I do feel a bit bad for her. Almost. Right, this w
as for her own good. I walked over to Lucia with a smile, offering the orb. “Take it.” She stared at it before slowly reaching out to grab it. Without giving her a chance to resist, I raised my palm and smashed it against hers, crushing the orb between us.
Lucia’s eyes widened to the size of saucers as her body turned transparent. Before she disappeared, she reached over and grabbed Ilya’s arm.
Ilya screamed, “Lucia!?”
I didn’t see what happened next because my vision turned black.
Chapter 3
Gah! Durandal’s so mean! Alright. Where is this? The Immortal Continent? I can’t hear anything. Or see anything. Or touch anything. Hmm, I must still be in transport. Ah! The lights turned back on. This place … is a temple?
“That’s her! Master, that’s her! She’s the saint-realm expert who assaulted us!”
Oh, there’s a lot of people sitting around a room with an altar. And I’m on top of the altar with Ilya. Where’d Durandal go? Mini-DalDal’s still with me, so he’s probably inside. First things first! I let go of Ilya and reached behind myself to check the state of my tail. It was soft and springy without a hint of tension. Good. That means there’s no immediate danger. So what’s the next step? I’m not sure; I’ve never been in a situation like this before. I’ll ask Ilya! “Hey. What do we do?”
“Lucia! How could you!?” Ilya looked like she wanted to cry. Mm, I guess she was temporarily useless.
Someone stepped onto the platform, his weird clothes loosely fluttering around him. “Madam Fox! Are my disciples’ words true?”
Was he talking to me? I looked around, but the altar was still only occupied by Ilya and me. Could Ilya be a fox beastkin? I tilted my head and pointed at my sobbing companion. “She’s a demon, not a foxkin.”
The man’s expression darkened as slips of paper with red markings on them appeared in his hands. “I was talking to you.”
“I’m a squirrel. Not a fox.”
The man’s brow furrowed. “Squirrel? Is that a subspecies of fox?” He looked around at the other people gathered by the altar. There sure were a lot of them, at least a dozen. Most of them looked pretty old, and they were all sitting far away from each other on the ground with their eyes closed. Their clothes’ colors didn’t match, like they were representing different themes. The only out of place people were the younger-looking ones with missing limbs. Their clothes were the same as the person in front of me.
An old woman who was dressed in fiery red robes shot to her feet as her eyes snapped open. “You’re a squirrel!? Impossible!” A paper fan appeared in her hand, and she flicked it open with her fingers. Why does it seem like she wants to attack me?
“Oh?” An old man who was dressed in black smiled as he stood up. He sauntered over to the old lady while chuckling. The scars on his face reminded me of a slave’s. “It seems like you know what a squirrel is. Why don’t you tell the rest of us?”
The old lady trembled. “Stay out of this, Black Devil Shu. The greatest nemesis of a phoenix is a squirrel! If I don’t kill her now while she’s still weak, she’ll grow into a peak sky-realm expert!”
…Killing me to stop me from growing? Just what kind of world did Durandal bring me to? Mm, well, this kind of treatment is nothing new, really. I’ve been discriminated against all my life. Before, the only thing I could do was give up. Abandon hope. I hated that feeling so much. But who am I now? A legend. I unsheathed mini-DalDal and raised its weight to its maximum limit: five hundred tons.
“What if I want to defend this squirrel?” the scarred man asked. Something weird was happening with his hands. Black mist was pouring out of it and congealing into claws. What did he think he was? A cat?
“Then you’ll have to get through me too!”
Ah, I almost forgot about this guy. He was the master of those people who assaulted me first? They didn’t even pay me tribute before leaving! I’ll hit him without qi to teach him a lesson. I swung mini-DalDal, and the man shouted as the talismans in his hands flew towards the tip of my sword. Did he really think paper could stop metal? Well, they couldn’t. The talismans exploded, but they didn’t even slow me down. I hit the man’s chest with the flat part of mini-DalDal because I’m not a murderer, and he was sent flying into the wall of the temple. He didn’t even scream because I hit him so lightly. Mm, he wasn’t moving either—he must’ve been thankful for me showing him mercy.
“Master! You killed our master!”
Whew, they sure were noisy and stupid. How could I kill someone with the flat part of mini-DalDal without even adding any qi? I didn’t bother correcting them because, as Ilya always tells me when we’re arguing, one should never argue with stupid people. Mm, let’s ignore the small fry and focus on the woman who wants to kill me for no reason other than that I’m part squirrel. How shallow of a reason is that? Seriously, if my life were a story—which it’s not—the author would be bashed for creating one-dimensional villains. Not that I’d know because I still don’t know how to read despite Ilya’s tutoring attempts.
“Did you see that, Black Devil Shu?” The old lady’s face was a lot paler now.
Did she regret saying she wanted to kill me? That’s how it should be. It’s why I always keep my negative comments about other people to myself instead of saying them out loud. “Look at that idiot. I bet she peed herself.” …But sometimes, my mouth is quicker than my head and I can’t help it if one or two statements slip out. Oops. But I really do think she peed herself; it smells really bad. Ah, no, it’s just coming from the man that I smacked into the wall.
“I saw something, alright,” the man called Black Devil Shu said. Was he related to the uh, something devil two? Chu? Probably, right? “I saw a flash of heart devil qi inside of her. If you want to kill her, you’ll have to answer to the Shadow Devil Sect.”
“Do you think my Star Phoenix Sect is afraid? If you defend her, you’ll have to answer to my sect as well!”
Hey, hey. Aren’t they forgetting something really important? Like the fact that they can’t kill me? My tail’s completely limp, not stiff at all. If my life really was in danger, it’d be sticking straight up. Yes, like that. The fur would puff out like a porcupine’s quills. Also like that. And lastly, a shiver will run up my spine. Like this. Alright, tail, you can stop demonstrating now. …Tail?
Someone rushed into the temple and shouted, “Tribulation clouds! Tribulation clouds are forming outside!”
…Tribulation? What’s that?
The rest of the people who were sitting around opened their eyes. A few of them turned to look outside. It did look a little dark out. Was a tribulation a thunderstorm? A man dressed in pure-white robes snorted. “It’s just a saint-realm tribulation.”
The man who had rushed into the temple bobbed his head up and down. “But, Senior, what happens if tribulation lightning hits the array keeping our connection to the pocket realm open?”
So it was a thunderstorm. Stop being so stiff, tail. You’ll make an easy target for the lightning to strike. But I’m inside a temple, right? It’s not like lightning can—
BOOM!
Ah, the ceiling’s gone. Holy crap! That’s some really scary-looking lightning.
***
Why can’t I leave my weapon body? It feels like there’s something restraining me. In fact, there are tiny chains of lightning holding my core in place. At least I can still tell what’s going on outside. I was expecting something different when I teleported Lucia to the Immortal Continent. Something … friendlier. I didn’t expect her to provoke someone’s killing intent for being a squirrel. It’s probably best for Lucia to pretend to be a fox from now on given the circumstances.
All of those people sitting around are at the legendary realm. Except for the man dressed in pure-white robes. He looked a bit like a crane—all he was missing was the long neck … and feathers … and wings … and beak … and webbed feet. He also had arms. You know, I’m not sure why I thought he looked like a crane. Anyway, I couldn’t tel
l how strong he was, but he certainly wasn’t weaker than the rest. Perhaps he was in the realm above legendary? If so, Lucia’s in for some trouble. It’s a good thing he’s not the one who wanted to kill her for being a squirrel. Hm. Now that I think about it, aren’t his clothes awfully similar to those of some of the people I killed who were trying to steal Lucia’s spirit seeds? Well, it’s a good thing there were no witnesses.
The crane-like man let out a shout as he raised his arms. A white barrier rose out of the ground and covered the crack in the temple’s ceiling. His long hair whipped around as his robes fluttered. He shouted towards the sitting people, “Help me operate the formation!”
The other people hesitated before moving into glowing spots on the ground, sitting with their legs crossed. Energy similar to qi flowed out of them, sucked into the giant white barrier above. The sky screamed as a lightning bolt rained down, striking the white light. The faces of the formation operators turned pale as their breaths deepened.
“Foreign squirrel! This is your tribulation,” the crane-like man said, glaring at Lucia. “Why aren’t you helping us stop it?”
Lucia scratched her head. “Uh. I’m not sure how…. And how do you know this tribulation is mine? I’m not a lightning rod, right? If anything, it’s totally the temple’s fault for attracting the storm.”
Another bolt of lightning, twice as large as the previous one, rained down on the barrier, causing a few of the people operating it to cough out blood. The old lady who declared her intent to kill Lucia and the man called Black Devil Shu were standing off to the side. The crane-like man grimaced. “This tribulation is a little stronger than normal. The juniors from the Star Phoenix and Shadow Devil sects, won’t you help out?”
The old lady glowered at Lucia before taking a seat by the crane-like man, sending her qi into the barrier as a strike of red lightning rained down. Black Devil Shu cupped his hands towards the crane-like man and said, “Senior White is an earth-realm expert. Surely, Senior doesn’t need my assistance.”