WiFu saluted his bug-eyed brother as Long Wang and Zhang Li rushed to the choking god’s side, panicked voices more alive with human emotion at that moment than they had been in countless millennia.
It was a vision that filled Alex with unholy glee.
Soul Cleave!
Saving throw versus Oblivion made!
He cared nothing for the way his own soul rang like a gong with each successive use of his terrible skill, reveling in the greatly reduced cost, so close these fools had placed their palatial complex to the River of Souls.
Alex embraced darkest epiphany, reveling in the awful sensation of death flooding through him as he communed with Oblivion, his Eternal Fox Dark Qi Mastery now infusing him with more unholy life than sweet fresh air ever had as he channeled the full might and fury of that stygian river into each successive blow, laughing as Shalu’s pawn shrieked in odd counterpoint to the desperate gurgling cries of a choking god, spurting blood as he collapsed in a daze, the bloated deity’s panic the sweet fuel Alex needed to lash out with ever greater abandon as spurting gashes began sprouting all over his most hated foe’s body.
Alex’s laughter matched the howl of the storm, the desperate cries and wails of an entire palace, an entire city about to drown in the storms of oblivion.
Nothing compared to the dark laughter roaring from the throat of a soon-to-be-forged Titan reveling in the sheer exultation of killing his most hated foe.
“Alex!”
So many voices blending together in that moment as Alex laughed with the glorious storm howling in the skies above, the terrible River flooding its banks and caressing his soul.
And Alex felt no fear, gleefully embracing the deadly cold chill of the river, having channeled its terrible might once before in cleaving a certain god in twain.
Hungry to perform the feat once more.
“Alex!”
He blinked in confusion, sensing WiFu’s solemn gaze, his patron smiling no longer.
Or perhaps it was Liu Li’s desperate screams he had heard.
Along with so many others.
“Alex, I think we finally figured out one of the dooms destined to obliviate this city.”
His patron flashed a rueful smile, now gazing down at his brother, writhing in a pool of his own divine blood, before turning to meet Alex’s gaze once more.
“It’s you.”
Alex froze at those words.
Finally shaking free of his crimson haze, looking all around him.
Feeling the clammy weight of a thousand thousand souls howling around his now glowing form, an impossible flood of Voidal Qi caressing his soul.
He could sense General Shalu’s panicked gaze, a world away. And he hungered for nothing more than to dare the unthinkable. To butcher that monster of a god.
To simultaneously crack open Yuci and Shalu’s chests with one final cleaving blow and tear free that ascended glutton’s beating heart. To embrace that monster’s bloodthirsty path and use that dark, terrible foundation to ascend to Jade.
Right then and there.
“Alex!”
He blinked. Catching sight of Liu Li, her cheeks pale with terror, piercing his heart with eyes of silver and jade that he had come so close to falling in love with, just a short lifetime ago.
For he had indeed died when he had sacrificed his life to save a handful of royal souls.
Souls who, unlike he who could so readily stride the waters of oblivion, would perish for all time if he didn’t sheathe his terrible weapon, now glowing with the black promise of the Void.
And do it now.
“Alex?” WiFu’s strangely anxious voice, now a world away.
As if he actually cared about the fate of his dying brother, a monster who had mocked the crippled memory of a boy before he had been reborn into the figure of his own dreams, the moment his family and perhaps an entire race of gods had ascended when they had forged their magnificent realm.
A brother WiFu would never have the chance to come to terms with, if Shalu died spurting blood in the divine gaming hall where he and his siblings had so casually toyed with the fate of an empire vast beyond belief.
Just one empire among many, on a board that might equal the surface area of Jupiter, or be far vaster still. Countless clans of countless gods, all playing their games, whiling away all the millennia of eternity.
And if the god who had dubbed himself the General fell now...
His death would be forever.
And Alex, blood pounding with fury and something close to awe, sensed another terrible truth as well.
Unlimited power lay before him.
Alex could so clearly sense the massive pounding heart connecting two lives at that moment, viscerally recalling the fierce surge of glorious might he had felt after consuming the heart of the serpent Shui Jun.
For all that it had nearly killed him.
But he was stronger now. In so many terrible ways, as evidenced by the river flooding his soul, caressing his ears with the stygian dirge of oblivion.
A part of him couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to consume the heart of the god before him.
And in a sudden flash of terrible insight, he knew.
Understood the incredible path of power that would open before him, should he survive the ordeal. A baptism of blood, destruction, and unrivaled power.
And Baidushi would be only the first city to fall before his savagery.
He would truly become the twisted manifestation of chaos that WiFu’s clan most feared. The real reason why they had done everything they could to purge Alex out of existence.
Because they had known, one way or another, that this day would come.
It was the bitterest of ironies quite fitting of the Fox that they themselves were responsible for pushing Alex to the edge, bringing what they most feared to fruition.
“Please!”
Alex caught sight of Liu Li’s terrified gaze, mirroring perfectly her cousin’s horror, Cui Chan looking as if she beheld death’s grim avatar, coming for her soul.
So like the panicked gazes of his sisters, screaming away their final moments as their car buckled and crumpled into a twisted wreck.
He had been the only one to survive, hurtled free of the car as an oncoming truck forced them off the road, cartwheeling into frigid cold waters before waking up in an ICU bed with his sobbing mother gazing at him with such hope and desperation and bittersweet joy.
Then it had been just the two of them.
Until cancer had taken him away, just a few short years later.
“Alex!”
Alex took a deep, shuddering breath. “I claim the piece, I claim the cards!” Alex shouted aloud, glaring at the stormy skies above.
“Then claim your prize and retire your weapon, champion. The match is yours.”
WiFu’s voice roared through the heavens like a final clap of thunder as the terrible storm of death finally broke, and the panicked roars of gods Alex still heard in the back of his mind faded away to nothing. Yet he didn’t hesitate to jam his now shimmering arm down the throat of his wide-eyed nemesis who bucked and screamed as he thrashed in the already receding waters of the dead.
But not before Alex tore free a brilliant shimmering orb of pristine Gold.
And two cards of Fate it would have blinded any mortal to see, before instinctively anchoring them right beside the divine orb nestled against his soul.
Congratulations! Black Swan (Soul Cleave) is now Rank 6!
Reaver’s Insight gained! Soul Cleave may now be executed multiple times in the same day at reduced cost! You now have an additional +4 to all saving throws versus Oblivion and suffer significantly less meridian strain while channeling the River of Souls!
Congratulations! You have claimed one Tier 5 Gold Soul Stone!
Spirit Crane Strike is now Rank 6! You may now pluck free even Divine Cards of Fate from the bosoms of your enemies’ souls!
Congratulations! You have claimed the Jade Divine
Fate Card: Nemesis. You may pick one host (including yourself) and one target. Host will be permanently obsessed with killing target over all future lives. Host will automatically know where his target is at all times. Host has +8 to all stealth checks against his opponent. All body cultivation techniques and Qi wards used by the target are nullified! All armor degrades to Zero Rank. All poisons used against target have triple normal effect! All regeneration techniques are nullified against wounds cause by the host! Warning: once in effect, this card cannot be revoked!
8 Qi Points reserved!
Congratulations! You have claimed the Bronze Divine Fate Card: Soul Link! This card may be placed upon any target you choose. All damage taken by linked soul will instead be taken by yourself! This card is not recommended for anyone who has not achieved Jade cultivation rank, or immortality. This card may be removed any time after sunset, and may be placed upon a fresh soul after sunrise. You may surrender this card at will, so long as your words can be heard by all parties. (And you’re not, say, spitting up blood, unable to speak, because you underestimated your brother’s wily pawn yet again!)
Warning: contenders are now in play who can channel the River of Souls! Saving throws versus Oblivion must be made against all such attacks, regardless of ascension base!
2 Qi Points reserved!
Congratulations! Fate now recognizes you as a Rank 1 Contender!
Karma may no longer affect you, but The Game is still keeping score!
Alex gazed down at the shriveled man now wheezing his final breaths, desperate eyes filled with confusion and horror, shuddering uncontrollably as he gazed at his own withered hands. Then he looked up at Alex with the desperate sobs of a man who had lost absolutely everything. Before collapsing with a final sigh, his spirit slipping at last into the receding waters of the River of Souls.
Alex couldn’t help snapping his head up when he heard a startled cry.
For just a second, Liu Li’s jade green eyes had caught his own. And the look on her face… but then she was gone, surrounded by powerful guards glaring all around as she and the royal family were shuffled away, the entire flood of spectators now warded by several powerful Golds projecting potent Qi defenses that would do absolutely nothing against the risen banks of that stygian river. A river that was only now receding, Alex noted, having come so close to not just flooding the courtyard, but the entire city.
He then noted just how many of those spectators were gazing his way with transfixed awe. Which left him feeling horribly exposed, before he realized they weren’t looking at him so much as the still roiling river, throwing off so much ghostly Qi that Alex wondered if they could see him at all against a backdrop of so much glare.
Which filled him with a sudden surge of hope.
Maybe, just maybe... if he was quick enough...
He wasted no time, racing for all he was worth for the silver bridge, only to find it had been torn completely free of its banks.
He felt only momentary despair before chuckling softly.
After all he had seen, all he had done, why should he fear a little water?
Save versus Oblivion made! You have successfully crossed a physical manifestation of the River of Souls! Water Walking is now Rank 6!
Water Walking has evolved into Soul Stride! Whether a trickling stream or a torrent of souls, you can stride across them all with equal ease!
Alex grinned, pleased to have gotten the skill boost, and having felt almost no tug upon his own soul at all with that latest crossing, pretty sure he was enjoying a pretty significant Oblivion saving throw modifier now. Then again, he had been happily allowing the entire damn river to flood through his soul as he embraced blackest frenzy, trying to kill a living god.
Before realizing it was he, and no one else, who was a heartbeat away from destroying Baidushi for all time.
And he was still standing, even now.
Just what the hell had he become?
There was no way any Bronze, or hell, any Gold, could do what he had just done.
He shook away his own racing thoughts as exhaustion finally crashed into him, realizing his peripheral meridians had been all but fried to ash.
Again.
He needed to rest up and heal, he thought, stumbling on his feet, feeling oddly slow and stupid, realizing he was crashing from the heights of darkest epiphany like he never had before.
The streets near the palace were almost empty, but the panic he tasted on the air was so palpable it was almost like a projection of raw Spirit Qi.
He knew the city was just a heartbeat from erupting in total panic, and the last thing he wanted to do was stick out like a sore thumb. So he headed for one of the completely abandoned grand pagodas near the palace, slipped inside the still open front door, strode past sleek hardwood tables covered with valuable curios of silver and semi-precious jewels, vases of exquisite craftsmanship, and fine silken tapestries as he searched for what could only be servants quarters. And the relief he felt when he found a discreet branch of rooms just off the main hallway before the grand manor’s inner garden was nothing short of profound.
Before giving into exhaustion, however, he checked one final time to make sure there truly was only one entrance in or out of the sleeping quarters he had appropriated before carefully placing one of his mystical doors just in front of the actual door, making it impossible to open, and only then crashing down upon the thin, threadbare sleeping mat that, to him, felt like the most luxurious of down-stuffed mattresses as he sat in a cross-legged pose and endured grueling agony once more.
Choking back screams as he simultaneously fought off exhaustion and repaired seared peripheral channels, jolting his body and mind with adrenaline to keep from slipping into the deadly embrace of sleep before a day and night had passed since he last dared channel death’s waters.
Only with dawn’s golden light would he be safe.
Endless hours of torturous discipline followed; his soft, exhausted whimpers heard by no one. He eventually forced himself to stand, lest he give in to peril, knowing from the distant commotion of a city recovering from near disaster how dangerous it would be even for him, exhausted and worn as he was, to dare try to head for the woods right now. He could only imagine the power and paranoia of whatever royal guardians and sentinels were patrolling the city after Princess Cui Zhe herself and all her guests had been put in mortal peril.
All he could do now was keep as low a profile as possible, heart skipping a beat when he heard what sounded like a slamming door and cultured voices raised in alarm. Before all eventually faded, the well-to-do owners obviously thinking better than spending the night in a part of the city that had come so close to flooding. No matter that they had no idea just how perilous those waters would have been.
Time passed, and Alex continued to stand and cultivate, seeking to commune with the city around him just like he once had the woods all about, eventually slipping into a meditation so profound it was almost, but not quite, sleep.
And the relief he felt as blackest night was replaced by dawn once more and the final deadly whispers of a certain stygian river no longer caressed his ears was nothing short of profound.
Only then did he collapse upon the mattress at his feet, oblivion’s sweet caress claiming him at last.
“Well done, Alex. Though you had me a bit worried at the end there, to be honest. But on the bright side, Baidushi is still very much in the land of the living, save perhaps for a couple handfuls of souls who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Alex groaned, every nerve ablaze as he rubbed bleary eyes and found himself in luxurious sleeping quarters he recognized all too well.
Which sent a sudden jolt of dread through him, having resisted porting through for a very good reason.
“Oh, no worries, disciple. Fragile as this realm currently is, you managed to keep yourself awake for a full day and night before arriving here, even if the meditation you dared was so close to true sleep as to only have been a si
ngle dream away from drowning you in the river you so love to wade in. Even now you’re only visiting in your dreams, despite the pain you think you feel, and it was only while we were cloaked in dream that we were able to secure your terrible artifact, so the weight of death still lingering about you shouldn’t damage your World Seed.”
Alex’s mentor was presently gazing with rapt interest at the mural on the far most wall of the room that had so caught Xian Hong’s eye just a day or two ago, depicting Alex and WiFu battling what seemed all the forces of hell, the kitsune god’s odd blend of inspector’s uniform and jet black armor in the picture identical to what he wore at that very moment. He turned around and tipped his hat, looking every inch the dashing inspector, while flashing Alex a bemused smile.
“Brilliant artwork, by the way,” WiFu said, claiming an oversized fudge croissant from the choice selection of pastries on the white linen-covered table beside Alex’s king-sized bed.
He took a great big chocolaty bite and smiled. “I’d offer to make you a plate, but since you’re rightly dreaming, you wouldn’t really get anything from it. Clever trick, using your one of your portals to block off the servant’s door, by the way.”
Alex said nothing, merely gazed at his patron, pleased to find that his peripheral meridians had fully healed, but somewhat alarmed to find he had collapsed so utterly the moment he felt sunlight brush his cheek, despite his hours of meditation. As if that hadn’t counted as true rest at all.
Just how hard had he been pushing himself?
A stupid question, he knew. Then his heart skipped a beat, realizing what he was overlooking.
“Master...”
“Yes, Alex?”
“Am I still expected to show up at the Royal Phoenix Academy by the end of the month?”
WiFu practically beamed. “Of course you are! It goes without saying, after being forced to taste the dark specter of oblivion, even if only for a few brief heartbeats, that my clan is more eager for your death than ever. They would be all too happy to see you die to such a stupid lapse, without having to risk themselves any further than they already have. And my dear bloated brother would love nothing more than to not have to pay you the massive debt of potency he now owes you, his life truly having been in your hands, even if just for a few moment’s time.”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Redeemed: A LitRPG/Wuxian Novel - Book 5 Page 59