Sudden emergency.
We called Nobunaga and started working out the details of integrating Loufu into Hold. Finally, we decided to make Cloud Knights official army of Hold. Jing Yuan became the first General under Domination.
Nobunaga allowed him to have full autonomy over his people on condition that he would have a year to train all other military forces to a level similar to Cloud Knights.
Soldiers from Liyue will, in the future, become Lapis Knights in charge of the defense of Hold. The original forces of Nobunaga are going to form Ember Knights. They will become the main force focused on the technology side of warfare. Cloud Knights will be counterparts to them as the main force on the mystical side of warfare.
Jing Yuan agreed to that and left with Ningguang to asses Liyue's army. Nobunaga also quickly returned. I went to find Jingliu, as I had to uphold my part of the deal with Loufu. She was training outside Hold's walls.
-"Jingliu, do you want to travel with me?"
-"Yes. What are your plans?"
-"I have to seal a few Stellarons."
-"Then let's get going."
We walked side by side until we arrived at my ship. Using the power of Trailblaze, we went to the frontier and started looking for Stellaron. It was not hard to locate them, and as compared to the two of us, monsters created by its power were weak, we were able to collect a handful of sealed Stellarons in a day.
Teleporting once again, we landed on Loufu. Because the General was busy, Fu Xuan was one to meet us.
-"Hello. Even though with Lady Jingliu, you have no need for a guide, I can help you with some things here on Loufu."
-"Thank you for your time, Fu Xuan. Your assistance is much appreciated. I plan to start with areas most afflicted by the power of Abundance. Ambrosial Arbor is our first destination. Mobilize some Cloud Knights to defend me and clean monsters who will appear when I start draining power from it. Jingliu, you help them."
-"Yes, Master."
-"I'll organize a few units."
We walked towards the Ambrosial Arbor. Its existence made my skin crawl, as being an abomination of Yaoshi, it resonated with me. After the arrival of a few Knights, I started the process.
First, I carefully unsealed Stellaron, which instantly tried to combine into the power of Abundance. Keeping it in control required my full power, but it slowly calmed down.
Next, slowly allowing it to access Ambrosial Arbor, I started joining two, but rather than Stellaron turning into part of it like it once did before, it was the power of Abundance that was leaving and becoming part of Stellaron.
As more and more power was leaving the Ambrosial Arbor, it started reacting. In the beginning, only Mara struck appeared, but soon stronger abominations were everywhere.
Both Fu Xuan and Jingliu joined combat to ensure the safety of me and the knights. When Cloud Knights saw the fighting prowess of Jingliu, they instantly became motivated. To be able to fight side by side with not only the teacher of thier General but also the original Sword Master. For them, this was truly an honor.
I needed five hours and three Stellarons to completely drain the power of Abundance. When all was done, the Ambrosial Arbor started falling apart, and soon, only a pile of rotted timber was left.
-"Good job."
-"You really got rid of this abominable power..."
-"What? Master Diviner did not believe in me?"
-"Yes, after all, you just destroyed something left by Aeon. Who would believe that someone can possess such power."
-"It is only the beginning. Now, we will continue cleansing other points touched by Abundance. During that time, order someone to start organizing people on Loufu. I'll need to remove Mara from them."
-"Remove Mara?"
-"Yes. I'll seal their Mara into myself and later defeat it."
-"Is that dangerous, Master?"
-"For a normal person, it is definitely dangerous. My inner world is special. Mara can't affect me. I'm not exactly a fan of this method, but it's the only direct way to do this."
-"Will there be any sequelae for you doing that?"
-"Master, if there is another working method, use it instead."
-"Don't worry, you two. It's not harmful to me. In essence, Mara is the pure power of Abundance. As something from a higher being, it corrodes mortals. I'm created by Long using the abomination of Yaoshi as a base. I'm a true immortal of Abundance and Permanence."
-"Why would Aeon even want to do things like that?"
-"How can we comprehend thoughts of Aeons? From what I know, Long seeks true Permanence, and Yaoshi seeks to heal a disease called mortality. I'm simply one of the countless experiments they conducted. The only thing that distinguishes me is that I'm thier join creation."
-"Abundance gives flesh, Permanence power."
-"Yes, Permanence overcomes side effects of Abundance such as Mara, while Abundance allows the mortal body to keep up with Permanence, eliminating the need for rebirth."
-"Delicate equilibrium."
-"He was interested in me, but Finality was what I embraced."
-"I did not mean that."
-"Heh, I know, Fu Xuan. Let's get going. We still have a lot to do."
We continued our work. Traveling to every corner of Loufu takes a long time, and during most of my free moments, I talked about techniques with Fu Xuan. She has taught me some basics, and I decided to learn more in the future. Path of Finality has good compatibility with divination.
-"Should I call you teacher or master now?"
-"Master, please don't even joke that seniority would be thrown out if you do so."
-"Hmm, to be a Yue's master, even Jing Yuan will have to be respectful to me."
while we had such banter, suddenly, my communicator started ringing with messages. Looking at what was going on, I saw messages from Elysia.
As soon as I saw it, I explained to the girls behind me what had happened, they also decided to go with me. I teleported us into Hold and later directly to Elysia's side, where chaos was happening.
Kevin, Su, and Kalpas were fighting with a girl looking like Sakura, who was kneeling in despair next to Elysia. Rest was trying to evacuate personnel around
-"Yue! You are here! Please help us!"-Elysia's scream also woke up Sakura, who grabbed my arm in tears.
-"I beg you, I'll give you everything. Save my sister, please."
-"I'll do what I can."- I reassured her -"Fu Xuan, have you mastered the formation I gave the Loufu before?"
-"That for Mara? Yes, I can operate it."
-"Good, you will have to use something similar. Jingliu, I'll leave my body in your care then."
-"Yes."
-"I'll set up a formation to forcefully enter Rin's mentalscape. Fu Xuan, you will operate it to make sure that her psyche won't collapse."
-"Leave it to me."
-"Rest of you all, don't let anything disturb me of Fu Xuan."
-"YES!"
I used the power of Finality to slow down the time and set up the formation. Because of its complicated nature, even others outside of time slow it took a few minutes.
-"Ready, now Fu Xuan, you are up."-I said as I activated the whole thing.
The next moment, I was standing in a traditional Japanese shrine. The sky was burning orange, and the moon was red. Everywhere but the shrine apocalypse was happening.
When I passed through the Torii gate at the entrance, I was greeted with a sudden attack. A girl with pink hair and fox-like characteristics was throwing fire all around. She spotted me and started attacking.
I defended against her attacks and started my own work. I needed three things to save her from this predicament. Strengthen her mentality, awaken her will, and lastly, eliminate Herrscher.
With that in mind, I started using my power to contain my opponent here, in the shrine plaza. At the same time, I started repairing everything around me. That way, her mentalscape will slowly be strengthened.
This continued for hours until the apocalypse turned into a peaceful village. Only then did I start awakening her true personality. The most tricky part of this job has just begun.
There are a few ways one can awaken someone consumed by a so-called 'inner demon'. Most of them involve appealing to emotions of bonds, but that will only work if you are close to the person affected. And as I was basically a stranger to her, it was time to get creative.
I used the power that was a 'gift' I received from the 'audience', the path of Elation. I started creating an illusion. Soon, Sakura was the only one in the field of view of the pink girl. It took a while, but finally, she had fully fallen into a state of deep hypnosis.
Minutes later, shine returned to the girl's eyes. She looked around only to show surprise seeing me here.
-"Who are you? Where is my sister?"
-"I'm Yue, and your sister is crying outside."
-"Don't lie, my sister won't cry."
-"She did, and probably still is. Do you remember what happened?"
-"I... I was taken over by something? Started attacking everyone... wounded my sister... What have I done?!"
-"Don't panic, calm down. Now, you must stay as calm as it's possible."
She took a few deep breaths and looked at me.
-"You saved me, right?"
-"Not yet, that thing is still within you. You have to choose how to deal with it. I can eliminate it, but you may not be able to function properly in the future. Your body is changed, and you will probably be left in a wheelchair forever."
-"What is the other option?"
-"Either seal or accept it. Seal will not leave any negative effects, but you will have to regularly strengthen it to the end of your life. If it's destroyed, you will die."
-"..."
-"Accepting is the hardest but best option. You will have to take over the powers of Herrscher. That means you have to fight head-on with the will of that thing."
-"How can I even defeat it? I'm a normal girl, and that is stronger than my sister."
-"I'll teach you some mental techniques and make sure nothing happens to you. No matter how many tries you need."
-"Will I be able to stand next to my sister if I do this?"
-"I'm sure Sakura would tell you that you don't need anything to stand next to her, but with some training, you will be strong enough."
-"Then please take care of me."
I nodded and started teaching her. It took some time, but when she was ready, her first try started. Then Second, Third... Twelfth... fiftieth... It took 138 tries to finally defeat the will of Herrscher.
-"I've done it!"
-"Great job, now you probably feel power in your body."
-"Yes."
-"Try to control it."
-"It's a little hard. Every time I try to do something, I use too much strength."
-"I'll put a layered seal on you. When you adapt to your strength, destroy one layer to regain some more of the power."
-"Please."
-"Done, now it's time to wake up. remember to be calm to not unleash your power by accident."
-"I will. Thank you."
I left her mentalscape. Awakening, I opened my eyes to see an image I was not expecting.
-"I know that I asked you to take care of my body, but I was not expecting to receive a lap pillow."
-"Master, you are awake."
-"Yes, how long was I out?"
-"Little over a day"
-"Good then."-I closed my eyes and enjoyed the caress of Jingliu.
Further away, Rin also awakened. She was tackled by Sakura, who bawled her eyes out, hugging her. All major members of Fire Moth gathered quickly. Rin quickly explained what happened.
-"Luckily, it all ended well."
-"Yes, sister Mei."
-"Girl. You said that you were fighting that thing many times. What do you mean by this?"
-"You are?"
-"That is not important. Answer my question."
-"When I was close to defeat, I simply returned to the shrine, rested a while, and could try again."
-"That is impossible. Unless... How many times did you try?"
-"Over 100, 130 or something."
-"Fool! Yue, you massive fool!"-Fu Xuan screamed and rushed toward me.-"You just did what I think you did? And over 130 times? Are you even thinking!"
-"Fu Xuan, calm down. Why are you screaming at my Master?"
-"You better listen to. That idiot just risked his life! While I'm not an expert in mentalscapes, from what I researched, it's impossible to revive in mentalscape, as 'you' there is your spirit. If you die, you will be a vegetable for the rest of your life."
-"Then how could I do so?"-Asked Rin, who approached here with the rest.
-"It is only possible if someone restores your willpower. You did just that, right, Yue?"
-"Yes, it was the best method."
-"For whom?! Every time you helped her, you ripped your own spirit apart! Doing that is simply suicidal! Spiritual wounds do not heal easily! Even when they do, they will leave traces in the future!"
-"As scion of Permanence, my spirit is different from normal one."
-"Did you take any damage from what you had done?"
-"..."
-"Fool!"
-"Thank you for caring for me Fu Xuan, but truly, nothing happened to me." - I looked at her and reassured lightly.
When I did so, everybody stiffened. Even Fu Xuan was stomping in anger before. She then had a look of pain and resignation.
-"Before you try to lie like that, make sure it won't show."-She said while showing me my reflection in a mirror.
My face looked mostly normal, if not tired. The only thing that has changed were my eyes. Now they stopped looking human and appeared closer to a dragon. Their color changed to purple, and pupils became slit.
-"Yue, you better explain your current state."
-"Sigh... As I told you before, my spirit is connected to the path of Permanence. Its Aeon is Long, Progenitor of All Dragons. I didn't accept all the power of Permanence sleeping in me. It is similar to how Dan Heng of Astral Express doesn't accept all of the power of Imbibitor Lunae. To help Rin, I used power beyond what I accepted before, and as such, I became closer to a dragon."
-"Does this have any side effect?"
-"No, on the outside, only change in eyes will happen. They are windows to the soul, after all. Even though spirit and soul are different."
-"And the inside?"
-"It won't be negative. I just received more strength from the path of Permanence."
-"I'll believe you for now."
-"Thank you and sorry for worrying you."
-"You are not only important to Loufu, but also my friend. Don't do something stupid."
-"I'll try."
Jingliu helped me stand up, and we went together to eat something. My situation somewhat dampened the happy atmosphere, bad when I made food party soon started.
Somewhat troubling, I had to keep my eyes closed as looking at someone would make them freeze. They describe that feeling as 'being looked at by a higher being' or 'stared by apex predator', so I started using my perception to act normally rather than sight.
The party lasted the whole evening, but I excused myself to rest in the middle. Returning back to Hold, I went to the main room of the white villa to rest. Lying down, I quickly fell asleep.