Fighting was out of the question. The God-Emperor’s strength was completely overwhelming. Fleeing wasn’t much better—he was suppressing her domain and they were literally surrounded by Yoshika’s loved ones, each a potential hostage. The imperial elders would take his side in a conflict, and even if they didn’t intentionally take her family hostage, the collateral damage of a fight would be a slaughter.
Maybe it was a coincidence, but Qin Yang had chosen a truly inauspicious time to confront her. If it was, then it was awfully convenient.
Her body erupted in iridescent flames as she pushed herself to the absolute limit, drawing freely from the Sovereign’s Tear in an effort to push against the endless pressure of the God-Emperor’s domain.
Qin Yang sneered, and a lance of soul-deep pain shot through her as the pressure redoubled once more.
“Meaningless! You had your chance. Now you can only regret your mistake in the next life!”
She ignored his mocking, pushing herself to touch each of her loved ones with her domain. It helped that her soul had a connection to each one—her friends, family, and followers all contributing towards the foundation of her domain. Qin Yang fought against her, but she’d already found his blind spot.
His domain was inviolable to her, but it was not all-consuming. The God-Emperor’s position in the world was entrenched, but his disinterest in spreading his roots deeper left room for her to find ways around it, filling in the gaps with her own power.
Even so, that was barely enough for her to extend tiny tendrils of influence to those around her. The pain in her soul increased exponentially as she tried to pull herself out of the frozen moment in time.
“You cannot escape from me, Empress. This world is mine, and no shelter can stem my wrath!”
It reminded her of the threats Lee Jia had heard in her close scrapes with the men of Boss Lee Seung’s gang. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
Time and space ripped asunder as she tore herself free of his grasp. She appeared within her soul realm and collapsed, coughing up a mouthful of brightly glowing blood. The maneuver hadn’t left her unscathed—even just escaping from Qin Yang’s technique left a jagged rent in her soul.
“W-what just happened?!”
Yue’s voice was a welcome reprieve from Qin’s booming soul-speech. She clutched her wife’s hand with her own trembling fingers and staggered to her feet.
“I...may have picked a fight with the God-Emperor of Qin.”
Yue huffed and rolled her eyes, not quite managing to mask her soul-shaking terror at that statement.
“Of course you did. Couldn’t it have waited until after our wedding?”
“Don’t blame me. He’s the one who chose his timing, and he chose quite ruthlessly.”
Kneeling nearby, a pale-faced Gao Yuanjun looked up at them, his voice breathless.
“Did...did I cause this?”
Yoshika shook her head, looking around to take in her surroundings. Gao’s presence indicated that her reach had gone farther than expected and she was shocked to discover just how true that observation really was.
Not only had she pulled all of her friends and family out of the linked space—including the xiantian level cultivators—but a significant chunk of Flowing Purewater’s sect and citizens, Sir Gao and half of the pardoned soldiers, Yang Qiu and all of the demons under her care, an uncountable number of random citizens from Qin and Jiaguo, and the very disoriented villagers of Zheng Long’s home.
In her desperation, she’d been indiscriminate with her power and pulled all of her followers into her soul realm through her domain. That was a problem she’d have to deal with later, but first she had to move fast.
“No, Sir Gao. This was going to happen with or without you. If anything, you may have inadvertently given me the key to actually surviving.”
She ignored his confused gobbling and turned to Long Xiaofan, who was remarkably calm for someone who’d just been forcibly drawn into an isolated space by someone she barely knew.
“Aunt Xiaofan, it’s rather disproportionate, but I’m going to need to call in that favor now.”
The dragon nodded solemnly.
“I thought as much. I’m not sure what you were going to ask, but I took the liberty of signalling my brother in anticipation of your request—he should be here shortly.”
Thank the ancestors for competent allies. She hadn’t been sure how much she could rely on Xiaofan’s support, but that confirmed that her new great-grandmother-in-law was well and truly on her side.
“Thank you! Dae, Ja Yun?”
The two rallied quickly, and Ja Yun even snapped a crisp military salute—apparently falling back on her old training in the stress of the moment.
“Yes ma’am, Your Majesty, ma’am?”
“I need the conjoined space severed five minutes ago, and the grand mana condensing formation prepared. We’re out of time—it’s today.”
Ja Yun saluted again.
“The spatial link can’t function without your domain, you should be able to break it with a thought.”
Yoshika did so, and found that not only was Ja Yun correct, but that she’d already done so subconsciously during her escape. Dae, meanwhile, had a very ugly expression.
“The formation isn’t finished, Yoshika. Even if you are prepared to act as the focus—and I rather suspect you are not—it won’t work.”
“Then you’ll just have to finish it. You have the full means of everybody here to help you.”
He looked around, taking in the gathering of experts that included Qin Zhao, Long Xiaofan, and more.
“H-how much time do I have?”
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She didn’t know how to answer that. Though her escape had bought them a temporary reprieve, it should have been well within the emperor’s ability to give chase, and she wasn’t sure why he hadn’t yet.
“Until God-Emperor Qin Yang kills us.”
“O-oh. I’ll start right away.”
She was about to rush off to begin mustering her strongest fighters to prepare a defense against whatever Qin threw at them when Yue grasped her by the face and forced Yoshika to meet her gaze.
“Yoshika, stop! Take a moment to breathe and look at me.”
“Yue, there’s no time to—”
“Look at me! Do you know what you are doing?”
Yoshika paused, grimacing slightly.
“No, not at all.”
“By the Empress, what would you do without me? Action without a plan accomplishes nothing, dear. Whatever you did to get us here, you’ve bought us some time. Let us take a moment to choose our course of action, so that we can act decisively, not randomly. Whatever happens after that, we will face together. Okay?”
She reached up to place a hand over Yue’s and nodded weakly.
“You’re right. Thank you.”
Her wife gave her a quick peck on the lips and smiled sadly.
“You’re not alone, Yoshika. It’s far too soon for me to lose you already.”
“I know, I just...”
Yoshika’s voice quavered as her eyes began to water.
“We were so close!”
Yue hugged her tightly, letting out a shuddering sigh of her own before composing herself again.
“We are, and the woman I married doesn’t give up so easily. We can handle this, you’ll see.”
Someone cleared their throat next to them, and Yoshika looked to see Heian standing there with a hand on her hip, Yue’s living moonbeam shining around her like a halo. She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at nothing in particular.
“The dragon guy is here. Should I let him in, or do you two need some private time to ‘plan’?”
Yue pulled away from Yoshika and flicked Heian in the forehead.
“Behave, you! I’ll not have you being a bad influence on your step-sister already.”
“I’m pretty sure she’s older than any of us, and I’ve seen what happens when Mom gets all lovey-dovey.”
“Yoshika, how did you raise our daughter to be so uncouth?”
She covered her mouth with a sleeve and giggled. ‘Our daughter.’ Those two words overwhelmed Yoshika with happiness all over again, and snapped her out of the panic and despair she’d been drowning in.
“Heian, I haven’t sensed anything yet, but is there any sign of the emperor coming after us here?”
Heian shook her head.
“I’ve been watching more closely after Shen Yu snuck in that one time. Nothing yet.”
“Right, I’ll go greet the Dragon Lord, then. Xiaofan, could I trouble you to join us?”
“It’s no trouble.”
Yoshika nodded, and then with a thought, she, Yue, and Long Xiaofan all stood atop the peak of Mount Geumji, where the dragon’s coiling form dominated the horizon like a great serpent coiling itself around the very firmament. His voice was thunderous, echoing across the peaks and valleys of the mountain range as he spoke.
“Xiaofan! What is the meaning of this? Your life does not appear to be in danger.”
His sister shrugged.
“Not immediately, but I had to get your lazy ass here somehow, did I not?”
“Do not be impertinent with me, sister! I told you only to summon me in the event of an emergency!”
“Well we’re at war. Is that emergency enough for you?”
“WHAT?!”
Yoshika winced at his furious exclamation, but Xiaofan just rolled her eyes as she turned to her.
“Don’t mind him, it’s all bluster—he’s quite softhearted in reality. Just explain.”
She couldn’t help but wonder if Xiaofan, as his sister, might have a slightly skewed impression of her brother—who was easily among the top three most powerful beings in the world. Yue’s hand squeezed hers reassuringly.
“So are you, my dear! Now act like it!”
Yoshika squeezed back and took a breath to center herself.
“I greet you once more, Lord of Dragons. I apologize for the circumstances of our meeting, but I need your help...”
She went on to explain what had happened at the wedding reception, and Qin Yang’s unwillingness to compromise. The Dragon Lord just grunted when she’d finished.
“I feared something like that. If Shen Yu has granted this starfield to the God of Men, then there is no use opposing him.”
“Shen Yu has sworn to neutrality in my conflict with Qin, he will not interfere while that contract stands.”
“Not in this world, but what of the next? Even if you succeed, you’ll have made an enemy you cannot hope to oppose. Nor, for that matter, can I. I do not see a reason to get myself involved.”
Yoshika clenched her teeth—she was sick of hearing that.
“How can you just abandon this world to its fate?”
“My oaths—”
“Damn your oaths! You already failed to keep the Sovereign’s Tear sealed, and letting this world collapse around it isn’t going to change that! Are you that eager to die a failure rather than make any attempt to make up for your mistakes?”
Xiaofan turned to gape at Yoshika with a look of abject shock as the Dragon Lord snarled angrily.
“How dare you—?!”
Yue took a step forward and knelt down.
“Pardon the interruption, my lord, but if I may?”
He blinked down at her uncertainly.
“And you are?”
“We have not had the pleasure of meeting, but I am your great-great-grandniece, Yan Yue. Daughter of Long Chunhua, inheritor of Long Qiuyue, of Long Jie, of Aunt Long Xiaofan here. I am Empress Consort of the Jiaguo Empire, and wife of Empress Yoshika. Would you hear our plea?”
“Bah! The exile’s brood again?! They were excommunicated centuries ago, you have no claim! Your name isn’t even—”
Xiaofan abruptly vanished, taking the form of a smaller but no less intimidating dragon facing off against her brother. Her tail whipped across the sky and slapped her brother in the face with a crack like thunder.
“Don’t you dare insult my daughter! Clan or not, they are family, and that doesn’t change on anybody’s say so—not even yours. You wanted a threat to my life? If the God of Men wants to kill Yoshika, he’ll have to go through me to do it. You can take up arms to protect her life, or you can do it to protect mine, either outcome is the same.
“What is more valuable? Aeons old oaths you’ve already failed to uphold, or the family for whom you swore them?”
The Dragon Lord’s growl made heaven and earth tremble, even within the spirit realm where his physical power should have been dulled. For a moment, it seemed like he might come to blows with his sister as the two glared at each other overhead.
Then, they vanished and Xiaofan was once more standing among them, now joined by a tall muscular man with an intense scowl and a presence as large as the mountain he stood upon.
“We will have words about this later, Xiaofan. I warn you, my aid doesn’t come without a cost. If nothing else, Shen Yu will take my broken oaths seriously. I may not be the trump card you are hoping for.”
Yoshika bowed gratefully next to Yue.
“I understand. I apologize for all of this, and I swear I’ll make it up to you any way I can. I am out of time and options, and I need all the help I can get.”
“Tsk! If I had a divine stone for every youth who’s tried that line on me, I’d have a hoard to turn my father’s eyes red with envy. It’s done—I’ll do what I can to forestall Qin Yang’s fury. Let us speak no more of it.”
With that, he stalked off, vanishing within the spirit realm to act of his own accord, but at least she had his word that he’d help her. Yoshika let out a sigh of relief as Xiaofan came over to give her a pat on the shoulder, looking down at her with an arch expression.
“I knew I liked you. I’ve been telling him that for years, but you’re the only other person who’s had the balls to say it to his face. If we survive all this, I’m treating you to dinner later.”
!
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