-"Get ready; the battle has already started!"-Baiheng called out as she started to maneuver around incoming attacks.-"Watch out for some turbulence."
-"Leave the minions to me; just deliver Jingliu to her target."-I summoned my swords to surround our Starskiff.
-"Aye aye, captain!"-Baiheng accelerated.
-"I'm not cargo."-Jingliu complained, but a light smile appeared on her face.
Our Starskiff soon entered the combat zone, becoming a target for many attacks, but it was nothing for an experienced pilot like Baiheng, who effortlessly dodged and evaded all that followed us. As soon as a projectile appeared too close, my swords would block and reflect it, counterattacking from time to time.
We pierced through the enemy formation like a hot knife through butter, quickly bypassing the Houyhnhnm Vanguard and arriving where the Wingweavers' command was located. As promised, Baiheng arrived just meters from the enemy leader, the Sky-Defender Mingxiao, allowing Jingliu to engage him. While she dueled, Baiheng and I ensured that no one interrupted her battle.
Turning into Phoenix, I flew around the aerial battlefield, keeping all Wingweavers occupied with dodging the stars raining down on them. The race, so proud of their flight, couldn't compare with the Divine Bird in the air, rendering their greatest and almost only strength moot. With the ruthless efficiency of the Hunt, one by one, the enemies started to drop from the sky.
And with the chaos behind their lines, the front, without assistance and commands from their leaders, quickly got overwhelmed and breached, causing a rout among the Houyhnhnm centaur-like forces. But the Xianzhou Alliance does not capture prisoners, nor do they leave stragglers after a battle; so Jing Yuan ordered a swift annihilation of the enemy.
With Baiheng providing information and bombardment from the sky, Yingxing taking Cloud Knights to surround the enemy, and Dan Feng unleashing his Cloudhymn magic to cut off enemy retreat, the whole force was soon on the brink of destruction. And then, as if to fully shatter their hope, Jingliu emerged victorious in her duel, defeating the enemy leader.
In just a little over an hour, not only was the battle won, but out of tens of thousands of enemies, only two remained alive: the Wingweaver leader Mingxiao and the Houyhnhnm leader Zaofu. Both of them will be transported into Shackling Prison to spend the rest of their immortal lives in the darkness. But while the battle was won, there were still many things to do.
Leaving the festive atmosphere that had started to appear, I met up with personnel from the Ten-Lords Commission, beginning the rather grim task of dealing with those who had been afflicted with Mara.
In this deployment, over two hundred thousand personnel was deployed in combat, with about half that as direct participants. With casualties reaching over eighteen thousand, with about six thousand dead, we can expect another half a thousand to succumb to Mara. Our job was to secure those who are yet to fall while capturing those who are already past the point of no return.
As such, I soon found myself approaching a crowd of young recruits surrounding their old captain, who was thrashing around while being confined by a group of Wraith Wardens. They watched their crazed mentor with tears in their eyes, clutching their glaives and swords, heartbroken for the person who taught them how to be a Cloud Knight.
When they noticed me, they quickly made way, everyone showing utmost respect to me. When I stepped before the Mara-inflicted knight, I immobilized him with a small sword formation, and after performing Xianzhou's burial rites, I enveloped him with my flames. As his body slowly disintegrated, a pure soul emerged, returning to sanity at its last moments.
-"Don't cry; it's an honor to die on the battlefield."-The old knight told his students.-"More so, to be granted death by the Angel himself."
-"Yes!"-The knights around responded, accepting the last order from their captain.
-"Tell my son to be strong."-He laughed lightly before looking to the sky and loudly declaring.-"As clouds that cover the heavens, will the warriors protect the Xianzhou and soar eternal!"
With that, his soul returned to the world, finding rest before his next life could begin. Left behind were his equipment and a crystal containing his memories. Taking the crystal, I left his mementos for the Cloud Knights, so that they could return them to his family and send him off properly.
Everywhere I went, everyone I sent on his way, such scenes would repeat: lovers sharing their final tenderness, brothers bidding their last farewells, sons hearing their parents' final will. Despite years of experience, it was hard not to cry with them as I experienced their feelings with my Empathy. Influenced by their emotions, I didn't notice when a new seed appeared within my being, a new path that I hadn't embarked on.
A few days later, I took part in the ceremony honoring the martyrs, being the person in charge of the rites alongside General Teng Xiao. After that, we gathered in the Seat of Divine Foresight to discuss our next steps.
-"Everyone here? Good."-Teng Xiao leaned back in his seat.-"You all know the drill. Make a plan I can work with, and I will agree."
After the sounds of sighs from all the people watching their General push all the thinking on them ended, we started to brainstorm.
-"Ehem."-Jing Yuan took the central role in the discussion.-"Not long ago, a surprise attack caused Yuque to be cut off from the rest of the world, with no way to know their situation. The only thing we are aware of is the cause of the attack, the living planet Ketu Mirage."
This caused some murmurs of surprise and fear to appear around.
-"Now that we broke the blockade of the Abundance Axis and cleared our sector, we are the closest ship to Yuque; thus the task of reinforcing it fell onto us. We cannot allow for the tragedy of Cangcheng to repeat itself, so we need to act fast but not recklessly."
Voices of agreement appeared around, prompting Jing Yuan to continue.
-"Our advantage lies in being unobstructed and hidden from enemy eyes, allowing us to engage the enemy in a way that is most beneficial to us; but we also lack time. Yuque is already in a difficult situation while facing endless armies of Abominations bogging them down. The longer we wait, the more Cloud Knights' lives are sacrificed."
-"Due to this lightning-fast victory, our losses are minimal; there is no need to wait for any repairs or resupply."-One of the advisors said.
-"Indeed. All Starskiff fleets are in working order, and our storages are almost full of supplies."-Sky-Faring Commission's Helm-Master confirmed.
-"The Alchemy Commission is also fully prepared to continue fighting."-The Cauldron Master assured.
-"While we received a lot of weapons for maintenance and a noticeable amount of shells for Starskiffs got used, we can manage, so there is no need to delay the next operations."-The Artisanship Commission's Furnace Master also spoke up.
-"We also have no issues."-The Realm-Keeping Commissioner added just for formalities' sake.
-"What about the Divination Commission?"-Jing Yuan turned to where I was sitting.
-"It's not good,"-Master Diviner sitting next to me answered him.-"If it's only a route to Yuque, then we can manage and have it prepared before the end of the day. But for more detailed information on Ketu Mirage… Loss of connection with Yuque made us effectively blind, if we were to lower our precision and use only data and equipment on Luofu… Two weeks, for anything concrete; a month if you need something precise."
-"Can't it be faster?"-Jing Yuan furrowed his brows.
-"Not without more data."
-"Then can we get that data from those two captured leaders?"
-"I can't be sure that they know anything about Ketu Mirage, but even if they do…"-Master Diviner was troubled, as 'interrogating' Abominations of Abundance was not an easy thing to achieve.
-"Extracting information can be left to me, but I'll need some time to prepare and access to the Matrix of Prescience with assistance of other Diviners."-I spoke up, attracting the eyes of others present.
-"How long?"-Jing Yuan's eyes brightened.
-"A day should be enough. The preparations are more a safeguard than the prerequisites."-I looked at him.
-"Good, that would be perfect. What about your side, Master Diviner?"
-"I can have the Matrix of Prescience ready for interrogation in a day, it'll be slower without the main Matrix from Yuque, but I guarantee it'll be operational."-He also nodded.
-"Then we'll decide the next steps after we get results from the interrogation. For now, have the other Commissions put on standby, while Luofu travels along the previous course. Is that agreeable, General?"
-"Sure, I'm counting on you, Little Eno."-Teng Xiao yawned and waved.-"Meeting dismissed. I'll make a trip to see the interrogation tomorrow."
With that, everyone left. Outside, I exchanged some words with Master Diviner, explaining what I would need before separating and waiting for Jing Yuan.
-"Do you need any help?"-He asked me.
-"Yes, but not from you. I hope you can bring Fu Hua with you tomorrow, in case something happens."
-"What kind of situation do you expect?"-He asked, to be mentally prepared.
-"It's not that I expect it, but I can't be sure that it won't happen. I'm worried that Abundance will react to my power in an unexpected way, but the risk isn't great."-I shrugged, not explaining much as it wouldn't make much sense to him.
-"Be careful then."-He patted my shoulder and walked away.
I also didn't waste time and moved to the Divination Commission to lay out my precautions.
The next day, almost all who were present during the meeting yesterday gathered around the Matrix of Prescience. Before starting, I warned spectators about what to expect and repeatedly told them not to interfere, as it might cause an unexpected situation. Then, after receiving Teng Xiao's permission to proceed, I began my performance.
Wingweaver Mingxiao was already secured in the Matrix of Prescience; my job was to force him to reveal everything. Sadly, due to how great the power of Abundance is in him, I can't just crystallize him to uncover his memories, but I can gain power to contend with that and force his submission.
Walking in front of his towering figure, I met his defiant gaze, and then I spoke in my clear and melodious voice, ushering words in a language never heard in this world.
~"Anar'elore'dor kal'ethil finel ana'tole adore, dalah'surfal ana, Nar'va, dorini-shor en talah elen."
Along with my voice, the space around the Matrix of Prescience changed into green hills and plains, with crystal flowers blooming about. High above my head, a bright Moon emerged from the void, causing everyone to feel a great presence descend. Even Teng Xiao, an Emanator of Hunt, felt this power to be far beyond what he could muster.
When the Moon fully appeared, my body turned into the Phoenix on its own, accepting the power from my patron. The color of my feathers appeared deeper, like the dark night, but pure white lines of Moonlight emerged on my body, marks of the Night Warrior. While my patron was not as powerful as an Aeon, even the power I received from her was conceptually weaker than Remembrance; only that power could grant me one force I needed: faith.
Aeons don't require or use faith; thus, they can't grant or use it. This made my Authority of Rebirth and power of Remembrance possess powerful conceptual potentials, but neither can give me power directly; meanwhile, my Authority of Law and Divinity, which was granted to me by my patrons and identity of Metatronios, don't provide such enormous conceptual capability, but can grant me a direct increase in power by utilizing faith.
So I called upon this power, using my Authority of Law to command Mingxiao in front of me to reveal all his secrets. This caused my power to clash directly with the power of Abundance within him; sadly for him, in a battle of soul and will, I held the advantage over him. Soon, his resistance started to waken, and not long after, the Matrix could read his memories without problem. While this was technically a Beguilement, one of the Ten Unpardonable Sins of the Xianzhou Alliance, as the target was an enemy and the purpose was to help the Alliance, it wouldn't be considered as such.
After half an hour, all that was needed had been recorded, so I ended the use of my Authority, returning the world to what it was. After returning to my Sankta form, I remained still to let the effects of Divinity wear off. Noticing my abnormality, Hua approached me and, utilizing her Fenghuang Down, she stirred my emotions by using important memories I stored in the Key for this very purpose.
A few minutes later, I was back to normal and joined the conversation happening on the side.
-"With all this data, we can have everything ready in two days."-Master Diviner assured the General, his eyes blazing with excitement.
-"Perfect. Jing Yuan, I'll leave the rest to you, give me your report when it's ready."-Teng Xiao nodded in satisfaction.-"Oh! Eno, are you OK?"
-"I'm fine, just tired."-I nodded.
-"Then rest. You already provided so much help during this campaign that I'm having trouble deciding how to reward you, so as a General, I order you to take time off. Until we reach the star system where Yuque is located, I don't want to see you working. Do you understand?"-He looked at me with a serious expression.
I nodded, knowing that arguing with him would be pointless.
-"Good. Have Baiheng take you somewhere fun, or train Jingliu; just make sure you can recover."-He smiled at my agreement, then turned to Jing Yuan.-"You are responsible for keeping an eye on him; if he doesn't listen, send him to the Sky-Faring Commission to act as a model for their next line of clothes; that way he might learn."
-"Yes, sir!"-Jing Yuan saluted, looking at me with eyes daring to do something so that he could see me in those dresses.
In return, I looked at him with disgust, seriously doubting his preference; once again, his sweets were reduced to zero for the foreseeable future.
But as the order was given, I could only return to Jingliu's house, where, after learning about my vacation, everyone agreed with that decision, forcing me to even limit my research at this time. So I found myself with too much free time on my hands, and with nothing better to do, I aimlessly wandered the streets of Luofu.
During one of such walks, I found a cozy tea shop where a beautiful melody was played by a group of young foxians. I ordered some tea and listened to it for a while. After they finished the piece, I couldn't help but talk with the young artists, asking them about their inspiration, and as expected, this song represented the parents who willingly sacrificed themselves for the Alliance, bringing both honor and sadness to their families.
After hearing that, and after getting their permission, I decided to adapt this melody into a song celebrating the Cloud Knights, their tragic fates and fearless spirits. This was how I spent the rest of my vacation, playing different instruments to finish the arrangement while trying to write a song that could convey everything I wished to.
This resulted in my Xianzhou housemates and friends discovering my musical talent, and since then, I would often be dragged to play for any occasion. Because of that, I learned all the famous and classical songs in the Xianzhou Alliance, something that would be unexpectedly handy in the future.