Path of the Berserker 4 - Chapter 40

We all stumbled out of the skiff and into the interior of the Xin Long like shipwrecked sailors finally reaching dry land. Wing Pho burst into tears as he collapsed upon the deck and Song De did the same. The rest of the 30th were more jubilant about our arrival, sending up salutes of praise.

Most of them were for me, with praises sung for the Iron Bull.

The platoon of regular infantry, who were on parade for our arrival, were perplexed but none more so than their lieutenant, who rushed forward and pushed through the platoon of celebrating legionnaires.

“Chun?”

Hein’s face emerged from the crowd and my heart soared with elation when I saw him. His expression was a mixture of incomprehension and awe, but then slowly, it shifted to surprise and elation as well.

“Chun!” he cried out and then ran to clutch me in an embrace. “By the nine hells and the heavens, both! I thought you dead, brother!”

I laughed and slapped him on the back. “It’s good to see you again too, bro. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

“Yes, but not now,” he said. “You smell like a damn sewer!”

We both laughed.

He then stepped back from me, still looking shocked but more perplexed now. “How are you alive?”

“Long story,” I said and then I pushed Jei Su Long ahead of me, with him still bound and gagged. “The rumors of my demise and that of my platoon have a lot to do with the lies of This One.”

Hein glared at him with disdain. “Not surprised at all.” He then pulled Jei Su Long’s gag off. “What stories do you have for us this time, Jei Su Long?”

“This man is a monster!” he spat immediately. “He has crippled my Dantian! Me, a member of the Twin River Clan. We have royal favor. Such an act will not go unpunished!” He then raised his voice, as if to make the whole platoon hear. “We have royal favor! We shall remember who stands with us and who does not!”

I was just about to slap the gag back on, when Hein gave him a real slap to shut him up instead. “Silence! The Iron Bull being here is proof of your lies! I too am from an influential clan, and I will see to it that you stand trial.”

“How dare you strike me!” he shouted. “Who the hell even are you?”

“He’s my brother-in-law,” I said proudly. “And you’d do well to remember that in the future.”

Jei Su Long snared at me.

The little prick, I thought.

It was a miraculous transformation.

One minute a sniveling and whining wretch and the next an arrogant, seemingly untouchable ass again. It was almost as if he could sense his superpowers of political invincibility returning the moment he set foot into even the slimmest form of cultivator civilization again. I was just about to give him a reminder of his place when a shout filled the air.

“Attention! General on deck!”

We instinctively all braced at attention as General Gong and Captain Li Jang entered the hangar. They all but ran as they caught sight of me, smiles spread across their faces.

“This is a miracle!” Gong said. “When I heard the news, I had to come and see for myself. But here you are, lad. Back in the flesh.”

“Do not be so hasty to honor him, General,” Jei Su Long said. “This man is a criminal! He has assaulted me, crippling my Dantian. And I have witnesses. My family controls this Battalion. It will not take lightly what he has done to me.”

General Gong looked to Jei Su Long and then smiled. “A criminal, you say?”

“Yes, this man is a criminal!”

“He is also a man whom you claim to have killed,” Li Jang said. “How is that?”

Jei Su Long stumbled with his words for a moment, perhaps not having thought that far ahead in his stupid plan as yet. “C-clearly he must have survived my death blow, someho—”

His words were cut short by a ringing backhand from Blue Rose. “That’s enough of your bullshit! No one here is buying it anymore. The Iron Bull saved not just your worthless life, but what was left of the 29th Platoon as well. The only criminal here is you.”

A silence then fell, as every set of eyes from within the platoon gazed balefully upon Jei Su Long. He opened his mouth to say something but then his bird brain must have finally gotten the clue. It was just as Blue Rose had said.

His Bullshit had run out of gas.

With everyone.

“There clearly is much discrepancy in what transpired during the 28th deployment,” General Gong said. “And during the two which followed. Now that the Iron Bull has resurfaced, along with members of the 29th which were also thought to be lost, their testimony will be key in determining both the truth and the truth of your own involvement in them, Master Jei Su Long.”

Jei Su Long snared. “What is that supposed to mean? Remember who pays for this battalion, general! My uncle, were he here, would not stand for this!”

“I do intend to inform your uncle right away,” Gong said. “He may well need to organize a defense for you.”

“What?”

Gong harrumphed and then turned to Captain Li Jeng, ignoring him. “Captain, send a priority Qi Stone communication to be relayed to Du Gok Bhong. Alert the President of the situation. A High Magistrate must be summoned from the Core Worlds in order to arbitrate this matter as soon as we arrive at the Academy.”

“A magistrate?” Jei Su Long said, aghast.

“You may well prove the Iron Bull a criminal,” General Gong said. “But until that time, from what I can see, the only likely criminal here is you.”

The color drained from Jei Su Long’s face as fear filled his soul.

General Gong then looked back at me and gave me a wink.

“Send him to the brig.”

                    *

As they crested the top of the rise, Fia saw the wooden structure Kel Zhi had been describing to them for days now. It was a wall made of logs all stuck into the ground, and she had said the span of it went on for miles.

She was likely the first to see it before everyone else, being in a sedan chair now carried on the shoulders of Gui Zu and Kel Zhi. Within her arms, young Bryce slept soundly, which was a miracle considering the night they had had.

For three long days now, Kel Zhi had led them through the wilderness, defending them against the horrors of the Bloodmoon at night and giant spirit beasts during the day. Being confined to the sedan chair and weak as she was, Fia could barely stand being unable to help, but Kel Zhi proved every bit as capable as Max when it came to handling the beasts of the wild.

And now, after all these days, their refuge was finally here.

“I’ll run ahead to let them know you’re coming,” Kel Zhi said and then handed over the Sedan Chair duties to two of the dozen or so Terran Sect members, who had traveled with them. Kel Zhi bounded off, leaping over the tall wall and when she returned a few minutes later, a huge gate within the wall itself opened and a swarm of people came out with her.

Fia had heard the stories before—of Max and Kelsey’s people living out in the wild, but to now see them with her own eyes, it was like seeing people from a totally different world. Their manner of dress was unusual as were the way they waved and greeted them with wide smiles and Terran phrases she only barely understood.

But she knew the words, Wul Kum was a greeting.

Kel Zhi returned with an older man and woman following after her.

“Fia, this is my mother,” Kel Zhi said in Yee. “And this is the leader of the community, Colonel Hai Riz. He’s a soldier.”

Fia did her best to bow while both being seated within the sedan chair and holding little Bryce within her arms. “Please, tell them I am honored and humbled to be here amongst Max’s people.”

Kel Zhi relayed the message in Terran and they both promptly smiled.

The woman, Kel Zhi’s mother then performed a bow herself and spoke in near perfect Yee. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Fia.”

It was Fia’s turn to smile now as she laughed in surprise. “You speak Yee? And so well!”

“I am learning. We all are.”

“I am honored to finally meet you as well,” Fia said.

“My name is Xu Xan,” she said.  “Come, let me introduce you to all of Max’s family.”

As she did so, Fia did the same, introducing her mother and father as well as Gui Zu, Yu Li and little Su Ling. They traveled while they made introductions and by the time they reached the village center they were all genuinely laughing and able to communicate with one another on at least a basic level.

Her mother Rhi Dong seemed eager to engage with Max’s people, but her father Hei Dong less so. For the last three days he walked in a constant daze, and he did so now at her side, hanging back while the others explored the vast fields of crops and grazing livestock.

“Is this not amazing, father?” Fia said, intentionally drawing his attention. “Max had cultivated all of this. We could live here for years according to Kel Zhi.”

“Is that what you wish?” he said without looking at her.

Fia frowned.

She knew the losses he faced now were more than just position.

He had lost his very existence within Yee society.

“Fear not, father,” Fia said. “This is but for a season. When Max returns, he will put all this right. Have faith. And we have a son now. That in itself is a blessing, no?”

He smiled and looked into the sedan chair to play with his grandson’s cheek.

“It is true,” he said. “Max, always delivers… eventually.” He then furrowed his brow. “What is that?”

“What?”

“On the back of his neck. Is it a mole?”

Fia turned the infant’s head and sure enough there was a small birthmark on the nape of his neck. It was barely the size of a pinprick, but slightly pointed.

Like a triangle almost.

Except it was upside down.

                    *

It took me a while to readjust to normal life again.

After washing off over a month’s worth of blood, sweat and demon filth, I sat down and ate real food for nearly two hours straight. My companions were with me, but we barely spoke, all of us far too ravenous to waste our mouth time making words.

Stuffing myself brought on an afternoon nap that lasted for three days, but when I awoke, it felt like my body had gone through yet another transformation again. And not just physical. Fighting for 28 hours straight across a blistering, Cursed-Star-baked Hell World was a recipe for all kinds of gains, but to shoot my soul across lightyears to kick ass and take names was in a whole other category.

My soul felt stronger than ever before as did my Flame and my bodily constitution was matched only by the new density of my Dantian. I never set out for my mission on the Hell Worlds to be anything other than a check box to get back home and defeat the warden, but I had come much farther than that.

When I considered where I was on my progression path, I couldn’t consider myself anything less than a High Tier Sacred Soul Realm Cultivator now. The only masteries I had yet to acquire was of 8th and 9th Tiers, with Inner World Projection and Sacred Soul Manifestation left.

And with how powerful I felt now, achieving those would just be a matter of time.

That’s exactly what I focused on with the time I had left to travel back to Du Gok Bhong. Going over the Shuras, adding to the complexity of my Inner World and then preparing for the breakthrough of how I would turn my [Sacred Soul Projection] into my own flesh. 

But I didn’t spend all my time training.

If my long-distance projection across the stars had taught me anything, it was that having family and friends was worth way more than the fury produced from losing them. I counted myself blessed to not only still have Fia to return to, but also a child.

I relayed the whole thing to Hein and Blue rose while on the observation deck one night, recounting what the bird sisters had done and how I had left things back home. Hein’s mouth was hanging ajar by the time I had finished along with Blue Rose.

“But they’re all safe you think?” Hein asked. “Out there in the wilderness?”

“They’ll be fine with Kelsey,” I said. “She’s a mini version of me, plus the weapon I forged for her will be as strong as any aetherite crystal. They’ll be safe until I return.”

“Until we return, you mean,” Hein said. “I’ll ask General Gong for a leave of absence. No way I can head back to the stars knowing my family is in such a situation.”

I smiled. “I’m sure they’ll all be dying to see you again too, Hein. Especially the new you.”

He chortled. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“I’m coming too,” Blue Rose suddenly said, and we both looked at her.

“This really isn’t your fight, Blue,” I said. “Don’t worry. I’m still keeping my promise to you. Getting revenge for your family is the first thing on my list once I… well, once we deal with back home. It doesn’t have to be reciprocal. Plus, you’ve already helped me more than you know.”

“It’s not reciprocation, asshole,” she snapped with a roll of her eyes. “It’s called helping out a friend.”

I laughed. “Okay, okay, fair enough.”

“What’s this revenge of yours?” Hein asked.

I sensed a sudden jolt of fear come from inside Blue Rose and she quickly shook her head. “It’s a small matter really,” she said, turning her head away from him. “Nothing like what you and Max are dealing with, Master Hein.”

Master Hein? What the hell?

I eyed Blue Rose warily. “What do you mean a ‘small matter’? Didn’t you say your family was rich as shit?”

Hein furrowed his brow with keen interest. “Who is your family?”

“It really doesn’t matter.”

“It’s Yi Fae,” I said. “Her dad was the elixir baron of her world or something.”

Hein’s eyes went so wide they nearly fell out of his head. “You’re a Yi Fae of Genisha?”

She blushed then and elbowed me. “Way to keep a secret, Max.”

“What?” I said. “He’s my brother-in-law. It’s safe with him. Right, Hein?”

But he was barely even looking at me now. His eyes were instead glued to Blue Rose with a new kind of interest and intrigue. “Max, you are such a chun, you don’t even realize how much of a chun you are.”

“What? What I do now?”

“There is a reason you must not spread this name,” he said. “You have any idea how much money we are talking about here? You think Tai Su Long and his family are influential? This is the family that they would crawl to in order to borrow money from.”

I gave Blue Rose a double take. “Is this true?”

She sighed. “Yes, but it doesn’t even matter anymore. It’s all ancient history now. Our empire is gone, usurped by my father’s enemies. The most hope I have is to get revenge on the assholes who framed him one day.”

“There’s far more hope than that,” Hein said and both Blue Rose and I, looked at him in surprise.

“So long as you live, Blue Rose, there is hope,” he said. “Birthright is a powerful claim. Your father’s enemies no doubt thought you too weak to survive Du Gok Bhong, but the fact that they knew they had to eliminate you, speaks volumes.”

For the first time, I saw something that resembled hope enter Blue Rose’s eyes.

“Anyway, I have to get back to duty,” Hein said. “I’ll go see General Gong about requesting that leave now.”

As he left the observation deck, Blue Rose kept staring at him with that same look of hope in her eyes.

“He must look amazing with a head full of hair,” she said suddenly, and I shot her a questioning glance.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said quickly.

I’d never seen Blue Rose take interest in anyone before. But Hein? Then I had to remember that he was basically the male equivalent of Fia. And Fia was hot as hell. Plus, Yu Li fell for him too, and that was before he reformed and turned from mere pretty boy into ‘officer hardcore’.

I chuckled at it all.

“What?” Blue Rose said.

“Nothing,” I said mimicking her, but then I smiled. “Hein is right though, Blue. You may have more of a shot than you think in restoring your family name. Plus, in my experience, I’ve found restoring one’s family is a far greater reward than pure revenge alone.”

As I spoke the words, all I could think about was when I destroyed the bird sisters with my rage and then how hollow I still felt afterwards when I returned to Fia.

“If not for my son, I don’t know where my soul would be right now,” I said.

My son, I thought.

Bryce.

It was odd to even think his name.

A name I was now responsible for.

For protecting and teaching.

To create a better world for.

“Fine,” Blue Rose said. “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You two sound like you have a lot to do before you can focus on any of my problems and you’re going to have another hurdle even before that, once you reach Du Gok Bhong.”

“What do you mean?”

“My family might be richer than the Su Longs, but don’t think they won’t mount a defense. And you won’t even have a barrister to represent you.”

A smile spread across my lips as I envision the court battle to come.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “There is always trial by combat.”  

I then smiled even wider.

“In fact…I’m counting on it.”

                    *

It seethed and raged.

Defeat was not a condition It knew well.

But one It abhorred.

But through it all, It had accomplished yet a greater task.

The Husk had proven even more formidable than first assumed.

The Shell It had conjured to assault its domain was frail compared to it.

Yet, Its original plan had not swayed.

A true vessel did it still seek.

And a true vessel did it now find.

One yet shy of being birthed into the firmament of the prime domain.

But it was strong.

As strong as the Husk.

A seed of it, It had sensed.

It would be patient for now.

It would allow the seed to grow and when fully matured, would It be able to inhabit the vessel now prepared.

The vessel now marked…for Its domain.