Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The morning of the day before the grand wedding was supposed to be a time of unparalleled celebration. The Eternal Crucible was adorned in miles of interwoven crimson and oceanic blue silk. The streets were filled with the joyous, chaotic mingling of demons, abyssal merchants and wandering cultivators. The air vibrated with the sound of musical instruments and laughter.

Then, the sky shattered, literary.

It did not tear or ripple like a standard spatial fissure. It broke with the deafening, catastrophic sound of millions of glass panes exploding simultaneously. The localized weather system of rainclouds and warm crimson light was instantly obliterated. It was quickly replaced by a gaping and jagged abyss of chaotic void.

A supreme spatial artifact, a large golden compass that practically hummed with ancient power burned itself out at the center of the rift. It had been sacrificed to bypass the borders of the Aegis of Flame. It tore a direct corridor right into the heart of the capital without alerting a single watchtower on the perimeter.

From the yawning abyss of the rift, a suffocating and apocalyptic pressure descended upon the city. It wasn't just the weight of one Sovereign. It was four.

Thousands of elite troops poured out of the rift behind them. Some were riding on war beasts and some were on flying warships. They all had their weapons drawn and their killing intent washed over the panicked capital like a physical flood. But the eyes of everyone in the city were drawn upwards by terror to the four figures hovering at the vanguard of the invading army.

Li Yu was standing in a courtyard below with Asha, Lana, and Tuwark. He projected out his aura to protect the other three. He created an invisible perimeter of stability around his companions as the weaker servants and nobles around them began to collapse and were foaming at the mouth from the sheer spiritual gravity of the invaders.

Li Yu looked up and his eyes narrowed as he analyzed the four Sovereign level beings.

The first was a towering Demon Lord who radiated a crushing aura of Ground and Wood. He wore thick armor crafted from petrified ironwood and dark earth. His very presence caused the ironstone buildings of the capital to groan and crack under the sudden shift in gravity. He was Sovereign Terris, the Lord of the Ironwood.

Beside him hovered a terrifying Beast King in human form. She was a woman with long, midnight black hair woven with burning crimson feathers. In the center of her forehead sat a third eye, glowing like a concentrated ruby. She was Beast King Corva, the Three Eyed Crow. The blistering heat radiating from her form showed she was a master of fire.

But it was the remaining two figures that sent a ripple of shock through the capital. They were human but had that level of strength. There were only three known humans that did and two of them were here today.

To Li Yu’s left and hovering with an aura of golden light, was a woman in flowing, immaculate white robes. In her hands, she held an ornate brass lantern that pulsed with a terrifying soul energy. Her face showed compassion but also disguise at the same time. It was a face known to every human in the realm, immortalized in countless statues in the mortal domains. She was Saintess Elara, a master of curses and soul attacks and one of the three Human Pillars.

To the right stood a man who looked like a tempest contained within human flesh. His hair was wild and untamed. It was whipping around his face in a localized hurricane of wind laws. He rested a massive and unadorned greatsword on his broad shoulder. His eyes were sharp and feral as he looked toward the horizon. He was Lord Jareth, the second of the Human Pillars, a master of the sword and speed.

The saviors of humanity had come to the demon capital but they had not come in peace and they had not come alone. Three pillars of overwhelming power erupted from the inner palace of The Eternal Crucible and shot into the sky to meet the invaders.

Sovereign Ignis arrived first, a literal inferno of wrath. Her fiery aura was pushed to its absolute limit, turning the air around her into white hot plasma. Sovereign Morven arrived a second later, his massive, iridescent blue frame radiating a crushing, acidic tide as he gripped his trident.

Finally, Malos appeared beside them. The cheerful merchant was entirely gone. His black eyes were cold voids. He did not draw a Sovereign artifact; his hand rested firmly on the hilt of the sword his son had forged for him.

"Terris. Corva," Ignis hissed. Her voice echoing like an erupting volcano. Her burning eyes then snapped to the two humans. "Elara. Jareth. You dare bypass my borders? The Human Pillars march alongside the Ironwood and the Crow? What is the meaning of this madness?!"

Saintess Elara stepped forward with her robes fluttering in the winds. Her face retained that perfect, unsettling expression of infinite compassion.

"It is not madness, Ignis," Elara said. Her voice was soft, melodic, yet carried effortlessly across the entire city. "It is simply the turning of the era. The union between Fire and Tide... the merging of your territories and your armies. It would create a monolith of power that neither the Ironwood nor the Roost could ever hope to counter. We could not allow the wedding to proceed."

"You side with them?" Morven roared with his trident pointing directly at the wild haired swordsman. "Jareth! You and Elara have fought against the demon courts for centuries to protect your fragile human domains! We gave you your tiny piece of land out of kindness and now you are greedy?!"

Jareth sneered while hefting the massive sword off his shoulder. The wind around him howled with lethal intent.

"We are tired, Morven," Jareth spat out. He was looking down at the city with absolute disdain. "We have bled for centuries, fighting to protect a humanity that cowers in the dirt. Begging for scraps of salvation. We are finished carrying that weight. We fight for ourselves now. For our own interests. For our own future."

As Jareth spoke, Beast King Corva drifted closer to him. The terrifying Three Eyed Crow reached out and Jareth seamlessly wrapped his free arm around her waist. He pulled the Beast King against his side in a display of undeniable intimacy.

A moment later, Sovereign Terris, stepped up beside Saintess Elara. His massive petrified hand gently enveloped her delicate one. Elara leaned against the Demon Lord’s arm with her compassionate smile deepening.

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The revelation hit the defending Sovereigns and the city below, like a physical blow.

Two couples. The saviors of humanity had not just forged a political alliance with the monsters of the chaotic realms; they had fallen in love with them. Most likely both but which one was first was unsure. They had betrayed their entire race and their entire history. All to secure territories and power for themselves and their lovers.

"You..." Ignis flames were flickering with increased intensity.

"We did what was necessary," Elara said. Her voice took on a darker and heavier resonance. "Just as I did a decade ago, Ignis."

Ignis froze.

"Your daughter's affliction," Elara confessed, her compassionate smile transforming into something chillingly ruthless. "It was not a random sickness. It was my masterpiece. I found an ancient treasure that allowed me to bypass your capital's detection arrays for a single night. I wove my most potent soul curse into the child’s core."

The air around Ignis completely vanished and was instantly incinerated by a surge of world ending fury.

"You did that to Asha," Ignis whispered as every syllable dripped with lethal intent.

"It was meant to distract you," Elara admitted freely and showed no remorse. "To slowly bleed your attention, your resources and your foundation as you desperately tried to save her over the coming decades. It was meant to weaken you for our eventual strike. But then you found a cure. You found the Tide. You forced our hand, Ignis. We had to attack now, before your union solidified. You can see why we did."

Down in the courtyard, Li Yu listened to the confession. The group above were so sure of their victory that they didn’t care to hide anything. The pieces fell into place with sickening clarity. The highly skilled and untraceable Soul Curse.

It was an orchestrated conspiracy that spanned years. They had been lurking in the shadows to strengthen their forces while weakening others. It was now four Sovereign level beings against three. It could be four against two just as easily. No one was really sure what Malos would do. He could stay and fight or just as easily leave and only Li Yu knew that if he left he would take his children with him. This wasn’t his battle after all.

Li Yu looked at Lana, Tuwark and Asha. The three of them were staring up at the sky in absolute horror. If Li Yu wasn’t there, they would already be completely immobilized by the crushing spiritual pressure radiating from the confrontation above.

Li Yu didn't hesitate to act. He took a calculated step backward and slipped behind a large, decorative ironstone pillar. Amidst the screaming, panicked civilians and the roaring of the city’s defense arrays powering up, the anomalous human wanderer became entirely invisible.

He reached into his spatial ring and pulled out the communication token he had received from Thorne. He channeled his Qi into it to contact a person that might be able to help but also to test the waters. If this was some grand scheme by all three of them, Li Yu would have no choice but to run away. What else could be done? The communication token hummed and a moment later, a raspy voice echoed in Li Yu’s mind.

“Li Yu. To what do I owe the sudden call?” Thorne’s voice was calm. It carried the slow, deliberate pace of a man who watched seasons change for a living.

"I need to know if this is the grand plan of the saviors of humanity, Thorne," Li Yu spoke quickly. "Because right now, Saintess Elara and Lord Jareth are hovering over The Eternal Crucible. They brought Sovereign Terris, Beast King Corva and an army of thousands with them."

There was a long and heavy silence on the other end of the token.

“Elara? Jareth?” Thorne’s voice lost its warmth. “They are in the demon capital? Together?”

"They are currently holding hands with a Beast King and a Demon Lord, declaring that they are tired of fighting for humanity," Li Yu confirmed brutally. "Elara just admitted to cursing Ignis’s daughter to distract Ignis. They intend to wipe this city off the map to secure their own power. Three defending Sovereigns against four invaders. Is this the great plan of humanity?"

The silence that followed was different this time. It wasn't confusion. It was the agonizing silence of a man realizing his oldest friends had betrayed everything they stood for.

“They were tired,” Thorne whispered as his voice carried centuries of sorrow but also of not being completely surprised. “They complained about the weight. But I never thought... I never believed they would cast it aside for this.”

"Can you reach the capital?" Li Yu asked as the killing intent above reached a boiling point. The Sovereigns were still talking to one another but that was only because one side was disadvantaged and the other side was in no rush to destroy everything.

“I will correct the mistakes of my friends, Li Yu,” Thorne said. His voice hardened into a coldness that Li Yu had never heard from Thorne. “I hope I won’t be too late.”

The connection severed. Li Yu pocketed the token and stepped back out from behind the pillar to stand near Asha and Malos’s children. Help was coming but the old farmer was crossing a long distance and he didn’t know what other preparations he might need before coming. It wasn’t coming to save them from a few bandits. These were all power houses.

High above, the tension finally snapped.

"You bring an army to my home," Ignis roared as the sky behind her ignited into a sea of apocalyptic fire. "You confess to torturing my child! I will burn your souls until the heavens themselves forget your names!"

"You will try, Ignis," Elara laughed out loud. A sound that was entirely devoid of her usual fake compassion. It was sharp, cruel and brimming with absolute confidence. Elara turned her gaze toward Malos, who was floating silently beside Morven.

"Malos, the Lord of Foresight," Elara mocked lightly. "You should be wise enough to see how this ends. Three against four is suicide. If you flee now, it will only be two against four. A true slaughter. Leave them to their fate and we will spare your life. We want nothing from you."

Malos did not respond to the taunt. He simply drew Tuwark’s sword from its sheath. The dark metal gleamed and Malos instantly wrapped the blade in a dense layer of his own Qi. He was ensuring the weapon his son had poured his heart into would not suffer a single scratch in the coming war.

"I see the tapestry perfectly, Elara," Malos said with his voice a chilling void. "And I see you hanging from it."

The truth of the matter was that Malos didn’t know what was going to happen next. This was his first real fight in which he couldn’t see the outcome. This was an experience that he wouldn’t miss out on. Fighting with his life on the line and unknown of the outcome. More importantly though, his two children were down below. He wanted to show off his might to his kids.

Elara’s smile vanished. "Then you will die with them."

To seal the deal and to instantly cripple the defending armies before the physical clash even began, Elara raised the ornate brass lantern high above her head.

"Let the weight of your sins crush you!" Elara commanded.

She channeled her supreme soul arts and violently activated the ancient treasure. It demanded a massive toll. It drained nearly half of her Qi in a single instant and put a staggering strain on her own soul. But the result was apocalyptic.

A pulse of sickening, golden black light erupted from the lantern.

It wasn't an elemental attack. It was a city wiping soul strike. It bypassed physical shields, ignored armor and would phase right through the defensive arrays of the capital. It was aimed directly downward. It would cascade over The Eternal Crucible like a tidal wave of spiritual death.

Every single living being beneath the Demon Lord level, every general, every merchant, every servant, Lana, Tuwark and Asha was about to have their soul instantly snuffed out. The defending Sovereigns would be severely weakened by the attack as well. This would leave them vulnerable to the immediate physical assault of Jareth, Terris and Corva.

It was a grand opening move. The golden black wave descended and was promising death for everyone below.