Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The pavilion was quiet after Haelan and Jhyra departed. The shimmering grey isolation barrier was completely gone and the ambient sounds of Kyokai City slowly filtered back into the courtyard. The distant rush of the silver canals and the faint hum of spiritual arrays returned. It felt as though a heavy blanket had been lifted from the air.

Old Du leaned heavily on his wooden paddle and he watched the empty gateway for a long moment before letting out a dry and rattling chuckle.

"Well," Old Du said with a morbid grin. "If their Ancestor is truly dying and their entire race is tied to her fate we could just wait. We can sit here and wait until they all drop dead. Then we can just walk into the dead realms, find the right one and take the Realm Essence for ourselves."

Astramentis pulsed with a soft golden light above the table but remained silent.

Old Du sighed and shook his head before anyone could respond to his dark humor. "Though knowing the Eidolon Court they would probably destroy the essence and shatter all of their own realms before they let anyone else have it. Spite is a powerful thing when you are facing extinction."

Li Yu looked at Torend. The bound general was still kneeling in the corner of the courtyard. He looked completely defeated.

"Torend," Li Yu commanded. "Go wait outside the courtyard walls. Do not let anyone disturb this place."

Torend stood up immediately. The soul contract compelled absolute obedience. He offered a stiff bow and walked out of the gate without a single word of protest.

Old Du tapped his paddle against the stone tiles. "I will return to the central canal. Astramentis needs to consolidate energy and I need to process everything we just learned. We will leave you to your thoughts Li Yu."

The ferryman and the glowing astrolabe departed together. They left Li Yu alone at the wooden table with Khaos.

Li Yu poured the last of the hot tea into his clay cup. He looked at the ancient warrior sitting across from him. He opened his mouth to ask for advice but Khaos raised a dark hand to stop him.

"Before you ask me what you should do," Khaos rumbled. "I will tell you that the decision is entirely yours. You must remember that most decisions in this cosmos are rarely as easy as right or wrong. The morality of an action almost always depends on how someone views it from their own side of the battlefield."

Khaos leaned back and rested his arms across his chest. "As always, you should follow your heart and decide on what you feel is best. But you must know that they will not be able to force anything upon you. It is purely your choice to make."

Li Yu gripped his teacup. "They are desperate Khaos. They tried to kidnap me once today already."

"And they failed," Khaos stated firmly. "You are not as helpless as you think anymore. You also have allies. The friends you saved from the Temporal Dao Stone are far more influential than you currently think. Lian and her forces would not sit idly by if you were to be kidnapped or harmed. They would tear the cosmos apart to find you to repay that owed favor. The Eidolon Court might be a vast empire but they are not invincible."

Li Yu remembered the sheer scale of the armada he had seen on that trip. He remembered the Leviathan Smashing Vanguard, the Golden Shell Phalanx and others. Khaos was right. He had some backing now even if it's just a favor owed.

"Thank you Khaos," Li Yu said sincerely. "I appreciate the advice and the reminder. It helps clear my head a bit."

Khaos offered a single nod. He stood up from the wooden table and smoothed his dark robes. "I am going to go find Old Du. We have some old matters to discuss regarding the ancient eras. Take your time boy."

Khaos stepped into the void and vanished from the courtyard. Li Yu was finally alone.

He sat at the table for a long while. He drank the tea until it grew completely cold. His mind was a turbulent ocean of conflicting thoughts. He stood up and walked to the center of the silver grass. He reached inwards and drew Gilded Calamity.

Li Yu began to swing the blade through the air. He used the physical exertion to ground his chaotic thoughts and swinging the sword always seems to calm his mind. Little did he know he was drawing the sword itself crazy with his complete lack of skill or acknowledgement of its powers. He moved through basic forms and let his body take over while his mind worked through the problem.

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On one hand he was looking at the possibility of saving an entire race of people. It was an empire of trillions. Men, women and children who would all die the exact second their Ancestor succumbed to the poison. But Li Yu wasn’t some sort of grand savior. He had never even known the Eidolon Court existed before just recently. The abstract concept of their extinction did not weigh heavily on his conscience. The cosmos was brutal and empires fell every day without his knowledge or input.

What weighed on him far more was the opportunity this presented for Old Du and Astramentis.

He swung the sword in a wide arc and reversed his grip. He cared about the people of The Veil. He had fought beside them in the trials and he respected their resilience. Old Du had just been willing to forfeit the Realm Essence entirely to protect him from an ambush. That kind of loyalty was rare. Securing the essence for them would be a monumental victory. Khaos was also friends with Old Du so there was always that relationship to consider as well.

However, they were not close enough that he felt obligated to risk his own life for them. Hosting an ancient poisoned soul was an insane proposition. He could very well die or lose his mind entirely. He was not a martyr.

The first day passed in a blur of swinging steel and deep contemplation. The artificial suns of Kyokai City dipped below the horizon and plunged the courtyard into a pale twilight. Li Yu did not stop moving. He continued his sword practice through the night.

By the morning of the second day he finally came to a solid conclusion.

He stopped swinging Gilded Calamity. He stood in the center of the courtyard and took a deep breath. He decided he did not want any part of it. The risk was simply too high. He would tell Haelan and Jhyra to leave and he would stay in The Veil or go do something else. He felt a brief surge of relief wash over him as the decision settled in his mind.

But as he walked back to the wooden table to wipe the sweat from his brow, the relief evaporated.

He sat down and thought about how that rejection would actually play out. The Eidolon Court was not just asking for a favor. They were facing total annihilation. They were a people that were willing to resort to ruthlessness and extreme measures. If he said no, they would not just nod politely and go home to die.

This entire race of people was truly desperate and that desperation would cause them to break all reason.

Li Yu stared at the polished surface of Gilded Calamity.

‘What would a dying empire do when their only salvation refused to help? They would go to war. They would siege The Veil. They would throw every single soldier, every warship and every master at the borders of this realm. They would sacrifice whatever it took to capture him or they would die trying.’ Li Yu thought.

And why wouldn't they? They were going to die anyway.

Such people were incredibly dangerous. A person with nothing to lose was a threat. An empire with trillions of lives and nothing to lose was a cosmic apocalypse.

Li Yu gripped the edge of the table. Even with Khaos’s words that he had backing from Lian and the other forces, the reality of the situation was grim. How many people would die trying to defend him?

If the Eidolon Court launched a suicidal siege against The Veil, the native cultivators here would have to fight. Old Du and Astramentis would rally their defenses. Lian might bring her fleets to crush the invaders. Li Yu would ultimately be safe behind a wall of supreme power most likely.

But the collateral damage would be catastrophic.

The soldiers and troops fighting to protect him would feel exactly like he was feeling right now. They would stand on the battlements and watch a tide of desperate enemies approaching. They would wonder why they were risking their lives for him. He was someone they barely knew. He was a candidate who just happened to have a strong soul to the people of the Veil. He was someone who had saved the lives of an army to another. However, why should millions bleed just to keep him from having to take a risk?

Li Yu realized he was trapped in a terrible position. He was cornered not by an immediate physical threat but by the inevitable calculus of survival. If he refused, a war would start that would drag all of his allies into a meat grinder. If he agreed, he would have to face the unknown dangers of the Ancestor and the poison.

He stood up from the table. He sheathed Gilded Calamity with a sharp metallic click. He looked up at the artificial sky of Kyokai City. The second day was drawing to a close. The shadows in the courtyard were growing long again.

Li Yu felt the lingering frustration burn away. It left behind a cold and hardened resolve. He had made up his mind. He would go to the Eidolon Court. He would host their dying Ancestor and he would secure the Realm Essence for Old Du.

But he was not going to be a victim in this arrangement. He was not going to walk into their empire on their terms. If they wanted his body as a sanctuary, they were going to pay a price so heavy it would bind their entire race to his will.

He would help them but he had harsh and strict conditions.

Li Yu turned toward the gate of his courtyard. He knew Torend was waiting just outside. He would summon Old Du and Astramentis back. He would bring the Eidolon leaders to the table. He was ready to dictate the terms of his help and he was fully prepared to walk away if they refused a single demand. Whatever happens next he would just have to deal with it as it comes.

It had taken him two days to process the anger, the guilt and the fear. He was done thinking. It was time to act.