Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 602 - 601 - Broken Empire

The loss at the conquered city spread across Dar very quickly.  The other cities currently embroiled in the chaos of rebellion became still.  They had already exhausted many resources on their infighting as they expected the army to win.

The capital, on the other hand, was bedlam.  The fighting was much fiercer than anywhere else as any and every noble wanted to ascend to the throne with even the Soulmancers throwing their hands in the ring.

Shi knew the chaos hid the effects of the defeat but slowly a change came over the capital.  As she well knew, only 50 years had passed since the last army division had been defeated.

While it was long enough to refill the lost members, the army sent to take back the city had 3 divisions and it was all wiped out!  The army still had 2 divisions left but it was now divided up among the factions.

In other words, if the intruders felt like it, Dar Empire would fall inside of a month if they marched on the capital!

Shi was amused by the changes and the many messages that came to her from now very contrite Soulmancers begging for her help.

Sadly, even if she wanted to, she could not leave the palace.  She had tested the restrictions and her artifacts lit up instantly when she reached the threshold of the palace.  Each palace had practical defenses but it also incorporated sigils from Soulmancers as well.

Those sigils were something that could be used to identify the border of the palace and keep Shi within.  She did not reveal such things but she did not need to.

Her previous demonstration had also made the rounds not only to the Soulmancers but to the other factions.  They let her be and she preferred it that way.

Still, things were progressing to everyone grasping the futility of their actions.  With a full city under the control of the intruders, she knew it was no longer wise to rebel, but it was too late.

How many experts were dead, crippled, or simply sidelined by serious injuries?  How many resources were burned in the fruitless battles across the empire?

She sneered at the fools because even if they had succeeded, Xing would have killed them all.

[You seem happy.]

Shi jumped as she grew somewhat irritated that the intruder kept reaching out to her.

"Your success has reached the chaos here.  DId you simply want to check in?"  As time passed, she grew more fearful of Xing's retaliation.  She knew the woman better than any and her temper was well known.

Linghu would not be dead since Shi was not actually defying her but the thoughts of what Xing could be doing to him to alleviate her anger made her worried.

[I would not be reaching out again if I did not have a reason.  I have a prisoner here that is odd.  She is a Soulmancer but of red not black robes and seems very healthy.  She is also from the Raquera Empire.]

Shi knew what he was referring to.

"They are an odd bunch but their power is undeniable.  They also have a strange desire to punish criminals only."  They were still Soulmancers as they did rip souls from people but they were more like an arm of justice unlike most Soulmancers.

[That would explain why she feels so different.  Unlike the others I have encountered, her weaving is sent inward.  It is an ingenious use of it.  She also has an excellent grasp of sigils and traces unlike the others.]

Shi sneered at such basics but then felt shock.  She knew the intruder was an ascender but his abilities were a bit of a mystery, yet he spoke of weaving as if he was an expert.

"Are–are you at the 6th Circle?"  She felt a shiver down her spine as sigils suddenly materialized from above!  She jumped up as a faint image appeared of a young man with emerald eyes and dark hair with emerald streaks.

"Yes, I am."  Shi was stunned!  She had only ever met Xing at such a level.  While she too had reached that level, the feeling the man gave her was far above her!  She also never felt like Xing was that powerful.

"H-how are you doing this?"  Reaching out telepathically along his weaving was understandable.  Souls and minds were intertwined deeply, but a projection manipulation from the city he conquered was a vast chasm of expertise compared to that.

"I have been adjusting things as needed and frankly what I have been seeing is appalling.  The other cities are in far worse shape than the capital.  I could sneeze and take them over but it will still take time."  The man looked tired to her.  She realized this man cared!  He cared about lives lost needlessly.

"The woman, Lili, has given me an idea and I am able to do it but it will be a massacre if I do so."  He then looked to his side before his mouth moved but no sound came out.  Such a level of control further stunned Shi.  She had never seen such fine control even from Xing!

What kind of monster had they provoked?

"What exactly did you intend to do?"  The man turned back to her and in his eyes, she saw a bottomless pit of despair.  It was as if he stood on a cliff and if he took one more step, he knew he would never be able to come back to where he was.

"I can control the Soulless and further, empower them like the Raqueran Soulmancer."  His words shocked her.  How was such a thing possible remotely?  The controls of the Soulless were well known to her now and all were terrified of them because even standing still, few could actually find them.

"That would indeed be a massive bloodbath but it would end the war here."  She could not argue against it but then she saw him shake his head.

"You misunderstand.  I normally would directly control them and make decisions, but this would be a massive remote order and they would obey it until it was done."  Shi felt her legs weaken.

Unlike other creations, the Soulless terrified even her.  She had no control nor ability to stop them.  Their artifact controls were now useless so the owners had been killed out of fear if they found a way to make a faction and got them to work again.

If the entirety of those beings were unleashed now, it would wipe out half the population before the fighting stopped.  He seemed to grasp how far he would have to go.

"You would free the slaves all at once and simply let nature take its course?"  He nodded as if it was the natural conclusion but she could see it.  The repressed slaves would be like a storm without end.

They would bathe in the blood of their owners happily and inflict on them what had been done to them for a million years.  There would be no survivors.

"You can't do that!  There are innocents here, even in this vile place, there are still innocents!"  Shi spoke from her heart and tears formed before she saw his face soften.  He looked pained at her.

"I know that but time is working against me.  I can't spend months securing each city before heading to the capital.  Eventually, the other 5 empires will unite and break my weaving forcibly.  I cannot allow all that have died to be in vain."  His voice was not cold, on the contrary it was warm.

He was not one to kill needlessly.  He did not see people as pawns or pieces.  Shi shook herself as she looked into her mind for an alternative to mass slaughter.  She understood that the man that waged war on Xing and her regime was not a monster at all.

He was simply protecting those dear to him and carving out a home for them all.  If he was left alone, none of the deaths would have happened!

"There–there might be another way.  The imperial family was killed during the rebellion.  No new family has been designated, but I am a Supreme Lord of this place.  I have the power to install one."  She was crossing a line and she knew it.  If Xing found out, her brother would suffer a fate far worse than death.

His emerald eyes narrowed at her.

"You are afraid.  Why?"  She realized how powerful his connection was to her, or perhaps she simply could not hide her stark fear for her brother.

"Xing will know it was me."  She said nothing else but he seemed to concentrate for a moment before he spoke again.

"Explain this other option."  He did not take up her offer but wanted to hear more.

"Every imperial family, once recognized by Xing, will be given a certain authority over their empire.  If given the order to do so, every vassal and Soulmancer currently under the command must obey.  It is not used often because it burns the souls out if not ended quickly."  She could still see a slaughter but on a much smaller scale.

The man grasped his chin and seemed to ponder it before his eyes closed.  Shi suddenly felt a pressure on her brand!  Why?!

"I see, so there is such a function built in.  Everytime I think I grasp the full depth of these vile things, there is always more."  The man shocked her once more.  He could touch their brands?!

"I understand your intent but as it would betray my promise to you, I refuse.  There is another way."  He then broke the connection.

She felt like a weight had been lifted from her heart.  He truly cared!  The chance to grasp power via her authority and he kept his word over betraying her hopes of saving her brother.

⬧⬧⬧⬧

"Vile things just get worse the more I learn."  Lind cursed the Immortal Suzen once more and that Xing was strange.  Shi had revealed she never left the Core Hall but her skill used on the boy Linghu was not something he had encountered before.

It felt too close to the thrall technique yet separate.  Unlike the Soulless, the boy was fully there but his body was beyond his control.  While he had seen some strange and horrifying applications of weaving since he came to the 6 empires, nothing like that ever presented itself.

Also, why teach the boy weaving if she was going to control him like that?  Why not control Shi like that?  So many questions came to his mind but he pushed them aside as he had an alternate plan now.

"Briel, have Sheena and Gravis report to me.  See if Haim can come too."  Lind did not order the demon leader.  The city had been renamed after a months long debate.

He had heard Vengeance or Destruction City had been in the running but apparently Gravis had made a suggestion.

Freedom City was now its name.

Lind wondered if something wonderful would be born or something tragic but he was not a God.  He could not tell them how to live and treat their enemies.

While his summons were going out, he sat down cross legged in the lotus position.  The storm of Qi around him started up and he felt his soul leave his body once more.  It was a strange sensation projecting himself along the dome.

Shi had become a bright spot he could focus on but he could bring any area into focus he wanted to.  Now that he knew what to look for, he saw the faint threads of a massive weaving centered around the imperial palace.

The monstrosity sickened him, but it was a vastly better alternative to unleashing the Soulless and the slaves on the cities.

He made some quick calculations and realized how terrifying that weaving was.  He could assume control anytime because like much he had experienced against the Soulmancers, their quality of work was very poor.

He could put it to use but he had to modify a few things.  As he began his work, the fall of the Dar Empire loomed.