“Did the System just shout that to the entire world? How the fuck did Eric manage to get past 3700 in two attributes? How powerful even is that? Like, superman power? Super Punch Man power? And Elonia’s glowing! And my interface is congratulating me for joining a faction that’s now spread across the entire continent! You just know she got some major power-ups,” Yuki whispered to her partner as the entire throne room erupted in the triumphant cheers of Elonia’s people.

  Richard smiled and shrugged, gently squeezing Yuki’s hand. “Eric’s now strong enough to rip apart tungsten vaults, secret black site bunkers, mithril armor, or tear through one of mom’s imperial-class dreadnoughts. And that’s without using transcendent attacks channeled through his fist or sword. But it’s not really that outrageous. Eric and Elonia were swept up in a powerful tale of love, tragedy, and desperate powerhouses eager to ascend to Gold.”

  He sighed sadly while Yuki gazed at him with a growing sense of horror.

  “It’s a tale that swept so many of their siblings to oblivion. They’re two of the very few who actually survived.”

  “Babe?”

  Richard smiled. “I love it when you call me that.”

  Yuki flushed. “You said... your mom’s imperial-class dreadnoughts.”

  Rich solemnly nodded. “Yes, I did. Oh look, I think she wants to talk to us. Come on, I didn’t want to be rude and interrupt her intimidating the Terran Counsel or talking to Elonia, but now’s our chance!”

  Yuki nearly stumbled, despite having a Finesse of well over 200. She bit her lip and lowered her gaze, nervous as hell, no matter how reassuringly Richard held her hand. The woman with such glossy dark hair and strikingly beautiful features had just finished lecturing what seemed like the entire counsel of Terran Administrators after making them witness what happened when they crossed the wrong Silver-Tier monster, before snapping her fingers and dispelling the image of their entire hall.

  And a heartbeat later she turned around, positively beaming at Richard gazing so innocently at her… as if everything was perfectly normal. As if she wasn’t a Gold-Tier empress who had the power to obliterate them all with a wave of her hand.

  Yuki was already kowtowing, feeling the weight of death and destruction squeeze her soul so tightly for a single shuddering breath… and then the pressure she had only imagined was already past..

  “Richard! How are you, darling? Your ordeal hasn’t been too trying, I trust?”

  “Oh no, mother. It was absolutely wonderful! I woke up far more excited than I should have been with the apocalypse, I know, and I felt a little bit guilty about that, but everything just seemed to come together in just the right way that I knew I was basically embracing a wonderful slice-of-life journey… as long as I didn’t play the fool, of course. As long as I remembered all your lessons, back from your days as a trial lawyer. Sensing what people wanted, and meeting them halfway. And it worked brilliantly! All of it!”

  Evelyn Death nodded solemnly. “I’m glad to hear it. And you learned other lessons as well, I trust?”

  Richard nodded. “Life isn’t always a storybook adventure, no matter how much I can taste destiny’s potential. That only holds true in very special circumstances. Like being born on an ascending world.” He said the last with a forlorn sigh. “Everywhere else, wild mischance, ruthless slaughter, or pointless struggle can end one’s life and crush one’s dreams in the blink of an eye. Unless, of course, you have the raw strength and power to bend reality itself to your will.” He flashed an oddly pained smile. “Like Eric. He’s been a worthy mentor, Mother. He has taught me well.”

  The empress smiled. “All true. And I sense that your Wind foundation is as strong as I could have hoped to see forged, while still blazing with the hot fires of an ascending world.” Soft hands gently cupped his cheek. “So I have a choice for you, my son, riding in the balmy embrace of eighteen years of mem-tapes that aren’t truly your own, but hold the memories I so wish I could have given you in person. If you could embrace a life of absolute comfort, indulgence, and the right to command millions to heed your every whim… or endure hardship and trials for a chance to truly make something of yourself as a cultivator, far beyond what most System-focused cultivators could teach you… which path would you embrace?”

  Richard’s eyes widened with wonder. His features took on a ghostly pallor.

  Yuki sensed that, perhaps for the first time, he was truly seeing what was right in front of him.

  “You’re not really just a trial lawyer who tutors part time as a martial arts instructor with a knack for politics, are you, mother?”

  This earned a soft chuckle. “Oh, I am all of those things, and so much more as well.”

  Richard bowed his head. “I think… I know it might seem crazy when I can finally have that fairytale ending after we were all nearly eating by monstrous locusts that Eric had somehow turned into his undead legions.” He blinked, lips curving in a gentle smile, winking at a preening Bunbun on his mother’s shoulder. “Over three million Bronze-Tier monster soldiers. And now they’re all yours. Wow. Poor Eric couldn’t had no hope of outbargaining a trial lawyer like you.”

  Evelyn Death snorted. “That dear boy earned the chance to blaze like a phoenix for all the world to see, slicing nuclear doomsday devices in half with a magical flaming sword wing. Every teenager’s heroic fantasy. He profited mightily, and his sister now claims a kingdom that just might stabilize this continent, so long as the surviving counselors start doing their fucking jobs.”

  Richard nodded. “And this way, he’s not some wildcard you have to put down like a rabid dog.”

  “That too.”

  He swallowed, lowering his gaze. “Because the mom I knew… she never really was, was she?”

  Evelyn sighed, before rising on the tips of her toes to kiss her son’s forehead. “Mother has to go soon, darling. Much to do, I’m afraid.” She gently squeezed her son’s shoulder, causing him absolutely no harm at all as she smiled. “So, would you like the next chapter of your life to be in a fairytale palace with your beau, no doubt soon having a happy family of your own…”

  Yuki flushed at that pronouncement.

  “Or, would you like to embrace an epic cultivation tale where, after a journey to a mystical continent the size of ten of your earths put together, you join one of the most elite sects in a world filled with Silver Cored sages and Gold-tier monsters that not even mother dearest has any interest in challenging?”

  She chuckled at Yuki’s horrified expression. “Fear not. You both have a golden ticket, as they say. The perks of being an alumni. Even if I left on… ahem, less than stellar terms.”

  Yuki’s horror didn’t abate in the least. “Wait, are you… oh no. Oh no, what if those ancient Gold core monsters decide to invade?”

  This earned a snort from the dainty empress. “As if they would for one moment consider leaving the shockingly rich spiritual density of their sanctuary to invade barren soulless realms so far from paradise, so devoid of the glorious Spiritual Energies to be found in the plateau that is their home. Spiritual Energy that’s more than enough to help even the most bloated Energy Gathering stage cultivator to passively compress their Qi into a core by pressure alone. All the more so, the closer to the heart of that incomprehensibly vast continent that one dares to journey. The sect masters guard their treasures fiercely and have absolutely no interest in otherworldly disputes for scraps. If anything, you children will be quite safe there, at least while under your future master’s guidance, even should the worst befall the galaxy at large. For neither plateau nor the lowlands surrounding it, the fertile bread and rice basket of dozens of worlds, has suffered an incursion in over two thousand years. In addition to spiritual pressures that abjure any incursion rift, the continent is surrounded by endless seas that might curve around a planet larger than any known gas giant… or stretch on endlessly in a reality just a single gate jump away from our own.”

  Her eyes twinkled. “I myself dared only a fraction of that plateau’s depths… and earned secrets enough to forge an empire in the galactic wastes by my husband’s side.”

  Richard’s eyes widened with unmistakable excitement. “Wow! What incredible adventures you must have had!”

  “But you left.”

  The entire world seemed to still, even Bunbun wincing visibly as Yuki dared to speak.

  Her heart pounded frantically in her chest as the empress herself—didn’t her Richard understand who she truly was!?—slowly turned to regard Yuki thoughtfully.

  Yukik whimpered, about to beg for her life.

  Richard frowned.

  Evelyn dipped her head an infinitesimal fraction. “Yes. I did.” Her cold judging features lightened into a gentle smile… a potential hurricane breaking up to reveal a warm sunny day. “I walk an unorthodox path that few would dare. As a consequence, the vast Spiritual Energy desert that is existence as you know it, void of significant Essence as well, is no hindrance to my husband or I. One reason why we’ve been able to live peacefully, with few Gold-tier monsters willing to challenge us in this corner of reality.” She chuckled throatily. “Which is a very good thing, since were it otherwise, most fragile lifeforms would have been obliterated in the resulting conflicts, long ago.”

  Yuki couldn’t lower her head fast enough. “I understand, Your Eminence. Please forgive this one’s—”

  Richard’s gentle hand squeeze silenced her. “But mother, New Arcadia isn’t exactly barren of all Spiritual Energy. With the way Eric’s been evolving…”

  “Yes, I know, dear. Just one of the reasons why it’s time for my too rapidly ascending disciple to start his journey someplace else.”

  “And there’s the hyperion core he’s holding onto as well,” Bunbun casually noted.

  The empress nodded, reaching up to stroke her newest general’s silky soft fur, earning a purr as she did so. “That too.” She sighed at Richard’s worried look. “Relax, darling. The amount of Spiritual Energy here on Earth is still just a thimble-full. All of it cleverly hidden within the cloaking shadows of Elonia’s Faerie realm, where only fae and the mortals willing to surrender to New Arcadia’s saga are ever going to sense those boons.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Not that finding true love and raising a happy family before eventually surrendering to the seasons is necessarily a bad deal,” Bunbun qualified. “35 Million souls think its a steal, and they just happily informed me that reincarnation here is a very real thing! All the humans will be reborn, even if they’ll be elves, mixed-bloods, or outright faeries, their second time around. And since so many humans fear whatever waits them after death, especially if its nothing at all… embracing countless existences in a cycle of life and rebirth here in Arcadia isn’t a bad deal at all.”

  “Indeed it isn’t,” Evelyn concurred. “But I don’t think it’s the tale you two want to live.”

  Richard smiled, dipping his head in agreement, before turning to meet Yuki’s gaze.

  She flushed under his regard, heart pounding when he gently brushed his fingertip against her cheek.

  “So, what do you think about settling down as the king and queen of our own perfect fairytale kingdom? Calling an end to our crazy, wonderful, perilous adventures and just riding off into the sunset, our future children soon by our side?”

  Yuki flushed, daring to meet her lover’s gaze. “Sure, we could do that… or we could dare this cultivation realm that your mom’s dropping major hints that we should try. Dare it, and see just how fucking powerful we can get.” She flashed a sheepish smile. “Since Mistridge is out for me, and hopefully I won’t have to battle monster locusts ever again, I… I don’t know if there are too many ways for me to really grow, save unlocking whatever cultivation secrets we can learn in that realm that isn’t totally dominated by the System.”

  For long moments, Richard stared at her. “Are you sure?”

  She hesitated only for a second before nodding. “Yeah, babe. I’m sure.”

  For a moment she wondered if she had made a terrible mistake. That maybe what Richard wanted was the perfect storybook wife who would happily settle down and pop out a dozen of his babies... and there was a part of her that so wanted to do just that!

  Just as there was another voice inside of her that clamored for her to reach for the stars.

  And the look of relief in Richard’s face made it clear that she hadn’t chosen wrong at all.

  “Good. I worried that… but yes, this is perfect! I know I’ve just taken my first footsteps as a cultivator, and I sense so much potential in you as well, Yuki. With how you were reforged…”

  “How your mother reforged me,” Yuki said with a sad smile as the words bounced right off her lover’s gentle countenance.

  “Exactly! I just know that your abilities would synergize perfectly with a non-System cultivator’s path, Yuki. And I’m willing to bet mine will as well.” His eyes widened with unexpected delight. “In fact, the System just told me that I also have the perfect 18 node configuration to accept multiple cultivation paths from multiple realities! Oh, and someone named Conceptio will be very pleased to see what happens when I eventually break through and come back home to visit?” His brow furrowed at this.

  Bunbun snorted with laughter. “Poor Irene. She looks ready to bear her throat. And I’ll bet Conceptio would love to study you intimately!”

  Yuki gazed at Richard for long seconds. “How the hell do you have 18 nodes?”

  Evelyn all but glowed with maternal pride. “He has Mongolian and pristine draconic ancestry. A very potent mix. Far better than Irene’s clan, hardly more than a drakes, who count themselves blessed with 6 nodes. And my son would be wise not to look down on her clan. For very few wyrms can claim any better than reverse dragon configurations.”

  Richard nodded like that was the most reasonable statement in the world. “You’d be surprised how common that configuration was, amongst my students. I’m guessing that Earth’s been the home of a lot of happy accidents. And it makes sense, when you think about it. Mixed bloodlines are great for immunological health. Clearly, it has other benefits as well.”

  “She said dragon, Rich.”

  “And Mongolian. And you’re Japanese and Thai, and the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” Richard said in complete sincerity.

  Yuki’s heart skipped a beat, and the words just slipped free of her lips. “I love you, Richard Li.”

  “Not as much as I love you, Yuki Li.”

  Her cheeks flushed. “We even have the same last names.”

  Bunbun snorted. “Well, it’s technically Richard Li Kahn Exalt. But why quibble? You two are absolutely adorable together! But if we’re going to make it to the jump gate in time…”

  Yuki’s eyes widened at the display Bunbun pulled up on her tablet, showing a wild-eyed Eric racing across the endless forests and fields of Faerie beside a rail line track that was an absolute blur at the speeds he was going.

  “Fuck… just how fast is your master, Bun? And why is he wearing just pants?”

  “Former employer! And still my beloved baby’s daddy, of course,” Bunbun quickly qualified. “And that’s about MACH 5… halfway to 6! Go go, Speed Racer!”

  “The bluejeans have ascended to artifact status, I’m pretty sure,” Richard explained. “I think everything else he wore already disintegrated? Maybe when he became a Golden Phoenix and sliced that nuke in half?”

  Bunbun nodded. “And you’d better believe he’s pissed as hell at losing another Mithril sword and hauberk. Fortunately, the blade tied to his class will forever be just fine.”

  “Because it’s basically a furled wing for him,” Richard said knowingly.

  Bunbun shrugged. “Probably? Anyway, Admiral Reiza will open the teleportation connection in less than five minutes, so we should really… never mind.”

  They all blinked at the portal the empress had snapped into being, the Freetown Portal now just a few feet away.

  Yuki swallowed, turning to meet Elonia Silver’s gaze. Her cheeks flushed. “My queen…”

  The former movie starlet just smiled. “I release both you and Richard from all formal oaths and vows with the boons you have already earned forever yours to keep. It was an honor to have you both by my side as counselors and friends… and I do hope that friendship will last a lifetime.”

  As one, Yuki and Richard bowed.

  “It was an honor to fight by your side, Elonia,” Richard solemnly said before stepping through the gate with a final wave farewell.

  “Bye, Elonia. Good luck with your beautiful empire!” Yuki said, flashing her friend a cheeky smile before hurrying after her beau.

  ***

  Evelyn Death sighed, gazing fondly at the portal the pair had just jumped through, before turning back to Elonia.

  Elonia paled, bowing her head as a queen would her empress, allowing the latter’s words to wash over her.

  “You no longer have your brother as a crutch, dear. Nor his impossible legions.” Eve smiled, eyes twinkling with surprising warmth. “Nonetheless, I expect to hear good things from you, in the seasons to come.”

  Heart pounding, Elonia bowed her head. “It will be as you say, Your Imperial Grace.”

  “Good. All previous treaties of safe passage, non-interference, and cooperation between you and all other North American factions have been shattered with the connivance and expiration of the American Administrative Council. And with the sudden sharp rise of the Sylvan Alliance’s prominence, wealth, and significance, I would not expect those treaties to be reforged anytime soon. With the death of their pawns, conquest is the only way those foreign forces can legally hold on to their land and titles.”

  Elonia paled. “So. It’s to be war, then.”

  This earned a snort. “Of course, child. To the bitter end. And you’d be an absolute fool to think otherwise. Wyrmwood has just offered gates leading back to the home cities of every last one of his would-be students, and no outworlder hesitated to jump through.” Cold eyes held Elonia’s own. “Not a single one. A handful alone have proceeded to the Freetown jump gate, refusing to shed the blood of those they fought beside, even if it means their inevitable exile. Now, I do believe you have some 322 Bronze Tier mercenaries eager to march under your banner. I suggest you snatch them up before they realize that your trump card won’t be returning any time soon, because they now have no choice but to march under your banner or another, or they too will be exiled into deep space by what is ultimately a pitiless System.”

  Evelyn Death thoughtfully regarded the flushing queen before her. “I am well aware of how potent Faerie magics of binding truly are. And with your mastery over the elements that you have already demonstrated upon your own lands after your mother’s ascension… I look forward to greeting Terra’s future queen in the decades to come.”

  A flushing Elonia could only dip her head once more. “I will do my utmost to make that a reality.”

  “Good. New York Duchy’s sovereign safety is a boon I granted your brother in return for his 3.2 Million revenants which we will pretend he actually had a choice in surrendering. So, your home base is secure. But your extensive territories in the Southwest and along the California coastline are most definitely at risk of seizure from the more bloodthirsty-minded Contenders, which, let me assure you, this continent still has in plenty.”

  “Understood,” Elonia uttered, her words little more than a whisper.

  “Of course, you do have over 35 million souls now eternally sworn to your faction, with an absolutely monstrous moral bonus assuring countless critical hits, should they unleash flights of arrows in the tens of thousands, in defense of their homes. Though it’s clear from the horrified look you can’t quite school from your features that you see your citizens as precious souls to cherish and nurture, not pawns to maneuver in ruthless games of conquest.” She nodded in odd approval. “Exactly what one would desire from one’s queen. Sadly, it tends to be the most ruthless Contenders who actually manage to seize global thrones, and with the utter and absolute elimination of every last Administrator in the Americas… conquest is now the only path forward for all of you here.”

  “But you’re allowed to accept surrenders!” Bunbun said brightly. “Like Brittany who just hopped a train with her elites, and is now heading this way. No doubt she’s eager to form a counsel of war with you! Ooh, you should totally get Caliban to join you. Everyone’s hot now, and Blue’s diplomatic status no longer holds. At least not here in the states! So Calibro can cede Freetown to you without penalty. Especially since we both know that all the real estate’s actually owned by the Terran chapter of Blue Corp Savings and Loan, of which your brother’s already a 50% shareholder.

  “Blue’s neutral status still holds in Europe and Asia, though. Since you and your brother didn’t obliterate all the overseas Administrators and activate ‘total war mode,’ like you did here, which was totally not your fault! And if you knight any of the Bronze mercenaries, they will be locked in, so to speak, and could stay here indefinitely. Probably the sweetest boon you could offer any of them.”

  “Which is why I’ll use the Bronze Mercenary companies and the native classers they recruit as the sword of my empire, piercing fresh terrain while my mother’s Doom Twister arts and my people’s fierce love shall serve as the bulwark of my empire.” Elonia declared, before snapping her mouth shut after her bold declaration, with the calculating look the empress herself was now giving her.

  Even her court was wise enough to remain deathly silent as she held moot with the Gold-Tier power that could effortlessly destroy them all. Yet their eyes glimmered in fierce approval, as if already mentally commanding the vast armies that would defend their homes at all costs, even if not one single faerie soul could step foot upon ground that hadn’t known her brother’s blessing… or at least her own.

  Evelyn Death’s smile was oddly toothy. “It seems that your ancient sister’s anchored Silver Phoenix hasn’t left you quite as bereft of knowledge or memories as your brother likes to think.”

  Elonia flushed, her mind of course brooding over all her weaknesses, flaws, and fuckups in both lives she might have lived, the empress’s gaze measuring her body and soul. And surprisingly, not finding her wanting.

  “Good. I prefer queens tempered by wisdom, strong enough to endure life’s harsh lessons as they strive fiercely for the sake of their kingdoms, far more than I do hothouse lilies at risk of wilting with the first winter storm.”

  Elonia bowed as much to hide her blazing cheeks as to show respect. “I will do my best to prove your faith in me well founded, your…”

  Her words died off as she lifted her head, for the empress was already gone. As was everyone else, save for her courtiers gazing at her with such rapt adoration that she felt both touched by… and was struck by a sudden sharp longing for her human friends once more.

  “Advisors, attend to me at once! We have a continent to conquer.”

  Half a dozen elegantly attired courtiers immediately rose and bowed. “As you command, Your Grace.”

  “Accept all mercenary contracts, so long as they fall within our pre-established rates. Those eager for land and title will also be accepted, so long as they prove themselves in battle.” She frowned thoughtfully. “And someone get me Wyrmwood. And Jack and Steve. Assuming the entire diplomatic convey was faking resetting their classes, those two will be absolutely perfect for the campaign to come.”