CONTENT WARNING: Note, this chapter is rated mature due to gore.

Zheng Zixin

“Don’t get in my way,” Olivier said to his comrade before lunging at me again.

I released a torrent of flames, the color a rusty orange mixed with traces of gold. He sliced through the fire without issue and continued his charge. He head-butted me with substantial force, sending me barreling towards the ground. The momentum kept me from opening my wings, so I landed in the sand with a loud thud, my ears ringing.

The impact was not enough to break any bones because I wasn’t at a high altitude, but it would surely leave plenty of bruises as a reminder of my battle. I glanced at Sun Fang, watching him fight off Baʿal Berith’s creations. More and more creatures poured from the book. Sun Fang wouldn’t last long. I needed to end my battle with Olivier quickly.

“I’m surprised you have time to think about anything else. You should focus on your opponent,” Olivier said, swinging his blade down once again. He continued his flurry of attacks, never leaving me time to breathe in between my blocks. His strength was unlike anything I’d ever fought before, and the thought excited me more.

‘I may have to shift back to my partially shifted form,’ I thought. There was only so much I could do in my dragon form.

With a big flap of my wings, I forced Olivier back, before changing back to my half-shifted form. Scales still covered my arms and my fingers still appeared as talons, not to mention my wings. I unsheathed my sword without waiting for him to recover and began my return attack.

Our swords clashed, the sound of metal clanging echoing. The longer the fight went on, the bigger I could feel my smile growing. Finally, I found someone strong enough to withstand not just one of my attacks, but multiple. The challenge was thrilling and knowing my strength would increase after his defeat; it brought me great joy.

“Ame no Mizuhiko,” I heard a female voice whisper on the breeze.

Olivier and I turned our heads just as a spear flew towards us. I used my wings to propel me out of the way in time, but to my astonishment, the spear’s attention was on Olivier.

The spear followed him and severed his arm, sending droplets of his sanguine fluid flying. He caught his severed arm, looking unamused. And then his arm turned to dust and faded away.

The ocean’s waves grew restless, rising higher every time it touched the shore. When it hit nearby rocks, it sounded like thunder. Olivier looked as confused as me when we watched a young woman rise from the depths of the sea.

She landed in front of me, wearing a dark blue kimono with sky blue trimmings. Along her sleeves were print designs of crashing waves in turquoise, midnight blue, and royal blue. On her back, she had an intricate design of the azure dragon. Her long hair was the shade of a blue ombre, starting off as a dark blue and turning turquoise at the ends. The gradient reminded me of the ocean. I noticed she had nine foxtails of the same color.

“Wash away their sins, Seiryū,” she said, willing her spear back to her hand. 

Water populated at the spear’s tip, forming a small orb of saltwater. Her spear glowed bright blue, releasing waves of energy. She lunged forward and an enormous wall of water unleashed its rage, crashing down on Olivier like a powerful waterfall.

When the water parted, it revealed a soaked Olivier, who looked incredibly displeased. I didn’t know whether to be upset or astounded that this female interrupted me. Her spear wasn’t an ordinary spear, but something told me no one else could use it to its full potential if she wasn’t its wielder. Who would have known Mutsushina was hiding such a power?

“A little water is nothing,” Olivier said vehemently. “However, I will be happy to return the favor by giving you a good flogging. Master will have to understand this takes precedence, as it seems a dog needs to be taught some manners about trying, and failing, to step on someone bigger than them.”

“That’s not ordinary water,” the kitsune said. “It’s holy water.”

Olivier’s gaze traveled down, and that was when he started steaming. His skin melted and blood dripped from his eyes. His feathers caught on fire, charring him down to the bone as he screamed in agony. When I thought that was the end, his grip on his sword tightened. He swung at her, but the blade stopped just short of her face before he evaporated into dust, along with his weapon.

“Well, that was rather underwhelming,” she said, before turning around to face me. “You’re far from home.” She held a hand out and introduced herself. “I’m Aoyama Asari, general of the Inari Defensive Forces.”

“I didn’t need your help. I had him,” I replied, ignoring her request for a handshake. I needed to help Sun Fang.

To my chagrin, she followed me. “Lady Azusa asked us to assist you. We sensed you, but the fallen angels flew under our radar. We didn’t detect them until they started using their powers.”

“Do I look like I care about what happens to Mutsushina?” I asked, noticing Baʿal Berith was unfazed by the death of his comrade. Perhaps it was a common trait in dark angels.

“Don’t worry about your friend. We’ll take care of him.”

“We?”

“Are you going to talk to that dragon all day?” another female joined us, appearing next to Asari suddenly.

She looked identical to Asari, except she had yellow hair, but black roots. She wore a black and gold kimono with a print of a wolf on her back and lightning bolts on her sleeves in gold thread. In her hands, she carried a large, thin bow. Despite being short, the bow length was vastly bigger than a bow should be for someone of her size.

“Patience, Aimi. We don’t know what tricks he has under his sleeves,” Asari said.

“We don’t have time for that!” Aimi replied.

She stopped and drew back her bow. The skies rumbled and rain clouds appeared. Lightning resounded in the distance, each crackle generating a yellow orb of energy charged with electricity. She pulled the bow back until her thumb rested just behind her lip, aiming the tip of the arrow at Baʿal Berith. “Shatter their sins, Raijū,” she said, releasing her arrow.

Baʿal Berith locked gazes with us for a split second before it landed. An explosion went off on impact and I had to put everything in my wings to keep myself from flying back. It had released a sonic boom big enough to knock anything in a close radius away.

When the smoke cleared, Sun Fang was still in his dragon form and appeared uninjured. Baʿal Berith clutched onto his chest, coughing up blood. He had lost a lot of blood and a portion of his abdomen in the blast. Even so, he did not try to flee. Instead, he looked at me and said, “The prosperous realm of Naestrirea shall become the Devil’s playgrounds.”

His body turned to dust and disappeared into nothing like Olivier. But I still had the feeling that someone was watching me from the shadows. I glanced at the trees once more, waiting to see if whoever was there would muster the courage to face me. After all, Baʿal Berith and Olivier had mentioned having a master. Who could have orchestrated such an attack? It almost felt like they were keeping me from coming here. But why?

The trees returned to normal, the flowers and leaves swaying in the wind. I disregarded the kitsune and went to Sun Fang, returning to my human form. “Are you alright, Sun Fang?” I asked.

Sun Fang’s eyes brightened at my question, returning to his human form as well. “Were you worried about me, Taizi?”

“If you’re fine, then stop dallying. We’re going to Iniguthia.”

“Yes, of course… Iniguthia?! Taizi, please don’t take my concern as a sign of disrespect, but we should return to Wuzhen. It’s not too late to seek the Emperor’s forgiveness. Perhaps he’ll give you a lenient punishment.”

 “My punishment? You are at as much fault as I am, Sun Fang. What the old man doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Learn to come out of your wings a little more. What we are doing could save Wuzhen from a future invasion,” I replied as I clunked the water dragon on his head. “We won’t get any answers about the letter here. Those two fallen angels are proof that Iniguthia was the true ringleader.”

“Not exactly, Crown Prince Zheng Zixin,” someone said, forcing me to twist around.

My eyes met a Celestial nine-tailed fox with silvery hair and golden eyes. She had a tiara filled with diamonds on her head and it was almost blinding when the sunlight refracted from its smooth edges. There was a golden aura around her, similar to the one I’d seen around my mother. And that’s when I realized I was facing the Holy Fox Empress of Mutsushina, Murakami Azusa.

“Azusa-sama…” Asari and Aimi said, bowing to their sovereign.

Azusa gestured for them to rise. “Thank you, Asari. Aimi.” She looked at me, expecting me to bow, but I gave her a curt nod. My father would not approve of me bowing to another person, even if they were royalty. When she understood it wasn’t going to happen, she continued. “Zixin,” she said. “To what do we owe the pleasure? We weren’t aware of Wuzhen’s plans to visit Mutsushina, otherwise we would have prepared for your arrival.”

“I don’t think it’s any of your business,” I replied, testing her.

“When you fight on Mutsushina’s lands, it becomes my business,” she replied with a grin. “I don’t intend to waste your time, so I’ll cut to the chase. I hope you’ll reciprocate my good will by being honest with me.”

Her sharp tongue brought a smile to my face. “Very well. You can start by explaining why there were two fallen angels in your lands.”

“Fallen angels have nothing to do with us. The two you met happened to be part of something bigger, far more sinister. They weren’t ordinary angels, as I’m sure you noticed. For decades, I’ve had visions of Wuzhen and Mutsushina reuniting over a common enemy. It starts with two, Baʿal Berith, the Prince of the Cherubim, who exist to tempt those around him into killing; and Olivier, the Prince of Archangels, who tempts those to commit acts of cruelty.”

I knew the Empress of Mutsushina often reached a high level in their Celestial training that gave them the unique gift of sight. “What does this have to do with the letter I received? Are you insinuating they wrote it to lure me here?”

“No, I did.”