Path of the Berserker-Chapter 52Book 5:

“The Iron Marshal is down! All bets are off!”

Fia’s heart jumped with fright at the call.

Instantly the gamblers were abuzz with salvaging what could be their lost fortunes as the odds shifted dramatically in Lady Rhe Su Long’s favor. Fia pushed through the midst of them trying to get to the bookies.

“What’s happened?” she cried. “What’s happened to the Iron Marshal?”

But the wall of people ignored her, pushing her out of the way forcefully. Bryce let out a cry and someone turned about with a scowl.

“Get that damn baby out of here!” he shouted in her face. “This is no place for a child, you foolish woman!”

The words bit her deeply, and she felt like slapping the man for insulting her, but then she remembered her simple mummer’s robes and the role she now played. She was no longer Silver Leaf royalty and even if she still was, such a ranking meant almost nothing here.

Desperation filled her as the rumors and speculation continued.

“Is he dead?”

“How did she kill him?”

“She didn’t kill him. Not yet!”

Fia rushed to her mother. “We need to go. We need to go now!”

Rhi Dong looked back at her, face pale, the same as everyone else.

No one expected this. Max was supposed to win.

Master Hei Dong opened his mouth as if to say something, perhaps the obvious—that getting through the gate wouldn’t matter if he’d already lost. If he’d already been killed. But he simply shook his head instead.

Just the thought had tears in her eyes.

“I’ve got to get in there!” Fia cried.

Kel Zhi stared at her for a moment, looked to Tu’lok and then punched him right in the face.

The surprise punch had the big man reeling and holding his nose.

“That’s right!” Kel Zhi screamed, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Try and touch my ass again, you pervert!”

She went into him with body blows and Tu’lok all but curled up with shock and confusion.

“Fight back dammit!” Kel Zhi hissed at him in a whisper between clenched teeth.

He finally did so, punching her on the shoulder. “I didn’t touch your ass! You touched my ass, you whore!!”

That shout got way more attention and the crowd shifted to see the spectacle of the two demon actors duking it out over the most ridiculous claims ever. Jian Yi and Master Hei Dong quickly did their bit, with Jian Yi attempting to break the two up while Master Hei Dong fetched the guards for help.

It was working like magic.

Fia secured Bryce upon her back and grabbed her mother’s hand. “Come! Its time!”

She waited a second more, for the guards to follow behind her father and then made a swift stride towards the gate. They walked quickly and efficiently, not quite a run but enough to get them there fast enough without drawing too much attention.

The Pai Fang loomed over them, the shimmering portal of the Omni Gate just a few feet away.

And then Bryce let out a cry.

The sound immediately drew the attention of one of the guards and he grabbed hold of her robes. “Hey!”

“Run Fia!” Rhi Dong shouted and slammed herself into the guard.

Fia bolted for the gate.

So close!

She got all of three steps before another guard grabbed her and then another. She cried out with agony and frustration as the tips of her fingers touched the veil of the portal.

“These damn people again?” the head guard shouted. “That’s it! Arrest them all! Especially those two fighting!”

“No, please!” Fia cried. “I must get through that gate!”

But the guard ignored her and rounded up her parents along with Jian Yi. Kel Zhi looked about to put up a real fight, but when a second patrol of imperial guards came to join the fray, Master Hei Dong wisely gestured for her to back down.

Tears blurred Fia’s vision as shackles were placed on her wrists.

She couldn’t believe this was happening.

But to the rest of the world the spectacle was now over and they returned to the betting at hand.

“Odds 33:2 in favor of the Little Princess! Who still wants to make a bet?”

“No…” she whispered weakly as all their plans came undone. “Max…”

* * *

I contemplated my fate as Rhe Su Long slithered closer.

My Frenzy reserves were well spent.

I wasn’t out of the game just yet, but the next card I played would determine my destiny.

“A devastating clash of power between these two opponents!” the announcer chimed from above. “But it seems the Little Princess has come out on top. No doubt some disappointment to be had for those curious to see the true power of an Imperial Marshal. I believe the results speak for themselves.”

My anger spiked as Rhe Su Long let out a cackle. “Such a disappointment indeed. I was expecting so much more from someone who supposedly survived the Hell Worlds. Or was that just another fraud? No different than your scheming princess.”

I cultivated the anger in my soul, producing desperately needed Frenzy.

The bitch had already counted me out, same as the damn announcer.

But I couldn’t blame them.

I looked up at the Qi-screen displaying my bruised and battered body and couldn’t deny the tale it told. The entire audience had just seen me shattered by a single technique. But they were my true enemy now, I realized.

This damn crowd.

If I wanted to survive, I needed to rely on my true Berserker strengths.

And that meant revealing dark secrets that would get me executed on the world stage.

“So tell me what you did,” I said, as I subtly cycled my Frenzy. “What Dark Cultivation techniques did you use to cheat the system and nearly ascend to the True Deity Realm?”

Rhe Su Long stopped to hover over me, her enormous body towering into the sky. She pointed the tip of her glaive at my face. “I should ask you the same question. You should have died from that technique, yet you still live. How are you able to wield so much power at your cultivation level? What did you take from that Hell World to make you so strong?”

I grinned as I slowly opened the meridian sequences within my shattered body. “You really want to know? I’d be more than happy to show you.”

A wave a confusion flashed across her face and I knew I had just seconds to act before she would plunge her glaive through my skull.

“[Furnace of the Frenzied Flame]…”

As I invoked the technique, a black shroud enveloped us within the crater.

“What’s this!?” the announcer cried. “A surprise move by the Iron Marshal? He’s just summoned his Inner World! But is it a desperate last attempt or an ultimate move? Let’s see which one of them comes out of this alive?!”

As my hellscape of the Cauldron took form, the deadly rays of the Cursed Star filled the blackened, fire ridden sky with pulses of Cursed Frenzy. Rhe Su Long cried out immediately, screaming at the top of her lungs. The noise from the outside world receded as my full technique took hold. I could maintain it for hours at a time now on a full charge, but now I had just seconds.

“What is this!?” she cried. “Who are you? Who speaks to me? What is this Flame?!”

As she rambled with the words of madness, the darkness that was inside her came out as well. I sensed Cursed Frenzy pouring from her, not Dark. Which made sense, seeing as I had already killed I’xol’ukz.

My Inner World didn’t hold the true power of a Cursed Star, just a fraction of it, otherwise it would have transformed her into a demon instantly. But it was enough to drive her mad and give me an opportunity for one big hit.

“You wanted to see the difference being an Iron Marshal makes? Then there you have it.” I redirected the last of my Frenzy to perform a series of techniques, lining them up one by one. “Not gonna lie. You took me right to [Death’s Door] with that last attack of yours’, but as you can see... [I still Live].”

As I invoked the technique, my power surged. Every ounce of pain and devastation I had endured was now redirected and magnified a hundred fold. I quickly channeled it into something useful.

“What are you? What are you?!” she cried over and over again.

I grinned at her as I slowly rose.

“I am the bane of the One True Flame, the defier of the Greater Will and the protector of mankind…” As I said the words with [Torment of the Frenzied Flame] her screams turned to laughter, the madness fully taking hold. “Count yourself lucky to see the world as it truly is, Little Princess. In fact, I’ll honor you with a ‘twin’ technique of my own.”

I leapt into the air with [Three Fold Frenzy], instantaneously combining my three [Marks] as one.

My body screamed, but I held it together for one last hit.

I swung both my Axe and Glaive in a double-barreled strike.

“[Twin Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!”

To my surprise she managed to defend herself with her Glaive at just the last second, holding it high above her head in a block.

But it didn’t matter.

My Blue Steeled weapons broke through her own, releasing a massive pulse of energy as the twin headed naginata shattered into pieces. My weapons carried through cleaving both of her arms off in a single stroke.

She cried out with laughter and pain and suddenly my Dantian hit its limits.

My Inner World faded, revealing the massive crowd and Qi-screens again.

There was a hushed pause of shock as both of her massive arms hit the ground in a bloodied mess. I fell to my knees right next to them, my soul and body spent.

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Rhe Su Long went into a fit, the huge tail of her body thrashing about as she squirmed with no arms, looking like a true snake now. Blood gushed and her body lost its power, shrinking back down into a human form. Her loud bellows became shrill cries juxtaposed between unsettling juvenile laughter.

“We will all die!” she cried. “We will all die!!”

Blue-robed cultivators immediately swooped down from the arena platform, rushing to Rhe Su Long’s aid. I could have easily killed her just now, but seeing her in that broken form, especially in a child’s body—had me feeling no compulsion to do something like that. I didn’t have a personal beef with her anyway.

And besides, the damage I’d done to her was probably far worse.

She was likely insane now and even if she did recover, there was no doubt she wouldn’t recall a thing. I stowed my weapons as I struggled back to my feet. I’d managed to get off a berserker-fueled attack with the masses of the empire being none the wiser.

The announcer’s voice then boomed from above.

“Rhe Su Long has been literally disarmed by the Iron Marshal and has reverted to her mortal form! There seems to be no way for her to continue! The match is over! Victory goes to the Iron Marshal!”

I looked to the scoreboard.

The Little Princess vs The Iron Marshal

Odds: 2:33

Time – 27:39

Little Princess

Iron Marshal

It was a decisive victory both in score and deed.

Shouts and cheers came from the enormous crowd, all blending like the roar of a mighty ocean. I gladly cultivated the massive outpouring of lemonade to replenish my depleted reserves. [Three-Fold-Frenzy] had healed most of my internal wounds, but not enough to fix what I looked like on the outside.

It was just as well.

I needed to look beat up after that fight.

As I waved my hand to acknowledge the crowd, the Qi-screens focused on the one person I did have a beef with.

Lunalah.

The idiot was all laughs and smiles now, blowing kisses and bowing to the crowd as if she had just won the fight instead of me. She then turned towards me as if in acknowledgement and then blew me a kiss as well.

I shuddered inwardly at the hungry leer that came with it.

She knew what was coming next and so did I.

A wedding announcement I wanted no part of.

* * *

A skiff arrived to give me a lift back to the arena, along with Rhe Su Long, who now had her entire torso wrapped in bandages while receiving Qi-healing therapy by several practitioners in the blue robes.

“The proxy of Princess Lunalah has won via a decisive victory,” the Chairwoman’s voice returned, taking control back from the arena announcer. “By the rule of Martial Law, her defense has been determined. Third Princess Lunalah, this tribunal of the High Council finds you not guilty of treason. You are free to go.”

More cheers broke out, but it was clear there was no majority there. On the screens, Lunalah’s stepsisters were sneering and cursing, along with that bastard Tai Su Long. But as I touched down in the arena, I couldn’t give a shit about them really.

My real purpose of winning that fight was now at hand.

And the moment of truth would soon be here.

Lunala rushed to me, nearly pulling me into an embrace before her mother slapped her hands.

“You’ve not made the announcement yet,” the empress snapped. “Settle yourself, girl.”

Not surprisingly, Lunalah still defied her somewhat, grabbing both of my hands instead. “You’ve done it, my love! We are now soon to be betrothed.”

I pressed on a fake smile of [Indifference] as I vainly looked out into the crowd.

When I envisioned my plan, I didn’t have an arena of this size in mind.

Could Fia even be noticed in here? I wondered.

Was she even here?

An unsettling uncertainty took hold as Lunalah began yapping about our wedding plans again.

Thankfully the Chairwoman’s voice boomed over her.

“With this matter now closed, the council will recess for fifteen minutes before moving on to the next order of business—the granting of royal title.”

My insides did a flipflop as the Chairwoman suddenly looked directly at me.

“Imperial Marshal Chun, I suggest you use that time to find yourself some new robes.”

* * *

“The Iron Marshal has won!”

Fia’s soul spun in turmoil as the crowd of gamblers erupted into two camps around her—one winners and the other losers, with the appropriate curses and cheers assigned to both. She wasn’t certain what exactly had transpired, but from the odds, Max must have made a desperate comeback at just the last moment.

So Max, she thought. Why do I still doubt you?

It brought a smile to her face, but it instantly vanished as a hand pushed her roughly on the shoulder.

“Move along now!” the guard shouted. “You’ll all be spending a night in jail at least.”

“We wish to see a magistrate!” Jian Yi protested. “Take us through the gate to the high council if need be. It’s right there!”

“For this dumb shit?” The guard laughed. “They’ll have me thrown in jail with the lot of you if I did something like that! Now move!”

Fia’s world melted around her. Max had come through on his part, only for her to fail him in the end? She couldn’t fathom it. The impotence of the situation had her insides roiling with rage. But what could she do now? Would Max truly have to go through with marrying that horrid woman?

Forced to love her?

To lay with her?

“Please, sir, reconsider,” her father said. “This was all just a misunder—”

“Vice Warden Hei Dong?”

He paused mid-sentence at the soft voice that interrupted him.

Fia looked to see a petite woman in imperial robes, holding a large fur coat in her arms. She didn’t recognize her immediately, but something about her looked familiar. And by the way she knew her father, she had to know her somehow.

“Ah!” Hei Dong said. “Miss Ling Wei!”

The name hit Fia like a thunderbolt.

Max had mentioned her countless times in his stories. Princess Lunalah’s personal aide. She had perhaps only seen her in glimpses before, but now with the name she recognized her immediately. Fia donned the hood of her cloak, and secured Bryce upon her back. Seeing her was akin to seeing the princess herself and she didn’t know what that would mean if she recognized her as being the recently deceased Fia Dong.

“What’s going on here?” she asked.

“A misunderstanding like I was trying to explain to the guard here.” Hei Dong bowed to her while still in cuffs. “Please. Perhaps you can assist. Gentlemen, this is Princess Lunalah’s aide, Ling Wei.”

The guard harrumphed. “You have some proof of that?”

Ling Wei rested the heavy fur coat on the ground and produced some papers from her robes.

After a quick look, the guard jutted his chin towards Hei Dong. “Can you vouch for these people? They say they are mummers hired by your princess.”

“Mummers?” Ling Wei furrowed her brow. “Master Hei Dong?”

Fia’s heart raced. She looked to her father.

“Ah, yes,” he said. “We received an invitation to provide a special performance.”

“I have not heard of this,” she said.

Hei Dong’s face reddened. “It was last minute, perhaps you had not received the message?”

It was an outright lie.

Silence fell as all eyes turned to Ling Wei.

She then began looking at each of them in turn, starting with Kel Zhi, Tu’lok, her mother Rhi Dong. And then finally she zeroed in on Fia herself. Nervs filled her stomach. There were scarce few people who knew of the Princess Lunalah’s plot to kill her and her unborn child. Even Max was shocked when her aunt, the Lady Silver Tear, had revealed it to him upon her death.

But if anyone besides Lady Silver Tear would have known, surely it would have to be Lunalah’s personal aide. Cold sweat built in Fia’s palms as Ling Wei studied her, eyes narrowing with scrutiny and suspicion. This could indeed be the very woman who assisted in carrying out that plot.

“Remove your hood,” she said. “I wish a better look at you.”

“Care not for her,” Hei Dong said. “She is but a local mummer.”

But that seemed to only rouse her suspicions further.

“I said remove it.”

Slowly Fia reached for her hood. She still had the wig to cover her hair and mummer’s inserts to mask the color of her eyes. Perhaps that would be enough. But as she pulled back the hood, Bryce stirred and let out a giggle on her back.

Ling Wei’s eyes flashed open. “You have a child?”

And then they narrowed, studying Bryce before flashing wide open again.

“Those eyes,” she said. “Who’s child is that? Who are you?”

Fia’s heartbeat thundered in her chest.

There was no denying that Bryce had his father’s distinctive blue eyes and that whatever answer she gave next would decide all of their fates. If this woman was indeed involved in the plot to kill her, then revealing who she was could be signing the death warrants of them all. Tense seconds passed as Fia struggled to discern the truth.

Was she involved?

Was this woman capable of participating in the murder of an innocent woman and her unborn child?

“He is but a bastard,” Hei Dong said. “I hired that woman off the streets to be honest. And she’s not even that good of a mummer, if truth be told.”

“Yes, it’s true,” Kel Zhi said. “She really sucks!”

Ling Wei’s eyes flashed with even more suspicion at that.

Fia didn’t know if Ling Wei was involved or not, but the steady look in her eyes told her one thing. This woman was no fool. Despite her demure and non-assuming appearance, her gaze held an authority and wisdom that reminded her of her father’s.

They wouldn’t be able to fool her with this ruse for much longer.

Fia said a prayer to the heavens for mercy.

There was only one answer she could give to get them through that gate.

One truth, that would either free them or condemn them.

There was no other way.

No time left.

If she wanted to save Max from this fate, she’d have to risk everything for it now.

“Master Hei Dong speaks the truth,” she said. “This child is indeed a bastard.” The admission seemed to shock Ling Wei for a second, but then Fia reached for the hem of her wig and pulled it off, revealing her true hair. “But only because his father did not have a chance to marry me, before he was born.”

Ling Wei let out a gasp as her eyes grew wide.

“By the Nine Heavens,” she said. “You’re Lady Silver Light!”

* * *

I was tended to by the same, blue-robed cultivators as Rhe Su Long, their Qi techniques healing my superficial wounds while a couple of their lower tiered brethren wiped me down within the small, tented infirmary at the rear of the arena grounds.

Rhe Su Long herself was lying in a cot next to me, fully unconscious now.

I overheard the healers mumbling about her Dantian being contaminated with Demonic Qi. I quickly confirmed it for them, telling them I had sensed the same from her during the fight.

“She said on the battlefield that she had pulled out all the stops for this fight,” I said, enforcing the cover story even more. “I wouldn’t put it past her to have used some risky demonic based elixirs to have her ascend so fast. Maybe she’ll admit it when she wakes up.”

If she ever wakes up, I thought.

Even now I could sense the traces of Cursed Frenzy lingering within her.

For second I thought I sensed something pulse within her, as if growing stronger.

But then quickly it left.

The healers nodded, taking my explanation for now. Which would take any heat or suspicion off of me. I almost felt bad for her though. Without that vile mouth of hers, to ruin the facade, she indeed still looked like an innocent little kid resting there.

Whatever the future held for Rhe Su Long, I hoped she was able to move on with her life and simply leave me out of it. Although I still had a bone to pick with her clan leader, Governor Tai Su Long.

“Proceedings will resume in ten minutes,” a court clerk said, as he popped his head into the tent. “Please ensure you are dressed and before the courts before then.”

I nodded and looked at the robes he had brought me.

They weren’t my normal Legionnaires robes, but something Lunalah had picked out instead. It was the Yee equivalent of a tuxedo. A fine noble’s robes fitting of being crowned as both a Duke and her husband to be—or so she had said.

The thought sickened me the more I looked at them.

Just another form of her endless need for control.

I sighed as I slowly donned the pristine robes—a prisoner’s uniform far more damning than my shit-colored robes back at Du Gok Bhong.

It would be up to Fia now to bring me the key to breaking free of them.

All I needed was her presence and the rest would simply unfold.

“Ill be there,” I told the clerk. “Thanks for the robes.”

* * *

Time stood still as Fia’s heart continued to pound within her chest.

Ling Wei knew who she truly was now.

The reaction seemed genuine though. Ling Wei was clearly shocked to see her still alive. But whether it was because she simply thought her dead like everyone else, or was involved in orchestrating her death was still the question.

How she reacted next would be the key to telling which.

“This is incredible!” Ling Wei said, her eyes darting back and forth with confused excitement. “H-how did you survive? Does Max even know that you are here? That you’re alive?”

“Holy shit,” the guard said. “This is getting deep.”

Fia held her breath a moment more and then breathed a sigh of relief.

There was no doubt now.

The way she said it, alleviated all of her fears. It was genuine shock and concern, not probing malice. But more than that, she had referred to Max by his true name. Only people he knew and trusted deeply would he encourage to refer to him by such. But clearly by her questions, she had not been entrusted with the ‘full’ plan.

Fia took a deep breath. She had rehearsed the lines a hundred times, but she had to practice them on an audience of one now before blurting them on the world’s stage.

“No, he doesn’t,” she said. “I wound up in the bowels of the city after the demon attack. I was lost for months in the sewers. When I finally found my way back, my father told me of Max’s impending betrothal to the princess.” Again, Ling Wei was no fool. Fia noted the way she furrowed her brow, but she quickly pressed on to not focus on it. “Please Miss Ling Wei, you must help me get to him. He must know I’m still here with his child before he agrees to marry the princess.”

Ling Wei looked back at her dumbfounded, mouth ajar.

The story of her somehow surviving in a sewer for months with a newborn baby was perhaps not the most plausible, but she couldn’t let that be the focus now. “Please,” she said again. “I know this might mean you going against the wishes of the princess, but Max needs to know. To know that I’m still alive. That he has a son.”

Ling Wei’s eyes softened, almost to the point of filling with tears.

“He has no idea?”

A tinge of guilt pricked Fia’s heart.

She was certain Ling Wei was being genuine now, but she wasn’t certain how much truth they could trust with her. She was still Lunalah’s aide, after all. Revealing to her that her Princess had plotted to kill her might seem even more implausible right now.

Fia merely shook her head as an answer.

“Please will you help us?”

Ling Wei was quiet for a moment, her eyes glancing to the side in thought.

Fia knew this could be no easy decision for her. She was asking her to go against the princess herself. And in a position like Ling Wei’s, who knew what that could mean for her long term.

Or if there would even be a ‘long term’ if she helped.

Ling Wei’s eyes narrowed as if contemplating something.

And then her countenance changed, her brows lowering.

A sudden look of anger filled her gaze, indignation almost.

“I’ll help you,” she said resolutely and then turned to the guards. “It’s alright, you can let them all through. I will vouch for them personally.”

Fia’s heart soared with elation and relief. “Thank you, Miss Ling Wei! Thank you!”

She nodded.

“It’s the least I could do,” she said. “Your Max is a good man. He has helped me more than you know. If there is a way for him to avoid marrying the princess, and finding true love with you and his son, then I am all for it.”

Fia’s heart melted. Perhaps she had misjudged Ling Wei completely.

Perhaps she wasn’t a fan of Lunalah at all.

It almost made her want to tell her the full truth now.

But there was no time for that.

“We must hurry,” Hei Dong said. “They will begin the title ceremony soon and the betrothal announcement will come right after that.”

“I will take you directly to the court platform,” Ling Wei said. “Come on! Follow me!”

As she stepped towards the Pai Fang, one of the guards suddenly yelled out.

“Miss, wait!” he said, pointing to the fur coat on the ground. “Your coat.”

She paused for a moment, staring at it. She then scowled, that same angry indignation returning to her eyes.

“You can leave it,” Ling Wei said. “That coat is not mine.”