Path of the Berserker

Princess Lunalah stared at the message in her hands.

It was sparse, as all Qi stone communications were.

But its contents spoke volumes.

‘Iron Bull lives. Here now. In Jurin.’

Her heart raced, all her melancholy quickly turned into hope and aspiration.

Could it be true?

Could it possibly be true?

“Who sent this message?” she called to her pilot.

“It was sent from the Warden’s skiff, your majesty.”

Unless he truly was there.

But how?

Were there more lies at work than she thought from her dastardly older sister of hers? But she could care less about all of that right now. The only thing that mattered was to confirm if this message was true.

“Turn us about!” she shouted. “We are heading back to Jurin Province.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

As the skiff began to bank into a slow turn, her insides boiled with impatience.

“Never mind. This will take far too long.” She then folded her palms together and sat in lotus position as she prepared to project her Sacred Soul. “I’ll get back there on my own.”

* * *

Jian Yi jutted her chin towards the sky when I asked the question.

“They did,” she said, gesturing to the flotilla of skiffs in the sky. “The bird sisters.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. “What?”

“It was a trial for some nonsense they trapped Master Hei Dong into,” Jian Yi explained. “Fia was standing as a proxy and they were standing as proxy for the crown.” She then pointed to the sky again. “They’ll be on that imperial skiff along with the Warden, no doubt.”

“It was awful, Max,” Kelsey said. “I tried to stop them, but I was too slow.”

A slow burning anger entered my gut and began boiling into rage. “Tell me exactly what happened. Play by play.”

As Kelsey began relaying what had occurred, I kept focus on the skiff now speeding away in the night sky towards the Imperial City. Every blow was a wince to my soul. The only thing worse would have been witnessing it with my own eyes.

“Then they held her down, Max,” Kelsey said, her voice breaking a little. “And one of them. Silver Hawk, I think… just stomped her right in the stomach… like she was aiming to kill both Fia and the baby. Who does something like that? I’m sorry. I should have moved faster. I got to her before she could kick her again, but she was going to, Max. She was really out to kill the both of them.”

My blood was effervescent with rage and hate, but on the outside, I kept it all in check with a stone-cold visage of [Indifference]. My breathing, however. That I could not control. My breath was whistling through my nostrils in shaky spurts of increasing ferocity.

Or at least that’s what my body was doing back in the physical world.

Back on the Hell World of Fhae I’ung.

I tapped back into my senses for a moment to see Blue Rose yanking on my arm.

“Max, we have less than twelve minutes before they leave us!” she screamed at me. “I’m not spending a year stuck on this demon invested rock with you. Now come on! Snap out of it!”

Twelve minutes.

Was that enough time?

Everything Blue Rose said was true. This was the final rotation for planet Fhae I’ung during this campaign. The next deployment wouldn’t come for another year. And with the spirit of the planet now dead and no new aetherite being produced, it could even be the last visit period.

Once the moon set on Fhae I’ung, my long-distance link to the Earth would be severed and I would be trapped there, possibly forever. And by the looks of it, Blue Rose was probably dumb and loyal enough to try and tough it out with me.

Twelve minutes…

It wasn’t much time.

But maybe there was just enough.

Enough to at least make those bird bitches pay for what they did to Fia.

To our child.

Dear God, our child… I thought as my soul filled with grief and tears. They killed our child! They killed our child!

My grief exploded into rage as I released a primal scream.

I was in the air with [Ride the Lightning] before I knew it, jetting across the sky to sate the hatred and vengeance in my soul. Suddenly I didn’t give a damn about anything except their deaths. I was a missile of destruction and there was only one target in my sights.

The Warden’s skiff was cruising just ahead of me and had already reached the imperial city. I poured on the gas, burning even more Frenzy, but the rage in my heart was producing enough of it from my Flame to keep me going.

In the corner of my vision, I looked to Blue Rose. She was holding up both hands of fingers for me.

Ten minutes left…

“Come on…come on!”

I finally caught up as they slowed down to navigate the interior buildings of the city, but I didn’t do the same. I ploughed straight into the back of the skiff, rearending them with a burst of lightning and sparks.

I couldn’t feel a thing in my incorporeal body and that only pissed me off more.

I wanted to feel their bones break within my hands.

Their blood on my skin.

The skiff spun sideways before crashing into a courtyard below.

People scattered as I landed right behind the skiff, my body swirling with a storm of sparks. I was only vaguely aware of a crowd running and screaming all around me.

Desperate to flee.

But I couldn’t give a shit.

My child was dead.

And all around me was but [Barren Ground].

As the technique took hold, a numbness entered my heart. A steely resolve that said nothing mattered anymore. Laws. Rules. None of it matter. Only the vengeance in my heart. The three bird sisters were scattered across the lawn of the courtyard.

One of then was already screaming in pain, cradling her leg.

As I stepped towards her, she screamed even more, but now in terror instead of pain.

“Please!” she yelled. “I’m wounded.”

“Yeah?” I said with ice in my heart, manifesting my [Spectral Axe]. “And she was pregnant.”

I raised my axe with a burst of lightning, and she screamed as I brought it right down on top of her. “[Lightning Splits the Towering Oak]!”

Her body exploded in a shock of sparks and her shrill death cry was instantly cut short.

I stood over my handiwork, reveling in my [Bloodlust] as what was left of her body lay strewn all over the ground.

“Di Shen!” a pained voice cried out. “Di Shen!!”

Immense spikes of fear came from behind me, along with the shouts and I turned to see the other two bird sisters pelting me with Quills and Qi blasts. Ice cold anger pumped through my veins as I [Trudged] through their attacks unabated.

“What the devil is it?” one of them—Wi Shen I figured—said as she backed away slowly towards the skiff. “Is it him? It can’t be him!”

“Yeah, it’s me, bitches,” I said with [Struggle’s Resolve]. “[I still live]”

The words rippled through them, and by the fear in their souls I could tell they were on the verge of trying to flee.

But no way was I going to allow that to happen.

I didn’t have my true body, so pummeling them wouldn’t be as satisfying as I wanted. But there were other things I could do to them now.

Terrible things from beyond the stars.

I channeled my inner pain and grief with [Fury of the Fallen], feeling the wrath for my lost child. I then let them see my [Burning Soul] and my [Spectral Body] erupted into true flames. They both stopped pelting chopsticks at me then and one of them fell to her knees.

“It was her!” she cried pointing at her sister. “She’s the one who kicked Fia. It was, Fi Shen, the Lady Silver hawk who did it! She’s the one who killed Fia and your baby!”

Killed Fia?

The other bird sister’s mouth fell open. “You lying bitch! You’re Silver Hawk, not me!”

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I chuckled mirthlessly as they both fell to their knees before me. “You two still trying to play the same old game? Huh? Wi Shen and Fi Shen?” I then looked to the one who had spoken first. “Doesn’t matter, because you’re both going to die this day. But damn it, Silver Hawk, if you aren’t the worse piece of shit still alive.”

Her eyes flashed with terror, and I knew I had picked her out correctly.

“You’re going to pay worst of all for what you did, but your sister held Fia down. So you’re both guilty as sin.”

“No! No, please,” Wi Shen cried. “Mercy, Iron Bull! Mercy!”

I heard the words, but they fell on [Barren Ground].

I turned to the Shuras in my mind and adlibbed one of the descriptions one the spot. “Know thee not, oh wretched whores, from whence mine might doth flow? For we who Struggle, there is no greater strength, but to succumb is annihilation.” As I spoke the words, I invoked the technique itself. “Witness now, the [Furious Flames of the Father]!”

Instantly my Flame changed, shifting from bright white to a dark red hue.

The Frenzy spewing from it shifted as well, becoming Cursed Frenzy and through the fires of my [Burning Soul] the two Bird Sisters witnessed it all.

Shrieks of sheer terror filled the air, as the skin began to melt off their faces, revealing quickly rotting flesh beneath. Silver Hawk drew her jian blade and immediately began thrusting it into her own stomach.

“Kill me! Kill me, please!” she screamed over and over. “Make it stop! I don’t want this! I don’t want this!!”

Wi Shen used one of her quills to stab herself in the eyes. She wailed and cried bloody tears as she blinded herself screaming all the more. “I can still see it! No! I can still see it all! Horror! Horror!”

I drank it all in with vehemence, not giving a shit anymore.

Wi Shen finally drew her own jian blade and stabbed herself through the throat.

Silver Hawk was laughing manically as she continued to run herself through, her flesh starting to smoke as my [Furious Flames of the Father] grew even more intense.

They finally both burst into flames and the screams of pain and terror intensified, even as they continued to run themselves through amidst the inferno. But eventually their cries became whimpers and gurgling rasps and with a final burst of flames, their corpses disintegrated.

I grimaced with [Indifference].

“God damn evil bitches,” I cursed and spit on their remains. “Hope Hong Feng tortures you all in hell.”

It wasn’t as good as pulling them apart with my bare hands, but it was close.

And the best I could muster at the moment.

Still, in the end, the results were the same.

The bird sisters were no more.

And my lost child was avenged.

* * *

I wasn’t certain how long I stood there watching the flames burn away, but eventually cries from Blue Rose won out.

“Max, come on! Six minutes!”

I was just about to push off and see Fia one last time, when a new spike of fear resonated with my soul. I turned about to see the Warden hovering in midair. The look on her face was like that of someone who had seen the unseen for the first time.

A primal terror and incomprehension.

“What manner of cultivator are you?” she said. “What realm have you reached to be capable of something like this?”

Strangely enough, deep within that terror was a subtle hint of lemonade.

“You’ll see soon enough, when I return for real,” I said and pointed my axe head towards her. “Our duel will be a short one Silver Tear. Count yourself lucky that I don’t have the time to start it right now.”

Silver Tear opened her mouth to say something else, but then a new voice boomed from nowhere.

“As well you shouldn’t, Iron Bull.”

Above both of us, a new Sacred Soul Projection emerged.

Golden hair with six jade stone circling about her, the Princess Lunalah appeared, three stories tall and with a soul drenched in lemonade.

“Your battle with the Warden should be one of note,” she said, smiling down at me. “And one that demands my full attention.” She then looked to the charred bodies on the ground. “I see you have already taken vengeance for the death of your betrothed and child. My condolences for your tragic loss, Iron Bull. I extend my consolation to you always.”

She bowed her head with respect, and I wondered if she was for real or not.

“He violated the law in doing so,” the Warden said quickly, as if suddenly emboldened by the Princess’s presence. “It was an unsanctioned attack against a fellow martia—”

“But one I shall permit,” Lunalah said without even looking at her. “Your nieces were out of line, Seventh Warden. To have preyed upon a pregnant woman like that…it was…” She then paused, shaking her head as if in disbelief. “Beyond reprehensible.”

The Warden’s mouth fell open, aghast.

“The Iron Bull was clearly within his rights to exact such vengeance directly,” Lunalah said. “And I condone it.”

The Warden looked stupefied by what she had said, but I was more concerned with what she had said earlier.

She thought Fia was dead as well?

And then I sensed it. Another ungodly dose of unwarranted lemonade.

What the hell was she so excited about?

“Are you truly projecting your Sacred Soul from across the stars, Iron Bull?” she said, gliding closer towards me. “The power you possess is unimaginable.”

I looked to Blue Rose again. She was holding four fingers in the air.

There was no time left.

“I am, your majesty,” I said. “But I must leave now if I’m to return in the flesh.” I took one last look at the Warden. “See you in the ring, Silver Tear.”

I jettisoned away with [Ride the Lightning] before either of them could stop me or say anything else. I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but the only thing I cared about now was seeing Fia one last time before I boarded that skiff. I was on the ground in less than a minute and racing back towards the partially fallen ceiling where my family was all gathered about.

Sobs from Fia reached my ears before I even reached her.

She was sat on the ground now with her back to me, rocking back and forth and cradling something in her arms as she cried. My gut sank as I approached her from behind, grief and loss filling my soul. As my family caught sight of me, they all turned their heads, just as a second cry filled the air.

A weak cry, but sharp and shrill.

A newborn’s cry.

My heart leapt and I rushed forward to look over Fia’s shoulder to see a tiny face poking through a bundle of cloths with huge blue eyes. Fia looked up at me then with tears in her own eyes but a wide smile on her face.

“We have a son, Max,” she said and let out another choking sob of joy. “We have a son!”

* * *

Lunalah’s stomach fluttered with excitement and sheer joy.

Her Iron Bull was alive.

Alive…and all hers.

It was as if the fates themselves had aligned events just perfectly for her to both rid herself of Silver Light and to be free of any wrath from the Iron Bull because of it. The evidence of that wrath was clearly etched upon the courtyard lawn and thankfully those responsible had already paid.

“We will prepare for your duel with the Iron Bull as soon as he lands within the city,” Lunalah said. “Do ensure you have the stadium repaired and in good order before then.”

Silver Tear’s brow lowered in a scowl. “Princess Lunalah! Did you not see what I witnessed? That power he possesses is unlike anything outside the Celestial realm!”

Lunalah nodded excitedly. “Isn’t it amazing. A true prodigy my planet has now birthed. A true prodigy.”

“It looked demonic!” Silver Tear said.

Lunalah scoffed. “Please. You take his Sacred Soul form for a demon? He is the essence of the Iron Bull, through and through, is all.”

She could almost taste him already.

The moment of having him all to herself would soon be at hand.

A quick match to vanquish the Warden and then install him in her place. A few months to morn his loss for that whore Silver Light and then she would remind him of her promise of making him a Royal Consort.

Perhaps she could even make him a Duke for achieving what he had for the empire.

The possibilities seemed endless.

The smile was impossible to wipe from her face.

“Princess!”

Lunalah suddenly became aware of the Warden scowling at her again.

“What is it, woman?”

Silver Tear fumed. “Care you not what has become of my nieces? What will befall my clan?”

Lunalah smiled.

“The solution for you is clear, Lady Silver tear,” she said. “You simply must not lose.”

* * *

Blue Rose was holding up two fingers, but all I could do was gush with inner tears over my newborn child. I used all my mental fortitude to allow my finger to stroke his face, but I dare not try to hold him.

My Frenzy was well spent and so too was my time.

“What shall we name him?” Fia asked looking up at me.

I literally hadn’t thought that far ahead.

I was just happy for him to be alive.

“What about a Terran name?” Gui Zu said. “He was born here after all.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

I thought for a moment more.

“Bryce,” I said. “It was my dad’s middle name.”

“Bryce?” Kelsey said and then smiled. “Bryce Chun. Nice ring to it.”

Fia suddenly frown again and then let out a small sob. “Max…I thank the heavens for out child, but I’ve gone and made him a bastard now. We are unwed. He will never bear your name.”

I let out a scoff of [Indifference]. “Fia, after all I’ve been through, I could give a damn about that anymore. When I get home, I’m about to take over this damn planet. We’ll rewrite our own damn rules.”

She looked at me like I was crazy for a second and then she let out a laugh. “Who am I to stand in the way of your destiny. Thank you, Max.”

I stroked her cheek as well. “It won’t be safe for you here anymore, Fia,” I said and then looked to my family all around me. “For any of you. I killed the bird sisters, but the Warden is still alive and waiting for our duel. I can’t think of what she might try to do to you all in that time. The good news is, both she and the princess think you’re dead Fia. If none of you show back up, they’ll probably assume you all are as well.”

“What?” Hei Dong said. “What are you saying?”

I looked to Kelsey. “You know where to take them. Take as many as you can from the neighborhood as well. You need to leave tonight, before dawn. If they see no one here in the morning, they’ll assume you all dead.”

She looked back at me baffled. “Max, its night. Plus, they can’t survive a journey like that.”

“They can with this,” I said and pointed towards her axe. “Hold it towards me.”

I checked back to the hell world. Blue Rose was holding two fingers up now.

“Coming, one more second!” I cried to her with my real voice.

“Max please!”

I shifted back to Kelsey and trained my mental focus to grab the axe within my [Spectral] hand while she held it aloft for me.

[Sacred Brand of the Frenzied Flame]…

As I internally invoked the technique, Frenzy poured from my spectral body and with it a small piece of my Sacred Soul entered it as well. The axe flared to life with glowing runes as I imprinted everything I had gained from not only Threja but from Fhae I’ung as well.

Kelsey’s eyes widened. “Holy crap! You just made another Threja’s Sword!”

“It’s Xam Nuhc,” a familiar voice said and when I looked, I saw a mirror image standing across from me, holding the axe as I was.

“Xam Nuhc?” I said.

I realized then I was seeing into the spiritual realm and so was Kelsey by the way she was staring at my red skinned twin.

“It’s your name backwards, you damn chun,” he said. “Weren’t too creative on that one, but oh well. Only you and Kelsey need to know it.”

Holy crap, I thought. Did I just have two sons today?

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Xam said. “But you better get your ass back to Blue Rose before she leaves you on that rock.”

I couldn’t agree more.

I let go of the axe and Xam disappeared. “I have to go, but I’ll be back. I’ll come to find you all after my duel with the Warden. Kelsey will take you to a safe place in the wilderness. Her axe will keep you all safe from the demons and the Bloodmoon. Get going now. All of you.”

“Not me,” Jian Yi said.

I looked back at her perplexed.

“You’ll need a Barrister to represent your interests during this duel and besides, I can’t leave. I’m the Sect Leader until your return. Don’t worry. I’ll protect us till you come.”

I smiled. “Thank you, Jyan Yi.”

I went back to Fia’s side one last time and gave both her and my newborn son a kiss through lips they couldn’t feel.

“I’ll be back soon,” I said. “I promise.”

“Love you, Max!”

I raised my hand to her. “I love you bot—”

My world was violently shaken as my soul rubber-banded back through space and time.

I came back to myself in a flurry of sweat as the first rays of the Cursed star began to shine.

“I had them wait a whole extra two damn minutes for you, jack ass!” Blue Rose screamed. “Now come on!”

She didn’t have to tell me twice.

I leapt from my lotus position and raced to the skiff following Blue Rose.

We hopped onboard and one of the legionnaires from the 30th yanked on the tether and the entire skiff began to rise. As we soared into the air, horrid screeches came from below. I looked over the side to a nightmare approaching us.

Déjà vu to my initial descent kicked in as a swarm of Tentacle-rays flew towards us, ready to kamikaze us into oblivion. Blue Rose immediately began slinging daggers into the air, taking down two of them in the process.

“We have to fight!” she shouted. “We have to fight and defend this skiff or we all die!”

She was right.

I could see the fatigue in everyone’s faces as they rose to battle.

My Dantian was far spent as well, just a sliver in the tank left after that massive, long-distance call. I took a swig of Blue Lemonade and topped myself up and then stepped up on the crest of the bow.

Anger seethed within me as I focused on the demons below.

All this shit and we still have to fight to get out of here?

I’d had enough.

“Just piss the hell off, all of you!” I screamed and inside my Flame triggered with [Torment of the Frenzied Flame].

The tentacle-rays flew into what looked like an invisible wall, assaulted by the power of my words alone. They fell from the sky in droves as my voice carried across the Hell Scape of Fhae I’ung.

My fellow legionnaires came to stand next to me, looking over the railing baffled and confused. They all then look at me as lemonade filled their souls.

“What manner of man is this?” the Platoon Leader of the 30th said. “Is he even still a man anymore?”

I was beginning to wonder the same myself.

But I let out a scoff of [Indifference].

“Don’t mind me,” I said. “I’m just your average chun with the heart of an Iron Bull.”

As I diffused the situation with laughter, we all collapsed within the hull of the skiff. I caught sight of Jei Su Long then, tied to the side railing. There was nothing but hatred and fear in his soul and he quickly diverted his eyes away from me.

Dealing with him would have to wait for another day.

But right now, I was basking in the warmth of my salvation and the gift of my firstborn child.

Blue Rose sat down next to me with a scowl on her face.

“So, you going to tell me why the hell we all nearly died waiting for you back there?” she said. “What the hell were you doing, Max?”

I stared back at her and smiled.

“A lot of crazy shit,” I said truthfully. “But the main thing is, I became a father, Blue.”

Her mouth fell open as her brows twisted with confusion. “You what?”

“It’s true,” I said, as joy filled my soul. “I had a baby boy, Blue.”

And then it hit me for real and my heart began to race with panic.

“Holy shit…I’m a dad.”