City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

Questions On War

When he received news of an attempt on Richard’s life, the King rushed out to the plaza in his nightgown. On the way, he was stunned to see several rune knights carrying Stardragon’s corpse out from the central chambers; even though the body’s appearance was completely different, he recognised the symbol of highest authority in the old kingdom.

“What’s going on?” he asked softly.

The rune knights carrying the body stopped, their captain nodding in recognition of the King’s status, “This person managed to infiltrate the palace and attempted an assassination on His Excellency. We were ordered to hang his corpse on the gate; how dare a mere legend try to kill someone who has taken out multiple gods?”

The King was stunned once more, now understanding why the rune knights called Richard His Excellency instead of His Grace or His Majesty; this was a form of respect for his power. He felt as though he was dreaming as he saw the corpse carried away; the entire plane had been celebrating their multiple legends not long ago, but now the last such legend was being dragged away like trash.

A few minutes after the rune knights were gone, a chilly wind blew through the palace. The King shivered and collected his wits, rushing towards Richard’s residence, but he was informed that Richard had already entered his laboratory and didn’t want to be disturbed. Waiting until dawn with no signs of movement, he left reluctantly.

……

It took three days for Richard to emerge from the lab. Senma had entered his residence at some point, and was waiting for him on a rocking chair. Leaving the city had just been a trap; Richard could have caught the man regardless, but it would have taken more effort.

“Go pack,” he said as he walked out, “We’re going to Lina.”

Senma nodded, moving away quickly. They were standing before Lina’s tombstone that same sunset, looking at the resting ground that was just as beautiful as before. He squatted in front of the tombstone and brushed away a thin layer of dust, taking out a star-shaped badge and placing it in front. There was a pain-warped face in the centre, Stardragon’s face.

Senma raised an eyebrow upon seeing the badge. It was clearly a powerful rune with a legend’s soul sealed within; it was grade 6 at minimum.

“The bastard who killed you is dead, I’ve turned him into a magic soul and sealed him here. He’ll suffer for eternity, so rest well. I’ll come see you again when I have time.” Softly stroking the tombstone, Richard sighed before turning around to leave. Senma glanced at that badge and waved goodbye, following him away. On their way back, he suddenly stopped and looked at her, “You go ahead, I’ll spend some time in the Godnest. I need to be alone for a while.”

She paused at these instructions, but after a moment she nodded and walked away. Her departing figure seemed a little lonely.

However, Richard was feeling no different. Following the winding road up the mountain, he took step after perfectly mechanical step for hours until he reached the peak. Passing through the warped space, he arrived in front of the ancient battlefield once more.

Nothing had changed in this place, as though the last time he’d stood here was just a minute ago. The wreckage of various warships still floated around in the void, various damaged sections scattered all around as evidence of the sky-toppling battle.

Stretching his hand past the invisible limits, Richard saw threads of black beginning to twirl around him in the void. He immediately drew back, now knowing that the space around here was extremely frail. Even simple motions were too much for it to bear, forming rifts so naturally that his hand would have been consumed in moments. Fortunately, the place could also repair itself.

While Richard was quite adept at teleportation and had a very loose grasp on the laws of space, he wasn’t confident in being able to move through this broken plane. He estimated that he would only be able to enter safely once he had analysed the laws of the Godnest, gaining the ability to merge in with the wreckage. Then, he would be able to obtain priceless knowledge.

However, that wasn’t his reason for coming here. Just like he had told Senma, he wanted to spend some time alone. Facing this vast and desolate battlefield of absolute destruction, he felt like he could give in to his own bouts of weakness for a moment. No matter how terrifying both sides of this war were, they had all been destroyed. Their lives, souls, and achievements were forgotten in an icy wreck attached to a random plane, the very definition of an unmarked grave.

Having been through so many wars himself, Richard now controlled a terrifying army that entire empires would have to be wary of. His own followers now surpassed the surviving members of Gaton’s thirteen, making it clear that he had surpassed his father. However, the only thing he felt whenever he relaxed was doubt, the same doubt that had plagued him for most of his life.

War after war, all for what purpose? Just like each powerful opponent he knocked down as a part of his own rise, he knew that he, too, would fall one day as a footnote to another story. He fought with all he had anyway, but what was it all worth? What did it mean if he ended up in eternal silence like this? What was plane-destroying power worth to a dead man?

Beye had once brought him to the Land of Dusk to answer his questions. Every planar war was a gamble out of helplessness; in a world where two civilisations could clash any day, one had to possess great power just to survive. His own experiences had proved that to be the case; planes that closed themselves off were found eventually, and they would be conquered easily.

But that was only a surface-level explanation. In many ways, that kind of mindset was a product of itself. Now that he stood above most things and not below them, Richard felt like this was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Was it just fate? He wouldn’t even try to answer that; perhaps even the old dragon wasn’t fully equipped to do so.

As he was lost in thought, Richard suddenly saw the image of a damaged warship in the corner of his eye. It wasn’t big compared to the giant ships elsewhere, but the moment he saw it he yelped like he had been struck by lightning. He’d seen it elsewhere!

He suddenly felt overwhelmed by alarm, a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time. Filled with dread, he lost his calmness and started searching his memory desperately. A moment later, he took out the doomsday imprint and stared at the constantly morphing metal, gradually recovering control of his expression even if his hearts were still thumping.

The doomsday imprints represented the reapers. Richard had known they were powerful, but not how much. Even though they had destroyed every plane they struck, he’d once fantasized that they weren’t as strong as they were billed to be. With the proper preparations in place, including binding numerous legends to his side using the Dragon Plane, he felt like he had a chance to prevail.

But now, seeing one of these warships, he felt a chill overcoming him as he realised the sheer scale of what was to come. The single warship was more than a few hundred metres across, and was only one of dozens of different forms the imprint could morph into. Even though he had no idea just how strong one of these ships was, the damage done all around him showed just how powerful they were.

All sorts of thoughts clouded his mind, but after a while he just sighed and let them dissipate. He had to go to war regardless, so there was no point in being scared. The enemy would come soon enough, and he would do what it took to wipe them out.

Or he would die trying, but thinking of all that was useless anyway.