Aimless Ascension

Gale was in pain, but that was simply a word in his mind. He was restless on the ground, as he found something ominous growing about him.

The storm hadn't ceased after he revoked his control over it, and now it was creating a swirling whirlpool of black clouds around the whole wild forest.

Before, Gale wasn't aware of what he was feeling wrong, but now he could glimpse a little of the shift occurring around there.

Somehow, the natural Qi density of the region rose, as if a volcano erupted after a millennia's long sleep. Gale wasn't sure if his involvement was the trigger, but he was pretty sure he would have to leave this as soon as possible if he wanted to live.

He was about to look out for Sumei when her full figure came into his sight. She appeared lonely, staring at the tallest peak of the mountain.

"An age gone," Sumei mumbled, "another yet to come. . ."

Her voice trailed off as she finally turned to face him. Gale was in no position to call her, but she understood his situation and crept quickly to his rescue.

Sumei was just proceeding to help him up, but both of their actions stopped as something else caught their attention.

"All the forsaken gods," Gale cursed under his breath as his eyes drew towards the savagely mangled figure approaching him with hunched dignity.

Although the red demon mask on his face was no more, Gale could easily conclude it was it the leader of the assassins, still alive. Half of his body was burned in black, battered to no point of recovery, while the other half seemed to have taken no damage, as red veins bulging on the good portion.

His eyes were completely red, out of control. He didn't care about the growing storm, or the shift happening in the surroundings. He only wanted blood. Gale's blood.

The savage man seemed to have grown half a head taller, even in his hunched position, eyes locked on Gale's sorry figure on the ground. He had no weapon with him, but with the air he was radiating, it didn't seem like he would need any.

"Sumei, leave," Gale croaked.

Sumei acted as if she hadn't heard anything, ready to take action. However, before she could do so, a golden light crashed into the half-mangled assassin leader, sending him flying dozens of metres away, out of their sight.

A new figure stood in his place, slender, with a pair of wide golden wings spread about her back, shimmering in brilliant gold, much like her wavy hair, swaying even in heavy rain.

A halo of light seemed to hold the angelic figure as she stared at Gale, worry creeping into her picturesque exterior.

"Didn't think you still keep the knack of getting into trouble," the angelic woman said, as she stepped forward.

"Maya," Gale croaked, more relieved than he sounded.

Maya, Gale's senior apprentice sister, smiled helplessly as she was about to help him, but her eyes darted to Gale's ankle.

"Gale, what happened to the Spirit Suppressing Anklet?" Maya drew closer immediately, her mind buzzing with the fear that came true.

"What are you talking about?" Gale said, drawing his sight to his ankle, where the Anklet was supposed to be, suppressing the corruption. "It was right here. . ."

Gale's voice trailed off, completely lost as he found no anklet in his leg, only bulging black veins that moved up to his thigh and were growing still.

"What?! When did this. . .?!" Gale was completely lost, as he couldn't even perceive when it was broken. It was merely yesterday he saw the anklet clutched to his ankle, but now. . .

Was it during the battle? But Gale wasn't that irresponsible to not notice such a dire artifact vanishing off his ankle.

"Sumei," Gale called, turning his head to look at her, "are you. . . Sumei?!"

Gale found no one around him, other than Maya. Sumei, who helped him throughout the last segment of the battle, was no longer there. Gale hadn't even noticed her presence vanish, as if she was merely a figment of his imagination.

No, that couldn't be true.

Gale groaned, clutching his head as a dark realisation dawned on him.

"Gale, what are you talking about?" Maya asked, her voice filled with terror. "Tell me, do recurring nightmares havoc your dreams? Gale, you have to. . ."

"NO!" Gale screamed, but did not answer her question. He couldn't hear Maya anymore, as tears filled his eyes.

"I guess this is about time now," a familiar voice said in his mind, and Gale's world tilted.

The next moment, a sharp pain assaulted his brain, and Gale fell unconscious.

***

Fear crept to Wang Li's face as their carriage drew closer to the storm. The Iron horses were pulling the carriage at a tremendous pace, enough to cause a stomach lurch. Wang Li remained in silence, losing herself, praying for Gale, Xiaolin and Vale.

The Oracle apprentice couldn't provide her with any reassuring answers, something about over-drafting her fortune. The blind girl wasn't calm at all, as most oracles were taught to be. She was asking about the shifting in the surroundings and the storm in quick successions.

On the other hand, Sun Ziang had brought out his new Longread—he bought from Gale—out of his spatial storage device, and was messaging someone from the upper echelon of his clan.

As for the creepy lady, who didn't bother to introduce herself as Twilight, was running the carriage. Apparently, she had prior involvement with Gale, so Wang Li figured she could trust her even with that ghostly gothic appearance.

The storm was crashing down with every moment, the thunder causing goosebumps to crawl down her skin. Wang Li had been in this town for a longer period, but had experienced or heard of a storm of this calibre.

After a couple of minutes of travel, the horses crashed into an abrupt break.

"We can't go further on the carriage," Sun Ziang said, peeking through the carriage window on his rear. He stored the bulky communication device inside his spatial storage, as everyone got out of the carriage one by one.

Wang Li found herself right before Stormhold, which seemed to have a different look altogether, with the storm brewing all over.

"Cousin," Sun Ziang addressed her after he judged the intensity of the storm. "I don't feel it is a sound decision for you to proceed further."

"But," began Wang Li.

"I'm saying this considering everyone's safety," Sun Ziang said and turned his head to look at the blind girl. "And the same is true for you, Honoured Ai."

"Please, feel free to address me directly with my name," Ai said. "As for your request. . ."

Ai sighed, finding nothing to deny that. She was woefully weak, not to mention that she would be able to get away with things when her Fortune was all drained.

"I guess I have no other way," she muttered, and turned to face Wang Li, somehow. "Come on, our duty isn't to dive into the storm."

Wang Li still wasn't ready to leave everything to them, even though she had no strength of her own to proceed.

Abruptly, something pulsed through the air, shaking everyone's position as a high dome of script formation surrounding Stormhold lit up.

Wang Li and Ai had collapsed onto the ground, even though the defence formation of the farmland stopped most of the quake from hitting her.

"What was that?" Fen asked, her eyes peering far into the storm. "It didn't feel like something remotely to a storm."

"Spatial undulation," Sun Ziang answered, his voice growing hard.

"What can be the cause of that?" Wang Li asked, completely lost even after her cousin's answer.

"It is a greater disturbance than the storm," Sun Ziang commented. "Which also reminded me, we can't wait here. Come on."

The others were ready to agree when Fen broke into uncertainty, again, pointing at the sky.

"What is that?" she was pointed towards a ray of golden light, shooting for the centre of the storm.

"An Angel?" Sun Ziang said. His superior eyes still weren't enough to give him a clear vision.

"Maiden of the Sun," Ai answered from the ground, her shoulder slumped, expression growing even more ominous.

***

When Vale led her to her master, Xiaolin found everything was already done. Her master collapsed on the ground while an otherworldly woman checking on him, crouched next to his foot.

"Master!" Xiaolin squeaked, dropping off Vale to literally crawl to her master. Vale came to the rescue as well, quickly licking Gale's troubled-looking, unconscious face.

"Vale," the golden-haired angel called, lifting her head from Gale's leg to look at the hound. Her eyes drew towards the other golden-haired maiden clinging to Gale. "And you are?"

"You're Maya," Xiaolin didn't answer the question, and uttered her name, even though she'd seen Maya in her life. "What happened to Master?"

"Master?" Maya arched an eyebrow and quickly made sense of their relationship. Then she remembered the corruption she was treating. "Quickly, 'Move away'. You wouldn't want to get afflicted by that."

Even though Xiaolin didn't want to go even an inch away, she found herself moving away a few paces away, as if pulled by an invisible force of her voice.

Xiaolin squeaked.

"It is for your own good," Maya told her, getting back to her treatment.

"But what about master?"

"I can barely suppress this," Maya said with a sigh. "As for what he's going through, that's completely out of our hands."

"What do you--"

Xiaolin couldn't complete her sentence as a sudden quake hit the mountain, rendering her to collapse on the ground again.

"Something very peculiar is happening in this region. Quick, get on your feet, you have to leave."

_______

All hell broke loose. . .