Chapter 35: The Key Cannot Escape

Hardly had the words left her lips when Lily felt a surge of powerful Void Energy flooding into her body—but it was pouring forth from the broken sword itself.

"How is this possible..."

The very blade her late father had placed into her hands was now erupting with Void Energy. This white energy flowed into Lily, transmuting into her own sky-blue essence. Lily, who had been drained just moments ago, felt strength rushing back into her veins. How could a broken sword contain the Jade God’s energy, let alone channel it into her?

Lily had no time to ponder. Harnessing the newly generated energy, she channeled it back into the shattered blade. At the same time, she manifested several sharp spikes of Void Ice from her right hand.

"Old man! I’m going to use your energy to carve a path out of here!"

The Void Ice spikes shot forth like arrows toward the shrieking monsters. The evil, rattling bones shattered upon impact, and the sky-blue energy froze the pulverized remains into ice, causing them to collapse heavily onto the ground.

"You’ve got some solid power, old man!" Lily thought, a flicker of joy in her heart. She leaped forward, striking a skeletal soldier with a knee to the chest, and sprinted toward the North Gate.

"Old man, what exactly are these things? Is this some kind of necromancy?"

"You could put it that way," the Jade God replied. "But these things should not exist in our lands. I have no idea how such an abomination could appear."

"Roar! Click!"

Another terrifying shriek erupted behind her. Dozens of hulking skeleton warriors were bounding toward her in pursuit. These savage monsters smashed directly through the walls of the earthen houses, cleaving any Dongsong commoners in their path in two. Cries of shock and agony filled the air, but Lily could only grit her teeth and press on. She could not save them—not now, at least. Only by reaching Huining Fortress in the far north could this nightmare possibly end.

"If they keep chasing like this, I’m done for." Lily glanced at the relentless skeletons behind her, feeling the cold grip of mortality.

"Hold on, girl. These monsters won't be able to touch you for much longer," the Jade God said. Though he was trapped in the Void Sea and unable to intervene directly, he had left a contingency at the North Gate.

"Hold on? I’m almost at the gate! But they’re still right behind me!" Lily caught sight of the North Gate’s watchtower, yet the eerie skeletons continued their pursuit unabated.

"Damn it!" Lily hurled a spike of Void Ice at the head of a nearby skeleton. However, as it neared the gate, the energy in the skeleton’s eye sockets suddenly vanished. With the dissipation of the energy, the skeletal remains simply clattered to the ground.

"As I thought. When they encounter large-scale refined jade architecture, these skeletons fall apart. The construction of this Zhongzhou gate... it was truly... well-planned."

"Wait, the connection is..."

Unlike the walls built of common rammed earth, the gates of Zhongzhou were constructed directly from massive refined jade ore, containing cores rich with Void Energy. The Dongsong people did not possess the technology to build with such jade; it was clearly the handiwork of the Jade God. The energy within the jade suppressed the skeletons' own, forcing the horrific monsters to collapse into mere piles of bone.

"It really works! Old man, once we reach the North Gate, they’ll..." Lily called out, preparing to dash through the gate. But to her surprise, the North Gate of Zhongzhou stood wide open, as if welcoming someone.

"Old man?"

There was no answer. Instead, she saw a large contingent of elite cavalry bearing the royal flags of Dongsong flooding through the gate. They were fully armored, their dragon-patterned leather gear gleaming in the sunlight. They looked nothing like the fleeing soldiers she had encountered earlier.

"Hey, boy, what are you running for near the city gate?" the leading officer barked.

"No, General..." Lily kept her voice deepened by the disguise charm. "Some Star-person monsters were chasing me from behind... I..."

"What kind of nonsense about Star-person monsters? You cowards have clearly lost your minds," the officer spat. "Get out of the way! Don't let your filth dirty the swords of our North County Army."

Lily felt a burning urge to cut down this arrogant cavalryman, but she restrained herself to avoid exposing her identity.

"Forward, the whole unit!" With the thunder of hooves, the force of thousands surged into the city.

"Old man...?" No answer. "Old man? Old man?" Still nothing.

Lily’s brow furrowed. The Jade God, who had saved her from peril time and again, had lost connection once more. "Old man... can’t you be more reliable with this telepathy of yours!"

She brushed the dust off her clothes, intending to stick to the city wall and climb over as she had done in Donglai. But then, a military order reached the North Gate: "All retreating soldiers in the city are to assemble at the South Gate. Anyone defying this order will be considered a deserter and executed on the spot!"

The garrison began driving the fleeing soldiers who had entered with the refugees back toward their posts. The soldiers were unwilling, but seeing the North County border guards pouring in with their gleaming halberds, they had no choice but to head toward the South Gate.

"Damn it, what rotten luck." With no contact from the Jade God and her energy reserves depleted, a frustrated Lily had no choice but to follow the retreating rabble toward the South Gate.

***

In the woods near the Tanchin Terrace outside Zhongzhou, Frelia held a monocular, peering toward the city. Solna, commander of the first battalion, stood nearby with a group of White Lion Riders, keeping watch.

"My love..." A telepathic voice sounded in Frelia’s ear. "I failed. I lost dozens of the skeletons the High Heavens gave me." Fenrir’s voice was filled with annoyance.

"John... it is not your fault..."

"My power is still insufficient to imbue these skeletons with enough Void Energy... Damn it!" Fenrir tried to maintain his composure, but his anger seeped through his words. "That 'key' is truly capable; she took out several skeletons all by herself."

"She is one of the most precious tools of the High Heavens, and yet..." Frelia recalled the expression of the mysterious High Heaven deity when he had handed that blue spider lily to them.

"This is my most precious toy~ use it well. If you fail to use it properly... Father will be very disappointed in you~"

Frelia disliked the way the High Heaven looked at her. His gaze often lingered on certain parts of her body, as if at any moment this "Father of Stardust" might do something strange to her.

"My love? My love?" Fenrir’s voice pulled her back from her memories. "Are you alright? Is the burden of leading the White Lion Riders too much?" Fenrir only sounded like a normal person when speaking to Frelia, his voice shifting back to that southern English countryside accent.

"I am fine..."

"If you are tired, remember to drink the supplements I gave you. I brewed several boxes; they are all in your storage ring~"

"Yes, I know~" Frelia lowered the monocular and leaned against the neck of her beloved lion, White Light. "It tastes good... like apple juice... just like the kind we used to make together in Foster County every summer..."

Her azure eyes seemed to drift into the distant past. She could no longer remember the home she and John had once shared, only the moment the world was destroyed, and the steam-powered monsters that swallowed everything. But she remembered the taste of that apple juice in the orchard during the peak of summer.

"Apple juice, is it..." Fenrir’s voice deepened. "If that world hadn't been destroyed by the Jade God... we would still be mortals living happily in our homeland, passing our lives without a care."

The Jade God had destroyed their homeland; this was what the High Heavens, who had helped them become Star Gods and leaders of the White Lion Riders, had told them. Fenrir believed it implicitly. Now, the wandering Stardust people needed a new home—a world more suitable for building a great kingdom than the harsh environment of Snowwind Fortress. For Fenrir, destroying the Heavenly Jade and occupying the Jade Realm was both an act of vengeance and a grand ambition.

"My love, let us not think of that anymore..."

"Now, we must destroy the Jade God and everything he stands for..."

"Leave the Jade God to the High Heavens," Fenrir interrupted. "We will clear the Jade Realm."

"Are you afraid of him? Does that High Heaven deity make you, a Star God, feel fear?" Frelia did not like her husband's reverence, or perhaps even sycophancy, toward that god of immense Void power. The same revulsion she felt under the High Heaven's gaze returned.

"It is not like that, my love," Fenrir explained. "You know the Jade God’s power. His true form cannot enter the Jade Realm, but within the Void Sea, he is formidable. He can even intervene in the Jade Realm through Void Energy. The High Heaven can help us, my love—help us contain, or even kill him!" Fenrir’s voice grew excited. "Kill him! Kill our enemy! Think about it, my love—that god is going to die!"

Frelia still didn't like her husband's laughter. She wanted to kill the enemy who had murdered their friends and family with her own hands, not rely on some strange god who had offered help halfway. But since her beloved husband relied so heavily on the High Heavens, she chose to stay by his side as the leader of the White Lion Riders.

"For now, let us secure the key, my love." Frelia lazily raised her monocular, but she only saw the Dongsong stragglers being driven toward the South Gate by the border guards. The "Lily" key was nowhere to be seen.

"The toy the High Heavens gave you doesn't seem very useful, my love~" Frelia stood up and tossed the monocular to Solna. The tall warrior caught the precious relic of the old era and stored it in her ring.

"It seems we must take action ourselves." Frelia looked back at the snarling White Lions and the beautiful, hardened riders sitting atop them. "Sisters," Frelia pulled a wineskin from her ring and took a deep draft of mead. The mead she brewed herself was the finest in the Stardust realm—it tasted of their old home.

"According to the commander's plan, we head to the east of Zhongzhou."

"The Tanchin Terrace?" Solna asked.

"Yes, that is the place." Frelia looked toward a small earthen platform to the east, a cold, chilling smile on her face. "That is the graveyard my brother prepared for the Dongsong army. That key will belong to us there!"