Chapter 637: Final Negotiations

It was absurd that, with all the apocalyptic concerns around them, Zae Zin Nim needed to be concerned about what she wore. But the Pureflower Sect was the only faction that was willing to support her, so her meeting with them was critical. Whether or not she could convince them to provide the final support she needed could well make or break her plans.

Only minutes until they teleported to the Pureflower Sect and she was still making her final decisions. One of the most obvious paths would be to wear her formal Brightwind robes and approach them as a matriarch, but that might not convince them, not with patriarchs bowing to the Yangix Sect right and left.

Another entirely different path would be to take a page from Omilaena's book and approach them confidently. They would likely be shocked by her new appearance, so it might be better to wear it proudly. Or she could go the opposite direction and show that she embodied their sect's virtues of grace and modesty. She could even wear the Pureflower robes she had in her spatial bracelet... unless that would be too overt, too clumsy a symbol?

"What are we doing?" Cragrila stood just behind her, hiding her impatience. She didn't care for fashion, but she knew how women's clothing worked and she could use a speed phase, so she was the best assistant available.

"I..." Zae Zin Nim pushed aside all other thoughts and made her decision. "These."

She wore only plain black cultivator's robes, with the Heavenly Sash atop them. No jewelry or anything else, simply her hair tied back with a single pin. When they prepared to enter the teleportation circle, Cragrila nodded to her, just slightly.

On the other side, they stood atop the sect's mountain, where Zae Zin Nim had not been for many years. There was an escort prepared to greet them, bowing without any reaction to her appearance. They said nothing as they were escorted inward, then Cragrila stayed behind so that Zae Zin Nim could enter the central chamber alone.

There she faced the aged matriarchs of the sect as well as the three Pureflower Goddesses, who sat in elegant chairs waiting for her. Once that might have been intimidating, but Zae Zin Nim realized that she had no time for their pomp and circumstance, not now.

"Your name is anathema across Cloudspire," one of the old women said. "The Yangix Sect has promised destruction upon any who would aid you. Tell us, why should we help you, at great cost to ourselves, when doing so could be our doom?"

"If you truly believed that," Zae Zin Nim responded, "you would not have agreed to my request. I think you understand that Yangix Sect controlling Cloudspire would mean your destruction anyway... tell me, what has he already demanded of you?"

"It isn't Yangix himself." Kir Mei Bai spoke up, almost apologetically. "It's the men with him, the... invincible Earth Souls. They are far cruder, and they have been pressuring us to send them wives."

"Then you understand the threat. No doubt others in the Western Wilds urge you to sacrifice yourselves for their sake, to gain favor with the invaders. I am the only one who will offer you a path to defeating them."

"And what proof do we have?" another elder objected. "Every Sky Soul that has faced them has been defeated, and their schemes grow ever more desperate. You, merely an Earth Soul, ask us to sacrifice great qi reserves, only to try to defend yourself."

Zae Zin Nim wanted to snap back that she had defeated her father as an Earth Soul, or perhaps just show them her raw strength and beat sense into them. But she realized that she was getting this meeting not because of her power, but because she had a connection with the Pureflower Sect. If she had built a stronger relationship, maybe they would even have supported her gladly instead of requiring these negotiations.

So no, force was not the path through this. As alien as it was to Cloudspire, Zae Zin Nim decided to take a compassionate approach.

"I share your frustration." As she spoke, she addressed the entire room, all of the sect members listening as well as the elders. "These invaders are uncouth men with little cultivation, able to defeat us only because of... a brute force technique, one might say. I have mastered the same technique, but as you said, I am only an Earth Soul. With your help, I could gain the final strength I need to stand up to them."

"Alone?" Kir Mei Bai asked.

"No, far from alone. I have assembled allies across the world who are waiting for the moment to strike, but we need to strike with overwhelming force. Join us and we will be one step closer."

There were more questions, and some bickering, and eventually Zae Zin Nim was asked to leave the chamber while they conferred with one another. But she had only been waiting for a few minutes when the doors opened again and Kir Mei Bai stepped through.

"Provided that you make a formal alliance as Brightwind matriarch," she said cautiously, "the Pureflower Sect will support you. Our qi reserves are yours."

"Good." Zae Zin Nim wanted to nod and move on, but she saw the fear in the Pureflower Goddess's eyes and stayed back a moment. "Believe me, this will work. I only need the final step."

Kir Mei Bai smiled thinly, but she nodded and returned to the others. As soon as she was gone, Zae Zin Nim turned back to Cragrila, who had been leaning against one of the white pillars. Now she separated from it, grasping her spear and shifting her weight.

"Take this south." Zae Zin Nim handed her a jade teleport talisman. "That will allow me to return to your position. Until then, do what you can to support Wan Fei and the others."

"You think you can reach Sky Soul in time?" Cragrila asked. "And it will be enough?"

It would be wrong to give the old revolutionary soft reassuring words, so Zae Zin Nim met her gaze and merely said, "What other options do you have?"

After a pause, Cragrila took the jade talisman and departed. Zae Zin Nim didn't watch her go, trusting that she would do her part, and turned to do hers.

.

..

.

After she finally slipped Jonijix - whose horniness had made him remarkably determined - Omilaena circled back to the others. They had been monitoring the invaders and tracked a few who tended to go off on their own, and they had been planning to target one of those. There was a very real possibility that the ambush would turn into a disaster and she would return to find them all dead.

When Omilaena found the group, there were indeed bodies on the ground... but the ambush hadn't failed. They clustered around a cliff face, where one of the weaker invaders had been impaled against the stone by a single arrow with Thunderbird fletchings. Damn, Omilaena had done better than she expected with that arrowhead.

Yonto and several other elves stood at a distance, looking extremely tense. All the bodies on the ground were demons... some of them were actually dead, dried blood tracing lines from their eyes and mouths, while others thrashed in pain.

"What's going on?" Omilaena landed beside Yonto. "Good shot, by the way."

"After we isolated and killed one of the invaders," Yonto explained, "the demons tried to absorb his power. It seemed to be... too much for them somehow. Some who seemed to be absorbing the power better ended up dead, and it's unclear what's happening to the rest. We have no answers, and they lash out at anyone that gets close."

"Does anyone know about the dead invader?"

"Not yet, but he usually returns from his walks within a few hours, so they'll start asking. Time is limited."

If even Yonto was looking nervous, Omilaena resolved to take care of things. She walked over to the demons, and a woman thrashing on the ground tried to grab her ankle to drain her. Once that might have been a threat, but now Omilaena only gently kicked her away. Focusing on her own phases, she could resist the drain... and that might be the problem.

She found Gorutiel on his knees, clutching his chest so hard that his fingers dug into his skin and drew blood. Unlike the others, he seemed to have absorbed some of the power - the phased energy moved through his body as sluggishly as syrup, and he was clearly struggling to command it. Based on her best guess, however, she thought that he would master it eventually.

"What... is this?" he demanded in a rasping voice. "Demons... should be able to..."

"Have you ever struggled to absorb power like this before?" Omilaena asked.

"Never... no matter how concentrated... they should be only prey..."

For a moment Omilaena looked down at him, wondering if it would be better to just let the demons die, or even help things along a bit. They were uncomfortable allies at best, and potential future liabilities at worst. On the other hand, she and Kai were short on allies, and the idea of demons draining phased power was fascinating from a theoretical perspective.

"Here, this should help a bit." Omilaena bent down and injected Gorutiel with soothing chakra. "We'll have to talk more later, just sleep now."

He muttered something angry, trying to fight her, but there was a huge gulf in power between them now and the sedative overwhelmed him. As he fell asleep, Omilaena took a look at his soul.

<

Name: Gorutiel

Total Power: 1119

Crimson Demon: Emerald Rank (500)

Demonic Cultivation: Nascent Foundation (230)

Physique: C-5 (325)

Soul Level: 8 (64)

>

It seemed that absorbing the phased energy had made Gorutiel explode past the 999 Power barrier, taking his Crimson Demon ability to 500. Once that would have been impressive, but now it didn't seem so high, not when it was only partially supported by other abilities. Other demons, who didn't have Gorutiel's impressive Physique, were faring poorly.

There could be interesting implications to this... Omilaena pulled out her goggles and inspected him on a deeper level.

<

Name: Gorutiel

Physique: Enhanced Mortal (300 year lifespan)

Soul: Mortal

Supremacy: None

Talent Capacity: Crimson Demon

Elemental Capacity: Crimson Demon

Essence Capacity: Crimson Demon

Cultivation Capacity: Demonic Cultivation

>

Shockingly, his Crimson Demon ability consumed a full three capacities within his soul: Talent, Elemental, and Essence. Only his cultivation remained intact, and that seemed like a clearly linked ability. It was also surprising to see someone so powerful have a purely Mortal soul - his enhanced Physique kept him looking young, but apparently his lifespan was still limited.

As she compared to other demons, Omilaena began to come to a conclusion. It seemed that the demonic ability to absorb the power of others came at a great cost, occupying a huge part of their soul. In a sense, that shouldn't have surprised her: the laws of reality didn't give something for nothing, and being able to simply steal the advancement of others had always seemed a bit like cheating. Now she saw the hidden cost, which might explain why demons didn't dominate everywhere.

But what was the difference, in fundamental terms, between stealing power and absorbing it from other sources? Power could be exchanged via dual cultivation and many chakra techniques, after all, and Kai was able to consume monsters - if anything, his soul was too large. Her best theory was that normal routes to power involved encountering outside power and incorporating it carefully, while demonic abilities tried to skip that step and steal not energy, but advancement itself.

Before she could figure out all the details, they were interrupted by a new arrival, and a welcome one: Kai landed beside the group. Some of the demons and elves flinched, but Omilaena rose and swept her eyes up and down in exaggerated admiration.

"Well, look at you." She waved a finger in a circle. "Turn around for me so I can admire all of you."

"No," Kai said with a smile. "I stopped the Colossus, but that just means that there's nothing else to stop Jonijix."

Bah, she would get to fully enjoy him later. Omilaena forced herself to be serious for a little longer. "As you can see, the elves - with no help from me whatsoever - were able to take down one of the invaders. That's likely to confuse the others, but once Jonijix figures out, he's going to be pissed."

"What do we do about it? I'm confident I can take him, but if he calls the oth-"

"You don't do anything." Omilaena reached out to put a finger over his lips. "Not here. I think it's only a matter of time before one of the invaders either goes mad, someone unrelated to us sets them off, or they start doing things that can't be tolerated. Now that we're ready to fight them, we have to get into position for a battle if - no, when it becomes necessary."

Kai frowned as he took her hand gently. "We're ready, but what about Zin Nim?"

"We have teleportation potions, but sadly no communication. We'll just have to trust her."

"Then... you want me to go to Deadwaste." Kai let out a breath as he understood her plan. "You plan to fight Jonijix..."

"Which means you need to handle the last continent. Or the first continent." Omilaena squeezed her hand around his fingers. "We have no idea what's been going on there, other than that the worst hasn't happened. So go back home and figure that out, get things in shape if you can. With any luck, we can strike the first blow before things go bad."

"Alright." They discussed a few more details, but all too soon Kai pulled out the thin vial and drank the teleportation potion. "How long does it t-"

Then he was gone, as if he'd never been. Off to Deadwaste, but she had to take that on faith. Omilaena realized that she hadn't kissed him one more time and hoped she would have a chance in the future.

They were running out of time and now there were no more reinforcements coming. She would win or lose on Rosemount under her own power.