Path of the Berserker
Book 5: Chapter 21

I walked into the portal and a stream of multicolored lights flashed before my eyes. I was then sucked through what felt like a spectral kaleidoscope of shifting and twirling tunnels, moving at breakneck speed. It felt different than traversing through the demonic gates on the spiritual realm though. More physical, with my actual body feeling the effects.

Then, as quickly as it started, it was all over and I found myself stepping out of the portal into someplace else on the other side. A cacophony of sights and sounds assaulted my senses, and it took me a second to adjust to the scale of what I was actually seeing.

I was on a sky port platform the size of a football field and what had to be hundreds of skiffs were buzzing through the sky like a swarm of bees. Behind me, the Paifang I had just stepped through was at least ten times the size of the one back on Kul’tar, having a total of seven arches instead of just three.

Huge lines of both people and skiffs moved in and out of them as we were quickly ushered along by the Gate staff, making way for others that would soon arrive. High above the skiffs, the huge golden sphere of the Celestial Realm shined like a sun, but there was no heat radiating from it, like I would expect from a true star. Indeed, the temperature was far cooler than I expected, almost like a fresh spring day.

I was bumped and pushed by other gate users as I stopped and stared for a moment. It was one thing to hear about it from the princess, but to see the actual Celestial Realm with my own eyes was mind boggling. It took up nearly half the sky, serving as the backdrop to everything and painting the world below with its golden-hued light. Everything was bathed in its presence, and I couldn’t help but wonder what Deity Realm Cultivators might be staring down at us from on high.

“Keep moving,” one of the attendants said curtly, and then once he caught sight of my robes, his jaw dropped, and he immediately plastered a smile on his face. “Apologies! Please keep moving, sir.”

I paid no mind to his fake obsequiousness, giving him a stare of [Indifference], but I obeyed him nonetheless and pushed off. Most of my companions were having the same reaction as I was to the place, totally overwhelmed by the sights and sounds, but Blue Rose and Ling Wei, both seemed well accustomed to the place.

“Ensure you keep hold of your tickets and stay together,” Ling Wei said, calling back to the rest of my team. “This is Yin Yee station, the hub of the empire. It will be quite easy to get lost if you are separated.”

It was damn good advice from what I could tell. I felt like I was back on the Hell Worlds being pressed by throngs of demons by how many people crowded the arena sized platform. Then as I looked back to the sky, I saw this was but one of countless platforms hanging in the air amidst a sea of flying skiffs.

I checked my ticket and saw we had to travel to one of the inner gates on the lower levels to get to the core world of Scalia, where my meeting with the empress would be held. As we reached yet another queue for a skiff that would take us there, I noticed that there were people flying using martial techniques, but only a few.

“Why the hell don’t we just fly there ourselves?” I said, looking back through everyone who was with us. “Between Blue Rose and I, we could get everyone where we need to go in a couple of trips.”

Ling Wei stopped short and looked back at me as if I had just spat out a curse word or something.

“Marshal Iron Bull, such conduct would be well below your station. Only servants would be caught flying under their own strength.”

“What?” I said, and took a closer look at who was actually flying.

And damn she was right.

The only cultivators I saw taking to the air with ‘wind walk’ techniques were people dressed in very common robes and most of them had backpacks on, carrying stuff like a bunch of Door Dash couriers. I even saw a skiff that was actually a sedan chair, being powered by four cultivators ‘wind walking’, while the passenger, some sagely looking dude with ornate robes eased back in the chair while reading a Qi tablet.

I got the whole mindset in that instant.

“So, let me get this straight,” I said. “People cultivate for decades to gain enough Qi, to advance in realm, only so they can be ferried around like they were Qi-less mortals?”

“There are no mortals here,” Ling Wei said. “Even the lowest of servants are foundation Realm here.”

What she said was probably true, but she missed the point of what I was saying entirely.

Blue Rose then let out a sigh behind me. “This place is unbearable. Let’s just keep moving.”

I swallowed my ignorance and got with the program, rubbing shoulders with petty nobles and who knew what else kind of cultivators as we pushed back and forth through the crowd. Most minded their own business, keeping their heads down and not trying to make eye contact, perhaps out of fear of offending someone. It reminded me of my shore leave on Lui Shui, where that asshole gang member wanted to kill a little kid just for bumping into him.

A few people did stare at both me and Blue Rose though, recognizing our Legionnaires Robes perhaps, but most people seemed too busy in going about their own affairs to care.

And that was just fine with me.

We caught an opened topped skiff that lowered us through what I could only describe as an interstellar space port built in the sky. I lost count of how many separate platforms I saw, each one dominated by a multi-arched Paifang. I didn’t know if there was an entire Paifang for each planet they were connected too, or if one large Paifang here could service multiple smaller ones on the outside worlds, like the one we used to come here. That would probably make more sense, but I didn’t want to keep asking dumb questions to find out for sure.

Mu Lin and Xi Xha were yapping away constantly, but clearly enjoying themselves. This was obviously a new space for Xi Xha as well. Tu’lok and Mal’kira were in business mode, not breaking character once as they stood as stalwart bodyguards for Blue Rose and I.

Blue Rose of everyone seemed the most agitated though.

Like she was eager to be someplace else.

I was about to ask her what was up, but then chalked it up to her perhaps thinking of Hein or something and decided to just leave it alone. We arrived at the new Paifang station, which seemed larger but had less lines going to and frow. It was like transferring from a busy airport to a local commuter train or something, I realized.

The people here seem to move at a slower pace, as if just going about their normal day while the people above were rushing to get someplace else. The types of people were different too. Nearly everyone was dressed in the finest of robes and probably bursting with Qi, by the way some of their apparel glowed.

I hung back a bit to walk beside Mu Lin and Xi Xha.

“Hey,” I whispered to them. “What Realm are all these people? Can you tell?”

“It would be rude to look, Max,” Xi Xha said. “I wouldn’t want to be caught staring.”

“Hell, I don’t care,” Mu Lin said, already adjusting her glasses. “This place is a trip!”

After a few seconds of looking around her jaw hung open.

“Nothing but Core and Sacred Soul Realm cultivators,” she said. “One or two Lesser Deities as well.”

“Mu Lin,” Xi Xha chided her in a whisper.

“What? I was discreet.”

My mind was blown a little, but I guess this was to be expected. It made me realize how much of a backwater Earth truly was compared to a place like this. But strangely it reminded me a little bit of Earth as well. Not the Earth that now stood, but old Earth.

As I looked over the edge of the Sky port, I could see the tops of buildings far below. The entire planet looked like one huge city. With building blocks, parks and everything. Qi lighting produced huge advertisements projected holographically in the air, while streams of skiffs flew threw them in neat lines like organized traffic.

This wasn’t the ancient city I imagined it would be.

It was a modern metropolis thriving off of Qi instead of electricity, with all the trappings of a high society lifestyle, right down to everyone driving cars instead of walking. Although in this case it was riding skiffs instead of everyone flying.

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Still the similarities were there.

“When shall we get to the Grand Archives?” Mu Lin asked. “It’s on this planet, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Ling Wei said. “But the Iron Marshal needs to pay his respects to his benefactor first. We are bound for Scalia to meet with the Empress Revenah. The invitation has a tight timeline. We must hurry.”

I had been given all the information, but was truly thankful for Ling Wei being with us now. Blue Rose could have probably navigated as well, but it was certainly welcome to have Ling Wei, lead the way, so to speak.

We finally got to the head of the line in front of the multi-arched PaiFang that connected the Golden City to Scalia. One of the attendants, a portly cultivator who barely fit into his uniform, looked over all of our documents while twitching his mustache with scrutiny.

“We have a problem,” he said, showing the papers to Ling Wei. “Only Max Chun has been granted an invitation by the empress. These other people can not pass through the gate.”

“These are my retainers,” I said, stepping forward. “My Entourage. Where I go, they go.”

The man looked up from the papers and I sensed a twinge of fear come from him as he looked me up and down. Still, he maintained his professionalism and didn’t let it show. “I’m sorry, but imperial law regarding access to Scalia is quite strict. It is via invitation by an empress only.”

“But the tickets are already purchased,” Ling Wei said.

“Then you’ve foolishly wasted your money.”

The man looked away then, as if to serve the next customer.

An anger began to simmer within me. A flashback to my early days began to take hold. No matter how high you climbed, there was still some asshole willing to beat you down with bureaucratic bullshit just because they could.

“Hey, he is no commoner,” Blue Rose said. “Do you not see his credentials? This man is an Imperial Marshal. That’s a Legionnaire three times over. And if you knew the whole story, it’s a hell of a lot more than that. You should be kissing his ass right now.”

I stared at her, a little taken aback.

I was accustomed to Blue’s brashness, but now I understood where it stemmed from. She was a high-society core worlder herself and was used to being above these kinds of people. And in this case I wasn’t complaining.

The way she stared him down had him rechecking the papers again.

“What idiot wouldn’t realize that an invitation to an Imperial Marshal would automatically include his retainers?” Blue Rose said, rolling her eyes.

The challenge to his competency added a new layer of fear to his soul and his veneer of cool began to crack as the papers within his hands started to shake. “Ah, fine but the invitation should have specified.”

“Are you going to blame this on the empress now?” Ling Wei said, tag-teaming with Blue Rose.

I just stood back and smiled.

“I’ll allow only one,” he said. “It would be my head if I’m mistaken. But one retainer sounds sufficient.”

Shit, I thought.

I looked back at Mal’kira. She was my true retainer, but where I was going, I needed more brains than brawn. I considered Blue Rose but her brashness could work against me in a setting with an empress, were I didn’t know what to expect. That left only one possible selection.

“Ling Wei is my retainer,” I said. “She’ll be accompanying me.”

She again looked surprised, but everyone else seemed to understand.

“Off you go then,” the man said, regaining some of his authority again. “This invitation has a time associated. And by the looks of it, you’ll soon be late.”

* * *

We made a plan to meet back up at the same gate as soon as I was done with my meeting with the Empress. The only problem was, I didn’t know how long things were going to take. But considering my invitation didn’t also come with my access to Rhi Ben, or Xi Xha and Mu Lin’s access to the Grand Archives, it seemed there was no other option than for them to wait for my return.

My trip through the gate was the same as before, but much quicker in terms of the time spent within the kaleidoscope-like tunnel, being mere fractions of a second instead of seconds. Still, it was an experience to behold. It made me wonder if I could somehow find a way to traverse the demonic gates of the Chainmaiden this same way.

When I arrived on Scalia it was like I had been shifted to a different universe, not just a different planet. Where the Golden City was a vibrant metropolis, Scalia seemed to be the ancient city I’d had in my imagination. For one, the Paifang platform was on the ground and not in the sky and the sky itself was a subtle green, the same hue as that within Lunalah’s Inner World. I supposed it made sense that she would take something from the place where she grew up to be her ideal setting.

Towering trees grew in between buildings made in traditional Yee architecture that seemed straight out of the history books. It was as if the entire world was a museum or something. Even the skiff that arrived to collect us was ornate with golden dragons adorning its sides.

A group of men in imperial robes stepped off the skiff and bowed to me.

“Imperial Marshal Max Chun,” one of the men said. “I am Di Chu, here to collect you for your audience with the Empress Revenah.” He then cast a glance at Ling Wei, questioningly.

“My retainer,” I said with [Struggler’s Resolve].

He looked concerned for a moment, but then simply shook his head. “No matter. Time is of the essence. You are already late.”

He ushered us on to the skiff then and as we took our seats, the thing jetted off at high speed. I had an opportunity to see the planet from above and just like the Golden City, the entire planet looked to be populated, taking up every inch of space available. Only here there were trees and forest that seemed to grow in between the buildings organically, rather than the neat and purposeful parks I saw back there.

No one spoke to us and I leaned into Ling Wei. “You ever been here before?”

She shook her head and I sensed a bit of fear inside her. “No, never, but it’s always been a dream of mine to visit.”

I was starting to understand just how much of a privilege this was.

And all I had to do for it was pretend I wanted to marry a princess.

But now I was about to meet her mother.

A mother-in-law from hell, I thought with an inward laugh.

Still, this was no time for jokes. I had to get my chun-ass head into the game and not blow it. Everything I had been working towards would come down to me convincing Lunalah’s mother that I was not only worthy of marrying her daughter, but also of being made a Duke.

Whatever that would take.

The scenery below changed becoming more urban, if you could call it that. The architecture remained the same ancient style, but it looked like we were entering some kind of capital city that sprawled for miles. We touched down in a large courtyard of well-manicured grass that was the size of a stadium and within it were a myriad of tables and chairs set with fine dining ware.

I had envisioned my audience with the empress might involve some kind of dinner, but I didn’t think I was going to get it so ‘right on the nose’. As the man, Di Chu, led us towards the tables though, I was surprised to see people already seated and dining away. It was more of the super high-classed, aristocratic bunch, with robes that blazed with Qi essence.

The stares came hard and heavy then, with looks of delight and nods of appreciation. I couldn’t tell what kind of royalty these people were, but I followed Ling Wei’s lead and bowed deeply to every table we passed. Eventually we reached some sort of head table where three couples were sat together before an enormous spread of food and wine.

Di Chu brought us before the table and gestured for us to kneel.

I did so warily, still wondering what the hell was going on.

In the center of the table was a blond woman who somewhat resembled Lunalah, looking perhaps just a few years older and a bit heavier. Her robes were pure white with jade trim and next to her was a bald man, with a salt and pepper beard who eyed me with keen interest.

The other two couples at the table looked similar, not only in appearance and dress but in the air of sophistication they held. These were the elite of the elite, and the acid churning in my gut, confirmed this was the ruling class I had vowed my vengeance against when I set my sites on freeing the Earth from the Empire.

“Your excellency Empress Revenah, 43rd betrothed of the Great Soul Emperor Yin Yee,” Di Chu proclaimed in a loud voice with obnoxiously high-brow tones. “I present to you the Imperial Marshal, Max Chun, ward of Her Majesty, Princess Lunalah.”

I didn’t know what else to do, except to bow my head a little lower.

The blonde woman stood from behind the table and clasped her gloved hands together as if in delight. “Well, well… it took you some time to reach here, Imperial Marshal, but now that you have, to my guests, our entertainment may now begin.”

I glanced at Ling Wei. “What’s she mean by entertainment?”

Ling Wei barely shrugged, unwilling to move from her position with her forehead frozen to the ground.

Empress Revenah raised a glass of some blue looking liquid in a toast. “Let it be known that the Empress Revenah lives up to her reputation of throwing not only the best balls, but also the finest of entertainment as well. See here, a rarity from one of the outer fringe worlds. A native-born Legionnaire who has, through the will of the Heavens, arisen to the notable rank of Imperial Marshal. Let us give praise to my fair daughter Princess Lunalah of Terra, for lending such a rare specimen to us for the night.”

They all started clapping then, like I was some prized show dog or something.

My irritation started to pique, but I felt Ling Wei’s hand suddenly grab my wrist in a ‘don’t even think about it’ kind of manner. I looked back to Revenah and saw her gesturing to the other two couples at the table.

“Now, that alone would be entertainment enough,” she said. “But I have also invited Empress FiVeena and Helein as they too are blessed to have territories who have produced Legionnaires. FiVeena one and Helein two. Let us applaud them for their accomplishments as well.”

The crowd broke into more claps and with another wave of her hand, Revenah ushered in three men wearing Legionnaires robes who then joined me on the lawn, kneeling before the head table. None of them looked at me, but within them I sensed both fear and lemonade.

“See here are now,” Revenah said. “When my daughter told me of the rarity she had spawned, it dawned on me that many things are merely taken for granted to be truths. Such as a legionnaire having to survive three tours to become an Imperial Marshal. But why that number? Why three? So tonight, we are going to perform a little experiment. Let us see if one plus one plus one indeed equals three. Or if an Imperial Marshal is worth three of his lesser brethren. As your entertainment for tonight, I present to you a match of Legionnaires. Three versus one. The Imperial Marshal against the Legionnaires of Empress Fiveena and Empress Helein.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I mumbled.

“Quiet,” Ling Wei whispered. “She may hear you.”

But I was beyond being worried about that.

I looked to the three men at my side and saw the sweat beading upon their brows.

“And to make it extra tantalizing,” Revenah said with a grin. “Your involvement is required as well. You shall determine whether this is a mere exhibition match or a battle of life and death. So, what have you then, dear guests? Death match or all for fun and games?”

Immediately the chant of “Death Match” began to echo from the crowd. They did it all while smiling and laughing. Some of the guests even standing to their feet in excitement like they were playing a game of Bingo or something.

I sensed fear coming from Ling Wei now as she stared at me.

“I apologize Marshal Iron Bull,” she said. “I had no idea this was in store for you.”

“Yeah, me neither,” I said, still trying to process what was happening.

As I glared at the chubby aristocrats now chanting for blood, I understood why the Empress Revenah had summoned me to come alone. This woman wasn’t looking to simply meet with me. She was looking for my death.

And in the worse way possible.

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