Chapter 9: Mount Poxuan

"Ships?"

The veteran soldier gazed at the dozens of massive vessels approaching the coastline, unable to hide his bewilderment. In his experience, the Azure Sea was a tranquil expanse; aside from the trade routes near the western coast and the Liaodong Circuit, large ships were rarely seen in these waters.

The veteran rubbed his eyes. The ships were strange. They were certainly not Tianyu vessels; their sleek hulls and the prominent star emblems on their prows made that clear. Yet, each ship flew a large "Yu" flag from its mast. Although relations between Dongsong and Tianyu had been strained of late, the long-standing consistency in culture and language had kept the two nations close, and the Dongsong garrison lowered their guard as the ships neared the harbor.

"Who goes there?"

When the ships drew closer, the veteran, back in the watchtower, spoke through a peculiar megaphone-like device. The ships made no move; they simply halted.

"Who goes there?" the veteran asked again.

Still, silence. The large star motifs looked somewhat eerie through the mist.

"Identify yourselves, or we will open fire with the ballistae!"

"Who goes there!"

"Dongsong brothers, don't fire!" a voice finally shouted from the ships. "We are patrol warships from the Tianyu Liaodong Circuit. A sudden storm in the Western Azure Sea scattered us, and we lost our bearings. We only just spotted land and hurried here."

The speaker used quite fluent Yu, sounding not at all out of place. But no sooner had the words faded than the Cat-folk soldiers saw over a dozen more massive "Tianyu warships" emerge from the mist. The sleek warships cut through the sea at high speed, as daunting as giant whales with stars in their mouths.

"We have never seen such warships belonging to the Yu people. How can we trust you?"

The ships went silent again, yet continued their advance toward the harbor.

"I told you to stop!"

"Stop, or we will fire immediately!"

"Stop..." the veteran screamed until his throat felt raw. But the massive warships continued their charge.

"Damn it, something's wrong!" The veteran grabbed a nearby soldier. "Go, report to the battalion commander. Tell him unidentified warships are approaching the coast. Ready the ballistae! And get the shield carts out, garrison!"

"If these Yu intend to storm the beach, we must stop them at the docks!"

Easier said than done. Many Dongsong soldiers scrambled from their quarters without even donning their armor; the shield carts they pushed out were battered, and the bowstrings of the ballistae looked ancient. Still, the Dongsong army managed to form a line at the port, prepared to repel the intruders.

Strangely, however, the lead warship stopped when it reached a point about a hundred meters from the harbor. Under the puzzled gazes of the Dongsong troops, a small boat rowed toward the pier.

The veteran pushed aside a stunned soldier and stared at the approaching craft. Only one person was rowing—a Yu man wearing tattered leather armor.

"Identify yourself!"

"Dongsong brothers, dear cat-folk, I am a scouting guerrilla under the command of the Prince of Liao’s Jade Trading Office. We were transporting fine jade collected along the Snow Wastes coast back to Liaodong, but, well, you see, we ran into that storm in the Western Azure Sea. Somehow, we ended up here."

Seeing the dragon emblem on the man’s leather armor and his guerrilla medallion, the veteran’s guard relaxed significantly.

"Keep an eye on him," the veteran told his men before stepping forward to approach the deferential Tianyu guerrilla. "Guerrilla officer, coming to our Xuanshan Fortress without reason requires inspection of your medallion."

"Right... right! Feel free to look." As the guerrilla handed over the medallion, he pulled a cigarette from his tunic.

The veteran’s eyes caught the sight of the cigarette—the premium stuff that could only be obtained by those with connections in the Tianyu capital.

"Look at that, this is the last one I've got, brother. Do you smoke?"

"I was just thinking of having one." In truth, a lowly soldier like him could never afford such luxury.

The veteran took the cigarette, and the guerrilla lit it for him with a fire-starter.

"Phew~"

It really was a fine smoke. Just as the veteran was savoring it, the guerrilla suddenly hardened his expression.

"Little cat, smoking something this good before you die is worth it."

"What..."

*Thwack.*

A steel sword plunged through the leather armor. As the blue energy burned into him, the veteran felt his flesh being devoured by flames, yet he could see no fire at all!

"Arghhhhh!" The veteran let out a pained howl.

A clean follow-up strike severed his head, which traced a graceful arc through the air before landing in the Azure Sea.

"Enemy attack! En—"

Before the panicked Dongsong soldiers could react, the figure leapt directly over their heads, stepping on thin air. Her sword glinted with silver light. It was no Yu officer, but Freya—dressed in blue-and-white plate armor, wielding a longsword, her golden hair tied back!

From the warships behind her came the roar of white lions. Hundreds of white lions leapt from the decks. The White Lion riders, clad in blue-and-white plate, faces masked in iron, wearing pointed iron helmets, charged across the sea. Beneath their feet, cushions of blue energy formed in the air. Stepping on these, the riders skimmed across the water like dragonflies, covering hundreds of meters in an instant.

Accompanied by the blue aura surrounding them, the riders' arrows struck like thunderbolts. The iron tips pierced the Dongsong soldiers' flimsy armor like viper fangs, and the blue energy ignited flames invisible to the cat-folk, triggering screams and wails that echoed across the beach.

Freya danced with her longsword, the energy-infused blade slicing through throats and spines with electric speed. Every strike was precise, fierce, and even possessed a hint of beauty. Over six hundred White Lion riders descended like birds of prey. The lions' fangs tore flesh, and the blue aura scorched every living enemy. Sprays of blood dyed the lion-head ornaments on the women's shoulders crimson.

Freya executed the last cat soldier crawling on the ground begging for mercy and vaulted onto her mount, White Light. The six hundred riders had swept the entire dock. Looking at the veteran’s corpse, now burnt to ash by the phantom fire, Freya wore a satisfied smile.

"As expected, with this divine power, these mortals who cannot use Void Qi are no match for us!"

"Freya, well done. It seems you have secured the harbor."

A deep, powerful male voice echoed in Freya's mind. This was the power of Void Qi telepathy—anyone who mastered Void Qi could establish a connection through a palm strike, allowing direct communication in the mind, much like a biological mobile phone.

"The docks are taken. Not a single one of the sisters was injured. The garrison is barely a thousand strong, and their defenses are weak," Freya said, sounding relaxed. She had intended to use the disguise to sneak past, but the garrison’s readiness was so poor, and they were completely ignorant of Void Qi, making the task simple.

"Many of the Dongsong cats could use Void Qi back in the day, but that was a thousand years ago in the Yu realm. It seems that with their current armaments, there was no need for the Star God to deploy all four legions." The man's voice in her mind grew flippant and debauched.

Freya offered a polite smile, though her expression held a trace of complexity. She spurred her lion forward and nodded to a tall White Lion rider.

"All companies, advance according to the commander's orders. First, second, and third companies, attack the Xuanshan armory. Fourth company, attack the residential area for military families. Fifth and sixth companies, follow me along the main road. Remember: strike fast, and make good use of your Void Qi!"

"Yes, Commander!"

With the silver-bell-like shouts of the female warriors, the war lions roared as well. The riders leapt into the air again, stepping on their energy cushions, soaring over the heads of the frantic Dongsong soldiers toward the key points of the city.

"Solna, remember, the armory must be destroyed immediately, especially those ballistae." Freya leaned comfortably against her lion. She flicked the blood off her longsword and sheathed it in her spatial ring. Her delicate features, now stained with the blood of the cat-folk, were composed. She pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the grime from her face.

"Who knows if the descendants of those ancient powerhouses have any secret weapons hidden away?"

The tall warrior beside her nodded, tightening the reins of her giant lion, her gaze firm behind her iron mask.

"Go."

With a shout, the three companies of White Lion riders lunged toward the sheep who knew nothing of the invasion, like manticores baring their fangs.

"Don't you feel stifled?" Freya sat sideways on White Light and pulled out a pair of nail clippers. "Careful not to get breakouts from wearing those iron masks for so long."

The fifth and sixth companies and the other riders watched their commander’s ease and couldn't help but chuckle, shaking the blood from their blades.

"Sister Freya, you should put your mask on too. What if one of those Dongsong cat-folk's arrows..." the fourth company commander said with concern.

"Soya, what did you call me?"

"Oh... no... Commander! Commander!" The fourth company commander lowered her head in fear.

Freya arched a brow, chuckled, and went back to her nails. "Ugh, how annoying. These nails just won't look right no matter how I file them."

Freya looked at her slender fingers, frowning. Ahead of her, the Xuanshan Fortress was already engulfed in smoke. The thick fog still blanketed the stronghold. Under its cover, the four companies of White Lion riders leapt from the sky, pouncing on the Dongsong soldiers who were still attempting to hold their posts.

Though they had heard the commotion at the docks, the lax cat soldiers had no time to react before they were picked off by energy-infused arrows raining from above. The phantom fire spread rapidly with every falling corpse; the invisible blue flames brought terror and heat to every corner of the fortress.

"Arghhhhh! Fire! It's on fire!"

"Where is the fire? Where?"

"I can't see it! But it's definitely fire, it has to be!"

"Run! Run—urk!"

The lions' fangs tore the throats of any who tried to flee. Following the arrows came the blue-glowing slashes of longswords. Amidst flying fur and flesh, the Dongsong defense crumbled. The Star-Dust female warriors added to the chaos with ghost-like shrieks, completely breaking the will of any soldier who stood in their path.

"Ghosts! They're ghosts!"

"Argh!"

"Run! The legendary Star-folk monsters are here! Run!"

*Squish! Slash! Thud!*

Freya continued to trim her nails, as if this slaughter were nothing to do with her. Before long, the armory was already engulfed in phantom fire, and the massive building, lacking any Void Qi protection, had already half-collapsed. The residential area was filled with screams. The fortress was in total disarray.

"It is time."

"All riders, hear me: follow the main road and assault the central keep. Do not fail."

"Yes, Commander!"

As the two companies and their lions roared, a cruel smile appeared on Freya’s face. They charged straight at the frantic Dongsong soldiers scrambling along the main road. It was a bloody massacre. The White Lion riders brandished their swords, using the invisible, burning power of Void Qi and the strength and reflexes it granted them to cut down every cat-folk soldier in their way.

"Do not let a single messenger escape. Kill them all."

Freya swung her sword, chopping through enemies like a whirlwind. After one slash, the disguise charm around her neck, its effectiveness spent, fell to the ground. She didn't care; her eyes had found a new target: a Dongsong officer not far away, attempting to light a signal fire to alert the main force.

Freya felt a familiar scent emanating from the officer. She drew her bow, nocked an arrow, and let fly. The arrow pierced the air and struck the gap in the officer's leather armor. The officer fell instantly.

But before he hit the ground, the officer suddenly channeled his own Void Qi. That energy sparked like a blue flame, igniting the signal fire a few meters away. The roaring bonfire pierced the morning mist. Only then did the chaotic garrison realize: a major enemy had invaded.

The officer who had just been struck by the energy-arrow stood up from the pile of debris where he had fallen.

"Damn it... to hell with it... those crazy bitches have damn good aim."