I Am the One Who Swims Against the Current

The Star Luo Kingdom had swallowed the Volcano Kingdom whole. The Hosen family's former realm now survived only as one of its duchies.

The next target was not the Samo Kingdom, strongest of the rival powers and the hardest to break. Instead, the Star Luo Kingdom turned upon the Sele family, one of the four great houses of the Royal Bloodline.

The Samo Kingdom had been badly mauled. Its troops had only just withdrawn from Stone Forest City, and the wounds left by the war with the Star Luo Kingdom were still raw. With its most important ally gone, the entire realm now dreaded the Star Luo Kingdom's counterattack and coming reckoning.

Before the Sele Kingdom could recover or even react, the queen resolved to seize it.

Within the royal palace, every eye turned toward the queen.

Longing and expectation shone in their eyes.

Seated upon her throne, the Star Luo Queen met their expectant gazes and surveyed the hall.

At that moment, a single purpose united them all.

"Centuries have passed."

"The Samo, Hosen, and Sele families once swore loyalty to Queen Star and the Xilong family. Then greed took them, and treachery, and they shattered the kingdom of Yinsai and divided the pieces among themselves."

"The people have forgotten the Yinsai Kingdom of old. They have forgotten the glory of the Xilong family."

The Star Luo Queen raised the Yinsai Scepter high and issued her command. The will and might of a ruler rang through every corner of Star Luo.

"The time has come."

"Let the kingdom of Yinsai return at last beneath the Xilong throne."

A roar of celebration filled the hall. Members of the Xilong family wept with emotion.

Armies mustered as the whole Star Luo Kingdom mobilized for war.

Landed nobles arrived one after another, each bringing soldiers and weapons of his own. Along the border, the smoke of war began to rise.

Midway through the march, however, the army came under attack and suffered several setbacks.

Without warning, the Samo family's Desert Worm burst onto the road and hurled itself at the Star Luo Kingdom's host, fighting with desperate frenzy to hold them back. Its ferocity laid bare the Samo family's fear and desperation.

A savage battle followed. Only then did the Star Luo Queen reach the Sele Kingdom's border.

This small and feeble kingdom had prospered by playing the three great kingdoms against one another. At last, it faced a choice it could no longer evade.

Submission.

Or annihilation.

Elsewhere, Henir, the Grand Duke of Volcano, answered the Star Luo Queen's summons without delay. He called up every force in the Volcano Duchy under his command.

First among them were the restless lords itching to make their move.

Henir conscripted every last one and drew them into the war against the Sele Kingdom.

Through this war, Henir meant to put the Volcano Kingdom's internal forces in order once and for all and take complete hold of power, crushing every voice raised against him.

The Star Luo Queen surveyed Henir's army, then the Burrowing Demon Worm he had brought with it.

Deeply gratified, she decided she had not misjudged him.

"Grand Duke Henir, you have proven your loyalty."

The queen's praise brought Henir no joy, but his composure never wavered. "Whatever Your Majesty wills, Henir shall hold nothing back."

"For such was the oath Henir swore before the divine being."

Henir noticed the losses among the Star Luo Kingdom's army. The Sky Beast in particular bore terrible bite wounds, and he immediately asked Her Majesty what had happened.

"The Samo Kingdom's Desert Worm ambushed our army on the road, but I drove it back."

"They know our purpose now. I expect the Samo Kingdom is hastily mustering its armies to rescue the Sele Kingdom."

"Their host cannot reach us in time. It is already too late."

"Most likely, they intend to strike directly at us."

The Star Luo Kingdom stood directly between the Samo and Sele Kingdoms. Before setting out, the Star Luo Queen had prepared by leaving the Ruhe Beast Star of Death at the Sacred Lake.

If the Samo Kingdom could not reach the Sele Kingdom in time, it might strike Stone Forest City instead, or even the God-Servant City itself.

The Star of Death was her reserve against such an attack.

Henir bowed with due respect and praised the queen's wisdom.

When Henir raised his head, he saw that the Sky Beast's Ruhe brand on the Star Luo Queen's forehead had gone beyond fading. Its outline had blurred until it was barely visible.

For an instant, his expression froze.

"Has the Xilong family's Sky Beast brand reached its end so soon?"

In that instant, he thought of the Divine Messenger, thought of the Volcano King, thought of the Ruhe Beast that had died, risen again at the last moment, and raced toward the sea.

The new Grand Duke of Volcano felt his heart tremble as an idea surfaced in his mind.

In that instant, something changed in his eyes.

Madness burned in them, the madness of a man staking everything on a single throw, along with the greed of an untamed heart.

Henir immediately lowered his head to conceal it, as though terrified the Star Luo Queen might glimpse his eyes.

Henir volunteered for the task. "Your Majesty, many within the kingdom still speak against me. Grant me leave to take the City of Sea Spirits, the capital of the Sele Kingdom. Let me prove my loyalty to you."

The Star Luo Queen reassured Henir, making her complete trust in him plain.

Even so, she nodded at once and granted his request.

The City of Sea Spirits was a formidable fortress, and taking it would exact a heavy price. From the outset, she had intended to give the task to Henir. Her only concern had been that he might refuse.

Now that Henir had asked for the task himself, the Star Luo Queen was more pleased with him than ever.

Maintaining his humble bow, Henir backed away from her presence.

The Star Luo Queen gazed at the scepter in her hand and remembered those who had wielded it before her.

"Queen Star!"

"King Eli."

"King Yesael. And... King Redlichia."

She seemed already to see herself reunifying the kingdom of Yinsai and once more placing the crown of the King of Yinsai upon her head.

Night settled over a small town seized by the Volcano Duchy's army and turned into a camp. There Henir gathered his vassals to plan the assault on the fortified City of Sea Spirits. The queen's Sky Beast would face the Sele Kingdom's great beast, the Sele Sea Spirit, but the Sele family's Sea Spirit Priest Corps and garrison would still be formidable opponents.

Henir meant to conserve his own strength as well, using the Burrowing Demon Worm as little as possible.

"The kingdom's legion shall lead the main assault on the deep water port. If the port falls, the City of Sea Spirits cannot hold. The Sele family will never give it up. That is where the main battle will be fought."

"The City of Sea Spirits stands on an island more than ten miles off the coast. Every evening, however, the falling tide reveals a road that leads all the way to the city."

"That is our opening. Yet the city will have prepared for it long ago, and so we must..."

Once Henir finalized the plan and issued his orders, his vassals and commanders dispersed to make ready.

Beneath the moonlight, the Grand Duke of Volcano paced back and forth in indecision.

His hesitation soon passed. He summoned his most trusted aide.

"Take two thousand men and make ready outside the deep water port. Await your chance."

The aide did not understand. "Wait!"

"Grand Duke, what exactly are we waiting for?"

"For trouble at the deep water port," Henir said. "When it comes, I shall use a divine technique to tell you what to do."

The Grand Duke of Volcano did not say what they would be asked to do. Unease stirred among his closest aide and vassals, as though they sensed that something momentous was about to happen.

The aide accepted the orders and withdrew, glancing back at Henir once on the way out.

"Grand Duke, what exactly are you planning?"

Henir stared into the darkness beyond. He felt neither fear nor unease. The longer he looked, the calmer he became.

It was as though he had been born to melt into that darkness.

"I am the one who swims against the current," he murmured.

"Only the one who swims against the current can change everything, attain the unattainable, and accomplish the impossible."