As they made their escape from the dungeons, Yoshika was struck by just how many prisoners were being held in the castle. Noticing that Master Yumi was with them, a few began to call out for help. Jia bit her lip and cast an awkward glance at her master.

“Is there anything we can do for them?”

Yumi shook her head sadly.

“If we release them now, they’ll be slaughtered by the demons outside.”

Rika grimaced.

“They’re quite literally being slaughtered now.”

“That’s true, but unless we can completely liberate the city, they are safer here.”

Meili pursed her lips as they ran.

“Can we? Liberate the city, I mean.”

“I wouldn’t presume to know what you’re capable of now, but I doubt it. At the very least you would need to drive off Yu Meiren and her demons, then hold the city against any reprisals until the rest of your army can get here.”

Kaede furrowed her brows.

“What about the demon lord and my father? Where are they?”

Master Yumi shook her head.

“I couldn’t tell you. I haven’t seen either since I was imprisoned.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way...”

As much as it pained her, they ignored the prisoners and made their way back through the dungeon and into the castle proper. At the top of the stairs, Yoshika expanded her senses through the castle. Meiren’s domain was still suppressing her, but it wasn’t as strong after her retreat and Yoshika was able to at least cast her domain far enough to spot the ambush waiting for them on the other side of the door.

She gave Rika her assessment telepathically, communicating instantly through her domain in the manner of spirits and elementals. Most of her friends wouldn’t be able to keep up with that method, but Rika lived with Iseul, and spent the better part of the year learning how to communicate on the young elemental’s terms.

Rika gave Kaede a firm nod, and the two of them burst through the doorway simultaneously, dashing in opposite directions.

Across from the doorway, a squadron of demons unleashed their strongest long-range attacks, only to be blocked by Eui’s barrier of destructive essence. On either side, assassins waiting to take advantage of the distraction caused by the initial barrage were instead taken by surprise as Kaede and Rika avoided the attack entirely and came straight at them.

Kaede cut her opponents down with swift and brutal efficiency, the replica kamikiri neatly severing their souls as easily as their bodies and leaving their cores perfectly intact. On Rika’s side, her summoned simulacra took on unexpected forms as she channeled her power through the divine hand wraps.

One appeared as though she’d been reimagined as a half-spirit with the form of a bear, a head taller and with a furred body rippling with muscle. It made Rika’s already impressive physique look tiny and soft by comparison as it tore its foe limb from limb.

Another of her copies instead took on a more slim and lanky shape, with limbs that were slightly too long and wiry, and tipped with sharp claws. It flowed around its opponents like water and struck with precise, rapid blows.

Ignoring that for the moment, Jia slipped past Eui’s defensive barrier with her Lightspeed Traversal and unleashed a powerful Chain Lightning Nova spell in the center of the main ambushing force.

The fight only lasted a few seconds, after which they hastily regrouped. Jia looked askance at Rika’s odd new clones.

“When did you learn how to do that?”

Rika shrugged.

“I’m not doing it on purpose—I think the artifact has something to do with it. I can feel...presences inside of them. They’re eager to show off.”

The bear-Rika growled affirmatively. Eui looked up at it with a frown.

“Uh...you are still controlling them, right?”

“Yep! They’re still me. Just with a little something extra.”

Kaede nodded—good enough for her.

“Let’s keep moving. This way!”

She took off running, the others following closely behind.

Yoshika knew her way around the castle, Kaede having grown up there. There were two routes they could take to escape. One option would be to simply take the front gate, where they would have to fight through a courtyard full of demons and the labyrinthine entryway. The second option was to use the Hayakawa clan’s private tunnels—a series of secret pathways meant to allow the castle rulers to move freely during a siege or invasion.

They weren’t escape tunnels, per se—having only been meant to allow strategic repositioning and surprise attacks—but they would allow Yoshika and the others to bypass most of the demons awaiting them.

There was the risk that Yu Meiren was already aware of the tunnels and would attempt to set a trap for them there, but Yoshika knew the demon was still watching them closely. They weren’t going to be making it out of the city without another confrontation with her, and it would be better to face her alone than surrounded by an army of demons.

As they made their way through the castle halls, they were constantly assaulted by opportunistic demons spurred on by the raised alarm, but the attacks rarely did so much as slow them down.

Yoshika’s aspects working in tandem were a completely oppressive force on their own, with Jia and Kaede’s mobility herding opponents into Eui’s overwhelming destructive power, and Meili supporting from the back with magic and healing as needed.

Rika and Yumi were no slouches either. With her newly enhanced Hundred Mirrors technique, Rika’s clones made short work of most opponents, and Master Yumi proved that, even exhausted of her essence, she was a force to be reckoned with.

Master Yumi’s movements were simple, but perfected by over a century of dedicated practice. No move served only a single purpose—each step moved her closer to one foe while creating distance from another, in parrying one attack she’d disrupt the movements of her other opponents, and every strike was a precise killing blow.

Her sword was hard to follow—appearing to flicker in and out of reality as she cut through the demonic hordes. It always seemed to reach just a little further, and strike a little sooner or later than expected. Perhaps an effect of its divine enchantment.

Regardless, Master Yumi adapted to the new weapon perfectly, taking full advantage of its power and fighting beyond anything Yoshika had expected from her weary and injured teacher.

Eventually, the crowd of demons thinned, and Yoshika could feel Meiren’s aura growing stronger as they approached Kaede’s personal quarters.

“In here—there’s a secret path that will take us to the top of the walls.”

Once there, they’d be able to make their escape by air, fleeing back north to meet up with Jiaguo’s army. Kaede swore that she’d return as quickly as possible to free her people and put a stop to whatever madness her father had let the demons talk him into.

Kaede’s room was nothing special—sparsely decorated and utilitarian. It wasn’t that she’d never wanted any embellishments—her father hadn’t allowed them. He had taught her that a true warlord owned nothing that they didn’t fight for, and forced her to earn her privileges by merit.

Decorations just weren’t worth the effort.

“Here—”

Kaede let a portion of her essence flow through a normal-looking brick, dropping the ward masking the secret entrance and allowing the false wall to slide open with a simple mechanism.

The tunnels were narrow enough that they had to move single-file, but once inside they were able to pass unimpeded. It was a roundabout route, taking them out to the perimeter of the castle before slowly spiraling up around the edge.

“I used to use this tunnel to sneak out at night to watch the stars. We should just be coming up on the exit now.”

The exit was a trick door designed to open only from one side, so far toward the back of the walls that if any enemy penetrated so far into the castle there would be bigger concerns than the discovery of the tunnels.

They’d made it to the edge of the castle, with the open air above them. A simple wind-walking spell was the only thing between Yoshika and her escape. Naturally, Yu Meiren wasn’t about to make it that easy.

The demoness was waiting for them, a pair of familiar hostages at the ready.

In one hand, she held Grandmaster Murayoshi by the neck. The image of Meiren’s willowy frame subduing the muscle-bound old smith would have been almost comical if not for the gravity of the situation. On her other side, was the old priest that had traveled with them through Goryeo, Hattori Koji.

“Not so fast! You only just got here, dear guests—it would be a shame for you to leave so soon!”

Yoshika froze. Murayoshi was one thing—he was Yumi’s uncle and mentor, and while Yoshika hadn’t made it far on the path of creation, he’d been a mentor to her as well, helping her to understand the nature of spirits and learn a few things about herself in the process.

But Hattori? She had never been particularly close to him in the first place, and had even recently learned that he’d been lying to her the entire time. Certainly she’d grown to respect the man during their time together, but he was an odd choice of hostage.

Kaede leveled her blade at Yu Meiren, frowning.

“Let them go. I’ve defeated you twice already, and I’ll be more than happy to repeat it a third time.”

The demon scoffed bitterly.

“Don’t get cocky just because you managed to catch me off-guard once or twice! If you so much as twitch, the blacksmith dies—and I’ll make sure to dismantle his precious forge with one of his own creations.”

Murayoshi struggled fruitlessly against her grip.

“Yumi! Girls—forget about me! Dun’ let ‘er touch Forge!”

Yu Meiren scowled and shook him like a ragdoll.

“Shush! I don’t want to hear your stupid accent!”

Kaede clenched her jaw, trying to find a way out. Of course Meiren would use hostages—it was something that came to her naturally and she knew that Yoshika was particularly vulnerable to it.

“Murayoshi’s made his peace. We’re not stupid, Meiren—any deal we make with you is nothing but a poison pill that will lead to our downfall.”

The demon cackled and shook her head.

“You think you’re so clever! It doesn’t matter whether you know that the pill is poisoned, because you will swallow it anyway. Priest, show them.”

Hattori—or whatever his real name was—sighed and held up a small talisman. It was an origami cat, covered in dense magical script—Yoshika sensed a familiar aura of Shadow essence emanating from it.

Jia clenched her fists and took a furious step forward, hesitating only when Meiren brandished Murayoshi’s unconscious body at her.

“You! What have you done?!”

“I’m sorry, girls—I was only following my shogun’s command. Originally I was only meant to follow the young mistress and confirm her fate, but that young kami of yours presented an interesting opportunity to gain leverage over potential future foes.”

“You stole a piece of Heian’s essence?! Why?”

The priest chuckled mirthlessly.

“Oh, I had any number of reasons—but chief among them was the potential she presented to advance our understanding of channeling, kami embodiment, and martial ascension. I never imagined you’d ever rise to such remarkable prominence, however.”

Meiren grinned.

“What a happy coincidence! And oh, the things I can do with the captured essence of a spirit!”

She plucked the talisman from the onmyouji’s fingers and held it up in front of her face.

“Now then, Yoshika—I’m going to enjoy watching you scramble to choose who to save! And when you lay broken and miserable from your failure, I’ll finish you off myself.”

Before Yoshika could respond, an oppressive aura swept across her—not, Meiren’s, something even more powerful and dangerous. Sovereign Longyan stepped casually out of thin air between Yoshika and Meiren, as if he’d been hiding behind some sort of trick mirror.

Whatever Yu Meiren had been planning ceased to matter as Yoshika’s worst fears came to be.

The demon lord had arrived.