Chapter 600: Not the End

Kai streaked across Krysal, eyes focused past the horizon on a destination he couldn't see. There were people slaughtering each other in Philaster and he didn't have any time to wait for elite teleporters, he needed to arrive now.

His rush was made a bit more awkward by the fact that he was carrying Nirka along with him. It wasn't exactly a romantic pose, since she was wincing at the wind slamming into them. Just in case there was any confusion, Kai had shifted his arms and torso to his armored form, so her body was only pressing against the chitinous plates. Even if they had closed off that relationship between them, better to leave no ambiguity.

At first he'd intended to just rush there and take care of things, but as the flight continued, Kai had to admit that he couldn't actually fly to Philaster instantly. There was no point traveling the entire way in silence, especially when Nirka might know more.

"So how did you fall in with the rebels?" he eventually asked.

"That part was easy." Nirka looked away and shrugged against him. "I was well-known in the revolution, you know, and I've been active afterward. I actually agree with them on some things. Too many crystalliers and merchants got to keep their power after the revolution."

"But you don't agree with them enough to let them kill."

"No, I realized we weren't the same fairly early. A lot of these people... some of them are hateful over what was done to them, but others... they were in different mines, some of which sound easy compared to mine. It's the wealthiest miners who are the most vicious, sometimes."

"Vicious enough to slaughter the families of former crystalliers."

"Right. That isn't the revolution I signed up for... I stayed and learned everything I could, but when I realized they were going to attack so soon after the incursion, I realized that I had to tell you." Nirka went on to explain how she'd made contact with the elites and gotten ahead of his path to intercept him.

The conversation seemed to make her grow more relaxed, but Kai only grew tenser. The longer it had taken her, the longer the plot would have proceeded in her absence. While the crystalliers weren't defenseless, if this was really a vengeful mob, they'd probably be targeting the weak, like the children of noble families.

He'd been convinced that the incursion would bring everyone together, and there were signs of that: ex-slaves and ex-crystalliers at the Frontier had fought together against monstrous hordes that didn't care about their class differences. But if a radical faction ended the incursion by bathing Philaster in blood, slaughtering innocents with no justification...

Well, he had no idea how much more violence that would set off. Even if Kai stopped it, the new Krysal might be mortally wounded.

When they finally came within sight of Philaster, his mind shifted entirely. Nirka pointed him toward the right district and then leapt away - just as well, since she should maintain plausible deniability. Kai let his senses sweep over the city, seeking the violence she described.

He found it all too easily: there was a huge mob of men and women in slave tunics assaulting one of the noble districts. Some crystallier had built up a huge crystal shield in their path, but it was being battered down. On other streets he could see the remnants of similar shields, and there were dead bodies in a few places. It looked like children and other non-combatants had been pulled back, but the mob had them surrounded and was baying for blood.

"Enough!" Kai landed on the side of a watchtower and shouted out to the crowd. But, for the first time, a Krysali mob ignored him.

It was too late for words, he realized. These were deep hatreds that had been unleashed, trying to settle scores both old and new. Some of the people saw him, but they didn't care, they just wanted to take their revenge before someone stopped them.

Kai sighed as he realized there was no choice: he dropped down to the street and unleashed Famished World.

His power exploded in all directions, consuming the color of the world. The technique had been designed to overwhelm cultivators, so he was devastating to former miners with a little crystal cultivation. Crystals shattered, many went unconscious instantly, and others were driven to their knees. A great cry went up across the entire district and Kai knew that this might cause nightmares for years to come.

But it stopped the mob. He hated to do it this way, but he didn't see any choice.

The defenders looked as though they might have been willing to strike back, but they were too terrified to take action. Kai maintained Famished World until he saw the authorities of the city beginning to arrive: normal soldiers and hunters who had previously been too preoccupied with the incursion to take action.

Some of them approached him, but Kai merely shook his head and gestured for them to work. He had already taken a step he could never take back, by crushing the faction's attempt at revenge, so he didn't want to become any further entangled in politics. The local forces arrested some of the mob's ringleaders, but they let many of the average people go.

As the authorities did their work, Kai found himself retreating, strangely exhausted. It wasn't his physical condition for once - if anything, he had too much restless energy now. He just didn't want to watch this secondary revolution be taken down and have to think about whether any of this mattered.

So instead he retreated to the Acidarium of Philaster, since it seemed to be a relatively neutral location. He distracted himself temporarily by sitting beside one of the acid pools and considering his condition: he had drained some qi with his hard use of Thunderbird's Wings, and Famished World used a bit more, but both of those were being restored rapidly. At this point the only thing he needed to be in top shape was a night of sleep.

Well, maybe an entire day in bed with Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena, not just sleeping. Even talking with the two of them sounded like paradise compared to this, but they had their own concerns after the monster incursion.

His meandering thoughts were interrupted by an old woman approaching - an acid cultivator, but there was something familiar about her. Kai realized that he had actually spoken with her in the the very first acid pits of N District. She was more hunched and wrinkled than before, but at her age, surviving the revolution, seven years, and an incursion was impressive.

"You look unhappy for a man who just stopped a slaughter," the old woman said.

"I only stopped it today," Kai said heavily. "The hatreds of the revolution aren't over. Some of the former slaves are trying to make Krysal better, but some are becoming new masters. If I have to maintain peace by raw power... have I accomplished anything at all?"

To his surprise, the old woman clucked her tongue at him. With her standing and Kai seated, her eyes were lower than his, but she still managed to give the sense of looking down at him. Bizarrely, for the first time in ages, he felt a flicker of shame.

"Kai Clanless... I was born in the acid pits, destined to spend my entire life slaving away." The old woman coughed briefly, but it was nothing like the hacking spasms he remembered. "I may still be sick, but my children were able to heal the damage done by the acid, my grandchildren are growing up healthy, and my great-grandchildren may help lead Krysal."

"I guess I spoke too-" Kai cut off when she swatted him, her hand almost as fragile as paper.

"I'm not reprimanding you, young man. I just wanted to remind you that you changed everything for us. The new Krysal isn't a paradise? Of course it isn't. Anyone who demanded you create one is being silly, you just need to leave the world better than you left it. You freed Krysal, and now you brought it through the incursion... don't convince yourself that doesn't matter."

"Thank you for the reminder." Kai smiled as he focused on her, realizing how little he'd actually come to know her. "How have you been? You said they were able to do something about the damage to your body?"

"Just a little." The old woman sat down beside him with excruciating slowness, her body straining even with the simple motion. "I am a very old woman, Kai Clanless. I don't expect to live to see another incursion, and that doesn't bother me. I get to pass away in a house my children own, watching my grandchildren play free. This life was enough."

That was a healthier attitude, but Kai still found himself wondering what would come of Krysal in the future. He had been granted more power, and had taken more responsibility, so he still had a commitment to the nation as it went forward. Depending on his travels, he realized this might be the last time he got a chance to speak to the old woman.

Part of him wanted to introduce himself properly, to meet her whole family and ask her for what wisdom she had to offer. But first he just sat there with her, staring at the pool of acid that now carried such different meanings. The time for talk would come later.

Except it didn't come at all: he felt a surge of mana as elites arrived.

"Report on the abyss," Plinkesa said as she slithered into the chamber. She bowed her head slightly to the old woman, who just waved her off and kept staring, too old to be bothered by strange snake ladies. "I've been monitoring the anomaly we looked at before."

"And?" Kai asked.

"That source of power? It started to fade at the end, and it was completely gone before the last monsters crawled out of the hole. A few of us took precautions and went to look, even explored a little, but there was no danger. Not like before."

"So it only appears during the incursion. That makes sense, I guess."

"Maybe. Even between incursions, the abyss can still cause trouble, so it isn't all clear." Plinkesa continued to tell him about their explorations as they headed out, back into Philaster. It seemed some of the others had carried out experiments of their own, confirming that there was some sort of aggressively fatal phenomenon related to the soul and monstrous essence.

What it all meant, they still weren't sure. Kai was strangely encouraged that his little experiment hadn't been brushed aside as a needless risk: Plinkesa and some of the other elites seemed to view understanding the whole process as key. It really did feel like they had more facts that before, perhaps enough to begin to come to grips with the whole phenomenon.

Now that the incursion was over and they had time to think, Kai was eager to experiment further. Exploring deeper into the abyss might be useful, now that he was stronger and had more allies. The real test would be during the next incursion: could he try to isolate the power that the god-like beings had fought over and take it for himself? The exceptional version might be beyond him, but the energy produced by a normal incursion might be within his grasp.

Just as he started to get engaged with all of that, another portal appeared beside them. Kai turned, smiling expecting to see one of his wives, and instead discovered Gunjin scowling as if the incursion hadn't ended.

"We have a problem," the old man said. "And, as much as I hate to say it, this could be worse than the incursion."