"Happy wife, happy life, Mr Song! Gānbēi!"

Gwen poured the wine distractedly, far more engrossed in seeking out the source of her dreadful premonition.

Her surveillance, however, was limited to the table-by-table meet-and-greet where, as is tradition, people were trying to get Hai as drunk as humanly possible.

At each table, they had to toast the guests with thimble shots of baijiu sitting at a heart-stopping 53% purity. It was, therefore, the groomsmen's job to "help" the groom by acting as the "Abjurer".

Likewise, as the bride's companions, it fell to the bridesmaids to take one for the team to ensure the bride was sober enough to complete her nocturnal nuptials.

The bridal party greeted their immediate elders at the main table front and centre of the inner courtyard. Klavdiya touched Gwen's hand and thanked her for acting competently while her grandfather knitted his brows, displeased at Gwen's unnecessarily revealing attire. Secretary Liu, conversely, immediately complimented her on her beauty, raised a toast, and then congratulated her grandparents on possessing such a "treasure".

All in all, there were ten tables in the inner courtyard, twenty in the outer yard, and another thirty-odd outside the estate, under an external pavilion. The bridal party needn't visit the outer assembly—it was filled with mundane guests and servants, consisting principally of NoMs.

"Petra!" Gwen squealed when they reached her cousins. She had been hoping to converse with her Shanghai 'crew' all day but had been too busy to tear herself away, even for a minute.

"Gwen, you looking sweet-ASS!" Tao gave her a thumbs up. "Please wear the dress to my show. Bring some sugar!"

"Are those Hermes?" Mina knew what was up and what was truly important.

"I am happy you're safe and sound." Petra nudged Mina, feeling awkward that the first words out of the girl's lips after a week-long absence was branded shoes. "Welcome back."

"Thanks, everyone," Gwen relaxed. "Please come and join me after it's all over. We only have another thirty tables or so. No, Mina, they're a gift from Qīn. But I'll tell you what—these shoes are killing me! Tao, I'll consider it, but only you can convince Petra! Pats, how long did it take you guys to get to Hangzhou? Did Mina drive all of you?"

Mina did not answer Gwen but looked in a trance, likely still thinking about Gwen's shoes.

"Sorry, Gwen," Tao wasn't sure what had overcome his sister.

"Don't worry about it," Gwen replied, disregarding the faux pas as inconsequential.

"S-sorry!" Mina stammered, dazed by her sudden infirmity, appearing as though she had broken free of some charm. "I am feeling a bit unwell… maybe it's too stuffy here."

The banquet was outdoors.

"No worries, Mina, have some water," Gwen urged her cousin. "The humidity here gets to everyone."

As the bridal party left the table, Gwen became hyper-conscious that the guests were now staring at her shoes, which were unfortunately attached to very exposed legs. If she had been wearing her burrito dress and not Qīn's scandalous number, immodest exposure would not have been a problem; alas, her meagre fabric just managed to cover her frontal torso, hips and upper thighs.

The rest of the 'inner circle' were Liu's friends and family, notable local Houses, and a few prominent Clans between the Hangzhou Frontier, Suzhou, Shaoxing and Anhui.

The guests ranged from polite and friendly to displaying undisguised concupiscence. One middle-aged bloke even sniffed her arm as she poured.

After another half dozen tables, Gwen camouflaged herself behind the other two bridesmaids. It was just as well that their dresses were identical shades of pastel pink; with a little effort, she could hide behind the frontal pair.

"I would like to toast Miss Song!" a voice called out from the table.

Gwen looked up and saw a young man with a square face and bushy brows lifting a shot of Maotai toward her.

The wedding party turned to regard Gwen with amusement and expectation.

Jun met her eyes but said nothing, leaving the matter to Gwen's discretion.

Gwen lifted a shot glass, then sculled the liquor with one gulp. The rice wine entered her throat like a fire, burning her tongue with its delicious scent.

The enormously vital baijiu, distilled from rare Wildland sorghum harvested from the Orange Zone south of Chongqing, meshed well with her Draconic Essence.

Gwen found, to her surprise, that her hunger had abated.

There was a brief moment of silence, and then the table and its neighbours burst into applause.

"HAO!"

"Cao! That girl can drink!"

"NICE!"

"The Songs are northerners, right? Those northerners can drink!"

"She is half Russian... well, her grandmother is from Harbin."

"You know what they say. The Ruskies prefer Vodka over water."

Gwen licked her lips.

She could do with another.

Maotai was famous for its distilled "life force". The purer and older the distillation, the more potent. She wondered if the rice wine, like the Fructum Vitae, had diminishing returns.

Unconsciously, she licked her lips again, savouring the scent, setting the young man's heart to race.

"Thank you," she replied sweetly. "Right back at you! Fill her up!"

Jun regarded his niece, guessing at her intentions.

Qīn and Hai regarded one another quizzically, but the exchange was beyond them now. One of the uncles happily filled up Gwen's glass and the young man's.

"To your health!" Gwen took the shot without even blinking, savouring the taste.

"HAO!"

"Wonderful!"

The young man sipped his second drink, not wanting to choke and embarrass his family. The table cheered the young sorceress and jeered her competitor, filling the festive air with jovial mockery.

Thanks to Gwen, the toasting had taken on a less formal and far more familiar air, cries of 'Good!' and whole-hearted 'Gānbēi!' filled the air.

At the next table, Jingwen turned to Gwen.

"Gwen," the diminutive woman was slurring a little. At one point, Jun had to hold his partner steady lest she tripped over her feet. "Can you still drink?"

Again, Gwen's spine tingled, and again she failed to locate the source.

"Sure." Gwen gave her a thumbs up. "Hit me up."

Not every day, she got to drink decade-old Maotai as spring water, not to mention the distilled sorghum that appeared to nourish her hunger.

Another one of the young men, a fellow whose eyes hadn't left her face since she arrived at the guest table, raised a toast to Gwen.

"Gānbēi!"

Three shots and the young man was ready to spew.

The next table came and went, with Gwen taking the shot for Qīn and the bridesmaids. Very quickly, she gained a group of followers who couldn't believe what they saw, following her group from table to table, cheering as she took another hit for the bride.

“Gānbēi!”

“Gānbēi!”

“Gānbēi!”

Hai was beginning to sweat even as Jun continued with a mirthful expression readable only on his curled lips. Uncle must be cracking up behind his stoic exterior. Gwen mused, flashing Jun a happy grin. He was the only one who knew that so long as she kept her Essence cycling, Gwen couldn't become intoxicated.

To the surprise of all, it was her uncle Jun who couldn't hold his rice wine at the next table.

The bridal party was doing the last rounds of the inner courtyard when an ethereal beauty greeted them.

She raised a glass, then toasted the Ash Bringer.

Gwen's uncle raised his glass, sculled the shot, saw the Hello Kitty shirt—then spattered the poor woman with a conic blast of high-grade alcohol.

The spontaneous spittle shower drew every eye from across the courtyard.

What a beautiful girl! Like Gwen, the guests sucked in a collective breath of air.

The young woman was so strikingly stunning that even Gwen's heart grew sore with sympathy at her bedraggled state.

The Ash Bringer coughed violently.

The young lady's appearance suggested she was in her late teens, about Gwen's age. Spit and Maotai dribbled past a set of bright blue eyes, a high-bridged nose and deeply set features which marked her as a foreigner. The dead giveaway was her platinum-blonde hair, plastered across her face in sticky strands of sun silk. One would have figured the girl older than she looked, but the young lady uncharacteristically wore over her slim body a Hello Kitty t-shirt now covered with rice wine still dribbling from her chin.

The crowd regarded the new girl—then Gwen—then shifted their attention toward Gwen's grandmother, with each instance adding increasingly more adventurous guesses as to their connections.

Gwen, too, realised just how similar they looked.

Their facial structure, long, lithe limbs, demeanour, and body language were similar.

That shirt. Gwen's mind clicked. I know that shirt.

The guest's curiosity converged on Hai, who was, for once, earnestly confused by the girl's familiar yet alien countenance.

Jun made a sound that sounded as though he was drowning.

The wedding guests migrated their gaze toward the Ash Bringer, who had become slack-jawed and wide-eyed.

Her Scale—or rather, Ayxin's Scale, tingled.

Fuck me dead! Gwen felt her cerebellum perform a double-summersault before landing awkwardly with a sprained ankle.

AYXIN?! Gwen screamed internally. What the hell is the Dragon-Mage doing here? COULD SHE EVEN BE HERE? Why isn't she imploding from the Shielding Resonance?

Was the PLA aware that a thermo-nuclear warhead had snuck itself into a city of four million people?

Most importantly, should she tell anyone?

But she needn't make that call, Gwen realised. She was in the presence of a higher-ranking officer possessing far more intimate knowledge than her wild speculations; if anything, it was Jun's call to make, his Dragon to lay.

Ayxin's expression was one of complete devastation as well, though her distress was directed at her alcohol ravished 'Hello Kitty' shirt.

"I am sorry," Jun stammered, his face growing as red as a beet. Gwen figured her uncle was likely shitting himself as he spoke.

The man had ruined the dragon-kin's one-of-a-kind shirt, despoiled the remembrance of her affection and ravaged the romance of her surprise visit.

Ha! It serves you right! Gwen smirked even as she deliberated the possibility of the Dragon-Mage erupting into an all-consuming fount of living lightning.

Her uncle turned to Hai.

There was no time to explain.

Gwen could guess why. Suppose anyone should get the wrong idea about why a Dragon-kin wandered into a Shielded city without a self-decaying Resonance Sigil. In that case, Hangzhou could play host to the PLA Super Tower for the foreseeable future.

Ayxin opened her mouth to speak. "Jun, I want a b—"

"BROTHER, I NEED TO GO."

"You go for it, man." Hai offered his straight-shooter brother a bro-fist. Gwen knew he had misread the situation and was likely happy only because the girl hadn't pointed at him. "Do what you gotta."

Jun ignored Hai's fist bump, took Ayxin by the arm, and pushed the girl behind him. With a single, scandalous gesture, the Dragon-kin wrapped her arms around his waist and dashed the hopes of women in the courtyard, young and old.

Jun's constipated expression insinuated someone had stabbed his reputation in the kidneys with a broken chopstick.

Gwen winced.

"Gwen, stay out of trouble. I'll be back if I am able."

"Where are you going?"

"Far... from the city, for now. You never know—"

"Gotcha," Gwen nodded. "Be careful. If need be, what should I tell Babulya?"

"Everything."

"I'll try."

Jun produced a Teleportation scroll.

The two de-materialised with a flash of silvery Conjuration mana worth over 700 HDMs.

The guests erupted into wild and audible speculation.

Gwen glanced back at the Song's table and saw that Guo had transformed into an impassive stone statue, not unlike one of those granite lions outside Liu's estate. Her grandmother must have received a Message from Jun, for Gwen could see that the old woman was cupping a hand against her ear.

Gwen's heart sank.

Her precious uncle Jun was taken.

Besides Gwen's grandfather, Secretary Liu poured a cup of tea for Guo.

The man's palpable schadenfreude was visible almost half-a-dozen tables away.

Already the Songs owed the Liu because their wayward son had knocked up his only daughter. And then their granddaughter "lost face" by causing a scene with her belligerent brother, then showed up as a bridesmaid wearing an entirely un-maiden-like attire.

Now even Jun, the golden boy who could do no wrong, was slinking away after splattering a guest in the face, perhaps to get her a new change of clothes, but more likely dealing with a lover's dilemma. Jun's only grace was that the beauty had not burst into tears and made a scene! To think that the Ash Bringer of all people had been panicked enough to burn a tier 7 Teleportation scroll. It made Liu wonder which family the lass could belong to, though the answer would have to wait until after the wedding.

Unexpectedly, events had progressed so well that Secretary Liu felt he had previously consulted with a State-sanctioned Diviner from Pudong.

After tonight, the Songs would not have enough face left to slap!

As if guided by a divine hand, the pieces kept falling into place of their own accord.

Earlier, he had received conflicting reports that Gwen Song was seen marauding through Hangzhou city, making trouble for the locals, going as far as hooking up with the son of Assistant Secretary Chen at the Ritz Carlton. When he questioned Qīn's servants, however, they reported that the girl had returned to the estate regularly, bathing and sleeping in the south wing.

The inconsistency was puzzling, but to Liu, the actuality hardly mattered.

With Ash Bringer gone, a rare opportunity had presented itself.

And Liu was nothing but an opportunist.

A few tables over, Gwen was still trying to think of a way to put together a contingency plan or, at the very least, clear the guests should the Dragon-Mage return with less than peaceful intentions in mind. With her Spatial Magic, it was difficult to say if anyone in Hangzhou could hold her down, Jun included.

"Let's take a break." Qīn licked her lips. She couldn't drink because of her pregnancy, and all the Maotai was giving the girls a heady fatigue. "Hai, take me back, then get me some water."

"Of course, dear."

Gwen caught the split-second glance that passed between them.

The bridal party moved as one. Yet, when Gwen followed, her stepmother stopped her.

"Go see your friends, Gwen. Mingle with the crowd. Hai and I will be fine. We'll do some catching up on my side of the family. I think Jun should be back soon; we'll wait for him. What do you say?"

"Sure, I'd love that."

The woman put on a sympathetic smile intended to assuage the girl's growing paranoia, but the girl had bolted without a glance in her direction. Gwen made for her babulya, feeling an urgent need to impart critical information for near-future contingencies.

It was just as well that she could see the "oldies" had hardly touched their bottle of Maotai.

Gwen had made it no more than three tables when she became surrounded.

A dozen young men from the various families had been waiting almost two hours to address her vis-a-vis.

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"Miss Gwen!"

"Gwen…"

"Song Xiaojie"

"Another toast!"

"Come have a drink with us."

The attention was flattering, but there was something in their eyes that reminded Gwen of Caesar's paranoia, that "Cassius over there has a lean and hungry look."

She hoped they weren't expecting to stab her in the back, in a euphemistic manner of speaking, especially as she was quite exposed.

"Let me through." She forced a wane smile to her lips. "I'll be with you soon. We'll 'hang' later, I promise."

To her dismay, the men closed ranks. Their boisterous voices overpowered her feeble protest.

Gwen's spine stiffened with displeasure.

Are these guys fucking with me? Goats and monkeys! She bit her tongue, taking a moment to ponder the acceptable amount of minimal force necessary to dispel the Wall of Lust. Judging by the look on their faces, this wasn't their first rodeo.

From how her stepmother left with the bridal party, the men's actions would appear premeditated.

"My Uncle, the ASH BRINGER, is going to be very upset if we come to any unfortunate misunderstandings," Gwen raised her voice an octave. "Let me remind you that he is an Internal Security operative."

Name-dropping Jun seemed to have made it through their system, penetrating the spirit and the hormones ruling their judgement.

Seeing that her wayward suitors had become sufficiently cowed, she lifted her hand to part the crowd.

Gwen had made it about halfway through the group when her Divination tingled.

She sighed.

What is it with her uncanny gipsies-luck with molesters?

Can't she meet normal people for once?

Gwen swung her hand across her buttocks with extreme prejudice as though swatting at an annoying gadfly. The edge of her knuckles grazed a wandering pair of fingers going for a squeeze, a pinch, a nab or a grope targetting whatever her attire had exposed.

"Arrgh—! Tama-de!" There was a yelp. A scream cut short. Then a burst of expletives.

And they said chivalry was dead. Gwen rolled her eyes.

One of the young men Gwen recalled having shared a drink with her was nursing his right hand with a painful scowl. Two of the would-be groper's fingers were twisted in a strange direction.

SHIT, Gwen shook out her right arm. A little too much force.

"HOW DARE YOU!"

Gwen turned to regard the source of the uproar.

One of the young men charged her.

ARE YOU SHITTING ME? Her mind reeled. God damn alcohol! Crap like this is why bars were so dangerous.

Gwen sidestepped the crimson-faced buck with ease.

She readied herself to push the man away, wondering if crying out for Petra, Tao, or God-forbid, her grandfather, would salvage the situation.

But she wasn't the young man's target.

The bloke passed her by, wound up right hook, then king-punched the molester in the face.

Gwen suspected the young man must have been a Transmuter because his victim was sent flying in the literal sense. A clatter of teeth scattered over the pavement, joined by a striking arc of crimson.

"WOCAO! What are you doing, Pao?" Someone screamed.

A wall of protests erupted.

"Is this guy trying to show off?"

"Back off Chen! Who the fuck do you think you are? Your Dad is only the Second Chair!"

"Buhaha! Playing the hero. You think she'll spread her legs for you?"

"So fake, not even trying!"

Gwen stared slack-jawed at the young man who stood in front of her, sharing the shocked expression of her astonished assailants.

A white knight?

A real-life, true-to-form white knight?!

She was impressed. Not that she wanted to know the guy better, nor did she desire to butter the guy's toast, but she was impressed nonetheless. It was one thing to talk the talk, but this Pao guy walked the walk!

"I love her!" Pao declared his loyalty with such passion that Gwen's heart rate shot to a hundred. Pao then turned to the assembly of amazed assholes, then blew her away with yet another audacious announcement.

"I'll die for her."

Gwen's heart sank. It was too much.

The rest of the guests appeared equally astonished.

"Are you two in cahoots?" One of the young men stated with a fiery face full of injury. "Why in Mao's name would you put up this charade if the two of you are already an item."

"That's bullshit!"

"Do you know how much I gave to your Father's wedding registry?"

"CHEN PAO! YUUA MEAD MUN!" The protest came from the floor.

The youngsters parted. Pao's victim had recovered from his tumble and was returning with a mouth full of blood and eyes full of retribution.

Gwen swore and tried to back away from the scuffle, but a wall of bodies kept in place by spectators and rubberneckers pushed her back into the ring. The scent of fear, excitement, sex, and alcohol all seemed to mingle and feed into each other until she was reminded of music festivals where youths had to be put down by security.

"PAO! YORE DNNND!" the groper had recovered after using a potion injector, attesting to the extent of his injury. His teeth, however, would require professional help.

But the man's outburst became halted by a second cry from beyond the ring of spectators.

"GREAT LEADER'S GHOST! WHAT IN MAO'S NAME DO YOU RASCALS THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

The crowd parted like the red sea.

Guo, babulya, and Patriarch Liu descended upon the riotous kerfuffle. From the perspective of the watchers, it was proper that the bride and groom remained absent and out of sight, leaving the dirty work to their elders. The expected outcome was the expulsion of the troublemakers—though Gwen's inclusion among that number infinitely complicated an otherwise easy deliberation.

"Young lady," the patriarch began. "What is the meaning of this lover's spat?"

For a moment, Gwen thought she was hallucinating.

The meaning of what?

A Lover's Spat?

HERS?

How the hell?

She trained her eyes on the Secretary, whose nose barely reached her chin.

"I am afraid you are gravely mistaken, Magus Liu," she riposted critically. "I am an unwitting victim. These men have taken offence entirely of their own accord."

"From where WE stand, all I can see are young bucks butting heads over a doe." Liu grinned, putting on a show of sagacity. "What do you think, Guo? Your granddaughter is a rare beauty. To think she possesses such beguiling powers at such a young age. What will you do when she enters society?"

Her babulya's face became torn between ripping the man apart with her bare hands and keeping the peace. Gwen was reminded of that old saying that even Buddha has a temper.

Behind her grandparents, she could see Petra's face fuming with quivering rage, while beside the Russian girl, Mina kept a hand firmly on Tao's shoulders.

"As I VERY CLEARLY STATED, Magus Liu, I do not know these men."

"Am I to presume these young gents spontaneously decided to accost you?" Secretary Liu scoffed.

"That is correct, Sir," Gwen replied chillingly, channelling her inner Guo. She raised her voice so that everyone could hear. "They appeared uncalled for and unsummoned from thin air to block my path. They have no respect for you or my father's matrimony. If you have any sense, you should expel them from the wedding."

The retort from a girl a quarter of his age, seemed to catch Liu off guard.

For a brief second, the Secretary appeared entered by her commanding presence.

But then the man's face soured with annoyance.

Liu's eyes swept over Gwen's livid face. His expression was frosty as he cynically regarded her 'beau' and his toothless victim.

"Pao, Hu, explain yourselves."

"I am in love with Miss Song." Pao's admission blew Gwen's mind to kingdom come. "I've spent the last few days and nights with her in the city, sharing in her company. I cannot allow animals like Hu the chance to place his dirty fingers on the girl I adore."

S-Spent the last few days...

And nights...

PLURAL? FUCKING PLURAL?

Gwen felt dizzy.

"I dnn no such fing!" Hu retorted vehemently, his missing teeth slurring his protest. The man's unbridled anger was lending strength to his cunning. "The Song girl is a tease, and she's also insane! She attacked me when I offered her a greeting! Ben and Pei-Jai, and Suqee can all attest!"

"That's right!"

"Unprovoked!"

"She broke his hand!"

"The girl's out of control."

"There are some girls you take to a hotel but not your home..."

Secretary Liu turned to Gwen, spreading his hands as though he had received all the needed evidence.

With a critical eye, he admired her frustration. Watching the man's curling lips, Gwen felt a subconscious longing to Consume Liu's smug face right here and now and damn the consequences.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Miss Song? What's your game? Why the garb, and if so, why turn away the young men you set out to attract?"

"That's not true—"

"Don't play games with me!" Liu snapped at her, making her flinch. "Do you believe me so easily swayed? Here is my daughter's wedding!"

The last statement was intended to ricochet elsewhere.

Both Gwen and the Secretary turned to look at Guo and Klavidya.

Her grandfather maintained his stoic-statue countenance while her babulya's face became as vivid as pippins.

Gwen's head buzzed. Every ounce of her depleting will was spent suppressing her raging Essence.

She was sure that if she blew her casket now, she could be on an examination table by next week, having Draconic Essence leeched into a bucket.

"As I was saying," Liu continued, basking in the shameful attention he was bringing to his in-laws. "Gwen, it is improper for a young lady to lie so readily. Young Master Chen knows you in an intimate capacity. By his own admission of guilt, you have shared his companionship for many days, and indeed, my servants can attest that you have been absent from my home from morning to evening."

The patriarch's accusation hammered her like a mallet.

She could refute—but the age-old quandary of "he said, she said" put her at a distinct disadvantage.

From the wedding guest's perspective, Gwen supposed it looked like she had become stunned by the patriarch's judicious revelation.

Gwen's grandmother moved to interject; Guo held her in place.

Secretary Liu continued.

"I can see why the young Chen is so obsessed with you. With talent, beauty, intelligence, and a good family, you lack nothing. However, it would appear that your Frontier upbringing has limited your understanding of how our society functions—its basic rules of modesty and dignity. I cannot blame your esteemed grandparents. They are the most wonderful people I know, but one wonders."

"Patriarch Liu…" Seeing her dismay and believing her on the verge of tearful disgrace, Pao interjected on Gwen's behalf. "I am willing to take any punishment. Please leave Gwen out of this."

"Now, Mr Chen, we're not done with Miss Song yet."

Gwen was an inch from going nuclear and hitting the Mutually Assured Destruction button when she detected her grandfather eyeballing her.

She blinked back angrily.

Her grandfather looked over at the bridal table, shook his head, and then shot a sideways glance at Liu before narrowing his eyes dangerously.

Liu could see something was up, but the Secretary was intoxicated by his oration.

"Now, knowing what you have set in motion, Miss Song, I want to know how you wish to resolve this. If you have nothing to say, perhaps Secretary Guo can provide some wisdom to share with us. No one wants a spectacle at their son's wedding, no?"

So that's it. Gwen realised. It would appear negotiations over the allegiance between the Songs and the House of Liu had yet to be settled.

Gwen glared at her grandfather, her eyes fiery and demanding.

"Gwen," Guo's voice filled the room with its sonorous timbre. "I want to hear what you have to say."

The unexpected olive branch surprised Gwen as much as it startled her grandmother, who stared at her husband with astonishment.

Gwen stepped forward.

By now, a ring of rubbernecking guests had gathered around the commotion. Many of the non-factional members remained seated, not wanting to embarrass the Chair of the Confidential Communications Committee. Others, members of Liu's faction, took up an audience to lend the Secretary their clout. If someone like the infamous Secretary Song, the old 'hound dog' of the CCP, could be taken down a peg and brought to heel, it would do wonders for their factional influence.

Gwen smoothed out her dress, her calves lifted by the Trojan gift of Hermes. Mindful of her hostile audience, she struck a power pose. Let them look, she mused sardonically: may your eyes rot.

To Gwen—Qin's purpose—intentional or otherwise —was now clear; whether Secretary Liu premediated the event no longer mattered. What was important was that her grandparents had been cornered because she fell for a pair of shoes, among other things.

Secretary Liu's intent, she discerned, was to show that the Songs had diminished since the heydays of the Ash Bringer.

Though Ayxin's presence was entirely unanticipated, Jun's absence had set something unexpected into motion. She doubted Patriarch Liu would push her grandfather like this if Jun could step in. Whatever his plans, Liu was honour bound to "give face" to the Hero of the North or risk ire from the PLA's military.

"Secretary LIU—"

Gwen stood with her shoulders squared and legs slightly apart. Her Draconic Essence filled her veins and mana channels, giving her an air of effortless supremacy.

The change in the atmosphere was immediately notable as the crowd ceased murmuring.

"—What I am about to tell you is the truth and nothing but the truth. Listen well. I DO NOT KNOW Mr Chen. I have NEVER MET Mr Chen in my life. MY DRESS—"

She slowly turned, her gaze sweeping past the silent crowd, shivering spines and silencing small children.

"Is chosen FOR me by Qīn, your daughter. I do not personally have an issue with it. I am grateful she gave me such beautiful attire to attend her wedding. If you feel scandalised, take it up with her."

"You can't expect me to—" Liu moved in to cut her off before Gwen's performance could derail the narrative he had constructed.

"Let her finish."

Her grandfather moved a hand in front of Liu's face.

A supremely offensive gesture.

But Guo was the elder, and the old man held a higher, far more sensitive position within the CCP.

The two men gazed upon one another like two tigers sizing their opponents. One was an old veteran of the jungle, the other an ambitious intruder looking to expand his territory.

Liu relented, for now.

He couldn't publicly break with the patriarch of the Songs.

"Mr Chen?"

Pao appeared bewildered by Gwen's outright denial of his existence. "Y-yes?"

"I am not the girl you are looking for, Mr Chen. Let it go."

"But it was you!" Pao protested desperately, his face scarlet from sweaty brow to the throbbing neck. "I know it was you! How could I forget your face? All my friends were there!"

He turned to his 'friends' in the crowd.

"That's her!"

"Yes, she's the one!"

"We even have lumen pics!"

One of them waved a Pic-recorder.

"What do you say to that?!" Liu grinned wolfishly.

The Secretary immediately commanded the young man to approach. A moment of tinkering later, an image became visible, projected via an Illusionary Enchantment embedded into the device.

There was a picture of Gwen in her white sundress, standing beside Pao. She stood like a queen surrounded by her sycophants—arrogant, proud, and beyond reproach. The boys were cowed by her demeanour, clearly subordinate to her presence.

A thunderous clamour broke out among the audience; a few of the guests began to chuckle.

Voices jeering at Gwen rose above those restraining themselves to polite mirth.

The girl was a liar, and she had been caught red-handed.

What a moment of shame for her elders!

What a thing for the granddaughter of the Songs to do!

The apple had fallen far from the tree indeed!

Perhaps the girl was insensible from her excessive drinking?

Mayhap she had been raised as a greenhouse flower and had thought the world her oyster because of her uncommonly pretty face?

"The woman in that picture is not me!" Gwen's voice rang out over the courtyard.

But there was no one to hear her.

Granddaughter and grandfather stood in the middle of a circle of wedding guests, bearing the cross of humiliation. To Gwen's wonderment, her grandfather reached out to her. She reflexively responded by offering her grandfather a hand, which Guo took.

Her grandfather drew a few pictograms in her hand.

Gwen blinked rapidly at Guo.

SHE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND CHINESE.

HER IOUN STONE COULDN'T TRANSLATE SECRET HANDWRITING.

Guo blinked back.

The two regarded one another as the clamour persisted.

Secretary Liu raised a hand.

The laughter ceased.

It was a clear demonstration of power and influence, one that said to Guo and Klavdiya that he could make all of this go away if only they'd listen to his proposal.

"I want compensation!" The Hu boy cried out, breaking the silence as if on cue. "Now we know the girl's a liar! She attacked me first! She owes me an apology and a favour! The Songs owe the Yuan family an apology!"

Before Gwen could retract her hand from Guo's grasp, Chen Pao, the unwittingly involved young man, lost his shit entirely.

"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!" The poor fool's eyes were glazed over with rage and unrestrained passion. "I CHALLENGE YOU! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DEATH MATCH! You FUCKING LIAR! How dare you sully Miss Song's name! I'll KILL YOU!"

"PAO!" A voice called out from the crowd. It was one of Chen's relatives who had been observing the proceedings. "Don't be a fool. Apologise and go home! You're no match for Young Master Yuan."

"I can't, Uncle." Pao gazed at Gwen longingly, his voice choking as he spoke. "I must defend her, even if she doesn't care or remember me."

OH, FOR FUCK'S SAKE. Gwen felt her temple throbbing painfully. YOU FUCKING SIMPLETON.

She glanced over at the bridal table, hoping her father or Qīn could salvage the situation.

The bridal party was gone.

Her father was fucking gone.

Within Gwen's mind, the final puzzle pieces fell into place.

Secretary Liu must have begun the night with hopes of humiliation to "push" the Songs in the right direction. The absence of Jun had provided an opportunity he couldn't refuse. Steering Hai and the wedding party away, the Secretary took advantage of whatever childish tomfoolery his daughter had set up to bring matters to a head.

What blew her mind was that Hai, her father, left with his cunt of a wife instead of standing up for his own family.

But then again, what the fuck had she expected?

As for her uncle Jun, he'd probably have to offer his body to the Dragon-witch, quelling her wrathful lust. She imagined her uncle lying on his back, thinking of China as Ayxin did what came naturally to Dragons.

Just as the two hot-headed youths were about to leave for the duelling arena in the other courtyard, her grandfather walked between them.

"You two, a moment before you shame yourselves."

Guo turned to face the wedding guests, studying the faces of those who had mocked and laughed at a Chair of the CCP's inner circle as if carefully remembering their faces.

Her grandfather stepped beside Gwen, flanking the girl, joining her precious babulya.

"I believe my granddaughter is telling the TRUTH."

His voice penetrated every inch of the guests' skulls, empowered by Suggestion, enhanced by Illusion, skills which Guo had squirrelled away over the years, waiting for the right moment to be exercised.

Gwen was sure she had misheard.

Guo was taking her side?

Had the Para-Elemental Plane of Ice taken over the Plane of Fire?

The old man appeared to grow in size as he addressed his audience.

"Two truths are presented before us—If you do or do not believe the words of Guo Song, that is your choice—THOUGH I tell you now as the CHAIR of the CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY's CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE, my granddaughter is NOT a LIAR."

Guo reminded Gwen of an old lion, finally angry enough to work up its former power. "Who among you will challenge me? SPEAK UP NOW. I WELCOME IT."

The crowd fell silent.

The sudden and uncomfortable reminder that this man knew their secrets, perhaps better than themselves, overrode Liu's promise of an obedient ally.

Guo's mien remained ironclad, though his timbre dropped an octave as his voice rang out once more.

"So you hold your peace." Guo scoffed, then continued. "Good. But the Songs do not require another to defend their honour."

He turned to Gwen.

Gwen puffed out her chest, taken by her grandfather's uncharacteristic outburst. Was this what they meant when they said that a dangerous dog rarely barks—because you'd only hear it after it had torn off your face?

"Gwen, show these whelps why you have no interest in them, and why their accusations are false. A toad may wish to take a bite of the swan, but the immutable TRUTH is that toads are toads! Do what you will. You have my support!"

Suddenly, the thin veneer of politeness hiding the hostility between the two families was torn.

Mina, Tao, and Petra broke through the crowd to stand beside Gwen.

"We believe our cousin!" Tao declared, defiantly looking around at Hangzhou's collective Guan-er-dai and Fu-er-dai. "Peaches will fuck em up for you, Gwen! They all know who my Dad is! Let's see em try! These motherfuckers are gonna be bankrupt before the weekend's out! You Er-Bi's want to honour your House? I'll BUY YOUR DOGSHIT HOUSE AND KICK YOU OUT! YOU'RE HOMELESS! YOU HEAR ME?!"

Gwen fought to suppress a snort of inappropriate laughter.

Tao's boast was just that, but didn't they say one had to "fight poison with poison?"

"I'll act as your Abjurer in Richard's absence," Petra declared, giving Gwen a curt nod as she flashed her Storage Ring. "I always bring a full complement of Spell Cubes. By the way, I got a tier 6 Blade Barrier loaded for emergencies..."

"I'll heal." Mina sounded peeved that Tao had just dragged her out here without her consent, though for once, her brother had tossed her under the bus for the right reason.

Gwen turned to the young man from the Hu family.

Her eyes were light-fantastic, alive with mana.

"You still insist that it was my fault?"

The young man couldn't back down, which meant he couldn't apologise either.

Watching Hu's face twisted in anguish and self-righteous indignation, she lost the last ounce of her sympathy.

"Well, are you going to apologise?" She demanded.

Hu's eyes were wildly eyeballing Secretary Liu.

"This is absurd!" Patriarch Liu scowled as events escalated nonsensically. "You can't get away with just this, Miss Song."

"Sumei." Her grandfather intervened. The old man's countenance suggested he was browsing turnips at a market, not facing the disintegration of his family's reputation. "Care for a wager?"

"What do you have in mind, Guo?"

Her grandfather's reply filled the courtyard.

"If a single one of your Clan's juniors can defeat my seventeen-year-old granddaughter tonight in a duel, I will join the House of Song wholeheartedly to your faction and labour toward whatever cause the Conservative Party wishes. Furthermore, your male or female grandchild will become the inheritor of both our Houses."

The world felt Liu's heart skip a beat.

The guests ceased their eating, drinking, and merry-making.

Duels were a common feature of any good social gathering. The after-dinner entertainment allowed the elders to show off their young people.

And contest egos.

"And if she survives the contest?" Much to Liu's annoyance, Guo refused to lower his voice.

"If Gwen should prove the victor—the House of Song and I shall cease all obligations toward the House of Liu. Your future grandchild will not only have the last name Song, but they will belong to MY household."

Liu stared at Guo, his mouth half-open.

Gwen wondered if the old dog dared to test her grandfather's resolve.

"You ask for a difficult wager…"

Guo turned to Secretary Liu. For the first time, a smile touched his lips.

"It's true what they say. Paper Tigers don't bite."

A few of the guests snorted.

One idiomatic phrase was enough to set Liu's world on fire.

The Secretary of Hangzhou closed his eyes for a brief few seconds to cool his feverish mind.

"Very well, Secretary Song."

The two men's hands met in a firm and unrelenting shake.

"I applaud your confidence, Secretary Liu."

Guo nodded at his granddaughter, who stood defiantly with her friends.

Receiving the confirmation from Guo, Gwen patted Pao on the shoulder, feeling commiseration for the addled sod. "I'll take it from here, buddy. Thanks for the save. Too bad I am not her, eh?"

Pao's lips trembled as he sank to one knee.

"Anything for you..."

Gwen sidestepped his attempt at kissing her, careful not to reward the man with a knee to the kisser.

She then turned to the assembly of 'suitors' gathered in front of her.

Gwen struck a thumb toward the direction of the outer courtyard.

A blue-white spark zinged from her shoes and grounded itself on the stone pavement.

She placed a hand on her hip. Their insults, lies and humiliation had left welts on her mind that could only be soothed by tier 6 Lightning.

"Alright, kids. Like my grandaddy said, it's fuck or walk time."

The men stared, stunned by her expletive.

"Don't you bastards DARE go soft on me now."


As an international sport, Mage Duels was begotten in the West, though it had always existed amongst the Chinese Elite in an unofficial capacity since antiquity.

Compared to grand displays of power and ego, the Tower's system had brought a code of conduct upheld by adjudicators and participants the moment they stepped into the sacred space of the arena.

Commonly, Acolytes and Mages duelled for practice and to settle grievances.

Maguses oft participated, restricted to a lower tier of spellcraft.

Magisters, however, were strongly discouraged from dangerous and excessive demonstrations of their powers. Past the middle tiers, spells were far more likely to result in fatalities.

In general, duels to death were illegal and frowned upon as a waste of human resources. However, when contests were held in unofficial capacities, "accidents" tended to become a fact of life.

By the time Gwen and her toothless groper entered, banquet tables had already been shifted to the side, and an impromptu area about the size of two tennis courts had been boxed in with portable Force Barriers. Below the transparent "box" was the koi pond, though the fish were now curiously absent.

A wave of nostalgia assailed Gwen's memory.

When she had visited Elvia's mansion in Sydney a lifetime ago, Evee's extended relatives had duelled over the water. The Frontier Aussies didn't have access to Force Barriers and had to instead rely on floating docks and the bay itself to displace wayward spells.

The news had circulated that the two Patriarchs were betting the honour and the future of their Houses on the contest, drawing all eyes toward Gwen as she stood with her family on the sidelines, awaiting the opening act.

"Gwen, we're all behind you." Petra gave her cousin a long-overdue embrace.

"Yeah gurl, any ho who even thinks of trashing you better watch their bank!" Tao announced a little too loudly.

"Thanks, Peaches. I appreciate the gesture." Gwen ruffled Tao's hair, flustering the young man. Tao was her senior by almost four years, but Gwen always treated him like he was the younger one. "But no threatening my opponents with bankruptcy, you hear? You're going to ruin grandfather's plan."

"What plan?" Mina scoffed. "Throwing you to the wolves?"

As her father's spoiled little jewel, Mina rarely had to stomach Guo's discipline. Whenever the old man grew grumpy, she would scoff and then leave. It was one reason the Wangs and the Songs had grown apart over the years. That and Tao's insistence on his career in music and entertainment instead of military, politics, or commerce.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Gwen stifled a smile. "They may be wolves, but I am the Lurker in the Dark."

"Ha! Is that a self-prescribed nickname?"

"How about Black Widow?" Peaches suggested. "Now that's a bitch'n moniker."

"I don't think so," Gwen firmly refused. _That name was copyrighted._

With overt familiarity, Petra placed a hand on Gwen's shoulders.

Gwen looked up inquisitively, meeting her cousin's startling, husky-like eyes.

"Gwen, may I?" Petra enquired.

Gwen gave consent.

Petra focused her mind, sending an inquisitive diagnostic glyph into her cousin's body.

Gwen forced herself to relax as Petra called up her current status, gauging the change in her Sigils, Affinity, and biometrics.

"Jesus." Petra breathed in. "You're…"

Gwen put a finger to her lips.

"What is it?" Tao leaned toward her conspiratorially. "Did Uncle Jun leave Gwen with some killer item?"

"Something like that." Gwen laughed.

"Where is Uncle Jun, anyhow?" Mina looked around the place.

"He's preoccupied, I'd wager, pounding away for the motherland," Gwen answered more cattily than she would have liked, wondering what her uncle could be doing with Ayxin. If her uncle could return at a convenient time, it would make the Song's victory doubly assured.

But then again, if Jun threw his reputation around bullishly, the Lius may launch everything they have.

It would be total war.

With the barriers assembled and tested for rigidity, an older gentleman in a mandarin jacket presented himself.

"Good evening all, for those who do not know me, I am Magus Owen Ly, Registered under the PLA Tower in Shanghai, holding the rank of Major in the PLA. I have been asked by Committee Chair Song and District Secretary Liu to oversee the proceedings of this auspicious duel celebrating the wedding of Magus Liu and Mr Song. If there is any among you who desire to question my impartiality as arbitrator of the duel, please speak now..."

A moment of silence reigned, followed by polite applause.

"Excellent. I shall now proceed. From the House of Song, we have Gwen, a first-year student from Fudan. She is the daughter of Mr Hai Song."

Gwen walked forward, watched by her family.

Klavidya turned to her husband, who held his wife's hand.

"You're not nervous?" Klavdiya felt her husband's fingers. They were firm, cool, and bone dry.

"While you spoke with Gwen a few nights ago, I spoke with Jun." Guo's face was impassive, but there was a hint of gentleness in his eyes. "For weal or woe, Gwen has become powerful. I have every confidence in Gwen's ability."

Klavdiya blinked for details.

Guo said nothing.

Upon on the duelling dais, Magus Ly continued.

"First to challenge Miss Song is Cadet Zheng Hu, from the Branch House of Cheng, serving the House of Liu."

One of the spectators turned to her male companion.

"They're pitting that poor girl against a military officer? What's the Patriarch Song thinking?"

His companion shrugged.

"You mean what's Patriarch Liu thinking."

Magus Ly seemed unsure of the proceedings as well.

"Miss Song, may I obtain a confirmation? Do you intend to proceed? This is not a contest until Shield Break. You may very well receive grievous injuries."

"I am ready."

"Very well. Duelists, enter the arena, please."

The walls became immaterial.

"There is to be no item usage, nor any offensive or supportive magical armaments. The match is to first 'yield'. Until then, I shall not intervene."

Both contestants affirmed their willingness to follow the Magus' guidance.

"You'll be sorry, your little minx. The world will see what kind of woman you are."

Gwen ignored Hu's shit-talking. Any action not contributing to the bastard's decimation would waste her time. Above them, the Magus levitated until he was behind a section shielded from the combat below, standing just above the cage. He could erect new barriers to protect a defeated combatant from additional injury at a second's notice.

"BEGIN!"

Cheng's half of the arena grew suddenly hot.

"Flame Str-" The man began.

"Lightning Bolt!" Gwen was already done.

Where Hu had desired to use Flame Strike, smothering the better half of Gwen's court with fire, Gwen had only one goal: the first-strike advantage.

A blue bolt of raw plasma issued forth from thin air, connecting the space between herself and her target with an arm-thick concatenation of ionised air.

Hu's shield activated at once, forming a semi-dome wreathed in orange.

_Krink!_

With a sound like crushed glass, his shield cracked.

"Shit!" Hu retracted the spell on his lips, switching to defence, weaving another Shield into place. Basic Abjuration was a staple of military training, even for Elementalist damage dealers.

"Fire-"

"Lighting Bolt!"

A second bolt joined the first, blinding the audience with its intensity.

"Shit-"

"Lighting Bolt!"

Gwen's first bolt diffused only when her third bolt issued forth. To the audience, it seemed as though three lines of lightning had tethered Hu to Gwen, preventing him from repositioning himself.

"Mao! What's her affinity?!"

"How much mana is that girl channelling into those bolts?!"

"Maximised Lightning Bolt?"

"Looks Empowered."

Hu's Shielding failed yet again.

"Blink!"

A bolt grazed the Fire Mage just as he disappeared.

The man was already half-paralysed and smouldering with static when he appeared behind Gwen.

Gwen had been waiting.

She knew that her opponent's only recourse was to close in. Fire Mages tended to have many low to mid-level short-range AOEs with high damage thresholds, such as Flaming Hand, Flame Toss, and Wall of Fire. Close-quarter elemental combat was where certain Elementalists shined.

"Lightning Whip!"

Her 'whip' caught the man as he emerged, sizzling his half-formed shield before it could expand to protect his body.

"Flaming H-"

"Lightning Bolt!"

"Aarrrrgh!"

_Crack!_

_Crack!_

Again and again, she flayed away at Hu's arrogant mug, watching his face fill with fear and panic.

_Spak!_

_Spak!_

_CRASH—!_

Hu's shield failed yet again.

Her whip struck the man's flesh.

A sudden crackle not unlike a thunderclap resounded across the courtyard, followed by a nostril-distending stink of burnt flesh. A welting gash of strikingly salient blood ran from the man's temple, down his nose, and across his chest.

"DO YOU YIELD?!"

Gwen halted. Her whip hand trembled.

Her brain took a moment to catch up with her thrilling body.

_Holy shit!_ She had almost maimed a man!

A man whose crime had only been aborted sexual harassment.

Her heart pounded, white-hot adrenaline dangerously pumping through her systems, demanding gratification.

"I... _blurrgh_..." Hu appeared more robust than his demeanour suggested, caught between honour and self-preservation. His voice was cut short as a paralysing agony wrecked his nervous system.

"VICTOR, Miss SONG!" Magus Ly shook his head, declaring Hu's loss, not wanting to log a semi-permanent maiming under his judgement.

Gwen diffused her whip.

She shook out her fingers.

A portion of her brain chemistry urged her to continue.

The rational part of her discourse issued a red card to the psychic persona who wanted to administer another twenty lashes.

"WHAT?! NO!" Her assailant rose from the floor. "I haven't yielded! I haven't even completed a single spell! This is not fair! She's using an accelerator! A spell booster Ring! You said no Offensive Items! She cheated!"

The wedding guests burst into boos and jeers.

Hu's face grew three shades darker.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

A dark and tenebrous emotion overruled his senses.

"STINKING BIAOZI!" he screamed at the audacious girl. "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME!"

Gwen narrowed her gleaming eyes.

Enough was enough.

Something equally dark within her mind answered the young man's call to combat. A surge of Draconic Essence circulated violently through her body as she focused her will upon the screaming imbecile.

Her whip materialised instantly—she raised her arm menacingly, ready to deliver the maiming blow.

Up above, Magus Ly felt a shudder overtake his mental faculties.

Below, Hu stood dumb as a statue, his body frozen in place by an instinct for survival far wiser than his ego-addled mind.

A trickle of yellow liquid began to seep from between his legs.

"That's it for the Chengs. Good riddance," someone prophesized.

Gwen's disciplinary intervention paused mid-air.

She had no desire to whip an incontinent man.

"Mercy! Miss Song! MERCY! Hey, let me through! MERCY! MISTRESS!"

A man, presumably a relative of the young Hu, banged against the Force Barrier with all his might. Magus Ly prevented the man from entering.

"Miss Song?"

Gwen lowered the whip when she saw Cheng's follower on his knees, banging his head on the pavement outside the duelling box.

Her anger deflated.

The pity she felt was overwhelming.

"Let him in." She motioned to the wall.

Magus Ly complied.

The intruder ran toward the young master Hu before bodily picking up the mortified young man from where he had spread his foulness over the floor.

"I... I yield..."

The declaration came too late and too inconsequentially. The Cheng's good name had been pissed away, and all the magic in Hangzhou couldn't put it back in his bladder.

"Make way!"

The audience made way.

There was no point in continuing to shame or jeer the young man. He had already pissed away his future into the wind. It was one thing to lose to a seventeen-year-old girl in her twenties.

She caught sight of Chen Pao, the man who'd mistaken Ayxin for her. The poor sod appeared more convinced than ever that she was "the one", his eyes earnest enough to burn holes into her dress.

Turning away, she averted the man's gaze.

Those were a stalker's eyes.

When would Ayxin be back?

How long was her uncle going to work his magic?

"Hit me!" She signalled Tao.

Tao tossed her a bottle of Maotai she had commanded him to scrounge. Gwen didn't need Divination to know that she would soon need to draw upon her vitality-empowered abilities.

"What was that you hit 'em with?!" Tao's eyes gleamed with marvel. "A new spell? Was it Enchantment? Did you finally pick up Enchantment?"

"Naw…" Gwen slugged the bottle like mineral water, savouring the warmth soaking her mana conduits. She recalled the last time she and Tao had a similar conversation. She put down the bottle and coolly informed her cousin that she'd been training her 'killing intent'.

"Woo~." Tao's mouth hung open, trying to imagine Gwen bathed in the blood of her enemies. The scene playing in his head made for some fascinating lyrics.

Meanwhile, the crowd gave their condolences to the Cheng family. At least the girl wasn't putting on airs, the audience thought, turning to regard Guo and Sumei; both old men wore their expressions like Noh masks, revealing nothing.

Who would crack first? The guests wondered, looking forward to the next match.

"Got what you wanted?" Guo asked his companion.

Liu ignored his counterpart.

Guo's taunt was as arrogant as it was confident.

Liu now knew he had been baited. Gwen's prowess had been revealed, but her depth remained unprobed. The miscalculation didn't mean Liu didn't have a contingency of his own, though the foul taste in his mouth was undeniable. The House of Liu had gained local prominence by absorbing, allying, and intermarrying into the local Clans, and Jiangnan remained the birthplace of many of China's most celebrated Scholar-Sages.

The question was how many of their young folks he could afford to throw at Gwen without invalidating the gambit Guo had goaded him withal. If he resorted to grinding Gwen down with trash before assaulting her with their most talented Magus, the amount of _face_ the Liu would lose would be immense, nullifying the whole purpose of subjugating the Song into the Conservative Faction. Most importantly, the underhanded tactic would anger Ash Bringer, who could then have an excuse to _step in._

Liu Sumei measured the pros and cons of sending out his trump card immediately.

There were still too many unknowns. What if the girl had a spell which happened to counter the prodigy he had in mind—the pride and joy of the Suzhou branch of the House of Liu? Liu was confident that within the confines of the arena, it was impossible that his nephew, Wonsoo, could lose.

Still, it paid to be careful. Guo was an old dog, but even a decrepit mutt could crush one's hand if given the opportunity. Should the Lius lose, all the investment they had put into the Song's first son would be forfeited, not to mention he would lose his daughter and a future heir of the Hangzhou bloodline. As the parable goes from the Three Kingdoms, he had no desire to lose the army and then the bride.

Three more challengers—Sumei affirmed the limit of his conviction - then he would send out Wonsoo.

From the looks of the girl's Lightning Affinity, she was at least above a 5—marking her as a rare breed. No wonder Guo was uncannily confident.

If he should fail...

No, Sumei tapped his chin.

It was unthinkable that the girl could defeat Wonsoo.

"Ji-an," he called out to the crowd.

A young Clanner in her early-20s stepped forward. The girl had a wisp-like aura about her that reminded the audience of a swaying willow. Her hair, her limbs, everything about the girl seemed weightless.

"Please demonstrate the famous Spellcraft of the White Crane School to our guests."

"Yes! Uncle Liu!"

As before, the two combatants were invited into the arena. By now, a group of NoMs had cleaned the place thoroughly, ensuring that neither Gwen nor Ji-an would accidentally slip or step on the shameful display left behind by Gwen's last contestant.

Ji-an bowed toward her Patriarch.

Gwen hastily performed the same gesture for her grandfather, eliciting a few awkward laughs from the audience, defusing the tension somewhat.

From above, Magus Ly asked if they were ready.

"Yessir."

"I am ready."

"BEGIN!"

"Air Step!"

"Lightning Bolt!"

Gwen had hoped she would catch Liu's second contestant again with a fast-chant offensive, but her opponent eluded her assault by using a Signature form of Blink.

Sidestepping Gwen's line-based elemental onslaught, Ji-an appeared half a meter to Gwen's right, then swung her hand in a broad, sweeping gesture. _A melee Mage?_ Gwen mentally adjusted her strategy. The wispy-looking girl was a melee caster?

"Shield!"

Gwen's barrier manifested in the Blink of an eye, springing from her body as a semi-dome.

_TSsszzz!_

A horizon slash turned the frontal lobe of her shield stark white.

_Fast!_ Gwen immediately fortified her Non-Newtonian Shield, anticipating the follow-up.

_Tssshing!_

_Psshing!_

_Tzzwing!_

Ji-an's Air Blades were a tier 1 chant, but her spell flurry was pumping out almost three scythes in the space of one of Gwen's Lighting Bolts.

For the observing Wedding Guests, the Aerial Mage's plan had worked brilliantly against the Lightning Sorceress, who had no idea what to expect. She was now caught flat-footed in the same manner as the Cheng Fire Mage.

However, the question on the minds of Gwen's audience was how long a fellow offensive elementalist could hold out.

Outside the perimeter of the duelling area, Liu turned to Guo.

"Your granddaughter appears to be using Westernised Spellcraft. Have you taught her nothing?"

"She received her education in Sydney." Guo sipped his tea.

"Western Spellcraft is predictable," Liu smirked. "What will she do now? Her Abjuration is only tier 1, is it not?"

Guo glanced at his rival.

_Was the Secretary showing off his intelligence network?_

What a laughable and stupid display from a bureaucrat playing at espionage.

"I wonder." Guo pursed his thin lips, forming a grey line. "It would be laughable if your Affinity 4 Kenshi with Transmutation and Evocation at tier 4 couldn't even break through Gwen's paltry tier 1 Abjuration Shield."

Liu snorted with derisive mirth as Guo continued to nurse his cup.

Guo drank his tea.

The duels would speak for themselves.

The frontal part of Gwen's Shield had become almost entirely opaque.

The Air Blades were barely penetrating the first layer. But she paid it no mind, for she could top up her shield faster than Ji-an could diminish it.

Compared to Kusu, who had assailed her with a hundred daggers at once, the Air Mage's blades were barely a chicken scratch. Correlated against Lulan's spell flurry, whose blades could crack the first layer of her Shielding with a single strike, the force from Ji-an's was laughable.

What troubled Gwen was how she would nail the speedster without giving away too much of her ability.

Ariel was still asleep. Caliban, Gwen wanted to save for a tight spot. Without Cali's pants-shitting, PTSD-inducing initial impact, the melee monster had limited utility.

She considered a large-scale AOE.

_Ball Lightning?_ But that, too, was one of her trump cards.

Something akin to a bluff that could unbalance her enemies would be best. Gwen wasn't sure how many contestants there would be, though five or six wouldn't be out of the question. If the Lius kept throwing fodder at her, could she also call for a proxy while she took a break? The only other Song who could fill in for her was Tao, though no one wanted to see that happen, least of all Tao himself. Perhaps Petra could fill in, but her position as Magister Wen's disciple and her lack of affiliation with the House of Song could be used to contest her eligibility.

Perhaps Percy could participate.

Gwen searched the crowd and saw her brother standing behind Tao and Mina. By now, the assault had slowed, and her shield was restoring its clarity faster than Ji-an's attack could make its surface opaque. By Gwen's count, the girl must have fired off thirty-odd blades. Even someone with enhanced mental fortitude would have to endure Spell-fatigue sooner or later.

To Gwen's surprise, she and Percy's eyes briefly met; her brother responded by giving her an encouraging nod and a thumbs up.

The gesture filled her with good cheer.

"Flashbang!"

Gwen generated an over-charged crystal, humming dangerously in the palm of her hand.

Outside her Shielding, Ji-an launched an AOE in the hopes of draining her mana pool. So far, the Ice Mage had been hewing away at a mountainside.

"Ice Storm!"

Being an Air Mage, Ji-an lacked the impact and penetration of Ice Mages when using the spell.

"Air Lance!"

_Thunk—_

A battering ram of ice and air slammed into Gwen's Shield.

The eastern quadrant of Gwen's Shield turned entirely opaque as the projectile struck.

Inside the dome, Gwen was ready.

"Dimension Door!"

"Air Step!"

Ji-an was relentless, tailing Gwen's movements even as she appeared on the far side of the duelling arena. It was a testament to the girl's talent that she was tracking Gwen's Conjuration-based teleportation with nought but Transmutation.

What greeted Ji-an, however, was a blast of lightning as they both materialised.

Gwen felt sorry for the girl, for few knew that Dimension Door was uniquely taught by Henry Kilroy and could be used as an offensive tool.

Ji-an erected a hasty Shield as she attempted to reposition herself.

The sound of a clicking crystal striking the surface of her shield greeted her.

As for Gwen herself, she had disappeared behind yet another Shield, one consumed by a dark membrane.

_BUNG!_

Ji-an's world filled with light as the sonic blast concussed her brain.

Unlike Gwen's Void Shield, the Air Mage's defensive barrier was transparent and paper-thin, suitable only for deflection.

The sound rattled the Force Barriers and sent her opponent off balance, falling to her buttocks.

Disoriented and stunned, the Air caster despaired, struggling to rise.

As an Aerial Combat Mage, evasion and avoidance were her staple defence.

Tanking an offensive spell was suicide.

"Lightning Bolt!"

"I FO-"

She was too late. Gwen had no intention of letting things end without pain.

_CRACK!_

A lightning bolt sizzled past her face, filling the air with ozone. The plasma had ripped through her shield and would have sent her straight to Hangzhou's ICU had Gwen not altered the trajectory of her spell.

The female mage fell to one knee, her entire body visibly quivering with exhaustive fear as she took in the reality of her unexpected survival.

"I FORFEIT!" She pushed the words from her bloodless lips.

"VICTOR—MISS SONG!"

Magus Ly landed beside Ji-an and examined the status of the girl. The blindness and deafness would soon wear off. Gwen hoped the girl was otherwise unharmed.

"Good work." The adjudicator nodded appreciatively at Gwen with an expression of immense relief. "Most excellent control, Miss Song. You should be proud. I'd thought you would have struck the girl for sure."

"Nothing to it." Gwen smiled at the Magus before helping Ji-an to stand. "You alright?"

"I thank you for your mercy." Ji-an bowed deeply.

"Hey, we're just pawns in someone else's game. It's nothing personal." Gwen gave the girl a thumbs-up and a hug. "I am glad you're okay."

Ji-an accepted Gwen's embrace, a gesture that met with applause from around the courtyard.

Gwen turned to regard her grandfather, finding the old man golf-clapping. When she smiled at him, the old man cleared his throat and stoically returned to nursing his tea.

Waving her opponent off, she descended the dais as naturally as she could muster.

Her heart was racing over a hundred and fifty.

What had the instructor said?

_Most excellent control?_

CONTROL? She had never possessed the ability to twist her lightning!

That she had done so could only mean one thing.

"Ariel!"

She internally called out to her Familiar.

"EE-ee!" Ariel responded with a resounding squeak.

"Did you redirect that Lighting Bolt?"

"EE!"

"YOU BLOODY RIPPER!" Gwen gushed audibly.

As she was among her cousins, her outburst surprised Tao, who was about to high-five her.

"I didn't do nothing!" her cousin protested.

"Haha, Peaches, sorry, I intended that to be silent."

"Gwen! Is that what I think it is?" Petra saw what she had done as well. "You got one? You and uncle Jun found one?!"

Petra and Mina were both beside themselves.

"No—but close enough! YES!" Gwen gave the two of them a round of high-fives, so giddy that she was having trouble expressing herself.

"Congrats on the Spirit, Sis," a quiet voice rang out from behind Tao.

"Oh, Percy..." Gwen felt taken aback by her brother's unyieldly propensity for misunderstandings. She had told him the truth, that they found nothing. Now, Percy was sulking. "It's complicated."

"No, it's fine. I am happy for you, Sis." Percy took her hand, but his fingers had no rigidity to them; she may as well be holding flaccid Korean rice cakes.

A wave of annoyance overcame her.

Here she was, fighting for the honour and continued existence of the House of Song, a house that had rejected her as an 'heir' and yet her brother was moping about some immaterial detail.

She blinked.

_Fighting—for the House of SONG?_

D-did her grandfather rope her into the whole ordeal without her even noticing that she was now fighting for the very house whose continuation she had rejected?

She turned to glare at Guo.

_That conniving, sneaky, weaselly old man!_

But then Gwen saw her babulya standing beside her grandfather, and her peevish ire melted away. Klavdiya's face appeared far more relaxed than she could recall in the last few days, prideful and happy. The heart-gnawing sensation of watching her babulya losing hairs over her wayward son was a wretched sight Gwen never wanted to see again.

For babulya, she would do this—not for Guo.

Jun was away dealing with Ayxin; Hai was pussyfooting about; Guo was too busy trying to worm his way out of their firstborn's blunder; Percy was acting the selfish little shit; who would look out for their grandmother?

She would.

It was up to Gwen to protect the meagre blessings of an unfortunate mother worn threadbare by her boundless devotion to family.

The Worm Wrangler of Fudan flexed her fingers.

_She_ would be the champion of her babulya's fragile happiness.

For Klavdiya, she would _slay Dragons._


"A wonderful match."

Guo averted his eyes when Gwen turned to glare at him. The girl was uncannily mature but easily caught up in her emotions. For all her talent and her mysterious resistance to Enchantment, a pathos-driven prod in the right direction was all that was necessary to get her blood boiling.

In all honesty, Guo admired Gwen's reflexive, dog-like willingness to attack anyone threatening her loved ones.

His problem was that the girl counted dangerous individuals such as Schultz and De Botton among that number and that her loyalty could never be monopolised.

Opposite Guo, Secretary Liu was having doubts of his own.

"Yes," the man muttered. "I did not expect that. How could an offensive Elementalist tank over twenty exchanges without refreshing her guard even once? There must be something amiss with my informers."

The Secretary wasn't alone in his bemusement.

The same queries dominated the conversation beside and behind the two Patriarchs, with the wedding guests likewise marvelling at the supernatural rigidity of Gwen's immovable and impenetrable Shielding.

"I say," a voice meditated from somewhere in the crowd. "Anyone recall the Morning Star, Magus Shultz, the Paladin of the Sydney Tower?"

"What of it?"

"He's a Quasi-Elementalist Offensive caster, but he possesses a hard-point Shield."

"But Shultz is from Oceania. This girl's from the Song family."

"Who knows, isn't the girl half-Russian?"

"She's half Commonwealth?"

"That's not a country-"

"She looks like a full-blooded _gweilo_ to me."

"No, she's from Oceania! I am sure of it!"

Liu slowly turned toward Guo, an unpleasant premonition playing across his scalp.

"Your granddaughter isn't… acquainted with Oceania, is she?"

"No—more so JOINED at the hip. You may think of Gwen as a sister to the Morning Star, heir to the late Magister's Kilroy's Seat on the Oceania Council of Ten, and current Master of the Sydney Tower."

The long and deliberate range of titles hammered away at the Patriarch.

The man would have sworn and cussed but for his presence.

Guo kept the mirth from reaching his mouth.

Liu was a District Secretary, a stranger to foreign affairs. Though he may act as the Master of his domain, the realm outside his principality loomed, dark and dangerous, full of unknowns the Secretary could not know. Despite lording over ten million souls across the rivers and lakes of Jiangnan, the Secretary, in Guo's honest opinion, remained the idiomatic frog in the well.

It has been a common disease of the Chinese since antiquity. Even the CCP, hoping for a larger slice of the pie on the global stage, suffered from this collective malady.

How unfathomable someone like Gunther Shultz must seem to a man like Liu. The existence of a Mage whose name was known worldwide, whose individual capability could make or break treaties with Demi-humans, was as strange and distant as the Yinglong on the Mount.

What's terrifying was that Shultz was only in his late thirties.

If one considered that Radiant Mages had one of the longest natural lifespans bar healers, who would dare to anger a man like that? A man who, given time, and the right political climate, would undoubtedly assume the mantles of a Magi?

What's more curious is that Liu had so many details missing from his intelligence. It seemed that whoever had ensnared the Secretary was likewise an opportunist, one who stood to gain regardless of the outcome.

As for Gunther Shultz... When he first knew the girl's connection to the Sydney Tower, he weighed the possibility of sending Gwen to the North.

Perhaps, her siblings-in-craft would follow their wayward sister; if a Mage of the Morning Star's calibre could lend the PLA his support on the Northern Front…

But Guo had banished that fancy to the abyss, nipped the idea in the bud.

The risks did not outweigh the rewards.

Not that Klavdiya would have allowed it.

There were lines not even he dared to cross, and his wife was one of them.

"Who will be your next candidate?" Guo sipped his tea.

"Your confidence may be tested yet." Liu adjusted his posture, regaining some of his composure. "So she has a Spirit? Did she receive it in the Purple Zone in Huangshan? You understood the risks of sending your son and granddaughter there, yes?"

"Speak for yourself." Guo met his opponent's eyes, sensing Liu trying to wiggle his way out of the predicament. "You authorised Jun's pass."

"Only to venture past the dragon pine." Liu curled his lips. "If they murdered one of the Yinglong's children for its Core—or perhaps, a great number of the Yinglong's flock, it would be a diplomatic incident of significant proportions."

"Perhaps Gwen's Spirit is a goat with the lighting attribute. You can surely see how horn-headed she can be." Guo shrugged. "If the Yinglong would assault Hangzhou on behalf of goats, I'll go and negotiate with it myself."

"Oh, I am confident they had quite the misadventure." Liu rapped the table with his nails. "The Anhui commander reported quite the commotion from the mountain. Lotus Peak was storming for days."

"The weather on the Mount changes as often as a woman's mood." Guo chortled. "Who's the next carp on the chopping board?"

Liu grunted.

"It's true what they say about northerners." Liu turned back to the match. "No tears until you see the coffin, eh?"

"Competing for the House of Liu, hailing from the Five-Lake Alliance, Sui Xì of Suzhou!"

Gwen's third match was against a young man who'd been a part of the 'heckling' crew. She studied the man with Detect Magic as he stepped onto the stage: sensing Abjuration and Conjuration. When Sui caught her eyes, the smug Elementalist's immediate reaction was to send Gwen a cringeworthy wink, then give her a once-over with his beady eyes, like a butcher inspecting a choice cut.

Gwen averted her eyes, fighting the revulsion threatening to overthrow her store of rice wine. Something about the guy made her think of swamps and sewers, and his flirtatious behaviour hardly helped matters.

"Duellists, are you ready?"

Magus Ly had taken up his usual residence above the duelling arena.

"Ready!"

"I am ready!"

"BEGIN!"

Gwen cranked her dial to eleven.

She wasn't sure if Ariel was a Spirit, but the fact remained that Ariel could bend and redirect her Elemental Lightning, something she could use to its full potential.

"Flashbang!"

"Wall of Water!"

Her stunning assault was caught by a sudden swell of brown, salty liquid, smothering the explosion before it could fully form.

"Lightning Bolt!"

"Water Shield!"

"Lightning Bolt!"

"Water Armour!"

The wall of water grew to twice its size by the third exchange, enveloping the right side of the duelling arena. When Gwen's Lightning Bolt struck the fast-moving liquid, the plasma-induced a localised explosion of superheated steam, then diffused harmlessly as the electricity grounded itself.

_Shit!_ Gwen readied a Shield in case Sui had a counterstrike ready.

"Resist Elements!" The man did not attack.

_You're shitting me,_ she cursed. The bastard's a turtle-specced Abjurer!

But she should be glad that the bastard was only tier 4; higher chants, such as the tier 6 Greater Resist Elements, would cut her effective damage by as much as 80%.

"Call Lightning!"

"Warding Bolt!" She continued her assault.

Gwen wondered how long it would take for the Water Abjurer to OoM or if it was possible to ionise the water to such a degree that her electrical attacks permeated the man's Shielding, electrocuting him through this triple-layered defence.

"Water Missiles!"

Six slivers of water, each the size of a pilum, were launched from the wall of water.

The prick didn't even have to lower his Shield or his Wall! Gwen fumed. Water Mages had a versatility that few other elements could match.

"Shield!"

The half-hearted barrage clattered harmlessly against her barrier.

Water Mages had woeful damage potential until they could command the volume and degree Richard had obtained with the help of his Undine Spirit. Speaking of her cousin, Gwen realised that Sui was what Richard aimed to be: a Utility-Shield Mage whose versatility could suit a multitude of roles within a party.

"Lightning Bolt!"

_ZAP—PAKI—CRACK!_

A second and third blast of ionised electricity struck the Wall of Water, evoking a profusion of Lichtenberg figures in vivid cobalt. Before her charged particles could spread, they quickly circulated back into the Elemental Plane.

"Sleet Storm!" The man continued to sling mud.

"Shield!"

Gwen formed a semi-dome barrier above her.

Rather than a hailstorm, it was more accurate to say that a localised downpour of bone-chilling water pounded down on her protective barrier.

She gnashed her teeth.

A turtle-specced Mage indeed!

"Blast BOLT!"

She channelled a good chunk of her mana into the continuous blast.

After the initial explosion, her attack reached the Shield, but no further.

Gwen cursed.

"Stinking Cloud!"

A volley of brackish water made for her Shield.

_Stinking WHAT?_ Gwen reflexively chose to dodge the cannonballs.

The fetid-smelling water had impressive mass, if nothing else, and Gwen wasn't sure how well her Non-Newtonian Shield dealt with such wide-area impacts. The last thing she wanted was to be drenched by an attack with the prefix "Stinking".

"Dimension Door!"

When she landed again, her priceless shoes splashed into algae-filled, odious liquid puddles, foul enough to turn her stomach.

Her sinus first wrinkled, then wilted, assaulted by what could only be the refined fart of an ageing dog mixed with week-old prawn.

Was the man attempting victory by stench?

His command of the "water" elements was nothing she had ever seen before; usually, Water Mages conjured crystal-clear water from the Elemental Plane. On the other hand, Sui appeared to draw his power from the local storm drain.

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_GOD! MY SHOES!_ Gwen's mind rioted.

They were self-cleaning, but GOD, the Hermès were peep-toes! And the water was getting in between her piggy-wigglies! The sensation was so revolting that her _sole_ felt crudely violated.

Just as she was considering whether feeding Ariel a mote of Almudj's Essence would kill Sui outright, her opponent made his move.

"Murk Ghosts!"

The puddle of water, now trapped within her semi-dome Shield, suddenly came to life. Forming into dozens of flatworms about three-foot long and about two inches wide. Due to the muffling effect of the Wall of Water and her Shield, Gwen had entirely missed the Conjurer's invocation.

Her Divination Sigil pinged her spine/

The warning came too late, for it was immediately answered by the sensation of something squirming about her toes.

As one, the semi-translucent flatworms slid up for her unprotected body, plastering their cold and sinuous torsi onto her dress, her unprotected legs, and her feet.

"FU-ARGGH!"

The assault was so slimy and disgusting that Gwen instinctively let loose a blood-curdling cry natural to the fairer sex.

"Ah-Nu! Strangle her! Do it now!"

She heard the frantic voice of Sui calling for her blood.

The worms tightened their hold.

The physical sensation was like being restrained by silk, the worms were only minutely more powerful than a man, but Gwen's revulsion made her want to quit the world because they STANK.

One made for her neck, while another tried to move under her skirt.

_CHRIST!_ One of the fucking things just touched her—

What kind of fucking magic specialises in this bullshit?

Circulating her Almudj's Essence, she dug her finger into one of the flatworms to try and pry one off her thighs. She removed a length of worm about ten inches long by hand, but the rest of the damned thing split into two.

SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!

One of them had reached her neck.

IT REEKS! Her brain was hammering at her body to do something, threatening a union strike over hostile working conditions.

Gwen was reminded of Caliban's screaming, revolted victims.

Was karma a bitch, like they said?

Was public humiliation what Sui had hoped?

She had to calm down.

So what if slimy parasites were trying to dig under her skin?

No big deal.

She would take a hot shower later and cry it out under the bed.

Her mind raced.

"Dimension Door!"

Gwen displaced herself to the right, allowing her body to be enveloped by electricity.

A few of the worms disintegrated.

The rest continued their gleeful molestation.

_ARRRGH—!_ The AOE from the short-ranged teleport did not manifest from her skin but as a blast ring around her body. NO SHIT, her brain quaked. If the electric nova came from her body, it would burn away her clothes during manifestation.

"Barrage!"

More foul water came her way.

YOU LITTLE SHIT! Gwen swore internally. To think she would be pushed to this extent by a turtle-Mage. Richard's choice of Conjuration and Abjuration with water was a broken skill set.

Despite her struggling concentration, Gwen managed to Shield herself.

More flatworms emerged from the displaced water.

A slithering worm slid across her thigh, tightening around her calves and forming goosebumps all over her legs.

By now, Gwen's scandalous dress was soaked. Its silk fabric wasn't intended to be worn _wet_ under the best of circumstances. A hush had gone out over the audience, and parents had covered their children's innocent eyes. Lord knew what the fuck the wedding guests were seeing as she stamped and squirmed, tearing out worms and throwing them against the Force Barrier.

She took a deep breath.

The words " _fuck it"_ flashed neon-hot across her brain.

"VOID SKIN!"

Gwen had wanted to avoid the most obvious solution.

She became clad with midnight.

A silken silence descended upon the stage.

The dress was gone, consumed by the Void Skin.

As for her shoes—

Gwen held her breath.

The peep-toe platform sandals were untouched.

VIVA LA HERMÈS! Her heart sang out. Had the shoes been destroyed, somebody would have been vivisected, live on stage.

But in all honesty, she was now in a killing mood.

If a temperature gauge existed for how pissed she was, the bulb end would have blown several exchanges ago.

The Void Skin masked her features, but its protection consumed excessive vitality when defending its caster.

Her Almudj's Essence protected her mana conduits from manifesting Void, but not from the expenditure.

Tapping into Ayxin's scale, she willed the Draconic-Essence into her mana channels.

Dragon Fear radiated from her in torrents, blessedly dulled by the Force Barrier protecting the audience.

"Hiiieeeeee!"

The excess water displaced about her body suddenly formed into a single pool of collated, murky liquid, then promptly fled for the Wall of Water.

A FUCKING SPIRIT! Gwen felt a sudden gladness.

So it was a Spirit and not Sui.

But a flatworm? Who the hell slays flatworms? Those things were harmless bottom-feeders that consume algae and grime. How many flatworms would a guy need to kill before one drops a Core? How many Cores before there's a Spirit? Could it be that Sui's Clan 'raised' flatworms?

If nothing else, she had to admire their tenacity.

No wonder the guy gave off a slimy, smarmy, sticky feeling.

But enough of that.

She was in a precariously shameful position now.

It was the very same dilemma Alesia had endured.

Either wear the same elementally attuned uniform day in and day out.

Or risk exposure on the off-chance she had to assume the form of a flame-clad avatar.

That, or drop upwards of ten thousand HDMs on outfits imported from European Enchantment-Workshops.

A rip-roaring clamour exploded across the observing audience, filling the courtyard with utterances of disbelief and shock. Gwen quickly doubled checked her person, ensuring that her Void-coverage had sufficiently preserved her modesty.

"She was a VOID Mage?!"

"Dual-element!"

"The Songs have a dual-quasi-Elementalist?"

"What the hell are the Lius doing?"

"I don't think she's wea—"

"Since when did Fudan have a Void-caster?!"

"That's the one? Who'd have thought it was a Song?"

_Had she not earlier used a Void Shield?_ It must be the Flashbang, Gwen realised. With the amount of power she had put into it, the whole courtyard would have been blinded; furthermore, she had immediately dispelled the Void Shield as the tenebrous membrane blocked LOS.

By now, her Dragon Fear had worn thin. While she took the liberty to attune to her squid-ink attire, her opponent took the same opportunity to meditate.

Her opponent was a turtle, and Lulan had already shown her the universal weakness of Water Mages. If Richard couldn't pressurise the flow of his Water Shield enough to ward off Lulan's sword strikes, then she needn't worry that Sui could ward off her Caliban strike.

She would have to play it by ear.

"CALIBAN!" Gwen picked a point somewhere behind the Wall of Water. "Anything but Stag!"

"Watery Tendrils!"

Gwen knew better than to let Sui's crushing manifestation mug her person. The Void Skin would absorb water like crazy and tank her vitality.

She expertly Dimension Doored out of the tendril's range, sundering the brackish appendages with a burst of electricity.

Meanwhile, her Caliban sneak attack became offset by a clamorous burst of horror from the audience, screeching at the sight of her Lovecraftian Familiar. Sui turned, took one look at the twisted fiend, suppressed a gag, and then commanded a dozen tendrils to intercept the obsidian beast.

Among cries of 'Void Beast!' and 'Mao!', Sui's Flatworm Spirit enveloped Caliban in a watery cocoon, lifting it from the floor and suspending it in mid-air. Gwen recognised the spell as 'Watery Prison', one of Richard's favourite ways to abuse Lea's affinity.

"SHAA!" Caliban's empathic link informed her that it wished to transform.

"Do it!"

Caliban still had a portion of vitality from its consumption of a dozen Draconic-deer, giant carps, belligerent goats, and Merfolks. Unlike Gwen herself, its abilities did not require an excessive quantity of life force, at least not yet.

"Use your reserves!" Gwen mentally urged her Familiar, praying that Caliban understood her meaning. During their poaching adventure, Caliban had grown gluttonous thanks to the abundance of biomass.

Caliban's carapace split.

Its size ballooned.

The watery prison made by the flat-worm Spirit burst like a ripe sausage as Caliban leapt.

A fresh wave of antipathy visibly spread through the audience. The Force Barriers hindered the aura of vertigo. However, it couldn't shelter their eyes from the aberrant form of a serpentine carp creature with two pink-purple tentacles for whiskers, possessing no face but a two-foot-wide disk of teeth in the guise of a lamprey's mouth.

Caliban carp slithered through the water.

"Mao!"

"Bleurgh!"

"Dreadful! HORRIBLE SIGHT!"

"I YIELD! I YIE-!"

The moment Caliban crashed into Sui's Shield and its corrosive, void-tinged slime penetrated his water barrier, Sui knew it was all over. If he attempted to hold out, Mao knows what would have happened when that thing reached his person.

But surrendering was one thing.

Stopping Caliban was another.

Gwen's Familiar balled into the Water Mage with the force of an out-of-control, hydroplaning mini-van.

Half a second later, a Wall of Force was erected.

Sui struck the opposite wall before sliding into the floor like a sack of half-empty potatoes.

The Wall of Water was the first to dissipate.

Then the Water Armour.

Then the Shield.

Were it not for the fact that the Water-Abjurer had three layers of protection, Gwen was sure Sui would now be lamenting the absent half of his upper body.

With the conjured water suddenly dissipating, Caliban fell to the floor.

After a resounding 'splat!' it began to writhe like a landed eel, splashing its grey goo all over, sizzling the Force Barrer with its void-tinged slime.

"VICTOR - GWEN SONG!"

Magus Ly finally announced the result.

Gwen leapt from the platform before the crowd could recover.

As a distraction, she left Caliban gloating over the terrified young man.

"Shaa-Shaa!"

Caliban began to sing.

The crowd went wild with cries of 'Mao!' and 'Disgusting!' 'That's not edible, is it?' and 'Why doesn't it have a face?'

"Petra! Mina! Peaches!" Gwen had bigger fish to fry.

"On it!"

"I got you covered!"

"I CAN SEE YOUR—"

Petra materialised an oversized robe. Mina likewise had a towel ready to wrap around their cousin. Gwen slid out of her Void-Skin and straight into the awaiting attires before activating her next spell.

Petra kicked Tao aside.

"Nice save! Dimension Door!"

Gwen was gone in a burst of silvery Conjuration.

A scream came from the women's bathroom.

The water closet wasn't as unoccupied as Gwen had hoped.

A moment later, a terrified woman ran from the door, pants around her ankles.

As a private residence, the guest bathrooms did not possess cubicles.

"SORRY!" Gwen's muffled voice was barely audible above the din.

Upon the elevated platform, Caliban de-materialised with a final 'Shaa!'

Watching the girls falling about in their celebratory joviality, Guo tempered the cadence of his breathing.

When the worm Spirit had almost taken his granddaughter, his heart had skipped a beat.

However, his silent outbreak of arrhythmia was nothing compared to his opponent's wild and buckling ride.

When Sui managed to ambush Gwen, Liu grinned.

When Gwen panicked, the Secretary chuckled, revealing his teeth.

When Caliban appeared, Liu half stood, then sat, groaning.

The man's amateurish display was beginning to grate on what little patience the Chair of the Confidential Communications Committee had left.

"A close match," Guo stated mildly.

"Excuse me." Liu rose from his seat.

"Take your time. Gwen's changing outfits."

From his body language, Guo could see that the Secretary was ready to double down on his wager. The next match was likely going to be the last. The Lius had to demonstrate a show of force, or else they would lose face and influence. A list of potential candidates scrolled through Guo's head. A few worried him, but they were either too senior or already deployed at the Front.

Klavdiya approached her husband as Patriarch Liu made for the east wing.

"Guo, perhaps this is enough. Gwen—"

"Gwen will be fine," Guo replied with confidence. "The reputation and fame she gained will contribute to her IIUC selection. She has little to lose besides her pride, but we have staked much."

"I am worried."

"Worry not." Guo patted her hand. "You're here, aren't you? She'll be fine."

"We'll owe her so much after tonight."

"That we do. Next year, assuming Gwen applies, I will call in a favour from the Central Education Committee. Magister Guang owes me for the Nantong incident back in 93'."

Guo waited a moment, then relayed the main reason for his changed opinion of the girl. "Look, there's something else. Jun told me that he wanted Gwen to inherit his half of the amulet—if and when the time comes."

"That's…" Klavdiya searched the crowd for her absent sons. Not finding either of them, she turned back to her husband.

Guo rapped his knuckles on the wooden chair, warding off the portentous evil that had escaped his lips.

"I can give her anything, but not that. Jun is too close to the girl. Even knowing the dilemma, he chose her."

Klavdiya thought of Jun's hasty Message right before he had Teleported away.

"Ah-Jun is too willful," Gwen's babulya declared with a wounded voice. "I don't know if Gwen truly needs the Amulet, but if the time comes—"

"One can only hope Jun changes his mind or that Gwen overcomes the need," Guo interrupted Klavidya, ruminating on thoughts his wife could never genuinely know.

There were good reasons why Gwen could never inherit. Indeed, if a girl heir should learn the secret rites of utilising the amulet, would she teach it to her daughter, her daughter's daughter? Would that daughter possess the last name Song? More importantly, what happens when a mother knows their child NEEDED the Songs' Necromantic secret for her kids to live?

What happens when more than two drought-cursed children possess the means to use the amulet, but only two halves can be shared? Which branch shall live, and which shall wither? Would a father or mother risk all to save their child, even if it meant the murdering of kith and kin?

Could Gwen watch Qīn and Hai's future child die in slow agony, drained by the negative energy in their body?

Perhaps she could. Maybe she could not. Void, Lightning, Draconic Essence, egotism, pride and a desperate desire for validation; the internal forces driving the girl forward were powerful indeed.

For now, all Guo could do was petition the ancestors with an earnest wish.

"Please let Hai's child be mundane."

Or else—calamity would befall the House of Song.