Jackal Among Snakes

“It took them all a rather uncomfortably long time to reveal that man,” Grand Eunuch Hao complained to an emissary of Erlebnis, the orange-robed man sitting beneath a tree that blossomed in brilliant pink. “We had to force his hand, somewhat. But, well… have you read the story floating around?”

“We know it,” the emissary confirmed. Of all of the emissaries, this one seemed the most human, the most normal—the only oddity was a lump of flesh protruding on its back. It could even somewhat blend into the imperial court.

“Quite grandiose. Quite stirring.” The eunuch ran his fingers through some discarded pink blossoms. “Well… enough talk. Do you have his face, and all the others bit I need?” Hao grunted as he rose to his feet.

The emissary raised its arm up, revealing a six-fingered hand. It snapped, and the Grand Eunuch touched his head as though trying to resist a wave of pain overtaking his mind.

“Half a thousand times, yet I’ll never get used to that…” the Grand Eunuch dragged his hand across his face, and the façade faded away to reveal the true face of the polymorph, Dimocles. He put his hand over his cheeks, then, like sculpting clay, his fingers shifted and twisted and his skin and bones as the man’s blue-green eyes shone ominously. What remained there afterward was a perfect replica of Emperor Ji Meng.

Dimocles continued on in great detail—he cast away the orange robes, then lengthened his legs to grow taller. He changed the flabby body of the eunuch into something harder and rougher, made the hands rougher and calloused, put on signs of age to better match with the ancient emperor whose life had been elongated by virtue of his vital force.

Dimocles put his hand to his throat, then massaged it gently. He hummed, “Wooo….” As he vocalized, his voice deepened until it perfectly matched the emperor’s. With a pleasant and sonorous deep voice coming out, he lowered his hand in satisfaction. “There we are.”

The emissary of Erlebnis draped a purple imperial robe over Dimocles’ bare body, and the polymorph put it on eagerly, then kicked away his old eunuch’s robes. He walked to a still spring beside the blossoming pink tree, and admired himself in the reflection.

“Not too bad. The eyes will always be a problem… but reports say that the emperor doesn’t have any magic, anymore, while I’m still S-rank. Two incongruities, one right answer… but it shouldn’t matter, right?” Dimocles looked over.

“If it does, your role is to prevent it from mattering,” the emissary reminded him. “Another thing. Change your speech. Grand Eunuch Hao could speak as he wished, but you? Times will change. You will be scrutinized, always, as an emperor ought to be.”

“We understand that.” Dimocles straightened, adopting the role of Ji Meng. “And we are returned.”

“This will harm the so-called Grand Commandant Sun’s legitimacy. Now, Kirel Qircassia will do his part.” The emissary turned to walk away into a shadowy recess, leaving behind only one direction. “Be ready.”

#####

“Dimocles.”

Argrave stared down upon the blue-eyed Emperor Ji Meng from a temporary druidic bond as his revealed opponent gave a speech in a spot considerably grander than the one that Argrave and Ji Meng had occupied for theirs. Many things made sense now—why the little polymorph had been so silent after Argrave took control of his collection, or how the imperial court was so easily infiltrated. The A-rank ascension that Dimocles used was even more capable than Rook’s blessing, and it also gave its user unparalleled adaptability in combat. But here, it was applied rather prudently to counter all the work they’d been building up to.

Argrave severed the connection with the druidic bond, then looked at everyone near. All the essentials of this operation gathered frantically when word spread to them about an emperor retaking his throne. Even Ji Meng was present for this.

“Sounds like he slunk back to Erlebnis, even after what you two put him through.” Durran leaned up against the wall. “Guess he’ll finally die, this time. We don’t have many third encounters with fated enemies, I don’t think.”

“You know the imposter?” the emperor asked Argrave curiously.

“Yeah. Dimocles. He was working with Erlebnis, but we held something he cared about hostage to force him to betray the ancient god. In the end, we still have the thing he cared about in our possession—his collection. I saw no reason to honor the deal with scum like him, but I guess he managed to get back in Erlebnis’ good graces. He has a good tongue, and he knows how to suck up—he must know how to pleasure gods, no matter how incorporeal,” Argrave said bitterly.

“I’ve never heard you speak of someone that way,” the emperor noted. “Did he best you in times past?”

Argrave looked at him. “Does it seem that way?”

Elenore opened the door as they spoke, then entered. “I’ve just spoken to Governor Zen through Stain. He’s already working on spreading propaganda about the blue-eyed imposter. In turn, they’ve already started spreading word about the false emperor without vital force. We had quite one-sided support, but now… it’s stalled, even if only slightly.” She shook her head and said, “No—it’s not ‘slightly.’ We lost more than half of what we had overnight.”

“Quite easy to solve, isn’t it?” the emperor leaned back languidly. “Let me restore my magic. Return to me my weapon. There’s no more striking image than that to earn the hearts and mind of people. No one can truly imitate me, least of all some polymorph.”

Quiet reigned after the emperor’s suggestion. It was really the only missing link in their plan, the only thing that marked their emperor as illegitimate—the fact that he was muzzled, prevented from using magic. Despite his declaration about being someone who was going to rest and let Argrave handle everything, Ji Meng remained a fierce predator that couldn’t be underestimated.

“I haven’t finished,” Elenore raised her hand, then looked at the emperor. She gestured to the Veidimen guards in the room. “Take him. Leave us.”

They obeyed quickly, and the emperor obediently left the room at their direction. Once he was gone, Anneliese conjured a ward in silent contemplation.

“On top of all this, there’s movement from the Palace of Heaven,” Elenore disclosed. “More fortification, more preparation, more descension—I think they’re aware that it’s our objective. We were just getting a handle on things, now—”

“Forgive me for cutting in, but I think we ought to move quickly,” Anneliese interrupted. “People are far less liable to switch sides if they’ve already taken action. Betrayal is a difficult pill for many to swallow, and no one likes to seem the hypocrite. We have some loyalists—now, it’s time to have the emperor make his first move. We need to claim what regions we can, take what fortifications exist, and make these men steadfast before words can worm doubt into minds undecided.”

Argrave nodded. “I think that’s prudent. We need to see what we’re working with in terms of loyalists. As for the emperor’s idea… should we consider it?”

“I like my sword,” Durran protested. “I want to keep it.”

Elenore blatantly ignored him as she said, “We shouldn’t ever consider loosening our grip. Puppets function best with tight strings—believe you me, I know people like him. I know his mind, because it’s mine.”

At the robust refusal, Argrave’s mind was made. Despite these shows of submission Ji Meng had made, it was true he couldn’t be fully trusted, especially not at this pivotal junction. More importantly, he was easily capable of roaming free if his magic wasn’t suppressed by Ebonice.

Argrave pointed to Anneliese. “Alright. I’m in favor of Anne’s suggestion. Move quick, move fast, divide the empire in half. If it comes to it, we need to be prepared for a battle. And if it doesn’t come to it, we win regardless.”

#####

The coming days passed by in a blur as the empire effectively divided itself in two. The rich central and northeastern regions—those most closely connected with the capital of Ji and the imperial court—folded to the blue-eyed emperor by the name of Dimocles, despite their slander and portrayal of him as a trickster demon. The whole of the south obediently fell in line with Grand Commandant Sun, partially because their presence was greatest here. The northwest, much of which was Governor Zen’s territory, remained ‘neutral,’ ready to flip when the time came. Or, who knows—perhaps he was playing both ends against the middle. His motives remained somewhat inscrutable.

Still, entire cities were divided between the Blue Emperor and the Yellow Emperor, as the citizens had taken to calling them. The imperial court’s transition between Grand Eunuch Hao’s regency and Dimocles’ imperial reign was masterfully executed—a few public executions, a couple extreme speeches, and the people believed they were back under imperial rule when their leader remained the same exact person with some new flesh adorning his bones.

Despite the unexpected resistance from the imperial court, the fact remained this was a resounding victory for them. They had nothing but a foothold on the south, where they were constantly accosted by the armies of the Great Chu and Kirel Qircassia’s massive coalition. Now, they had most of southern Great Chu.

Yet the south, cold and dry, was not at all the juggernaut that was central Great Chu. The capital hosted five million people, and several other multi-million metropolises lined the northeast like sprinkles atop a sundae. Argrave’s Yellows had a huge advantage in terms of land, yet a massive disadvantage in terms of the population swayed. Moreover, they were extremely far from their primary objective—the Palace of Heaven, which rested in central Great Chu.

Miles and miles of magic arrays protected the heartlands of the Great Chu—enchanted constructs, designed to attack without the need of a spellcaster. Durran had dealt with some in his pursuit of the eight commanders, but it was incomparable to the sheer bulk of them deeper inland. On top of that, central and northeastern Great Chu had more talented officers—that is to say, S-rank spellcasters.

All in all, Argrave’s personal force from Vasquer possessed about seventy-two S-rank spellcasters—a number that had ballooned greatly with Elenore’s moderation of the dissemination of knowledge. With the addition of new Great Chu allies, that number rose to four hundred and seventeen S-ranks. It seemed almost completely irrelevant before the estimated one thousand to one thousand five hundred enemy S-rank spellcasters. Argrave felt Anneliese could invalidate them all if she fought, and Governor Zen could bring hundreds more to their side. But even still, quantitatively, they were greatly outnumbered by virtue of the imperial court’s superior location.

If they were to fight, Argrave thought they could win. Yet it was still not entirely decisive.

In the days to come, however, things changed yet further, forcing Argrave’s hand. The sky tower, once always targeting Vasquer in a relentless siege… it changed in ways that could not be anticipated.

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