Chapter Text
“Did I just watch someone turn into a tree?” March 7th thought with an equal amount of horror and disbelief.
Three members of the Astral Express had just arrived in the Xianzhou Luofu to deal with the possible Stellaron Crisis, and the six-phased ice user was not exactly expecting a red carpet reception, considering the Xianzhou Luofu was on the verge of impending destruction if it was not contained. At the bare minimum, she was just hoping that they would not be arrested the very first day like they almost had on their last trip to Jarilo-VI, but she still held a feeling of foreboding ever since the projection of the Stellaron Hunter Kafka had appeared on their train and had ultimately dictated the course of their journey.
Of course, the Nameless would go on an expedition to save innocent people from a planet-swallowing disaster even if they had gotten that particular idea from their worst enemies. It still left a bad taste in March 7th’s mouth all the same. They had leveraged what the Trailblazers stood for just for their ulterior motives. She didn’t like those intergalactic criminals for obvious reasons, and she certainly didn’t want to be branded as their ally if the Xianzhou Alliance, which was notorious for not tolerating other factions interfering in their internal affairs, to put it lightly, would discover their collaboration.
All in all, March 7th simply wanted a smooth Trailblazing expedition this time, and as if the Aeon of Elation was laughing at her somewhere, one of the first things she sees upon stepping foot in the Luofu are gruesome scenes of fallen soldiers undead, dead, or dying.
She spotted a soldier wincing as he pressed a hand to his stomach, where crimson was blooming against the blues and whites of his uniform and immediately hurried towards them.
“There’s a survivor here,” March 7th cried out.
“No. Stay away!” the Cloud Knight said hoarsely, trying to back away but only managing to stumble into the ground face-first. She helped him up even as he tried to protest.
Welt and Stelle had quickly caught up to her and looked grim at the grisly scene surrounding them.
“We mean no harm,” Welt said soothingly as the knight kept muttering no and telling them to leave frantically over and over.
“Try icing the wound with your six-phased ice to stem the bleeding, but be careful to not give him frostbite,” Welt advised.
“On it, Mr. Yang!”
March kneeled down to hastily ice their wound and concentrated her power, watching as pink and blue ice coalesced across the injured area when a resounding wail sounded somewhere behind her. Her eyes widened at the sight. The corpses of fallen soldiers from the other side of the wall were gone and replaced with uncanny creatures sprouting gingko leaves and spilling blood as they moved jerkily towards them. Crimson eyes focused on them with the intent to kill, and March 7th instantly shielded both of her companions with gleaming ice.
“We’ll keep them distracted, March! Continue healing him,” Stelle said, running to the other side of the delve as she swung her bat to deflect a blow from one of the creatures. Welt quickly took the chance to lock the enemy in place with Imaginary power.
She had barely staved off the bleeding when the person she had been treating, suddenly groaned and shuddered. March 7th quickly backed away with a gasp as he started transforming into a similar monster just like the ones her companions were already fighting. Up close, she could see how the power of Abundance was twining across their veins and twisting their form until they resembled a murderous tree honed in on her to kill.
March 7th let out a panicked yell and stumbled back before she raised her bow steadily, forming concentrated six-phased ice at her arrow’s tip and aiming for their eerily glowing crimson eyes. Behind her, Stelle let out a cry of alarm when the first abomination they had slayed, rose from the dead and prepared to land another blow.
“Watch out!” called out a young voice from seemingly nowhere.
She felt a frigid chill at her back and shot her arrow on impulse which fortunately landed true between the monster’s eyes. She glanced up to see a golden-haired youth riding a flying sword descend into the battlefield. Delicate swallows made of frost fluttered around him as pink and blue shimmers manifested into multiple ice swords cutting down the creatures her companions had been battling before falling into a dive to pierce the one she had frozen with her hastily shot arrow.
He raised a sword gleaming with ice that looked so similar to hers and swung down to sever the abomination’s head from its body and stab into its chest twice ruthlessly. March 7th felt slightly unnerved from seeing such brutality and violence from a boy who looked to be most likely a child or someone just on the cusp of being a teenager but supposed that he could be older than his appearance would suggest as someone from the Xianzhou.
“Careful, miss. Are you injured?” the blond asked, looking at her in polite concern as he nonchalantly retrieved his sword from the creature that had already dissipated and left only gingko leaves frosted over with crimson. He made a motion with his hand, and the sword retreated to his side, unsheathed but not poised to strike at enemies anymore. She shook her head. The fight had left her unscathed thankfully.
“That’s good. You need two lethal strikes to kill a mara-struck for death to take. Such is the power of the Abundance running through the people of the Xianzhou,” he commented.
“Those monsters are called the mara-struck?” she found herself asking.
Her mind seemed to replay the scene of the soldier turning into a mara-struck right in front of her. She was hit by the bitter and terrible realization that the man had not only been aware of his inevitable fate but also had been warning her to stay away from him to protect them. She had unintentionally disregarded his warnings, yet leaving him to bleed out when she could help would have been cruel.
“Those were not to be confused with monsters, Miss March. We call them mara-struck because they too were once people living in the Xianzhou.”
“I saw one of them… change in front of me,” she said.
Yanqing nodded with a grim look.
“That’s an unfortunate turn of events. The mara is the curse for all long-lived species, an inevitability for all Xianzhou Natives because of the Plague Author bestowing flawed immortality. Please do your best to avoid them, and if you can’t, remember to kill them twice.”
“How morbid,” she thought.
Seeing the look on her face, his tone turned softer and gentler.
"They lose their humanity the moment they become mara-struck. Such is the nature of mara when beings with mortal minds are born with immortal bodies. Their minds simply collapse under the strain of living for so long and is the prevalent reason for why the mara starts festering and blooming within their core. Killing them would be granting them the mercy of death and a final end instead of a twisted form of existence."
March 7th blinked at the sudden information dump and advice. She couldn’t help but be reminded of the historical period drama immersia she had binge-watched for several weeks straight. The boy who saved her looked the very image of a talented and valiant young cultivation disciple who would either grow up to be the drama’s protagonist or die in the first episode as a backdrop to their villainous master’s tragic backstory while lecturing her on how to properly kill people turned towering tree creatures attacking mindlessly. She had just been trying to heal an injured soldier’s wound before he lost himself and tried to kill her. Luckily, the boy had arrived right on time to save her.
“I’ll keep that in mind then. Thank you for the assist. I would have been a goner,” she sighed.
“My name is March 7th from the Astral Express crew, by the way. And these are my companions,” she introduced and gestured to Welt and Stelle who had finally caught up to her.
Golden eyes seemed to glint in interest and recognition.
“Nice to meet you, Miss March. I’m Yanqing, lieutenant of the Luofu Cloud Knights, at your service.”
“Xiao-didi, please don’t run off like that again,” a Cloud Knight sighed.
Lieutenant Yanqing who had been unfailingly polite and formal to the Astral Express suddenly looked embarrassed. A group of frazzled Cloud Knights had rushed from the nearest gate and quickly shouted how they had found their Lieutenant who had gone ahead when he was not supposed to.
March 7th had the impression that he was finally acting like his true age, judging by the cutesy endearment from one of the knights. She almost cooed at how they called him little brother and fussed over him like an older sibling would to an mischievous younger sibling. She did not know if she should be concerned that a teenager was made Lieutenant or glad that she had not grossly misjudged his age because of his appearance. She settled on concern.
“You were taking too slow, Captain,” Yanqing responded.
“True enough. No one can match your speed with a flying sword,” the Captain sighed before straightening and surveying his surroundings. His hand went to his sword the moment he saw the Astral Express, but Yanqing shook his head and gestured for the man to stand down.
“The mara-struck in this area have been successfully repelled, but there could be other dangers lurking nearby. We should go back to inform the Sky-Faring Commission immediately.”
“I agree. However, we should depart together with our Nameless guests. I can vouch for them, Captain Dewei,” Yanqing said, a hand on his chest as he looked up at him and the other knights.
“Very well. I trust your judgement. You outrank me anyway,” Dewei said good-humoredly.
Yanqing turned to the Trailblazers and fixed a smile on his face.
“Apologies for that. The Astral Express is renowned for being gallant helpers aiding countless planets facing disasters. I surmise the matter of you arriving at the Luofu during the height of a crisis is not inauspicious timing, but rather the very reason of why you honored guests have arrived merely a few system hours after an incident in the Xianzhou Luofu.”
“We caught wind of the incident you mentioned. That's why we're here to help the Xianzhou seal the Stellaron.”
“I see,” Yanqing sighed.
“While I appreciate your intentions and your valiant reputation precedes you, you are still considered outsiders, and the Xianzhou does not allow interference in its internal affairs unless given permission by one of the Six Charioteers. It’s out of my hands what their decision will be,” he explained.
“For your safety, the Knights will escort you to Central Starskiff Haven where you can take refuge, honored guests. As for the matter of arriving when the port is in lockdown when the last registered ship was a merchant vessel and lending aid to the Xianzhou, I will leave that matter to Madam Yukong of the Sky-Faring Commission and my superior, General Jing Yuan.”
“That sounds reasonable, Lieutenant,” Welt acknowledged.
“Thank you. The Astral Express vows to help in any way we can.”
“That’s right,” March 7th chimed in.
“You helped us back there. Surely, we could return the favor.”
Yanqing politely waved off their thanks.
“It’s merely the duty of the Cloud Knights. As long as you are in the Luofu, you are esteemed guests no matter what Madam Yukong and General Jing Yuan decide on whether you can intervene and offer aid regarding the Stellaron. But don’t worry! They’re both soft-hearted. Come on, and allow me to lead the way.”
March 7th thought how it was oddly endearing to see the shortest of the group lead the way to the next delve, but did not comment aloud and followed the Lieutenant, flanked by her companions and the rest of the Cloud Knights.