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The Sorceress' Revolt: Ko Eiji's Story - Part 8 Chapter 3

 The Sorceress' Revolt - 

Ko Eiji's Story

Author: Toriumi Jinzō

Translator: Ainikki the Archivist

Part Eight: The Steel Giant

Chapter 3

A large camp made up of scattered war tents was set up next to Bungen Haku’s main army force. Each component of the steel giant for use in Beizhou was delivered and assembled in that camp. The construction was directed by Shin Katsu and Chō Ran in turns. The surrounding area was heavily guarded. Very few imperial soldiers were permitted to know of the steel giant’s existence. The actual assembly happened under a large canvas tent that only a few people could enter.

Jurchen workers labored through the night to complete assembly of the steel giant.

This was a strange situation. Chō Ran, a Jurchen who was trying to overthrow the Song Dynasty, was cooperating with the Imperial Army. Ryū Gen, the leader of the salt smugglers and an enemy of the Imperial Court, was also working with Bungen Haku. For such natural enemies to unite in a common cause could only mean that their shared enemy—Sei Koko—was truly evil.

At dawn, the steel giant was completed. With its thick arms thrust out in front of it and its steel helmet on, the giant loomed over the army camp like a legendary god of war. A small explosion sounded from within, and then smoke erupted from the underside of its legs. The steel giant moved slowly, advancing toward a trench filler.

Bungen Haku looked on in awe. He had been briefed about the steel giant, but he hadn’t envisioned anything so impressive.

***

It was early morning on the day of the Obon Festival. A strong wind howled overhead. Dark clouds streaked across the sky at high speed.

Sei Koko and Ko Eiji had relocated to Bianliang several days before to prepare for the day of the festival. They spent the bulk of their time in seclusion, praying to Empress Wu Zetian’s spirit.

Sei Koko wanted power to destroy the world and remake it in her image. If Ko Eiji welcomed Wu Zetian’s spirit, would she become such a creature of destructive power? Or would a natural disaster occur, submerging the capital and obliterating the Imperial Palace? Either way, Sei Koko’s plans would have come to fruition. Sei Koko desired nothing less than the absolute and unquestioned power that Empress Wu Zetian had enjoyed for much of her reign.

In her mind, Sei Koko saw herself as Empress Dowager Sei Koko, guardian and adviser of Empress Ko Eiji, who was Wu Zetian reborn.

***

Bungen Haku’s camp was completely silent. Soldiers lined up, preparing to charge. Everyone was nervous. They’d planned to attack some days before, but setting everything up had taken a week longer than anticipated. Today was the last day they had. Now or never. If they waited, Sei Koko would enact her grand plan. No one knew what would happen then—and no one in the Imperial Army wanted to find out.

The weather was tricky. If it rained too much, the ground would get too soggy for the steel giant to move reliably. Moisture was also a big problem for the steel giant’s fueling mechanism.

The wind picked up, stripping the canvas off a large war tent. Soldiers looked on with wide eyes, wondering what they would see. The order was given to pack away the canvas and dismantle the tent.

Inside, the steel giant was ready.

Shouts of shock and admiration rang out among the assembled army. These shouts carried all the way to Beizhou Castle. The appearance of a steel giant here was unexpected and strange.

The soldiers of Beizhou were just as surprised as the Imperial Army when they caught sight of the steel giant.

“What is that? An iron monster?”

“We’ll be eaten alive by that thing!”

Jin Sen, who was in charge of soldiers stationed on top of the fortress wall, scolded the fearful soldier.

“Don’t make a fuss. It’s just an iron doll. We can shoot it down without any trouble.”

The soldiers couldn’t abandon their posts. Chō Ki would launch fireballs at them if they deserted. Some soldiers tried to flee anyway. Most were killed for their trouble. The remaining soldiers had no choice but to try to shoot down the steel giant, but their arrows—even flaming ones—had no effect.

The steel giant stopped about a hundred and twenty feet (forty meters) from the front of the fortress wall. Inside the giant, Amuri was directing the machine's movement and the four other women were operating its limbs. The inside of the steel giant was quite hot; they were all sweating in their armor. Even though they had completed preliminary training, facing down an impregnable castle full of sorcerers was a daunting task.

Despite all her planning and training, Amuri’s part in this attack did not go quite as expected.

“Don’t panic, stay calm… We have to hurry,” Amuri said, not realizing that her words were somewhat contradictory.

Countless interlocking metal gears whirred around her. Tanks of various shapes and sizes contained fuel and gases. Metal pipes ran between the tanks. Steering wheels and pressure valves hung from the ceiling. The place was so shiny it could have doubled as a storehouse for metal money.

The cannons on the wall were made ready and roared to life as they shot cannonballs at the giant. One cannonball hit, causing the soldiers atop the fortress wall to cheer.

Amuri and her compatriots felt an impact. Amuri stumbled inside the giant, but was unhurt. Some of the other women fell as well, but none of them made a sound. They resumed their places, confirmed that the steel giant had taken only cosmetic damage, and continued to move toward the fortress wall.

Smoke from the cannonball’s impact hid the steel giant for awhile. When the smoke cleared, there was an audible gasp from Beizhou’s soldiers.

“Load the gunpowder!” Amuri said.

The other women hastened to obey.

“Aim! Thirty degrees right of our position!”

A chorus of “yes, ma’am!” from the others.

“Right arm, fire!”

Amuri pulled on the right pressure valve inside the giant. There was a deafening rumble as the steel giant shot at the wall.

A few moments later, the wall blew apart, scattering stone everywhere—and falling soldiers. The soldiers who survived the fall and the explosion screamed and groaned in agony. The soldiers who had died instantly made no sound as they died.

The hole in the wall separated Beizhou’s soldiers from one another. Many of them ran away in a frenzy despite their fear of the sorcerers.

Jin Sen swung his shadow swords around wildly and yelled, “Anyone who tries to run away will be killed. Go back!”

Jin Sen’s attempts to stop the fleeing soldiers were in vain. His blades flashed, killing many deserters instantly, but more were following right behind them in an endless tide.

A thin cylinder extended from the mouth of the steel giant and spewed out flames. The flames moved like the tongue of a giant snake, brushing against soldiers unlucky enough to be in the fire’s path. As the cylinder moved back and forth, flames licked the obliterated piece of the fortress wall. Beizhou’s soldiers were burned to death in droves.

Jin Sen and Chō Ki’s attempts to keep the soldiers in their places were hopeless. They had no choice but to flee themselves.

Amuri gave her next set of commands.

“Lower the battering ram. Light the gunpowder.”

The head of the steel giant fell forward, pointing horizontally at the wall. Its helmet had two sharp horns on top, the purpose of which now seemed obvious. The helmet looked like the tip of a giant jackhammer. Amuri and the others jumped out from the gap created by the extended head and fled back toward the Imperial Army at top speed.

A moment later, the steel giant whirred and lurched forward with a horrible grating sound. It closed the gap to the gate in seconds, spewing a toxic cloud of black smoke behind it.

The steel giant crashed into the gate and crushed it inward… and then stopped. Half of the steel giant’s body was gone, reduced to shrapnel and broken parts. It was embedded in the gate, but hadn’t quite punched through.

The Imperial Army cheered.

The wall was breached. Next came the explosion that would open the gate. Bungen Haku waited for it, but the steel giant didn’t explode. Perhaps it had suffered too much damage from the enemy’s cannon.

If there was no explosion, the steel giant would have only accomplished half of what it was designed to do. Shin Katsu would consider it a failure of an experiment.

Chō Ran, Shin Katsu, Amuri and the others waited with bated breath.

“Did the cannonball’s impact mess something up?” Amuri asked.

Shin Katsu shook his head. He’d taken blunt force into account when designing the steel giant. There was something wrong with the ignition system, which had been rigged to explode. The ignition system would probably have to be adjusted manually now. What a disaster.

The cheers from earlier had faded away. Silence like a burial shroud fell over the battle. No one spoke.

Chō Ran hadn’t been convinced that the steel giant could break through the wall on its own, without the explosion—but he’d been proven wrong. Still, the steel giant was designed to explode! It had to! It was impossible to use again. The steel giant was a single-use item that they hadn’t been able to test thoroughly beforehand.

“All the hard work we’ve put in has been for nothing,” Chō Ran said, kicking the ground in frustration. Where had they gone wrong? Why had the ignition system failed?

There was a commotion on the wall. Beizhou’s soldiers must have decided that it was safe now. They returned to their posts like ants gathering around a pile of sugar and shouted encouragement to their comrades. There was no need to be afraid just because a lump of steel had sunk itself into the gate. The hole in the wall was concerning, true, but it was relatively small and could be defended easily enough.

And then…

With a loud bang, the steel giant exploded in a mess of metal and fire. Some of Beizhou’s soldiers flew into the sky. Many more were blown off the wall and fell into the moat.

The Imperial Army cheered loud and long as a pillar of fire rose into the sky, memorializing the steel giant’s heroic end.

Tears of joy flowed down Amuri’s cheeks. She hadn’t messed up. Not too badly, anyway.

When the smoke and dust from the explosion cleared, there was a gaping hole about fifteen meters wide where a gate and part of a wall used to be. The steel giant was gone—not a single trace of it remained but small metal scraps.

A battle cry rang out, and the the Imperial Army advanced on the gap in the wall in lockstep.

“Thank you, steel giant,” Amuri said. She put her hands together to pray briefly. “Thank you.”

***

Ou Soku spent the morning of the Obon Festival meditating in his cell. He knew what day it was. His basement accommodations were as silent as they always were, but he could use the light from his barred window to count the days. This might be his last day of life, assuming Sei Koko followed through on her threat.

The door to his cell opened.

Ou Soku frowned. It was much too early for a meal. He faced the doorway and saw a woman standing in shadow. “Sei Koko. So you’ve finally come to take me to be executed.”

Ko Eiji stepped into the light.

Ou Soku’s mouth fell open. Ko Eiji had never visited him in his cell before. He snapped his mouth shut, hopefully before Ko Eiji noticed how much she’d surprised him.

Without saying a word, Ko Eiji restored Ou Soku’s sleeve joints and iron projectiles to him. She also returned his mace.

Ou Soku just stared at her.

Somehow, Ko Eiji had managed to come here without being observed. That was dangerous—very dangerous. How had she escaped Sei Koko’s watchful gaze? And how had she managed to get his weapons? Chō Ki had taken them from him.

“Forgive me,” Ko Eiji said quietly. “Please.”

He didn’t say anything. Her actions now made everything clear. If she’d tried to support him during his capture, it was likely that she would have been taken prisoner as well.

Ko Eiji had listened to Ri Shun. She knew that Sei Koko had murdered her family. How did she feel about that? How difficult had that been, concealing her shock and grief so that Sei Koko wouldn’t realize that she was no longer on her side? She must have felt like her heart was being torn apart.

But she’d endured it—all of it—so that she could save Ou Soku. Her long meditation sessions for the past few weeks had been for her family. Meditation practice was considered important in laying restless spirits to rest. She hadn’t prayed to Wu Zetian even once.

Ou Soku reached for Ko Eiji’s hand. She took it, gripping it tightly.

“I should be apologizing to you,” Ou Soku said. “I doubted you and held a grudge. I’m sorry.”

“Never mind that. The walls have been breached. We have to get out of here quickly.”

Ou Soku followed Ko Eiji. He hadn’t walked long distances for weeks, so he stumbled frequently. Ko Eiji caught him before he could fall several times.

When they left the basement, the sudden light all around blinded them temporarily. After their eyes adjusted, they were able to navigate more easily.

As they left Sei Koko’s inner sanctum, several weak sorcerers came out of the castle’s temple and blocked their way.

Sei Koko peeked out of the temple.

Ko Eiji glared at her, letting her hatred show for the first time.

“Ko Eiji,” Sei Koko said, and her voice was placating and kind. “You cannot defy fate.”

“I am not defying it,” Ko Eiji said. “I will create my own destiny.”

“You don’t believe in miracles?”

“I do,” Ko Eiji said sharply. “I have seen a miracle. I am not reincarnated. It’s a miracle that I realized that.”

Sei Koko’s eyes burned blue as she lost control of her emotions. Ko Eiji had genuinely shocked her.

“What a thing to do… the curse of Empress Wu Zetian’s spirit will be terrifying indeed.”

“Since I’m not the reincarnation of Empress Wu Zetian, I will not curse you in her name. If I do curse you, it will be as myself.”

“Come to your senses, Ko Eiji! You can’t believe what you’re saying.”

Ko Eiji flashed her a defiant smile. “Do you know the only thing I remember from my past life? I know Ko Biji loved Tanshi. That’s all. It’s the only thing about your daughter that was reincarnated in me. I’m an ordinary person who experienced extraordinary love, and I will choose who I am and how I live my life.”

The weak sorcerers pointed their swords at Ou Soku and Ko Eiji. A split second later, one of Ou Soku’s projectiles pierced a sorcerer through the throat.

And then they ran.

Behind them, Sei Koko shouted: “Kill Ou Soku! Capture Ko Eiji! You cannot let them escape!”

***

All around the castle, battles were taking place between the Imperial army and Beizhou’s soldiers. The morale of Beizhou’s soldiers was at an all-time low since the walls had been breached and everyone knew it. It was clear that if they were captured, they would be hanged. Most of the soldiers had been working with the sorcerers to abuse civilians. They had been as cruel as possible. There was no way that the city’s civilian population wouldn’t retaliate.

Some of Beizhou’s soldiers took innocent people hostage in one corner of the city and prepared to resist with everything they had.

As hostages were being taken captive, Amuri’s cavalry force stormed into the city dressed in their crimson armor. Beizhou’s soldiers tried to threaten them with swords and spears, but they didn’t kill a single cavalrywoman. Amuri’s marksmanship was precise; she managed to hit her targets with perfect accuracy, as did the women under her command. Their shooting skills had been honed in their own lands while they put down Khitan bandits.

In later days, Beizhou’s common people would spread the story that they were saved by an army of goddesses.

***

Chō Ki commanded the remaining sorcerers and was waiting for Bungen Haku to join the fray. For most of the battle, the Imperial Army had given him a wide berth because they feared his fire magic.

Growing bored, Chō Ki roamed the battlefield, searching for Bungen Haku. He was supposed to be a mighty warrior and the veteran of countless battles. Chō Ki thought he would be fun to kill. No matter how good he was with a sword or even a gun, he would be no match for Chō Ki’s sorcery.

“Chō Ki will be your opponent! Bungen Haku, come out!”

Bungen Haku didn’t respond to this obvious taunting, of course.

“I hear you’re an old man who doesn’t have many more years to live! It would be better for future generations if you got yourself ashed now. It’ll save on cremation costs! You don’t want to burden your grandchildren with that, do you?”

Pushing his way through a throng of soldiers, a middle-aged man came closer, glaring daggers at Chō Ki. “What are you, some kind of street performer? Stop shouting. You’re giving me a headache.”

“And who are you? Not Bungen Haku, I’m sure. Are you his bodyguard or something?”

The man laughed. “Y’know, I was a bodyguard in the past. My charge was a spiteful eunuch.”

Chō Ki lifted a gourd hanging from his waist to his mouth.

The man raised an eyebrow. “Oh? You’re refueling, are you? I know that trick.”

Chō Ki became enraged. “Who are you?”

As he spoke, Chō Ki spat out a fireball.

At the same time, a sinuous flame like a snake’s tongue extended from the other man’s mouth and pierced the fireball through like a lance.

The fireball popped and disappeared.

Chō Ki stared at the man, stunned.

“There’s no point in telling my name to a person who’s about to die. All I can really tell you is that I’m not Bungen Haku’s bodyguard.”

Chō Ki’s eyes went wide. “You… You’re Chō Ran!”

Chō Ran shrugged. “Tell me, now. Have you heard from Sei Koko recently?”

Chō Ran in his youth had been known as the Fire-Breathing Daoist. His fame as a fire sorcerer was unparalleled. He’d burned down an estate on Mt. Hua to trap Tanshi and had rescued Ko Biji from the flames.

Chō Ran had also seen Sei Koko—only once. It was at Rai Ingyō’s estate, after the battle. Sei Koko had come there to kill her daughter and steal her body.

“If you are Chō Ran, we should fight,” Chō Ki said, taking a fighting stance.

“A showdown between fire-breathing bastards? Chō vs. Chō?” Chō Ran asked. He smiled.

That was the end of the verbal battle.

Chō Ki spit out a fireball and swept his hood away. The hood shimmered as it came loose, releasing a cluster of fireballs with its movement. The fireballs danced wildly through the air and attacked Chō Ran as a clustered mass.

Chō Ran was briefly surprised by this technique. He jumped out of the way to avoid damage and waited for Chō Ki’s hands to pause in their movements.

The moment he saw an opening, Chō Ran spewed a flaming arrow from his mouth. It exploded in Chō Ki’s face, burning him to a cinder.

Chō Ki fell to the ground, his hood falling over his charred skull.

Chō Ran slowly stood up, then looked down with a wry grin on his face. He straightened his shoulders, then said, “There can only be one.”


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