Chapter 41 A Matter of Fate

Wei came to a conclusion that was, for him, extremely regrettable. It filled him with disgust, but there was no doubt about it; he would have to keep the woman alive and in relatively good condition

What was her name? Something with a K sound wasn't it? I need to stop being so impetuous and pay attention to the people I'm killing.

Although it went against ever fiber of his being, in order to carve out the best possible future for his people, he needed to be able to continuously access the time slip, which required her to continue to live.

I suppose it's an unintended benefit of my carelessness earlier that she didn't die.

While wiping out Japan would go a long way towards helping China, waiting around 500 years to see the results of his work was inefficient. Instead, by switching back and forth between the modern era and this era he would be able to adjust events as needed to ensure the best possible outcome for his homeland.

I'll have to capture her again. I should go ahead and station myself near the well and begin laying a net for her.

There was a wet ripping sound as the Wei who wore modern clothing was suddenly bathed in blood as several nearby Weis burst open into a shower of crimson and transferred their power into him. Covered head to toe in blood, he turned to leave and as he did so, his appearance instantly normalized, as the blood and power therein were absorbed by him.

Several other Weis also made their exit to develop a net for capturing the woman.

If I can figure out how to duplicate her powers, then I can dispense with any undeserved mercy...

With an effort, Wei turned his mind from the joys her tears would bring to his defenses. The fortress he had taken over was a decent sized motte and bailey castle. As with all such designs, the mound of earth, which made up the motte, had been topped with a keep. The keep, probably to keep costs down, was made mostly of wood and covered with a thick layer of plaster to mitigate damage from fire-based attacks.

The two concentric defense rings that made up the baileys were respectable by the standards of the period. The innermost ring, which enclosed the keep and the barracks, was a simple and straightforward palisade of hewn logs that had been renovated so that a wall-walk was in place along with four wooden towers ideally placed for archers.

The outermost ring was clearly the work of an expansion project. It enclosed a forge, a small stable, and a storehouse for arquebuses. Its walls were made of stone and its curve supported a larger wall-walk with ports cut in it from which arquebuses could be deployed. It also had three towers whose outward faces had been slated with stone to make them more resistant to damage.

The fortress's work force had been in the midst of digging a trench along an outer wall when Wei attacked.

Sadly I arrived before they completed it and I had to finish it myself.

Wei had not bothered torturing the defenders, but instead killed them with greater speed than they deserved, appropriated their weapons and armor, and set about making some additional improvements to the fortress while pursuing his primary goal for Japan.

Turning some of his eyes skyward, Wei saw his gateway slowly taking shape, spreading steadily across the sky in a series of jagged white lines of frozen lightning.

Soon, all wrongs done to us will be made right.