Two days later.

Ashleigh's P.o.V.

It had started out so well, we had caught up to Naofumi and Malty, or rather we had met up with them as they were returning to Melromarc, I'm assuming they were at least, considering the direction they were heading and that they had the carriage that Fitoria had given Naofumi and co in the story. It had been tense, Naofumi had been ready to throw down, and so had the other Cardinal Heroes. Thankfully Melty, Malty and I had managed to get them all to agree to not duke it out and have all five of Naofumi's party members escorted back to Castle Town, unrestrained but under guard, for their safety more than anything.

Then an arrow had come from Itsuki's general vicinity and hit Malty in the shoulder, the others had whipped around to shout at Itsuki and question why he had done that, but I had charged toward Malty to make sure she was alright. Then came of cry of 'Air Strike Shield' and I was struck in the stomach by a shield and had the wind knocked out of me. But it hadn't been Naofumi who did it and I knew that for several reasons. First, the shield that had hit me was yellow, not green like when Naofumi uses his skill, second, the voice that had announced the skill came from a different direction than Naofumi's group, finally, Naofumi hadn't even been looking in my direction, he had been checking to see if Malty was ok.

I was only down for thirty seconds before I forced myself to my feet, but by that time the battle was going at full speed. Luckily for Naofumi, I had instructed my party that they were protect Malty and Melty, no matter what, even if they had to face off against the other three Heroes. So, it wasn't four parties against one, it was three against two. I tried to call out, but the heavy attack I had been hit with made it hard to breath and made it impossible to talk. Being unable to use words to at least try and stop the fight before anyone else got hurt, I tried to run forward and get in the middle of it, but I couldn't move. Something was restraining me. Then a System message window appeared in front of me.

'The Brother Who Stood at a Bridge has activated Skill: Forced Confrontation' followed by another that said, 'The Brother Who Stood at a Bridge has activated Skill: Ethereal Inner Realm'.

My vision began to blur, and my body began to feel as if it didn't weigh anything as I reached out toward the fighting Heroes and their parties, in a desperate effort to throw off whatever force had ahold of me. Then I blinked and I was standing in front of a bridge, a bridge that I recognized. A bridge I had seen many times in games and historical dramas. On my side of the bridge that was spanning a relatively small river was, well, nothing. It looked like a wide-open plain, with mountains and forests in the distance, but none of it was actually there. On the other side of the bridge was a wooded area, and through the trees, I could see men on horses, wildly riding back in forth nearly crashing into each other, making it hard to get a count of them.

But the thing that caught my attention the most, the thing that concerned and terrified me, was the man standing at the other end of the bridge, between the bridge itself and the wooded area. He was a tall and heavy-set man of Asian descent, wearing a white robe stained yellow with age, with green and red accents. A broad red belt stretched across his stomach, black ropes or ribbons decorating it, along with a black bandana that hid his hair. Sticking out from under his robes were pieces of armor that spread out and covered his knees, long enough to just cover his greaves. In his right hand he held a traditional Chinese spear, a Qiang, with a red tassel on the end, just below the head.

He stepped onto the bridge, and I mimicked his action, the two of us walking toward each other until we were twenty paces away and then stopping and just staring at each other. I don't know how long we stood there, it could have been seconds, but it felt like centuries, the silence was deafening until, without even realizing it, I finally found my voice. "Are you 'The Brother Who Stood at a Bridge'?"

He nodded and replied in a tired voice. "I am. Are you the one known to this world as the 'Dagger Hero'?" I slowly nodded.

"I am."

He gave me a sad, tired smile. "Then I apologize for what I must do, but 'Those Who Lift Up the Mortals' have made me an offer that I cannot refuse. They call you an anomaly, a bug in their system. They say you are dangerous, and they have given me their word that, should I cleanse you from this world, they would immediately allow me to Transcend." He raised his spear above his head and took a step back, assuming a battle stance. "I will use the power my Transcendence grant's me to make the kingdom my brothers and I dreamed of a reality."

"Wait wait wait!" I held up my hands and took a step back. "Before we fight can I ask you a question?" He didn't move from his position, that didn't surprise me, I could tell from the look in his eyes that there was no avoiding this fight. He gave a light nod and waited for my question. "I'm pretty sure I know who you are, but I want to make sure..." I looked around at my surrounding, just now noticing that the sun was frozen, basking the world in the glow of a perpetual sunset. "This is Changban Bridge, isn't it?" He nodded and I sighed but gave a small smile before turning to him and bowing. "I have many people who depend on me, so I will fight tooth and nail to not die here. But if I should, it would be an honor to die by your hand, Liu Bei's, General of Chariots and Cavalry."

"It is good to know that my name persists to your day and age in your world. What is your name child?"

I took my own battle stance, drawing the Legendary Dagger, preparing to fight. "My name is Ashleigh Amelia Anderson III, Dagger Hero and Duchess of Melromarc."

"Lady Anderson, promise me that should you emerge victorious, you will offer incense for me, as I would for you."

"I promise."

"Very well, may the greater warrior win." He called me forward with his hand and I obliged. "I am Zhang Fei; my courtesy name is Yide. Come forth and fight me to the death!"

What followed was a flurry of blood and blades, for each slash of my dagger that touched his skin, I received a cut from the tip of his spear or a strike from its end. All the while he stood firm in place, only moving from the spot to relocate and claim another position should I get too far away. There was an unspoken agreement between us, so we used no Skills, only our weapons and martial prowess. Unfortunately for Zhang Fei, while he was an honorable warrior, I was an assassin, honor wasn't in my vocabulary, and the form of the Dagger I was using had been obtained by absorbing my daughter's venom. Hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second, the man's vitality was drained away by a Basilisk's venom.

By the end of our battle, we had both received deadly wounds, his invisible, caused by the poison flowing through his veins, and mine quite visible, the head of his spear piercing my gut. We both fell to the ground exhausted waiting for the other to die, in agonizing pain. I ultimately prevailed dragging myself over to the Historical Chinese Hero, who's body had been paralyzed by my daughter's venom, and raising my dagger before plunging it into his chest. The man let out a final breath and his eyes glazed over. I reached over and closed his eyes as a sign of respect before rolling over onto my back. Then a System screen appeared before my eyes.

'You have slain The Brother Who Stood at a Bridge. Your body shall retain your current physical state in your world until you are healed, there is no risk of death.' I groaned and grasped Zhang Fei's spear and pulled it out of my stomach, sure enough, no blood came rushing out. I glanced at the spear before using Examine on it.

Zhang Fei's Spear

Contains the essence of the life of Liu Bei's honor bother, who's legend was secured by his stand at Changban Bridge.

Grant's the skill and legend Stand at Changban upon possession, cannot be transferred to another by any means but death.

I blinked, wondering what it meant by 'the skill and legend.' But I didn't wonder long before another system window popped up.

'Those Who Lift Up the Mortals gaze upon you.'

'Those Who Lift Up the Mortals grant you the right to seek Transcendence'

'The Giant Who Forms the Worlds grants you the Skill: Ethereal Inner Realm.'

'The Serpent Who Went Astray asks who told Zhang Fei you were a danger.'

'The One Who Changes Genders awaits what you'll do with glee.'

More and more windows popped up, each with a different Title, each saying something different, yet all of them saying what they were doing, as if it was an RPG.

'The Queen of the Choosers grant you a Title: Shadow with a Serpent's Kiss.'

'The Scattered Ruler wishes you luck on your journey.'

The next thing I knew, I was back at the border, lying on the ground. Then panicked voices started coming from everywhere. The last thing I saw was a panicked Malty, staring at me and beginning to cry. In an effort to ease her worries, I decided to do what I do best in such situations, make a stupid joke. I coughed, and with best British accent I could muster said: "Why, hello there Malty, would you please fetch Rifana? I do believe I've been stabbed." Her shoulders relaxed, probably relieved that I was well enough to make a joke.

Then her eyes widened, and she began calling for a healer as I blacked out.