Headed by a Snake

Jiang Ying Yue was glad for Jerim Jya's ominous prophecy.

The Cloud Goddess said that Moon Crescent Isle would be attacked.

The Hidden Lake sect listened.

She, Sect Elder Weiqi, and the others were able to entreat the sect's Venerable Ancestor for assistance, just as the enemies landed upon the northern beach.

But no matter how many of them there were, it was impossible for them to gain any ground.

The combined forces of the Sect Elders stood against them.

And even if they didn't...

Ying Yue shuddered as she thought about how powerful the Venerable Ancestor was.

She sensed it... only briefly. He did nothing but walk and breathe, but his chi radiated out of him like an unstoppable waterfall.

...And he was probably holding back.

He could probably fend off a dozen ships full of enemy warriors without breaking a sweat... on his own.

Everything was going to be okay.

The northern half of the isle was safe... and her brother, Wang Lei, guarded the western beaches with the tried and tested cultivators of the current generation.

Yet... Ying Yue still felt uneasy.

She had a deep, dark feeling in her gut that something might still go wrong.

Mounting her flying sword, she excused herself from the elders and took to the rainy skies to search for other enemies.

Obviously, she, herself, wasn't bound to just walking.

It wasn't impossible for more Outsiders to sneak onto the island the same way... or maybe they rode fantastic beasts... or could scale steep cliff walls.

After several minutes, she spotted movement amongst the coniferous trees.

An enemy! A sailor of some sort? He was wearing a green military coat and just... trudging along like he was in a bad mood.

If he made it that far on his own, he was probably pretty strong.

Ying Yue grinned as she tilted her flying sword down, speeding down like she was copying her brother's ⌈Meteor Dive.⌋

The best way for her to feel secure about the whole situation was going all out in a fight .

It had been awhile... so she was going to enjoy every punch thrown, every bone broken, and really proving to the unsuspecting enemy just exactly how strong she was.

"HEYYYY!!! WHAT'S UUUUUUUUP, BEE-YOTTTTTCH????!"

Ying Yue hit the ground before the enemy could react. A huge ice-crystal formation shot up around where she landed with an ⌈Icicle Crash⌋... and even though the guy leapt out of the way, his whole left arm was sealed in thick ice.

"Pweh!" The guy got to a knee, spitting out dirt, "What the--"

Grabbing onto her sword, Ying Yue pointed it forward at the guy's neck, "Who in the seven hells are you, HUH?!?"

He looked... human-- which shouldn't really have been surprising. But now that she was so close... he didn't look very strong at all.

Kinda strong? Or middle strong, maybe... Whatever he was, he wasn't anywhere near her level.

...It was incredibly disappointing.

"Eh?" The guy blinked, "My name is Krysaos. Who uh... are you, then?"

"My name is Jiang Ying Yue of the Hidden Lake sect! Now tell me, Outsider, how did you get past my brother?!"

"No idea who that is, girlie," Krysaos brushed dirt and mud off of his coat sleeves. "Why're you askin' me?"

"Quit acting dumb! You're part of the invasion force!" Ying Yue narrowed her eyes, "You've obviously come to enter the Divine Realm below the island!"

Krysaos shook his arm... but the frozen block of ice wouldn't be so easy to break free of, "There's a uh... what-now below the island?"

Ying Yue drew back her sword-- but still stood in a defensive stance, "Deny it all you want, Outsider. Just know that your attack will be foiled! Our strongest Martialists are defending the north side of the island against your other forces as we speak!"

"Another ship on the north side of the island?" Krysaos pursed his lips... "Ya don't say..."

"I do say!"

"Good to know," Krysaos nodded before lifting his sealed arm, "Hey, girlie, could you do something about this? It's pretty uncomfortable... and this is my good hand."

"Wait..." Ying Yue grimaced.

...It wouldn't have been the first time she attacked a totally innocent bystander.

Usually, they panic a little-- or a lot.

She silently thanked the heavens that Krysaos was being so nonchalant about it.

"...Are you... really not part of the other attackers?" She asked.

"I'm pretty sure that's a no... but uh..." Krysaos bit his upper lip. "I don't suppose... the other fellas got funny looking ears?"

Ying Yue tilted her head, thinking back on it... "W-well... yeah. I guess they do?"

She'd heard that before the Hidden Lake sect began guarding Moon Crescent Isle, it used to be guarded and governed by elves... but that was over a thousand years ago.

If they were just returning peacefully to their ancient homeland-- and her sect openly attacked them, then everything was just a huge misunderstanding.

...Ying Yue was getting a bad feeling that there was more to the attack than the Cloud Goddess was letting on.

Or even worse... maybe the gods were playing games and the Hidden Lake sect was just another of their pawns.

"I got a bone to pick with those guys-- so we're not exactly friends. As you can see, I've got--" Krysaos thunked his head with his ice-block arm. "Ow. Ugh... normal human ears."

Yue quietly sheathed her sword and crossed her arms... "Y-yeah..."

She looked at Krysaos' ears.

Like he said, they were... undeniably human.

...which meant he probably wasn't related to the elves.

...But who the heck was he?

Krysaos caught her gaze, causing Yue to turn away as he cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

It wasn't like he was cute. If anything, he was too old for her.

He *was* ten times more attractive than any of the people she'd adventured with, but that didn't mean anything.

She just didn't like talking to guys.

Yeah, that was it...

"You're not too smart, are ya, girlie?" Krysaos frowned.