68- Betrayal

The chains holding the seven Immortal Beasts all went in the same direction, growing invisible the closer they came to the source. But even with that invisibility, everyone present still saw how the chains were suddenly yanked, forcing the dance to a stop.

Krahllak kept laughing, taunting, "You guys should be working together right now, seriously. After all, it is only together that you may stop me from opening the Eighth City. I haven’t even revealed my devious ‘divide and conquer’ scheme yet."

The Jade Emperor waved a hand, proclaiming frigidly as ever, his voice seemingly incapable of any measure of warmth, "Audacious of you, for a mere demon. Even in your realm, it would take but a move for me to slaughter you. Or have you forgotten who you are speaking to?"

"Oh, I have not, I can assure you that. I am counting on you to help me escape, after all. Once I’m done with you, you will face eternal disgrace, no matter what choice you make, something that I know is far worse than death for someone like you."

Yao, on her part, was still smiling, calling out with her hands in her back, "Krahllak, I understand your taste for spectacle, but is there really a need for all this charade? Tell us what you’ve done already. The Taoist Gods may have nothing better to do, I have about a dozen other demons more powerful than you to deal with."

Krahllak’s voice sounded distasteful this time as it replied to Yao, "You, girl, have been the thorniest thorn in my foot. Seven times you have foiled my plans in just a few hundred years, that is truly quite impressive. If only you knew what I had to sacrifice to finally defeat you. Your lack of reaction is making all this really underwhelming, you know. Will you at least fake shock when I tell you what naughty thing I did?"

She unclasped her hands, replying, "I suppose your terrible revelation has something to do with the anomaly we detected on the planet’s spacetime continuum?"

Krahllak said nothing, pausing, but one of the gods exclaimed, "What? You crazy wench, you knew about this and said nothing?!"

Yao ignored him, and Krahllak sounded disappointed. "Way to ruin a surprise, bitch. What, couldn’t stop me, so you decided to mess with my surprise reveal?"

Yao nodded simply, "Yes."

Krahllak screamed what Mason assumed was an insult in some primal language, while the Jade Emperor said, because he never asked, "You will tell us of this demon’s machinations, woman."

Yao looked at Mason, giving him the feeling this explanation was more for him than the gods present. "The Spacetime Continuum is something that is spread out to the whole universe, but various areas will vary in density. Those especially dense areas will form a sort of cluster, a smaller section of the continuum. And Earth just so happens to have a dense enough area to have its very own section. The Sling Rings draw on the local continuum for portals, for example. And so does anyone employing space and time magic. But there are also more permanent forms of magic that depend on this continuum, such as the various pocket dimensions anchored to our planet. For example, the home of the various pantheons of Earth."

Mason imitated her form, clasping his hands in his back as he asked, "So what did Krahllak do?"

Although the Jade Emperor kept his composure, the other gods behind him looked livid as Yao ignored their sovereign’s question but answered Mason’s, "We unfortunately discovered it too late, nor did we make the correct connections at the time of discovery, but it would appear that Krahllak has successfully linked the door to the Eighth City with the rest of the Spacetime Continuum in a reverse order. This means that if the Eighth City remains closed, then everything else opens. Only if we allow it to be opened would the rest of the continuum remain the way it is."

Mason looked at the gods, whose faces betrayed their position faster than any words could, then back at Yao, and said, "Sounds like a load of bullshit. What would it even mean if everything else opened?"

Izo shook on the side, "The fucker’s got us in a pinch. It would mean exactly what it sounds like. Most teleportation abilities would get disrupted, but the real problem would be with all the more permanent fixtures, such as the pocket dimensions attached to Earth. Each and every single one of them would get forcefully opened, which not only includes the realms of various pantheons, but also the many, many prisons built over the centuries."

Sun Wukong whistled on the side as he suddenly realized something. "Oh boy, that is one devious demon."

Krahllak’s joy returned to his voice as he replied, "Thank you very much. I have been working very hard at this for quite a while now. No matter how much I love impossible dilemmas, there is nothing quite as savory as betrayal. Go on, Jade Cunt. Tell them. Tell them how you won’t help them. How you will shirk from your duties, permitting my emergence despite having the power to stop it."

Mason expected the Jade Emperor to get angry. Instead, the chief god of the Tao Gods replied indifferently, "We’ve wasted enough time here."

Mason looked up at them, stunned, and as they actually started moving, he pointed a finger at them, shouting, "What the fuck are you cunts doing? Are you being daft on purpose? You think letting Krahllak come out is even an option-"

He was interrupted by a swing of the Jade Emperor’s arm, which manifested a blade of light targeted at Mason. He was forced to stop talking because even with his heightened perfection, he barely saw it and barely managed to dodge it.

It created a giant rift behind him, melting the snow and gouging the rock beneath.

Staring down from above, the Jade Emperor said, "I have tolerated your insolence long enough, mortal."

"Pah, you’re just a prickly soy boy incapable of communication. Now listen, do you actually think letting Krahllak out is even an option? Once he sets foot on Earth and regains his powers, he’ll only have more influence over the continuum, and he’ll open these dimensional doors anyway."

Jade Emperor raised an arm, but a giant mandala made out of eldritch energy appeared in the sky. The Jade Emperor gave Yao a quick glance before telling Krahllak, "Open the barrier, demon. We’re leaving."

Krahllak laughed heartily, "Leave? I’ve got to agree with the hammer, soy boy. You got some severe communication deficiencies. Didn’t I just tell you about your eternal disgrace? You’re not going to hide this. It wouldn’t be proper revenge if the proper parties could not witness my emergence. We've got all the pantheons attached to Earth watching, so they may remind you of your failure for the rest of your insufferably long lifespans. Anyone with proper skill in the Mystic Arts should be able to watch this too, because they were the main culprits behind my seal in the first place. A few sulfuric friends, too. And of course, the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven, because we share such a deep connection. Of course, they’ve already seen you for the coward you are, but I’d rather make sure they all understand how pathetic you are."

The Jade Emperor slashed out at the air, but it did nothing to free them. Meanwhile, Krahllak addressed Mason once more, "You see, little hammer, the pantheons retreated to their pocket dimensions for many different reasons, but for the Tao Gods, it was because of their ascension process. You see, every Tao God was once a human, and they were turned by eating Immortal Peaches.

"It is by far the easiest ascension for humans, so these peaches have always been desired by mortals. So blocking the Eighth City would mean opening the gates to their homeland, and thus possibly lead to the theft of some of their Immortal Peaches. But you want to know the kicker? On a global scale, the disruption of the Spacetime Continuum wouldn’t even be that bad a problem. That Sorcerer Supreme of yours is annoyingly competent at her job, so I’m sure the disruption would be repaired in a matter of days, if not hours.

"And it would not only be the demons freed, but also the gods, meaning that the dangers would be quite easily contained. In comparison, allowing me to be freed will result in so much more destruction, because as you so elegantly put it, I could open those dimensions by myself once I’m freed, and I would even get to choose which I do open or not."

Mason looked at Izo, the Monkey King, and Yao, asking, "Is that true?"

Izo shrugged, Sun Wukong sighed, and Yao still smiled, somehow. "All of it. The Jade Emperor would rather condemn millions of lives, if not more, rather than have some Immortal Peaches potentially stolen."