Elder Cultivator

The Chaotic Conglomeration ended up drawing the attention of the Disciples of the Beyond. The distortion beast focused cultivators could either draw true beasts, or use their own energy to create projections. Both were extremely effective in large scale battles.

Runa didn’t find she had much to contribute to such battles- unless she could get close to the cultivators creating projections. But usually, that meant getting inside the projections, which were just as dangerous from most directions. The fangs and claws weren’t just meant for external threats.

The twins had some methods prepared to fight them, though nobody had been quite certain who they might draw from the Exalted Quadrant. After all, the death of Korin and thus the opportunity for the Chaotic Conglomeration to take over the territory of the Soul Piercers didn’t directly affect any of them. But the Disciples of the Beyond had some adjoining territory, and they had been enough of a concern.

They even brought Ramil, their Domination cultivator. That was good for the Scarlet Alliance, and bad for the Chaotic Conglomeration. In theory.

“Just point us through the fake ones,” Fearsome Mandibles said.

“Won’t you be crushed?” Runa said worriedly.

“By what? Nothing, that’s what.”

Crossed Antennae supported her sister. “Energy projections are the least worrisome threat for us. Leastwise gargantuan ones meant to devour armies. It is doubtful that even if they were physical in form that they would fully move together to crush us. Ten centimeter wide gaps between teeth results in dead humans, but not dead void ants.”

“That’s great,” Emrik said. “Are you able to drive them off?”

“... just like that?” Emrik asked.

Crossed Antennae stood proud and tall… at about the size of a finger. “Unless he has replaced his body with something else, he’s more vulnerable than Korin. Bring us to the frontlines, and we won’t disappoint.”

“You don’t have to,” Runa said. “If you’re not confident… one Domination cultivator falling is already more than we could expect.”

Fearsome Mandibles clicked. “There are reasons humans were afraid of us. The strongest of you continue to be among the weakest to us. Now that I am here to support my sister, we will continue our triumphs.”

“What about their countermeasures?” Runa asked.

“That’s what the human distractions are for,” Crossed Antennae said. “Those other humans, which we don’t like. Please involve yourselves only as much as is practical. You deserve to have a break after centuries of war.”

-----

Timothy grimaced. If Ramil hadn’t been drawn away- as well as some significant portions of the Trigold Cluster’s fleets- he couldn’t see a road to victory for the Scarlet Alliance. As it was… they were overwhelmed with the Calamitous Swarm, Yann and the Fearsome Menagerie, and Cynbel. For all that Titan was far smaller than Paradise, the turtle was rather difficult to deal with. Shelach hadn’t even shown himself yet.

Void ants would be nice. Perhaps they should have accepted them earlier, but the point had been to try to avoid this situation. After this, if they survived, Timothy would insist.

“What’s your assessment?” Timothy said to Catarina, who was sheltering directly next to him.

“Vari is ready to deflect Everheart, should he come for our people. Rahayu… has been handled, it seems. Koronis will continue to be a problem. As for Ratna… she hasn’t shown any visible participation yet.”

“So all we have to do is deal with… six Domination cultivators still? It doesn’t feel like much progress, but I suppose it will have to do. As for our other plans-” Timothy turned to reflect one of Titan’s attacks. Cynbel was doggedly coming for the two of them, and if all the Domination cultivators converged Timothy doubted he’d last more than a minute, even with Catarina by his side.

“Hey!” a loud voice rang throughout the system. It came not from one of the Domination cultivators, but one brave and perhaps foolhearty Augmentation cultivator. “I heard you all are afraid of Shelach. Why’s he have to hide, huh?”

-----

Durff felt a lot of attention focus on him. Domination cultivators, looking down on him. Some of them in the nice way, but that was only three out of all of them. The rest were judging him. Ratna might have been judging him and looking down over him with care at the same time.

“Did I say something wrong? Are you not afraid? You can’t even bear for me to say his name. I don’t even know how most of you manage to be Domination cultivators. How can others respect you if you don’t even respect yourself?”

“You know nothing!” some animal guy roared in retaliation. He was from the Fursome something or other. You could tell because of the fur. “Do not you cower behind your allied forces?”

“You wanna fight?” Durff said. “Come on then. Everyone let that guy through!”

Durff wasn’t cowering. Nor was he stupid, no matter how many times people wanted to call him that. Which was quite rarely, in the last few centuries. The people in the Scarlet Alliance only said it in a teasing manner.

He just had a specific position he was supposed to be in. Like a fishing line. He was the bait. Chidi was the hook. Someone else was- actually, the metaphor didn’t have to go that far.

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The other guy didn’t take the bait. Maybe Shelach wouldn’t either. “I’m going closer,” Durff said to the people around him. “That guy’s too close to the planet with the cool rings.”

He didn’t want to die fighting the wrong Domination cultivator, but he couldn’t just stand around forever. Bait had to be adaptable. Fish liked wriggling worms, right? Durff wasn’t actually certain he’d ever been fishing, now that he thought about it.

The angry fur guy actually responded when Durff got close. He came in real close, massive claws swinging. Durff swung back. He had good armor and a good weapon. He was knocked back just about in time to watch that big turtle die. Poor thing, it probably didn’t even want to be there.

-----

Timothy could barely find time to launch counterattacks with everything he had to account for. Each of their planets were being bombarded with forces, and while some of the more vulnerable individuals had been shipped out of the system, completely emptying all the planets was impossible. He watched Catarina shifting the energy flow through the system’s formations. Without the two of them, the Alliance would have fallen long before. But with them, it might not last long.

“Not so brave now, are you?” Cynbel said.

“Fight me one on one and I’ll show you,” Timothy said. “You can even bring your pet.”

“I think not. You brought this on yourself. You should have kept your head down for a millennium or two.”

“Like any of you would have let us live that long,” Timothy shook his head. “Durff’s right, you know. You’re all driven by fear.” Timothy stood strong as a great wave pressed against him. He had behind him the people of the Scarlet Alliance, and they were the source of his power. As well as some solar platforms, but his anchor was just an intermediary.

Timothy watched Titan draw back. He could retaliate against him, but the Swirling Swarm Domination cultivator was still causing trouble. Yann was about to follow up and kill Durff. They needed something to shift the tide of battle, and it sadly couldn’t be Anton. He was probably a couple hundred lightyears short at his maximum range.

Titan’s mouth opened… and then blood sprayed out from around his neck.

“Tch. Of course that wasn’t enough. That guy wasn’t even big.” Tauno’s voice projected throughout the area to draw attention to himself. He’d come back, finally, after his long attempt to become a Domination cultivator. “I’m not late, am I?”

“Not yet,” Timothy said, redirecting his energy to protect Durff one more time. “Could you…”

“Yann’s a good target,” Tauno said. “Maybe I should have been going after a person that was like a beast to begin with.” Tauno cracked his neck. “Would have been nice if I made it to Domination before this, but what can ya do?”

He was so close. Timothy could feel it. But close wasn’t good enough. There was still a vast gap between him and any Domination cultivator. Yet it didn’t matter. He was a strong Augmentation cultivator, and his presence had already done something big. Cynbel was seething with fury, and while angry Domination cultivators weren’t something Timothy wanted to fight, it didn’t seem to be making Cynbel more effective.

Tauno flew off to go clash with Yann as Cynbel charged directly for him, arms outstretched. Timothy intercepted him, slamming his shield into Cynbel’s nose. The man’s head snapped back, but he was ultimately unharmed. He created a crushing ocean that tried to swallow Timothy, but it lost whatever finesse he’d had.

The slightest whisper reached Timothy’s ears. “Found him.”

That was both good and terrible news. Shelach was among them… but it was better to know where he was than not.

-----

The battle in Imbued Fragments territory had begun. The lower realms did as planned, breaking into a sort of fighting retreat. They had no plans to fight a Domination cultivator outside of their own territory. Instead, they simply cut down as many of the Swirling Swarm as they could as they went.

Unfortunately, the Domination cultivator hidden among them could appear nearly anywhere. He took down several Ascension-class battleships before someone could intercept him. That someone was Nthanda, throwing herself into the center of the Swirling Swarm without fear. Their great advantage was useless against her. A thousand attackers could do nothing. However, a Domination cultivator was still a bit tough for her. She did her best to keep track of the individual, but she still frequently found herself being struck from an odd angle, her armor cracking and her body bruising.

Her arrows shot through hundreds of cultivators, but she couldn’t catch her true target with them. So she stopped trying, instead simply chasing. Her goal was simple. The Unified Cluster was the best to fight against the numbers of the Swarm. She would be best if she could lock down this one opponent.

This hadn’t been planned, so she had to hope certain others would understand what she was doing. Trying to project her voice without being overheard would be nearly impossible since her energy was weak and enemies were everywhere.

Her left ribs cracked. She caught an arm. Energy twisted, but her modified skin allowed her to negate some of that energy and tighten her grip around the arm. Her nearly faceless opponent yanked so hard she almost thought they would tear their own arm off. Perhaps they would have, if they knew what was coming. Nthanda gave up her bow entirely, catching the other arm and wrestling her opponent. She couldn’t manage to overpower their energy entirely, or she could have just ripped off their head. She really hoped her expectations weren’t misplaced. She couldn’t feel the watchful gaze she expected.

-----

Domination cultivators were the greatest threat that the upper realms had. Everyone recognized that. Anton was more than happy to get rid of another one… it was just a lengthier process than perhaps Nthanda anticipated.

It took only a few seconds to send his will out through the lower realms. Each of his stars began to respond, strengthening in the pattern that only had true meaning within his mind. To Anton, the two long branches that looped around at the end were a bow. A line down the middle was an arrow. It was nothing more than a mental construct, but so was much else of cultivation.

He hadn’t done it as a Unity cultivator. Not a single time. Even with his injuries, Anton felt how much more it was. The people of the lower realms weren’t split between those who had gone to fight and those that didn’t. No. All those that remained behind had their purpose, keeping everything as it should be. And they willingly offered their devotion, through their local stars.

It was almost too much. Anton had trouble forming it into something cohesive. Then his attack launched outward, far surpassing the speed of light. It cut through subspace, following along the temporary tides that had been put in place. Soon, he could feel the upper realms fighting against him. It wanted to keep him out. He normally wouldn’t mind, but he had people he cared about in the upper realms. They were fighting over the border, and Anton knew they would soon be fighting around the Scarlet Alliance.

He could at least take out one individual, even with his injuries. He was going to have a million doctors yelling at him after this, but he didn’t care.

His arrow pierced through the side of his target- going front to back would have resulted in hitting Nthanda, and there was no gentle dispersion of so much energy at a close distance like that. He tore apart the body and cultivation base of the Domination cultivator like it was paper, and his attack flowed into the depths of the Swirling Swarm cultivators before he released it.

Too many lives were lost. The world would have been far better if they were raised to be something more than instruments of war. Maybe in the future, the upper realms could come to understand the possibility.

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