The size of ‘arena’ Chidi needed to fight against Deep Purr had been relatively small. Chidi preferred his battles to not be terribly wide ranging, and the meerkat ultimately ended up the same. Using an actual arena had been unnecessary for the task, they simply needed an area where they could afford to damage the surroundings.

It was relatively fortunate timing that within Rutera’s system there was an old orbital platform about to be decommissioned. Of course, that wasn’t so uncommon considering their various planets, but convenient nonetheless. A traditional arena was lacking certain features, like the ability to destroy it. The formations would also make things more difficult than necessary for Chidi, who was already at a disadvantage for having to transition back to lower energy.

All of that plus the fact that Ty Quigley preferred a much larger area to battle saved them the trouble of going several systems out to find an unoccupied rocky planet that they could cut up. It might have been worth it, but they were both happy to save the weeklong round trip.

The instant they had met in person, their sole topic of discussion was when and where they would battle- not if they would. That was never in question.

Ty Quigley clutched his sword by his side. For various reasons, he had decided not to make use of his ship in their battle. If he were trying to win at all costs he would be willing to bring it out, but he wasn’t interested in seeing what damage Chidi could do to it in a moment of Negation. He wanted it intact for vital battles. Besides, they would both learn the most in direct conflict.

“It’s a shame she’s gone,” Ty said, looking vaguely towards the upper realms.

Chidi nodded. “She left a permanent mark. We’ll make use of it somehow when we return there next.” There was no question in Chidi’s mind that the conflict with the Citadel of Exalted Light wouldn’t continue. It was simply a matter of when.

With only a silent agreement, their battle began. The two moved suddenly, Ty Quigley’s steps carrying him past Chidi in an instant. Their swords clashed as he passed, and then he was coming in from behind. He moved much like his ship, which also included the sudden changes in velocity he had mastered long before.

Chidi found himself having to deal with a much wider area of energy flow than normal as Ty Quigley sprang hundreds of meters forward over and over. Deflecting one or a few attacks at a time was well within his capability, but he knew he needed to take control of the situation. He moved from the open plaza where they had begun towards some still-standing structures.

The buildings did little to limit Ty’s movements, as he simply cut them out of his way. But Chidi could work with that change for at least the slightest restrictions on his opponent. And the greater number of surfaces allowed him to subtly carve useful formation markings to begin manipulating the flow of energy. He had to assume most of his work would be destroyed in their battle, but he had various routes to move forward with his end goal.

The weaknesses of Negation was still clear in Chidi’s mind, which was why he was facing against opponents that were conscious of how to fight him. If they didn’t actively try to make the energy chaotic, he could achieve negation easily. But then he’d never get better at it. He couldn’t always count on a well set up formation to deal with people like Zaur, and if he did have perfect circumstances he needed to be enough better to actually kill them instead of simply cutting off a couple fingers.

Though Ty only moved in straight lines, he still ‘circled’ around Chidi as he pleased and forced him to stay on his toes. But Chidi saw a pattern he could work with. He might not even need Negation. The continuation of the pattern would bring Ty to attack him from back and to his left. Obviously Ty would react to his counter, but Chidi was prepared to lock down his movements.

A blade was thrust towards him, but he twisted his body low and swept his blade, copies of it swinging from several different angles. And Ty disappeared from his senses completely. Then Chidi had to directly block an attack coming from above.

A foolish mistake. Chidi knew that battles involved all dimensions, but Ty had lured him into thinking about their fight as only existing on the flat plane of the orbital platform. It was after that the two of them began tearing into the main structure. Chidi should have probably taken the battle there earlier, as he did well in encapsulated areas with many surfaces.

Minutes later, they found themselves standing among carved up fragments of the superstructure. Chidi was having trouble setting up Negation, but at least he was matching Ty blow for blow. But he could only keep that up for so long.

Finally the moment came. He caught Ty’s sword, twisting it out of the grip of his right hand and forcing it away. It would take him a moment to swing back, while Chidi’s attack still had forward momentum. He had actually been dancing around the moment of Negation, since Ty could take advantage of that moment as well.

His sword thrust forward, stabbing between Ty’s ribs- and slipping alongside his vital organs. An easily healed wound that displayed the potential for a fatal strike- and not one where his strike was manipulated to cause little damage. But Chidi had also felt something at that moment, and a loud sound ringing in his ear and a twinging pain in his gut, right between his heart and liver.

Energy returned to the scene, and Chidi carefully withdrew his blade from Ty’s chest. Meanwhile, he took stock of his own- and the small weapon in Ty’s hand. “What is that?” Chidi asked.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“A gun, obviously.”

“Not a normal gun, though,” Chidi replied.

Ty nodded. “This is a projectile blade shooter. Much better than reshaping traditional bullet profiles.”

Chidi saw the opening that was a couple centimeters wide, made to shoot flat discs. How hadn’t he noticed the weapon before?

“I see your confusion. You said you wanted this to be as difficult as possible. So I made someone enchant these to not be blades.”

“And then…” Chidi shook his head. “They were once again blades when there was no energy. So I could only sense them at that instant.”

“Right,” Ty grinned. “I do use something like this other times as well. Maybe I’m a terrible swordmaster, but hey… I was raised with guns and ships.”

“I should have noticed it,” Chidi said. “But the question is, who wins this? Is it a tie?”

“I believe I’d call this a mutual defeat. If you don’t survive, you don’t win. And a tie assumes some sort of continued existence afterwards as well. In my opinion, anyway.”

“Right,” Chidi said. “How about we get stitched up and do this again as soon as possible? There’s still a lot of this platform intact.”

-----

The Twin Soul Sect was a pretty terrible neighbor, and Ratna had tolerated them because she had to. Before becoming a Domination cultivator, she’d lived in constant fear of them. After, it was not much better. Even if she had been able to kill Sudin, he would have simply died normally. There was no way he would actually battle with someone he thought could destroy his soul.

Ratna hadn’t fully believed it either- though she was making preparations from the moment of his death regardless. If Sudin had perished in a way he would return, he would be weakened for a time.

She knew they had various contingencies for their reincarnations. Most were simply placed into new bodies, rebuilding their cultivation from the ground up. Sudin had something better than that. But when there was sudden unexplained damage within Twin Soul Sect territory that they first tried to cover up and then tried to downplay, she knew his anchor was destroyed. So even if his soul survived and he somehow got back most of his cultivation… he would be vulnerable.

The Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance were the third sect to invade their territory. Not because she wasn’t ready, but because that was the optimal timing. Early enough to expand their borders and plunder, but not so early as to bring distrust from surrounding factions. The Trigold Cluster was nominally full of allies, after all. Turning on allies at the first sign of weakness was frowned upon. But the Twin Soul Sect had thrown their weight around too much, especially considering their previous prominence in the lower realms.

For all the good it did them. Ratna knew that there had been something up with the lower realms, but a complete victory and killing a Domination cultivator? That was outside of her wildest imagination.

While some were pushing for maximum territorial gains, Ratna focused her efforts on something they could sustain. And especially widening their territory away from the new Everheart System. If she had thought that he could pop up there from a seemingly desolate area, she would have destroyed the whole damn system. At least none of her best elders had been poached. A few other sects lost important individuals… and some had various vaults cleared out.

Ratna had no idea what he had promised, and she didn’t care. Nor was she participating in the efforts to destroy his system aside from token efforts to show the others. If the Guardians actually caught his attention, they would be the easiest for him to cause trouble for.

No, the Twin Soul Sect was much easier to deal with- and it had happened quite suddenly. Aside from shoring up her own borders, she led charges deep into their territory, scooping up their most precious resources. And that wasn’t what everyone else was thinking.

She needed resources infused with natural energy to train up future generations. And without a steady flow of disciples from the lower realms- not that the Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance had ever done anything but pick up stray ascension cultivators- those resources became even more critical. And with the invasion failing, it wouldn’t be just until the next cycle before they could acquire more. No, she had felt that final shot. Only fools would trespass in the lower realms.

So she needed to grab what she could from within Twin Soul Sect territory. If it was convenient she would also plunder other vaults, but that was her first priority. And she didn’t mind acting in person to accomplish it. The other Domination cultivators could chastise her all the wanted later, but she had already prepared reasonable enough excuses for the Guardian’s portion of the invasion. Aside from the Twin Soul Sect being garbage neighbors. Everyone knew that part.

So a particular insult from an elder on this planet, a stolen artifact on that planet… and soon enough she would have enough resources to secure the Veiled Brilliance for centuries.

But she would need to think about trading for more. To her understanding, the Scarlet Alliance had more resources of that kind than made any sense- especially since they didn’t participate in invasions either. Could they really have enough people ascending to keep up a steady flow from just what people carried on them?

She wasn’t quite certain of that. But they were quite exceptional. Getting proper spies in their territory was a pain and a half, but she knew they had a strong complement of ascended Integration cultivators. Including some very odd ones. Animals, even. Or beasts, since they were clearly intelligent.

Ratna also thought about a particular detail she’d heard. It was only in the form of a rumor, but it was worth considering. Durff had gone off on some sort of training expedition- that much was confirmed- and when he came back… he was an Augmentation cultivator. That part was less clear, but the fact that he was stronger was undisputed. Ratna knew her distant nephew was talented in his own way… but the fact that the Scarlet Alliance could pick him up and within just a couple centuries he was Augmentation or so close that people couldn’t tell the difference? That said something.

Perhaps she should visit. Not as herself, obviously. She couldn’t officially be seen interacting peacefully with them. But things would become more clear in person.