Perhaps in the future travel between the upper and lower realms would be more manageable while still keeping the lower realms safe, but for the moment they were quite limited. That meant as much as they might like to focus on companionship, they also had to cover serious matters. They once again returned to such topics, as it was much more comfortable without time lag and the worries of potential interception.

They spoke in general of the threat of the great factions in the upper realms, but eventually the topic came back to the Citadel of Exalted Light in particular. The Scarlet Alliance had no doubt that they would be trouble into the future, even if everything else went well and the other sects ignored them.

Timothy spoke first. “Our assault on Zaur’s anchor was more successful than we truly hoped it would be… but there is no chance we will find the area so lightly defended in the next centuries. Thus, even if we catch Zaur away from there it will be difficult to threaten him.”

“It is not a matter we expect you can aid us with directly,” Catarina said. “But guidance would be appreciated.”

The Great Queen had her own style, and she signed some questions. “How durable is the material itself? It is chewable? Does energy extend outside of the Citadel?”

“Unfortunately,” Catarina said. “They will likely be on guard against void ants, considering your appearance during the end of the cycle. As for the material itself, it is unlikely most void ants would be able to damage it. Though it always had energy defenses. The question is, do you believe your void ants could withstand the energy of a Domination cultivator?”

The Great Queen pondered for a time. “Myself, certainly. And a few others. But not nearly enough to expect we can cause any serious damage on our own.”

Gabriela, who was bonded to The Wayfarer, added her own suggestion. “Is there some way to negate the energy of an anchor such that conventional explosives could damage it?”

“Unlikely,” Catarina said. “Koralo’s experience told us much. It isn’t simply a structure powered by gathered energy. It is, in essence, part of the Domination cultivator. That active control would require setting up a formation around it… and if we have unrestricted control of the area for such a long time that we can study it and determine exactly what would be required, then we could just destroy it in a more straightforward fashion.”

“What is the current state of your scouts?” Gabriela asked. “The ships, specifically. Are there any that could cloak themselves against enemy detection?”

“In most places, yes,” Timothy said. “But in the core system of the Citadel of Exalted Light? Perhaps not. Even Velvet’s group was detected. Though… that was by Lelka. She has given us what she knew about their defenses, but we must assume they have been enhanced. Though determining to what extent is a worthy assignment.”

“A smaller vessel would be good,” the Great Queen commented. “Minimal energy. And some of us, perhaps. Any who can independently fly and survive in a vacuum. As long as we do not touch the Citadel itself, we should be able to at least avoid triggering any formations.”

“It’s possible to make formations void ants can’t detect,” Catarina said carefully. “They’re… limited in scope. But if they have something like that, they might catch whoever you send, and that would put them on even higher alert.”

The Great Queen pondered for a few moments. “I have not heard of such formations. What are the chances they have something like that?”

“They were able to annihilate the presence of void ants in the upper realms,” Catarina said. “So we know at least their detection methods were quite effective.”

“Perhaps,” the Great Queen said. “Or perhaps there are more of my brethren hiding among them as normal ants. But these formations… you developed some of your own, didn’t you? Likely as a countermeasure in case we turned against you.” The Great Queen waggled her antennae in a nod. “Good. I would not wish to see any damage inflicted upon our allies by careless management of our people.”

“Would you call that careless management?” Anton asked.

“Absolutely. Void ants should be both loyal and intelligent. Those who fail on both counts would represent a failure in our system as a whole.”

“Interesting,” Anton said. “As for myself, I am afraid to say I cannot help you.”

“We know you can’t leave the lower realms…” Catarina began, “Nor would we expect anyone to assist directly. You’d all be much weaker.”

Anton nodded. “I simply thought I should bring it up since I could probably hit the Citadel, if I was able to observe it. But even then, Zaur would have to be weakened greatly for my contributions to be significant.”

“... You should bring up how you killed a Domination cultivator more,” Catarina said. “I subconsciously put the possibility out of my mind. Can you actually shoot that far?””

“It’s not particularly about distance,” Anton said. “I would need to connect to his energy somehow. Though that’s not the hardest part. I wouldn’t exactly be able to test my effectiveness without giving everything away, could I? Oh, and I wouldn’t expect anything of the sort from me in the near future except as an emergency. I’d rather not kill myself for nothing.”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Is it that bad?” Alva asked. “Obviously it couldn’t have been easy on you but…”

“It’s a matter of both energy and insight,” Anton said. “That was an exceptional circumstance. And the Tides of the World provided a connection that I relied on. Actually, that might be the biggest factor. Without that, upper energy would have annihilated my own rather swiftly.”

Catarina stroked her chin. “Perhaps we should look into how to get you that connection, then. At least as one of many avenues we explore over the next century or two. We can hope that Zaur lost more than simply fingers because of the damage that happened to the Citadel, but he’s not actually weak.”

“You should also reach out to that woman who wanted to kill him,” Anton said. “Ratna, was it? It might be worthwhile.”

“Working directly with someone from the Trigold Cluster?” Timothy asked. “That sounds… risky. It could signal that we’re part of them, even indirectly. If we had to face the Exalted Quadrant as a whole, they would flatten the Scarlet Alliance.”

“It’s not like they really respect the pact anyway,” Catarina said. “Maybe they wouldn’t care.”

“You could also use whatever shenanigans Everheart gets up to as a distraction,” Anton added. “At an appropriate time, of course. He’s… at least not as set against the Scarlet Alliance as the rest of the upper realms. Obviously I wouldn’t suggest actually trying to work together though, but he tends to cause large commotions.”

Anton avoided mentioning Vari or other details, as not everyone present would be aware of exact connections to Everheart. Personally Anton thought the man played up his status as a menace, but he did tend to cause trouble for even those who were agnostic towards him. He was even the catalyst of the conflicts between the Scarlet Alliance and the Citadel of Exalted Light. Though at least that indicated he might also act against them, if it was convenient.

-----

Time continued to pass, and the group from the upper realms needed to return. At least some of them should be seen out and about, and the journey was not a short one- especially with the limitations of their inter-realm ship.

But their departure was still a pleasant one, because it came with promises to return in the future, as it became practical. That was something they hadn’t been able to dream of when the first of them ascended.

“You must promise to return at least every century,” Anton said. That was still a very long time, and he would have preferred to visit more often. “Though… how hard would it be to set up some inter-realm teleportation?” he grinned.

That caught Catarina for a while. Then she shook her head. “Even if we permanently controlled a segment of the border… the complexities…” her words trailed off.

“That will have to wait until after we secure our safety,” Timothy said to his wife. He knew she couldn’t avoid interesting challenges, but there would be plenty of those. Their plan to take down the Citadel of Exalted Light was more of an alternative to what they were already doing, which was securing and expanding their own borders. Their territory hadn’t been challenged terribly often, but their defenses couldn’t stay static if they hoped to overcome the caliber of foes they seemed to be attracting.

-----

“More void ants in the upper realms?” Velvet had already had a significant amount of time to react to the suggestion, but she felt she had to express herself directly when people returned. “That’s an extremely risky proposal. Both for the void ants and anyone associated with them. There’s no way the Chaotic Conglomeration would accept them…”

“Who are you trying to convince?” Catarina asked. “It was not particularly our suggestion. It was merely one that was worth passing on.”

“Obviously we couldn’t introduce the idea openly,” Velvet continued. “Could you imagine? The Chaotic Conglomeration would be glad to draw attention away from themselves by declaring us as the source of void ants. Which would be even more terrible as we don’t have any to aid us.”

“Right,” Timothy agreed. “Though I do wish we did. Secrecy might be a problem, though.”

“I can’t imagine we maintain secrecy forever,” Velvet said. “But we need more time to establish ourselves. I can hardly believe I’m saying that, given how long it’s been and where we started but… the great powers have existed pretty much forever.”

“Mhm,” Catarina just nodded and let Velvet continue.

“The Spirit Slicing Sect might be alright with the void ants,” Velvet continued. “They’re… kind of similar. And we’ll have to slowly spread our connection to there regardless. It also does provide a fairly elegant solution to the whole secrecy thing. Though maybe then we should keep the void ants themselves secret?” Velvet shook her head. “It couldn’t be from everyone, though. They would need support to grow and spread. And having transportation assistance is rather critical for them.”

Finally, Velvet stopped for a moment.

“I still think it’s a crazy idea though,” she said.

Catarina raised an eyebrow. “Were you hoping one of us would try to convince you for or against it?”

“Obviously!” Velvet threw up her hands. “You’re the rational one.”

Catarina nodded. “Alright. It’s a bad idea for all those reasons you said.”

“Yeah,” Velvet nodded seriously. “You’re right. It’s terrible.” She frowned. “So why can’t I stop thinking about it?”

-----

If issues fully resolved themselves one at a time, the jobs of those on the council of the Scarlet Alliance would have been far too easy. However, if that was the case they might not even be needed at all.

But there were always issues to be resolved. Their discussions began with how they might potentially contact Everheart or Ratna- with the former being easier but less preferred. Then they moved on to trouble on the eastern border- the Silver Fang, in particular.

Velvet could imagine Lelka smirking once she heard about that, as if her suggestion that they should have caused trouble with them first would have prevented the current situation, which wasn’t clear at all. But the former Exalted Light cultivator was not privy to all the news of the council just yet.

The trouble at their eastern border wasn’t the only threat to Scarlet Alliance territory. Or rather, the Scarlet Midfields, as their territory only extended so far. News had come in that the southern border planets had higher rates of activity than expected- on both sides. Were the great powers looking to push into their territory, or simply scouring for more void ants?