The western war wasn’t suddenly going to stop and wait for reinforcements- that would be far too much time during which the enemy had the initiative. Nor were any reinforcements strictly necessary, as their battle power wasn’t lacking.
Along with the void ants- which could be avoided- they had found several more ascension energy cannons. Rather than attempting to infiltrate the areas to take out the cannons, they simply planned to avoid certain parts of the planet at the moment. If the enemy had a way to rapidly redeploy said weapons, they would adapt.
Before beginning the next assault, Aerona once more attempted her part. Their approach was highly visible, so a few moments for diplomacy wouldn’t ruin some sort of surprise. And if she could actually accomplish something, it would be worth more than a slight tactical advantage.
Aerona’s energy easily spread about the planet. Their formations weren’t set up to block low intensity energy such as that used to project sound, though they did still slightly restrict her. However, Aerona wasn’t bothered. “Why do you persist in your aggression? Your Exalted Ones in the upper realms sent their best to die. Your remaining tricks won’t benefit you.”
Though Aerona had countless books full of arguments, she knew that ultimately few would be convinced by her words. However, that wasn’t her goal- though if they happened to stumble into a group willing to negotiate, it was another matter. Instead, she was aiming to develop her abilities in a particular way.
A few verbal responses came from various parts of the planet- unorganized shouting, but she was able to filter them easily enough. That was actually quite revelatory.
“Nobody is in charge,” Aerona said. “Not really. And they are still quite unwilling to surrender, despite the… previous damage they sustained.”
“... Why?” Devon asked.
“It seems they still believe themselves superior. Perhaps our retreat and following delay seemed like hesitation instead of preparations for a final assault on this planet.” Aerona shrugged. “Perhaps you were too tame before.”
“I’m not really an expert at mass combat,” Devon admitted. “I think the Unified Cluster will be more effective in that regard.”
“We know that. They don’t. And unlike the Hardened Crown, these fellows aren’t just hardheaded.”
“Right. So… how did it go?”
“I’m slightly closer. Perhaps you might even say I was already effective here- the sentiment for resistance still exists planetwide, despite the massive wreck caused by their own failures. Regardless, we can continue our assault without worries.”
“I suppose that’s good,” Devon said. “Though it would be nice if they would have surrendered. I didn’t think they would be as bad as the Twin Soul Sect.”
“Perhaps they will change their mind soon.”
-----
The assault on the planet began again shortly following. The planet-wide barrier was significantly weakened due to the fact that a chunk of the planet had been blown off, unbalancing it as a whole. That made battering their way through in whatever areas they pleased much more straightforward.
Rather than contributing directly, Devon spread his energy around the whole planet, his World Encompassing Chains creating a suppressive atmosphere- for their enemies, of course. Their allies would find it quite helpful. It wasn’t as flashy as capturing an enemy leader in his chains or causing a cannon to explode, but it was effective.
A small boost compounded greatly with their ships, as each individual fed into the greater Confluence cultivators- or those in similar positions. The enemy’s long ranged attackers were quickly targeted, being taken out by orbital bombardments. Only a small portion of the planet was actually being targeted, since they wanted to avoid the ascension cannons, but that was to the benefit of the Alliance- they were able to concentrate their forces.
It didn’t seem that any of the other planets were willing to send their fleets to support them. The Lower Realms Alliance had been operating beyond the level of Life Transformation cultivators in space for more than a full cycle, and though the enemy had a numerical advantage without their tricks from the upper realms they were at a serious loss.
Within an hour, they were putting boots on the ground- they had many soldiers who were better in individual combat than ship-to-ship. Another hour later… and most of their forces had lifted off. Not because they were losing, but because they had confirmed something important.
Just because they could fight void ants didn’t mean they wanted to- so once they confirmed their presence they lifted off. Then the locals had a problem- once they released the void ants, there wasn’t much they could do. Devon noticed that they tried to guide the void ants to some sort of containment area with pheromones of some sort… which massively backfired.
It was like someone throwing a huge speaker that yelled ‘come here, it’s safe’ in the middle of a battlefield. It conveyed a message people wanted to hear, perhaps, but it was also completely unbelievable. And even if the local void ants seemed somewhat more feral, they were still intelligent. They sensed where everything had come from- and without the Alliance on the ground, they simply moved towards the largest sources of energy remaining. That was the local barriers and cultivators.
The Alliance didn’t just end their assault, though. Instead, they focused on aerial assaults while the various areas were under siege by their own last ditch attempts. If the Alliance had been surprised by the void ants they might have had a slower response, but it was still the easy call. Even if not every cultivator under their command could fly, their ships were able to pick up everyone quite easily- and those who couldn’t fly could at least jump ten or twenty meters up to a waiting vessel.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Weaker cultivators simply wouldn’t be deployed as ground forces, as their numbers would be most effective as part of a whole. The Numerological Compact’s ship designs had been iterated upon, and it was possible for a single Confluence cultivators to control the entire ship or for individual segments to make use of the weaponry in their own sections. Ultimately, they could focus on single powerful targets or dozens to hundreds of different targets, combining the powers of hundreds of cultivators to tens of thousands into a greater whole. The hive minds were especially good at multitasking while keeping in mind the battlefield as a whole.
Soon enough, the local enemy forces crumbled. With footholds established, the Alliance then began to push to combine their controlled area, connecting their various landing zones. That did mean in some cases moving on the ground or flying low, but if more void ants were deployed they would already be ready. It would be one thing if it was a coordinated ambush by the locals- but with the void ants not having any loyalty their deployments were usually worse for the locals.
When their forces got close to Ascension cannons- close in the global sense, at least- Devon was ready. And this time, he actually managed to bind some instead of causing them to explode. The Exalted Quadrant cultivators were not thrilled at that, but despite how massive the cannons were, Devon could easily rip one at a time out of their hands and up into space, where they could drift into Alliance controlled territory, out of the way.
Of course, a few were fired at their cultivators. The results were devastating… though not only for the alliance. With their forces intermingled on the planet, they destroyed their own buildings and took out their own people as well- perhaps even more than the attackers. After all, the weapons were not precise, and the alliance knew not to group up. Even with their numerous fleets, the majority of targets weren’t them.
Aerona returned to the planet as the battle dragged on. “They expect to die even if they surrender,” she commented to Devon. “Unfortunately, I am currently unable to impress upon them an alternative idea.”
“... This seems quite abnormal,” Devon said. “I would expect them to be more self-interested and taking any chance to survive.”
“Perhaps they’ve been effectively brainwashed. We will learn much from capturing them.”
Devon nodded. “Alright. Are you sure you want to remain on the battlefield?”
“I’ve seen it before. And I think I have to,” Aerona said. “I’m not bothered by death. Well… ours, perhaps.”
-----
Far away, on Rutera itself, the greatest research centers of the Lower Realms Alliance were hard at work. The other core worlds were nearly as good with technology as Rutera, but it was difficult to catch up with their long history. Those focused on the topics wanted easy access to others in their fields, and thus they at the very least tried to establish themselves in the same system. Information was shared to those who needed it, but concentrating some aspects together was simply more efficient.
There was a split on whether what they were trying to do would be more effective from a pure tech standpoint or a combined tech-formation standpoint. Pure formations would be the worst, because they were trying to overcome set formations.
The particular problem they were working on was based on information sent from the upper realms. Specifically, detailed plans for ascension chambers- both for some Exalted Quadrant Sects and some in the Trigold Cluster. Verifying the information wasn’t possible without infiltrating their enemies… but the source was something that couldn’t be ignored.
Rutera finally felt Ceretos’ pain. Everheart hadn’t even grown up on their planet, but he was causing them headaches. Some portion of them were aware that he had actually been there- post ascension and his retreat to Ceretos to try to recover- but only those who needed to know. But given their connection, nobody could be unaware of how much trouble Everheart caused- and how much people couldn’t just ignore him. Because his knowledge was extremely valuable.
Their plans might not work. In fact, it wasn’t just a single plan. Either way, the goal was to do something to mess up the enemy’s Ascension Chambers. Making sure there was nobody to ascend was also something of a goal, but if they could directly damage the upper realms? They’d do it.
All of the current designs involved creating a sympathetic connection of some sort. It would be best to have cultivators of the right style ascend within some sort of device they made. The chances that they would willingly do so were slim, so second best was having those who were close and pushing them over the edge artificially. Artificial ascensions were a terrible idea, because even if someone survived the process they would be less potent afterwards. But that was only if you cared about their survival or continued ability to cultivate. If they were being used as a weapon, it really didn’t matter.
There were some ethical concerns. However, it also had to be considered that they were currently at war and the upper realms had previously attempted to exterminate them entirely. Killing a few of their people was only justified. The damage that might be caused in the upper realms was questionable, but there were certain sects that they could easily justify destroying entire planets if it worked. For example, the Citadel of Exalted Light was a perpetual enemy of their inter-realm alliance.
There were more bitter enemies of the Twin Soul Sect… but their destruction had happened top-down. Though there was a sort of connection, as their particular versions of ascension chambers also happened to be related to their reincarnations. Both processes involved capturing souls that had certain cultivations… it was just that one of them also came with a body.
Since the Twin Soul Sect collapsed, however, the Citadel of Exalted Light was widely recognized as the biggest threat. Not in the lower realms, perhaps, but to the Scarlet Alliance, in which many people had friends and family that they cared about- and which many people who still intended to ascend planned to join.
But along with them, there were many sects that people wanted to cause trouble in. That included the Golden Huntsmen. In fact, despite them only focusing on a single planet and that particular planet having completely annihilated the invaders during the last cycle… public sentiment put them almost as high- or perhaps low- as the Citadel of Exalted Light. Because nobody wanted to see cute animals killed. Not that they would, because the people of Akrys were also cultivators who could defend themselves. But that didn’t necessarily change how people felt about it.
But before picking a target, they needed to be fairly confident what they would do would work. Fortunately for them, brilliant minds in the upper and lower realms were working on the task, and motivated by the thought that someone else might finish before them. And with the time lag involved, they might claim to be first and find out they were six months late. Not a world ending result, but embarrassment and competitive spirit were good motivators.