“Now then,” Chikere was lecturing Timothy and Catarina, “To keep these swords you have to want them more than these dead guys. Otherwise they might be able to pull them away from you, even into the next life.” Even though her energy wasn’t depleted to any serious extent, the two swords she lifted to them were trembling. “Because we’re long time friends, you two can have… number four and five.”

Catarina raised an eyebrow at the shaking, then smiled. “Why don’t we take um… some of the slightly less potent ones. I’d rather not have to match wills against a Life Transformation sword cultivator, regardless of their relative degree of attachment.”

A great sigh of relief came from Chikere. “Oh. Thanks.” The swords she was holding immediately stopped trembling as they found their way to her side. “You hear that four through seven? I’ll be taking care of you from now on.” Chikere tossed two others to Timothy and Catarina- using just her energy as her arms were still bound. “These two should suit you most of that batch.”

“How did you find us?” Timothy asked.

Anton laughed, “I’m going to make a bet… that she was here for the swords.”

“Hey!” Chikere frowned, “I also came this way because I heard you guys had come to Facraona!”

“And you hurried towards this battle because…?” Anton dragged out the question.

“Because they had nice swords,” she admitted. “But when I was close enough to tell it was you it was also for that. And the first thing I did was save your life!”

“Well,” Anton shrugged, “Probably just an arm or two, but since I don’t have the expertise to reattach them… that’s pretty close.” He looked pointedly at her arms. “What happened there?”

“I temporarily lost the use of my arms for the sake of Number One!” Catarina grinned as she floated a blade in front of her. “I still needed Elder Vasu’s help though.”

Just looking at it made Anton hurt. “That’s… a powerful sword.”

“It’s probably killed more people than I have,” Chikere nodded. “Though I’m pretty sure most of those weren’t in the hands of this guy. He was good, but not that good. If our cultivations were the same, he wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“You know,” Anton said, “I would have expected your combat prowess to drop more with your arms out of commission. It seems they don’t really matter that much with your style though.”

Chikere shrugged, “You’re half right on that. Sure, there’s not that much difference in my effectiveness holding a blade in my hands or just with my energy… but it’s still a significant factor. Because if I have a blade in my hands, people focus on that more than the others. And they have to, if it’s the best blade.”

As they talked she was stitching up her wounds. None were deep, but it was best to stop the bleeding as soon as possible. Even some of the shallow wounds were only a few millimeters from being critical, as the difference between skin on the neck being sliced and major veins being opened was miniscule. But that was how she fought, and perhaps all of the strongest cultivators, riding the line between life and death and consistently managing to come out on the winning side.

-----

The Eternal Sword Hall had been the largest threat in the area, with the invaders suppressed by Paradise. Upon hearing of their defeat, the disconnected sects and cities were more willing to listen to calls to join together. It was difficult for them to immediately trust each other, and everyone was reminded that a mere few decades earlier the thought of combining the cultivators of any individual nation was ridiculous, let alone nations that kept separate borders.

Having seen how unified people fared versus the invaders, Facraona was fortunate to have received the aid of Paradise. Otherwise, it might have been systematically taken apart. Even as it was it got pretty close.

The next week involved the small but powerful group visiting as many major population centers as they could, cities and sects and isolated clans. From those places the news would be spread. Only a very small portion of those local to the world were a problem, and everyone else had to stand united against the invaders. There was only so much that could be done in the way of fancy speeches, however, and the people of the country would ultimately have to be the ones to pull themselves together after some encouragement. The Pink Pollen Sect had taken serious damage in the battle with the Eternal Sword Hall, but they also gained great sympathy towards the Order and were the first from Facraona to agree to join with the rest of the alliance.

During the same time period, others had contacted Droca, especially Cruhull in the northeast. They were one of the larger populations in the region and nearly directly south of the Cragtooth mountains where the largest known grouping of invaders was currently holing up. With their assistance they could pressure the enemy from three sides, and it might be possible to completely surround them if necessary. Though they were already loathe to move further north as that brought them closer to the sea, and potentially Paradise.

-----

Though immediately swarming the mountains to deal with the invaders was appealing in one sense, it put too much risk on the attackers. The force in the mountains was more than powerful enough to wipe out a handful of the strongest local sects. In a defensive position it would be hell to root them out. They couldn’t just be left alone forever, but an immediate assault seemed unwise. Even pressing them to tire them out was a risk, as they had already set up defensive formations by the time anyone was aware of their presence.

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More importantly, they seemed content to wait. Nobody was happy to allow them to stay, but every sect and nation was already reeling from the first violent month of all out war. With the abilities of cultivators to move large armies quickly, more than a month of active conflict without a resolution was already an eternity. Even of those groups that survived so far, many had casualty rates from a third to a half of their total forces. Many were deaths, but some were injuries that could be recovered from… eventually.

Cultivators from the majority of Brogora with the notable exceptions of Estary and Ambati were gathered together to finalize their plans. “I believe we should move as soon as possible,” Elder Sarka of the Glorious Flame Palace declared. “We cannot know how the situation might develop if we wait, and delaying might allow them to organize another offense on anywhere they choose. Perhaps even Facrona, if they figure out a way to deal with… Paradise.”

Not quite directly opposite in the room stood elder Adelina, “The Frostmirror sect… agrees, for once. The longer we delay, the longer our fields lie fallow. The devastation wrought by these invaders cannot be truly recovered from until they are ousted, or preferably slain to the last of them.”

“It is even possible for them to flee back into the stars?” the woman who was the representative of Heavy Mountain Gate asked. “One would think they would have done so by now if they could… otherwise we should be wary of some trick they are preparing for.”

“A reasonable conclusion,” Elder Adelina nodded, “However, we do have some intel on the matter. Though it stopped being a primary matter of concern after the invasion began, those with keen senses will note that the stars have not yet returned to their normal status. There is still a rift of sorts between the worlds that has not yet closed. Yet it is not fully open either. Based on our observations and… some careful questioning… we have determined that for the length of a season it is possible for entities to come from afar. The following season the barriers weaken in the other direction, making it easier to return.”

Catarina interjected, “They came slightly into that time period, for the sake of ease of passage and stability.”

“So there could be another wave of invaders?” someone asked.

“It is possible but…” Adelina shook her head, “Unlikely. We have received no indication that anyone was expecting further arrivals. Communications likewise seem limited in direction. Certain sects were offered bribes at the beginning of the time period… though few were so foolish as the Eternal Sword Hall to actually accept them.”

Chikere spoke up at that point. “They did receive weapons of value to them, but I don’t imagine they were of significant value to the invaders. They simply intended to stoke more local conflict so they could clean up afterwards and take everything for themselves. The real swords they kept for themselves. Compare these,” Chikere said, floating swords number one, two, and four. “See the difference in quality? We are able to make better weapons here, though only by a small margin.”

“I, um…” Elder Adelina looked at the swords. “I have some sense of what you mean but perhaps you should explain for the others.”

“Right,” Chikere commented, “Well, number one here. It was from one of their ascended individuals. A powerful swordmaster, and an unmatched blade. Number two here once belonged to Vianne, until her defeat by swordmaster Rahayu’s blade. It was made by a smith from this world, though perhaps using techniques we were mostly unaware of at the time. The Twin Soul Sect was related to its creation.” Chikere flicked another sword to float between the others. “Number three here was made purely by skills and techniques developed in our world. And number four through seven here were the prizes given to the Eternal Sword Hall. Fine blades, but certainly not the best the so-called upper realms could provide.”

“That’s right,” Adelina continued. “Though they seem to have high quality herbs and materials, what they seem to be lacking are materials that develop more easily in the presence of ‘lower energy’ along with herbs and beasts that thrive here. This was guessed previously, but can easily be seen in their actions- how even now they are stripping bare the mountains and digging beneath them as we watch and wait.”

“And if we don’t act quickly,” Sarka pointed out, “We can’t be certain what will happen with Estary. If the invaders join forces, we might be in trouble. Aicenith seems to be handling its own issues for the moment, with enough certainty to allow Chikere and others from the Million Sword Vault to join us, but there is no guarantee the situation won’t change for the worse. We need to crush these invaders. Though I won’t suggest an immediate attack, but rather whatever we ultimately deem to be most effective.”

Catarina gestured to the map of the Cragtooth mountains. “They enemy forces are located in this region. It is a rather large area, up to tens of kilometers on a side. It is not exact, and likely somewhat smaller than this representation, but it wasn’t possible to get precise measurements for obvious reasons. Efforts have already begun to discern weaknesses in their defensive formations and organization of their forces within. If they were actually spread out throughout the area and we could quickly break through the formation… we might be able to sweep over smaller pockets of enemies. But if we make an attempt and it fails, we’ll ultimately weaken our own position.”

Discussion of various methods began. The Cragtooth mountains were difficult to traverse, though there were several routes up. Coming from the northern part of the range would involve a longer duration of difficult navigation that would be especially hard on the weaker cultivators among them, but it would also allow them to avoid the most difficult portions of the journey under the watchful eye of the enemy. Unfortunately it would also mean taking several days extra to begin the assault, which would likely be quite obvious and allow the enemy to prepare a combined defense.

Knowing that the invaders were from various factions it was proposed that discord might be sewn among them, but unfortunately that relied on having a safe method of communication with them along with some knowledge of how the involved sects got along. Bits and pieces had been gleaned through interrogations of captured prisoners, but ultimately they didn’t have enough to go on. It was kept in mind for use during the actual battles, since they might be able to count on certain sects being marginally slower to aid certain others, but there was nothing that could be done immediately.

The ultimate goal was also discussed. While it was possible to pressure them from Facraona in the east as well as the areas to the south and west, it was also valuable to potentially let them push eastward. If they came into range of Paradise it would be of great detriment to them. Facraona of course didn’t want to allow them into their land even for the duration of a battle, and it had to be admitted that they didn’t need any more inland salty seas. One was enough, even if it was rather small. Still, it had to be considered as a factor.

Discussions went late into the night and dragged on through the next day before something solid was ultimately put together.