Retreating in the middle of a battle was mortifying, but Luksa prioritized her life above all else. She couldn’t understand how she was unable to crush mere Integration cultivators. Was she so weak? No, that couldn’t be. They were simply abnormal. Though her energy had felt sluggish. Perhaps their formation master had been hidden somewhere behind the scenes. Yes, that had to be it.
What was she going to do about those with her on the ship? They would know. Ugh, and he would hear about this. How troublesome.
Still, at least she was currently safe. As the ship traveled between systems it was impossible to-
The ship suddenly jerked. Then it split in half. That would solve one of her problems, but clearly there was another mess to be dealt with.
Luksa drifted out of the ship, weapon at the ready. There were only two enemies. One the swordsman who had bisected the vessel. The other… “You!”
“Me,” Everheart grinned widely.
“I thought you were still hiding away like a coward.”
“Oh, you flatter me,” Everheart spread his arms wide. “I would dearly love to, but I have some business.”
“Going to kill me, then?”
“I obviously can,” Everheart shrugged. “But I’d prefer if you just come with us.”
“... Why?”
“Because you might survive that way. And I won’t have to get my hands dirty.”
“What do you want?” Luksa gripped her weapon tightly.
“Everything. But this time I’d settle for information. I want to know about the last of your little group of saints.”
“Everyone knows about us,” Luksa said.
“Oh really? Even the ninth individual who was just with you?” Everheart’s aura permeated the whole area. Though Luksa knew she couldn’t escape to begin with. “And I want to know about the other one.”
“What if there are two more?”
“There aren’t,” Everheart said confidently. “Now come. Tell me how you feel about them. I’m sure it will be enlightening.”
-----
The Harmonious Citadel was able to announce that the saint of light had returned unscathed. Though the Scarlet Alliance knew that was only true because he never showed up to begin with. As for the morningstar saint, a public appearance convinced people of similarly lacking injuries… but something was odd about it. The Scarlet Alliance didn’t get eyes on it in person, but they were quite certain Luksa should have been injured. Perhaps she simply did well to not show it. They could only hope it hindered her recovery.
Within the council chambers of the Scarlet Alliance, the results were discussed. “We finally got them to reveal one,” Zazil said.
“A second Augmentation level light cultivator,” Tauno frowned. “They have their branch, of course, but I have the feeling that this one has the same origins as the first.”
It would be troublesome if the Exalted Quadrant continued to have an active hand in the Harmonious Citadel’s activities. It was already a problem that they’d infiltrated with the saint of light. The question was if this particular individual had been there all along, or what his purpose was. If he was simply another Augmentation member of the Harmonious Citadel kept hidden, then they would only have to worry how many more remained.
“Though they are doing their best to maintain their public image, they had to have known this attack would likely not be successful,” Velvet explained. “We must question what they meant to gain. We have appearances for the saints of light and morningstar, which leaves axe and shield unaccounted for. And of course, she of the dagger.”
“I’ll tear her apart next time,” Tauno commented.
“That would be quite beneficial for us,” Velvet said. “But of course, you surviving an assassination attempt still puts us ahead.” She surveyed the rest of the room. “Now then, what do we think they will do?”
“They need victories,” Zazil commented. “They will cut a straight line here and try to take us on.”
“You think they’re that desperate?” Catarina asked.
“They can’t afford to let us take them on individually like this.”
“That’s why we should keep it up,” Tauno declared. “We just have to push them a little further.”
“As long as it doesn’t take them over the edge,” Zazil said. “They still have a half dozen Augmentation cultivators who could cause untold destruction.”
-----
The first indication of something wrong came a few days later, and from an unexpected direction. Unexpected fleets coming in from the west. The only issue was that they did not appear to be Harmonious Citadel forces. If they had taken a long route about… well, they should have been spotted. But the same was true for the incoming fleets. They were only spotted a handful of systems away from Xankeshan, seemingly having avoided the majority of inhabited systems as they traveled.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
There was plenty of open space for a fleet to travel unnoticed, but they all had to replenish energy and stores of consumables within a system eventually. So either they had advanced knowledge of every populated system or they had greater capacity than typical ships. Or perhaps both. They were practically on the doorstep of Xankeshan, and it wasn’t just a few ships but a fleet of hundreds. The exact size could only be approximated, but it had to be at least that many. That meant tens of thousands of cultivators, and unless someone was planning to throw away disciples they should be in Essence Collection or higher. Cultivators below Spirit Building would die on any higher level battlefield without anyone even having to intentionally target them.
“I don’t know how they made it so far,” Velvet apologized. “And the lack of other information is likewise my responsibility. Just because we weren’t expecting an attack from the west…”
Zazil shook her head. “Many of the territories there are part of our alliance. Your policies can only do so much. Either way, what matters is how we will respond to them.”
“Are they coming here?” Catarina asked. “As in, Xankeshan? Or might they be heading past, into the Harmonious Citadel’s territory to support them?”
“I don’t know,” Velvet admitted. “We only know of their existence, and little else. But we can surmise they are not friends of ours, or they wouldn’t bother with secrecy.”
“We can recall some of our fleets from neighboring systems,” Timothy said. “But I think we would do best to rely on what we already have here.”
Tauno had a pertinent question. “Are they actually a threat? The barriers around Xankeshan are not to be trifled with.”
“They would need at least a handful of Augmentation cultivators,” Catarina said. “Along with the armies, of course. If we could focus some of the devices Engineer Uzun has helped put together on just Augmentation cultivators, they wouldn’t make it through the barrier. And-” Catarina frowned. “Perfect timing strikes once more. Or perhaps it is best to say that there is constant trouble. An attempt was made to breach the barrier.”
“They’re here already?” Zazil asked, looking up towards the ceiling.
“No, it was an individual. Perhaps the dagger saint. If the two of you hurry you might catch her but…”
“But what?” Tauno asked.
“The barrier likely deflected whoever it was quite a distance away. I don’t feel any signs, but if the two of you would patrol together…”
They didn’t hesitate to go- but it seemed whoever it was knew they would have been noticed and thus quickly retreated. That was only the start of the troubles, but it was actually a good sign that the intrusion had been stopped.
-----
Attacks soon followed, not by the known incoming fleets but by a smaller coalition. However, it included at least the axe and shield saints, Abhilash and Eterna respectively. Abhilash was extremely obvious as he immediately attacked the barrier directly. Eterna supported him from the retaliatory effects.
“A perfect target right there!” Uzun sighed, “Yet blocked by one overly focused on defense. If only we could pick out the sneaky one…”
“You’re not worried about an assassin potentially having come through the barrier?” Catarina asked.
“Bah, you know as well as I the strength of the barriers. If someone could pass through, we would already be dead.” As he spoke he was adjusting settings on a computer.
“Can you kill him?” Catarina asked.
“Depends on how stupid they are. And of course on how well this is calibrated. Our two Augmentation cultivators will be necessary regardless. It will probably overheat.”
“I thought you said it was ready.”
“It is ready,” Uzun said. “I didn’t say it would melt. Which it should. If I weren’t controlling it myself.”
“Sorry. I haven’t gotten to see things like this in action… ever.”
“A fair point,” Uzun agreed. “What I can say for sure is that it is disconnected from the power sources of the barrier and everything else, so it will not weaken our defenses unlike the inbuilt retaliations here. And it makes use of the sun’s light, which you should like.”
“Obviously,” Catarina said. “Did you ever meet my grandfather?”
“Anton? Yes, but unfortunately I never got to see his powers in person. Ah, here we go,” Engineer Uzun grinned. “We’d better get on it, before that big fleet shows up.”
-----
Abhilash was under no illusions that he could take down the barrier of Xankeshan himself. However, he could test it for flaws, and as long as he did not exhaust himself then whatever damage he caused would be effective. He might simply drain their power stores, but it was costly to replenish such things compared to an afternoon cultivating for himself. Going on the offense to keep them on the back foot was the important thing.
The local fleets seemed afraid to challenge him, which was too bad because he was looking forward to chopping them up.
“Can’t you do more?” Eterna complained. “It’s not even fighting back.”
“Remember how long this place stood in the control of Everheart, in the guise of his tomb. At that time he allowed people to descend to the surface, but it was still impossible to circumvent the trials he had in place. Now, that same power simple covers the whole place. Our formation masters should be working on methods to bring it down. Perhaps you would like to add your own efforts?”
Eterna shook her head. “I must remain vigilant. Unless you wish me to leave you to die.”
“Bah. Their Augmentation cultivators are still a quarter of the planet away. What can they do?”
The answer came a short time later, after perhaps another half hour of the man battering the barrier. A sudden buildup of energy on the planet below, though quite some distance away. Nothing that should threaten them, but Eterna had a bad feeling. She readied her shield… and the skies lit up as the world caught aflame.
How…? Eterna couldn’t comprehend the composition of energy. It felt like… light. Simple light and nothing more. It was not held together by a cultivator’s energy, though there was some guidance far below.
She’d felt it before, from the new ships being used. But this was the first time she’d felt something of such magnitude.
Still, she didn’t have to fully understand it to block it. She held in place, protecting herself and Abhilash. Then a fraction of a second later, the beam changed its angle of attack. It wasn’t trying to circumvent her defenses, but instead ignoring her entirely. It simply chopped through the ships waiting nearby, with no chance at all for her to respond. And the Augmentation cultivators Zazil and Tauno were now much closer.
“We must retreat,” she told Abhilash.
“Tsk.” He clicked his tongue. “We should have simply focused all our forces here long ago instead of waiting. It is shameful that the Harmonious Citadel had to fight over scraps of land.” Even though he said that, he did not resist as Eterna pulled him away. She should have been able to protect the ships, but without them they’d have to return to the rest of their fleet. They didn’t want to risk fighting the Augmentation cultivators without the rest of their support… and certainly not with the weapon below as another factor.