Although it had been shown that the long term adaptability of individual void ants was significant, even allowing for self-directed evolution, Crossed Antennae feared that an adaptation that made her resistant to the numbing agent currently plaguing her would come too slowly. Though she did note the idea for the future, as having weaknesses was intolerable.

For the moment, however, she was unable to fly and thus stuck piddling around atop this stupid lake. No, it was more of a pond really.

She couldn’t believe she was betrayed by her own people. She should do something about that. It was too late for her to win a physical confrontation, but if they wanted to kill her they had already had the chance. Perhaps she could leverage that to her advantage.

Seriously, though, what was the purpose of bringing her here? ‘Relaxation’ was for those who couldn’t handle responsibility. For humans. And while humans were nice and all, they didn’t share her burden as a queen.

So what could she do here? Seeing she was surrounded by water and dirt, not much. Even so, she dipped her head down and picked up a droplet of water in her mandibles. She had grown large enough that the ‘drop’ she carried was hardly stable unlike the smaller ants, but it should be enough to completely cover one of her captors. And then what… she would escape past them or something?

Crossed Antennae stopped thinking about it and simply tossed the water. It landed about halfway to them. Well, that was going to take some practice to get used to. And since she had nothing else to do, practice she did.

A day later- after taking time to replenish herself with some of the food stored on her ‘island’- Crossed Antennae was confident in her abilities. She looked for the location of the four captors. Snips, Chops, Bullet, Fire. They would regret what they did, somehow.

She grabbed another dollop of water and flicked it with great precision, watching it sail towards Snips who… stepped aside, letting it splash next to her. Hmph, how audacious to disrupt the plans of her own queen.

Crossed Antennae followed up with a flurry of attacks, launching water at Snips at first then the rest of them. Some dodged out of the way, occasionally the more sword oriented ones sliced apart the droplets. Bullet was the first to counterattack, dipping into the outer edge of the lake and directly tossing a droplet into Crossed Antennae’s eyes.

She shook her head, dislodging the droplets from her head. So it was like that, huh? These fellows were going to get splashed for certain! They would rue the day they chose to stand against their queen!

-----

Water crashed over Chidi, but he let it sweep around and through him. His sword followed an arc in front of him, connecting with his opponent’s shield. The collision sent vibrations through both of them… and the energy around them. Angling for control of an entire area’s energy was a difficult task, especially with the interference of additional sources of energy beyond simply Chidi’s opponent.

Yet he didn’t let himself become discouraged. Indeed, if he had any hope of negating the energy of a sole domination cultivator, then the fluctuations from the battle of a few dozen Life Transformation and Integration cultivators shouldn’t be out of his reach at the moment. Yet he found himself always a single step short. Something stood in his way, a blockade he could neither cut through nor find his way around.

The shield pushed him back, a spear reaching for his midsection a moment later. Its length extended beyond the body of the weapon, the tip cutting into his chest even as he parried it to the side. The formation markings inside of Chidi flared as energy shifted.

His sword came once more from his right- his opponent’s left. Blade clashed with shield, but neither gave out. Yet that was not the intent of his assault to begin with. Ambient energy was redirected by the flow of weapons, armor, and formation markings. Even his opponent’s energy followed the flow, slicing behind the shield arm.

They staggered back, but Chidi considered it a failure. The intent had been to sever them in two, not merely make a marking on their armor. He’d underestimated the dampening effect of the material, misread the flow.

The oppressive ocean continued to try to drain him of his energy, but he disrupted the flow of the technique with a shift of his stance. This was not a moment to let his own power be drawn into his opponent.

Bouncing back from Chidi’s previous assault, his opponent forced another thrust of his spear. Chidi swiped up diagonally across his body, knocking the weapon away and opening him up for a return stroke above his opponent’s shield. Their energy that extended beyond the shield merely damped the momentum of the attack, and Chidi’s blade still reached the corner of the neck and shoulder, slicing through metal, flesh, and bone.

Then he searched for his next opponent.

-----

After the battle, Chidi felt a little off. He couldn’t quite describe what it was, but he felt closer to something. His fatigue was significant, his energy returning only sluggishly, but he felt closer to the world as a whole. Enlightenment had come in small ways he couldn’t quite describe.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He’d begun to grasp the flow of the Dessicated Deep, both its individual members and the organization as a whole. They were being pushed back, and one more solid victory would likely put them down for good. However, the fact that they had remained meant they were still confident they could achieve some form of victory, even with an Augmentation cultivator in attendance.

It honestly didn’t make much sense. Assuming that they somehow managed to win, despite their continuous setbacks over the last few months, the Scarlet Alliance wouldn’t just leave them alone after that. Instead, they’d send a much greater force to exterminate them. To Chidi, that indicated something greater happening, but he didn’t know nor care what it was.

Even the prospect of personal danger wasn’t a concern to him. He had no wish for death, of course, but he needed challenges. The more he was pressed, the more he could temper himself.

-----

Having fought alongside Ravina in a few battles, Chidi knew she was quite adept at large scale battles. Those who fought next to her were protected by her long spear, flashing to intercept enemy attacks and then following up to pierce through their hearts. Chidi admired her style, as it indicated a good understanding of flow. Of course, he was still more partial to swords instead of spears.

They had discovered the location of a fortress hidden on Gedale. It wasn’t quite clear when that happened- either the Dessicated Deep had begun the construction significantly before the current situation or they had found an already intact fortress upon the planet.

Either way, it was established enough to have proper defensive fortifications in place. Whether or not the formations bolstering their defenses were sufficient remained to be seen. Or not, as was the case for Chidi in particular.

While on the surface he looked to be mainly a swordmaster, he had long ago incorporated formations into his own body. He could certainly claim the title of formation master, though grandmaster wasn’t something he was comfortable with. Especially since his main point of comparison was his mother. He’d need at least another couple centuries to be comfortable placing himself in the same larger category.

Chidi understood how the fortress could go unnoticed. The flow of energy was only minimally disrupted, with the structure being carved directly out of a mountain. From above it smoothly blended in, and from anywhere but directly above it wasn’t something that could be seen at all.

Today they had gathered the reinforcements from the Scarlet Alliance and the locals from Terbettem to destroy the last bastion in front of them. Ravina stood strong in front of them, preparing to rally them with a speech.

“We have all fought against the Dessicated Deep this last half a year. Some of you are here to defend your homeland, others of us are here to stand as allies. Either way, we will not lose.”

Chidi found himself slightly inspired, though his own self-confidence was at a high regardless. Still, it was helpful for others.

“There is no way for us to avoid a concentrated attack as we approach their fortress,” Ravina continued. “However, a united front will allow us to minimize the damage to each of us. When we reach their walls, our formation specialists will make an assessment. Whether we continue our assault momentarily retreat relies on said assessment.”

Nobody wanted to sit and be bombarded by attacks unable to properly respond, so everyone understood. Retreating properly was not an issue. Though personally, Chidi would find it easier if the enemy would simply open their gates- or whatever they had.

An assault up the slope of a mountain would have been completely insane for lower stage cultivators. As it was, there would be a few minutes where they had minimal cover as they approached up their chosen path- a compromise between navigable terrain and the available cover.

The assault began a short time later. As predicted, the enemy was waiting for them. A wave washed over the assaulting army, followed by a hail of arrows and spears. Chidi attempted to cut apart one of the spears, but the enemy controlling it pulled it back out of his reach.

Ravina’s spear twirled and spun, deflecting many of the attacks at their frontlines while also distorting the Dessicated Deep’s pulling and draining ocean. The strength of an Augmentation cultivator compared to Integration was clear, even if Chidi were to look at himself in the late Integration stage. Even Alva clearly fell short, though she was at the peak of Integration.

The assaulting army surged upwards, leaping up their chosen path in great strides. Their momentum seemed unstoppable, until the appearance of another cultivator. The ocean sweeping down the mountain suddenly became twice as deep, surging against them as an old man stood atop the walls.

Ravina’s spear pierced forward, splitting the tide of energy and attacks. “Forward!” she shouted. “We can’t lose momentum!”

Chidi provided his own support, his sword slicing to divert the incoming tide of energy. Their army moved forward at an even greater speed, knowing that remaining in the influence of even the longer range form of the Dessicated Deep’s ability would drain them of too much energy. Once they were closer the power would increase, but they would also be able to fight back.

Rather than coming upon a gate, they ran directly into a section of wall. However, to cultivators the important thing was the formations protecting such a wall. What was a ten meter high pile of brick and stone aside from a slight inconvenience? Certainly, where Augmentation cultivators were involved it didn’t mean much.

Chidi could feel the flow of energy through the walls. The formations were fairly straightforward, but he sensed at least two separate styles. These formations were good enough to hold off a layperson for some time, or at least get them to exhaust their energy. However, it only took a few moments to find a line of intersection where the styles clashed.

“Here!” Chidi called out, slashing his sword in a cross pattern. He was unable to cut into the wall himself, but Ravina clearly understood along with others. The woman swept her spear from where she blocked for the army, driving it into the designated location and unraveling a core piece of the formation.

The formations had been less effective than the defenders might have wanted, but they still served their duty. That moment Ravina was distracted, the old man atop the walls attacked with a sharp line of energy, a jet of water that pierced into her shoulder. The injury itself was trivial… but the wound began to leak energy like a sieve.

So that was what it could do at Augmentation. Chidi found it fascinating. And worrying.