With less than a day of rest and what repairs they could manage without compatible parts, the Lower Realms Alliance forces made way to assault the next target on Waral. They had to leave behind a portion of their forces to secure the first city, but they were hoping to receive reinforcements soon. Preferably before the Numerological Compact arrived with theirs. Their travel was slower, so it was at least possible.
The shock to their forces from the failed assault on Kathariel would hopefully hold them back, though Devon was somewhat concerned about potential Magnitude IV ships. If they only had to deal with one while the ship was in its best condition Devon could certainly believe they would come out on top, but it was difficult to say how much damage such concentrated power could cause. At least they only seemed to have a small number.
Rather than choose the nearest location to assault, Ashildr and the formation experts picked a prime location nearly on the other side of the planet. They could still take advantage of flying beneath the planetary formation, they would simply have to break through a weak spot. Waral wasn’t a large moon, but with the only occupied location being their ten larger cities with a few growing attempts that left vast swathes of ground uncovered.
Ultimately, the cities could either combine their efforts for the planetary barrier- which they had done- and risk exploitation once there was damage, or they had to fend entirely for themselves. Each city was still capable of maintaining their own barrier, but they couldn’t prevent people from moving around after breaking into the atmosphere.
It only took a moment to break through the moldable sides of the barrier, as it was quite weak when they weren’t heading towards any of the nearest city centers. It took a matter of several hours to reach their destination, as they had to contend with atmosphere, greatly slowing their maximum velocities. They also had to contend with the speed of the slowest ships, but they were deemed to be valuable enough for the delays.
The CSS Valor was left hovering over their initial city, both as a sort of threat and as a defensive measure, depending on the individuals involved.
Partway through their journey, word came to the main fleet that Numerological Compact cultivators were fleeing their initial location. It would have been fairly easy to hunt them down, even with their large numbers, but the plan was to let them go- with some exceptions. If they were trying to forcibly bring anyone with them, they were to be taken out. The same went for if they attempted to access any of the major food stores or otherwise take anything.
Devon didn’t envy the people who had to deal with that, but he was sure they would do a fine job. They would handle their business, and the assault team would handle theirs.
The one who broke through the barrier around the city was once again Ty Quigley. His ship was undamaged, as it was made of ludicrously expensive materials and his speed and skill made up for most of the rest. The final piece was that as a bound object, his natural energy was able to repair the vehicle.
Devon sensed that Ty Quigley’s energy hadn’t fully recovered from earlier, but he was still more than vibrant enough to participate. Everyone was a bit tired, after all.
Almost immediately, their fleet was met with a barrage of fire from the local Confluence cultivators. It was obvious that the artillery was meant primarily to deal with attacks from above, though they were certainly functional at other angles.
In a small fraction of a second, one Confluence cultivator was dead. He had made a fine attempt to target the madman flying directly at him, but he was a little bit slow. The artillery emplacement he had been controlling shot a beam of energy into the sky that lasted several seconds beyond the moment he died. He had almost clipped Ty’s ship… which was more or less the same as saying he missed. The way that man fought, anything but a direct hit meant nothing. If he went down, it would probably be with the same suddenness as his opponents were taken out.
The plan was different this time, now that they knew more about what they were dealing with. While Devon stood by his decision given the circumstances, the backlash of what he had done with the power station had carried unnecessary risks to those constrained there. The formation masters had verified that the power station would not detonate like the ship sections, so taking out the Confluence cultivators directly was fine.
Devon sped forward, not so much flying as dragging himself over the terrain with his chains. He could do the same in empty space, of course, but his movements weren’t the same as propelling his body directly.
There were quite a large number of Confluence cultivators. Even here on this moon there were over a hundred in total. Counting ships and larger planets, the Numerological Compact had to have over a thousand. That was quite a few, and while some of it had to do with the amount of time they had been producing such cultivators, it was also clear that it was an easier path of advancement. Very consistent.
The downside was that it was consistent. Devon barely felt like he was fighting different people, and while he got more experienced at fighting against them every time, his enemies didn’t get another chance. As one weapon began to fire, he caught the energy within it- causing it to detonate, killing the Confluence cultivator manning it. If they had reacted quickly enough they could have cut off the flow of power, but that would have also been an acceptable result for Devon.
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He was the target of many assaults, but Devon was quite happy with that. He pulled himself out of the way of attacks, moving for his next opponent. Two of them, in fact. A single long chain lashed around both, tying them together and yanking them from their positions, only to be crushed against each other when they met in the middle.
Devon had no mercy for slavers, and while he might give some of their lower ranking members a chance to live none of those in the higher ranks got to live. Unless it was convenient- or they had to capture them anyway like with the ships.
Just because the power station wasn’t set to detonate didn’t mean it was entirely safe for its inhabitants or the city to have huge fluctuations of energy shifting, so it was the task of some individuals including Ashildr to stabilize the power station while others finished taking out the Confluence cultivators. That took only a few minutes, and then Devon was able to do what he wanted most- freeing people.
That accomplished a double objective, because without their living batteries the city basically shut down… and that also meant its participation in the larger global barrier. They didn’t randomly choose a city far from the others, but rather it was chosen because it was a critical point that would maximally weaken another specific location due to its loss.
Today, they weren’t after just one city but three. Half of their slowest ships remained behind to somewhat secure the city, while the other half chased after the rest of their fleet- they would arrive late, but they should arrive in time to accomplish their task.
Ty Quigley and Devon charged ahead- not towards the second city in their path, but the third. They were scheduled to arrive shortly after the rest of the fleet had started taking down the second city. Their task would be more difficult than going through them sequentially, but they didn’t want to give the locals a chance to react. While they mostly seemed to have stationary defenses, if they had more Confluence in one city they might be more effective.
That was still a probable outcome in the future, but with these three cities cut off from the larger set they would be split into two significantly weaker barrier segments. They would barely have anything better than individual city barriers, which would allow for assaults from space more easily, making use of their Ascension-class battleships properly.
Watching Ty’s face, Devon was reminded of many cultivators he knew. It was a face that said he knew he could die and didn’t care. While that might seem problematic, it was an advantage when their enemies were afraid of death. Rather than focusing solely on killing their opponent first, they would tend to want to survive. But defending against a blade would only work so much. And when cultivators of that type were good at what they did, the outcome was very consistent.
Of course, anyone could mess up. Everyone would, eventually. Which was half the reason Devon was coming to the third city. It was not absurd at all to say that Ty Quigley could take down a dozen or so Confluence cultivators in a row. He was on track to become an Enrichment cultivator in a few centuries, and even with the power of a hundred thousand cultivators in their hand Confluence cultivators had to be able to touch him to stand a chance.
Devon had to admit that at least in a straight line, Ty was faster. And as they approached the third city, Ty pulled ahead, angling himself. He went straight through two Confluence cultivators. Devon knew that if it was to show off, it was to no one but himself- and either way, it was efficient.
Ty was out the backside of the city as soon as he entered, and Devon followed him into the city a moment later. With all of the power concentrated on him, he could very much feel it. But he could also feel the entire city watching him. He wasn’t sure if he liked it, but small bits of their devotion made their way to him unconsciously.
Devon struck down several Confluence cultivators in a row before Ty returned. Each cultivator was covered only by a simple barrier, able to be overwhelmed given they could only control so much energy at once. It was a weakness among their genius, though they were still far above where they would have been without the system they had implemented, so said weakness was only displayed prominently when they ended up against the wrong opponents.
When there were five left, Devon felt a shift in their energy. He understood their intent instantly, and he was filled with anger. They all turned to fire upon the power center, knowing it wouldn’t save them. Devon reached out, forming a barrier with his chains. However, he had to take the hits directly. With each cultivator controlling the power of thousands of other cultivators, the shock added up. But Devon could withstand that for a time.
“Stop,” Devon commanded. It might have sounded like some that he was speaking to the Confluence cultivators, but he was actually speaking to Ty Quigley who was coming in for his third pass.
As they charged a second volley of attacks, Devon called about an inadvisable amount of his energy all at once. He had to defend the area where the enslaved cultivators were kept at the same time.
He lashed out towards each of the five cultivators as they struck his barrier once more, but he held his ground as their beams drilled into his defenses. Then, his chains wrapped around them all, not binding their energy but instead stabbing into their dantians- but not killing them. They had to live… for a small while at least.
Devon didn’t plan to kill them himself. No, instead he would leave them to their victims. They wouldn’t survive long without their cultivation, and it was unlikely that they could even get in a single hit with how many there were but it was an appropriate retribution. And they would at least despair at their lost cultivation for a few moments.
He dragged them along with him. “You didn’t think that through, did you?” He could feel millions of senses on him. Mostly the citizens of the city, but though they were greatly numbed the enslaved cultivators in the power station still reached out towards him.
He was going to free them… and now that the power stations would be going down they could lock up all the Numerological Compact cultivators where they belonged. Not that Devon would allow that to continue indefinitely. Even as punishment for slavers, he wouldn’t abide by it for too long. Better just to kill them and not risk a total breakdown of morals.