They Know The Drill

PFOPP- PFFOOHH…

The sky opened, revealing a few spaceships that rapidly moved, parting the clouds for a few hundred meters to the sides. However, not even 4 seconds later, the aperture became tens of kilometers wide. The gap continued to spread as it revealed tens of thousands of spaceships in a cascade, speeding their landing towards the ground. Their engines weren't at maximum speed anymore, but their trajectory was evident.

The spaceships were far from landing. They still needed to arrive above the zone where the Kingdom’s largest Regions were. After a few tens of minutes, nearly a million spaceships covered the sky, shadowing the land below, be it Cities, wilderness, or bodies of water.

For a time, they became overly conspicuous in the sky. Their emblem shone radiantly as they headed to that zone, and everyone just knew the changes to the Kingdom’s order might suffer in the near future. However, the inhabitants in the other Regions of the Lsefattern Kingdom didn’t know how to feel. After all, it was only 1 Region that ‘rebelled’ against the Heraxle Clan’s rule.

Nearly 40 minutes after Heian Ciemnosc’s forces showed their numbers in the sky, they finally arrived before a zone where the sea dominated the area, and island Regions formed the Lsefattern Kingdom’s strongest, largest, and richest zone in the Kingdom. From here, the order was decided, like the core of a Kingdom amidst evolution. This zone decided everything.

Heian Ciemnosc looked down, his darkest eyes were emotionless and unresponsive, but he liked the view. Everything was more beautiful in the presence of its reality. The Turtle Hiding Region was at the sea’s southeastern corner, with 2 other Regions northwards. Many smaller Regions were around the northwestern corner and side, with the second 3* Region taking nearly all the southwestern corner, and 2 other Regions separating the 3* Regions besides the water.

Heian Ciemnosc felt the Lightning Element was the strongest in the center of everything despite the utter calmness, as it was the only location in the sea that had no Regions nearby, called the Stormy Calm Sea. He could see tiny, thin strands of lightning bolts in midair within the Stormy Calm Sea, like parasites in one’s eyes.

The Regions were relatively close to each other, with an adequate, natural distance between those nearest to each other. However, there were a couple million kilometers of distance from every island to the mainland, the rest of the Kingdom’s Regions surrounding the Stormy Calm Sea’s Regions.

The Turtle Hiding Region had a mountain range that separated only at the middle, taking ⅕ of the Region’s territory. It divided the south and north, with the south having more terrain than the north, and resources. Even then, the north wasn’t any worse off, and they could progress as much as the south.

The problem here was that the tribute the inhabitants have paid the Heraxle Clan hasn’t dwindled. Yet, there’s been a detected decrease in the productivity and improvement of the south, where the inhabitants should’ve had an easier time developing after ‘banishing’ the Heraxle Clan’s representative from power.

“… Time to park,” Heian Ciemnosc said after looking down at the planet, sea, and island Regions for a good while. The spaceships he led, with his Incinerating Bolt array formation still active, immediately changed to a nose-diving stance as they shot towards the Turtle Hiding Region.

“…” Heian Ciemnosc led everyone when he suddenly felt his Ornament and spaceships beside him, and even Evans and Alejandro, locked in by guiding systems. He didn’t attempt any communication but narrowed his eyes as he presented his contract and relation with the Heraxle Clan, of how he basically led an operation in their name. This meant that whatever Heian Ciemnosc and his people found, allies, foes, resources, or dismay; it was equal to the Heraxle Clan losing and gaining.

The guiding systems locked onto Heian Ciemnosc and his people for a few more seconds before disappearing. By then, Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes relaxed and continued descending. He led the soldier units as they entered the Turtle Hiding Region’s aerial territory.

On the other hand, the Regions around the Stormy Calm Sea, and the Turtle Hiding Region itself, their people, watched as hundreds of thousands of spaceships all shot from the sky to the ground. Now nosediving, the spaceships burned their thrusters as they pushed their engines one last time before tuning them off when they were close enough to the ground.

The sight of so many spaceships preparing to roughly land on the ground, with no port or array formation aiding them from the exterior, made a heated, red-orange hue permeate everywhere around them. Several thousands of kilometers became like this for 15 minutes as the spaceships descended, before the vessels rapidly returned to space after dropping off whatever they came to drop off.

Even civilians protected by First and Second Step organizations, living in high mountains or high lands, watched, amazed and astronomically dumbfounded. Unfortunately, for those cultivators with high-end power of the Lsefattern Kingdom, they had all died during the Change-welcoming war. Only their youngest and most separate, distant offspring could continue their legacy.

On the other hand, civilians’ never stopped reproducing. The last 3 or even 4 generations didn’t suffer the 10 year war’s results. They only knew about it besides the cultivation world’s knowledge every living being has to be aware of since birth. They watched in speechlessness and curiosity as they imagined themselves becoming cultivators, but there was no way… If only they could fight alongside them as equals.

The Destroyer and Cruiser spaceships left off their personnel and thousands of Fighters before returning to the skies and chasing the large vessels outside the Lsefattern Kingdom. Only Frigates would be left behind, besides every soldier unit’s Fighter and every citizen Team’s Fighter. The former needed 1 per person, while the latter had to be an entire Team per Fighter.

With the Frigates landing on the ground, the armies spread everywhere. Citizens took their specialized weaponry out, facing everywhere in coordination, according to their training, before pinching a device the size of one’s thumb and throwing them into the air. A small, armored vehicle with a lot of protective glass and a turret on its back was ‘released’ from it.

The citizen Teams boarded them. The majority used these armored vehicles to immediately move, with a speed equal to that of any other armored vehicle, just for a smaller military unit. Others released tanks, helicopters, and long armored vehicles that the cultivators always use to save their strength, keep their mentality at a clear level, and energy.

Step, step… WHEEESHHH…~.

Heian Ciemnosc was just stepping forth on the land, between a town and 2 encampments within a couple of hundred thousand kilometers. When, suddenly, a medium vessel and a Frigate with a few aircraft war instruments escorting them arrived a few hundred meters before him and his Ornament.

Heian Ciemnosc stopped and looked at the people coming down the spaceships and landing their aircraft nearby with a squint. From the large vessel, a group of cultivators, almost everyone, wore varying emblems on their chests. Only 1 person had the Heraxle Clan’s emblem on his chest and its banner’s colors as they all walked towards him.

“You’re the forces the Heraxle Clan sent? Good!” The man with the Heraxle Clan’s emblem, whose banner’s colors were also in it, shouted. At first, he appeared to be a prisoner, held by the shoulders by a few peak Bright and Silhouette Realm cultivators, also surrounding the man in question. But then, he swagged over and the hand holding him released his body. “Now, what are you waiting for? Bring the goodies and deliver them to the southern inhabitants, a loss is a loss.”

“Surely, the Heraxle Clan won’t go back on their word?” A cultivator behind the Heraxle Clan’s representative said, lifting his arched eyebrows and chin as he asked. Another person behind the Heraxle Clan’s representative added in a voice full of satire, “As the Crimsonbreaking Faction’s representative, under the glorious Heraxle Clan, are you just monosyllabic, or are you remembering what the meaning of keeping one’s word as a cultivator means in the world?”

“I have no time for this,” Heian Ciemnosc turned his head backwards to his right and lightly, quietly said. Then, Grietta and Elyor dashed from the crowd, with the latter holding the former’s right arm to act as a supporting grip. They nodded and flashed their Vigor Energy to the inhabitant forces behind the Heraxle Clan’s representative, whose eyes shockingly widened.

“You…!” The representative lowered his upper back out of reflex. The veins on his eyes seemed about to pop open with how red they were as he aimed his left index finger at Heian Ciemnosc, albeit dispiritedly. But Heian Ciemnosc had no time for this.

SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH!!!

His darkest eyes went wholly dark for half a second, and as the sounds of heads exploding sounded behind the representative, his world became wholly dark. When light barely filled his eyes again, he saw the famed black monster, recently infamous from leading the scavenging notion back into the world, appear before him.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“…” Heian Ciemnosc only glanced at the man once before his lifted right claw, aggressive yet relaxed, swooped downwards from his left to the right, cutting the representative’s chest into 6 divisions of flesh. Organs spluttered before blood did, and the bones in his body turned to jelly as dark Vigor Energy ate away the man’s skin, Soul, and Vigor Energy.

Step, step, step.

Grietta and Elyor were already finished cleaning the few dozen hundred cultivators in the Frigate, large vessel, and aircraft. They were in time just to see the representative being corroded by Heian Ciemnosc’s darkness. At first, they were shocked to see the Dantian and Psychogenic, all the man’s inner universe, chipped away from plain sight as the dark Vigor Energy devoured it all.

However, after looking at the perpetrator, their expressions changed. Since it was Heian Ciemnosc, then it made sense that one’s Dantian and Psychogenic regions could be eaten like this. What’s more, the inner universe was completely engulfed by Heian Ciemnosc, leaving the rest to be used as a snack for later.

“Will you need the rest?” Elyor asked, signaling at the corpses he and his wife left behind with his right thumb, as Grietta hugged his left arm. Heian Ciemnosc looked at him and tilted his head to the left. Elyor seemed to sense something as he turned his head back and watched tiny dark tendrils connect with the corpses, doing the same except the claw attacks to their corpses as with the representative.

“…” Elyor returned his head, speechless. Grietta narrowed her eyes to nearly a close before covering her lips like a modest mother, giggling within her throat. Heian Ciemnosc looked backwards before saying, “The citizens are already moving. I’ll ask Tania to help me schedule a meeting with their main tower. You protect the cultivators from other Universal realm cultivators.”

“Mn, those are your orders, chief.” Elyor nodded. He looked at Heian Ciemnosc with a glint in his eyes. Grietta glared at Heian Ciemnosc with grace, thankful for giving them the change to relax. After all, they would just slap the air before them to deal with any Universal realm cultivator in this Kingdom.

WHOOOSH! Heian Ciemnosc nodded at them before leaving his Ornament behind with a jump into the skies, where Evans picked him up and immediately isolated his surroundings before shooting into the distance towards the northeast.

Swish… The Ornament acted on its own and flew to where the soldier units were already organized and began moving. Their target was the town to their east. When the Ornament found Anastasia, it descended, opening its cabin as Anastasia separated from her 100,000 military unit. Molto was beside her as she followed behind her.

“Father has already left, we should move,” Anastasia sent her enhanced Neutral Energy into the Ornament and bound it to her being before conveying to Molto. Molto nodded and sent Spirit Sense into her medallion. They were of similar age, with Molto’s cultivation superior to Anastasia, as she was in the Life-Long realm 4th stage and her liege’s daughter at the peak of the Central Formation realm.

“My little shadows will follow you, miss,” Molto spoke somberly and lightly, lowering her head to Anastasia. The latter shook her head lightly but didn’t comment. She rubbed Molto’s left shoulder to ease things up before skipping towards the front of her military unit. “We’re going to move! Get to your positions. We’re in my Captain’s unit!”

Molto followed the ecstatic Anastasia to form with the other few millions. Looking around, one could see the soldier units they already fought with previously. There were about 100,000,000 new faces, but compared to the other 300 million, it seemed small somehow.

For this operation, Heian Ciemnosc brought a third of the Crimsonbreaking Faction’s forces, instead of at least 40%, with an estimate recommended number of 60% for the completion of this operation. However, Heian Ciemnosc still brought a solid third of their forces. What’s more, he barely took any upper echelons’ and highest hierarchy figures with him.

With 400,000,000 soldier units between the Mythical realm to the Life-Long realm, with Officers at the Farsighted realm. The elite soldier units belonging to the Life-Long realm spectrum, Heian Ciemnosc brought 10,000 Bright/Silhouette realm cultivators, 100 Planet Gate realm cultivators, and 20 Universal realm cultivators, including Tania, Elyor, Grietta, and Ramirez, who is with similar status to the former.

Heian Ciemnosc was the operation’s chief, no longer just a supreme commander to lead the armies from the parties on their Crimsonbreaking Faction’s side. This meant he’d do more than advise in the management of territory and directly manage the army. Thus, he appointed 2 direct subordinates under him as supreme commanders for the cultivator and citizen armies.

Heian Ciemnosc wanted to elect Ramirez as the cultivator’s supreme commander, but he stepped down for Tania, who was Heian Ciemnosc’s second option. The citizen armies’ supreme commander was also a cultivator in the Universal realm, but that didn’t matter to the citizens. Besides, some Captains directly under the supreme commanders were citizens.

Each Captain led 20,000,000 soldier units. In the cultivator army, Heian Ciemnosc’s people comprised 50% of the 20 Captains. 7 were made from his Eternal Return Team, including Rosina, who would be aided by a commanding expert team of citizens Heian Ciemnosc individually praised.

And while Tulla and Floris weren’t part of the Crimsonbreaking Faction, always residing within Heian Ciemnosc’s mansion, they were his subordinates. As the chief, and with enough balls, Heian Ciemnosc placed them in these high places. In such a position, they either performed or destroyed their chances with Heian Ciemnosc. It was their time to prove their worth.

While Heian Ciemnosc’s subordinates were definitely going to show their best, the same could be said of the Crimsonbreaking Faction’s other Security Elders in the Bright/Silhouette realm.

Tulla had cultivated to the Bright realm 4th stage. Floris to the 3rd stage, and Etherea to the 2nd stage. Etherea was part of the Faction, but she was more Heian Ciemnosc’s subordinate. All Heian Ciemnosc’s subordinates needed enough practice, training, and knowledge to remain under his wing. Especially those directly under him.

During the decade, Etherea was tasked with accomplishing the training and practice part, while Heian Ciemnosc granted them knowledge. On the other hand, Heian Ciemnosc helped everyone with his group cultivation method. Of course, he didn’t use his dual cultivation method, not even with Tulla, who accepted a direct kiss from him in the past.

That, the resources after the Existences’ war, and the Dragoon Ore Upper Kingdom’s resources contributed to their rapid cultivation speed without losing a step or skipping one in their cultivation path. Heian Ciemnosc’s Eternal Return Team was slightly below in stages, but they were also always in missions during that decade. Nevertheless, both parties would advance from hereon together.

Currently, they were in the southernmost western corner, where 4 encampments with millions and millions of soldier units and auxiliary units resided in each of them to their west. To their east, a town. They had 2 encampments closer to their landing zone than the town, and it was also 2 of the 4 targets that the cultivator army will occupy first. On the other hand, the town was for the citizens.

Just half an hour after the armies landed, with each army carrying over 20,000,000 auxiliary units with them, they set off. The 400 million cultivator soldier units moved towards the first encampment north from their position. The trip only took a few hours with the armored vehicles, Fighters, and Frigates.

The enemy was initially alarmed to see the tens of thousands of Fighters and a few Frigates overflying their position. But since they didn’t attack them, the enemy didn’t dare to open fire first. Learning of this, one Captain decided to send a warning, the message was simple: ‘surrender or die!’.

Afterwards, the enemy finally fired at their spaceships. The latter projected Elemental Wind Eye from their bellies, immediately deviating bullets and shells, while directly targeting the missile launching systems, exploding them as soon as they were detected. When the Officers noticed this change, they ordered to charge with their armored vehicles!

With over 400,000,000 soldier units moving and flying towards them, the enemy was reduced to a scaredy cat. They unhesitatingly chose to escape. They wouldn’t die for a measly encampment, they had their organizations’ territories and Small Cities. Why would they fall here with no compensation?

Thus, Tulla ordered a chase, using the Elemental Earth Eye on their armored vehicles, smallish and only to cover some parts, to rush through the land and rapidly cut the fleeing enemy off. Outside the mountain ranges, on both sides, only beautiful plains, forests, lagoons, long lakes, and a couple of swamps was all there was. The wheeled vehicles would never have an issue moving around.

Thus, under Tulla’s command, taking half a Captain’s troops with her own, she harvested millions of lives, only sparing their auxiliary units. Afterwards, instead of going after the next encampment, she returned to the one left behind by the enemy, where the 20 million auxiliary units were already reworking.

The captured auxiliary units were put under a prison, rapidly formed by the devices which contained restraining, gravity, and illusory array formations. They were set up so the prisoners, sent underground, would remain in place. Although they were taken prisoners, they were also killed off the moment any of them just struggled a little.

This wasn’t a rescuing operation, nor was it for the sake of keeping peace. This was a border Kingdom, in a 3* Region, and things were barely contained. Now was not the time to think of the losses, all that remained was to take that control.

10 minutes after Tulla returned to the first encampment, they set off for the second encampment, but only with 3 Captains, while the rest moved to the other 2 encampments. The latter would move farther to the south, and then north of the second encampment, while leaving some Captains behind to protect the auxiliary units reworking the land.

The cultivator army was in complete control of the beginning, although the trip to the last encampment took them a day to reach due to the longer distance between the other encampments. Even then, the cultivators they faced weren’t willing to die just there and slow their rapid advancement just a bit.

As a result, at least half the enemy fled after seeing more than 50,000,000 soldier units move towards them at once. It wasn’t a secret anymore who these people were, nor a surprise, but they were still taken aback before they could make a move themselves. As for the delegation they sent, it couldn’t be considered any deader than dead.

Unfortunately for them, this made it easier for the chasing Captains to catch up and finish them off before the enemy in a town just a couple of hours from the encampment could be notified. Their communications were interrupted and their Universal Conveyances blocked. This was no war and could only be considered a dispute, so Universal Conveyances weren’t touched.

In under 2 days, with the cultivator army showing off with 10 Captains in the last encampment’s zone, facing another town, a small portion of the Heraxle Clan’s territory was dominated by the Crimsonbreaking Faction’s forces. But this was just the cultivator army still in the southwestern corner.

…