SCC Chapter 33 Culmination(3)

As Reed prepared to defend, should the massive sphere of spiritual energies breach the hull of the ship, golden light coalesced outside the hull, right in the path of the attack.

Through his synced senses, he had seen how it had started. It had been just a small coin, fired from within a certain opening, then it had started to grow with each meter of distance it had covered until it became massive enough to rival the sphere tearing through the void. To his eyes, it was as if it had been carved from one massive solid golden nugget, with etches of wheat stalks upon both of its sides. A powerful pressure radiated from it, one which stifled the breath within his chest. It was akin to being weighed down by tones of bricks. But what made him shocked was the fact that it was just an impression he got, yet, physically, he was perceiving the effects! Was that how powerful the intents of those at the very peak of Nascent Soul, were?

(All of you shouldn't be alarmed. The weight of coin will not be overcome.)

A transmission echoed within his mind even as the coin stopped in place, waiting for the amalgamation of spiritual energy attributes to arrive.

Then the two met in collision. At first, the ball crumbled as the force of its movement made contact with the immovable golden wall that was the giant coin. Protrusions pierced through the thin blue layer that had been holding it all together before a massive explosion hurled every single particle of matter and spiritual energy away, even faintly pushing the coin back. Light, bright enough to blind even the eyes of Nascent Soul cultivators, inundated this void of space.

The force even created visible ripples that passed through the coin itself, continuing on to impact the hull of the ship, inducing shudders strong enough to stress the metal of hull, with quakes that caused Reed to almost be hurled into the wall behind him.

For a moment, he struggled to regain his senses as they had become temporarily overwhelmed by the massive amount of information they had been subjected to, which was mostly the photons from the explosion. Those had been as lethal as staring into the sun itself without any protection.

When he managed to regather himself a few seconds later and take a look at the scene, awe was born within his chest. The coin was only marred with cracks, having prevented the explosion from truly rippling towards the mothership, though, every single tiny craft, whether from the mothership, or the alien craft, had been wiped out of existence, with no single part visible. The golden coin dissipated into golden spiritual energy, which was absorbed back into the ship.

The ship shuddered once more, almost eliciting some alarm from Reed, only for his senses to capture something else. A transformation was taking place within and outside the ship. The plates covering the hull were moving, like the squares of a rubik's cube. His cabin, through his powerful divine sense, was moving, being carried along with tethers of electricity that served to secure, and also provide energy towards it through the shift.

Reed's senses were mostly concentrated to the outside of the vessel, where the triangular surface that had been hosting the engines was being raised, moving towards the back. It was the only massive surface that wasn't breaking down into smaller pieces. The two muzzles that had been pointing towards the alien construct were drawn closer, before merging into one massive barrel, with everything else shifting to become mere accentuates to the weapon.

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When the transformation became complete, the mothership had undergone a transformation that had made it longer and more cylindrical, except for the triangular base holding the engines at the back.

Within the massive hole, whose depths were clearly so long that a human without any cultivation might take days to traverse, red light gathered. It was a collection of red bolts of lightning that was forming a sphere. Thin tendrils swarm along the ball's edges, making it akin to a red sun. It was smaller than the amalgam from before, yet it's deadlines was unmistakable. Reed, through the visual instruments transmitting the feed, could sense an intent no less potent than that of the Golden Merchant. And it was a familiar one, though, through certain arrays, it had been transformed on a fundamental level to become more destructive.

As the lightning ball gathered momentum, it became even darker, to the point that its light became blood-red. Then it was fired. So fast was its velocity that in under a second, it had already made impact with the materialized shield of the alien construct.

The shield only lasted for a second before shattering, with the ball of red sailing right into the distance, only passing by the structure. It seems like the goal had only been to shatter the shield. After all, there were still many mysteries that needed clarification. If they destroyed the station, there might be unforeseen repercussions. And there was also the question of whether that attack was capable of destroying the strange vessel.

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Trying to keep his emotions in control was always something he took as strange. Especially when he was certain that, with just a thought, he could let himself become impulsive. He could act out. Take a smaller shuttle, sneak out of the mothership, and head towards the alien craft to search for her by himself. Yet, he knew, his logic would never allow that. Even providing those weapons to the mortals hadn't been entirely his fault. As, if he had been among them, or even privy to such plans, his rationality would have worn out.

Yet, as his spiritual form sat on the long table, where many discussions were ongoing, there was the nagging thought within his mind that said that he should have been doing more...

The space in his right direction widened, as if stretched by invisible hands, with a chair materializing next to him, but that didn't dredge him from his thoughts.

The feeling that Lily was most probably dead had been growing within the depths of his mind. And the fear that he was going to have to confront her dead corpse and living sister, were tying knots within his stomach. He had thought himself as one of the biggest players on the board during the time he had made that promise. Yet the situation, starting from when she had been captured, had shown him that he was more of a pawn. If he had been as strong as the Golden Merchant, or the president. Then he would have raided Olympus by himself. No. He would have already attacked Zeus without having had to involve her in the first place!

"Your spiritual state is unstable." spoke a voice beside him, jolting him from his thoughts, and attracting his attention, which was a wrathful one.

"Livia..." the name left his lips as if he had ash in his mouth. For a moment, the rage gave way to incomprehension, before the pieces fitted together seamlessly, allowing him to finally grasp the reason for her appearance.

This place, where he and many others were, was a spiritual space, an illusory construct that was facilitated by a spiritual network surpassing the normal infrastructure within the commercial framework. Even though he and the others appeared to be chatting casually, or deep within their thoughts, thereby wasting time... Time wasn't being wasted in the outside world as this entire network was functioning at the speed of thought. Meaning, that should the session end, only a few seconds might have elapsed in the outside world.

"You look terrible. I had to tell you that. Your gloomy aura was being felt by almost everyone beside you."

Reed felt a burning within his cheeks when he gazed at those near him, who were gazing back at him with various expressions. It seemed that he had gotten carried away, failing the simple task of masking his emotional waves.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. We have gathered here to brainstorm on a course of action." someone at the head of the the translucent table spoke. It was a familiar man with a crimson pair of pupils and short red hair.

"Mr. President. Pardon my question, but why wasn't that attack aimed at the vessel? There was a very good chance that it could have been destroyed, or incapacitated enough to prevent any further hostile actions from it." someone, a man not among those on the mothership, but an outsider, like Livia, spoke.

There were those, leaders of their respective organisations, or with legitimate reasons, that hadn't boarded the mothership during the president's call to arms. Though, their vessels had still stayed within range of communications.

"They might have hostages. But the biggest reason is the fact that we are essentially grasping in the dark. The craft has technology far advanced in nature to ours. What if they have something that can instantly cripple this ship should we push them to the wall? That's why, we must first attain the necessary data."

"And how are we going to go about that?" Someone asked.

"Infiltration." That one word served as the answer, earning a mixed bag of reactions from the crowd.