The date of their next mission approached quickly. Two days after their meeting with the Clanmaster, Rieren and Silomene were called into an emergency meeting with Mercion, who had come personally to the guest manor.

“Have you heard the news?” he asked as he hurried in, already armed and armoured.

“You are our only source of news, my lord,” Silomene said.

He stared at them, then shook his head. “I’ll explain on the way, then. Come on. Let’s get going.”

They didn’t waste time to board the flying lizard again. The Spirit Beast rushed over the city and hurried west. Rieren and Silomene had taken seats close to Mercion so that they could discuss the situation.

“A new Arisen has appeared in the west,” Mercion said. “We need to confront it as soon as possible.”

“How bad is it?”

“It has attacked and overwhelmed two outposts already. We have evacuated and forced those fighting to retreat for the time being, and together, they managed to stop the Arisen’s rampage for now. But they will not be able to hold out for long. That’s why we are heading there to reinforce them.”

“Are there multiple attacks through different fronts?” Rieren asked.

She supposed the reason they were being rushed over to provide reinforcements was because the other cultivators were too busy with their own monsters. That was the only plausible reason why. It would be good to know where those exact locations where the other Abyssals—and potentially Aetherians—were attacking, though.

“Several northeastern outposts are under siege by B-Grade Abyssals, yes,” Mercion said. “And a meteor shower was reported somewhere in the south.”

“A meteor shower?”

“I’m afraid so.”

That wasn’t good. The Aetherians were getting antsier, more involved in the monstrous proceedings of the land. If all the residents of the Shatterlands could do was barely withstand the onslaught of the Abyssals, then a greater presence of Aetherians would make matters worse.

And then there was this Arisen attacking the west. A powerful one that those already on the frontier couldn’t handle by themselves.

For just a second, Rieren wished the monster had come a week later. Her “contract”, such as it was, would finally be fulfilled. Then she could have used the Ordorian clan’s resources and began cultivating towards Late-Enlightened realm seriously.

But the Arisen’s appearance had thrown a twisted snag in that plan.

Despite her earlier resolution, a part of her still wished to disregard the rampaging monster. What did it matter when she had to set her sights on the capital, the true root of all these problems? Proper cooperation with and assistance from the might of the Emperor and all those under the imperial clan would have sent the invading monsters packing long ago.

This artificial dispute had the scent of tampering. Of Divine tampering. The Rieren from Lionshard Sect, the same one who had been so obsessed over discovering and finding the identities of those who had been targeting her, would have jumped on this case with great eagerness. Abyss, a part of her still wanted to investigate the matter.

Later. She had more important things to take care of. Even if she did find the truth behind the dispute between the eastern Archnobles and the imperial court, it wasn’t as if she could undo the damage that had caused.

She couldn’t turn time back yet again.

They didn’t take long to arrive at their location. Even from the distance, Rieren could tell things were not going well.

The closer they got, the darker the sky became. Heavy, ominous clouds turned everything gloomy, and the occasional thunder that split the sky couldn’t overcome the distant but still loud pandemonium of the titanic clash.

“Is that the Arisen?” Silomene asked, her voice hushed in part awe, part fear.

Mercion nodded. “That is our enemy, yes.”

The creature was enormous. Possibly the largest monster Rieren had seen to date in this new timeline, except perhaps the Anachron that had been at the peak of Lionshard mountain.

Trying to place its shape in her mind was a chore. It was reptilian in the sense that it had a long, sinuous body, but arachnid in how it had multiple long limbs stretching out from its torso. The central body itself was also strangely riddled with innumerous holes. The head at the end was nothing more than a fleshy, toothy mow opening up like a blooming flower bud.

At first, she thought it was still limited to the ground. Maybe they could have taken advantage of its lack of reach and climbed up into the sky to attack from above.

And then the wings sprouted.

That was when she understood how it was an Arisen and not just an Abyssal she had never seen before. The wings reminded her of dragonflies, except for the fact that they were about the size of the tower in Lionshard Sect. A dozen of them burst out of the many holes in the monster’s torso, and then it took flight.

“That thing is as big as the outpost itself,” Silomene said more in wonder and less in fright. She was starting to sound a bit too fascinated with it.

As they approached, the Arisen swooped over the distant outpost, its fleshy mouth opening outwards in parts. From each fleshy “petal”, a spray of golden bolts fired outwards, falling upon the outpost like a meteor shower.

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Rieren frowned at the colour. The wings had been proof enough, but that attack had was pure Divine-Essence too. This thing really was an amalgamation of an Abyssal and an Aetherian.

“What is our plan?” Rieren asked.

For she was certain that she couldn’t face that thing directly in her current condition. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if her future state—as far as was gifted by Temporal Recollector—would be enough either. It might be an A-Grade monster, but it was a powerful one. Rieren wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be on the verge of climbing all to S-Grade at this rate.

“The defenders are surviving for now,” Mercion said. “But this battle is a foregone conclusion. None of us can stand up against that thing for long. Even with some of the other reinforcements we should be getting in due time, we won’t be able to win. Our best hope lies in holding it pegged down in one location so that we can retreat.”

“Won’t that simply lead the monster on our tail?” Silomene asked.

“Not while there are others who can lead it in a different direction.”

Rieren frowned. The way Mercion’s face had grown grim, it was clear that he knew those who would receive the job of leading the Arisen in a different direction would die.

The horrific state of the battlefield became clear soon enough. As much as Rieren needed to keep her eyes on the monster itself, she couldn’t help but be drawn to the destruction the creature had wrought.

There was strong evidence that the land had once been filled with lush forests. Burning trunks and an array of uncountable stumps was proof of that. Smoke tinged the air, rising to mix with the growing storm. Farther off, she could spot destroyed farmland and a long, deep trench that made her think an entire river had been vaporized to nothing.

This monster wasn’t going to stop until this whole land was razed to ashes and dust.

There were more corpses than Rieren would have liked, but fewer than she had thought there might be, considering the monster’s sheer power.

At least the little town itself was still standing. The defenders had erected several barricades with their various skills and techniques, which had so far withstood the Arisen’s onslaught. Chief among them was the translucent silvery dome around the entire outpost. There were cracks upon it from the all the monster’s attacks, but it had held so far.

Batcat had awoken on its perch atop Rieren’s head. It was staring at the distant monster with avid interest. Rieren was just thankful her two companions were paying too much attention to the Arisen to wonder about the little Spirit Beast.

“We’re almost there,” Mercion said, raising his voice to be heard over the roar of the Arisen. “Prepare yourselves.”

He was right to call out. There would be no time for further plans, for any further considerations or any coordination at all in the heat of that ongoing battle.

The Arisen saw them. Its flesh-flower of a mouth opened again, spewing forth a burst of golden bolts at them. Thankfully, their ride was well-trained when it came to aerial battle. It swooped down and into the silvery dome. All the golden bolts either missed them or failed to hit their targets because of the translucent barricade.

As they landed in the little square in the outpost’s centre, the lizard turned back to its regular form. Rieren had gotten off quickly and was now busy calming a ruffled Batcat.

No one came to greet them. As soon as they passed through the silver barrier, the Arisen lashed out with its limbs to attack the dome directly. More cracks spiderwebbed across it. The people of the outpost were all busy defending it as best they could. Some shot fireballs, some used techniques that produced blasts of multihued light or ethereal weapons.

The Arisen was mostly unaffected. Its skin was hard, and it also tended to move around a lot. Despite its immense size, it was able to evade a lot of the attacks thrown at it.

That was when Mercion joined in on the fray. He raised his arms high and summoned his lightning. Little whips and bolts crackled to life around his arms and pooled in his hands. Once an actual blistering bolt of lightning had formed, it shot upwards quicker than a blink to fire through the barrier and strike one of the monster’s flanks. The Arisen screamed as it flew off.

“Good hit,” Silomene said.

Mercion lowered his arms. They shook a little. Rieren would have to keep an eye out on how long he could keep it up. “Follow me.”

He rushed ahead. So far, the defenders had sequestered themselves within the protective barricade of the silver dome. While it safeguarded them, it also meant that they were pinned down. The carpet of corpses outside had encouraged an overly defensive position instead of any active attempts at fending off or leading the monster away.

It was as clear as the day was not that Mercion wasn’t satisfied with such an approach. He quickly accosted the man in charge, who had also been walking towards him.

“My lord, we—”

“We need to get out of this outpost,” Mercion said, bowling over whatever the older man might have wished to say. “This will become your death trap if you all stick here for much longer.”

“We cannot go elsewhere, my lord. That monster is too powerful. Too fast. You have seen the destruction it has enacted everywhere. Can you not stop it?”

For just a second, Mercion looked stumped. Then he recovered himself. “You will follow my commands. To the letter. I and my comrades will tackle the Arisen directly, but you must gather your fellows—all of them—and quickly make your way eastwards in small groups. Not all together. Is that understood?”

“But my lord—”

“Is that understood?”

The man swallowed. Too many emotions passed through his eyes for Rieren to latch onto any singular one. “Yes, my lord.”

“I can help them prepare,” Silomene added quickly. “In return, I think its best if you took their most capable warriors and cultivators with you, my lord.”

Mercion wasted no time considering that proposition. “Send two of your best to me at the front gate. Hurry. Silomene, go with him.”

She nodded and flashed past, keeping up with the older man easily. Mercion strode to the gate, beckoning Rieren and his retainers to follow with haste. They didn’t make it in time. Batcat growled a little warning just as the Arisen was swopping down again, evading the attacks thrown up at it in challenge to hammer the silver dome again.

“It won’t be up for much longer,” Mercion said as the whole outpost shook.

That was obvious. What Rieren was properly interested in was who had erected this barricade. That it had lasted this long was a testament to the power of its creator.

“Unless we distract the creature,” Rieren said. She put the cat onto the ground. “Go on, off with you. Shoo.”

Batcat looked a little affronted at being sent off, but it padded into the outpost without much resistance. Maybe it could tell that she didn’t wish to use Call of the Past.

He turned to face her momentarily, his eyes knowing. “We are sticking to the plan I mentioned, yes?”

Rieren nodded. “I have no better ones.”

“Then let us get started.”

Good enough for Rieren. They had decided to distract the creature, but they hadn’t settled on a single method as to how they would do it. Mercion had mentioned something about using his lightning in conjunction with Rieren’s Domain, which she had nodded along to.

Seeing the sheer scale of the enemy, she was having doubts how well it would work, especially considering that Mercion’s efforts would be limited. If only his class’s level wasn’t so far ahead of his cultivation.

They exited the gate just as the monster began swooping in for another attack. Not a single one of the attacks had left much of a dent on the creature. That pretty much settled that it was at least an A-Grade one. She could make things easier for herself if she transformed into her future self, but that would lead to too many questions she didn’t want to face just then.

Besides, they didn’t have to distract the monster. Just hold it back for the time being until all the ones in the outpost had gathered themselves and were ready to beat a quick retreat.

The Arisen screamed at them as it closed in, its flesh-flower moth opening wide.

“Ready?” Mercion asked.

Rieren nodded. Then the battle began.