“We need to go,” Rieren said. The forcefulness in her words made everyone take note, even Mercion. “There are more monsters coming in from the horizon. Even if you could somehow defeat this Arisen, its reinforcements will make that impossible. So there is no time. We must retreat.”

She had to force her eyes away from the horizon. The Abyssals were coming in closer and closer. Despite the fact that the cultivators who had arrived to reinforce them having led away the Arisen a little bit, it would all be for naught if they got caught by the onrushing tide of monsters.

Something told her that those monsters wouldn’t be defeated so easily. Not only were there a great many of them, but they also likely had some B-Grade ones among their ranks. She had confronted and fought one such horde before, after all.

“You heard her,” Mercion barked. “Get going.”

They began to move off. All of them. While the Arisen was kept busy, they broke into their original little groups and hurried away.

“Go with them,” Mercion told her. “Silomene, you will be in charge of one group. Rieren, you must lead another. We will meet back at outpost twenty-seven.”

For just a second, Rieren considered arguing. Mercion was clearly staying. If he died… then what? Had he become a friend because they had spent the better part of four weeks fighting together against relentless hordes of monsters? No, Rieren wouldn’t go so far as that.

Would the world really change if she left him to die here? No. He was far from the most powerful being in the Shatterlands. His cultivation was lacking and his class was too far ahead of it. His death wouldn’t end her contract. That was with the Ordorian clan. They were honour-bound to see it fulfilled, and Rieren might just get a reprieve if Mercion didn’t come back.

But monkey’s balls, Rieren had made a decision to not simply look out for no one but herself. Helping every single person she ever met was a fool’s errand, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t expend the merest effort into ensuring that things moved in a more positive direction. And for that to happen, Mercion needed to survive.

“What are you going to do, my lord?” she challenged.

He had been about to head towards where the other cultivators were keeping the monster pinned down, but then he turned back at her words. “Assist in keeping the monsters here, for now. I cannot guarantee how long that will be, though.”

“Set aside your hubris for a moment and take charge of one of the retreating groups.”

“What?”

“There is little to nothing you can do here. You have exhausted your powers and are on the verge of overextending yourself. At this rate, you are most likely to get yourself killed in the process. That will benefit no one, my lord.”

“She is correct,” one of the retainers said with surprising fastidiousness. “Young lord, if you do not survive, we will have no one to coordinate the reinforcements. All that we are holding together with such desperation, this will all crumble.”

The other retainer echoed the same feelings. Rieren couldn’t help but glance at them, and both of them returned a minute look of gratitude. She had opened the floodgates of respectful opposition. If Mercion insisted, none of them could do anything, but she had allowed them a path away from that conclusion.

Mercion looked like he wanted to argue with them all, but then Silomene stepped forward. She had been helping coordinate the little group shuffle. Now, there was a little fire burning in her deep-set eyes.

“They are right, my lord,” she said. “I do not say this to fluff you up nor because I care about you. I say this because you are one of the important pillars that determine the survival of the Shatterlands, and I need the Shatterlands to survive. So please, forget this and come with us.”

“Fine, fine, alright.” He had apparently been holding back a tremendous breath for his sigh was heavy and long. “Let’s get moving. It isn’t as if I can do much here anyway.”

They decided to continue their journey with the ones they were supposed to rescue. As planned, Rieren was to lead one group while Silomene, Mercion, and the retainers each led another. The idea was to take vastly different paths, and then meet back up at outpost twenty-seven.

The cultivators had led the Arisen even farther away, granting them all a great deal of space to get away. Rieren didn’t know how strong they were, but she was doubtful any of them were powerful enough to kill that enormous monster.

Deciding not to waste their potential sacrifice, Rieren wasted no time accosting and joining up with one of the retreating groups. They didn’t mind her presence. In fact, having now realized how dire their situation truly was after the initial battle-rush of fighting back had faded, they now welcomed another addition.

It helped that she was related to Mercion. In case things took a turn for even worse they knew they could rely on her.

The land was still blistered and ravaged here. While the outpost had sufficed as a bulwark against the invading monsters ranging too far beyond it, the Abyssals had still sneaked past to corrupt the surrounding areas.

Still, it began to all blur together. They rushed through a small forest, forded a narrow river, and bypassed an area that looked like another site of a vicious battle. As Rieren ran over the countryside towards their destination, her mind lost its ability to focus on the immediate surroundings. Instead, she distantly had to think about her strange circumstances.

In her previous life, at this point in time, she had been all too focused on her own growth. Nothing could impede her drive to reach greater and greater power. In fact, she hadn’t even cared about the entirety of the Shatterlands slowly falling to the invading Abyssals.

The lack of a system for most people meant that the cultivators had been outnumbered against the overwhelming press of the monstrous armies. There had been little to no assistance from the imperial clan, who had been busy dealing with the Abyssals in their own region of the Elderlands.

Back then, Rieren had already claimed all of her Enlightenments by the time she had decided to come over to the Shatterlands. There were other Locales to the northeast of the Sect and, some to the west as well. Some were even closer than the first one she had used in this timeline.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

But going to those now would have been expected. She had no doubt there were traps awaiting her in each of those Enlightenment Locales. The memories Batcat had retrieved about each location made that more than likely.

When she had arrived in the Shatterlands in the previous timeline, her only goal had been to reach the hidden dungeon beneath Falstrom so that she could attain one of the last relics she needed for her Enchantments. The land was already burning and ruined. Most of the people had perished. All she had cared for was retrieving one last legendary sword.

It almost made her laugh that it wasn’t the case at all now.

At some point, Rieren had decided to protect these lands as much as was reasonable for her. She had decided to make it a part of her priority.

Why else would she be so keen on ensuring that Mercion survived? Why else was she keeping an eye out for these poor, hapless people who had been fighting for months now?

Besides, protecting this region would be a direct slap in the face of the gods. They didn’t care one whit for any who resided here, would be happy to see it all be wiped away by the Abyssals—and, it would seem, the Aetherians as well—just as had happened in the last timeline. Rieren would certainly not shy away from anything that spited the gods.

Achieving her goal of completing her ascension through the Enlightened realm and ensuring the survival of the Shatterlands weren’t mutually exclusive objectives. She would just have to apportion time where she best saw fit.

“Can we rest?” one of the men asked.

The de-facto leader, who was the same older man Mercion had talked with as the representative of the entire outpost, shook his head. “If we rest now, we might get caught. Best to reach the outpost as soon as we can.”

“I’ll collapse at this rate,” another woman complained.

“Then we’ll just have to carry you.”

“Retainer.” The woman plucked the sleeve of Rieren’s robe. “Can we stop for a moment?”

Rieren turned to frown at the woman. Her frown disappeared when she saw just how tired the woman looked. The defender was about to drop to the ground at any moment.

“We can rest,” Rieren said. “But not for long. I suggest you look into the System Shop and purchase an Ebullient Enervator.”

The woman stared at Rieren as they all came to a stop. “A what?”

“There might be other variants. I am not certain. But what you essentially want is something that will provide you a decent amount of energy for the rest of the journey.”

The others complied. They quickly ran through what was available in the System Shop. Most came up with the Ebullient Enervator, which was a little thimble filled with light green liquid that had to be swallowed in one gulp.

A few had more curious purchases, though. One man had bought what looked like a packet of biscuits. Apparently, each biscuit was supposed to grant an infinite amount of energy for eight hundred heartbeats.

Another man had purchased a strange fruit. This one had the stipulation that so long as one was chewing it, one would never run out of stamina. Rieren had to blink at that one. Forget asking how the man had even found such a thing, the fact that it even existed was a little mind-boggling.

While they rested, Rieren had sent Batcat off to scout around and report back if it found anything. Nothing interrupted their rest. Soon enough, after they had all ingested their own enervating poisons, they resumed their hurried trek towards the outpost.

“How much farther is it?” the man who had first complained asked.

Rieren considered consulting her Mortal Map, after welcoming back the winged kitten, but the older man spoke first.

“Not far now,” he said. “Another few leagues and we should arrive.”

She noted that he didn’t mention anything about safety. It was accurate. There was no guarantee about what kind of condition they would find the settlement in. Their best hope lay in ddiscovering it intact enough that it would suffice as at least a temporary reprieve. Even with all the little ingredients they had taken in, they at the very least needed a proper mental break.

Though, how long that was going to last was anyone’s guess. The cultivators who were holding the Arisen back wouldn’t last long, especially not with the army of Abyssals about to join the fray.

Rieren supposed there could be more cultivators joining in as reinforcements. But then, Merolk had said how everyone had their own positions to defend. They couldn’t simply abandon their post. What if a different army of monsters arrived after their departure, levelling the frontier they were supposed to have defended and marching on towards Falstrom?

Her thoughts didn’t find time for purchase as their target outpost became visible soon enough. She was relieved, almost as much as the others were, to note that it was standing.

“We made it!” the woman who had tugged Rieren’s sleeve said. She didn’t look as exhausted now as she had before, thanks to eating one of the Ebullient Enervators, but the respite was palpable in her eyes. “We’re safe.”

“For now,” the older man said. “Do not let your guard down.”

Rieren and the rest of her group were welcomed warmly by the settlement’s defenders. A message had already been sent that a retreat was headed their way, so they had prepared themselves. In fact, one of the groups had already reached outpost twenty-seven.

“Rieren!” Silomene came running over, silver hair streaming behind her as the others entered the settlement itself. “You made it.”

“Of course,” Rieren said. She wasn’t prepared for Silomene to jump at her and clasp her in an embrace, but she returned it briefly before pulling herself back. “What about Lord Mercion?”

A momentary cloud of worry passed over Silomene’s face. That was all the answer Rieren needed, though Silomene voiced it all the same. “He should be arriving here soon. I think his route was a little more twisted than ours.”

That was certainly a possibility. Neither of his retainers had made it with their groups either. Once more, Rieren asked Batcat to keep an eye out and see if it could spot their companions or any signs of danger. The kitten flew off without any protest. Good little cat. Rieren really ought to purchase some treats for it from the System Shop.

“What is the situation here?” Rieren asked. “Are they prepared to handle the Arisen if it comes here?”

Silomene looked back at the outpost with no small amount of concern. “I doubt there is anyone in the Shatterlands who is prepared to fight that thing, save the Clanmaster and some the more powerful cultivators.”

Well, that was true enough, from a perspective of defeating the monster. But their goal was surviving its onslaught, not trying to kill it.

Though, they could only run so far before they would really need to confront it. At that point, the ones with the power to defeat it would have to step forward and abandon whatever other duties they might currently have. Rieren swallowed as she considered the possibility. Maybe that was what the Abyssals were aiming for.

“Do you know how these things are coming about?” Silomene asked. “I know you said they’re a combination of Abyssals and Aetherians but that’s… not even supposed to be possible, is it?”

“Who is to say what is and isn’t possible,” Rieren said. “But if I were to guess, I assume it is something to do with their Beast Cores. An Abyssal’s Beast Core can only channel corrupted, Abyss-Aspected Essence and an Aetherian’s only Divine-Aspected Essence. Somehow, there is now a Beast Core that can channel both.”

“Or a strange combination of Divine- and Abyss-Aspected Essence.”

“True. That is also a possibility.” But such a Beast Core couldn’t have come from thin air. There had to have been some set of circumstances that allowed such a core to form. “I do not think we will arrive at any proper answers easily.”

Rieren didn’t mention her next thought. She had obtained an Arisen’s Beast Core after defeating the first one she had come across, though she had sold it to obtain a vast amount of credits because she had needed them back then. Now, however, she had no such dire need.

If she could defeat another Arisen, perhaps even the one coming in their direction, then she could take the time to observe what was actually going on with it.

Though, fighting that monster in front of so many witnesses was far from her mind. Rieren paused. So much for discarding the paranoia that had clung to her at Lionshard Sect. She mentally berated herself. Displaying her true potential for the whole world to see was not safe even in normal circumstances.

In the end, she wasn’t opposed to using Call of the Past or the Temporal Recollector, but only if it was necessary.

With a quick little yowl, Batcat suddenly reappeared. Rieren didn’t need to even look through its memories. She could tell what news it brought.

They were safe no longer.