Rieren found herself back at the peak of the Stannerig clan’s mountain, sitting just where she had been. The vision had disoriented her, naturally, but she was trying to reclaim her sense of inner harmony with cultivation. It was proving difficult.

That final series of things she had experienced were all barging into her mind at the same time.

That Anachron had mentioned about all of them coming to join her. It had recognized that she was being pulled out towards that distant centre of masses, where the Mortal and the Celestial Realms had been encircling each other. Where the planetoids orbited in ever-decreasing circles until they got close enough to sink right into the mess. As meteors.

Was that what was going on with the Aetherians flinging down meteors from the heavens? Literal interactions between the Aether and the Mortal Realm, with the planetoids transforming into meteorites that struck the world directly.

Or attempted to, at least. So far, they had prevented the majority of meteor strikes from landing and dealing tremendous damage.

“You look shaken,” Kalvia said.

Rieren almost jumped. The other woman had been passing by without her fully aware of Rieren’s surroundings. Kalvia was apparently headed back to her small camp for one of her rests.

“I am alright,” Rieren said.

“You don’t sound certain.” Kalvia threw herself atop some cushy blankets and started munching on what looked like an overlong piece of jerky. “What’s happening?” She smiled. “I demand to know as your Empress.”

“I demand some time to think it over,” Rieren replied, closing her eyes and focusing on cultivating away the turmoil. “I will let you know as soon as my thoughts are clear.”

Kalvia sighed and slumped back into her blankets. “So boring…”

She said it quietly enough that Rieren ought not to have heard, but then, she was a cultivator. Not hearing that would have been more difficult.

Rieren did her best not to pay it much mind, though. She had to focus on getting through her cultivation as fast as possible. If the Aetherians were going to come all at once, if all those planetoids were going to turn to earthbound meteors, then she would need to be ready as soon as she could.

The problem was that Rieren didn’t have time. Couldn’t have it. The world didn’t work so conveniently.

As was proven less than a week later.

Rieren had been gathering more and more Essence, and at a faster rate too. Especially Vital Essence. Having used most of the resources she had acquired, she could feel that she was on the cusp of another breakthrough. A real Enlightenment this time, not a vision of something she didn’t even truly care about other than in a sense of general curiosity.

But then, Kalvia’s retainer arrived. The shabbily-dressed man Rieren had seen at the Arteroth camp appeared with a flap of his cloak.

“Astern?” Kalvia said, trying and failing to rein in her surprise. “What are you doing here?”

She didn’t sound curious about how he might have arrived here, however. It made sense, in Rieren’s estimation. Someone who was supposed to be in charge of taking care of the future Empress would be powerful in his own right. Not that the man showed any obvious sense of might. In fact, one could be forgiven for thinking there was nothing of note about him at all.

His face was plain, made plainer by the scraggly dark beard adorning it. Dull brown eyes and lank hair that had likely not seen a comb since he had reached adulthood completed the look of someone who had just flung himself out of bed, albeit without much bleariness.

“I am here to retrieve you from your folly, young mistress,” the man said with the slightly exasperated air of someone finally deciding that his overactive pet had been unruly enough for one day.

“How dare you speak to your Empress in such a manner,” Kalvia demanded. She had artfully determined to leave out future from her dire indictment. “Do not incur my wrath further, Astern.”

The shabbily dressed man bowed politely. “Young mistress may exact whatever punishment she deems fit once we have reached safety. Right now, my task is to escort you from this imminent site of devastation before anything untoward occurs.”

“You could help prevent it from turning into a site of devastation, Astern.”

“That is unfortunately beyond the purview of my duties.”

“Your duties can go drink a monkey’s butt juice.”

Rieren had been trying to tune out the conversation and focus on her cultivation, but she couldn’t help but snort at that. It had the unfortunate effect of drawing the ire of both of the argument’s participants.

Astern was clearly not impressed with Rieren. He probably blamed her for leading Kalvia astray or something like that. Meanwhile, Kalvia was staring at Rieren as though she was about to ask how she dared to laugh while her future Empress was being harassed by her own retainer. Rieren had to hold back more laughter at seeing their expressions.

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“You see, young mistress,” Astern said. “This lawless hive of scum does not deserve your attention and your bountiful grace. Please come with me, young mistress, where your great strength and generosity would be of better use.”

For just a second, Kalvia looked like she would agree just to spite Rieren. Then she shook her head. “I have made my decision, Astern. This land where I currently reside, the Shatterlands, is in turmoil. If I am to be the Empress of the Elderlands, then I must pay equal attention to all of it.”

“You must, yes. But—”

He stopped himself for some reason. Rieren was tempted to open her eyes again and peek, but then she felt the scrutiny of his gaze burning on the back of her neck. Ah, so he was reluctant to speak his mind in her presence. She couldn’t blame him for wishing for some privacy.

“Speak, Astern,” Kalvia said. “I have nothing I wish to discuss that needs to be hidden.”

Astern sighed. “You cannot hope to the save the Elderlands sequestered in one lowly corner of it. As Empress, it behooves you to take an overarching approach to matters. One that will allow you to make the right decision for the empire, not just one specific location of it.”

“Are you saying I ought to sacrifice the Shatterlands for the benefit of the empire?”

“If it was needed, would you hesitate?”

“As Empress, I would make sure it is not needed.”

The way Astern’s tone changed made Rieren open her eyes to properly look. His face had fallen. “But, young mistress, it has already happened.”

Rieren’s heart warbled at his meaning. Kalvia was shocked too, enough to need a few moments before she could reply.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “Speak plainly.”

“In the west, the Sartrum clan have fallen entirely,” he said. “Their lands are overrun with monsters, their people killed or forced to flee. Most of the minor clans under their stewardship have also perished. Even now, the refugees fleeing the Pyrelands are being hunted down. The situation is quite devastating.”

Kalvia was silent at the news. Rieren’s mind was trying to work overtime. This… shouldn’t have happened. She had granted everyone the system so they could better defend themselves against the monstrous invaders. How had the Sartrum, the Archnobles of the southwest, failed so utterly?

Rieren’s heart squeezed painfully. Things were too familiar. It was supposed to be different. The world shouldn’t be ending. All Rieren had done had been to prevent such a scenario from occurring again.

“What about the imperial court?” Kalvia asked quietly. “Don’t tell me they had some sort of argument with the Sartrum as well, and so never bothered to help.”

“There is no point in flinging blame, young mistress. We are both aware that the imperial court has a presence here as well, one that they are maintaining to assist how they can.”

He was right. Regrettably or otherwise, the Emperor’s Masked Avatars were helping the defence efforts of the Shatterlands, even if they were doing so in secret. Kalvia couldn’t blame this solely on the imperial court. It sounded too much like she was lashing out.

“So you see,” Astern said. “We must consider all the Elderlands when we are making our decisions. So please, let us return and decide what we will do next for the benefit of the entire empire.”

“I will need to think on it,” Kalvia said.

Astern blinked. “There is nothing to think about. A simple decision of choosing to prioritize the empire over the… natural initial feelings that might arise at seeing the plight of some of its citizens.”

“I don’t think I can be that heartless, Astern.”

“Young mistress, you must learn to not think of it in such a manner. Instead, consider it thus—you are working towards the prosperity of the whole. Leave it to your subjects to ensure that your will is successfully carried out in each and every corner of the lands that swear fealty to you and you alone.”

Kalvia sighed. “Enough, I need to think.”

Astern wasn’t about to let it go so easily, however. For someone who was supposed to be taking care of the future Empress, he certainly had no compunction about airing his views.

But Rieren was getting tired of it. The news was yet another blow, and combined with her growing anxiety regarding what the Aetherians were truly planning, she needed to not lose her concentration. She had to finish her cultivation and plan what she intended to do about it all.

Astern might proselytize about how Kalvia as an Empress needed to take care of the empire, but Rieren didn’t have to hold to such notions.

She was in the Shatterlands. For now, she would focus on just that.

Rieren tried to tune out the conversation, but no sooner had she begun when another interruption materialized. This time, it was for her directly.

She squinted as she spotted something flying in the distance. It was sinuous, wiggling in a serpentine motion, but then she caught the flapping of overlarge wings. Wait, she had seen those before. That was the giant flying lizard thing.

Her realization struck around the same time that El, the Spirit Beast Mercion used for transport over great distances, appeared in truth. Its arrival had silenced both Kalvia and her overbearing retainer, who were staring at it with wide eyes. But where Rieren had been expecting—if with no small amount of surprise—to see Mercion, he wasn’t there.

Instead, Silomene rode in all by herself.

The Spirit Beast landed around Rieren, shutting her off from the view of Kalvia and Silomene. Its rider jumped off, paying only the briefest attention to their other guests before sitting down upon her haunches before Rieren.

“Hello,” she said.

Rieren blinked. “It is good to see you again, Silomene. I was not expecting a visit.”

“Yes, it is good to see you again.”

There was some silence afterwards with only the Spirit Beast digging through the snow to try to find what Rieren could only assume was grass. She hadn’t figured a lizard-like Spirit Beast would be a herbivore, but who knew with Spirit Beasts. Hadn’t one of Mercion’s retainers been feeding it something fleshy out of a bag? She supposed it could be an omnivore.

Rieren turned back to Silomene. The other woman was twisting her fingers through each other, looking mightily anxious. “Is there something wrong?”

“I… I don’t know where else to turn,” Silomene said. “I feel so alone.”

“How did you even know I was here?”

“When they came to kill the Anachron on the mountaintop, I learned it was you who had discovered its weakness.” She smiled knowingly. “As usual.”

“Ah, I see. And the Spirit Beast?”

“Oh, El? I just commandeered him for the time being.”

The way she said it, she obviously saw nothing wrong with taking a Spirit Beast that wasn’t hers for a pleasure ride. “Well, what brings you here? I can see that you are clearly agitated.”

Silomene looked like she was on the verge of regretting even coming here and exiting with her stolen Spirit Beast. Then she took a deep breath and forced herself to be more resolute.

“Well, there is something deadly about to happen,” she said. “And I need your help to stop it.”