Elder Cultivator-Chapter 1279
Koronis wasn’t brave enough to move alone, so when the Scarlet Alliance noticed her movement they knew something was up. She was a perfectly reasonable person when she didn’t think she could gain an advantage, and a backstabber the rest of the time. Which really meant she was the latter the whole time, waiting. It was difficult to determine if they should finally be rid of her. Having a neighbor that would engage in diplomacy was something, but her existence was high risk.
Catarina was placed on the eastern border, because she had to be on some border and they didn’t currently have a better position. She would be most effective at relocating, since she could momentarily shift some of the destinations of the spatial distortions. And even without that, within a certain region of the Scarlet Alliance she could simply rely on plain old teleportation, beyond what their solar platforms could usually achieve.
The hope was very much that the Exalted Quadrant wasn’t going to act in concert with the Trigold Cluster. However, if they were, contingencies were in place. The two groups could certainly coordinate on opposite sides of a region, but once they were next to each other? As long as there were no more tempting targets, violence would assuredly ensue. Especially with certain groups from the Trigold Cluster.
Timothy was, for the moment, on the western front. Zazil, Prospero, and Chidi were remaining flexible. Most likely, Prospero would remain on Xankeshan so they had a proper Domination cultivator there. It was one of the most likely targets, and they had the most ways to direct incoming foes there. It wasn’t quite as concrete as one giant bubble that only went there, but the flexibility should be more to their advantage than disadvantage. They could only fit so many orbital platforms in one system, and having opportunities to wear down incoming fleets first was quite useful.
If there were any emergencies… Bear Hug was available for communication. Instant, short messages such as if there happened to be a concerningly large gathering of Domination cultivators anywhere. The threshold for that might actually be two, or even one, but the point was that they had a couple handfuls of points of contact available. Though maybe in another century, they wouldn’t need Bear Hug- depending on how the research panned out. It wasn’t impossible to replicate, but so far most options attempted were impractical.
Still, Catarina knew that Uzun was quite pleased with the gains in knowledge. Even if they didn’t accomplish instantaneous communication as they pleased, they were advancing in various ways. At short ranges, computers were being more effectively synchronized with servers by replacing some more traditional wireless connection methods.
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Of all the foes she expected to show up on her doorstop, Ratna hadn’t been expecting Yann. He was, at least, social enough to give a proper warning. They met face to face, in between systems. Yann didn’t look all that impressive. He wasn’t a hulking monstrosity. Just a moderately handsome human, at least on the surface. His relative youth was the greatest sign of danger. The missing leg was notable, but far less relevant when one could fly- though it quite possibly extended into his dragon form.
“So you’re back,” Ratna said. “How was your cultivation?”
“Not bad,” the Fearsome Menagerie cultivator said. “I think I’m quite a bit more capable of tearing people apart. On that topic, I heard you are now associated with a group that ruined some of our prospects in the lower realms.”
“... You’ve missed pretty much this whole cycle, correct?” Ratna asked.
He shrugged. “That’s not that long. I vaguely remember you being on the wrong side of things before then. During the war.” Ratna couldn’t be quite sure if he’d actually forgotten. If so, it was possibly due to strange training methods… or really not having paid that much attention to a war he was directly involved in.
“I would carefully consider how things have changed before getting too involved,” she suggested. “Do you remember how the war ended?”
“Didn’t someone die?”
“Shelach died.”
“Oh good, he was annoying. Anyone else?”
“Two from the Swirling Swarm. And Cynbel. “Cynbel…”
“The Ponderous Turtle Clan. Exalted Quadrant.”
“Eh. Don’t care.”
“Then there were multiple others from the Exalted Quadrant afterwards.”
“Still don’t care.”
“You’re unconcerned about the regular deaths of Domination cultivators?” Ratna asked.
Yann grinned. “It just means they weren’t good enough.”
“Even if it might be you next?”
His eyes glimmered. “I won’t be harmed by the same thing twice.”
Normally, Ratna would have thought that to be hyperbole… but perhaps someone like Yann could have become immune to blades in the intervening time. Then again, maybe he just adjusted his own style to be detrimental to Rahayu. Still, it must have been modestly embarrassing for him to lose with little Domination cultivator involvement against him.
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“Anyway,” Yann stretched. “Sudin and I are gonna kill you.”
“He’s still weak, you know,” she commented. Ratna was just guessing, but she wanted to see if she could gain any information.
Yann’s response didn’t provide much confirmation. “Don’t need him. Just need to catch you somewhere you won’t run away.”
Frankly, Ratna saw no reason she shouldn’t make a tactical retreat if single combat against her foe was unlikely to work out for her. She preferred to keep all her limbs intact. She could only hope his injury would hinder him more than his training helped. Ratna herself wasn’t growing all that much faster because of her association with the Scarlet Alliance. Even if she could defeat Yann, the price might not be worth it.
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Velvet was monitoring the Exalted Quadrant’s territory for any threatening movement near the Little Alliance. The good news was that the war had ramped up to the north of them, along the border with the Chaotic Conglomeration. The new sects were settling into their positions as the frontlines pushed back and forth, returning to a previous rhythm, but that also meant fewer people on both sides to bother her new home.
She could always feel it now. Her anchor, abstract though it was, remained fully present within the system- moving with it as it should.
Velvet had previously observed some of the leftover chaos that Anton caused. That was one more reason that the Little Alliance was relatively safe for the moment- as the tides had shifted and the assault on the lower realms had begun once more. Frankly, Velvet thought they were doomed.
The Exalted Quadrant, that was. They’d already lost last cycle, and they hadn’t gained in overall strength. The more Domination cultivators they sent, the more they would lose. At least, that was her hope. She might be able to get active updates, if she brought Bear Hug with her- but of the various things that Bear Hug happened to be, stealthy was not one of them. Velvet could conceal other individuals with her, but to truly hide from Domination- the real threats- she needed to focus her efforts.
Her current target was Ludek, of the Citadel of Exalted Light. She might kill him, if she spotted him. That depended on the surrounding climate- if she thought someone else would take over and run things better, then she wouldn’t. And it was possible he was properly a Domination cultivator now. It was theoretically more anticipated than her own advancement- though most people never really expected Domination cultivators to arise. Still, after surviving the last war, he might have succeeded.
Then, after that, she was going to check on the Mirage Sect. It was funny, having pretended to be part of one of their branches in the past, to hear they might actually have one of the Exalted Ones. And now that she was confident in her own success, she was going to confirm as many of those remaining in the Exalted Quadrant as she could.
And maybe kill those who had failed, because the Exalted Quadrant deserved it. If she could do so without troubling the Little Alliance. Maybe she should have brought some void ants with her… though they would have been a greater giveaway than her in any assassination. Unless they could cremate the corpse or something.
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Byron was a second tier Confluence cultivator now. He wasn’t sure if it was feasible to reach something equivalent to Unity, at least not for himself. Stronger subordinates would be more reliable. He could hold his own against Augmentation cultivators, which was saying something- because he wasn’t meant to fight alone. Then again, neither were his current opponents so their personal energy became less relevant. Both were stronger with their vessels.
Byron wasn’t fond of the Numerological Compact. Nor were they particularly fond of him and the Unified Sector. Last time around, however, they hadn’t had this Heitor guy. Byron found it difficult to determine quite how many cultivators were packed into his massive ship, but they were certainly going for quantity over quality. Strong individuals were too difficult to control.
A million, at least. Maybe a few million. Byron could probably get his systems to estimate, but he didn’t really want to know. He’d just feel more guilt when they died. Of course, anyone who survived the battle would be given an opportunity- but he couldn’t afford to hold back. Heitor manned a ship that probably took as many resources- both in terms of construction and manpower- as a proper grand fleet.
It wasn’t even close to planet sized, but it was surprisingly nimble. A menace. They’d clashed at the borders numerous times. Devon was heading off different fleets, or he would have already helped tear the guy apart.
The ships clashed. Byron’s was far smaller, but he grit his teeth not because of the power imbalance but because of what he felt. Despair, mostly. If the cultivators were in too poor of a condition, they’d be less effective- so they were kept ‘healthy’.
Byron tried to reach out for them. That was what hurt. That was why he was going to be sorry. He didn’t actually know if he could defeat Heitor, but he would have certainly tried to cause more damage if not for them.
But eventually, he would have to do it. He didn’t seem to be able to influence the flow of energy within the ship. Sometimes, in the past, similar things had worked for Byron or the hiveminds- but assuming the Numerological Compact wouldn’t innovate on previous things would be foolish. Even if their innovations were horrid, they at least had more creativity than the rest of the Exalted Quadrant combined. Maybe not the Disciples of the Beyond with that they’d done with distortion beast nests- it was a long series of events that ultimately made their attempts into a failure- but certainly most sects.
Byron would have loved to face some guys shooting light beams, or who bred large turtles, or phoenixes. Maybe some people with swords- depending on how talented they were. But here he was, fending off Heitor once more. “You know, your recovery will be limited. Are you sure you can keep playing around?” he taunted. The intent was to use that information they both knew already to actually make Heitor waste energy. Just moving around might be sufficient. However, he was able to return to the tides to replenish. Further into the lower realms, if Heitor veered off course into a properly inhabited system, that might not be the case- but the risk of such things outweighed the benefits.
Byron and his people still recovered faster, as natives. They could still wear down Heitor and his ship. The ship itself might be the real weakness- accumulated physical damage would be difficult to repair.
But there was so much of it. And so many people. So much despair. Freeing people from it would be the kind thing, but it was still difficult. Aside from possibly dying from emotional feedback- which he very well might- Byron simply wasn’t prepared to experience that. But he also wasn’t going to let people get hurt.
