Elder Cultivator

As Anton entered the next system, he was overcome with a feeling of dread and death. He almost instinctively called for a retreat, but he recognized the source as outside of himself before the words could reach his lips. It was not his own instincts, nor was it an active projection of energy.

“Do you feel that?” Anton asked Varghese.

His apprentice swept his senses around the system. “Is there some problem?”

That told Anton enough, and his further exposure to the sensations was making the situation more clear. “Not anymore, I think.”

During his previous scouting, Anton had not entered this particular system. At most, he had scanned it from outside. Normally, that would have picked up anything of note… but upon further consideration the feelings around him were extremely faint. It was only upon being completely surrounded by them that they were magnified.

It was quite possible Varghese did pick up on what Anton was feeling and simply did not interpret it the same way. A thin haze of spectral energy could have any number of reasons for existing. But something that made Anton react in this exact manner could only be the result of a great number of deaths.

Many had died in the system they had just come from- some allies, and many more enemies. However, their grievances upon death were broadly spread out with little lingering spite. To have the same results as in this second system, something truly terrible had to have happened to the inhabitants. Or the previous inhabitants, since the Imbued Fragments and Broad Eyed Harvesters were clearly inhabiting this system quite happily.

Normally, Anton would have expected traces left on conquered planets- but he also would have expected that said planets hadn’t been torn apart, stripped of the majority of what made them a planet in the first place. So perhaps whatever had taken place here would remain a mystery, except that the fear and spite was denser around the planets.

As they moved further into the system, Anton let the feelings flow over him. It wasn’t pleasant to dwell in negative emotions, but sometimes one had to move through them. Anton himself couldn’t resolve the negativity of a whole system… ordinarily. But in this state, perhaps he could. Before any of that, however, he needed to bind the star. He took special care, uncertain if the spectral energy might hinder the process. But aside from the distraction it provided, Anton felt no hindrance as he opened a connection to the star.

“I’m going to try something special,” Anton informed Varghese- and the fleets with them, as he didn’t wish to worry them with his actions.

“Something regarding whatever it is you felt?” Varghese surmised.

“Spectral energy,” Anton confirmed. “I feel this system was occupied by others, in the past.”

Varghese nodded, well aware of the situation in what was now the territory of the Adamant Federation and Free Planet Guardians.

Anton immediately locked his senses onto one of the larger planets. There was a man commanding their forces, preparing them for the assault no doubt. Anton formed a Spirit Arrow, forming it with his own spectral energy. The results were far beyond what he anticipated. His bowstring resonated with the surrounding spectral energy. Soulstring. It seemed there was a connection of purpose between his bow and the surroundings- though Anton did not think it reached beyond a similar intent.

His arrow flew straight and true- Anton did not need an arrow without substance to avoid physical barriers. The arrow gathered surrounding spectral energy, building momentum as it approached his target, slipping past their natural energy barriers as well. The commander was pierced through the heart, and a wave of souls- or the remnants of them- spread through the surroundings.

The reaction from the locals was immediate. Cultivators scrambled for ships, and the shells of the planets themselves morphed and bent. If Anton wasn’t mistaking things, they were faster than the previous system. Anton’s projection of their trajectories placed them together at a central point, and Anton had the suspicion that the results would be less than pleasant for the Alliance.

“This system will not be as easily conquered as the other,” Anton said.

“Yet I don’t hear you suggesting we retreat,” Varghese commented. He was forming his own connection with the local star, as his personal risks were too high without a bound star, given that he had to fight from closer to their enemies. His personal strength would be something that could be overcome with numbers, without the full power of Assimilation. “I assume you mean without your empowerment… and that spectral energy you made use of.”

“Indeed. But we still must pay special attention to their intentions. And thwart their plans before they come to completion,” Anton said. “We must be swift about this. We will direct the fleets to act decisively.”

Anton took another shot, carefully drawn out to rally the local spectral energy. Another of the strongest cultivators fell, along with the area around him. Slaying them would both severely damage their power and disrupt their morale. But Anton wasn’t content to deal with one individual at a time.

Fully empowered by his bound stars, he could do far more than single shots. Even consecutive shots from his bow could only reach so many- hardly effective for a wide battlefield with vast numbers. While they were far weaker without a physical bow to support them, he created bows of pure energy around him. First ten, then a hundred, then a thousand. They fired consecutively, with Anton acting as a legion of archers on his own.

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That was his preferred method, as he was able to influence more of the battle. Besides, he wanted to leave some of the stronger enemies for Varghese. The man needed to push himself to break through to the next level. He wasn’t far from Enrichment.

There was another reason. With Anton focusing on the wider battlefield, not only could he better accustom himself to enemy tactics but also because he could see they were doing something new. Of course, he still intended for it to be disrupted… but giving them just enough time to show off their plans seemed useful.

This system had twelve planets, though perhaps the smaller ones were once moons. Either way, they were barely skeletal structures of what they had once been. But the way their trajectories were lining up, they weren’t just preparing for a combined assault. As they got closer, it became ever more clear that they were headed for the exact same overlapping area from their various points around the system.

Defeating them in the time it took to reach that point was impossible… but with Anton’s support the Alliance fleets took out several structural joins on the closest planets. They fought their way through enemy fleets, the battle one of widespread destruction.

Finally, when it appeared that two of the planets were going to crash into each other… they bent and twisted. Their long segments twisted and separated, swinging outward away from the core… then connecting to each other. Anton felt their formations combining, as well as the energies of the inhabitants.

That was enough of that. But Anton wasn’t the one who was best fit to prevent them from continuing further. His combat style might have been capable of destroying a single planet- something he hadn’t tried for obvious reasons- but without a core holding everything together he would only be suited for breaking some of the limbs holding everything together.

The various segments of the planets were like polygonal edges that moved to snap together, but as more planets beyond the first two began to fit themselves together, Varghese turned his attention away from the fleets.

The planets were made only of bare stone and metal. They had no ability to move on their own, but were instead controlled by the cultivators. Rather than the mix of metal and stone being a disadvantage for Varghese, however, his magnetism was put on full display as he flew into the middle of the first pair. His sword slashed around him, drawing complex curves that he inscribed inside the structure. He wasn’t creating any sort of formation that would direct the flow of energy beyond his own, but instead simply relied on his own might.

That might, of course, came from his bound stars. Azun was one of the mightiest, despite how small it was. He manipulated magnetism to pull many parts of the structure inward- while also making the field splay out in random directions, pulling the great structure of the planets into torsion. Or rather, he created a wide variety of stresses all together.

For a moment it began to collapse, then a few nodes began to resist the magnetism. Those were the next targets Anton focused on, drawing upon the surrounding spectral energy with only his main bow. Cultivators fell one after another- and the weaker cultivators simply did not have the technique to stand up against Varghese’ constantly shifting magnetic fields.

The combining planets began to collapse inward, clipping a third planet as they bent and twisted. Varghese flew out from between them, holding the fields in place to continue the accelerating collapse as he formed a connection to the next shell of a planet.

Alliance fleets had already swarmed the planets around him, though they kept their distance to allow Varghese to spread his magnetism as he pleased. Instead, they provided supporting fire to take the pressure off of him. It was clear that the planets hadn’t been set up to deal with attackers inside of their structure, though the fact that their own fleets would make use of the area should have tipped them off.

Then again, having to face rains of attacks along the way would have stopped a weaker cultivator, or even a large group of them.

They never got to see what the combined planets would do. By the time they fully understood the magnitude of what Varghese could do, it was too late. Six of the planets he entangled together, and the remaining ones- two larger and four small- were unable to reach each other. Yet they also couldn’t retreat, with Anton’s full power attack meaning they would just let themselves be worn down if they tried.

One of the larger planets tried to catch Varghese in its own inevitable collapse, their cultivators focusing their formations inward- but when Varghese noticed what they were up to, he didn’t even bother trying to break out. Instead, he let Anton take out those coordinating the efforts… and during the final moments of the collapse simply cut his way through the crumbling structure.

The planets weren’t fast enough to retreat, but a great quantity of enemy ships did flee the system. Several of the moons even had industrious individuals form something similar to the ships out of part of the planetary structure. The only thing they were missing was the proper experience.

Rather than trying to shoot down the fleeing ships, Anton focused on minimizing their own casualties. While those fleeing ships would be a problem later, Anton had a good reason to prioritize things as he did. Simply put, he wasn’t moving from his spot until the war was over. It might take them several hours to clean up the rest of the enemies in the system… at which point the retreating fleets would be at most a quarter of a lightyear away. They wouldn’t reach the neighboring system for days- and Anton could shoot them while they were in subspace.

So after they were done in the local system, Anton would move on to them. And then another system, even if they weren’t ready to attack yet. Because the enemy couldn’t stop him. Anton might not get much rest for the foreseeable future… but neither would their enemies.

If they knew what Anton did, they might be even worse off. He could feel Varghese resonating with the stars that they had bound. He had no doubt that these sects would have another Enrichment cultivator on their hands by the end of the war. Though even if Varghese didn’t advance, the rest of the Alliance were up to the task. It was simply a matter of what cost they would have to bear. No doubt their enemies would attempt to pull something horrifying, but the Alliance was ready to respond.

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