Elder Cultivator

Chapter 949

The Lower Realms Alliance was able to ask more relevant questions of their captives, which greatly increased their effectiveness. Stronger cultivators were more difficult to influence to cooperate with various techniques, and thus they were less likely to offer information not directly asked about.

The mystery of Magnitude I ships not appearing within the Numerological Compact was solved with some more probing questions, with the short answer being that they were simply not good enough. The longer explanation was that anyone with the talent to control the energy of a large number of others, even with the help of their formations, had the potential to break past Life Transformation into the next stage that they called Confluence.

However, it was little different than Assimilation cultivators binding to particular ships. While it lacked individual expression, it did seem to be very reliable- the cultivators of the Numerological Compact were expected to advance rather than people being hopeful.

As for the details of the previously mentioned Magnitude IV Dreadnought, the cultivators they had captured only knew it was significantly more powerful and that it was one of a very small number of such ships. The old woman Devon captured in their latest excursion named the captain of the ship as Elder Raeburn, but she either didnt know personal details about the man or they were unable to ask proper questions.

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Rather than rush into battle with a foe of unknown strength, the Lower Realms Alliance thought it a better strategy to continue to whittle down the enemy forces. As there were several enemy systems to attack, they had their choice of numerous outlying bases and various planets. With the enemys consolidation of forces, they werent able to launch as many simultaneous attacks.

Thus, they continued their strategy of deploying larger fleets, which meant Devon was constantly busy. He was occasionally resting back at their forward outpost, but even that included training his new disciples. But during a time of war he wouldnt have been able to fully relax anyway.

The makeup of their fleet was quite similar to before, with the CSS Valor being the largest of battleships they had with them. They also had the addition of Ty Quigley, a rather famous individual. Devon had worked with him in the past- it was more difficult to not know the top individuals among cultivators- so he was glad to have him along. Apparently, he made a pretty good showing dealing with enemy ships.

There was a chance in actual battle that he would not successfully disable a ship, but at the very least they could count on sword cultivators to destroy their opponents. Devon would be somewhat disappointed if another shipful died, but they couldn't afford not to deploy their forces or they would lose more of their own than innocent locals. They endeavored to lose neither, but if they were completely capable of that the war would likely have been over as soon as it started.

When they arrived at their target they were met with somewhere around thirty of the Magnitude II ships- vaguely on par with Assimilation cultivators. Obviously there were strong and weak cultivators, though the power of the ships tended to be quite consistent. Even so, the captains determined the efficiency and skill with which said power was wielded.

Devon moved in for a rapid attack, picking his target. He approached at an angle, so that they couldnt be quite certain which one he was targeting until he was close enough- hed had enough of them detonating segments of their ships to try to kill him. Those were lives lost for literally nothing.

His chains began to reach out towards one ship, but then immediately stabbed into another beside it. He rapidly forced his way inward, his chains wrapped around to suppress the formations as much as possible. He didnt mind the attacks focused on him, and the ships of this size were small enough he rapidly reached the command deck sheltered in the center. He suppressed the energy of the captain and began creating a lasting binding so he could move onto the next ship.

Then he felt a flash of energy. In his mind, a sword was drawn, slashing a single time. That was it. One life lost, and the ship was neutralized. Of course, it was more complicated than it felt, but Devon could sense Ty circling back around for another pass at the battle.

He didnt rush his binding, but he put more energy into it to save some time. He wasnt going to be outdone by a kid. Sure, Ty might only be a century and a half younger than him, but he was the next cultivator generation behind. Plus, Devon was in Enrichment so he needed to pull his weight.

Devon barely kept ahead of Ty Quigley in terms of number of captured ships, but Devon understood there was more he was providing than simple destruction. His captains were captured and they could extract information, while Tys targets were turned into ground meat. And Devon also provided a distraction, with enemy fire focusing on him both when he was between ships and when he was boarding one. It was annoying how willing they were to assault their own ships, but on the other hand he kind of understood the mindset. They had already lost them at that point.

Ty simply wasnt close enough to the battle for long enough to serve as a distraction, but he was effective in exactly the role he signed up for, rapid offense. Devon couldnt be upset about efficiently taking out their enemies. They would still have to deal with offloading the captives from those ships as without all of the core formations they were not self-mobile, but that had already been accounted for. They had special transport ships lying in wait with their own escorts.

Upon defeating the enemy fleet, they finally had direct access to one of the local moons, named Waral. It had a moderate population, and was covered completely by a planetary barrier. As they had already speculated, that barrier was supported by the natural energy of many captive cultivators.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

As the fleet moved to a safe distance above the moon, Devon was discussing how they might best assault the base. If we can break through the barrier, I can hold it open to allow more of our ships to pass through. We have some idea of what other defenses they have. As far as we are aware, they cant deploy all of their arsenal to the same face. Ash?

Ashildr nodded. Our best sensors are scanning for concentrations of power, and from there we will determine the route we will take to assault the planet. We need to work quickly, because reinforcements are likely already on the way from the inner planets.

What are we waiting for then? A projection of Ty Quigleys head said, as he was still on his ship. I can get that barrier open in an instant.

Well discuss that in a moment, Ashildr said. First, we need to assess the other risks. For example, would they be willing to detonate their power stations on their own planets? We were unable to conclusively determine that they cant.

I assume the structure is different? Ty responded. If so, I can only hope to take out what seems like the biggest parts.

Devon nodded. I can also use my World Encompassing Chains to try to pick out their strongest cultivators. Theyre the ones we really need to take out.

After ironing out a few more details, Devon set himself up to do just that. Strangely, reports from their scouts didnt sense any enemies on the way to intercept them. The enemy certainly had some level of stealth technology, but it was still a situation that set him on edge.

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The warmth of a white star washed over Anton as he sat in the light of Kathariel. That was the star of the system where they had their forward base from which they coordinated their assaults on the Numerological Compact.

After a few months he was not yet fully bound to it, though each time he underwent the process of replacing one of his first ninety-nine stars he was faster. Rather than taking three to five years, he could probably finish in one or two. If he devoted all of his time in the system to the task, it would be on the lower end.

Cultivation was a pleasant process to Anton. Even if there were struggles and pains, that was all part of growth. The slow burn of the stars inside of him empowered him. The rhythm of energy was wild and sometimes chaotic, yet it also felt perfectly natural.

Sensing a disruption in the flow of natural energy, not around the star but further afield, Anton ceased his meditations. If he was fully bound to the local star he would not have needed to extend his senses, but as it was he could only vaguely pick out something with the furthest points of his senses. But that was enough to cause some alarm. There should be no unexpected visitors in this system.

He contacted the base as he began to move. Even if it was something friendly, them arriving unexpectedly was still a cause for concern. As Anton approached closer he realized they were nearly upon the base already, and moments later he felt a great power. He had already been briefed on the Numerological Compacts ships, and he sensed some of the stronger ones. Magnitude III, most likely.

He was uncertain about whether he should attempt to bind the local star, but he might not even have the few minutes required to shift his style. As far back as Rutera he had managed to nearly complete the normal process and then ignite his star in a moment, but he found himself further down a path parallel to that.

Rather than taking the first precious minutes to try to sort out that situation, Anton began to fire his bow. He was not weak without a bound star. He was still a powerful Assimilation cultivator. His arrows struck the barriers of the various ships, causing no real damage to any of them- but revealing them to the base below.

The active patrols responded quickly, as they were already in orbit. Anton provided covering fire as he continued to close in, doing his best to target weapon emplacements. He condensed the energy of his Spirit Arrows and cut them through the energy of the enemys beam attacks- interacting with a small portion of their offense while passing through their barrier. Then his arrows found anything that looked relatively fragile in the working of their weapons.

After a few volleys he managed to pick out which formation runes were the most important to the continued functioning of the weapons, and while the ships seemed to have a large number of possible firing points he was able to target them from any angle.

The initial patrols didnt have much success actually taking down the ships, focusing their efforts on boarding a few of the smaller ones. At least the barriers they placed over the base were holding, for the moment, and they had left sufficient forces available to defend against an attack. Those forces just took a moment to mobilize.

Rather than ships, however, Anton felt something much more important. A swarm of energies united together. That would be Grain and the other locusts for Akrys. While none of them were individually strong, that was to their advantage as none of the ships seemed to think it worthwhile to attack them. Perhaps they were confused by the bundles of energy.

Rather than picking one of the Magnitude II targets, they went for the bigger ships. They had trouble getting through the barrier to try to actually reach anything, but Anton assisted with several shots. Once they were inside, they spread instantly to the various shackled individuals, each one of them breaking some small but critical part of the restraints. The prisoners were freed a moment later, dropping slack to the floor. The pulse from the formations that was meant to force them to self detonate was a moment late, as it required them to remain connected to the machines.

That was only several hundred individuals out of many thousands, but it came with an immediate drop in the efficiency of the ship- and the captains effort was internally focused instead of dealing with the ships outside. Anton wondered how else he could aid the locusts. Opening their way into other segments would be valuable, because as soon as they were seen approaching a target the captain would likely try to detonate a segment.

In addition to that Anton could just take shots at the man himself. It wasnt like he was close enough for anyone to counterattack, and if he kept his assaults to a level it seemed like they might survive, he might slow down the controller enough that the locusts could do their work. Yes, those seemed like good plans.

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