Elder Cultivator

Chapter 961

As Numerological Compact forces approached Waral, all of the Lower Realms Alliance forces available within the system were brought to bear, focused mainly around the moon. That included some very important reinforcements from Kathariel. They had confirmed that Elder Raeburn and Elder Joetta Leoid were heading towards the system, ready to join Elder Endymion.

Compact forces had been streaming into the system for almost a day when they received a report. While two of the enemy’s Magnitude IV ships had recently entered the system, the final member was not where they expected. Instead, scouts picked it up en route to Kathariel, where their forward outpost had been established.

That rattled their forces somewhat, as their repositioning had seemingly been anticipated… but it was too late to change the Alliance’s stratagem. They had to make the best of the positioning they had, and hope that Kathariel could hold its own. It was likely that their battles would resolve before enemies arrived in Kathariel, but not with enough time for them to circumvent enemy systems and catch up to Endymion, who they previously believed had remained in the system.

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Rather than simply wait for the enemy to approach Waral, the Alliance fleet moved to try to intercept one wing of the enemy fleet. If they were unable to defeat even one portion, than fighting both at once was pointless. Either the rest would focus on that battle or they would ignore it and have to spend time approaching Waral, which wasn’t as defenseless as they looked. Hopefully, they would be able to rout the first branch.

Of course, they weren’t solely relying on hope. They had strength as well. They had planned to face three Magnitude IV ships, so dealing with two and their accompanying ships was rather more reasonable.

Attacks were exchanged as the fleets approached each other, and Devon didn’t hesitate to go straight for the strongest ship. The captain should be Elder Raeburn, one of the triumvirate leading the Numerological Compact.

The force of Devon’s impact was not gentle. He couldn’t afford to think about collateral damage, so his intention was to tear through the hull and any ship segments in his path all in one go. Quite like Ty, except perhaps less elegant. The fellow was currently throwing his ship at some of the Magnitude II ships, with decent success.

Devon, meanwhile, felt like he had just struck a mountain. No, he’d done that before, and with greater success. His energy rebounded, sending him tumbling away from the vessel. He formed a shell of protection around himself just in time to block the incoming attacks.

He grimaced. So their energy adaptations were complete. Given the timeframe, it had been hoped that they had hastily cobbled together the formations, but apparently they worked at maximum capacity. It did seem to be focused on Devon specifically- or perhaps it was merely limited to the Magnitude IV ships. Either way, the rest of the fleet was having some success. However, Devon couldn’t hold off the vessel if he wasn’t a meaningful threat.

Devon had wanted to test the changes, and now he knew. He might be able to break through with finesse, but a direct assault was no good. Still, he didn’t have to do everything himself. That was what reinforcements were for. And they should be ready soon. Or rather, he should be ready soon.

A pulse of warmth lit in Devon’s chest as a change spread throughout the system. It was something that could be picked up by most sensors, but they might not immediately understand it.

Devon charged forward once more, but before he could impact the barrier a flaming arrow pierced a hole just large enough for him to fit through head first. Anton had come to help defend Waral, which made the situation in Kathariel all the more tenuous, but that was why they had to win here all the more.

He followed the arrow through the superstructure of the ship, several more passing by and keeping the pathway open. The distance he had to cover was almost nothing, and further arrows slipped through the one hole in the barrier, destroying weapon emplacements. It was almost as if his grandfather was right next to him, instead of millions of miles away behind the local star. Or perhaps he was inside it now? He sometimes did that, once stars were bound.

A few moments later, Devon saw the face of Elder Raeburn. Shaken, but still confident. He might have said something, but he didn’t want to give any time to react. His chains reached out and… something clamped onto them. They began to pull, drawing out Devon’s energy- trying to tear him apart.

Then his own chains shattered, arrows slicing through them and cutting the flow of energy for an instant, long enough for Devon to retain internal control. He could still see the additional formations added into the command center, feeling them pulling on him. But Anton could sense them as well, not part of the greater formations managing the ship.

It made sense, of course. Even with the genius the Numerological Complex had displayed in the field of formations, adding something powerful enough to restrain an Enrichment cultivator on top of their already existing formations would be impossible in such a short time. Even so, they were independently functional.

The important difference was that Anton’s arrows could destroy the additional formations with reckless abandon, reducing the strain on Devon by half by the time Raeburn’s face fell and he seemed to realize he should be killing Devon.

Devon dove forward towards the man, chains coiling around his own limbs as he reached out. In terms of personal power, he should never have struggled with this opponent. Even so, he’d almost underestimated them. But if they could take on Anton and himself simultaneously? Well, then it really didn’t matter what plans they made.

The man was soon wrapped like a mummy, chains layering on top of each other leaving little room for even air to pass. Now that they had an opportunity, Devon couldn’t justify letting the ship be destroyed- it was just as quick to restrain the man as it was to kill him.

There was one issue, though.

“I don’t think I can focus on anything else,” Devon said, contacting the fleet. “I can try to suppress the ship’s systems long enough to fully disconnect him but the detonation systems might activate.”

“Don’t.” The single sound came in the form of Ashildr’s voice. “There are far too many cultivators tied to that ship. It could not only kill you but wipe out half our fleet. I’ll make my way there directly.”

“What about the other fleet…?” Devon asked.

“I’ll help slow them,” Anton said. “Besides, the locals seem quite fired up. It would be a shame to not let them try.”

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Despite his low cultivation, Ammar was in control of a retrofitted ship. Then again, it was one of the smallest kinds, so it didn’t really need a Confluence cultivator controlling it. Finding fifty individuals whose combined energies he could channel properly would have been a monumental task in other circumstances, but finding affinity was almost trivial.

He could feel the others. He had first been chosen as a Voice, now he was a Blade. Not a leader, exactly, but someone acknowledged to have sufficient will. Though those who were entrusting their lives to him- even if it was just fifty of his brethren- were hardly spineless.

There were far more of them in the surrounding ships. Sadly, they only had smaller vessels, so they couldn’t fight the approaching enemies head-on.

Flashes of light highlighted ships in the approaching fleet. Ammar could feel the power being wielded by the archer. Saying it was greater than Devon’s was not quite right, but it was certainly more focused. Critical components of ships began to fall apart, especially those connected to movement formations. That caused one wing of the second fleet to lag behind, while another surged forward.

Those most hasty ships were the target of their little squad. The Magnitude IV ship was far behind them, but even so there was never an intention to engage them. Just delay them for a few moments, if they could.

Attacks came from the enemy fleet, but the combined perceptions of two thousand cultivators gave them enough perspective to redirect themselves between all of the dozens of beams. They continued onward, flying just around the enemy vessels, launching no attacks of their own.

Until, that was, they reached the halfway mark. Then a web of natural energy spread between them, forming a net of chains. It… barely stood for a few moments. The enemy ships tore through it, and the shock echoed through the local branch of the hivemind.

The intention was to capture and disable the vessels, freeing more people. Even if they didn’t become part of the hivemind, they were still compatriots formerly enslaved by the same foes. Sadly, the technique wasn’t enough. Rather than being discouraged, however, each of them were filled with determination. Someday, even if not individually, they would match Devon.

They continued to avoid the larger ships, their defenses sufficient to resist glancing blows as fifty cultivators combined their energy to protect each ship, even as they were assaulted by ten times as many foes.

One plan failed, but they were able to face their foes.

Arrows pierced towards the greatest enemy ship, breaking through its barrier. Meanwhile, artillery from the surface of Waral had finally fixed their focus on the greatest foe. Together, they made the ship tremble and their voices were finally heard. Should the individual known as Elder Joetta persist in her assault, their millions would overpower her tens of thousands, despite any perceived ‘inefficiencies’.

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When alarms started blaring and the ship began to tremble, the Sergeant knew it was time to act. It helped that she felt a familiar energy and did not want to be on the ship if Anton destroyed it. They couldn’t make themselves known except by doing their best.

“Now!” she declared with a burst of pheromones and a sound only void ants would easily pick up on.

Each of them bit into their designated positions, tearing it apart. And the segment didn’t immediately explode, which was a nice bonus. Most likely an explosion of natural energy would be more inconvenient for them than directly deadly, but they wouldn’t last long in the vacuum of space either.

Well, the Sergeant might, but she didn’t want to be the only one.

“Good job!” she declared when everyone finished. “I’ll wake him up.” She scurried over, pinching the unconscious man with her jaws. The chances of him immediately trying to kill her approached ninety percent.

The man- apparently known as Byron- woke, yanking at his chains. The Sergeant was pulled backwards by a line of void ants holding onto her rear legs and all retracting at once. As the man became aware of his surroundings, the Sergeant led her soldiers to form a very special shape. Hopefully, it would be understood by the cultivator.

A trickle of natural energy, like a light rain. Then a surge, a flash flood filling a dry canyon. The man’s shackles snapped, their ruined formations making them little more than expensive metal scrap.

“An arrow…?” the man commented.

Oh good, he was paying attention. The Sergeant leaned, guiding her fellow to point towards where the door had once been. That might lead out into space, but it would be revelatory for the man.

He stepped forward, laying his palm on the wall. Oh right, cultivators could see things without eyes. Well, even void ants could sense energy beyond things, but he would get more.

“Empty space… not even air.” He looked towards the void ants. “I have literally no idea who or what you are. Besides ants of some sort, I think? Can you understand me?”

The Sergeant made the group ‘nod’. Spelling letters was too intensive, and only worked if they had specific plans ahead of time.

“Great. Well, if you’re here to help me for some reason… I’d very much like to get away from that woman I sense,” he gestured towards the center of the ship. Vigorous nodding from the void ants- that was the plan, after all. “I’m going to break off this segment of the ship, but the formations… I don’t quite get how they work, but I can feel the danger. Can you deal with those?”

Further nodding.

“Alright, I need to actually know that you’re nodding. If you can understand me, can you… form a sphere or something?”

It only took a slight prompting for the Sergeant to get the group to take such a basic formation, with ants locking legs in a three dimensional mesh. Then they returned to a position where the Sergeant could see.

“And that nodding meant yes. I’ll have to trust that. If you can sever the formation connection along this branch, I can snap the whole thing off. It’s likely to be catastrophically dangerous, but at least I can stay protected from outside… with those several hundred fellows in the compartments up that way,” he gestured.

The Sergeant discovered a slight issue. Conveying it to the cultivator was more difficult. Now that the former cell was part of a ship, it was airtight. It should be, but that meant getting to some of the external formation markings would be more difficult. They didn’t have much time, so the Sergeant had to improvise by having the group slam into the wall at a particular point.

“Ah. You can’t get out. But then air will escape.” He frowned. “That would also pull you out. I could plug the hole with my energy?”

The Sergeant almost liked that idea. But she had to have the group shake no. They would just disrupt it. No, instead they would form a mesh. If she had time to explain, she would have asked him to make a bubble over them.

But explosions of energy from outside meant they probably only had a few minutes at best. Less, if Anton just decided to take out the ship. He could probably do it, though humans were picky about things like losing fifty thousand individuals all at once. Even if that was far fewer than a single planet lost daily from various ailments and time itself.

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