Elder Cultivator

Considering there was an invasion from the upper realms currently going on, Paradise was being surprisingly calm. Erin wished he could speak, but Paradise did not speak. He probably couldn’t, though he did seem to be able to understand speech to a certain point. She could only try to determine what he was planning by the feeling of his energy. Strong and focused. Purposeful.

She could only go along with his flow, not if she wanted to fight at maximum effectiveness. It was odd, how Paradise had been so eager to interject himself into battle a few months back, with that old man and Chikere. An old man Erin was fairly certain was Everheart, given his first appearance near Paradise.

Then something appeared in Erin’s sight- hidden from her senses by its very nature. Or perhaps she should say her very nature.

“Well hello there, Queen of Paradise,” Erin said with as much respect as she could muster. It wasn’t that she didn’t respect void ants, but this one she’d seen grow from a tiny larva to… a still very tiny form. Nowhere near the palm size of the Great Queen. Then again, they had a couple centuries of growth between them. “You were looking for me, I presume?”

Though in relative terms this queen was fairly young, she was still a few decades old and thus had grown to a humanlike intelligence. The queens were generally faster to develop in that manner. Erin had learned to understand the sign language of the void ants- it would have been rather foolish to not keep up with it when there was a colony on Paradise. The Queen of Paradise signed her message. “Paradise wishes to go to battle. However, we face foes of great power. He hesitates because of concern for our safety, and thus has gone to seek an old acquaintance. We must aid him.”

“What can I do to help?” Erin asked.

“You can easily contact the Great Queen’s favored individual, correct?”

“Anton?” Erin asked. “Yes.”

“He knows the one that Paradise seeks.”

“How do you know all this?” Erin asked. “What Paradise wants, I mean. Do you understand him?”

The Queen of Paradise nodded slowly. “Paradise’s head reveals much of his thoughts.”

“... you can read his mind?”

The void ant waggled her antennae in a ‘no’. “We merely like to sit atop his head. Looking where he looks. That tells us much.”

“Oh,” Erin nodded. “Perhaps I should find more time to do so.”

-----

“What a time for Scholar Eulogius to get called off,” Formation master Naid Conaire of the Worthy Shore Society shook her head. “Together we’d take apart these formations in an instant.”

“Don’t concern yourself,” Treloar said. “Some day, you too will be an Assimilation formation master.”

“Some day,” Naid nodded. “But not yet.”

If the invaders moved in force, it was difficult for Ceretos to bring an effective counter in a short time. At least, they had not been easily able to predict enemy movements in these first few days of the war. Nobody besides Anton had such prodigious sensing range, and Anton couldn’t be everywhere. Flying ships were the next best option, but they had to be cautious about where they would travel. For the most part, however, the enemy forces had been contained in the Exalted Archipelago after their initial retreat. Given that they were prepared for that eventuality, it didn’t seem likely to stay true for long.

But Anton hoped they would not be prepared for groups like the Worthy Shore Society to join the continental forces. Certainly, it didn’t seem as if they had sufficient numbers for that. “If they knew we were ready for them…” Anton looked to Treloar. “Why are their forces barely adequate?”

“The answer is simple,” Sect Head Treloar nodded seriously, “We haven’t updated our communication methods since our branches were placed here. The information is likely decades old. At best. Frankly, I would expect a force of this size to have been planned shortly after the contact with Rutera and the following war.”

“They should have known about our Assimilation cultivators, though.”

“Here’s a secret about the upper realms,” Treloar said knowing full well that Anton had more frequent contact with them, “They’re big and some of them like to stomp on the little guys. They just assumed you were all ants.” Treloar grinned at the Great Queen, “Which will be extra startling when they encounter your ants.”

“We will devastate their strongest,” the Great Queen confirmed. “If I am able to approach this Fajra, I will chew my way through her glamours and then her vital organs.”

“Too bad thousands of people would try to stop you,” Anton shrugged. “But we’ll find you an opportunity. Fajra was here for the previous invasion, though. She’ll probably be on the lookout.”

“I could have Nthanda toss me,” the Great Queen signed pensively. “That might be sufficient to arrive with haste.”

“I have no doubt in your ability to kill her,” Anton said. “It’s just surviving afterwards that might be an issue. And you’re both a friend and a valuable combatant, so I’d really prefer not to lose you. Our current plans are fine.”

The formations that Naid was still pondering- from a distance- were those of the Eternal Glamour Sect. The same disadvantage that the continents had in their homeland the enemy had here- having to defend every location they claimed. And since the Exalted Archipelago had possessed their lands for thousands of years, they weren’t exactly willing to just give everything up. Even if they had been willing to uproot everything that they could, that would have tipped someone off to their plans, if every sect or even a majority of them suddenly began carrying large amounts of goods to a few better defended locations.

That said, the Exalted Archipelago had swift ships, and it would take some time to siege this place. Anton knew that a large fleet would be incoming, ready to take them on. And if their defensive formations were a good as Everheart’s, he wouldn’t have even tried. However, even with the long history- or perhaps because of it- the formations were merely high quality rather than exceptional. They simply wouldn’t last without maintenance, and formations of great complexity weren’t necessarily stable. Everhearts had only lasted a few centuries with special tricks involved, both a long time without upkeep and a short time to some cultivators.

“I’ve got it!” Naid finally clapped her hands. “Unfortunately, it would be better with greater firepower- and yes, I know that you’re here, Anton. You’re not the best for structural damage. We could really use someone like that Nthanda… or…”

“Paradise?” Anton asked.

“If Paradise were here I wouldn’t have bothered looking at the formations.” Naid looked around, sweeping her energy, “He didn’t show up while I was occupied, did he?”

“Not yet,” Anton said. “Though I suspect he’ll arrive eventually.”

“Well, in that case, I want you to aim for that gap there, at the inside corner of the parapet. That’s the easiest part for a destructive entry, I think. If you can get inside and through the structure, just go for the runes on the lower floor. Any of them, really.”

“That might take a bit…” Anton frowned. “Look sturdy. I’ll see what I can do before we have to leave.”

“Enemies incoming?” Treloar asked.

“Almost immediately since we arrived.”

“How close are they?”

“Still about a thousand kilometers.”

“... oh. Of course.”

“That only gives us a couple hours,” Anton said. “Less if some people break out ahead. They’ve certainly got quite a clip going. They’re even diverting the flow of water in front of them to manage that speed. I’m impressed.”

“Not as fast as the spaceships though,” Treloar said.

“Close, if they’re in atmosphere,” Anton shrugged. “I suppose I’ll get started.”

He took one shot just to test things. The formation held easily.

“Half a centimeter to the left,” Naid said, “And one down. Yes, that’s it.”

“You have good eyes,” Anton commented.

“Well,” she shrugged, “It’s a requirement for me to function without walking up to a formation myself to slice it apart.”

Arrow after arrow sequentially hammered into the same spot, almost a continuous flow. A few adventurous fellows on the walls tried to block or shoot down Anton’s arrows, but it was an awkward place to reach and his arrows were small and fast. The best they could do was extend a screen of energy, which would just wear them out.

“I’m feeling it,” Anton said. He had been trained for this part of formations, after all. He changed the rhythm of his attacks, timing his arrows to strike when the formation was bouncing back after absorbing the impact of his attacks. It was only a small motion, but a mere couple of kilometers away it was as easy as seeing the blood pulse in someone’s veins. Which didn’t look like much before he was in Essence Collection but now was quite obvious.

Each time his arrow struck, the formation bent slightly further out of shape, until finally a small hole was broken. His arrow punched through, striking the durable material beneath. The hole patched itself, but this would be draining the reserves of the defenses.

“Looks like they’ve got a formation master working against you now,” Naid commented. “I could counter their efforts if I could approach safely.”

Timothy would have been Anton’s first choice, but there was the whole thing with him being in the upper realms. Sudheer was part of Aicenith’s defensive forces, or Anton would have just asked him to charge the wall with the support of others. Chikere was present but her defensive abilities were best suited to protecting herself, and she didn’t always consider puncture holes through her body as relevant damage.

“I don’t suppose you can cut it from here?” Anton asked.

“Can I… cut it from here…” Chikere went into a daze, her hand gripping her weapon white knuckled. Anton hadn’t really intended it to be a challenge of some sort, but he was willing to let her do her thing. Chikere actually sheathed her blade, then stepped towards Anton. He stepped back to give her room, and she stepped towards him again. “Stand still!” So Anton did, as she wedged her sheath between the two of them. Then she drew and slashed with her blade in a single motion. There was a rush of wind, and Anton saw a gouge appear in the formation. “Nope,” she shook her head. “I’m not even sure I can consistently cut apart space here…” she frowned. “Which is weird because I did that to ascend when I was way weaker and less well equipped.”

“Ascension is special,” Anton said.

“... Why?” Chikere tilted her head.

“Uh…” Anton shrugged, “I’m honestly not the best person to ask about that.” But it seemed she wasn’t actually listening for an answer anyway. Anton looked to his next option. “Devon, do you think you could escort formation master Naid to the walls? Do you need further backup?”

“I can, though I’d appreciate some others attacking to draw their attention to different points.”

Chikere was, for the moment, out of commission undergoing some form of enlightenment- or at least potentially. There wasn’t always something that came from such things. But they had more than a dozen Assimilation cultivators with them, more than enough to deal with any Assimilation cultivation cultivators a single sect might have in a quick manner. And enough to put up a fight against a moderate portion of the total invasion forces, if they had to. Though not the current incoming group.

Anish and Annelie were present, and of course Treloar- this was a good chance for the Worthy Shore Society to show their commitment instead of just standing next to them. Though Anton had accepted it as true when Treloar said the words, it would also be wasteful for him to just stand around doing nothing.

The assault was short, made of Assimilation cultivators and a few times as many supporting Life Transformation cultivators. They all made shows of attacking the walls in various ways- which was actually quite useful for weakening the barrier while Anton shot it- and it made Naid less of a priority target. Anton actually managed to damage some of the internal mechanisms by the time he called for a retreat- lingering too long would risk the approaching force reaching them, especially if Fajra was willing to forcefully bring just their Integration cultivators. There was too much risk involved with fighting them and dealing with the Eternal Glamour Sect at the same time.

Nothing said Anton had to stop shooting, though. By the time the forces arrived, Anton had leveled that whole corner of the walls, the parapets and tower beneath crumbled. Next time, they would bring down the rest- if the enemy didn’t take up residence there.

Anton wondered why Erin had needed to talk to Everheart. Hopefully that led to something good. Or at least… effective.