Elder Cultivator

The crater Lelka found herself in- though she wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to call a collapsing hole through a planet a crater- was about as bad as she had expected. No, slightly less because she hadn’t necessarily expected to survive. It had been worth it though, because she couldn’t truly be free from his influence if she was unable to stand up to him.

The Scarlet Alliance had helped her gain the necessary strength, and she felt her growth had been better in the past centuries than it had been during the time she spent with the sect that had developed the Exalted Light techniques. How much of her life had been wasted?

Having survived, Lelka had no intention to throw herself back into battle- if she could even call it that. But aside from her personal vindication, she had one purpose for her words. To delay Zaur- even if only by a few moments. Not so that others could pile their attacks upon him- though they were certainly doing so- but for a greater reason. Every moment counted.

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The assault team had managed to slip through the final sensory formations with several days of time remaining- though they were not aware of the exact amount. Catarina and Chidi had been able to pore over the remaining formations surrounding the Citadel. It had some clear upgrades, floating monoliths of power that would prevent people from getting close. Stronger than even what had previously protected the core sect.

The Citadel had not been returned to the planet- though it was unclear if that was because it couldn’t. Obviously it was possible to move it, but perhaps Zaur didn’t trust anyone. Or perhaps he liked being literally above everyone.

Two days before the time came, the group noticed more ships passing through the area- some leaving passengers and departing with others. Overall, they saw a trend of ships passing towards the eastern border- though they could not fathom why. Obviously their own position had not been compromised, and any intention to join the assault on the Scarlet Alliance was months late.

As it turned out, however, the reason wasn’t a well kept secret. Velvet- alone- managed to infiltrate the planet, during which time she learned the source. The Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance- and more specifically Ratna. It was unclear if they had been attempting to sneak into the Exalted Quadrant’s territory or were intentionally causing a distraction, but either way the assault team didn’t care. They were just glad that she was taking advantage of the timing like they had hoped. Either reason benefitted them, with a mutual enemy.

Plans were modified with their new information- both about the formations, and the lingering will on the planet below. Catarina was glad to have some time to plan her counters, and since they wouldn’t be concerned about being spotted when they did perform their assault she only had to create functional instead of perfect counters. Truthfully, far easier than trying to capture a Domination cultivator.

Other than studying the arrangement of enemy cultivators- both inhabiting the Citadel and on the planet below- there was little else that most of them could do. Durff wasn’t suddenly going to learn a secret weakness of the Citadel. At least… not without hitting it again. At which point they were far beyond the time of preparation.

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The instant they felt the fluctuations of energy from the Citadel, they were ready. They waited only a few further moments to make certain that it was the energy of combat, which they had to assume was an attack on Xankeshan. Then they sprang into action.

As if they had a prepared response, dozens of beams of light focused towards Catarina, who was approaching the formations. But she didn’t concern herself with anything so distracting as defending herself. Timothy was there for that… and he would have been quite offended if she didn’t think him capable.

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There were a handful Augmentation cultivators among the defenders on the Citadel, but Timothy still stood strong, his shield spreading his defensive energy in front of himself, Catarina, and Durff.

Velvet was nowhere to be seen- the rest didn’t even know where she was so they couldn’t accidentally give away her position. Chidi and Prasad, meanwhile, were rushing towards the planet.

A massive pair of palms appeared around the planet, mirroring Prasad’s own movements. His actions were rather extreme- attempting to crush the planets from both sides- but it certainly got their attention. Though he did little more than shake their defensive formations and neutralize the first round of attacks, he hadn’t committed everything to that move either.

Chidi approached the lingering will. The cloud of blood and sword intent lingering around the bisected middle of the planet didn’t seem to recognize Chidi, but either way he recognized its intent.

Two moves. One, he added his own power to what remained, pushing the lingering mass of will back through the planet and forcing the two halves apart, defying gravity. With the second move, he prepared to receive everything left beyond that. Because the only thing better than slicing a planet in two was fighting a powerful sword cultivator.

Limitless blades came for him, but there was no trickery behind them. They moved together as one, and he cut them down in a single motion. It was a shame Chidi hadn’t been able to test himself against the full might of his namesake for a final time… but he knew she had a proud legacy.

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While Chidi and Prasad began their attack on the planet, Catarina took her pre-prepared formations flags and tore open the defenses rapidly. More than that, she arranged for the disruption to create a counterforce that passed through the Citadel. It wouldn’t even cause the structure itself to tremble, despite Zaur using his power elsewhere, but the cultivators inside had to take cover or shake off the counterforce.

Which was enough time for Durff to charge in and smash the Citadel with his hammer. Previously, he had not even been an Augmentation cultivator but had still caused some minor damage- and then shot the Citadel to its current position in space. This time, he had greater power.

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He struck the Citadel… and it trembled, but did not move. Instead, the counterforce knocked him back. “... I thought Zaur was busy?”

Almost as if in answer to his query, a flash of light filled the area- as well as the power of a Domination cultivator. “I would not fall for the same tricks twice. Unfortunately for all of you, your last ditch attempts won’t do you any good. Now get that stupid turtle shell hammer out of here.”

A blast of upper energy buried Durff in light… but it scattered away as Timothy stepped to the fore. Blocking the attacks of all the other cultivators was nothing compared to Zaur… but Timothy held strong. In fact… he felt slightly sturdier than he should have. An illusion? No.

“Big words for someone who isn’t even here,” Timothy said.

“Also the turtle isn’t stupid!” Durff protested. “I might be stupid. And you might be stupid. But Paradise is a good boy!”

“... I have no idea who Paradise is,” Zaur said, clearly confused.

“He’s- the- turtle!” Durff said as he charged in, swinging his hammer… at the Citadel. Defended by Domination energy, it appeared to have no effect… but Durff didn’t seem to care. He struck again, and again.

Nobody noticed when someone died- not even Zaur. Though if he had any regard for the wellbeing of his own subordinates, perhaps he would have seen through Velvet’s mental illusions. But it was far easier to get someone to ignore something they were naturally inclined to disregard.

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Prasad wasted no time at all when the planet split. His palms struck the flat center of the two halves, forcing them further apart. Then he struck again, spinning the two halves of the planet. The ends crashed into each other, and everything began to crumble as the planet turned nearly inside out.

That still left the majority of threats alive- anyone who could attack into space was able to avoid being crushed- but some chose to save their fellow sect members instead of moving to attack.

“You should go!” Prasad declared. “I’ll hold them off.”

Chidi felt the appearance of Zaur… but ignored him for just a moment. Not entirely, of course, because he was still within the Domination cultivator’s range. “I’ll take that one,” Chidi said, picking out one of the Augmentation cultivators from the planet below. “He seems like the strongest.”

“We don’t have time for-”

Chidi didn’t listen of course. He was already moving forward at maximum speed. In return, the woman countered with a direct attack- a concentrated beam of light about the size of his torso. It was meant to tear through him.

But he cut it in half. The woman might have accepted it if he split the beam with his energy or held his sword steady to repel her attack- but that wasn’t what he did. Instead, he truly cut it in half. The very form of her attack split, going around him as he approached.

She of course wouldn’t limit herself to a single attack. If he could somehow manage that, how would he fare against a thousand attacks from every angle? She’d never find the answer, of course, because her energy suddenly didn’t exist.

Given that they were without a breathable atmosphere and energy, she couldn’t hear Chidi’s words… but she felt in her soul something about forcing people into predictable patterns. And then she was severed from head to toe, her thoughts ceasing instantly.

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When Zaur casually flung an attack at Chidi’s back, Timothy of course was there to block it. Even if it had been the man’s full might, he still would have done so for his son. But an attack he could survive? That was even better.

No, it wasn’t a casual attack. It was one meant to look casual. It should be close to Zaur’s maximum potential in this state- where he was both protecting the Citadel with his energy, attacking, and presumably doing the same with his actual body. Timothy imagined he could manage slightly more, but not that much more. Though he wasn’t sure he could stop such a thing if it happened.

Catarina had ten storage bags full of formation flags that she flung around the Citadel. She took control of the flow of energy- as much as possible near an Anchor, at least. Even the trap formation they had set up around Xankeshan previously would likely not have been as effective here, in the seat of Zaur’s power.

Zaur threw attacks at everyone he knew was present. Catarina, Timothy, Durff, Prasad, and Chidi. Timothy blocked for himself and the two beyond him, towards the planet. Durff twisted his body to focus the energy on his hammer, accelerating it into the Citadel he was constantly hammering on. And Catarina did nothing, as space around her distorted and the attack went nowhere.

The Scarlet Alliance had poured no small amount of resources into this. She was carrying enough energy to supply a populous planet for a year- nothing she could use directly, but enough to power her formations. Yet even with that, she didn’t even consider for a moment taking Zaur head on. Or half of him.

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Hoyt and Prospero didn’t even exchange a glance, but the pattern of their Falling Stars told each other that they had both discerned the same thing. Zaur was weaker suddenly. It began when the conduit of light stretched off into the distance. They had hoped that Lelka’s distraction interrupted him, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Either way, they continued their constant assaults, while doing their best to defend themselves from Zaur’s counterattacks. He showed a certain form of weakness only one who was excessively strong would display. Specifically, his lack of attention to any individual. Even if he could fight all of them at once, he didn’t really need to. More importantly, he never focused on killing anyone. He threw out attacks he assumed would kill them. But that was because he seemed to think the Scarlet Alliance was static, merely as strong as they were the last time they encountered him- or at best slightly more.

From a certain perspective, he was right. But they were supported by a vast number of formations around Xankeshan, acting both offensively and defensively in ways big and small. The expense the Scarlet Alliance was going through to keep their strongest cultivators alive was unimaginable… except perhaps by a Domination cultivator like him.

The two wolves were bravest of them all, choosing to enter melee combat with Zaur. Spikes distorted the shape of the planet to try to impale Zaur, but she still used her fangs. Fuzz went in blazing like a star… while also trying to bite Zaur’s recently reattached hand.

That forced Zaur to pay special attention to it- but not in the way he should have. Meanwhile, there was a third wolf that was having a great effect on the battle… but she hadn’t stepped anywhere near Zaur.

No, Aconite kept herself well away. After she’d made sure the poisons in the fingers he had been seeking were fresh as he was approaching. Zaur might notice her fighting, but if she slung poisons at him and he thought to check himself for that… half their plan would be ruined.

It was taking an awfully long time for the deadliest poisons in the universe to affect Zaur. But Aconite’s eyes saw the slightest change in the blood vessels in his eyes. Not something most would notice, and something he wouldn’t even feel. Until they exploded. Not his eyes, but all of his blood vessels. And hopefully, that would be only the start.