Elder Cultivator

It had taken time for people to be comfortable with Lelka being free from confinement, and also to take on any sort of role in the Scarlet Alliance. However, it was decided that the place she could cause the least damage should she still secretly hold some loyalty for the Citadel of Exalted Light was the information division regarding the Trigold Cluster. If she was loyal to her previous group, then even if she passed along information her ultimate goal should be to work against the Trigold Cluster.

Velvet had spent enough time with her to be as convinced of Lelka’s sincerity as she could be of anything. However, she still felt it wise for the sake of caution and political appearance to keep her acting in a probationary period for a while. Maybe a full century of activity. So far, it had been just a couple decades.

She was good at what she did, analyzing information rapidly and finding oddities. Velvet regularly had personal meetings with Lelka to talk over anything of note she had found, or suspected. If Velvet agreed, they would devote further resources to an area.

“This information is suspicious as hell,” Lelka commented. “Or at least its origin.”

“What about it?” Velvet asked. She had her own ideas, having read it, but she wanted to compare without bias if possible.

“The agents who got this information shouldn’t have been able to get their hands on it. Furthermore, they’re from the southwest, regarding events quite far from their purview. Why would they be the ones to learn this?”

“A good question,” Velvet admitted. “Were you able to trace the origin of the information?”

“That’s where it got even more suspicious,” Lelka said. “If I’m right, this information traces to the Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance, not too far from this informant. They could be on the take. And the Guardians… well, you know.”

“I think I agree with all of that,” Velvet nodded. “But that does not mean the information is inaccurate.”

“I previously interacted with the Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance. A group which, I should remind you, is not our enemy in particular.”

“... Oh right,” Lelka said. “Any information from the Veiled Brilliance to the Citadel would be inherently suspect, but… well, I wouldn’t necessarily trust it given the circumstances.”

“Not entirely,” Velvet agreed. “But we have enough context to believe it to be accurate. And I personally had previous contact with a knowledgeable individual in the Veiled Brilliance. Durff’s aunt, in fact.”

“Alright,” Lelka commented. “Now, I know our hammer wielding friend is well regarded by pretty much everyone, but he’s… not politically savvy. He could have fed information to this aunt, possibly unknowingly.”

“He hasn’t been in contact with her,” Velvet said. “I have asked him to mention it if it comes up. And as far as we are aware, his equipment was uncontaminated. That’s to an extremely high degree of certainty.”

“That leaves a lot of questions. Like why this group would mention movements by a Domination cultivator in the Trigold Cluster, or why they would send the information here, even if indirectly.”

“They could be rivals. Or they’re luring us to act, somehow. Not that we would send anyone that deep into enemy territory.”

Lelka raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? And who was it that was attacking the Citadel, then?”

“That was a special circumstance. We don’t even know what anchor their domination cultivator would have. The Twin Soul sect… also hasn’t caused us too much trouble in the upper realms, given their position.”

“So you believe,” Lelka said. “I don’t know what their anchor would be either, just to clarify. Perhaps one of their reliquaries? Or their soul jars. Or uh… something more esoteric. It could be some form of their sect itself but nothing pops into my mind.”

“Tell me about these soul jars,” Velvet said.

“Pretty simple. That's where they keep all the souls that reincarnate before they place them in someone if they decide to.”

“... That sounds like a pretty weak follow through on their promise.”

“Anyone influential or powerful always gets reborn, obviously,” Lelka said. “If someone lesser doesn’t… well, maybe their soul got destroyed,” she shrugged. “Nothing is perfect.”

“Sounds like a great excuse. Is the process expensive?” Velvet thought about Jyotsana. With the Phoenix Rebirth Technique, it hadn’t been that bad. Though it was somewhat inconvenient regarding not knowing where she was going to pop up, or exactly when. The main costs came in making sure it was somewhere contained within Scarlet Alliance territory.

“It certainly can be. Especially when looking for good bloodlines to place them in. Their breeders are quite busy.”

“Sounds like an unpleasant place. Now then, the message. I think it’s valid enough. If Sudin is joining the invasion, we need to at least inform the lower realms that it’s probable.”

“That doesn’t make the information less suspect. It would probably have to come with the blessing of Ratna. She’s… well, I suppose as long as I don’t have to meet her I don’t think there’s an issue. But it would be unlikely that information came from the Veiled Brilliance without her approval, if we’re correct about the path.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Including information on other Domination cultivators? Enemies?” Velvet asked.

“Obviously.”

“Hmm.”

“See, now you’re implying there’s something important but you won’t tell me,” Lelka grumbled.

Velvet shook her head. “Just that I shouldn’t underestimate things. Now then, given this information, what do you think we should do?”

“Send it down to the lower realms. Also, launch a war on the Silver Fang.”

“... Those seem entirely disconnected.”

“They are,” Lelka agreed. “But I do think that’s what you should do.”

Velvet sighed. “Why should we launch an attack on our neighbors… right now?”

“To avoid appearing weak. I was reviewing the records, and the Scarlet Alliance has barely started any wars. You did a good job annihilating the Harmonious Citadel- and Hans. Guy was a jerk. But since then, you haven’t started a good war. People will think you’re weak. Winning defensive wars doesn’t count.”

“Even if we injured a Domination cultivator?”

“That will last you a while,” Lelka said. “But you need to be proactive.”

“And attacking the Trigold Cluster is better than waiting for them to attack us… why?”

“Because it’s just the Silver Fang. It doesn’t even have to be a big war. You just go in, kill some of their guys, loot a few treasuries, and head out. The Trigold Cluster breathes a sigh of relief now that you seem normal. Everyone moves on. Trust me, those who grew up in the upper realms will agree with me. Oh, and if you need like, a reason… pick something about their border activities. Claim a couple systems that they’ve harassed.”

“I’m not really sure it’s reasonable to look for trouble like that.”

“Trouble will come,” Lelka said. “And you wouldn’t have to make up an excuse. The Silver Fang really will have hurt people, and even if it’s outside your technical borders its within your claim now.”

“And then we have to deal with trouble near there after its part of us?” Velvet shook her head. “You’d ask us to expand forever.”

“Precisely. That’s the proper spirit.”

“There’s no way the others will agree to this. Also, not what I asked about at all.”

Lelka shrugged. “It is something you should do, though. Think about it.”

-----

Crossed Antennae was tired of waiting, but if she got impatient now she would ruin centuries of work. Or at least potentially compromise some of it. They needed the ships to be properly between systems, though in a way they would drift with the tides of the world to somewhere they could be retrieved. Right now, they were barely out of atmosphere. Sneaking onto a ship was pretty trivial, since people wouldn’t sense them with their energy and there were all sorts of routes they could slip in with humans.

Thinking about the optimal way to fight was weird, as void ants could usually be sacrificed. Obviously she, as the queen, would not be. But other groups? They normally would have considered their mission successful by killing everyone on their ships. Their own survival would be irrelevant.

But now they had individuals. And rather than making the void ants less effective, Crossed Antennae thought they were actually better in a way. Because every void ant would still be willing to sacrifice their life if necessary. And if not, they would succeed and survive.

Not that most had undergone many practical missions. That was the weakest part of the upper realms void ants at the moment. They did have great stores of knowledge to draw upon, and had trained according to the wisdom of those who came before. The Great Queen, and the victories of their people.

Normally, void ants consumed much more food than their strict minimums. Not because they were gluttonous, but because they needed to grow. Crossed Antennae was also counting the colonies as a whole, including new young. At the moment, their numbers were static- the last generation had been birthed a year before, with enough time to grow to a greater maturity. They needed every soldier to be effective.

Just a few days. A few days, and they would be far enough to not be able to turn back. As long as they didn’t immediately do so but instead tried to deal with the void ants, they would be taken down. Hopefully, without communicating with others.

Unfortunately, Crossed Antennae knew that no plan would be perfect. There could be issues regarding timing. Some ships would leave at different points, based on their various thresholds. And some people would inevitably spread information to others. If they were only off by days, the message might not reach allied ships in time. The split between the Trigold Cluster’s various factions and even the sects and clans of the Exalted Quadrant would be helpful in that regard, as not all would direct warnings to each other.

But ultimately, some would fail. Void ants on certain ships would fall, due to failure of strategy, bad timing, or particularly effective cultivators who could actually harm groups of them effectively. Poisons were one such concern, though less for Crossed Antennae herself with Bullet and Fire present. She hoped at least that her fleet would be largely successful at taking out the vast numbers with them. Crossed Antennae would guarantee the three Augmentation cultivators on the ship with her. She resolved herself to do so, while also ensuring the survival of herself and the best of her royal guard.

She had to show them off to her sister, after all. Fearsome Mandibles probably wouldn't find her fangs as fearsome as Snips and Chops, the quasi sword-cultivators who merely happened to lack traditional swords.

-----

Those of the lower realms could feel it. A vast number of people, their energies muddled together. Even so, the Tides of the World carried their energies along to the lower realms, giving warning to their destinations. Each and every system and planet had prepared in their own ways. At this point, they could only do minor shuffling between nearby systems, their positions more or less locked into place.

Anton was set up to cover Ekict… and the nearby systems that they had colonized. Not that those were likely risk targets, but if some ships did happen to veer off course at the last moment he could take them out.

Actually, Anton had a particular advantage he planned to make use of. He could shoot from several lightyears away… so he would. Hitting something in the enemy fleet from such a distance would be trivial. His power likely wouldn’t be enough to take down Augmentation cultivators from such a distance, especially fresh ones… but he did have some ideas. But he wasn’t interested in experimentation at the moment. He’d go for what was guaranteed. It would be some time before they arrived, at which point he hoped their numbers would be much diminished already.

Or maybe the void ants would have total victory and the war would be over before it began. But given how many enemies he felt just in their sliver of galactic flow, Anton had his doubts. Even so, the void ants should prove more than just minorly effective.

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