Elder Cultivator

Chapter 681

The impact on the Wayfarers barrier was an order of magnitude than almost anything else that had come in the same battle, except for Aoibhins earlier attacks. Gabriela could feel the whole ship tremble and then Otakar was there. Just outside the barrier. A still very much intact barrier. Amazing. And confusing, because even injured Gabriela expected that Otakar would break through quickly. And then they would be in dire straits. As it was, nobody had been able to stop him from approaching them.

Could they flee? Not with him focused on then. In that case they needed to finish off Aoibhin first. The woman had redoubled her efforts at retreating from the barrier, but her own attacks were weakening as she was fatigued by the constant barrage of lasers, small though they were. Neven was working at full capacity, the extra generators they had picked up straining. But the Wayfarer still held. Gabriela was proud of that- and how they continued to fight outside as well.

If she didnt pull her own weight, she would be ashamed as their commander. Thus, she focused her energy into her weapon, leveling the gun at Aoibhin. There were a number of metal beams in the way, so she had to leap closer. But the woman needed to perish soon.

Gabriela took the shot, her beam adding to the others and causing little more than a pink line on the womans cheek. But the beginning of a burn was good enough- her defenses were flagging. That attack was also enough to cause Aoibhin to focus on her instead of getting out of the barrier.

Unfortunately, Gabriela was unable to fly- at best, she was able to yank her trajectory around by grabbing strands of energy onto the surrounding infrastructure as she fell. That wouldnt get her out of the path of the womans charge, and unlike the Wayfarer Gabrielas defenses only barely adapted to particular types of attacks. She should have brought more people with her- it was just that everyone else was occupied.

Aoibhin turned and charged, and Gabriela heard among the rest of the cacophony the sound of gunfire- that of old style projectile weapons. They created a momentary screen of attacks that didnt do much to slow Aoibhin, but her energy was tenuous enough she did choose to avoid them rather than pushing through. That gave enough time for a pair of individuals to push their way down towards Gabriela, intentionally falling with greater speed. They positioned themselves in front of her, enchanted bayonets on the ends of their weapons.

What are your orders, general?

Were killing her. No matter what. Dont worry about me.

That was the best part about her subordinates. She hadnt even needed to ask for help. Though she really should have. She just hadnt fully considered what would happen if Aoibhin got inside.

The following confrontation all happened at once. The burning spearless woman charged forward, lightning surrounding her and seemingly unworried about killing three Life Transformation cultivators. But the pair of soldiers held nothing back, throwing their energy into their automatic weapons while simultaneously fending the woman off with their bayonets. Gabriela focused her own laser rifle into the smallest beam she could, aiming for the womans eye. It wasnt in time to stop her from crashing into the trio, sending them flying.

But that attack was the beginning of the end, as her remaining energy quickly collapsed. The flames from Neven and his focused anti personnel lasers finally broke through the Ascension class individuals defenses, and her body quickly began to collapse as unarmored parts turned to ash in mere moments. Gabriela was unable to watch, as she was doing her best to not land head-first on anything particularly hard.

She slowed her fall on nearby bits of structure before she eventually thudded into the barrier on the down side- they were still close enough to the planet to experience its gravity. The two soldiers eventually rolled next to her. Given the lightning scars on their faces, Gabriela knew she looked much the same. But she couldnt help but grin with them. You two interested in promotions? No, they said simultaneously.

Uh- well, she could only recommend it anyway. They were the highest rank infantry could get.

Wed prefer to continue serving with the Wayfarer. Promotions would place us elsewhere.

Well. Thank you regardless she searched for their names. She knew every Life Transformation cultivator and in fact the vast majority of those under her command. It wasnt too difficult, except when shed been recently shocked. Wilmar. Otossa. She looked up. I feel like he should have broken through by now. Or been melted, maybe.

...General, came a staticy voice in her damaged headset. ... away from main cannons maneuver?

Sorry. Headset is damaged, Gabriela responded. Perform whatever maneuver you find necessary.

As it turned out, her voice went through clearly enough. And she soon determined what maneuver it was. If shed been in any of the proper parts of the ship she would have heard the warning to brace for the Nicodemo Flip.

All of the engines of the ship fired at once- with a good number of guns adding to the maneuver, their kinetic dampeners canceled to contribute to the sudden shift in momentum. It still took a good few seconds to make a half turn, but for an Ascension class battleship that was a startling amount of maneuverability.

By coincidence Gabriela found herself falling again, except this time Wilmar and Otossa stayed with her, maneuvering for a hatch they could hold onto and then climb through.

-----

A cannon barely missed Otakar, taking the top off of a mountain below. Then he was moving with the ships rotation, trying to keep ahead of it. Avoiding the main cannons was his primary concern, breaking through the barrier to get inside now secondary. It was annoyingly difficult. The flow of his energy was being throttled somehow. Every time he tried to maximize his efforts, he suddenly felt like an early Integration cultivator. Not that hed actually been one for long. Hed been one of the first Transferrals, and one of the few allowed to undergo the second when they captured a genuine Augmentation cultivator.

And now he couldnt defeat a ship with nothing but Life Transformation cultivators aboard. A ship hed nearly obliterated on their first encounter. Preposterous. He was aware that their barriers were powerful, but the way it managed to so perfectly resist his blade and flames, preventing him from setting the underlying structure alight it made no sense. It was beyond any sort of formation hed ever experienced, and their own formations had held up to the very same Augmentation cultivator whose cultivation he now used.

And hed even begun forming a solar heart since then, but it was that very boost which was causing him the most consternation. The injuries didnt help, of course. This infernal ship was able to gather immense amounts of energy, and in his haste to destroy that damned sniper hed not noticed their approach, seemingly having cut directly across the path of the sun instead of circling around the asteroid belt that had once been Vitania.

The war shouldnt have gone like this. They should have already won. And now Aoibhin was dead. The fault was her own, but he could still visit retribution upon these others. Except not at the moment. His wounds were too great and the flow of power was inconsistent. Why? Nothing should be able to block it except what that sniper had done to the sun. It hadnt affected him before the mans death, so why was it now after he killed him?

The answer was unfortunately simple. Anton was not dead. And hed perhaps even discovered the conduit. Otakar looked below as he avoided the vessels most dangerous weapons, focusing where the fleets battled with each other. Ekicts fleets were already at a disadvantage, but even stranger was how some were not joining the fight or worse, attacking their brethren. Disgusting traitors. They would all perish. But not today. Otakars wounds were too great and he had to deal with the other issue as well.

Would this really be the end of Ekict, a great victory followed shortly thereafter by an ignoble defeat? No, he would not allow it. Even if he had to kill every single one of these invaders by himself.

-----

Anton felt the conduit of energy settle down to a lower state. He watched closely for another hour, just to be certain. He wished he had proper communications with literally anyone but unfortunately those had burned up along with everything else, including his clothes. Though his modesty was his smallest concern.

He slowly began to move away from the conduit, trying to keep its feeling in mind. He was bound to the star, but would that help him maintain a distance he could affect the conduit? In short, could he afford to leave this place, if he was able to actually affect Otakars combat effectiveness this way?

On the surface of the sun, he felt no difference. As he slowly drew further away, he felt a slight decrease but he was confident that he could, at least do something. Only after he had rested, of course. He moved a bit further away, until about half the distance required to meet up with others. But he did not want to land on Ekict in his current state, where he would be so vulnerable. He needed to recover his energy after the wrestling match with Otakars conduit. Then he would return, perhaps in a day or two.

-----

Ufoma and Grug soon found themselves in control of the ship- along with Annelie, of course. The three of them were the visible components in the defeat of Haimo, as the ship had carried them and a large number of other cultivators from small sects to defend the mans own larger sect.

And theyd certainly been needed. When they had killed him, they were just outside the border of the Gates of the Earths control. Everyone had either been supportive of his death or too stunned to do anything, and theyd commanded the ship to circle around the battlefield. And that had continued for the whole of the battle, drifting slowly further away the whole time until Otakar showed up. They couldnt really get away at that point, so they just watched as they saw their own ship wasnt the only one clearly not willing to put up with being under the heels of the great sects.

Paying careful attention, they gave wide berth to the ships of the Trifold Alliance- it was difficult to know if they would be shot down or not- while ultimately gathering together with the other resistant ships that made it through. At least the ones in their general quadrant of the battlefield. They settled about a skys horizon away from the Gates of the Earth, close enough to partially observe what was happening there but hopefully far enough to be ignored. To that end, they hid their energy as much as possible.

So, Ufoma said, looking to Anishka and Grug. What do we do now?

Strike down our oppressors, Grug said.

A wonderful idea, but you appear a bit unfit for that right now, Ufoma said, looking at the man. Despite the way he made his body flexible and strangely resistant, Haimo had almost killed him in that last charge. Grug was barely able to stand, supported by Ufoma and Anishka.

We need to get in contact with the Trifold Alliance, Anishka said.

Sure. Well just fly over and wave a flag. Im sure theyll gladly take us in.

Well, yeah, Anishka said. If they sensed her and recognized her energy, they wouldnt be shot down. But she wasnt going to bet on that. I was thinking we walk over, on foot.

Thats more reasonable, Ufoma said. But why do you think that will work?

Because shes not part of us, but part of them, Celina appeared at the door of the bridge. What? Youd have to tell them eventually.

I wouldnt say it like that, Anishka complained.

What does she mean? Ufoma asked.

Well, Im part of the Trifold Alliance.

So youre a spy, here to sabotage us, Ufoma narrowed his eyes.

Grug was the one who actually stepped in there, placing a hand on Ufomas shoulder. She is our ally. Joining that battle, we die. And she spoke of peace with them.

Im not a spy. I was here to study with the Enkindled Sun Sect, and then the Northern Glacier Sect, Anishka said. Until they accused me and literally everyone else of being spies, and attacked and stole the cultivations of some of our Assimilation cultivators.

Assimilation? Ufoma asked. Stealing cultivations?

I know its sounds far fetched but-

Sounds like the big sects, Ufoma nodded. Keeping information away from us. Probably afraid wed try to steal their cultivation.

Would you? Anishka asked. Sorry, I didnt mean-

Only if they act like this. He looked towards Celina. You werent around her before, but youre clearly companions.

Splitting up to cover more area, Celina explained. You know, she started most of this whole movement with us. After that voice spoke from the sky.

I didnt quite believe it then, but then I spoke to others Ufoma nodded. Funny that I tried to convert the leader of the movement.

Im glad people listened Anishka said. Were lucky so many were gathered together to fight. And that they were in the wrong place.

Was there even a right place? Ufoma asked. They just destroyed one of the large sects. Even Otakar couldnt stop them this time.

You know of Otakar? Anishka asked.

Hes not fully a public figure, but people talk, Ufoma said. I only heard about him from the head of the Ringing Gong. At least, by name. He turned to Celina. You know of the supreme cultivator, dont you?

Obviously, Celina said. I just assumed he was a myth.

Hes not real, Grug said.

Grug, we just saw him, Ufoma shook his head. In that battle over there.

Thats just a man. Not strong enough.

Well, Anishka got their attention back to her. We should probably get moving. Those of us who are going, anyway. Cant guarantee they will stay. But I agree we shouldnt risk getting shot out of the sky.

We go, Grug agreed.

Uh, I was thinking that you would Anishka frowned. Need to recover?

I can recover on the way, said the large and rotund man. Like a tree.

We need to discuss why you think trees have these properties, Ufoma said. But we can do that after we talk to the other ships landed here.

Oh. Right, Anishka sighed. More new people who might want to kill her. But hopefully, they shouldnt be terribly against her home system. Otherwise they would have been more willing to fight.

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