Elder Cultivator

Chapter 878

As the war with the lower realms Trigold cultivators dragged on, more information about their structure was determined. Several core systems had been identified as key targets, and one of them in particular carried the planet of Zunrose, a significantly above average sized terrestrial planet. It was of note as the closest of the core worlds, approximately to the southwest of the rest.

Attacks were focused on driving a wedge into the occupied systems to reach the planet. If they could heavily damage the cultivation centers, the sects and clans, they would lose a valuable training ground.

It was impossible to keep their intent secret, as they didnt have the forces to attack on every front at once. However, they at least limited how many details would be known by sharing them only with those most important. They didnt anticipate any spies among them, but people could always be turned through threats or promises of wealth or power- and they could also be captured and interrogated. There was sadly no way to prevent that in a war. Even if cultivators were willing to kill themselves to die with their secrets, it wasnt always possible.

The plan was simple on the surface, and Varghese approved. If the plan was too complicated, it could easily fall apart. Theyd kept some things in reserve to make use of for just such an occasion, including the power of Varghese himself. In terms of absolute power, Assimilation cultivators like Varghese were in the second tier. First tier were those who were restricted to only a single planet or even part of a planet, such as Lev of the Grasping Willows.

Binding stars put Varghese in the second category, where there were multiple locations of power that could be added to. He would be slightly less strong than those bound to a single location, assuming all other factors were equal. Which they never were, but the theory was sound.

The third category were those who were truly free. Bound to some object they could bring with them or an ideal. This included Elder Sudheer of the SIlver Rhino Legion, as well as cultivators like Devon, Antons grandson. Though the latter was a clear example of where things broke down. All other factors being equal needed to account for quality of the cultivation method, the individual cultivator, and their absolute cultivation stage. After all, Assimilation wasnt the end of the road. It was simply another step along the path, and those in the early stage were most likely weaker than those in the mid or late stage regardless of the mobility tiers.

Devon was nearly in the Enrichment stage, like Anton. It was a shame he wasnt currently participating in the war, but Varghese also understood that there were other things going on. The integration of Nidec and Vrelt was a process that was still underway, and having a strong presence in the area was helpful for that.

Varghese wasnt the limit of the plans, of course. Sudheer was likely stronger, unless someone came to fight Varghese directly at the local star. No, there were more than a few other cultivators. And ships. Not just good scout ships or fighters, but proper battleships. Among their number was even the Wayfarer, under the command of General Gabriela. The oldest remaining Ascension-class battleship, with the Independence having been lost in the war with Ekict- destroyed by Gabriela and the Wayfarer.

It was the presence of the Ascension-class battleships that was the biggest secret. They would be moving into the system after the initial assault, and they had planned for them to hide in the shadows of several planetary bodies until they were needed.

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As predicted, the initial assault couldnt have taken down Zunrose- not with an acceptable amount of losses. The closer they got to core systems, the better defenses they had. More cultivators at a higher level, more powerful planetary barriers, and closer access to reinforcements if they needed it. But that was what they were counting on. The attack was mostly bait to draw forces away. And if the response was deemed to be too dangerous, the assault force could simply split from the ambush force and both would retreat.

Upon first entering the system, Varghese began to bind the local star. It was a fairly large white star, bigger than the yellow stars that were often the most comfortable homes for planets that would contain life in the range humans preferred.

It wasnt difficult to bind the star. Varghese had done it before, and while it wasnt an instantaneous process it was a matter of less than an hour as they drew closer. But he suddenly understood why Anton was reluctant to do it without permission. It felt wrong, somehow, even though they were literally at war and he intended to kill pretty much everyone. Not wrong enough to stop him, just enough to make him uncomfortable.

The assault fleet had been noticed, but as planetary defense forces from Zunrose came to meet them, the combined Lower Realms Alliance and Shining Cooperative forces quickly destroyed the ships. Varghese was one of the main participants, dragging ships into each other with magnetic currents- or occasionally and mostly accidentally tearing out small but vital magnetic components. Or potentially magnetic ones. There was much that could be done with magnetism on the scope of a magnetar like Azun. Not that Varghese would claim he was a match for the star, but he was certainly inspired by its power.

The defensive fleet had lasted long enough for the planetary barrier around Zunrose to be properly established. And Varghese could see it was as solid as their spies had reported. He could likely fully exhaust himself before breaking through even a small patch of the barrier. Of course, he didnt have to. Simply maintaining such a barrier would drain energy. They could only store so much energy, so in a matter of days the barrier would falter. Especially if they gave it some nudges.

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Varghese especially reveled in the rate of natural energy recovery he had when near a bound star. He could attack nearly continuously with the force of a reckless Life Transformation cultivator, wearing down the barriers energy a little bit at a time. Others joined him as well.

But the goal wasnt actually to collapse the barrier. If no reinforcements arrived in time or Zunrose gathered their forces for an early sortie they would certainly fight the local cultivators, but that wasnt the plan. The intent was still to draw them away from Zunrose itself towards their waiting ambush fleet.

After all, Zunrose was bound to have dangerous formations beyond simply the planetary barrier. And while they had plenty of formation masters to call upon, dismantling all of them in an active battle was not that simple. The plan was to take out as many enemy ships as they could- the ships being more important than cultivators, though higher ranking cultivators were still important targets as well.

It was a rather uneventful few days before the enemy arrived with fleets of reinforcements. Most likely they had set out before the assault even began, as the path hadnt exactly been kept secret. If they had been responding to a distress call, Varghese would have expected another day or two for them to arrive simply due to the distances involved. Other core systems were just a few lightyears away, but that still wasnt that close when considering the tier of interstellar travel technology so far observed.

Everything was going according to plan. The incoming fleet would pass through the center of the system, and that would be the mark for the assault fleet to retreat. The following forces could reasonably catch them from there, right around the outer planets where the ambush forces lay in wait.

That was how everything played out in Vargheses head, and the plans were made up by experienced tacticians. They had contingencies for fleets entering from every conceivable angle, or unexpected resistance from Zunrose itself. They had anticipated all the reasonable responses.

The energy readings the scouts were picking up from the incoming fleet were within expected levels. It was a large fleet- thousands of mid sized ships- but that wasnt unreasonable considering they were above a planet of billions. They still felt themselves prepared.

Varghese was the first to notice something was wrong when a pain shot through his chest. He tried to react, lashing out not from himself but from the star. He would never be entirely certain if that made things worse. We need to stop them! Varghese called out. Theyre attacking the star!

Within a system, their communications technology allowed nearly instantaneous responses as their normal communications were already significantly faster than the speed of light. Are you certain it is wise to approach? Gabriela asked.

... No, Varghese replied through gritted teeth. But I have to

He could already feel himself weakening. Something was truly wrong. There was no way such a fleet should be able to damage a star. Their total power output should be merely a tiny fraction of what the sun produced itself every second. And yet, clearly it was working.

Varghese immediately rushed towards them, trying to control the power of the sun to lash out at them- but he wasnt close enough to properly sense them. His connection with this particular star being new, and his overall connection to the stars not running as deep as Anton, he found it difficult to do anything.

He made it about halfway there. But within five minutes from when he had first noticed the attack- less than half an hour of the fleet being in near proximity to the star- he felt it break. Dammit, he coughed as he felt the same thing happen inside of him. Retreat. As fast as you can. He could feel what was coming. A supernova, as the sun exploded billions of years before its time. He had no time to ask why or how. But he could feel it coming. And by the time he could actually see it, he would likely be dead.

No, none of that was right at all. Varghese clutched his belly, above his dantian. He felt as if a part of him had exploded and been ripped out at the same time. He shouldnt have rushed forward.

Hey kid, a metal clad hand clasped his shoulder. I appreciate people who run into battle. But if Im catching even a whiff of what actually happened over there thats not something we run towards. And you said it yourself.

Cant, Varghese grunted.

Figures, Elder Sudheer commented, wrapping an arm around Varghese. Now, Im not going to promise this will be comfortable. But well get out of here with plenty of time.

Varghese almost felt himself ripped apart from the outside. He was barely maintaining any of his natural energy to protect himself from the void of space, his cultivation in turmoil at the loss of a nearby bound star. And his mind as well. He hadnt even imagined this as a possibility.

And the ships they were all consumed by the exploding star already. Hed felt that, in its last moments. Had they known? There were certainly some fanatics among the Trigold Cluster, but so many of them? How long had they planned this maneuver?

Nothing made sense to him at the moment. Varghese let himself get carried along, trying to seal the hole inside of him out through which was leaking his natural energy and cultivation. He felt cold. But far, far away, he felt the warmth of his other stars. He wasnt going to go down so easily.

He couldnt help but wonder how had they known? Why would they do it? Was this why Anton hadnt joined the war? Not that Varghese was doubting his master. If Anton had known about this in particular, he would have warned him. But he might have had some instinct that spoke of the danger to him.

Something worth asking about, once he stopped dying.

Somewhere along the way Varghese caught a glimpse of ships scurrying away from Zunrose and he wondered how many people would manage to escape. One percent of them? Less? It seemed like the planet hadnt even been warned, and was merely reacting to the massive disturbance that would soon overtake the whole system.

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