Elder Cultivator

The Mighty Dragon Sect was, like the Ultimate Phoenix Sect had been, one of the stronger factions within the Sylanis Cluster. Anton had heard of it, and the dragon itself. Unlike the Ultimate Phoenix Sect there was no indication that they had any significant number of them. Truthfully, Anton had considered the descriptions of the dragon to be an exaggeration. That had been incorrect. In fact, they might have been somewhat conservative with describing its size. He wasn’t able to determine exactly how many kilometers long the creature was, but it was more than a handful.

On its head stood an imperious man that Anton thought seemed far too concerned with appearances and not enough concerned with the practicalities of being in a combat zone. The individual known as Manu held his hands behind his back, and Anton considered taking a shot at him just to make him lose his practiced stance. He was busy comparing pros and cons, but ultimately the battle had not yet begun.

He picked out a number of the stronger individuals among the group, a man riding a large book, another member of the Mighty Dragon Sect, two individuals of water and ice, and several individuals guiding the fleets. There were more Worldbinding cultivators, but not all of them deserved specific notice.

Anton matched his speed to the group some hundreds of kilometers ahead of them, preparing to reveal himself if they had not yet noticed him. “If you return now we won’t have to wipe out your sects,” Anton delivered his ultimatum as a guarantee.

There was no expectation that proud cultivators would react well to such a thing, but he had already consigned all of those who came to invade Ceretos to death. Several responses came simultaneously, the voice that won out being Manu’s. “A brave declaration for one who barely has a foot into a proper level of power.”

“If your descendents were going to survive this conflict, they would curse you for your actions,” Anton simply said. “Now begone, or we can promise you will lose everything.”

“I could say the same,” Manu seemed to be trying to look down his nose at Anton from a distance he couldn’t really see him at, their voices only transmitted through natural energy. “You may devour him,” he waved his hand downward, returning it to behind his back. At that point, the dragon accelerated forward along with much of the fleet.

Anton was ready, of course. He was in the domain of his first star, and while they weren’t close to the sun, they were still inside the orbit of Ceretos where he was a bit stronger than his norm. As enemies surged forward, Anton moved backwards with no specific motions, matching pace with the fastest of them. Then he drew his bow, light forming itself into an arrow within it. He took a single shot with no deception behind it. At merely a few hundred kilometers, the difference between the speed of his attack and that of true light was negligible. It struck the forehead of Manu, jolting his head back slightly.

Had the man been willing to adjust his position he could have avoided being struck, but as it was he barely took any damage anyway. But barely taking damage in such a situation was still a great embarrassment, and Anton hoped the intended red mark would appear on his forehead. A chastising for an immature brat, regardless of whether or not this particular individual was older than him.

Then he increased his acceleration away from the group, avoiding the fastest and longest ranged attacks with ease. He had nothing else he really had to focus on but defense, after all. “You’ll have to be faster than that if you want to catch me,” Anton taunted. He imagined some of them could be faster, which was exactly what he wanted. If he could get some to chase him to Ceretos, they would not arrive together.

Either they didn’t notice his intent, or they didn’t care. Surprisingly enough the pair to chase after him the most swiftly was the man riding on the book- a gigantic thing several meters across- and one of the icy individuals. The man should have been Ashwin, Keeper of the Grand Archives. The icy woman was simply Zedong of the Frozen Sphere.

The dragon and Manu were not far behind, but the distance was growing greater and would continue to do so. Anton could likely have completely escaped but keeping a general pace with the two in front was a good opportunity both to separate them and to experience their techniques in some safety. Anton doubted he could fight the two of them, but he was still far enough away he was confident in escaping before they could surround him. They seemed to have a significant amount of power to call upon, but Ashwin’s connections were not solely to the book he rode upon. Zedong didn’t have any apparent connections, but she was still somewhere in the early part of Worldbinding from Anton’s estimations.

Though great pages immediately swirled towards him, the attacks adding to Ashwin’s speed and rocketing towards him, they were not the first attacks to reach him. Instead, Anton felt a chill. Space itself could be considered cold, but with little method of transferring heat it didn’t make much difference. This was an active drawing, and Anton doubled down his aura and control of the area around him. Thin tendrils of natural energy still poked through to attempt to draw from him, but Anton could defend against attacks with clear origins.

Arrows flew to counter the pages- and though not all of them had any visible effect, some managed to tear through energy while others forced an activation of whatever ability the pages had. Bursts of different sorts of energy displayed themselves, but Anton suspected the true danger came if he allowed himself to be surrounded by multiple pages. The runes upon them made them akin to mobile formations that could likely enhance each other.

Spikes of ice shot through empty space with great speed, attempting to force Anton to move in a particular way. Yet it was clear that Zedong, while possessing significant range, was not best at long ranges. Her attacks were swift and agile, able to cover long distances and redirect themselves to some extent. Anton imagined they would even be able to curve around behind him if he was careless and ignored them once he dodged them, but they just weren’t quite enough.

Anton also remembered to harass the two with attacks, probing their defenses. Ashwin didn’t seem to do much of anything, the pages of the book he was riding extending upwards to defend him. It would take more than casual attacks to break through the barriers they created. Zedong tended to counter his attacks with some of her own, but she also formed dozens of orbiting spheres of ice that intercepted his attacks when they got close. They were quite excellent at absorbing impacts, no matter how much Anton tried to pierce through them his arrows were generally consumed.

The battle continued with little real effect on either side for a significant period of time, during which they were constantly moving towards Ceretos. Both sides wanted to go there regardless, but Anton knew it was more to his advantage.

As he approached the planet itself, Anton used Star Steps to basically negate his momentum above the atmosphere. That was beneficial, because as he dove down towards his target- the Grandfather Willow- he slammed into the continental barrier. Normally, it wouldn’t stop him at all, but apparently in its current active state it was more picky. After a moment it seemed to recognize Anton and let him fall through, but hopping in and out of the barrier would likely be troublesome.

Anton wished he had brought the Great Queen with him. These two were at least minutes ahead of their compatriots, enough time to take out either of these individuals with her help. It turned out someone completely immune to most attacks was a great asset in a battle. Unfortunately, she was elsewhere around Ceretos at the moment, and the time it would take to retrieve her would be better spent differently.

“Hi Lev,” Anton said as he landed. “I brought friends. And by friends I mean enemies.”

The young man rolled his eyes. “Obviously.” His long hair and beard dangled as he looked up into the sky. “You didn’t have to bring them directly here, but I appreciate it.” The Grandfather Willow trembled with excitement, the grand tree having grown in height and girth in the decades since Lev had Assimilated with it.

Anton was impressed with the speed at which Ashwin got through the continental barrier. A ring of giant sheets of paper plastered themselves on the barrier, nearly immediately opening a hole that he and Zedong slipped through. It was only a momentary breach, but impressive nonetheless. Though Anton couldn’t say for certain that it wasn’t an intentional weakness.

-----

As the dragon and Manu descended upon Ceretos, planning to join forces with the others, a great mass of power drew their attention. A small salt sea flew from the planet below in an obvious provocation, dragon and turtle locking eyes. Regardless of Manu’s level of control, he would not have been able to stop the dragon if he tried.

-----

Assuming the others would succeed wherever they went, another pair descended upon what they knew to be one of the richest sects. A mountain of fire and ice with many names. One of those aiming for it, covered in scales, clawed his way through the barrier. Along with him was an individual with runes carved into their very flesh. The two of them descended rapidly until they met with a barrier of flames and flickering ice crystals.

-----

A great concentration of wealth was apparently just in the middle of a desert. It was not of any concern to those interested in taking it that there was an entire sect that would try to stop them. In fact, it would make it more exciting. Instead of simply crashing into the barrier over the continent, the attackers landed in the ocean to the east and made their way from there. The reasons for that were twofold. One, they had determined that the barriers would be easier to break through with proper positioning, and two it was advantageous for them to go from the water to begin with.

As for the desert with its heat and swirling sands, they planned to bury it under a sea while the creatures within would serve as their puppets. The water rose up, crashing against the barrier and pushing a hole through.

-----

Fleets descended upon a seemingly less defended archipelago. Perhaps their judgment was correct in some ways. They did not have a comprehensive barrier that covered them, saving time and effort for the attack. That was valuable for the weaker troops they brought with them. A commanding aura from one of them, a man who appeared to be carved from a marble statue, bolstered them. Another radiated the power of a dragon, though unlike Manu he had no such creature to serve as his mount.

-----

Ice grew upon the Grandfather Willow, attempting to drain the heat and life from it. However, that was just as difficult as drawing directly from a cultivator- perhaps moreso. Sheaths of ice snapped as the branches of the great tree bent and twisted, encircling the intruding cultivators. Ashwin and Zedong avoided most of the incoming attacks, pages of fire and lightning blocking others. Yet they couldn’t help but focus their efforts on avoiding potential restraint. If they were caught, their lives could quickly end.

That meant they had little to spare for dealing with Anton’s rain of arrows. Anton was managing to slither through their defenses with some consistency while still having the spare effort available to tear into the incoming ships following after their Worldbinding cultivators. Focusing his efforts would result in killing the two more quickly, and he would do so once he found the right opening. For now, he simply wore them down. Every page Ashwin used carried much energy within it, but they could not be infinite nor without cost. No doubt he had some power hidden still, along with his icy companion, but they were in Lev’s domain, and to a lesser extent Anton’s. Perhaps if Zedong was able to draw the power of the surroundings into her as she was accustomed she would have an advantage of some sort, but within an Assimilation cultivator’s doman it was actually a disadvantage for her to try.

Yet Anton didn’t consider the battle won yet, even if he was already drifting to plans of who the next targets would be. It wouldn’t be enough to just win, but minimizing the damage to Ceretos was important.