Elder Cultivator

Above Cheitov, a planet teeming with trees, including those pressured to grow in more extreme environments than they would naturally. Before they even got close, Anton sensed Aridasa flying up to meet them. Such an action made him doubly vulnerable- both being alone and some distance away from the center of his power. Not that he would ever be weak anywhere vaguely close to his bound planet, but against a dangerous force he would need every bit of strength he could hold on to.

Anton took it as a good sign. Their work here would be easier regardless of how things went. Before Anton could make any sort of announcement, Aridasa spoke up. “There’s no need for you to be here, is there?”

“Are you certain?” Anton raised an eyebrow. “Quite a number of newly constructed ships came to visit Ceretos.”

A mix of nervousness and confidence flowed through Aridasa. The man straightened his back, “You know we’re not the only ones with supplies of the sort. As agreed, we have refused to ship anything off-world despite the great blow to our resources. You can see them laid out there,” he gestured to the planet below.

Anton did take a few moments to pick out the mentioned stores. They were quite full, indicating that either Aridasa was being truthful, or they had been working doubly hard in their harvests. Anton couldn’t quite tell- the recently cut and replanted sections of forest didn’t seem excessive, but while he’d worked with loggers on a small scale previously, something at this size he couldn’t properly measure. Anton simply had to trust Aridasa- not blindly, but his Insight said the man was truthful. He wasn’t even hiding his inner resentment, or not well.

“It is likely that you will be freed from that agreement soon,” Anton said. “At that time, I believe you will find many people eager to spend and build. Your losses won’t be as bad as it seems, though I understand it’s difficult for the moment.”

Aridasa crossed his arms, “We’re just lucky nobody tried to force the matter. Our reputation with several important sects is in shambles, though.”

“I am certain a portion of that list will not be relevant for long.”

“Yeah, let’s hope so,” the man frowned.

“None of the Worldbinding cultivators made it back,” Anton mentioned. Some had realized that things weren’t going their way and tried to leave, but it didn’t work out for them. “Unless we are vastly inaccurate in our information, there are only a small handful of Worldbinding cultivators from these sects that remained behind.”

Aridasa had nothing else to say. Anton had only stopped by half to check, half to remind him that they didn’t have to kill everyone who they had conflict with if they could choose to see reason.

-----

Two Assimilation cultivators- Anton and Devon- the Great Queen and The Independence were more than a match for any enemy sects without Worldbinding cultivators- and they would still likely find it reasonable to overcome one or two along with their sects. The Independence came with fighters from Rutera, a powerful gesture of support. Rutera still had their orbital defenses and many more fighters, but their main bastion of power was along for the journey.

Weos was participating as well- dealing with Azoth directly both because it was closest to them and because Anton could not reasonably go there. Nthanda was with them, as Weos only had a small number of truly mobile Assimilation cultivators. Much of their power was made up of fleets and lesser cultivators, but within a few decades they would likely have similar or potentially greater numbers of Assimilation cultivators to Ceretos. They had the population and talented individuals to draw upon, though they had not been a place where everyone cultivated.

Among the sects in Okloi, around the ‘second’ star were the Grand Archives of Abos. Though they maintained a massive library, it wasn’t the sort that allowed visitors. Instead, they hoarded knowledge for themselves. This understandably led to some resentment, and Anton was only slightly surprised when they found others already on Abos. Specifically, he was surprised that news had reached those intending to plunder so quickly. It shouldn't have been upon information from Aridasa unless they were already ready to go immediately.

As he descended, though Anton saw some signs of battle it seemed that the local disciples had given in and were even now assisting with the plundering, perhaps planning to buy their way into another sect. There were facilities of all sizes, and though Anton couldn’t compare to whatever Everheart had in the upper realms having only heard about it, the Grand Archives were certainly sizable.

Most people didn’t bother Anton, sensing his power they simply watched. As Anton approached the largest and most secure structure, he was met by a small man. Neither appearing young nor old, the stature of the individual was not representative of his actual power. Anton pored over the list of the remaining Worldbinding cultivators, now a good fifth smaller. “Vargha, I presume?”

The man inclined his head slightly, along with tipping his skull-topped staff. “Vargha of the Black Flame. Head of the Burning Skull Sect. And you would be… Anton?”

He nodded, “Head of the Order of One Hundred Stars.”

Vargha then settled his eyes on Devon. “Your name is not so well known. You did not participate in the earlier stages of the war.”

“Devon. Also aligned with the Order of One Hundred Stars.”

“Truly?” the man raised an eyebrow. “Such a radically different cultivation method. Yet clearly it has done well for you.” He appraised the both of them before continuing. “A pleasure to meet you both. However, the Burning Skull Sect has arrived here first and staked our claim.”

Anton smiled slightly, “A claim you could only manage because of our efforts. However, before we discuss that, there was one more introduction you missed.”

Vargha looked up, “That ship? A mighty one indeed, but I don’t believe possessed of its own consciousness. Whoever controls it is not so powerful as to deserve my notice.”

Anton held out his hands, and the Great Queen crawled out of his sleeve. “The Great Queen of the void ants says that she is not surprised you failed to notice her, but if your threshold for introductions is power, she is most worthy.”

“I…” Vargha paused, clearly somewhat confused. “You are the one responsible for the injuries to Bala?”

“She is,” Anton nodded. “She also reminds you that she is the slayer of the Ultimate Phoenix… and one of the primary combatants for every death in the Ivory Maw.”

“None of this information reached my ears,” Vargha said, “But I shall take your word and that of your translator. The Great Queen of the void ants, is it? Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

The man’s demeanor shifted slightly. Previously, he had been extremely confident- even with Anton and Devon both present. His opinion of The Independence added to that mix was unclear, but now he seemed slightly more subdued.

The great queen gestured furiously, but Anton didn’t translate. Then she turned around on Anton’s hand, bouncing angrily. “It seems the Great Queen has something to say?” Vargha conjectured. “I unfortunately do not speak her sign language.”

The Great Queen prodded Anton’s wrist with a sharp mandible, not breaking the skin but making a point. “Fine, I’ll translate.” He cleared his throat. “The Great Queen demands you immediately let us access the Grand Archives and take whatever we want.” Satisfied, the Great Queen nodded and turned back towards Vargha.

“It is… interesting that your demands would come in such a manner,” Vargha said. “Why not simply state such yourself?”

“I was planning to do it more diplomatically,” Anton said. “She just didn’t let me get there. She prefers the straightforward approach.”

“Well, as much as I appreciate that,” Vargha frowned, “I am afraid there are specific things we require here, so we cannot simply hand everything over.”

“And I presume you’re willing to fight for it,” Anton nodded. “But it won’t do you much good if you can’t get inside. Those formations seem to be causing your people quite a bit of trouble.”

At such a relatively short distance, there was almost nothing that could stop Anton’s senses, including most traditional barriers. He had been checking out everything behind Vargha while also keeping track of the man’s stance. Ready to fight… but not so eager to spring into action Anton thought he would attack first. Not yet, at least.

“I am sure we will find our way inside in due time.”

“Fair enough,” Anton agreed. “But we both know there’s no way you’re walking out of here with everything. If there are specific things you want, I can nearly guarantee we’re not looking for the same things.” Mostly because the man had a skull on his staff. And partly because Anton wasn’t actually after anything specific, with only a vague understanding of what they might have. “Why don’t we start with cooperation and we can decide if we want to kill each other later?” Of course Anton was confident they could win that, especially with the Great Queen being a quick toss from being inside the man’s vital organs. He might be confident in taking out Anton and Devon, and maybe he could, but his abilities were clearly more on the side of using energy to fight. Anton was honestly unsure if the man could crush the Great Queen if she let him.

Vargha pondered for a moment, then sighed. “Fine. You may make your way inside, though don’t expect to find anything spectacular outside of the central vault. Not by our standards, at least.” He carefully stepped backwards before finally deciding to turn around. Showing that bit of hesitancy made Anton more confident, but also suspicious that the man didn’t actually need to face his opponents to fight.

Normally, Anton avoided walking around with those who brandished skulls, but as far as the Burning Skull Sect and Vargha of the Black Flame went, they were several tiers below the Ivory Maw in terms of evil. Really more on the ‘typical’ level of cultivators as far as Anton was aware, though with a clear style to them. Anton also didn’t want to send the message that they were going to try to wipe out all of the Sylanis Cluster, because they honestly couldn’t afford another concerted attack.

Anton scanned the various books on shelves he passed. He didn’t even necessarily have to open them, and after having practiced Ten Thousand Scrolls reading the simpler ones was done in a moment. He was definitely more interested in whatever was in the vault.

“What’s preventing entry?” Anton asked Vargha as well as indirectly the formation masters around.

They looked at their sect head, who nodded. “Destructive defenses. Targeted, and of extreme power. Enough to slay Worldbinding cultivators.”

“What about inside the vault?” Anton asked. “Would it wipe out the things inside?”

“We don’t believe so,” they said. “Though it might bring down the rest of the archives, or at least create a hole through them.”

Anton knew enough about formations to contribute, though he was still below a proper master level. “What about-” he stopped as he noticed something, but it was too late. The Great Queen was already in place taking a chomp at the formations. It was like a dam burst, natural energy spilling outward at a great pace and blasting everyone away- but pure energy unformed into a proper attack. If the formations were looking for a cause, they would have found nothing by traditional methods. Anton thought he sensed some lightning specifically targeting the Great Queen, but it was consumed as quickly as it was produced.

The built up stores of energy couldn’t last forever, and there wasn’t anything particularly vulnerable around the vault. Some books far down the hallway were blown off their shelves, but that was all. Anton looked down the hall at the Great Queen, and she looked back. “That was the fastest way,” she signed. “And I waited until you confirmed it wouldn’t break the stuff inside.”

Anton sighed. He knew she hadn’t just randomly chomped into the formations either- the flow of energy was as obvious to her as a plate of bread and cheese was to Anton. She might not have the expertise to make them, but disassembling them with minimal damage was fine. Though it was a fortunate thing that nobody below Essence Collection was nearby, as the flow of even unaspected natural energy might have been too much. At least they could get into the vault now.