Elder Cultivator

In terms of overall scale, the war against the Harmonious Citadel had barely begun to creep into its ‘western’ flank. They’d liberated a few loosely controlled planets and systems, but little more. Xankeshan was a useful staging ground and defensive location, but it was closely watched- any assaults launched from there would be quickly countered. However, the Dark Ring had been fighting the Harmonious Citadel for some time- and quite successfully- and their previous tactics continued to function.

As those with lesser forces they had to resort to guerilla tactics, hitting targets of opportunity and retreating. They were difficult to track down- and even if the Harmonious Citadel was catching onto their methods, there wasn’t much they could do about it. Establishing minimal bases on asteroids or anywhere small and insignificant wasn’t terribly difficult if they only needed basic survival. Because of that, they were able to mobilize however they needed… and if discovered, they could quickly flee.

Even if the enemy scouts managed to actually find their location- with a sufficient force to combat it and not be taken out- the Dark Ring would be able to detect them coming. A few small scouts they might miss, a larger group would provide obvious signs whether they approached in realspace or subspace of some kind. The Dark Ring always had ships near to readiness, so if they had to flee they could simply go. Once they dropped into subspace- with nothing stopping them as there were no significant gravity wells on even the largest asteroids- it was nearly impossible to catch them.

But when they didn’t have to run, they wouldn’t. Taking out any members of the Harmonious Citadel was a victory, and if possible they would claim ships for themselves to bolster their own resources.

The Harmonious Citadel couldn’t possibly track down all their hiding places and have sufficient forces for those fleets to fight, as there was simply too much space to cover. Each system had a myriad of possibilities for a small- but potentially powerful- group of individuals to hide out. Sometimes, a force seemed sufficiently powerful to the Harmonious Citadel… but it could always encounter the wrong group.

Kseniya had noticed the ships well before they could be aware of anyone on their particular asteroid. A readiness alert went out- but they did not have to decide whether to fight or flee immediately. First, she would determine their relative strength. A small fleet, maybe ten ships and half as many Integration cultivators- though they couldn’t be blamed for that as they would have to have a dozen such fleets patrolling the system to have stumbled upon this base within just a few months. Their own forces were somewhat less- aside from Kseniya, there were two other Integration cultivators. Even so, she was ready to fire once she had the hint that they were detected. That required the enemy to be closer.

The first arrow left her bow the instant the enemy changed trajectories, angling slightly towards the asteroid and slightly dropping their speed. At the clip they were going they couldn’t do otherwise, unless they wished to ram the surface. It was easy to predict how that would go- a large ball of rock would outclass even the most well enchanted vessels. Not that it mattered even if they broke the asteroid apart somehow.

The arrow flew with practiced accuracy towards a specific point, piercing through the barrier with its force and damaging the formation markings beneath. Kseniya was no formation master- but to have a large fleet, the Harmonious Citadel required some standardizations. That included their formations, and while Kseniya might not have the talent to seek out weaknesses on her own she could absolutely shoot a target. This one might be moving at a relative speed surpassing thousands of kilometers per second, but it was still mostly on a straight course. Their slight adjustments wouldn’t throw off Kseniya’s aim even if she hadn’t been able to precisely control her arrows mid flight.

The ship began to slightly pull ahead even as its barrier flickered. It was not so simple to pierce through a barrier in a single shot, but these were the lighter scout craft- at least, they were nothing compared to the bulky warships that carried a thousand troops. Knowing exactly what she needed to do, she hit the pre-planned spot and now the ship was not decelerating with the rest.

Her next shot was blocked by one of Integration cultivators, a swift duelist type who had already discerned she would make the same move on another ship. The woman even managed to strike Kseniya’s arrow instead of just forcing it away from its intended target. So Kseniya instead targeted one of the other ships, without an Integration cultivator. The plan was to split them up with some arriving earlier and some later, but Kseniya would have to settle for the one disconnected at the moment.

The third ship had competent crew, redirecting the shields to the vulnerable section. Having seen her target it twice, it was a good move. It even forced her to redirect her arrow to another part of the ship- the second best position, determined to be more or less opposite from the first. This one had no immediate effects, but Kseniya knew they would be bleeding energy unless they had a formation master to stop the runaway effects of the damage.

She only had time for a few more shots before the first ship arrived, managing to damage two more enemy ships and slightly stagger their arrivals. The first approaching ship had gotten itself back under control, but they were forced to decelerate more quickly at the end.

An armored figure leapt first from the ship towards Kseniya, undefended by any formations. They couldn’t afford to set up anything beyond a basic air containment field if their positions were to be compromised regularly.

Kseniya ignored the incoming figure- Zazil was there to intercept. A dozen rings of energy sliced through the air, curving towards the figure. A curved sword deflected half of them, several more were dodged, but two found purchase at the bend of the elbow and one ankle, slicing into the woman. The rings did not suddenly disappear when deflected, either, but followed around for further attacks.

The armored figure changed trajectory towards Zazil, who blocked the enemy’s descent with a single larger ring. They shifted their trajectory to fly around, but it slowed them enough for Zazil to make another round of attacks. Meanwhile, Kseniya was firing at the last few ships she had not damaged in some way while the Dark Ring ships were already engaging the first enemies.

Zazil was no weaker in melee, her rings moving through her own body without issue to allow for strange and difficult to manage attacks while blocking her opponent’s sword strikes. However, it was clear her opponent had some skill as the sword came close to connecting more than once. If she was just a bit off, she could find herself gravely injured.

Rings combined into a single larger shape, encircling her opponent- but the collapsing form was blocked by the curved sword. Zazil strained against the enemy, but it was clear her rings were only a moment from collapsing- and then the blade would come for her, wide open. But that moment wouldn’t come, as Kseniya reminded the Integration cultivator of her presence. With the opponent locked in place, even for just a few moments, Kseniya twisted and fired an arrow at their upper chest. Slipping upwards out of the ring would free their arms and allow them to deflect with their sword- but likely lead to their legs being captured and sliced through as the ring collapsed. Ducking seemed like the correct choice, but that shifted the angle at which the sword blocked the ring. Zazil easily shifted her attack to collapse inward and fully pin the blade against the enemy while the ring sliced through the armor- and then everything, as defenses collapsed.

The loss of an Integration cultivator was something no sect or clan was comfortable with- but this was just the first sign to the Harmonious Citadel that they had underestimated the enemy. Their assumptions that the Dark Ring was weak because they did not stay to fight were true in part, but not quite fitting. At least some part of that perceived weakness was intentional.

Even during her assault on the ships, Kseniya had been counterattacked by an enemy archer. But with just one worthy opponent to worry about, Kseniya barely even had to move. The man who was targeting her certainly had powerful attacks- if she got hit even once, she had the feeling that the spearlike arrows would go straight through her. But they were predictable, and at least in the hands of this individual far too straightforward. She understood it was hard to curve a great mass in flight- thus Spirit Arrows forgoing the physical component altogether- but she did see the appeal as the bow drew back and caused yet another crater around her. He had a surprising number of arrows- no, that wasn’t right. The same spearlike arrow reappeared upon the bow each time it was drawn. Fascinating.

Kseniya wasn’t just going to stand there and let the man shoot at her forever. He was still an Integration level archer, and he would catch onto her movements in ten or twenty more shots if she was careless. Then she might lose an arm or a leg, or perhaps her torso. None of which she was comfortable giving up.

A few quick arrows of light forced the man to delay his next shot- Kseniya did not often find them useful, but she was thinking about strategy and the delay was good enough. The arrow impacted next to her once more, Kseniya swaying out of the way as she felt shockwaves of force even in the thin atmosphere. One hand reached out to snatch the arrow. Her fingers wrapped around it… and then it was gone. As expected, really. A physical grasp seemed unlikely to stop any sort of teleportation.

Her eyes focused as her hand snapped back to her bow, forming a focused Spirit Arrow. She didn’t have as many fancy varieties- she used upper energy now, which was exactly the same as everyone else in the upper realms. Her arrow shot straight towards her opponent, while his did the same. It was a challenge, as their arrows passed by each other. One she intended to win as she didn’t dodge the incoming attack. That surprised her opponent enough that he didn’t dodge quite right.

As the spearlike arrow was incoming, Kseniya made use of the small bit of energy she’d placed into it when she grabbed it. A simple push on the tail of the arrow was enough to force it off target- though it did still slap her with the tail. Her own shot scraped along her opponent’s shoulder- and exploded upon contact. By that point, Zazil and the other Dark Ring Integration cultivator had taken out a third target. With one injured and two others, the numbers were fairly equal among the Integration cultivators- but the Dark Ring’s other members present were overwhelming the weaker cultivators.

It was still possible for the Harmonious Citadel to win. Kseniya and Zazil weren’t exactly fresh. But they projected enough confidence that the two uninjured cultivators weren’t sure if they would survive as individuals, and the fear of potential centuries of lost life was enough for them to pull away with their own ships and those surrounding. The archer seemed to have the same intention, but he’s let himself get locked in combat too long. His ship was damaged- with Zazil charging for it- and it seemed his personal ability to fly through space was only passable. That was why Kseniya kept her feet firmly planted on the ground.

He attempted to fly backwards so he could still fire his bow, but without the stability he didn’t have quite the same power to his shots. More than that, there seemed to be some greater difficulty with retrieving his arrow at range. Kseniya amplified the speed of her sequential shots- they didn’t require one to have hit or missed unlike the enemy- and eventually pierced into his wrist. With his grip ruined, the man could only turn to flee. An unthreatened Kseniya focused all her power on killing him, for the sake of the cause and because she was quite curious about that bow. Two out of five Integration cultivators would leave unscathed, but that was unimportant compared to the damage they did cause. They would have to change locations, however, lest the enemy return with a greater force.