Chapter 540
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Chapter 540
For all that there were effectively only a few enemies present on the battlefield, things were not as heavily weighted towards Weos as it seemed things should have been. The skies around Bavore were filled with local ships, but their main impact was maintaining the formations that were drawing out the two Ivory Maw cultivators. Unfortunately that also came along with the distortion beast, a great mass of eyes that spewed beams of energy at anything it found a tempting target. Anton was learning to avoid those attacks and even sometimes redirect them towards Bala or Leonas masses of bone and flesh, but he had to concern himself with both their attacks which included a reanimated Oluchi as well as the distortion beast, and more specifically the spherical maw of teeth he worried could come at any time.
At the moment, the Great Queens presence in the battle was of minimal impact. Anton was under the assumption that she was still making her way towards Bala, and if she actually reached the center of the mass of bones it would not take long for the woman there to perish. The Great Queen had gotten a hand and three toes on her previous attempt, and that was with only a few moments of contact. Bala Sykora might be more aware of the Great Queens approach this time, but she was also occupied by the distortion beast. There were still pulses of spectral energy from the bone mountain she occupied the center of, but they were infrequent compared to the attacks at surrounding ships or random eyes popping up.
Nthanda was nearly free to attack as she pleased, not concerning herself with the distortion beast. It had attacked her a few times to little effect, and in return she had ignored it, resulting in an unspoken pact between them. Her arrows pierced into the masses of flesh Leonas surrounded himself with, muscly meat that animated as he pleased. That included parts of the former distortion beast that had been fought in Rutera, though it seemed controlling something both new and of such great power was draining. His general movements were slowing, and heavy arrows were finding their way deeper into the mountain he occupied, tearing large trails through the area as they went.
Antons arrows focused on Oluchi. He would have preferred to preserve her body for a proper funeral, but it was already too late for that. He himself had shot off one of her arms at the shoulder, now holding itself together by pure writhing muscles. There were other injuries, both from the distortion beast and passing ships, and presumably others from her death at the hands of the Ivory Maw, though the latter were small in number. Perhaps her body had been restored in the intervening time.
Since Ascension energy seemed likely to get him nearly eaten again, Anton focused on his normal arrows and spectral energy. The animated body of Oluchi was now locked onto him as a target, throwing a spear that tore apart the space around it towards him, one which dogged him repeatedly as he avoided its motions. That suited him well enough, because even with the spatial distortions he was still skilled enough to avoid a single projectile indefinitely. Though he couldnt exactly say it was easy, with Oluchi still holding most of the power she had in life. It didnt seem to take sustained effort from the Worldbinding cultivators either, though perhaps it was simply lessened.
Anton found himself moving closer and closer to Oluchi, the masses of flesh blocking his attacks on her making it difficult for him to finish her off. That put him within the range of Leonas, but the man was occupied to the point he could only manage a few dozen attacks on Anton himself at any one time. Anton would have praised his ability to act simultaneously if they could be anything but enemies.
Soon, Anton was barely a dozen meters from Oluchi. With her primary weapon chasing him, her actual body was only a small threat. Avoiding the ground reaching up for him was a larger concern, but he avoided it as he pressed forward. When he nearly crashed into her, a secondary spear piercing towards him held in her hands, Anton spun around her with Star Steps, instantly redirecting his momentum twice. The movement technique was more effective on a larger scale, but it still did what he needed despite the excessive use of energy.
Behind Oluchis back, Anton drew upon a small shard of ascension energy, firing it even before the arrow was fully formed. Two results followed, one unexpected and one anticipated. The first was that Oluchis spear did not slow its momentum, piercing through her heart in its flight towards him. The second was a maw of teeth appearing. The latter made dodging the former more difficult, and Anton pulled away from the mass of flesh with new gashes along his body, blood pouring from wounds laced with spectral energy. He immediately focused on expunging the effects from his body while he surveyed what happened with Oluchi.
Is this why did you bring this here? Rikuto asked. The reports of her death were sufficient
Nthanda translated- though Rikuto himself had learned at least the basics of the void ants sign language. He was a diplomat that worked with Ceretos, after all, and he intended to do his job. She says that in exchange for slaying a Worldbinding cultivator, the void ants request to establish nests within the Weos system.
It is true that there were talks of a potential deal of the sort Rikuto frowned. He had the problem of his own decision making powers being limited, and of also being absolutely terrified.
Anton could at least help him with the latter. Its not a threat, by the way, Anton smiled gently. Its more like a gift. It could have been hunted prey, but in this case it is a mutual enemy. He placed his hand next to the Great Queen, nudging her with a pinky clearly able to be bitten through with her mandibles, should she want to.
Rikuto recovered quickly. I will of course bring up your request with all of Weos planets, Rikuto agreed. Determining who should be the first to host you, should people be agreeable, will likely take some time. He tried to make his deep breath seem as inconspicuous as possible. But we appreciate your assistance, Great Queen. He inclined his head to her, then to Anton and Nthanda in turn. And of course the human cultivators of Ceretos as well.
Our contract was already fully established, Nthanda said. And I imagine we are all pleased with the results. Nthanda was promised a reasonable rate for her presence- actually being involved with slaying two Worldbinding cultivators would earn her much greater rewards. Those would come after the joint groups had combed through the storage bags of Bala and Leonas, or at least the exploded remains of such bags. Anton could easily describe a good portion of what they had as accursed, but they were still cultivators and some resources were useful to all, or easily exchangeable.
Today was a great victory for the trifold alliance, Anton declared. May we continue to prosper and have good relations in the future. He would advocate for the Great Queens colonies to some extent as well, likely with the reminder that void ants would be very effective against invaders from the upper realms- and were quite zealous in their shared ambition to fight them.
After all of the talking was done, Anton was going to go take a nap, and begin the process of healing his body. He preferred his natural elderly state rather than the current unnatural decrepitness he was experiencing. Even if he hadnt been the primary target of much spectral energy in the battle, it had still affected him. The gashes from the distortion beasts maw would also leave their scars, the wounds a bit more persistent than their simple physicality would have implied.
At least they could now say that the Sylanis Cluster was officially down more than six Worldbinding cultivators. Only ninety-four to go. Not that those numbers were ever fully accurate. At least if Carlitos and Aridasa stepped out of line he was confident in taking them out.
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Chapter 540
For all that there were effectively only a few enemies present on the battlefield, things were not as heavily weighted towards Weos as it seemed things should have been. The skies around Bavore were filled with local ships, but their main impact was maintaining the formations that were drawing out the two Ivory Maw cultivators. Unfortunately that also came along with the distortion beast, a great mass of eyes that spewed beams of energy at anything it found a tempting target. Anton was learning to avoid those attacks and even sometimes redirect them towards Bala or Leonas masses of bone and flesh, but he had to concern himself with both their attacks which included a reanimated Oluchi as well as the distortion beast, and more specifically the spherical maw of teeth he worried could come at any time.
At the moment, the Great Queens presence in the battle was of minimal impact. Anton was under the assumption that she was still making her way towards Bala, and if she actually reached the center of the mass of bones it would not take long for the woman there to perish. The Great Queen had gotten a hand and three toes on her previous attempt, and that was with only a few moments of contact. Bala Sykora might be more aware of the Great Queens approach this time, but she was also occupied by the distortion beast. There were still pulses of spectral energy from the bone mountain she occupied the center of, but they were infrequent compared to the attacks at surrounding ships or random eyes popping up.
Nthanda was nearly free to attack as she pleased, not concerning herself with the distortion beast. It had attacked her a few times to little effect, and in return she had ignored it, resulting in an unspoken pact between them. Her arrows pierced into the masses of flesh Leonas surrounded himself with, muscly meat that animated as he pleased. That included parts of the former distortion beast that had been fought in Rutera, though it seemed controlling something both new and of such great power was draining. His general movements were slowing, and heavy arrows were finding their way deeper into the mountain he occupied, tearing large trails through the area as they went.
Antons arrows focused on Oluchi. He would have preferred to preserve her body for a proper funeral, but it was already too late for that. He himself had shot off one of her arms at the shoulder, now holding itself together by pure writhing muscles. There were other injuries, both from the distortion beast and passing ships, and presumably others from her death at the hands of the Ivory Maw, though the latter were small in number. Perhaps her body had been restored in the intervening time.
Since Ascension energy seemed likely to get him nearly eaten again, Anton focused on his normal arrows and spectral energy. The animated body of Oluchi was now locked onto him as a target, throwing a spear that tore apart the space around it towards him, one which dogged him repeatedly as he avoided its motions. That suited him well enough, because even with the spatial distortions he was still skilled enough to avoid a single projectile indefinitely. Though he couldnt exactly say it was easy, with Oluchi still holding most of the power she had in life. It didnt seem to take sustained effort from the Worldbinding cultivators either, though perhaps it was simply lessened.
Anton found himself moving closer and closer to Oluchi, the masses of flesh blocking his attacks on her making it difficult for him to finish her off. That put him within the range of Leonas, but the man was occupied to the point he could only manage a few dozen attacks on Anton himself at any one time. Anton would have praised his ability to act simultaneously if they could be anything but enemies.
Soon, Anton was barely a dozen meters from Oluchi. With her primary weapon chasing him, her actual body was only a small threat. Avoiding the ground reaching up for him was a larger concern, but he avoided it as he pressed forward. When he nearly crashed into her, a secondary spear piercing towards him held in her hands, Anton spun around her with Star Steps, instantly redirecting his momentum twice. The movement technique was more effective on a larger scale, but it still did what he needed despite the excessive use of energy.
Behind Oluchis back, Anton drew upon a small shard of ascension energy, firing it even before the arrow was fully formed. Two results followed, one unexpected and one anticipated. The first was that Oluchis spear did not slow its momentum, piercing through her heart in its flight towards him. The second was a maw of teeth appearing. The latter made dodging the former more difficult, and Anton pulled away from the mass of flesh with new gashes along his body, blood pouring from wounds laced with spectral energy. He immediately focused on expunging the effects from his body while he surveyed what happened with Oluchi.
Is this why did you bring this here? Rikuto asked. The reports of her death were sufficient
Nthanda translated- though Rikuto himself had learned at least the basics of the void ants sign language. He was a diplomat that worked with Ceretos, after all, and he intended to do his job. She says that in exchange for slaying a Worldbinding cultivator, the void ants request to establish nests within the Weos system.
It is true that there were talks of a potential deal of the sort Rikuto frowned. He had the problem of his own decision making powers being limited, and of also being absolutely terrified.
Anton could at least help him with the latter. Its not a threat, by the way, Anton smiled gently. Its more like a gift. It could have been hunted prey, but in this case it is a mutual enemy. He placed his hand next to the Great Queen, nudging her with a pinky clearly able to be bitten through with her mandibles, should she want to.
Rikuto recovered quickly. I will of course bring up your request with all of Weos planets, Rikuto agreed. Determining who should be the first to host you, should people be agreeable, will likely take some time. He tried to make his deep breath seem as inconspicuous as possible. But we appreciate your assistance, Great Queen. He inclined his head to her, then to Anton and Nthanda in turn. And of course the human cultivators of Ceretos as well.
Our contract was already fully established, Nthanda said. And I imagine we are all pleased with the results. Nthanda was promised a reasonable rate for her presence- actually being involved with slaying two Worldbinding cultivators would earn her much greater rewards. Those would come after the joint groups had combed through the storage bags of Bala and Leonas, or at least the exploded remains of such bags. Anton could easily describe a good portion of what they had as accursed, but they were still cultivators and some resources were useful to all, or easily exchangeable.
Today was a great victory for the trifold alliance, Anton declared. May we continue to prosper and have good relations in the future. He would advocate for the Great Queens colonies to some extent as well, likely with the reminder that void ants would be very effective against invaders from the upper realms- and were quite zealous in their shared ambition to fight them.
After all of the talking was done, Anton was going to go take a nap, and begin the process of healing his body. He preferred his natural elderly state rather than the current unnatural decrepitness he was experiencing. Even if he hadnt been the primary target of much spectral energy in the battle, it had still affected him. The gashes from the distortion beasts maw would also leave their scars, the wounds a bit more persistent than their simple physicality would have implied.
At least they could now say that the Sylanis Cluster was officially down more than six Worldbinding cultivators. Only ninety-four to go. Not that those numbers were ever fully accurate. At least if Carlitos and Aridasa stepped out of line he was confident in taking them out.
Chapter 540For all that there were effectively only a few enemies present on the battlefield, things were not as heavily weighted towards Weos as it seemed things should have been. The skies around Bavore were filled with local ships, but their main impact was maintaining the formations that were drawing out the two Ivory Maw cultivators. Unfortunately that also came along with the distortion beast, a great mass of eyes that spewed beams of energy at anything it found a tempting target. Anton was learning to avoid those attacks and even sometimes redirect them towards Bala or Leonas masses of bone and flesh, but he had to concern himself with both their attacks which included a reanimated Oluchi as well as the distortion beast, and more specifically the spherical maw of teeth he worried could come at any time.At the moment, the Great Queens presence in the battle was of minimal impact. Anton was under the assumption that she was still making her way towards Bala, and if she actually reached the center of the mass of bones it would not take long for the woman there to perish. The Great Queen had gotten a hand and three toes on her previous attempt, and that was with only a few moments of contact. Bala Sykora might be more aware of the Great Queens approach this time, but she was also occupied by the distortion beast. There were still pulses of spectral energy from the bone mountain she occupied the center of, but they were infrequent compared to the attacks at surrounding ships or random eyes popping up.Nthanda was nearly free to attack as she pleased, not concerning herself with the distortion beast. It had attacked her a few times to little effect, and in return she had ignored it, resulting in an unspoken pact between them. Her arrows pierced into the masses of flesh Leonas surrounded himself with, muscly meat that animated as he pleased. That included parts of the former distortion beast that had been fought in Rutera, though it seemed controlling something both new and of such great power was draining. His general movements were slowing, and heavy arrows were finding their way deeper into the mountain he occupied, tearing large trails through the area as they went.Antons arrows focused on Oluchi. He would have preferred to preserve her body for a proper funeral, but it was already too late for that. He himself had shot off one of her arms at the shoulder, now holding itself together by pure writhing muscles. There were other injuries, both from the distortion beast and passing ships, and presumably others from her death at the hands of the Ivory Maw, though the latter were small in number. Perhaps her body had been restored in the intervening time.Since Ascension energy seemed likely to get him nearly eaten again, Anton focused on his normal arrows and spectral energy. The animated body of Oluchi was now locked onto him as a target, throwing a spear that tore apart the space around it towards him, one which dogged him repeatedly as he avoided its motions. That suited him well enough, because even with the spatial distortions he was still skilled enough to avoid a single projectile indefinitely. Though he couldnt exactly say it was easy, with Oluchi still holding most of the power she had in life. It didnt seem to take sustained effort from the Worldbinding cultivators either, though perhaps it was simply lessened.Anton found himself moving closer and closer to Oluchi, the masses of flesh blocking his attacks on her making it difficult for him to finish her off. That put him within the range of Leonas, but the man was occupied to the point he could only manage a few dozen attacks on Anton himself at any one time. Anton would have praised his ability to act simultaneously if they could be anything but enemies. Soon, Anton was barely a dozen meters from Oluchi. With her primary weapon chasing him, her actual body was only a small threat. Avoiding the ground reaching up for him was a larger concern, but he avoided it as he pressed forward. When he nearly crashed into her, a secondary spear piercing towards him held in her hands, Anton spun around her with Star Steps, instantly redirecting his momentum twice. The movement technique was more effective on a larger scale, but it still did what he needed despite the excessive use of energy. Behind Oluchis back, Anton drew upon a small shard of ascension energy, firing it even before the arrow was fully formed. Two results followed, one unexpected and one anticipated. The first was that Oluchis spear did not slow its momentum, piercing through her heart in its flight towards him. The second was a maw of teeth appearing. The latter made dodging the former more difficult, and Anton pulled away from the mass of flesh with new gashes along his body, blood pouring from wounds laced with spectral energy. He immediately focused on expunging the effects from his body while he surveyed what happened with Oluchi.Is this why did you bring this here? Rikuto asked. The reports of her death were sufficientNthanda translated- though Rikuto himself had learned at least the basics of the void ants sign language. He was a diplomat that worked with Ceretos, after all, and he intended to do his job. She says that in exchange for slaying a Worldbinding cultivator, the void ants request to establish nests within the Weos system.It is true that there were talks of a potential deal of the sort Rikuto frowned. He had the problem of his own decision making powers being limited, and of also being absolutely terrified. Anton could at least help him with the latter. Its not a threat, by the way, Anton smiled gently. Its more like a gift. It could have been hunted prey, but in this case it is a mutual enemy. He placed his hand next to the Great Queen, nudging her with a pinky clearly able to be bitten through with her mandibles, should she want to.Rikuto recovered quickly. I will of course bring up your request with all of Weos planets, Rikuto agreed. Determining who should be the first to host you, should people be agreeable, will likely take some time. He tried to make his deep breath seem as inconspicuous as possible. But we appreciate your assistance, Great Queen. He inclined his head to her, then to Anton and Nthanda in turn. And of course the human cultivators of Ceretos as well.Our contract was already fully established, Nthanda said. And I imagine we are all pleased with the results. Nthanda was promised a reasonable rate for her presence- actually being involved with slaying two Worldbinding cultivators would earn her much greater rewards. Those would come after the joint groups had combed through the storage bags of Bala and Leonas, or at least the exploded remains of such bags. Anton could easily describe a good portion of what they had as accursed, but they were still cultivators and some resources were useful to all, or easily exchangeable.Today was a great victory for the trifold alliance, Anton declared. May we continue to prosper and have good relations in the future. He would advocate for the Great Queens colonies to some extent as well, likely with the reminder that void ants would be very effective against invaders from the upper realms- and were quite zealous in their shared ambition to fight them.After all of the talking was done, Anton was going to go take a nap, and begin the process of healing his body. He preferred his natural elderly state rather than the current unnatural decrepitness he was experiencing. Even if he hadnt been the primary target of much spectral energy in the battle, it had still affected him. The gashes from the distortion beasts maw would also leave their scars, the wounds a bit more persistent than their simple physicality would have implied. At least they could now say that the Sylanis Cluster was officially down more than six Worldbinding cultivators. Only ninety-four to go. Not that those numbers were ever fully accurate. At least if Carlitos and Aridasa stepped out of line he was confident in taking them out.
