Elder Cultivator

Chapter 1108

Falling Stars suddenly found themselves free to seek new targets, as Zaur ceased to be a threat. Even if someone managed to avoid them on one pass, they would inevitably strike somewhere in the enemy fleets.

While the Scarlet Alliance had kept an advantage even with fleets from both the Citadel’s allies and the Trigold Cluster, their enemies suddenly became aware of how much of their energy had been devoted to suppressing Zaur. Of course, the Domination cultivator had caused significant damage and strain on their forces... but even just a few moments after his death the course of the battle shifted.

Morale was a serious factor in battles, even among those who were not cultivators. Those who were afraid to fight could hardly be effective. For cultivators, the rift was actually larger. Without strength of purpose behind them, their use of energy was severely hampered.

That wasn’t counting the actual disciples of the Citadel of Exalted Light, because they were in a far worse state than any others. Many others tried to organize their withdrawal, some broke into a chaotic retreat- but the disciples of the Citadel simply... stopped. Not all of them, but the psychic shock was so great that some of them died due to their energy running amok inside them. Cultivation was a practice of belief- in one’s self or also in others. When an ‘invincible’ leader died, what were people to do?

The Imbued Fragments and Broad Eyed Harvesters had been trying to take advantage of the situation, though it wasn’t clear what their final goal was. However, with Zaur’s death they quickly began to withdraw as well. That included their great battleship made entirely of worldheart, though it likely would have had to withdraw regardless. Though Aconite’s metal-eating bacteria weren’t infinitely sustaining like on lesser metals, their ship had numerous patches of damage that they could not repair, at least not at the moment. Keeping such a valuable ship intact was more important than whatever else they could retrieve from the battle- though it was seen that they did drag the remnants of various ships with them.

At some point in the past, the Scarlet Alliance had considered various modifications to their spatial distortions. One of those was to not only draw everyone to Xankeshan, the most fortified location... but also to make the trip one-way. It was a nice thought, preventing their enemy from retreating, but simply infeasible unless they had a massive advantage. They might be the victor here, but their own forces weren’t limitless and all powerful. Forcing those who remained into a battle to the end simply wouldn’t be worthwhile. They did cut down all those who were still fighting and if they had the opportunity, all who were attempting to flee.

-----

For those deep inside the Citadel of Exalted Light’s territory, the bad news was that every disciple knew what had happened and would kill them if given the slightest opportunity. The good news was... they were in no state to pick out a single hidden ship. Not every single cultivator within their systems was a disciple of the Exalted Light, but all those who were simply... couldn’t.

Velvet had the misfortune of dropping right next to one of their fleet patrols when attempting to stop to replenish their ship’s energy. She could hide a lot, but the spatial fluctuations from rising out of subspace came before she was able to affect anything in her current state. Well, she was able to make it about half subtle.

She panicked as she expected the enemy ships to immediately turn on them, or at least throw out cultivators to assess them. By the time they actually reacted, she had properly reestablished illusions around the ship and they were zooming away from the fleet. Even then, the search parties seemed... lackluster.

Though that didn’t convince Velvet to linger any longer than necessary to replenish their ship. Not that she felt comfortable moving slowly regardless, with Timothy and Catarina in their current states. Chidi was... fine. But they were most certainly not, and she thought it important to reach someone who could help as soon as possible- if that was even feasible. It would still be a journey of months, so hopefully they could last.

-----

Though Velvet stayed far away, as the group worked their way towards less populated areas they came into contact with the ripple effects of the Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance’s attacks.

There wasn’t much conversation to be had, with half of the team incapacitated. However, Prasad still had some comments. “It is unfortunate Ratna was not able to personally experience his death.”

“Hopefully she’ll still appreciate it,” Velvet said.

Durff frowned. “He disintegrated, right? I guess the closest thing we have to a souvenir are those chunks of crystal.”

“Yeah,” Velvet agreed. “Are they... reacting?”

Durff shook his head. When he was not focusing on recovery, it was his job to watch their scavenged supply of bits and pieces of the citadel. “It seems pretty dead. I don’t think he could fake something like that.”

“It’s not like he’s Everheart,” Prasad agreed. “Though we would do well to be cautious regardless.”

-----

The news of the death of Zaur spread like wildfire. Even if the Exalted Quadrant tried to quash the information, it only spread more quickly. Nor did the information propagate from just a single point. Every disciple felt his death to some extent, both throughout the upper realms... and in the lower realms.

“Those who live in fear are never truly strong,” Crossed Antennae said, as if that explained everything.

“You think Zaur was... afraid?”

“Not just him. All Domination cultivators.”

“Afraid of what?” Runa asked.

“Of us, obviously,” the void ant specifically gestured to herself. “Void ants.”

Runa thought for a moment. “Why do you say that?”

“Because otherwise they wouldn’t exterminate us.”

“That is... the natural reaction of many cultivators. The Domination cultivators aren’t responsible.”

“Why is that natural?” Crossed Antennae asked.

“You know why. You’re dangerous.” It was simply the truth. Runa herself was also dangerous.

“To a Body Tempering cultivators, a small army of us is hardly more dangerous than a Spirit Building cultivator. Do you really think the common folk fear us on their own? Any number of beasts are more deadly than us.”

“I know they do,” Runa pointed out. “If I asked any person who did not know any of you personally about void ants-”

Crossed Antennae swirled her forelegs. “They would repeat the lies told by Domination cultivators. Because they are afraid.”

Misi leaned closer. “Do you have any proof of this? I hadn’t heard it.”

“It is self evident. They create fear in their subordinates, because they are afraid of void ants. If they were not so full of fear, they would not care.”

Misi sighed. “So there’s still no actual proof.”

“Don’t need it,” Crossed Antennae said. “I wonder if their energy is tasty...” Runa naturally recoiled, just a bit. “See? And you have Domination cultivators to fear. But if we were the only ones, would not we be the most fearsome? Yet we can be crushed by a small child.”

“Not all of you,” Juli pointed out.

Crossed Antennae performed her version of a shrug. “It takes many billions of us to produce one like myself. And I must still take care not to be sat upon.”

Perhaps she was underestimating the durability of certain void ants, but not by far. And all agreed that whether or not she was entirely correct, Domination cultivators certainly had reason to amplify that particular fear.