At various points in time, the Lower Realms had considered counter attacking through the shift in the Tides of the World. It was a viable strategy at base, but there were several flaws. First, while they had managed to achieve some results with an artificial form of the Tides, that had been for an emergency situation. It was expensive, both in resources and manpower. Doing the same with the proper Tides had unclear benefits.
On the positive side, they could take the fight to their enemies and attack them where they felt safe. A passive approach could be frustrating for people, and eliminating their enemies at the source might save them future trouble.
But that was really where most of the benefits ended. The way things had traditionally functioned, the upper realms made use of their Integration cultivators to overwhelm those at Life Transformation and below. The disadvantages they had in the lower realms were overcome by superiority in power and the ability to concentrate their forces where they pleased. They also retained superior cultivation techniques by suppressing the various systems repeatedly.
The Lower Realms didn’t have an advantage in cultivation. While being able to pick their battles and focus their forces was certainly a benefit, that was about the limit of things. Fighting in the upper realms, they would be the ones at a disadvantage. Furthermore, they had no particular need of the resources specific to the upper realms. What little they had interest in they could already get via trade with the Scarlet Alliance- not so much a separate entity as a different region.
That said, weakening enemy forces was a valuable enough end goal that they did have to consider it. If possible, however, they wanted to fight within their own territory. Provoking enemies to come to them might be the best option, as the upper realms were already inclined to attack. The only question was how much was reasonable, given what they might already have to face.
Anton had to consider those factors as well as the shift in the Tides drew close enough for cultivators to feel them. There was an additional complication involving the Chaotic Conglomeration- even if they were less prone to invading the lower realms, they still participated in such things. Ultimately, the choice had to be made that anyone not associated with the Alliance would have to fend for themselves- they couldn’t be responsible for protecting groups they had never interacted with. Unless, of course, they happened to do so while serving other interests.
No matter how strong he became, Anton would never be able to do everything- and as it turned out, even a small slice of a galaxy was terribly large. The Lower Realms Alliance wasn’t sitting around doing nothing to protect people- they simply could only reach so far in a certain stretch of years. They had obligations to protect those already under their banner.
Coordination with the upper realms was the determining factor in the end. The Scarlet Alliance expected trouble from those around them- and if nobody started anything, they would. Because waiting until people got their forces back from the invasions would be foolish.
It was uncertain if it would turn into another circumstance like before, with the great powers and Everheart all battling in the Scarlet Midfields. If it came to that they were prepared- that was what the great spatial distortion project was for. They were prepared to send forces to anywhere they needed, while at the same time diverting enemies towards fortified systems.
As the Lower Realms Alliance cleaned up the last of the distortion beast nests they were aware of, Anton focused on the border next to the Little Alliance. There, there were enemy forces preparing for an invasion. Precisely what Anton had been waiting for. He had picked his target carefully, planning out an optimal route that would doubtless be ruined by the end of his assault.
The Numerological Compact had picked out systems that they believed to be out of Anton’s range. They would have been right, a few centuries prior. At the very least, it would have been significantly more difficult for him. As for why he chose them as the first targets, it was simple- he could cause the most damage.
Unlike most of the other sects, they relied on their ships more than their individual cultivators. It was impossible for them to constantly keep the ships at full power. Since the arrangement of the ships was basically a grid of prison cells with the central commander position controlling everything, the secondary cultivators were constantly in position- but not actively being called upon. After all, they would be used up quickly that way and have to be replaced. At least, that was the logic of the Numerological Compact.
To Anton, they were people- not merely objects. Unfortunately, some of those people were going to die. At least he had it on good authority from those who had been in precisely the same circumstances that it was a preferred result.
One shot. Two. Three. Four. Five. Anton switched to targeting an entirely different system. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. The power of each individual arrow suffered with the split in his concentration, but Anton merely needed his arrow to arrive. The actual power it carried with it was nearly irrelevant, at least on the scales he worked at. The constant enchantments the ships had to fortify them were like paper to Anton. Resisting him would require active control by entrenched commanders.
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There were a few, either training in their ships or otherwise occupied. Anton avoided those. Instead, he targeted empty ships- or lone cultivators. Destroying ships without the cultivator was just slagging a hunk of metal. The cultivators without the ship and the hundreds or thousands of energy slaves were barely comparable to average Integration cultivators.
His arrows struck, and Anton felt a surge of energy. Not just the Ascension energy moving to annihilate his own, but something else. He did his best to destroy all of the critical systems at the core of the ships without annihilating the innocents… and he felt a certain resonance from them.
After his first barrage hit, Anton changed his tactics. His arrows still rained destruction, but his focus was more on communicating with the individuals. If he’d known this would happen, he would have commandeered Aerona for her techniques. Still, he was a Unity cultivator… and he could feel a unified purpose.
Metal melted with the power of stars and the anger of the upper realms. Cultivators tore at their shackles, their conscious minds suppressed but their deeper minds being stimulated.
Anton wanted to make his message clear. He transmitted thoughts, feelings, understandings. Not to individuals, but to groups. “If you do this… you will die.” Anton’s unity could not endure in the upper realms. “You don’t need me.”
But they did. Because they needed power. What they wanted wasn’t to live, but to go out in a blaze of glory. To take their captors with them. And that meant all of them.
Anton was as clear as he could be, and the responses were unified in purpose. So he did what he could. He didn’t have a local star for them to draw upon… but he could fill each of them with his power. Soon, he stopped ‘attacking’ with his arrows at all, the barrages instead splitting their energy into myriad points at the last moment, filling cultivators with Anton’s power. Their connection to each other was already well established. If there was a possibility for them to survive, they might have developed into hiveminds like the people of the Unified Sector.
But the truth was, that was a practically nonexistent survival chance. Anton didn’t even have to tell anyone- they just knew. Not that he exchanged true words with any individual.
Every group Anton poured energy into moved in Unity, breaking free from their restraints. With Anton’s energy concealed within their own, the upper realms didn’t even instantly destroy them. They never got far, though. Partially because they were instantly met by Numerological Compact cultivators… but mostly because they never meant to. Apart from the ship, they were individual Spirit Building and Essence Collection cultivators- an Integration cultivator could wipe out hundreds with a sweep of their arm.
So they didn’t let things get that far, intentionally allowing Anton’s energy to be rediscovered by the local Ascension energy. Then, it annihilated it, and them, and everything around them. Hundreds at a time, they became great explosions. Their deaths caused more destruction than Anton could have possibly managed alone, the planetary energies becoming chaotic and ever more agitated.
More and more, Anton poured himself into the task. “You sensed what happened,” Anton spread his thoughts to the following groups. “I had no intention to kill you. You could strive for a chance.” And they did- but not a chance for survival. An opportunity for revenge. Some, fueled by hatred. Others, by selflessness- they wished that nothing of the sort could happen to others ever again. Anton focused on the latter feelings, as those best aligned with his concepts of Unity.
Anton actually lost count of how many ships were destroyed, how many Numerological Compact cultivators died… and the far greater number of others. Slaves no more, they were freed in their final moments.
When he finished, there were only scoured planets… and he felt empty. Empty of emotion, empty of energy. Even if he would rapidly recover the latter, he had great stores to fill.
Anton’s plans had been to cause rapid damage in one place and then move on. He wouldn’t be able to get ahead of transmissions, but he might have still caught systems off guard. After all, they couldn’t exactly evacuate a planet over the course of a day- or if they could, it would be a massive waste of resources.
Instead, Anton had ended up focusing on two places. It was both better and worse. Anton had caused significant damage to the forces there, perhaps a tenth or more of what the entire sect could bring to bear. The blow to morale would be great, but perhaps not as widespread as he intended.
Then again, his sudden stop might actually be an advantage. He would rest and recover, then try to pick out another target. Fortunately, he had bound to a great number of border stars now, providing him numerous locations he could bring his full power to bear. He would cause more destruction among the ranks of the Exalted Quadrant… and then he would move on to the Trigold Cluster.
Bear Hug watched the Tides shift. They had never seen it before- recordings didn’t count. It was… mesmerizing. Furthermore, they could see it from so many angles, in both the upper and lower realms. Invisible rivers of energy that suddenly filled all at once, distributing energy in two directions.
Each sort of energy still only survived in one place, except for the Tides themselves. Anything that radiated beyond their reach rapidly diminished. But within the Tides, a peaceful coexistence arose. It wouldn’t last forever, though.
Bear Hug didn’t know why it wouldn’t, but they did understand that it shouldn’t. Not now, at least. Because while it was a beautiful connection, it also led to war. And war was awful. Bear Hug had seen it in many places now, and they could say it would be better to not have it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t something that people could simply choose. Both sides had to agree, and that meant some sort of mutual understanding.
From what Bear Hug knew, people were still people even in different sects and clans. They could be like all of Bear Hug’s friends, trying to make things better for everyone. Then again, maybe they thought they were doing that. That was the naive interpretation of things- it was obvious enough they wanted what was better for themselves. It wasn’t going to last.
Maybe someday someone could make them understand that.