Humans were odd. That was what the Great Queen had come to understand in her time interacting with them. Yet every feature they had seemed to come from some sort of sensible origin. For example, the desire for privacy was a protective measure that came about from the inability to trust other humans, especially when their vulnerable anatomy was uncovered. The way they were organized made it difficult to keep track of them all, and their autonomy meant they could never fit into the organized structure of a proper hive.

Their individual strength was significant, and their size was a great factor in their success. Tool manipulation was also important. The Great Queen understood that her own kind were limited in how they could construct their homes due to their anatomy, though with a bit of cleverness they were able to accomplish much.

Cultivation was another strength they had. The ants- void ants, according to the fearful cultivators of the upper realms- simply could not cultivate as humans could. At best, they could feed on energy to strengthen their bodies, but they never had control over natural energy or ascension energy. It was a small sacrifice to be resistant to its effects, though it was somewhat troublesome that most of her kin could be squashed by the majority of non-insects. Other insects did attempt to fight the void ants, but their lack of teamwork was their downfall.

The Great Queen had to admit that one of the oddest features of humans was required for their lifestyles where they traveled great distances, sometimes on their own feet. Everything required rest, and humans did that all at once. The Great Queen dozed off briefly. It was only for a few minutes, but she nearly missed something important. Then again, if she were human she would have been asleep for hours more, so the advantages were there.

She got the attention of the nearby captain and the rest of her progeny. The majority had been conscious, but they did not have the delicate senses of royalty. There was merely a gentle scent lingering in the air to alert the Great Queen, but she found it discomforting and planned to seek it out.

-----

Anton awoke to the sound of a muffled curse. His subconscious filtered incoming sounds when he slept, or he and many other cultivators with trained senses would be unable to sleep in anything but strict isolation. Something about the sound snapped him awake, but his instincts also told him to keep his energy under control instead of actively seeking something out.

The stillness lasted only a moment before he grabbed a bow leaning against the wall next to him, deflecting a dagger stabbing for the base of his throat, just above his sternum. HIs energy was roused with utmost speed, then two blades met… and his throat remained mostly unpunctured. Only a slight nick on one side, which was a thousand times better than the alternative.

He was quite glad for the bladed bow, despite how difficult it was to use sometimes. He’d cut himself more than a few times from careless interaction with the weapon, but it had its place on the battlefield… and was sturdier than most bows.

Up to this point he’d never had need to use it against assassins, but perhaps he’d simply been lucky. His aura filled the room as much as it could, grasping ahold of his other bows and trying to form energy bows. As he blindly swung the sword-bow he was only able to target his opponent by the lack of presence they exuded.

He didn’t find his attack connected, but it seemed to force them back and give him a little bit of room. He wasn’t fully certain what was going on, but there were also sounds out in the corridor. Small sounds, but some were familiar. And when tidbits of energy were torn from their controller and devoured, he felt it.

It was a good thing the Great Queen liked him, or Anton might have found himself dead already. As it was, he was filling the room with arrows. Others would be on alert now. Not just those staying in the same inn, but much of the city. Anton wasn’t going to attempt subtlety when fighting for his life- and for no reason.

Arrows filled the room where he predicted an opponent might move, despite him being unable to pinpoint them. He stopped his attacks before they hit the walls simply to maintain the structural integrity of the building.

With the battle already in close quarters, things happened quickly. He drew the tiniest bit of blood from his opponent, but received a cut along the back of his right wrist in turn. He was already feeling strange effects of something else. A heat deep inside him, as if his energy was igniting itself. The way the sensation flowed through him from his neck and wrist meant it was some sort of poison.

A moment later a figure appeared in front of him, visible once more. Anton instinctively slashed out, but he needn’t have bothered. His blade took off their head, but there was already a puncture mark in the back of it. Velvet had long surpassed him in the arts of stealth and countering it, and he found himself quite glad she had come along. The usual group was split up according to what locations needed help the most, but there were always allies around. Having the most reliable ones was what kept him alive.

Flickers of movement continued out in the hallway, but as Anton peeked outside he was able to target them rather trivially. After all, whatever the ants were crawling on had to be them. He couldn’t sense the void ants with his energy either, but seeing them even in dim light was easy, especially floating in the air.

His energy continued to burn as he shot, but he thought it was better to expel it outward than let it remain inside. Three figures quickly fell, unable to fight back against more than just the void ants.

There were more assassins throughout the city. Anton couldn’t guarantee he was finding them all, but some were weaker and less able to conceal themselves. He began with them, watching for the signs of people dying or raising their energy to fight. A moment later he was on the roof, continuing to shoot in all directions. Since his energy was already burning, he tried to unleash it as quickly as possible. It wasn’t the same as normal cultivation flames which never really ran out, and instead some of his arrows were consumed on the way to their target, striking nothing. But it was better than it happening inside of him.

Likewise, some of his bows melted out of existence. He was constantly expanding his energy and replacing them, while all the while the fire crept through his meridians, deeper inside. He had to do something about that, but what? He couldn’t really feel a source, as any energy that came in contact with the substance suffered the same consequences.

But if something horrible was going to happen anyway, he might as well do something risky that might work. He called upon another energy, rarely used and barely understood. The energy from beyond death, partially tied to future lives. He pushed it into his meridians and his veins, not caring what exactly he removed but trying to get rid of everything. There was no time for optimal finesse. A little bit of damage to his meridians was much better than death, and blood vessels and muscle tissue could be regrown.

The heat dulled as it approached his dantian, and he continued expelling his energy as well as trying to eradicate the poison. Some of his mind was focused on the battles throughout the city.

Things ended as quickly as they had started. Anton found himself tapped out, dredged of energy and with some internal injuries, but ultimately whole. Throughout the city battles had been completed quickly. Assassins weren’t meant for long, drawn out conflicts. Once they were detected they had often already failed. And there simply weren’t enough of them to take on a whole city, or even a reasonable part of it.

“Thank you very much,” Anton said as he found the Great Queen. “I doubt I would have survived without you.”

The Great Queen signed her response with her forelimbs and antennae, “It is the purpose of friends and allies to defend each other. We are glad to be of assistance.”

Anton would have done an internal check on himself, but he was utterly drained of energy. But at least there was no new pain. He thought to get a doctor to look at him, but he was concerned what might happen. They’d have to be cautious.

“At least we can strike another sect off the list,” Velvet said as she partially revealed herself. “I believe this would be… the Still Wind Erudition. Assassins. Even the Worthy Shore Society didn’t know much, but they were referenced in notes others had.”

Anton nodded. “That makes enough sense. Thank you for the assistance as well. You should see if you can help anyone else, I believe we’re done here.”

“Are you kidding? There’s no way I’ll leave you like… that. You seem like you’re about to collapse.”

“I’m actually feeling quite well,” Anton countered. “But I suppose we cannot discount the possibility of more assassins about.”

An hour later, Anton was the next in line to be looked at by a doctor. They had been quite busy in the immediate aftermath of the battle, and since he didn’t have any deep wounds and his condition wasn’t worsening he made sure others took priority.

“There was a strange poison,” Anton said.

“Energy consuming, right?” said his doctor, a man who showed nearly as much age as Anton himself. “You did quite well to purge your system. Others did not do nearly so well. And based on the vials we found on those bodies, you were targeted with more than others.”

“I was lucky to only receive a couple small wounds,” Anton said.

“They had the skills to concentrate the poison on even small scratches.” The doctor held up the blade. “See? Very little residue, with congealed parts near the tip and one part of the blade.”

“I don’t suppose these fellows had any antidote on them? For the sake of others.”

“Hah. Not from what we’ve seen.”

Anton shrugged. He had some knowledge of healing from various bouts of learning, but he’d never gotten to exotic cultivator killing poisons in his studies. He didn’t recognize any of the vials that were still full. “They seemed to travel very light. Storage bags were nearly empty. Maybe they thought they’d get caught.”

“Or prepared for it at least,” the doctor said, carefully wiping away some blood from Anton’s wrist. “There’s not much I can do for you at the moment. Just be cautious and let me know if there are any further symptoms.”

-----

Information about the assassination attempts spread. Several others had happened in other cities nearly simultaneously, with some more effective than others. The continent lost more Life Transformation cultivators than they killed, but some of the cultivators determined to have the highest standing had come for Anton- and stopped by the void ants. Maybe he’d just been one of many potential targets, or perhaps they didn’t like the way he’d been shooting at their sky ships. Either way, he was going to have to be careful until he was certain there weren’t any more assassins coming.

For the moment most of the counterattacking forces had retreated to Aicenith. They simply couldn’t afford to linger in enemy territory, not with their numbers. The other continent could certainly provide a decent match, but they didn’t exactly have the ships ready to cart over their entire population, even if they wanted to.

The war hadn’t yet spiraled out of control. The total death toll was still manageable, but there was no clear advantage on either side. Hopefully that would make the Exalted Archipelago decide to give up, but there was some doubt about that. Yet they also clearly tried to avoid losses, so the continents simply had to keep fighting. At some point, they could have peace. Or at least a truce.

An unsteady peace seemed to be the best that the world could hope for, and Anton found that very upsetting. Yet he didn’t know how anyone might get the power to change that for the better. Though uniting groups one day at a time had been making progress. He could imagine that in a couple centuries… well, someone else having to convince a whole new set of generations not to pointlessly kill each other. But maybe there could be peace.