------

Karna woke up with a start. Her senses quickly expanded to cover the surrounding area to appraise any potential risks. She relaxed just as soon though, as she detected the presence of her teammates and the other allies she’d recently gotten familiar with.

"Feeling better?" Envy asked from her sitting position only a couple of meters away. She had sensed Karna waking up.

“Been better. Been worse. A little sore but that’ll pass quite soon. How long was I out?” She also smacked her lips a bit as she had both the cotton mouth and a taste like a dead rodent had crawled to die in there.

“Little under a day. You went relatively easy this time. Or your new vessel is more suitable than I thought.” Envy replied, keeping an eye on the surroundings. “The escape got a bit touch-and-go there for a while, but we managed.”

“What happened?” Karna croaked out while trying to work up some saliva. She was also stretching herself a bit on the ground, trying to work her muscles without aggravating them too much.

“You probably saw the Netherworld’s immortals that survived converging on us before you fainted. The ones that were part of the attack on the fort also returned in a hurry. They hadn’t fully committed to the attack yet, so the Host at the fort didn’t do much to deter their retreat, especially since they weren’t sure what happened. They saw a big boom and a lot of the Netherworld’s forces collapsing, but they couldn’t be sure it wasn’t some sort of ploy. Wouldn’t be a bad plan if it had been a trap by the Netherworld by the way.” Valor supplied from her other side, where he too was watching over Karna. “I can’t really fault the Host commander at the fort for making the choice.”

“I can. I mean, you’re not wrong, but I can and will still fault the commander. It might be petty of me, but it’s my prerogative after they left us in the lurch like that.” Envy was not feeling as forgiving. “Anyway, with your tower busted, we no longer had the speed advantage, and it became a fighting retreat. As much as I don’t want to admit it, Team Valor really made themselves useful. They’re a really strong team, and it would’ve been much harder to get away without their help. Not impossible, mind you, but much harder. They earned their keep.”

“Agreed. There’s a decent to good chance that we might not have all made it if they hadn’t been along for the ride. It might be a little cruel of me to point it out, but the most likely ones to be lost would’ve been Arjuna or Helen. As it is, we got to the defenses the Iron Fists had created, which aided greatly in turning the tide. We have some injured people, but nothing that won’t recover with a bit of time and a whole lot of healing.”

“Yeaaaah.” Envy stretched out the word, not really wild about what she was about to say. “I hate to say it but having the Valor boys around proved out to be really handy. Those guys can fight well for not being like us. As far as useful allies go, we should keep ‘em for now.”

“Despite our suspicions about why they’re here?” Karna asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I mean, it’s not too bad having some eye-candy around, is it? That’s why we keep you around after all. And it’s not really that much of a problem as long as we’re careful, as they’re clearly going to go with the soft approach.” Envy shrugged. “I don’t mind the soft approach.”

“Indeed. Someone trying to form bonds by being useful and a good ally is rather refreshing, and much preferred to…well, pretty much all other methods. Yes, they might be here to specifically form connections with us, so it might not be as natural as it could be, but we should assume that to be the case no matter who we meet. As long as they recognize us, then any overtures will likely be due to some political considerations.” Valor found himself agreeing with Envy. As his skills were the least outlandish of their group of reincarnators, he was the most impressed with the abilities shown by the members of Team Valor. Talent truly made a large difference.

“It’s also a little telling how hard they worked to help everyone get away even when the situation was so dangerous, and you were not conscious to see them act in that way. It shows character. What’s the old saying again? What you do when no one is there to see you act shows your true nature. Now, we aren’t no one, but if they really are here to form connections with you, then…” Envy shrugged again.

“Well, this is very interesting and all, but it’s a bit of a moot point since we don’t control where we get deployed, nor who we are deployed alongside with.” Karna pointed out, even though she didn’t disagree with what was being said.

"No, but we can always let our preferences be known. The more glory we gather, the more those preferences will be taken into consideration. And we did just gain quite a bit of glory. The Phaeron we killed wasn't the only one on this front, but with the Phaeron gone, one of the dynasties on this front is crippled until the Phaeron can return. If the Phaeron is returning?” Valor looked towards Karna in question, who shook her head. “Not returning then. So, the dynasty will be crippled for even longer. That changes the balance of power in this area significantly. I don’t think we have to be too worried about further attacks, and there’s a good to great chance that we’ll be the ones doing the pushing next. Well, the forces at the fort maybe, not us personally. I can smell at least a commendation in the near future.”

“Liberated worlds tend to have that effect.” Envy grinned widely.

“Anyway, I doubt our three teams will be too involved for a while, but we’ll be required to hold this position until others take our place, so we can take it easy for a while. Maybe we can seriously start working on our next rank-ups?" Valor suggested.

One of the main reasons Karna had not reached rank 11 despite having been at the Divine Planes for several years, and her cultivation speed being increased multiple times over just from the presence of divine power, was because they wanted the main members of their little group to rank up together. To compensate, Karna had been working on her foundations, shoring up any issues from her earlier rushing, as well as working on her Qi. Perhaps unsurprisingly Valor had been the slowest of the six reincarnators, though not by a large margin. Their cultivation speed was still blindingly fast thanks to already having their Totems ready to go, and now they were all approaching the point where they could rank up together.

-----

In between cultivation, Karna decided to get a better feel for the other two teams. It was the least she could do after the two teams had done such good work making sure they got away from the Netherworld safely. Valor and Envy had also been right. They could use some allies, and the heirs of several prominent houses were a good place to start. Even if they couldn’t make outright alliances, just having connections with the other houses would be useful. If she ever needed to get in touch with one of the houses, then already having an established connection was the best way to go. It was also likely that some of the members of team Valor might turn out to become rather important players in the grand scheme of things with enough time.

Even though the team was rather unified and worked well together, there were still four distinct groups in the team that mostly spent time together, or in the leader’s case by himself. The first one she sought out and engaged in a discussion was that leader, Akasha. The rank 12 warrior-mage, or Medjai as they were called, was part of a house that all combined the cultivation of Qi with magic. Warrior mages were not as common as one might assume. It was hard enough to reach immortality with one kind of cultivation, and doing it with two required potential and talent in both. As such, Akasha was rather free in admitting that their house was extremely interested in Karna and her friends, though unlike most, it wasn’t for political reasons. Or at least mostly not political reasons. They were interested in her because of her talent in both Aura and Magic and had become even more interested now that she was showing talent in Qi as well. Their interest was also a genealogical one, as parents with multiple talents were most likely to have multi-talented kids as well.

Akasha wasn't shy about talking about his own history either. He was the second son of the current head of the house, but he'd caught up to the first son by having more talent, and the two were in competition to become the next head of house. Technically their younger siblings were also qualified, but they were far enough behind the two eldest that Akasha wasn’t too worried for now. Gathering merits in the Host was just one of the ways he was utilizing to get a leg-up on his brother.

The magical beast trio of Mellendroth, from the House of Dragons, Heya, A Golden Winged Tiger, and Vacred, A Grand Behemoth, were perhaps the easiest to understand. They all belonged to races that desired to do battle and had joined the Host to do just that. All of them also belonged to houses where power ruled above all else, and battle built up that power. They were less interested in the political side of things, though certainly they wouldn’t mind any political benefits they would gain by associating with her. Even if battle power was the important factor in their houses, power still came in many forms.

Resmeed, the Djinn Sultan, Nalred, the Dark Elf, and Kohaku, the Kitsune, readily admitted their political interests in forming a friendship, or more, with ‘Princess Ynnead’. The three came from very magical houses, and word of her talent with magic had already reached far and wide as well. Their houses were also part of the third large power block of the Divine Plains. Humans and Godlings formed one large group, magical beasts formed the second, while other humanoid and magical races formed the third.

The last group was made up of Rime, a holy knight, Perseus, a Godling, and Avosh, a member of the Golden Order. Their interest in her was quite obvious to see and more personal. Aside from the other reasons, the three were quite clearly attracted to her, and their discussion involved the most out-and-out flirting. While the others wouldn’t mind something further happening, these three were the clearest about wanting to bed her, and not just for political reasons. They had been taken by her appearance, and they were not hiding that fact at all.

Having a healthy libido and having gone so many years without meant that she wasn’t entirely unreceptive to the idea, but it wasn’t quite that simple. While having a bit of carnal fun would be great, and something both parties could enjoy, she had to be careful about becoming too connected with any of the ten at this time. The worst case would be if she became pregnant, and the way she liked having her fun, that was always a distinct possibility. It was also a little awkward when there were ten quite attractive guys clearly receptive to the idea present, as accepting one would undoubtedly be noticed by the others, and they were still officially in a military situation even if the danger was significantly reduced. So, she chose to refrain for now at least. That wasn’t to say she wouldn’t reconsider the idea if she were to run into them in another setting.

--------

Karna found herself facing a difficult decision as the moment of her rank-up approached. For immortals, their cultivation focused around developing their Totem. An idol of sorts that represented the power you wished to wield. For non-reincarnators, the ranks from 10 to 13 would all be about building and empowering their Totem, but reincarnators had the benefit of having already created one. Or in the case of old enough reincarnators, several.

The Totem represented your inner self, but your inner self could change with enough time. In Karna’s case, she’d changed several times. Her first Totem represented the rage and Wrath she’d felt that had earned her the Name. As she was currently in her soul space where the Totems resided, she couldn’t help but glance at the weapon that kept shifting forms while dripping blood, forming an ocean of blood below. Even if she went by the Name Wrath currently, the Totem didn’t really represent what she wanted to be in this life. Even less so if she were to take the position as the ultimate being controlling the multiverse.

Her second Totem was slightly more suitable, but not really appropriate. The godly anvil of a creator that searched for the peak of making things. She had already created many items, and would likely create many more, but that wasn’t the core of her current being. Neither was the olive branch that represented her time seeking Mercy and forgiveness.

She went through and decided against most of the Totems she’d created, until she came upon two. One represented her as the peak of all magic, and the other her Name Karma. The crystalline orb that seemed to contain an entire universe inside was her most magnificent creation. Mastery over magic had been her greatest strength for so many lives that she no longer bothered to count. On the other hand, the scales not only represented karma, but could also utilize it. Judgement could be brought to those with karma that was too heavy. Not too evil, but too heavy.

The two didn’t feel right either. Her mind went to the picture her Aura cultivation was creating. That incomplete picture on the cusp of completion would be a powerful totem, but it had the same problem as the one representing her magic. It represented only a part of her. She was many things, and each totem only represented a small part of her. Why should she settle for something that didn’t represent her as a whole? She wasn’t brought to this universe to be a minor player, so why not try to do something never done before?

Slowly the idea took hold, and she started combining things. The olive branch went to one side of the scale, while the bloody shifting weapon went on the other. Two more sides were added for a four-sided scale, with her magic on one side and Aura on the other. The celestial energy that infused her new Qi cultivation and her draconic form were condensed into a star that floated above the central point of the scale. Instead of a godly anvil, being put on the scales, a lifelike carving of one was added to the base of the scale, along with many of the other totems.

She felt something was missing. Something to represent the beginning. She knew what that had to be but didn’t want to do it. Yet it would be incomplete without it. With great reluctance and a small tear, she added a Celestium statue of herself carrying the scale with one hand, and a dead baby with the other. Like it or not, that was where it had all begun, and the experience that had molded her more than any other. Even if she had gotten over that loss, she still carried it inside her. As a small afterthought, the star above the scale moved to form a halo around the statue’s head instead.

As the final piece slipped into place, she suddenly felt whole. Complete. She had done something right. This was her new, completed Totem, and the core of her being. As soon as the Totem was completed, she felt herself rising in rank as an enormous influx of power entered her. She wasn’t alone either, as it seemed like the first one ranking up triggered the others, and soon enough more than half of their team was doing it. And each of them was ranking up in a spectacular fashion. For others, the step from 10th to 11th rank was notable, but for the group of reincarnators it was a huge leap.

Karna had managed to barely defeat a relatively weak rank 13 being using the power granted to her by Wrath, and now she'd be able to do it equally without the Name. She might still be a little weaker than the strongest representatives of the rank, but the differences between those of rank 13 were larger than any other rank. The same held true for the others. Karna wasn't the only one with such abilities, and while Valor might not quite reach Karna's or Envy's level, he too was far beyond his rank.

The difference showed in their rank-ups. The sheer influx of power was so huge that it matched the birth of a dozen rank 13 beings at the same time. For a moment, the entire area they were in was completely drained of power, and even the Grand Formation had to divert in a miniscule way to compensate for the sudden void of power. The shift was felt by those paying attention in the Divine Planes, even if they couldn’t quite pinpoint it exactly.

Where the others faced tribulations, only a beam of golden and divine light fell on where Karna had been sitting moments before. In her place stood something even the reincarnators had not seen before. A golden beast mixing a bird and a lion towered over everything. The body of a lion was covered in golden fur with occasional blue-ish white feathers. The same feathers made could also be found in small tufts at the back of the being’s paws, and of course the magnificent golden wings. Instead of having the head of a lion, the being had the facial form of a bird, but instead of a beak, the creature and a roughly beak-shaped muzzle, and instead of a mane, long golden feathers sprouted from the being’s head and extended all the way down its back like a cape. It also had a long sinuous tail. The same floating star was located in front of this being’s forehead as Karna’s dragon form.

“What the heck did you turn into this time?” Envy asked, also finished with her own rank up.