High Admiral Siendir made a deep frown.

Three. He had lost three disciples to these primitives.

Well, they WERE mere initiates. But losing that many Vophae in a single fight against a primitive planet would be a stain on his record, a blemish that aspiring Vophae would now consider when deciding which Dominion to swear loyalty to.

Still, he had to admit he was impressed

This planet would make for some fine auxiliaries. The added strength would provide opportunities to regain whatever reputation he lost today. He revised his overall plans for the planet.

They still couldn’t win, of course. Captain Shalled was still on the field, and far more powerful than the ones they had defeated. And Captain Sildeth was on the planet as well, should Shalled somehow fail.

It would not do to end this with a loss for the Vophae, however.

“Contact Captain Shalled. Tell him I am disappointed with the current state of affairs, and that I expect him to give a showing worthy of the Siendir Dominion.

“Yes, High Admiral.”

Bob took a deep breath and made the long walk back to the starting location of the fight. He activated his suit’s sensors.

And then he found it.

A spot in the air giving off strange readings.

A weak point in space.

Just as Baba Yaga had predicted.

He took out another sword, just a normal, if well-made katana.

“Profile Loaded: Kiyosuke.”

Elise could replicate Kiyosuke’s Phantom slash technique, making sword slashes appear from impossible angles. But try as she might, she hadn’t been able to replicate Kiyosuke’s teleportation technique. It was a skill he developed by instinct and intuition, rather than knowledge. And ripping apart space and then jumping through the hole like he did was reckless, dangerous. Only the boy himself had the confidence to pull it off consistently, and even he himself didn’t fully understand how, not truly. Elise had wisely chosen to avoid such a thing until she understood all the variables.

But Bob didn’t need the technique to fully succeed here.

In fact…

Recklessly ripping apart space was exactly what he was after.

He began to swing the blade…

Xiong Huang let out a shout as she swung her fist forward, blasting her qi into the boundaries of this place.

Still nothing.

She grit her teeth.

She was in some sort of featureless void. Like an infant universe yet to be born.

She had gotten a feel for the boundaries of the universe when she tried to resist the imprisonment. She could sense them at the edge of her perception, just barely beyond her sight.

But she couldn’t touch them, no matter what she did.

It was like trying to grasp the rain, or trying to push a mountain. It was like trying to hold back the wind, or trying to recall how that annoying song half-playing in your head went.

Xiong Huang could of course do all those things. Except the last. But the point was, even though she could sense the boundary, she couldn’t figure out a way to interact with it. It was like she was trying to climb a perfectly smooth wall. She could feel the wall, she could leap against it, but she simply slid off it once she did. If only she had a single handgrip, a single abrasion with which to work, she could probably do something.

But she didn’t.

So she was stuck, flinging her power about like a brute, searching for any change, any reaction at all. And this infant universe was hungrily sucking up everything she released, preventing her from making any headway. Even she would have to rest eventually.

And then she felt it.

The tiniest, smallest little crack. A barest scratch, really. So small she shouldn’t have noticed it at all.

Were it not for what…or more specifically who…she felt on the other side.

Someone deeply tied to her present cultivation.

Xiong Huang grinned.

And grabbed onto the crack.

She had found her grip.

She could feel the wall in her hands. She could feel it react to her qi.

And if she could feel it…

Then she could smash it.

Xiong Huang pulled back her fist…

Back on the Earth Bob was slashing the air, white arcs of light lingering for a second each time he did.

Then he noticed one of the arcs lingering for a while longer than normal.

And growing larger.

Cracks of white light began to ripple across the air in front of him.

He heard the sound of glass shatter as the air exploded into a white vortex.

Xiong Huang leapt out, leaning on one knee and panting heavily. She looked up.

A smile broke out on her face.

“You came for me?”

Bob nodded.

“Of course.”

She flushed slightly before shaking her head. She glanced around to avoid Bob’s gaze…and raised an eyebrow as she looked over Bob’s suit…and the devastated surroundings.

“You took on that jerk? Wait…don’t tell me…you beat him?!”

Bob’s helmet opened up to reveal the smirk on his face.

“Possessed by the Black Blade and then banished by the USB Drive of Demonic Binding.”

Xiong Huang stared at him for a second before she started to giggle, breaking out into full laughter.

She took a deep breath as she finished laughing. Then she stared at Bob for a moment. Her cheeks started to flush…and she started fidgeting of all things.

Bob just raised an eyebrow.

“Um…look…Bob…you see…that whole trapped in another dimension thing kind of took a lot out of me…so…um…I know I need to go punch something…but…um…I need to replenish my cultivation first.”

Bob nodded.

“That makes sense, I thought that might be the case.”

Xiong Huang gulped.

“Look…about that…about my…cultivation. It’s…um…changed a bit. We’ll…need a way to…replenish it. So…um…”

Bob reached into a compartment of his suit and pulled out a small decorated box. He opened the lid to reveal a small black pill.

Xiong Huang gasped.

“How on EARTH did YOU find the Pill of Eight Hundred and Eighty Eight Celestial Worthies?”

“A tour in the jungle.”

To be fair, it was Sir Notfeld that had found this one. After all, it wasn’t Bob who insisted on pressing every random button and panel he found in a booby-trapped ancient ruin. But the adventurer was in it for the hunt, not the catch, and so didn’t care if Bob took first share of the loot.

Xiong Huang’s mouth dropped open. She closed it. She opened it again. She closed it. A vein bulged on her forehead for a moment. Finally, she simply closed her eyes, heaving a dramatic sigh as she smiled.

“You know, you’re really annoying sometimes?”

She took the pill from his hands and popped it into her mouth. Her qi exploded into being, flooding the mountain with light and heat. Bob’s eyes widened as his suit’s cultivation furnace began to roar to life unprompted, its fuel soaring far past its original capacity.

Xiong Huang grinned and slammed her fist into her palm.

“Well, let’s go beat some alien jerks then.”

She grabbed Bob under her arm and then leapt into the sky, destroying the top of the mountain they were on.

Meanwhile, a group of other people and mystical beings stared up into the sky.

“Yae think they knew we were here too?”

Baba Yaga cackled.

“Not at all.”

Alien walkers stormed forward, lasers setting fire to undead beasts by the thousands. Insectoid swarms overwhelmed the monsters charging forward. The heroes stood, gasping for breath as the alien transports began to land directly in front of them, no missiles or Mass Suppressors left to threaten them any longer.

A single grav-jet landed on the field. The door opened and Londyn stepped out, a grav-cannon in her hand. She walked to Captain Hot Devil.

“Director, glad to see you made it.

“Likewise, Captain. Where did Wilson go?”

Captain Hot Devil grimaced.

“Haven’t seen him for a while.”

Londyn frowned and shook her head. She’d worry about him later. He was former CIA after all.

“What’s the situation here?”

Captain Hot Devil just pointed a finger.

PSI Omega screamed and clutched her head as she fell to the ground. The lead Vophae stared down at her with his arms crossed.

“So your little race of monkeys has some serious psionic potential after all? But you are but a bug crawling in the dirt. You cannot begin to comprehend the heights we have reached. I will show you who you have defied.”

He held out his hand…

And then he suddenly stopped, and looked to the sky.

All across the field, alien warmachines and flying craft began to fire their weapons. Plasma bolts and laser beams all began to stream across the sky…directly upwards and away from the heroes.

All the heroes just blinked as they watched. Londyn reached for her earpiece.

“HQ, this is the Director. Do we have sensors active?”

“Director, this is HQ, we read you. Yes, we just got them back online.”

“What are they firing at?”

“Unclear, a massive energy signature just appeared in the upper atmosphere near our position.”

At that moment, they saw it.

Something like a shooting star, descending from the sky. Plasma bolts and laser beams crashed into it…and didn’t slow it down in the slightest. The star crashed straight into…and through…one the big transport ships.

Destroying it utterly.

And continued down straight to the center of the battlefield.

The heroes shielded their faces as it crashed into the ground, lifting up a massive cloud of dust.

And as the dust settled…

Saydaa began to laugh with all her might.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU GUYS ARE SO SCREWED NOW!”

Standing directly in between the heroes and approaching aliens…was a girl in thin silk robes, holding some sort of large armored suit under her arm.

Xiong Huang made a wide grin at the alien army assembled before her.

“Hello jerks, I’m back! And now you're going to pay for interrupting my day!”

Xiong Huang set down the armored suit and crouched down slightly.

She suddenly appeared in front of the lead Vophrae Captain Shalled and backhanded him down. He disappeared into a new hole in the ground as a plume of dirt and dust shot into the sky.

She leapt forward, straight at a squad of walkers. She simply passed by them and the wind that followed her knocked the advanced machines over.

She landed with a crash, her fist cracking the ground and sending a shockwave rippling out. An entire swarm of insectoids was flattened by her blow.

All the fighters and gunships in the area turned to her, spraying plasma bolts all over the ground around her.

But not a single one landed on target, though she made no move to dodge.

Xiong Huang jumped into the air and let out a shout, surging her intent and qi. Explosions filled the sky around her.

And she continued onward, a shooting star smashing through the transports in the air, filling the sky with exploding ships, then dipping down to wipe out entire battalions just by passing by them.

As Xiong Huang rushed across the field, explosions and blood trailing behind her, Captain Shalled shot out of the ground and rushed towards the base camp of the alien army.

“Get a Dimensional Projector here, now!”

A squad of aliens brought up a familiar cannon, with a transparent sphere containing a miniature galaxy. The weapon charged and fired a beam straight towards Xiong Huang. Captain Shalled himself thrust out with his psionic might, attempting to hold her in place so the beam could strike.

She simply scoffed, standing still without resisting as the beam approached her.

“That won’t work on me anymore!”

She slapped the beam with the back of her hand.

And the beam bent, sputtering and dispersing into the air.

The lead Vophrae’s eyes widened. He lifted into the air, his eyes and body glowing bright as a star as he gathered all of his psionic might.

Xiong Huang simply pulled back her hand and grinned.

Her qi began to gather…

The air distorted around her…

Her hand became a blazing star…

Every heart of every species pounded as they felt deep anger welling up within them.

“DIE!”

Xiong Huang swung her fist forward.

A massive cone of wind, light, and fire engulfed the Vophae…

And the entire army behind him.

Leaving behind nothing but ash.

Just then a massive circle of glowing blue runes appeared in the air, along with a swirling murder of crows, while the roots of the giant tree began to ungulate. The Otter King and the three shinobi stepped out of the rune circle, Baba Yaga appeared from the center of the crows, and Vaidehi Dayal rose out of the root of the giant tree, which continued to wrap around her.

“All right, come and git some yae soddy louts! The Otter King is here fer round…ah crap, looks like we’re late.”