The tactics for the assault upon Aicenith were somewhat different from the assault on Brogora- but they still involved the assistance of some from the Exalted Archipelago. Instead of audaciously crashing into the barrier above the continent, the groups led by Juta instead focused on the coasts, intermixing their attacks with the Archipelago forces and hitting multiple pillars that provided the backbone for the continental formations. It was clear that someone had informed those from the upper realms about the locations ahead of time.

The western coast had Marvelous Rabbit Mountain and the Rising Waterfall Sect, among others. The Rising Waterfall Sect’s position on Redfin Reef had allowed them to provide advance warning of incoming ships from the Exalted Archipelago- and to flank those same ships when they chose to bypass the area instead of taking them out first. That was good for them, as they would not have survived a direct assault even with some of their members dipping their toes in the Assimilation stage.

“These vessels now appear rather… quaint,” Elder Paula of Marvelous Rabbit Mountain commented to the others with her. “It’s surprising how slow they have been to adopt flying vessels, considering one among their number had them previously.”

The Soaring Air Sect still existed… but their involvement in the war had come with steep penalties for their survival. They hadn’t fully recovered, even after a hundred and fifty years. The sects of the Exalted Archipelago didn’t have much in the way of natural resources they weren’t already making use of to the maximum, their growth coming over thousands of years. Perhaps they had recovered and even grown in power slightly, but it was nothing compared to the continents and their Assimilation cultivators. Though it did seem more sects of the Exalted Archipelago had produced Assimilation cultivators than had made that information public. Perhaps they should have been monitored more closely.

But it was too late for that now. They would just have to deal with how things had ended up. So Paula focused on her legs, springing forward out over the harbor. Instead of picking an individual target, she aimed for a ship, foot rising from low to high and blasting it into the sky- towards the descending invaders. Though she supposed she could consider both groups invaders now. In a way, at least part of the Exalted Archipelago had always been, even if they weren’t active.

-----

The north coast. That was the location the Whispering Watchers, comprised mainly of Twin Soul Sect members, had previously occupied. Now, the Silver Rhino Legion had moved into the area, and Elder Sudheer had been instrumental in securing the location.

Jura herself was involved in this particular attack, charging over the seas at the barriers in the guise of a great bull. She’d already broken through in multiple places before Sudheer had managed to arrive on the scene, where he came upon a half destroyed harbor.

The balance of cultivators was not as much in the favor of the locals as much as could be hoped- none being quite certain where the attacks would come, cities and sects had been defending their own. They would join up, of course, but instead of the defensive formations giving local cultivators a significant advantage, they were only doing well enough to make up for the enemy’s strength.

Besides Sudheer, there were several other Assimilation cultivators. Not all of them were in optimal locations to battle, but anywhere upon Ceretos was sufficient to overpower an Integration cultivator. Unfortunately, there were slightly more of those… and Jura herself, one of the enemy’s two Augmentation cultivators.

As Sudheer watched, Jura toppled a tower. Then there was nothing between them but a mostly unoccupied main road. Their eyes met- one a towering, twenty meter tall bull with flaming eyes and golden horns. The other a tenth the height, encased in gleaming silver armor but no less confident in his own strength.

Sudheer lowered his head, not in deference but in preparation. His body covered in its spiked armor dug into the paving stones for greater traction, more than just what spreading his energy wide along the ground could provide.

Perhaps charging headlong into a cultivator of a higher stage than himself while the other clearly did not mind that method of combat was a mistake, but it was his mistake to make. Someone had to stop Jura, and they simply didn’t have the forces to match her with multiple combatants.

He could have waited for reinforcements, both humans and the nearest void ant colony were en route. But by the time they arrived, this nice city would be flattened, and the enemy would have a permanent hole in the barrier to stage further attacks from.

So Elder Sudheer charged, his spike-covered armor cutting through the wind as the ground shattered under the feet of himself and his charging opponent. His armor was overloaded with impossible enchantments, now as much a part of himself as anything else as the basis of his Assimilation.

Elder Sudheer leapt between the golden horns to impact head to head, the point of their impact became the epicenter of leveled buildings as shockwaves met. Metal warped and bones cracked as the impact overwhelmed the structure of Sudheer’s armor, then one of the combatants was sent flying backwards.

But it was not, as one might expect, the figure that was two meters tall. Jura’s transformation broke as she was sent flying backwards, flying out over the sea. Sudheer, meanwhile, fell straight down into the city streets. Blood pooled around him, most of it his own, but he could not help but grin widely. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, everything blurry through the worst concussion he had ever had.

It was a shame, really. He’d intended to pierce through Jura rather than knocking her backwards, but what could he expect? It didn’t matter that the woman wasn’t able to make full use of her energy if she was a stage ahead of him. But… he cracked his neck, popping as many bits of bone back into place as he could. He wasn’t dead. And it would take her a few minutes or a great amount of effort and half that time to return. Long enough for reinforcements, perhaps.

When beams of energy began to rain from the sky, Sudheer was shocked and confused- until he remembered. Sure, he’d traveled to other systems on ships meant for space travel, more than a couple times, but it still felt fake to him. Maybe another century and he would be used to it.

Funny, though, how the first reinforcements to show up had probably been the furthest away by sheer distance.

-----

The evening sun reflected off of the blade in Chikere’s hand, and she couldn’t help but comment on it. “This one is honestly not great,” she sighed. “Hopefully it will be more usable later.”

The individual who thought he owned that sword seemed to take exception to Chikere’s comment, lunging towards her. He actually managed to slip past the barrier of blades to reach for ‘his’ weapon. Of course, that was what she wanted, as the blade that seemed carelessly held had its point redirected into his heart. But instead of the relatively light wound Everheart had left on her, her energy spread out and tore everything apart while pulling out any convenient blood. That was much less recoverable, and the man fruitlessly clutched at his sword for a moment before his body shut down.

The Million Sword Vault was covering the southeastern part of Aicenith, but word was that further to the north the invading forces were performing better. It was a shame, really, that the Exalted Archipelago was making this harder than it had to be. Then again, Chikere didn’t mind some extra battle.

-----

Fajra’s attack on Brogora had been swift and an excellent distraction for their true purpose, but Anton thought they likely underestimated how strong the barriers were. They had likely intended their initial descent to actually break through in addition to the attack at the north of the continent taking out some components. That failure was totally understandable, because they didn’t know Everheart was back. Or if they did… their invasion force was totally undermanned.

If they weren’t concerned about things like Ceretos itself surviving the battle, Everheart could have probably taken out the entire army with a single formation. Or perhaps that was untrue and simply a false impression of power Everheart cultivated to throw people off. But Anton knew better than to underestimate him.

“How many of their formation masters did you get?” Anton asked.

“None,” Everheart said.

“... Are you sure? I thought I saw at least a few get crushed by the barrier when they thought they’d broken through.”

“Oh,” Everheart nodded, “Those guys? Yeah, I got four. But they weren’t masters.”

“I do believe they were by the standards of a lower realm. Not grandmasters, certainly, but still…”

“I disagree. People who need to work in groups are not masters,” Everheart held his head high. “Now, what do you plan to do next? They all scarpered off on their ships.”

“Nthanda and I made that as costly for them as possible. As for our response… I plan to call for the fleets to be readied. We’ll leave a defensive force behind, of course, but we need to deal with the Exalted Archipelago for good.”

The Great Queen added her own words to the mix, signing next to Anton. “The void ants resolved ourselves to only get involved in battles against foreign invaders. However, the Exalted Archipelago has chosen to add themselves to that category. We will fight with you against them and those they have chosen to join with.”

“Thank you,” Anton said. He’d known she would personally support him, but not having to limit how the void ants could affect things would be very helpful. “That will be quite useful. It’s unfortunate that we will have to contend against the Exalted Archipelago’s Assimilation cultivators, though. They’ve clearly been hiding things… planning this for some time.”

“That’s why you should never trust anyone. Wipe out your enemies to the last, that’s what I say.”

“You can say that, but… you didn’t do it.”

“Only when I don’t have the power,” Everheart shrugged. “I have to admit that I cannot yet match the great powers all on my own.”

“Perhaps I made a mistake,” Anton admitted. “But I respect at least the lives of my allies. It would have been too costly at one point, and then we were at peace. I don’t think it was wrong.”

“Well, it’s your live, kid,” Everheart shrugged.

-----

Ships meant to travel both the stars and the seas gathered on and above the oceans north of Brogora, angling west towards the Exalted Archipelago. Their first goal was conveniently on the border of the region.

Anton stood at the prow of the leading ship, looking down on the Worthy Shore Society. They had not been seen to be part of any attacks… but neither had they helped or sent warning. All that Anton received was an apology after the fact, that they were unaware of what was happening. And in any other circumstance, that would have been sufficient. But not this time.

As they approached, Anton moved slightly ahead of the fleet, the flying ships cruising around the area in a wide circle while the others anchored. There was no way they had not been noticed coming- scouts of all sorts would have seen them, and there was little subtle about their movements.

To his credit, Sect Head Treloar stepped out from the sect’s barrier formations to speak to Anton- if not terribly far from them. “I will repeat what I said in my message. We had no knowledge of the attacks… though I will admit that in retrospect, our limited communications with the upper realms seem to have been probing for our willingness to go along with such a thing. Clearly they understood that we would not. We have no intention to interfere.”

“I believe you,” Anton said. Coming here, seeing the man he called a friend in person, he could sense fear, uncertainty, but no dishonesty. He even admitted his failing in noticing the potential signs. “But remaining neutral here is not good enough. If I trust you now, will others? What about in five or ten decades?” Anton shook his head. “We will need more than neutrality. Join us against those who attacked us.”

Treloar contemplated in silence for a time. “The other option is be destroyed, I presume?”

“I don’t think you’re stupid enough to take that one,” Anton said. “So no. The alternative for you would be leaving Ceretos entirely. I doubt that would be any better for your relation with your sect in the upper realms, of course… but if you won’t fight with us the option is still there.”

“There’s very little choice, really,” Treloar shook his head. “I hope this doesn’t reflect poorly on Gelens, but it seems they have chosen to exclude us already. We will join you. Though I appreciate the alternative option.”

Anton had been fairly certain about what the man would choose… though still nervous. There were others he was less clear on. The Hardened Crown Sect could go either way, depending on where their stubbornness landed them. But with the inclusion of the Worthy Shore Society, they might sway more to their side.