The Sullen Striker dipped below Equilibrium as more and more of the squid ships appeared out of the nearby Waypoints. The first few that pursued them had been easy enough to defeat, but Riley’s fatigue had built up over the next thirty-six hours of constantly using his weapon. Almost as soon as one squid ship was driven away, damaged, or sunk, another would take its place.

Riley even had the insane thought of them being the same ships, just returned to their ideal state and launched to continue their hunt. It couldn’t be true since the crew and warriors were different.

It was after their first day of sailing that they were suddenly beset by dozens of the squid ships rather than just three or four at their stern. They came from the direction of the plane, and undoubtedly, from one of the adjacent Waypoints. The captain had been left with little choice. Either they ascended above or dived below.

At Equilibrium, the ambient Chaos was at one iarvesh, but every level above that lowered the concentration by ten percent. Chaos ships and their Animus engines cannot sustain their operation below one iarvesh. Every percentage point less meant a deficit in production and usage, and operation time depended mainly on Animus storage. Assault cruisers weren’t meant to ascend.

So the only real choice was to dive, which presented its own problems. The Sullen Striker was rated for 2.5 iarvesh, meaning the engine would function without issue at that depth, but once they went past that point, the efficiency would begin to fall until it became flooded with unconverted ambient Chaos. At that point, either the engine shut off due to the safety fuses, or it overheated and exploded, in extreme cases.

Thankfully, the plane of Rumiga didn’t dip that low from Equilibrium, and any entrance they could find would not exceed that parameter.

Still, a day and a half of fighting made Riley’s head woozy. Aidan had already taken a nap, but he was too keyed up. He charged up his Plasma Caster and stuffed as much Animus as he could fit in the chamber before blasting the superheated plasma bolt at the nearest squid ship. The bluish bolt slammed into the head, melted several Jin of flesh, and caused the beast to scream in pain and anger.

He didn’t need to kill the squid. He only needed to strike a particular part of it that seemed to hold an extensive node of nerves. The pain of melting flesh and boiling blood drove the squid ships insane and they would thrash and veer away, taking their unwilling crew with them.

Sometimes, the unwilling crew even became snacks. Heh.

“Go sleep, Riley,” Aunt Layla came up on deck and grabbed his shoulder. “You’re just staring. The others can take over this point. Rest.”

“Ah, later,” Riley insisted, but even as he did, Aunt Layla stabbed his arm with a needle, and then…zzz.

He woke up after a few hours feeling more alert, even if his head pounded like a drum. He staggered out of his quarters after glancing at the porthole, which only showed the Chaos Streams. He could still feel the ship’s movements so they were still sailing. He hoped.

When he managed to make his way back on deck, he reeled back at the mountain in front of him. It was grey, brown, black, and an assortment of hues from reflected light and embedded crystals.

“Wha…”

A glance above and to either side showed that he had been mistaken. It wasn’t a mountain wall, but the side of a plane, viewed from underneath its normal surface. The Sullen Striker and the other two ships were moving parallel to the wall, heading to the left.

When he squinted his eyes, he could see the shimmering of the Veil, much weaker and closer to the actual land mass compared to above ground. And that meant Chaos dwellers could easily come near a planar landmass as long as it was underneath its nominal surface. Well, it wasn’t as if they could enter the plane just like that. The superdense stone and earth would repel a Chaos dweller just as easily as it did the Chaos Streams.

Frantic activity above deck clued him in that all wasn’t at ease. He looked portside then astern. The Chaos Sea was filled with hundreds of squid ships. That explained why everyone on deck was hurriedly running around. The ships weren’t even shooting their Plasma Carronades. It would be a waste of Animus for little gain. Instead, the Protective Sphere was reinforced port and stern side. Every now and then, an attack from the squid ships struck the Sphere and caused it to brightly flash as it shed energy.

He spotted Aidan fretting near the bow. When he approached, his elder brother gave him a wan smile, He didn’t say anything else though and returned his focus to the wall.

“We won’t make it,” he said despairingly. “There’s signs of an underground Chaos Channel, unmapped, from the way the Chaos flowed. But…they’re going to catch up to us before we get there.”

Just behind the Sullen Striker were the other assault cruisers, the Shattering Spear, and the Willow Reaper. He’d only learned the Reaper’s name a couple of days ago. The Reaper was trailing slightly behind the Spear, having taken damage to its gatherer sails. That forced the other two to slow their speed so they wouldn’t leave it behind.

“...they’re transferring the Reaper’s crew. Can’t be helped, or we’ll all die…”

The voice carried unexpectedly and Riley stiffened. The Reaper’s crew were what now?

His doubts were answered a few moments later when he saw lifeboats being propelled from the other ship. Most of them headed to the closer Spear, but a third managed to reach the Striker. Riley rushed to the railings, watching fitfully as the Protective Sphere opened to allow the boats to enter. Some of the squid ships’ projectiles, arrows of bone and blood, managed to find their way through the momentary gap. One sailor unfortunately got a faceful of the missile and toppled over. A moment later, the Sphere closed, and they were safe.

When he looked back astern, the Reaper fell back. A solitary figure could be seen on its bridge, fist in a salute. The squid ships couldn’t help but target the trailing ship, and in short order, the Protective Sphere was pierced in several areas. But it wasn’t enough to down the assault carrier. The ship pulled back even farther, and soon, was surrounded by the squid ships.

Then, darkness turned to light, and light to darkness. The ambient Chaos was pulled into a singular point before it exploded in a raging way. The Reaper’s Animus Engine had self-destructed, taking with it dozens of squid ships. And more importantly, it bought the rest of them time to reach Rumiga.

___________

What Yuriko should have done, once it was clear the Gale Jaguars were too dangerous for the rest of her people to fight, was to return back to camp and seek another way. However, her curiosity drove her on. The big cats were avoiding her, so she might as well see if she could get to the road, and follow it towards the obsidian tower.

This should have been a job for Saki, really, as her Shadow Guard had the skills and techniques to stay out of sight. But both of them knew that there were techniques to see past invisibility, and Saki’s Ennoia of Shadows wasn’t invincible.

Yuriko wasn’t the best at remaining hidden…

You’re positively abysmal at it.

Yes, her skill at remaining unseen wasn’t the best, Yuriko forced her thoughts to remain on track and handedly ignored Damien’s sarcasm, but she could use Enhanced Sight and remain far enough away that they wouldn’t catch sight of her easily. As long as she remained on the arboreal road, she should be safe. Most people don’t have the habit of looking up, after all.

Suiting action to her thoughts, she travelled above the ground at a respectable pace. She was just as fast on the branches as she would have been on the game trails, faster even, since she didn’t have to follow the switchbacks and curves. The branches may be far apart, but she could easily bridge such gaps with a single bound.

And then, she must have crossed past the first Gale Jaguar’s territory as she was suddenly ambushed by a different cat, this one slightly smaller and definitely feminine.

Because she wasn’t as oblivious as before, she caught sight of the cat through her perception aura, and she curbed her instinct to blast the cretin away. Instead, she used her condensed aura to deflect the grasping claws away from her face, and twisted out of the way before the cat could bite her. She kept a hand on the creature’s belly, then pushed herself to the side and around, ending up on the jaguar’s back. She pulled the cat close, wrapped her arms around its neck, then used her Animakinesis to pin the creature in place.

Hmmm. Actually, she could have used her kinesis to do everything without letting the jaguar touch her…but of course, she didn’t think of it. Her instincts had been to use her body instead of her Anima. Well, that wasn’t so bad. With Radiant Body Refinement, her physique would be stronger and tougher than what her Anima could manage.

The cat yowled, but that only let the air out of its lungs. Yuriko tightened her grip, cutting off its air supply. The creature’s struggles grew weaker and weaker until it fainted. Not wanting to kill it just yet, Yuriko let go, and to her immense surprise, the jaguar slipped out of reach and bolted away.

“It was still awake…” Yuriko muttered even as she ran after the critter. Pale bluish light covered the jaguar, emanating from the cyan-coloured spots along its body. The lights swirled into vortices and they managed to cut through the air faster than Yuriko could follow. It was agile too, twisting and turning around the trees and branches, until moments later, the cat was out of sight.

Sighing to herself, Yuriko sat down to calm her feelings. The cat’s fur was so fluffy…!

After ten minutes or so, Yuriko shook herself and resolved to ignore the big cats for now. Besides, if she wanted to indulge in kitty petting, there was always… No, no, no! She could ask Kassy or the other wild cat-kin if they’d allow her to pet their ears or tail, and she was sure that they’d acquiesce easily. However, she knew that with her Mien, especially with how she felt, they would never have the chance to say no, which meant that she would be forcing them instead. So, no. No petting cat beast-kin. A brief recollection of Masa, the first feline beast-kin she’d ever met, and how that meeting progressed, flashed across her mind, along with a severe bout of shame. She didn’t know about her Mien then, but that didn’t excuse her actions. It was just that she’d been missing her cat…

“Let’s get going, Yuri,” she muttered to herself. “No sense worrying about silly things.”

Afterwards, she dashed off to the east, occasionally going above the canopy to check her bearings. She could have used her Anima to fly, but the skies were covered in clouds and mists, so she wouldn’t actually see far. And her goal was to scout a passage for her people, not to get to the target as quickly as possible.

It occurred to her that she could simply forge ahead, but repeated scoldings from Marron, Gwendith, and her friends told her how much that would hurt them instead. It meant she didn’t trust them, and that implication was more painful than having to curb her curiosity.

She arrived next to the road a few minutes later without encountering another Gale Jaguar. It was about five paces wide, paved with large blocks of stone weathered smooth. It stretched north to south, but she wasn’t sure where the paved portion ended. It couldn’t have gone straight to the city of Garamus since from her interactions with the Federation expedition team in Synkrasia, the place was a recent discovery. Although where did the other refugees come from again?

She kept within the tree line and headed north. It took an hour to reach the Federation camp, and it was within the vicinity of the obsidian tower. She could see another pillar in the distance, but it was hazy from the mists.

She was at least half a longstride from the base of the tower, and when she activated her Enhanced Sight, it was to the view of a field of battle.