Swirling water and darkness of the two clans clashed against fire and water of the Molten Sea. The way the fire and water were used was not consistent throughout their members, only their elements. Different sects would focus on liquified earth, while John saw some were quite at home here launching attacks of boiling water. John took careful note of every method, not just to defend himself but also as he planned his own growth. Fire was next, though he was still a full rank from the threshold of the Ascending Soul Phase. He’d have to make it through this, first.

The world trembled as Gesine struck the leviathan. In response, the heart pulsed, blasting energy in all directions. Matayal caught the wave of energy sweeping towards their army, deflecting as much of the water pressure around them as possible. John merely went along with her guidance, adding his own power to hers.

“Is she just planning to kill it?” John asked. “Perhaps smash her way into some inner section of the heart and make off with a treasure as it dies?”

“That may be so,” Matayal answered even as she thrust her spear towards one of the approaching members of the Molten Sea. “However, we cannot know what the side effects would be. Like this… I can’t see a desirable ending.”

John nodded, channeling water energy to let his sword chop through the water at a nearby foe. They attempted a counter assault with a burst of superheated water, but Matayal reflected it back at them. “If only Sitora were here… she must have sensed this, but her route might have been longer.”

“We can’t wait,” Matayal said. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course,” John said. “Why even ask?”

“Because normally my plans don’t involve approaching Ascending Soul Phase cultivators.”

“I’m listening,” John replied.

-----

On the surface, battle raged just as fiercely as below. Ships caught aflame, while others dipped into the water as holes were torn in their sides. Overhead, storm clouds gathered- providing an advantage for the Mulyani cultivators among them. Their current generation was slightly behind in cultivation compared to some of their allies, but Harta himself was at least in the Consolidated Soul Phase.

As air cultivators, they possessed an advantage over the water element of the Molten Sea, with fire neither being at an advantage or disadvantage. In contrast, the Milanovic cultivators were disadvantaged with their fire element- though from the way Lucanus and Yustina were tearing through their ranks, one would assume it was the opposite. Harta wished he could do the same, but he understood his own limits. He was best served picking out key targets, after which he would concentrate on the storm clouds above.

It was quite efficient for an air cultivator to simply create a path of low resistance towards a target. In many cases, lightning would strike on its own. Even if they had to prompt it with a greater amount of power, a storm gave them a great advantage. And they needed it, because the Molten Sea had far too many cultivators in both the Soul Expansion Phase and the Consolidated Soul Phase.

Harta picked a particular individual slipping under the water. Whether they intended to approach him and take him out from up close, or if they intended to slip past the front lines and go for the weaker cultivators, he wasn’t going to allow it. Being in the water would normally spread out the lightning, both an advantage and disadvantage. It would certainly have some effect on anyone around it, but the effect could be lessened. However, that was only true when lightning flowed without intention. With intention, Harta was able to connect the bolt to his target completely. Lightning struck between the water and the cloud, the actual strike so fast that it was impossible to avoid. It power flowed in both directions nearly simultaneously, and Harta’s target could only forcefully resist the electricity. Over half of a Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator’s spiritual energy taken out in a single strike, and Harta barely expended any of his own. But he wasn’t going to count their victory yet. The man was not dead, and there were others to replace him.

-----

Further into the defensive lines, a Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator stood atop a pillar of water. A moment later, flames spewed from his hands towards a ship. An armored figure blocked the attack.

“Ursel!” Tirto called out. When the flames faded, trails of steam rose from her armor as rain fell upon it..

“I’m fine,” she said. “Might need to take a dip in the water though.”

Twin beams of light and darkness flashed, meeting together around the figure in a display impossible to see with the eyes. A burst of energy came from the two energies mutual destruction, but it seemed the man had predicted the attack and thrown himself back at the last instant.

Around the ship the triplet’s guards were already locked in battle with other cultivators. “Dammit, how did this guy get here?” Melanthina shook her head.

“Everyone’s busy,” Nik said. “And he appears to have at least some stealth ability.”

“Should we retreat?” Tirto asked, looking at the water below for their assailant.

“No,” Ursel said stubbornly. “If we pull back, he’ll just join one of the others. He’ll take out Yonit or Crystin, and then from there…”

“But…” Tirto frowned. “Can we even…?”

“It’s not like last time,” Ursel said. “We’re stronger. Master Renato gave me this armor for a reason,” she knocked the metal with a sharp ringing sound. “I’ll block. You two get in any attack you can. And Tirto…”

“Freeze him!” Verusha called from where she was hiding behind a pile of crates.

“He’s a fire cultivator!” Tirto retorted. “He’ll easily melt it!”

“Then boil him! I bet he doesn’t know how to make things cold!”

Tirto really didn’t want advice from a novice right now, but she was only trying to help. “I’ll keep it in mind!” he said.

They could theoretically hide below decks- but nothing said that their enemies couldn’t break through the hull of the ship and get to them that way. So it was simply better to take a defensive position where they were. Especially since most of them wouldn’t fight optimally underwater.

Apparently emboldened by his previous actions, their assailant launched himself onto the deck instead of remaining out of reach. Ursel immediately took a swing with her stone club, but he leapt over it- stomping onto her head. His quick movements were made to avoid ranged attacks, like from Melanthina and Nik. However, he had underestimated their technique. If they had solely aimed at his initial position, they would have doubtless missed. But as he vaulted into the air over Ursel, beams of light and darkness split apart, then recombined in different trajectories. Because neither could be certain of their aim, they split once more in a cone, colliding with each other. They only managed to hit his legs, but the Consolidate Soul Phase cultivator was blasted to the side, awkwardly lobbing a fireball held in his hand.

It flew towards the deck, only to be batted away by Verusha ducking out from her hiding place. Tirto was too busy pulling a wave onto the deck to chastise her immediately. Unfortunately, the wave didn’t do what he wanted, instead providing the man a foothold to leap back over the edge.

Ursel was angrily grabbing above her, but the man was far gone. Even so, she managed to be the one to warn Verusha. “That was dangerous, you know?”

“My dad is way stronger than that guy and we play fireball catch all the time!” Verusha complained. “I mean uh… don’t tell mom I told you that.”

Nik and Melanthina just looked at each other from their flanking positions around the group. They nodded, silently praising each other for their efforts, and considering how to coordinate their next attacks.

The boat trembled slightly, likely to try to tempt some of them into diving off the side after him. But of course no one would fall for that. With his location revealed, Nik and Melanthina shot beams off the edge of the ship, colliding with each other but not detonating. Instead, they twisted together, angling back down towards the waterline as their direction nearly reversed. The forceful redirection would weaken the attack, but water sprayed high and they knew they had caused some damage.

And then Ursel leapt over the edge of the ship, leaving her club on deck.

It wasn’t as crazy as it first seemed, as she fell like a meteor atop the enemy. Gouts of flame poured over her, but they were deflected by her greaves. She fell into the water, creating a great cloud of steam from her heated armor- and forcing the Molten Sea attacker to launch himself up and back.

Tirto ran over to the edge, creating a spout of water to push Ursel up. “Why are you so heavy?!” he complained.

“It’s the armor!” she shouted back. “This sucks! I wanted to smash some roots into him!” As she was barely being lifted by the waterspout, she instead slapped her hand on the side of the ship. The dead wood suddenly grew branches- strong and stout, which she used to pull herself back up… before they faded away, transient and immaterial.

The group kept their senses locked on the attacker. So far, they’d been lucky… but he would doubtless try to target someone other than Ursel now. The rest would have a harder time defending. To prepare for whatever happened, Tirto raised a two meter sphere of water up in front of him.

“Hotter!” Verusha yelled. “It should be boiling! No, hotter than that!” He really wanted to splash her with it, but this was his weapon for an actual battle. So instead, he just held it above them, ready to make use of it. Verusha seemed to take that as a sign of some sort and began blasting fire at it. Tirto found it difficult to hold onto as it was trying to burst apart into steam, but instead of directly resting he tried to work with Verusha’s energy. Or perhaps he just let it work with him, since fire supported water. Either way, he was able to hold on.

As expected, the Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator chose a new target. This time, instead of getting anywhere close to the deck he rocketed himself out of the sea in an arc that took him over the ship. Held around his hands were two orbs of water, which he tossed downward with great force. His water elemental energy continued to propel them towards their target- Verusha.

Tirto was already having trouble holding onto his boiling orb of water, and his unthinking reaction was to squeeze it tightly. His training managed to get something out of that, instead of just wasting his efforts. He directed the spray of water that turned into superheated steam towards the airborne cultivator, wiping out one of his attacks on the way.

Light and darkness struck together, landing their most solid hit yet. Instead of continuing his arc over the ship, the Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator was launched almost straight vertically.

Ursel leapt upwards, landing on the mast- spreading her impact with her energy so as to not crack it apart. Then she jumped once more onto the top, before causing a stalk of bamboo to launch her into the sky after the Molten Sea cultivator.

As she rose up into the sky, lightning arced between her and the clouds. In the chaos of battle nobody could quite tell if it was natural or cultivator caused, but the path between the two went directly through the Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator. He began to fall as she continued to rise, and they met in the middle. Mountain steel gauntlets slammed into his torso, ultimately making the roots Ursel shoved into his body pointless, because her hand sunk deep enough to crack his spine from the front.

On the deck, the second sphere of water impacted with a loud cracking sound. Verusha was far weaker than the triplets- and Nik- so even with the loss of control, the momentum of the water slammed her into the deck with the clear sound of cracking bones.

Tirto rushed over, seeing her laying there stunned. Her eyes managed to drift towards him, but they were a bit unfocused. He bent down, feeling for the damage. Broken ribs, and her left upper arm as well. A cracked skull, and likely a concussion. He sighed. “This is why you should have stayed at home.”

She managed to grin lopsidedly. “Think you could have… won without me?”

“Of course,” Tirto said. Though he had to admit he wouldn’t have done it the same way. He rarely ever thought about the heated side of water. It certainly could build up to quite a bit of power. “But thanks. Let’s get you inside.” The others were already joining other battles, but Tirto wouldn’t be able to fight while distracted worrying for the foolish young woman.