Light and darkness clashed as Rezso pressed the attack on Deirdre. The shorter reach of his dagger compared to her staff-glaive was a disadvantage in some respects, but with his greater cultivation all he had to do was slip past her guard once and he could potentially take her down.

Her advantage of reach kept him at bay to some extent, but he was still the one driving their movement around the camp. Deirdre was being driven away from the others, most likely because while anyone who interfered would swiftly fall to Rezso, it would still give Deirdre a moment of opening.

Even as Deirdre began to show signs of fatigue, John waited in the rubble of one of the fallen spires. Its energy muting ability was significantly lessened in its crumbled state, but it was still functional as perfectly normal low cover. He clutched his sword tightly in one hand, a dagger in his other.

If he were going to join the battle, doing so while Deirdre was fresh might have been the best opportunity, but John felt vindicated as the battle slowly drifted towards him. Not that he remained completely stationary- there was enough rubble to shift around towards the most likely position for them to approach.

Deirdre was a whirling image of light, her weapon spinning to keep Rezso at bay, attempting to cut into his spiritual energy and force a detonation between light and darkness. Rezso seemed unconcerned, as he would most likely be able to wear down Deirdre- and if she fell, it would be a significant loss to their army and the Golden Tomb Guardians.

The spiritual energy inside John was tightly coiled, ready to spring out at any moment. Each element ready. Focused. Fire and water were prepared to charge his sword with a devastating attack. Air was ready to augment his legs, boosting him forward. And darkness kept him hidden… and the earth element around his dagger.

The moment came. Deirdre swept her weapon towards Rezso’s chest, forcing him to step back. His footing was disrupted just slightly by stepping onto the rubble. And that coincided with drawing just close enough for John to spring upon the man.

Fire supported water by aiding with transitions to other states. It wasn’t necessarily easier to turn water to steam than to ice, but for John’s purposes a traditional heat was quite welcome. His blade slashed forward, coated in spiritual energy and steam. It didn’t look like much- basically nothing at all, but that was also true of John’s flames after attuning to the Ethereal Flames. But those who could feel spiritual energy would know the attack was dangerous. And those who had been burned by steam likely wouldn’t forget the hidden potential it carried. Water contained much more heat than air, after all.

Rezso twisted, his dagger coming up to block John’s sword. Even though John tried to angle his weapon around the block, the man expertly caught his weapon, even at a backwards angle. The smaller blade barely trembled as their weapons connected, and John was reminded of his previous clashes with Ascending Soul Phase cultivators. He’d had Ciaritzal and several companions against Faramund, and he had only just performed a shaky advancement. Against Gesine of the Molten Sea, the Leviathan played a large role- and Matayal lost her life.

Now he was in some ways weaker. Even so, John could see the path to that level of power. He just needed more time. And until then- no, even after that point- he just had to fight cleverly.

His left hand was concealed with the power of darkness. Moreover, there was significantly less spiritual energy on his dagger in the first place. Even with Rezso focusing his spiritual energy on his dagger to block, John barely pierced the defensive layers around his elbow, a few drops of spiritual energy reaching through.

John had to admit, Rezso had an astounding survival instinct. At the first sign of actual danger, he suddenly pulled away, angling between Deirdre and John. Deirdre continued the momentum of her previous attack, spinning her weapon to slash at the man’s waist as he moved away- John thought he saw a trickle of blood.

But Rezso was quick, and decisive. A moment later he had rushed around some of the clashing cultivators in the camp, and he used the energy of the battle to cover up his own retreat. But John made certain it was a retreat, following him with his senses as much as possible. At the very least, the man left the camp.

The battle was already mostly in the favor of the defenders- they had mitigated the enemy’s ambushing ability, and were able to fight them on even ground. Furthermore, while there were a few Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators among their numbers they were in the early to mid stages, easily matched by the supporting sects from the Phoenix Forest- and outmatched by Charlotte and Deirdre.

The battle was cleaned up fairly quickly, and John wondered if Rezso had realized the true danger of the wound he left. He’d certainly felt the man rallying his spiritual energy to drive out John’s intruding attack, but without properly knowing how to combat it, he might have been too slow.

Bite of the Gorgon was something he’d developed long before, but it was still quite effective in certain scenarios. Cultivators knew how to react to a mass of spiritual energy that attempted to explode their body from the inside, but they were generally less trained in it seeping into their muscles and bones, freezing them.

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Of course, John had only been able to inject so much spiritual energy into the attack. If Rezso had not defended at all, he might have turned the whole arm to stone. As it was, John would be glad if he locked up the entire elbow. But even just solidifying a bit of muscle in that location would severely hamper Rezso in future battles. It was possible to reverse the effect, but it would take time and potentially medicines that might not be specifically on hand. And reminding the man of his own fragility was worthwhile.

“Did you know I was hiding there?” John asked Deirdre as they were dealing with the post-battle cleanup.

“Not at all,” Deirdre admitted. “I was much too focused on Rezso. However, I was aware that you hadn’t appeared anywhere else on the battlefield. So I expected you to be hiding somewhere, ready to shift the tides of the battle. I’m glad it was there.”

“Rezso is the biggest threat in their army,” John said. “Though I suppose I could have also been picking off a large number of weaker cultivators.”

“Do you think they’ll attack again, tonight?”

“I doubt it,” John said. “Too many casualties on their side.” Many were simply injured, able to retreat, but those who were injured and could not escape on their own had been finished off. There was no way to easily use cultivators as hostages, and none of them had been worth the expensive restraints they possessed. “Plus, Rezso would be making a terrible choice if he returned.”

“Yeah?” Deirdre said. “My attack probably wasn’t that big of a deal, but I couldn’t feel yours.”

“Bite of the Gorgon,” John said. Deirdre was one of those who he didn’t mind sharing details about his techniques with, so she was already aware of it by name. “Not that any damage to the elbow is easily ignored, but I think I got a decent injection of energy.”

Deirdre looked down at herself. “My own wounds are mostly superficial. They’ll go away with a bit of rest.” She sighed. “If only we could guarantee actually getting some.”

He nodded. “War is tiring. I’m going to try to get what sleep I can,” John said.

Miraculously, he did. Whether it was the massive fatigue he’d been building up, the victory making him feel secure, or perhaps his own confidence being bolstered he was able to rest. At least a little.

-----

In the morning, nobody was in a huge rush to get moving. Ultimately, they couldn’t spend all day toppling stone spires and wider crags. At least, not any individual. Thus, they had to work in shifts. If it weren’t a war zone they could have shifts all day and through the night, but working at night would disrupt others trying to sleep and be far too risky, with groups isolated.

Instead, they had those working at the outer ring of their army, with some fresh individuals just behind them ready to fight against any enemies that appeared. In the middle of their mobile group were those who were resting, a mass of people converting spiritual energy for their own uses. If they were entirely stationary, they might have drained the local area of spiritual energy, but fortunately the Muted Crags were abundant to begin with, and while they weren’t moving quickly they covered some ground which helped supplement the natural flow of energy back into the area.

That might not have been enough, except for the darkness element released upon destroying the terrain. Something about the formation of the local rocky spires had built up darkness element within them, giving them their energy muting properties. Some portion of that was released as they toppled, allowing the darkness aligned cultivators to replenish themselves or otherwise convert elements for the other half of the spectrum to use.

That was what John found many of the Six Elements Crossroads disciples doing, simply making sure that an ample supply of energy was available for all. And while it certainly didn’t appear like the most glorious job, it was important. And they were good at it, too. It hadn’t been entirely intentional, but given the state of Astrein and the diversity of spiritual energy types, the Six Elements Crossroads had stumbled into specializing in that area. Their disciples were used to cultivating together in groups, drawing out the portions of spiritual energy that suited them and making the rest available for others. Along with that came conversion, when there wasn’t a near perfect balance like in Astrein.

It was certainly harder for them to convert what was mainly darkness element to all six, with light taking several steps of conversion, but they were capable of doing it. And it was good training for the future. The combat experience would be valuable as well, but John already knew there was only so much they could learn remaining in one place. He still wished they’d had a bit more time to grow to higher cultivation levels before the war, but his disciples were performing well. And more than a few had grown a rank or two over the course of the war so far.

In fact, John had missed Ayhan stepping into the late Foundation Phase. It wasn’t an astounding level of cultivation, but for the amount of time he’d been training properly and given his complete lack of background, John was quite happy with the results so far. He had a whole generation that he expected to at least reach the Soul Expansion Phase- and in not too long. A few years, maybe a decade or two for those who were slower. At that point, the Six Elements Crossroads could hardly be considered a new sect in terms of overall power. Part of that was the lack of competition- nobody else in Astrein was making efficient use of the countries particular quirks.

John watched another spire topple, and he simply hoped that not too many people would die for this. It wasn’t just an opportunity for experience. He wouldn’t have gone to war just for that- fighting wild beasts or something more reasonable would be acceptable in that case. No, Charlotte truly needed the support and he couldn’t accept the way the Black Peaks had acted. Just because they got a cultivator that was a bit strong, they thought they could do whatever they wanted.

Just because that was something he’d seen before didn’t mean it was something John was willing to accept. He wanted to change that, and with the support of his friends and their power, he could.