After the first handful of skyships from the Exalted Archipelago got shot down, they lost any willingness to mobilize them. Despite what improvents the Soaring Air Sect and others had made since their first assault on the continent, they had not worked as closely with Rutera to learn their secrets. More importantly, the ships they did construct had to be made in secret so their plans wouldnt be obvious, limiting their number and restricting quality to so extent. The continents, especially with Ruteras fleets, maintained superiority over the sky- that left only the cultivators who could fly, which were vaguely matched on either side.
Fairly quickly the pressure had shifted to the islands, unable to secretly maneuver fleets of any size sufficient to damage the mainlands. Nor were they interested in assaulting fortified locations if the continental forces could properly gather their defenses to resist them. Thus, they maintained their own defensive posture, centered around the Soaring Air Sect.
The Soaring Air Sects island was unnatural in shape, standing tall out of the oceans around it. A nearly unbroken pillar of rock- with one exception. A reminder of the previous war, and a symbol of the Soaring Air Sects sha. A hole shot through by Anton, near the waterline. They hadnt forgotten that, nor had they failed to learn their lesson about extending their defensive formations to cover everything, deep into the water.
Sect Head Rodolph trudged across the bridges separating their highest towers, towards what was supposed to be his offices. Those offices had been snatched away by the Augntation cultivators. As if they were better than him, sohow. While he had to admit their strength was sowhat superior, that was only while it lasted. With the few conflicts they had been in already, they were showing signs of wear.
Youre late, Fajra said as he entered.
He wasnt, of course. Theyd only just inford him that they required a eting. Apologies, lady Fajra, he bowed his head and kept his feelings bottled up. What do you require?
Juta was present as well, her arm bandaged. There seed to be more to it than it previously had, but Rodolph didnt let his eyes linger. The woman placed her whole arm on the table, leaning forward. We need commitnt. You Exalted fellows arent willing to throw yourselves into the fight.
Of course not. That was what theyd tried to work with the Trigold Cluster for. With proper forewarning, they should have brought enough forces to win handily. That would have left the world for expansion, and previous humiliations would have been overco.
We were there for the initial assaults, Rodolph said carefully, And we have made our resources and experts available to you. They simply hadnt taken things seriously enough. The information provided to the upper realms had not been exaggerated, but perhaps they thought it had been. Though Rodolph himself could admit hed underestimated the continued growth of the continental Assimilation cultivators.
Thats not good enough, Fajra returned the focus to her. Her features appeared more beautiful than humanly possible, but the results were offset by the fact that Rodolph knew she maintained that image with her abilities- and her personality certainly didnt help him feel anything but uncomfortable. We need all of your Assimilation cultivators to move out together instead of huddling on your little islands. We need a proper victory to begin the march of progress.
Going on the offensive loses us one of the great advantages of Assimilation
That is a failing of your own, is it not? Fajra raised an eyebrow in a manner that was more insulting than Rodolph knew was possible. I hear the leader of the enemy forces roams as he pleases. Even to other systems.
He sohow bound himself to stars. That is not sothing others can achieve.
Then you will all have to do what you can. Were moving out tomorrow.
Understood. Rodolph waited for so signs he was dismissed, then left.
He pursed his lips. He didnt like the way things were going at all. Not one bit. Though personally he could maintain his power wherever the winds blew, many of the others were more limited. Fajra seed to think he was bound to the island of the Soaring Air Sect, which had suited him just fine.
He wondered if it was supposed to be his job to inform the others. Being chosen as the host of the Trigold Cluster had been a dubious honor at best. But he couldnt afford not to go along with them- and neither could the others. Not since theyd co this far.
-----
It has to be a trap of so kind, Anton said. They all appear to be moving together. Not even attempting to take back any islands though admittedly only our allied sects are of value there. But theyre leaving themselves open to flanking- ignoring our space fleets.
Sotis, Everheart shrugged, People just make bad moves.
Present along with them was rve. She no longer clung to Anton as her only source of balance, but it was still useful for her to remain nearby, in case a battle ca about. Shouldnt the two of you be holding opposite opinions? Eulogius is usually the paranoid one.
Its not paranoia when everyone is out to get you, Everheart replied. When you have enemies plotting for your downfall through any available trick. Unfortunately for them, we were prepared for their tricks a century ago. And in terms of strength they made a poor bargain, coming here.
They should have so plan, though, Anton frowned. Theyre just heading towards Brogora. Do they expect us to teleport reinforcents from Aicenith? They could swap locations, leaving us no choice but to have drained cultivators teleport back
Theyre just heading for the easy hole in the formation, Everheart shrugged.
... hole? I thought you had been repairing the formations.
He shrugged. Sure. But soone left a hole at the northwest corner of Facraona. Maybe so spies could have found that out, in which case an invading army would gladly focus there.
... So when they arrive youll suddenly return the formations to full functionality, trapping them inside?
Oh! Everheart nodded, We could have done that, yeah. Im getting bored of waiting around though, so I kind of just left it vacant. Its still on the continent though, within pri crushing distance for more than a few local Assimilation cultivators.
Everheart intentionally put a hole in their defenses. That was extrely believable, actually. Why not fake it and have sothing for backup, though? That Anton couldnt help but wonder. Maybe he did, or maybe he thought that sothing hidden could be seen through. Or he was just so confident.
Paradise will be cold, Anton said for lack of other comnts.
He does pretty well up north with the help of those nice people living on his back, Everheart shrugged. Also he could swim through the arctic seas and be fine.
Anton supposed that was true. He just didnt prefer to be in those waters when he didnt have to. I dont suppose we can change anything about the situation now. Though I would have preferred a warning.
Well, you know what they say. Not even the dead can keep a secret.
I dont think thats a thing people say, Anton countered.
They should.
-----
Even without defensive fortifications or any particular terrain advantages, being able to anticipate a battle location was excellent. Brogora gathered their Assimilation cultivators while Anton himself watched the enemy fleet. The combatants most effective on land would be positioned there, while those better at naval combat would be harassing the incoming fleets and preventing the enemy from landing everyone at once. Even if ships were destroyed the cultivators would swim- or run atop the water or fly- to shore, but it would be less organized and so could be killed along the way.
As long as they didnt commit their fleets too early they could keep them safe. And their aerial forces would be able to engage at any point. Even if the enemy fleet suddenly shifted their trajectory, with their forces mobilized their fleets would have enough ti to pick up their forces on land. Cultivators could bypass many of the restrictions others might have to concern themselves with.
Of course, even with all of that the continental forces could expect many casualties. If they could commit every last warrior from both continents and the archipelago then their forces would be overwhelmingly more powerful, but they simply couldnt abandon everything. Even now the allied forces from the Archipelago were probing their forr companions islands for clues.
Not willing to underestimate the enemy, Anton didnt bother politely waiting for them to be within a reasonable distance. Instead, he began his assault once he was within range of both them and his allies, a distance he was confident in retreating before the two Augntation cultivators could catch him, should they imdiately give chase. Though if they actually ca for him he might have different plans. The Great Queen certainly had so ideas about what she would do to Fajra.
Instead, when his first arrows arrived, they took on a full defensive stance. They were prepared for that at least, augnting the defenses of Antons targets with help from their surroundings. That ant Anton caused little damage, but he had nearly an hour to pester them. His minor victories were sinking one ship and killing so of those on board, and forcing Juta to block several attacks for the flagship. That was what they knew about, anyway. The whole ti he was relaying information about how they were arranged, informations that the fleets and ranged attackers would use to pick targets once the battle actually started.
And after an hour of shooting, Anton was still nearly full on energy. As for his arm getting tired? It would take more than that. Thousands of arrows per day was his minimum. Of course, there were so differences when he was going full out in combat and as this was clearly going to be a pivotal battle he wasnt planning to conserve himself.
The true start of the battle ca with an exchange from both sides. First it was Nthanda from land, then a return of fire from the enemys skyships, including a particularly impressive specin he had only sensed moored at the Soaring Air Sect. They had their own archers, as well as other forms of ranged attacks. The Sect Head in particular had a tal ring, bladed on the outer edge. That was thrown, only to return to his hand after.
Perhaps soone should try to catch it mid flight. That wasnt Antons job, though.
The sea fleets ca in from the west before the enemy made landfall, with the flying ships having circled around behind. They focused on the Soaring Air Sect in the skies, as those were both the easiest targets for them and the ones that it would be most effective to remove. Especially with Juta and Fajra on board.
The latter of course released her aura across the battlefield. Having experienced it before, so were more resistant- and others prepared to counteract it for their brethren. rve fulfilled that role for so of those on land. Though she would have preferred to fly with the Ruterans, she would be too vulnerable at her current strength.
Without waiting for things to beco desperate, Anton made a decision. It had been a very long ti since he attempted to make use of Candle Wax, and for good reason. Unlike Fleeting Youth which rely took advantage of his age and pushed him towards a place where he could not ascend or expect to reincarnate, Candle Wax burned away his lifespan.
He was not sure how much of that he had left, but he could not think of a more important ti to use it than now, when they could expel all of the invaders to their world- those who had remained in occupation for centuries, and those who ca and went like raiders. Every individual from Ceretos he could save was another who could potentially replace him. Fire burned within and without, but Anton only smiled.
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