It had been three days since Anzela handed herself over for her husband. Rikuto was going to be so mad at her, but she couldnt help herself. It was foolish, of course, to listen to the words of enemies rather than a trusted associate. Perhaps so of it had been Antons callous suggestion- destroying the entire system. Whether or not the planets themselves were destroyed physically or with massive amounts of radiation or technically unscathed, Anzela knew that a destruction of the sun would end the system. Not even cultivators could live for long in a system without a sun.
And yet, Anzela didnt care about anyone from Ekict. The only one she cared about was her husband Rikuto. He couldnt be die. He couldnt be dead. But logically, he was. Anton knew that, and had told her. And now she was going to die for nothing. She couldnt say she didnt deserve it.
Three days and so smaller amounts of ti that she knew intimately but were not relevant at the mont, three days locked up in a dark cell. No food or water. She felt herself begin to grow weaker, but her body would hold on for a while yet. Now that she had regained a sense of clarity, the bigger problem was the shackles binding her. It was very uncomfortable to find out how effective the shackles Ekict had were. Even an Assimilation cultivator could not break out, though Anzela found herself barely qualified in that respect.
The reason they wanted and needed such restraints was speculation, but relatively well founded. Which ant that in addition to likely not saving her husband, she was going to make the enemy stronger. At best, she would just die. Stupid. Reckless. She should have just accepted the obvious truth.
So, what could she do? Breaking the shackles was out. Breaking her own wrists probably no good. Shed felt how the shackles had tightened snugly, so she probably couldnt slip her hands out. And her feet would be several steps more difficult. She probably didnt have the strength to overco her physical durability. How ironic.
So the weight of the shackles held her down physically and taphysically. There was sothing familiar about the latter part, which made her understand why she was here. Similar abilities, she imagined.
She shouldnt have been here. This was a foolish mistake. Too careless. It really wasnt like her, even in a state of emotional distress. Perhaps perhaps it hadnt been her at all. No, she understood that ultimately she still made the fateful choice. But after several days alone, was she shaking off so sort of ntal influence? Had this affected others? How had Anton not noticed?
She shook her head, sending a pulse of pain through her skull as she was reminded of her dehydration. It wasnt his fault. He warned her she would not get what she wanted, but she didnt listen. Was it his job to stop her? Even if he failed to recognize ntal influence, he was just one person among many.
How do you get out of here? she muttered to herself. Actually speaking plans aloud was dangerous, as they might be overheard. But hearing anything was useful.
She imagined her husband responding to her. This was neither illusion nor reality, but simply wish fulfillnt. Youre clever. Youll figure it out, he would say.
Support was nice, but she wished imagination Rikuto would be more practical. But he couldnt tell her what she didnt know. I cant move my body nor access my energy.
Not now, he conceded. But wont you be able to? This is just a prison. Eventually, youll be taken away.
Right she muttered. Ill wait.
She tried not to focus on her acute awareness of ti passing, and instead ditated to limit how much her body needed. Her breath slowed, to save on water lost through respiration. Her thoughts slowed, since she couldnt plan for anything.
Then, eighteen hours later, she heard soone approaching. Then she felt him. Rikuto. Had she actually gone crazy? But it was his energy. Light ca around the corner.
Then she saw him. A powerfully built man that didnt resemble her husband in any way. She vaguely rembered seeing him among the others, but she hadnt felt his energy. It had been well concealed, apparently. Or falsified. You bastard. Im going to kill you.
I highly doubt that, the man said, opening her cell. He then detached her manacles from the chains. Imdiately, she felt so of the weight lift- but she was still unable to properly rally her energy. But it was good to know that she had a chance while being transported. Youre coming with .
She had to. She couldnt stop it, so she would. She began walking. A mont later, she almost stopped. However, she managed to keep going even as she ntally recognized sothing. She bit her lip. It was a sha to see her husbands ability misused like this. How could an aura of nonhostility feel so gross? And the persuasive power Perhaps it was sothing her husband could have done all along, but simply didnt.
As she walked, Anzela grew uncomfortable. With her energy slightly released, her senses could do more than be passive. That was how she felt sothing lurking behind space. It really shouldnt be there, this deep in a gravity well, but sohow she felt like the surrounding formations encouraged it.
She ca to a tall room. They were standing upon a balcony, looking down upon a formation below. She understood that circles were the most practical shape for the sake of symtry but imagining what went on in that particular circle made it seem more ominous. She was led towards stairs that would circle around to the lower section, where there were already people waiting.
Anzela considered her shackles. They bound power into a circle, restricting the flow of her energy inside. But in their mobile state, that was less true. And then what if inside was outside? It was not an insane thought, so sort of wish fulfillnt where she rely hoped for a miracle. Unrestricted, she could make it true. So now how much could she change it?
She sprang into action, wrapping one arm around the mans neck. She hadnt asked his na, and had no intention to learn it. She transford inside to outside as she pressed herself tightly against the man, tal pressing against his neck and chest and his own ankles. Most of the inside was still facing her, but her grip sank through his energy defenses.
The man reacted imdiately, a burst of power flowing out of him. You will, he coughed. You will release imdiately, then walk peacefully down the stairs.
Yes. She would do that. She prepared to release him as quickly as possible, though she didnt have to. Sothing sothing was off about the power. It wasnt just her repeated exposure, though that was already helping. No, it was more than that.
The burst of power she called upon was a risk. In a place such as this, with sothing hiding behind space, it was a risk to perform any sort of spatial distortion. But worst case scenario, she died to a horrible distortion beast, which was a step up from her current situation. The most likely occurrence was everyone dying. And then there was a small chance of surviving, so she gladly took it.
As she released the man, she also shoved him forward, while at the sa ti transferring one of her shackles around his wrist. Imdiately she felt a weight lifted off her, more than enough to make up for the burst of energy shed had to force through her system to make that happen. anwhile, the man tumbled over the railing, landing in the circle below. He hit the ground hard. Anzela had assud that even with one shackle, with her husbands power hed be completely unhard. What was it, a ten ter fall? Nothing big. He stood a mont later, but the fact that he could be damaged at all no, it actually made sense.
She began her descent down the stairs, calmly. As proscribed. You were playing with fire here, she said. Her second shackle was displaced, freeing her even further. Do you even know the powers you were enticing?
The mbers of the sect didnt respond with any sort of dignity, striking out towards her with their fists. From such a distance, they could not reach her. Unless the distance were to erase itself, a possibility she was well aware of. She ducked down, to avoid strikes to her head. Elegance and poise were for people not in active combat. She heard the sounds of cracking stone and was surprised.
Nothing impacted her torso. Could they only target what they could see? It seed the spatial arts were new, here. Her ankle shackles were removed as feet began to stomp up the stairs. It was still a draining process. She found herself at sothing akin to half capacity, from the expenditures and the hunger and dehydration. But that was enough. She looked down at the circle below, waiting for sothing. The man looked up.
Anzela bet on blood. Just a dollop, and a burst of energy. She ultimately had no idea if that was how it was supposed to work but it certainly did sothing. Imdiately, sothing ate one of the disciples hearts, and from the sound of it part of the inside of her ribcage. Sharp blades ca towards Anzela, who was dodging their trajectories before they even entered the local plane.
Shed accidentally summoned one of these things once. That was enough for her to understand the danger. But it had also drawn her more towards the mysteries of space. Weos star had stronger distortions on space and gravity than its size and mass should suggest, and the way they developed their ring ships also spoke to the sa principles. Understanding how to use all of their abilities without causing sothing like this was important. Until it ca ti for destruction. Then, she didnt care.
She wanted to live, but if she didnt she was going to make sure she caused as much damage as possible on the way out. She charged towards the stair climbing disciples, dodging the attacks reaching for her through space. She also dodged teeth, bone spurs, and all sorts of horrid things she didnt want to think about. At least this one seed to be small, or this whole place would be rubble already. A few people were torn apart by the distortion beast, a few were killed by Anzela punching their brains directly.
Stop! the command ca. It forced her to halt, if just for a mont. If she didnt have an ally, that would have been disastrous. A few of the disciples were in Life Transformation, and there was a woman at the very peak who seed particularly dangerous among the crowd. If she hadnt been dealing with sothing trying to eat her, at least. You will- argh!
She would argh indeed. Anzela hoped that was the man getting half his face bitten off or lted, but she didnt check before she leapt over the railing down towards him. She could have teleported, but that was a much more expensive and currently very dangerous option. A kick hit her in the ribs, sending her off course and breaking one or two but she landed only two paces away from the man. He was flailing about despite not having any obvious distortion beast injuries. As the only non spatial practitioner, he was likely the safest person present. From the distortion beast.
Anzela lunged forward, wishing she had a weapon. Blade, spear gun. But it seed this sect either fought without weapons, or had forgone bringing them along to this ritual. Her fist struck out, and the man blocked. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, defensive energy bolstering it. So was he not from this sect after all? Well, it hardly mattered. His chest crumpled anyway.
But Anzela didnt stop there. She stabbed a finger towards his gut. It didnt matter that the man was likely dying, he didnt deserve to have Rikutos energy. She tore him apart, shredding his dantian and spilling natural energy everywhere.
The chaos of combat continued, but Anzela had already won. She could gladly accept death. But she didnt have to. As the distortion beast bit at her neck, she slamd a fist into its jaw. Reading the entirety of how such a thing was arranged hurt her brain more than a little bit, but general things such as the thinnest points around her where it could reach through to her and her to it that was much simpler.
The woman who might have been slated to receive Anzelas cultivation was still in a better state than her, and she didnt fail to take the openings Anzela left. This ti, sothing hit the side of her knee, nearly shattering it. A true warrior, then. Anzela could fight, but killing those above her own cultivation level was a pipe dream. Sure, it was carelessness that shed been so easily injured by soone nominally weaker than her- though she was alone against many- but she knew she would never affect the course of a war alone.
Then Anzela sensed nothing and saw many things. A black mass. Not a distortion beast hiding behind space itself, but instead familiar allies. She wasnt alone. And shed much rather count a bunch of void ants as an ally rather than a distortion beast. She only briefly wondered how theyd gotten here- but she realized the truth. Theyd been with her all along and then on the man with her husbands cultivation. They hadnt killed him, but theyd certainly limited him.
The sect woman spotted the void ant as well, and recognized their danger. She stomped towards them, intending to crush them. That was a terrible choice. It was entirely possible to crush void ants, but she didnt do it directly. Instead, she perford the attack from a distance. As soon as her spatial energy crossed the gap to them, they tore it apart. The woman was lucky not to lose her leg. Or at least not all of it. The distortion beast seed to find that an opportune ti to take a little nibble.
Realizing the severity of the situation, the woman began to flee up the stairs. Anzela would get her eventually, but for the mont.
Any of you guys have experience fighting a distortion beast? she called towards the ants. They rolled towards her in a ball, alighting on her outstretched hand. She saw a whole lot of sign language, before a single spokesperson ca to the forefront. Sorry, Im kind of rusty, she admitted. Can you follow my lead? They agreed. Alright. Ill show you where to bite.
She was going to get out of this so that she could apologize to her husband. And then to Anton, because hed been looking after her- and everyone else- the whole ti.
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