Elder Cultivator

The southern portion of the Scarlet Midfields was in a terrible state. The great powers had come in and taken all of the easily accessible resources with no regard for the damage it would cause. Resources, in this case, also included people. There were few individuals in the great powers who cared about anyone who was not strong enough to stop them from acting as they pleased.

Timothy knew he would see many more such worlds as he pushed towards the end of the decades long process of removing any remaining traces of their influence from the region. It wasn’t long before he came to a world controlled by the forces of the Trigold Cluster.

Timothy had given everyone a chance. He sent ships ahead, telling them to flee or suffer the consequences of their actions. The occupying army seemed to have thought to grab just a little bit more, hollowing out mountains haphazardly or leveling old forests even as he arrived.

“I see you have no respect for me,” Timothy said, projecting his voice over the whole planet. That was easy enough to do even as an Augmentation cultivator, let alone with his recent improvements in power. “Perhaps I will let a few of you live, as a warning.”

Timothy could sense the concern in the cultivators as they began to flee for their ships, but they were far too late. Timothy and the fleets with him targeted their ships first. Those who had been a bit quicker were already leaving the planet, or trying to make their way out of the system. By splitting up, they tried to make it so that they weren’t targeted.

There simply weren’t enough of them for that- even with the presence of some of the Swirling Swarm. They were just lingering remnants. Perhaps Timothy should have expected their foolishness, given the fact that they hadn’t fled long before he even sent a message. Either way, their ships fell, stranding most of them. Those who could fly wouldn’t be faster than their ships, and would be more vulnerable alone.

That was when some of them had the clever plan to try to take hostages. Not just one or two, but many around the planet. Timothy couldn’t process all of the individual sentences, but it was obvious they were counting on him being a bleeding heart. Some called him soft. Perhaps he was. However…

“You wish to threaten the lives of these innocent people?” Timothy said. “Very well. Go ahead. But know that none of you will survive.”

A few of them followed through on their promise. They were going to ‘show him they meant business’. Those were the first to die- and not their hostages. Timothy’s energy had already permeated the planet, and detecting hostile energy allowed him to focus his attention where it was necessary. Those who feared death practically called out to him with their souls- as they did so literally with their words.

“I told you,” Timothy said. “But you are fortunate. One in a thousand of you will be allowed to survive and tell your tales. So that your brethren don’t continue to make the same mistakes.”

His promise was complete by the end of the day. Hopefully, those who were spared would be sufficient to educate others, but sometimes people just wouldn’t listen to witnesses.

Most cultivators were smart enough to respect a Domination cultivator, but they had various assumptions. They thought a defender would have trouble killing people, or that he was limited in how many he could take down at once. Both were true to some extent… but Timothy was not alone, and just because wide scale damage was his weakness didn’t mean he was incapable as they had seen.

He was still very much a true Domination cultivator. He could easily kill those below Integration with just the weight of his aura, if he wished. If he focused on a few, the same would do for Integration cultivators. That only extended to a certain distance, but actually focusing his energy into an attack was far more effective. And even if he was only modestly effective in offense, people also underestimated how far his other abilities went. After all, none of those who remained in the Midfields had been at the final battle itself.

Timothy saw the state the planet was in after they were done, and his heart sank. Should he have done more to protect the people? If he had come earlier- or prevented them from being taken over to begin with- things wouldn’t have gotten so bad. Wasn’t that his responsibility, as a defender of the lowly?

Timothy’s heart stilled. No. It was not. At least, he was not beholden to everyone. He had done what he could to save the people, most of which had long had the opportunity to leave and join the Scarlet Alliance. In essence, they had rejected the safety of their presence- whether consciously or not.

Minimizing the interference in the war between the great powers had been a decision that was correct. The Scarlet Alliance being drawn into the war would have resulted in many unnecessary casualties. The fact that it had resulted in the war coming to them anyway didn’t make it an incorrect choice.

It would have been worse, if the Alliance had fought outside their territory. It might even have placed the locals at greater risk even as they tried to protect them- though that was merely speculation.

The Scarlet Alliance could only do so much… but now they had to take responsibility for the Scarlet Midfields. Whether it took centuries or millennia, they would secure the area. They were not as burdensome as those who had chosen to keep their independence might have thought.

-----

Timothy thought he had seen the worst already, but the planet below him showed otherwise. According to the records, it had a population just short of a hundred million people. A lively enough planet, if not densely populated. Even for a small planet, there was a lot of room for those who lived there.

Now, there were only a few million individuals remaining. Timothy didn’t know how many had been slaughtered before his warnings, but it was clear that much of the damage was recent. And while previous groups had merely snatched up whatever resources they could, it was clear that many of the natural resources had been intentionally ruined. Forests burned, cities leveled. For no reason at all.

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So that was what his small mercies had come to. Death for no reason other than pettiness. He hadn’t been hunting down those who had devastated previous planets, even if they had been left with very little. The damage had already been done. Everywhere else, people had chosen to flee with what they had rather than face danger. They’d at least left people alive, which had been the whole point- to get them out while minimizing continued conflict. Here, those who survived had merely been overlooked.

“Find who did this,” Timothy ordered his fleets. “We will gather those who remain and provide them with a chance to make it through.” A million people was actually rather manageable. “Then we will strike at those responsible.”

They had just come from war. Would there really be more, so soon? No. It wouldn’t be war at all. Instead, it would be a surgical strike. Or, if that was not possible… retribution would be stored up for the future. It was a bitter thought, but that was sometimes how it had to be.

-----

The only blessing that could be found was that the destruction had been tracked to a single sect, with the scouts managing to catch and observe some of the departing ships. The sect was the Swirling Swarm, of course. Very few groups had the disciples required to devastate a planet, without simply having great enough might to annihilate it in its totality. Even those sects that might technically have the numbers kept most of their disciples safe at home. This had been a group lingering far too long. ṛἈɴоʙÊ𝒮

Scouts returned with information. Timothy wanted to rush in, but he had to consult the council. That took precious time, but… a few more months was no longer relevant. Everything had been traced back to a single planet- one branch of the Swirling Swarm, effectively The damage was done. According to the scouts, they had no captives. They’d merely engaged in slaughter just because they could.

“It won’t take long at all,” Timothy said. “I’ll encircle the entire planet with my power and squeeze.”

“They deserve it, of course,” Prasad said. “And we can’t afford to show cowardice. This is an obvious provocation. However… that might not lead to the best results.”

“Are we to ask for reparations?” Zazil asked. “From the Swirling Swarm?”@@novelbin@@

Hoyt grit his teeth. “I have half a mind to go there myself and set the place on fire. They have no honor at all.”

“As I said,” Prasad continued. “I agree with the retribution. I merely doubt there are any options that are good. We must do something. But proportional retribution might be insufficient. Any who go there will find themselves in a vulnerable position, deep into enemy territory. Even if our scouts can pass unknown, a Domination cultivator won’t. Nor would any sort of armies.”

“What, then?” Timothy asked.

“We call for help from our allies. The position of this planet provides some opportunities. If Anton-”

“No,” Timothy said. “I won’t call upon him to slaughter a whole planet. Or to simply destroy it. Not if it isn’t necessary.” Timothy had calmed down, somewhat- but only because Catarina was present.

“A difficult situation,” Catarina agreed. “If we enact an appropriate punishment- if we are even able to- we risk escalation. On the other hand… what does the Swirling Swarm have but a single Domination cultivator that barely survived us?”

“Would Velvet be able to manage something?” Zazil asked. “A large scale covert operation of some sort. We needn’t slaughter a planet. We simply need to send a proper message. The Swirling Swarm hardly distinguishes between their individuals, so as long as we hit a similar population…” she shrugged. “They’ll get the message. If they can even understand one.”

“What sort of population?” Timothy asked. “The disciples that caused the slaughter?”

“Of course not. The hundred million that died. It is the larger number,” Zazil explained. “And I may say, their planets might not even notice anything less. But there is still the matter of how it would be accomplished.”

Catarina clutched Timothy’s hand. “We intend to make it clear it was our retribution, correct?”

“Of course,” Prasad said. “Otherwise, we might as well do nothing. It is of little benefit for us to kill at a large scale.”

“Too bad,” Catarina said. “I had a good idea. We could have pinned it on the Disciples of the Beyond. Distortion beasts love devouring large numbers of cultivators. Most systems take precautions to avoid drawing their attention, but it’s easy enough to do on purpose.”

“That would be strangely appropriate,” Timothy said. “But we really should be seen to act. Though we should expect some tensions at the border… to say the least. Better than reacting in a way that will make us seem small.”

“You should manage that response,” said one individual who had been silent the whole time. Engineer Uzun. “How obvious do we need to be? I have various options that can be covert… until it happens, of course. Things that are not too distasteful, as far as killing goes.”

“What sort of options?” Prasad asked. “Technological, I presume?”

“That is what I mean. It would be far easier to smuggle something of the sort into their territory. We’d only need a single ship to bring, say, a bomb.”

Prasad shook his head. “We’re not looking to blow up a single building in response.”

“The population density of the Swirling Swarm is quite high,” Uzun commented. “Frankly, we’d have to limit the blast to hit just a hundred million.”

“You speak as if they were simply piled atop each other,” Prasad said.

“It’s not far from the truth. And you might be thinking of the wrong scale of bombs. Rutera had some ill advised advancements that we have not used since long before reaching the interstellar stage.”

Zazil pursed her lips. “I am aware of the destructive potential of technology. However, could such a small device overcome their planetary barriers?”

“... You vastly overestimate how much the Swirling Swarm cares about their own people. Or most factions that aren’t us,” Uzun commented. “At most, I expect their important buildings to have their own wards. And I do believe the scouts made a special note of certain missing defensive elements. Though I could provide a more powerful device, just in case.”

“Would we need another ship?” Prasad asked.

“Hardly. They’re not something you could hold in the palm of your hand-” Uzun stopped himself. “Your normal, flesh hands. But they’re not so large that we can’t fit a pair on some of our stealthier ships. Just not the smallest ones.”

“Will people know it was technology?” Timothy asked.

“There would be no traces of upper energy. People would be hard pressed to think it was anything else,” Uzun commented. “But we could also make a giant sign to let them know, if that’s a concern.”

The council continued their discussion- and reconvened at a later date to make certain of their conclusions, as a manner of such import shouldn’t be decided all at once. But ultimately, it was agreed that they had to act. And the very fearlessness that the Swirling Swarm had such that they would engage in wanton slaughter would likely lead to a similar level of disregard from the sect itself. Or the Domination cultivator would have to determine if they wanted to risk their life a second time- alone.