Elder Cultivator

It took a special kind of confidence to boldly move into enemy territory with plans to flee if danger arose. However, Alva had that sort of confidence after the most recent war. Obviously she would have felt more secure if she were a Domination cultivator, but that was a bit much to ask. It was still early, if the Scarlet Alliance could even sustain more Domination cultivators.

Devotion wasn’t precisely a limited resource, but it also wasn’t boundless. For Alva, however, it was her own insights and time cultivating that held her back. She wasn’t worried about her potential- which would have very much bothered some other people. But not doubting herself was something she didn’t intend to rid herself of.

As much as she had a picture in her head of the Trigold Cluster being full of raving lunatics, the majority of the cultivators had a sensible head on their shoulders. That meant they weren’t keen on attacking anyone from a powerful faction- like, say, the Scarlet Alliance. In that way, some of the threat of Timothy and Catarina extended to Alva herself.

Alva stopped in Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance territory. She, and the contingent of others with her in a few ships. They were on official business, and sending just one person was a bit… limited. Plus, there was the other ship that they had to be cognizant of.

“A bold plan you’ve got here.”

The sudden presence of Ratna nearly caused Alva to jump out of her skin. She hadn’t expected to meet with the woman at all. “You think it’s bad?”

“I didn’t say that at all. If I thought it was bad, I wouldn’t have approved it. Speaking of which, I do appreciate your council consulting me on the matter.”

“We wouldn’t be great allies if we did something that could result in consequences for you without at least a warning,” Alva said. “I’m still uncertain. It seems… risky.”

“Perhaps you’ve lived for too long among reasonable folk,” Ratna commented. “An insult has been made against the Scarlet Alliance. A strong response is correct. That will bring the necessary respect from the Trigold Cluster.”

Ratna took a few moments to think. “I believe the best way to explain that would be to bring to mind some information I’ve recently been given access to, from your people in the lower realms. You can consider the Swirling Swarm like the ‘hiveminds’ in the Unified Sector.”

Alva made a face. “That sounds like we’re going to cause another war.” They were ready, as long as it was just the Swirling Swarm. They’d head them off before they even truly entered the midfield. “Killing a few members of a hivemind is a huge risk.”

“My mistake,” Ratna said. “Perhaps it is more… the opposite? They sort of move as one entity, but they aren’t connected in spirit. Like a swarm of bugs.”

“They’re humans.”

“If so, they should have learned to act like it,” Ratna spat. “Anyway, you are prepared to accept them responding… but they might just ignore it. Because to them, nobody matters. Perhaps not even their Domination cultivator.”

“About that,” Alva said. “Is there… just one? Remaining, I mean.”

“If I knew the answer to that,” Ratna said. “They might have none. The Swirling Swarm doesn’t talk or engage in diplomacy. The ones among them wielding the power of Domination… they looked like nothing. Not quite plain, but unmemorable. I do believe it was the same individuals every time, so at least it’s not the worst case scenario.”

“Free power transfer…” Alva shuddered. “If any one of them could have become a Domination cultivator, the Swirling Swarm would be a disaster.”

“They are already. And we don’t know if they are easily able to replace the losses. I didn’t even know they had multiple Domination cultivators or… whatever it is. I wouldn’t put the possibility of quick replacement past them,” Ratna explained.

Alva sighed. “They were so distant, we didn’t think we had to think about them. Then they just sort of… marched up with their armies because… the Trigold Cluster was at war. Or they have motivations we don’t understand.”

“That’s right,” Ratna said. “Anyway, if your people can confirm there’s just one left… let me know.” She drew her finger across her throat. “That planet is on the way, right?”

“If your senses could stretch that far, you’d see it on the way,” Alva commented. “Speaking of which, hopefully you’ve prepared some planet catching methods.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“I have plenty of people. Now then, I have other matters to deal with. Perhaps not as important, but more urgent. If you run into trouble… Don’t forget about the Distant Shadow Sect.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Alva nodded. It would be good to have something of a safe harbor… though she couldn’t be sure how many people would be chasing her.

-----

Decisive moves had to be taken in the world of cultivation. Alva was chosen to go on the mission because of her spatial abilities. In short, she could attack or run as necessary. The Scarlet Alliance didn’t want to lose people just to deliver a message. ř₳ℕ𝔬𝔟ĚṨ

Swirling Swarm territory was actually more than a full year from the core of the Scarlet Alliance, even with a fast ship. Alva alone could potentially outpace that, but the vast distances involved meant it would never be fast. Not when traveling through first order subspace, at least.

The planet had no name. The Scarlet Alliance had given it a numerical designation, CK 27028. If it had some name before, it was lost. Under the Swirling Swarm, no name had been shared.

Alva took some time to survey the planet before fully revealing herself. What she saw made her truly uncomfortable. It was a mess. Everyone seemed to have some amount of cultivation, but other than that they acted however they pleased. Alva felt people get killed, saw buildings fall. One city was on fire. She had no idea how it was possible to sustain such a population.

Then again, when taken as a proportion of the whole, perhaps it was relatively small? Scarlet Alliance planets would never be so chaotic, though. Cultivators could sense much larger areas, so crimes weren’t easy to hide. And if people didn’t need to commit crimes, they were quite rare. Unless, perhaps, if people didn’t care.

“Cultivators of the Swirling Swarm,” she extended her aura. “Those among you have brought an insult to the sovereignty of the Scarlet Alliance.” Before she could even finish what she intended to say, she got a cacophony of answers, cultivators flinging words towards her… but not organized in any way that she could make out any. Not even the stronger individuals among them stood out. Still, she had to finish what she was there for. “The group has congregated mainly around your magnetic pole.” Alva shot an arrow, indicating the area. “If you turn over the orchestrators of the attack, we will spare the rest of you.”

The noise grew worse. The only thing Alva could pick out about it was a general sense of discontent. Rejection. She did hear a few people yelling about how she could kill some person or some other for them, but mostly she noticed how those who could fly under their own power were already making their way towards her and the others, rather aggressively. Alva could take on a good number of Integration cultivators- but not hundreds or thousands. It was difficult to tell, with masses of cultivators clinging onto those other cultivators instead of waiting for proper ships to carry them.

“Very well. You suffer the consequences of your own actions. Wait for our response. It will be… imminent.” With that, Alva restricted her voice to their small fleet. “It’s time for us to make our retreat.”

They were ready to turn about at a moment’s notice. That was the plan, after all. They were to retreat. Though, doing so without looking like they were running was more complicated. Alva picked out a good target among the masses. Strong enough to be worthwhile, but weak enough to take out in a single shot.

She gathered energy, her arrow cutting through subspace to arrive outside the ship she stood upon- a fanciful move that was likely less efficient than simply moving to a designated attack zone. However, the arrow would have had to cut through subspace to hit her target regardless, based on how many individuals were clinging to them.

The arrow appeared inside her target. That was only possible because her energy overpowered them. Instant death, and suddenly dozens of individuals were floating free in space. Some pushed themselves back towards the planet. Others shoved towards surrounding groups, though nobody waited to pick them up. A small number just tried to launch themselves towards the retreating ships, but they were nowhere near fast enough.

Cultivators could resist vacuum for a while, but those who weren’t strong enough to propel themselves through space at any significant speed wouldn’t last long. Alva shook her head. They were truly… crazy. But perhaps that was how they had gotten Domination cultivators. There were enough of them that perhaps it didn’t matter if what they did made sense- though she still wondered how that could be. She had the feeling that much of that involved raiding necessary resources from others.

Alva had a vague sense of some Augmentation equivalents among the masses. She helped the fleet around her take a bit of a shortcut closer to the edge of the system. Not too far, though, or they wouldn’t be as good of a distraction. And then… they didn’t even need the distraction.

Even though it doubtless happened in an entirely different order, the first thing Alva felt was the energy of cultivators winking out. Some time later there was a flash of light. Finally, her senses locked onto the planet felt the shockwave of an explosion.

The explosion was large enough to see from space, it just took the light a long time to reach her eyes. Even though a good portion of it was shielded by the planet, it was as bright as looking into a star. She knew, because she’d done it.

The Swirling Swarm might have little regard for their own lives, but even they couldn’t help but take pause at such a large event. It happened right where Alva had warned- but as far as she could tell nobody had even considered running away. Not that it would have helped. Alva said the retribution was imminent.@@novelbin@@

Presumably the stealthed ship had gotten out alright. Either way, they were to extract on their own. Alva had to bring with her the rest of the distraction fleet. That wasn’t difficult, as the Swirling Swarm dragged behind, transfixed by the explosion.

It didn’t feel good, even though Alva knew they’d killed at least as many people- on just a single planet. Why had they had to come so far just for this? Alva almost wished they would chase after her all together, into the waiting forces of the Scarlet Alliance. But she also wished that they could go at least a full century without war. Was that so much to ask? She hadn’t thought so, but clearly her standards had been too high.