Elder Cultivator

"Anton! Anton! There are bad people around Klar!"

Sudden declarations from Bear Hug were nothing new to Anton. Determining precisely how much enthusiasm was warranted was one of Anton's talents. This time, he felt like it needed to be taken seriously. "What's happening?" he asked. Even as he did so, his own senses drifted to the local star. The influence he could have would be quite limited, but still a valuable addition.

His senses revealed a large number of dead space-dwelling beasts- which wouldn't have been particularly notable if not for the unfamiliar ships in the area. Anton couldn't say that he knew every single style of vessel the Alliance used in the lower realms, but even so his general familiarity was sufficient to know that they weren't anything of the sort. They were very traditional, taking the shape of sailing vessels.

Old style cultivators. There were still a few of those around, but Anton hadn't heard of any so far to the south. Surely he would have known if there were anything near Klar- unless they came from afar.

"They killed some of our space friends!" Bear Hug said, more or less explaining what Anton already saw. "And grabbed some of our space plants! I think some of them are going to try to eat Briar!"

"... That sounds like a terrible idea," Anton said. Something was wrong. He could find Briar, and he sensed some of the others on a nearby planet. But… "Where are you."

Bear Hug hesitated slightly. "... I tried to talk to them."

Only then did he discern the pain in Bear Hug's actions. He should have done something. If he'd known sooner, if he had been watching… but of course, Bear Hug could normally handle themselves. The locals of Klar as well. Life Transformation cultivators wouldn't have been enough.

Anton hadn't recognized it immediately because the people felt different. They weren't like Worldbinding or Assimilation. They certainly weren't following the paths of the upper realms. The closest might be… Confluence? Yet Anton couldn't say that was correct either.

It only took Anton a few moments to make his assessments. After determining their strength, he almost slaughtered them all. They were near the orbits of inner planets, which was close enough for him to act through a star properly. The only thing that held him back was Bear Hug. "They heard you speak, didn't they?"

"They could be deaf!" Bear Hug protested. "Or maybe they only know different languages!"

They didn't. It was somewhat divergent, but Anton could hear enough to parse their words- though only because he had traveled quite far. This group might have been separate from others for some time, but they still shared whatever ancient connection most humans seemed to.

He focused his power through the star. He called upon the Unity of himself and the local people. His aura spread over the intruders as his voice rose forth. "This system is within the protected regions of the Lower Realms Alliance! Who dares to slaughter our herds and kill our people?"

One man among them- the strongest of them by Anton's current assessment- ceased his butchering of one of the space beasts and looked around. "I am Aniello of the Purified Wardens, a proud Angel of the Holy Stars! Who dares to speak so boldly while acting like a coward?"

Anton had been looking for an excuse anyway. "I, Anton, cultivate Unity. The only coward is you who dared only to assault a system you thought was undefended."

He truly intended to kill the man. He formed a bow and arrow from a tiny portion of the local blue giant, launching an attack with deadly intent. It was only a casual attack, but it still should have been sufficient to kill nearly anyone. The arrow pierced through space, striking the man in the dead center of his chest. Anton even pierced his defensive energy, but the shimmering breastplate the man wore held strong.

"Hmph. A coward such as you cannot harm me!" Aniello declared. "Return to your pathetic alliance and tell them of our claim upon this system."

"I will give you one chance to leave behind all that you have stolen," Anton declared. This particular fellow might be a bit tough to kill, but the rest? They wouldn't last long. He was quite annoyed that the man still survived, though. Clearly he didn't pass his energy through stars often enough. "If not, you will die."

His followers looked to Aniello. "Ignore him. We gather what we will."

The instant the next person placed her hand on one of the beast corpses, Anton attacked. His arrow flew- but Aniello leapt to cover the cultivator. She was the lucky one, as several more had acted at the same time. Anton was more than capable of launching multiple attacks.

Aneillo's energy spread out to try to catch all of Anton's arrows, forming into radiant wings that blocked his allies. He did fairly well, but clearly he could only cover a relatively small amount of space. Less than a planet in radius. The various cultivators were spread out further than that.

Anton killed a number of his targets. Others were saved, but Anton didn't stop. He considered his word a promise. Especially when dealing with new foes, being soft would do no good. With more complex attack patterns, Anton took out one after another. Some hadn't continued to harvest the corpses, however. A few turned to flee.

"Do not run with our people's bounty within your bags." One of Anton's arrows flew right past an ear- he checked that a particular woman was carrying nothing of import and merely gave her a scare. Aniello wasn't fast enough to catch up to that attack. He still kept a number of other safe.

"Gather together! I will protect you all!" Aniello swept up beast corpses into his storage bag. They would be better dismantled on the spot, but no doubt he considered that it was better to have them than not. "He cannot defeat an Angel!"

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Anton was quite annoyed to find that his words were partly true. Even focusing a number of attacks on the man, he didn't manage to harm him. He wasn't even able to slip past the man's armor, and he was sometimes intercepted by the wings. However, as Aniello stood his ground for a few moments a great energy arose from one of the local planets. A small horde of plants, including a wounded Briar- not that their mass was terribly diminished- as well as Liberty, Helix, Spike, and a number of other prominent locals.

The strongest of them Anton would place as Assimilation, though the plant path was somewhat different since they couldn't have exactly human cultivation. Bear Hug was almost at the next step but didn't have an active pursuit of power. Briar was even stronger, but not quite an Enrichment equivalent.

Their presence in addition to Anton's assault was sufficient, however. "We must inform the divinities of the arrogance of these people!" Aniello declared. "We will return later… coward."

Anton thought about ripping out the man's heart in person. A cultivator of his level was hard to kill, so it wouldn't be unreasonable, would it? A little hole through his heart just wouldn't be enough.

But Anton wouldn't do it. He was better than that. He wasn't better than making the man beg at his feet for forgiveness, though. He might not even be above killing him anyway.

The man fled surprisingly quickly once he made up his mind. Anton put in a good effort attempt to kill him, though most of his shots were blocked by the wings. There were two parts of him wrestling, one that said Anton had to kill the man no matter what and another that said that having the man underestimate them was fine. Even if they were annihilated here, wouldn't they know where it happened? Perhaps not. But either way, Anton wasn't willing to risk revealing special techniques like calling upon Ascension energy unless he was certain he would get the kill.

It was slightly petty, but he did kill a few more of the followers on their way out. Only those tightly clustered around Aniello survived. They also found that their ships had been destroyed, though Anton had no doubts that someone of that man's strength could travel between systems without such aid. It would take longer, though.

-----

"Take me back!" Bear Hug said. "I'll stop them next time!"

Anton was reluctant to do that, but he was more reluctant to not let Bear Hug try to defend their own system. "First we must stop by the core worlds."

What a time to be away. At least he wasn't too far. He'd just been visiting Varghese on In'istra, not off exploring beyond the Alliance's borders. Even so, that put him a significant distance further from the core worlds. He could head directly towards Klar, but that might not actually be faster. He wouldn't have many bound systems along the way.

"Do you need me to send anyone?" Varghese asked when Anton explained the general situation to him.

Anton thought about it for a few moments. "I will be passing through Ceretos, but I would not mind a small complement of people willing to be away for a post. I don't know how long, but it will be a significant duration."

Varghese nodded. "The Order of One Hundred stars will always be here for you, as you have been for us. It will be an honor for those chosen. Should I come?"

"You are the branch head. You'd best remain here," Anton said. "Though I would appreciate some of your best."

"I'll ask Sujatha," Varghese said. "She's close to Enrichment. She followed a similar path to Velvet. Illusions and such."

"Thank you. If you could coordinate that, I will go ahead," Anton said. "I don't wish to be slow if there is some form of retaliation."

-----

Anton had of course sent messages ahead, but the full explanation was best done in person. He met with many important figures in person. Mostly people he had known for a long time.

"Should we come along?" Erin asked. "Paradise rather liked his visit to Klar."

"I shouldn't bring too many…" Anton said. He looked over at Devon. "Certainly not one of our few Unity cultivators."

Devon nodded. "You'll need to be careful. Those with a fanatic bent to their cultivation can be… problematic."

"I don't appreciate it at all," Anton agreed. "What people do with their devotion is their own business, I suppose, but unless someone has reached a far higher level of power, they don't deserve to be called divine. They're just lying to their followers."

Anishka shrugged. "You're a bit too humble for your own good. But… I agree with the sentiment. What if they do happen to be a greater stage of power?"

"Then either I will apologize, with my life if necessary… or we kill a god," Anton said. "However, from my limited interactions I can confidently posit that they are simply arrogant. They might have a Unity equivalent, however. Or several." Anton didn't like that. Not because people couldn't be powerful cultivators, but because he felt that focusing all of the attention in one direction was the wrong way to go about it. The Alliance's Domination cultivators took that to heart as well.

"That's why you're bringing us," Nthanda commented. "Well, she wasn't immediately available. But if they have a particularly powerful cultivator, we have a solution."

Anton nodded, "I appreciate you heading over immediately. And I'll tell the Great Queen when we meet up. I really hope we won't have to fight, though."

Lev gave Anton a look. "In your personal opinion, what are the chances of that? Do you think this Aniello fellow is a typical representative of their group?"

"He might not be," Anton hedged.

"So you do. Which means we'll have to fight."

Anton sighed. "I hope it will just be once." He did need to avenge Bear Hug. Even if they still existed, killing one of their bodies was more than just a simple injury. Then again, it would be best if Bear Hug could manage their own avenging somehow. "But yes, we should assume we will fight."

"Too bad I don't have a functional grandfather willow there," Lev commented. "But… I'll hold things down here. You can focus on things further out."

Lev's confidence assured Anton. "Great. Not to rush, but we should really be going. They might have a shorter journey to undertake, and I would prefer not to be late."