Elder Cultivator

Disentangling Chiara from her old thoughts was either the most important thing Aerona could be doing for the Alliance, or a near complete waste of time. For the Alliance, not for Chiara. Listening to her and guiding her was the best thing that could be done for that woman regardless of the wider impact.

Chiara wasn't the only one with the potential to be changed, but she was the most receptive and importantly the most powerful of those that even slightly bothered to pay attention. The rest… just remained. Keeping so many captives of war was burdensome, especially when they were stronger, but the Lower Realms Alliance did so for several very good reasons.

First, after they had them fully subdued it was improper to kill them unless there was further trouble. Those who had been responsible for civilian deaths were usually killed on the spot. While combatants might hold grudges against them, the Alliance could handle that much by explaining their purpose. In some cases prisoners might have been used for an exchange of captives. Contact with the Holy Stars was not good enough for such a thing- nor did it seem that they took any captives. At best, they held a planet they conquered- but the regular civilians weren't carted off world. The biggest factor, however, was faith. Each day that they were not saved by their divinities, the latter might grow weaker. Might, because even Chiara couldn't be certain.

Aerona didn't know quite what the end result she wanted would be, only that her path felt right. It was possible that her instinct was incorrect or that she would fail at her task, but the potential was what was most important at the moment.

At minimum, Chiara would no longer empower one divinity if she broke free of their grasp. She might bring more angels along with her, which would be a greater swing. And, in some extreme scenario, they would actually detract from the power of the Holy Stars merely by existing. The last one was a bit overly optimistic, but Aerona could hope.

Everything was a matter of patience. She had to show Chiara things a little bit at a time. Good things about the Alliance. Things that the Holy Stars had done to their people. Undoing brainwashing that took place during the formative centuries of a cultivator's life wasn't something that could be handled quickly. It had already been years, and Chiara wasn't anywhere near ready yet. But there was progress, day after day.

Furthermore, there was something changing in Aerona as well. The long focus on a particular sort of individual that were enemies was an interesting social situation. Even if they didn't need to be enemies, they still were. Even if Aerona wished to be friends with Chiara, they simply weren't. There was something preventing that last small step. Perhaps she would never achieve it, but she was constantly looking for opportunities. Witnessing a real battle would be risky, but if it were feasible Aerona might consider it.

-----

Nello had been waiting for so long, but he knew- he knew- that the Divinities would not abandon him. His heart had called out to the Divine Isiah himself, day after day, ever since he had been captured by these others.

The wait had been long, but finally he sensed proper cultivators approaching the asteroid in which the prison was buried. It was a shame that Isiah himself was not to be Nello's savior, but a Divinity was nonetheless a great relief to his heart. As an Angel himself, Nello was aware of how tricky these people could be. Bringing incontestable strength was necessary.

Clotilde the Highest Peak of the Holy Mountains led the assault, fighting his way directly through the defensive things that this alliance had. Creatures of metal without souls, for the most part. Though the souls of their people were also questionable in existence.

To defeat many of them, the entire asteroid was drawn towards Clotilde, and they were crushed against it. The same motion split the asteroid in half, breaking open the prison. Of course, individual cells still needed to be opened but that would only take a matter of moments.

Nello felt the ripples of energy as formations were dismantled and physical barriers torn apart. He could feel it in the section he inhabited. Small and insignificant energies still pestered Clotilde and his Angels like flies, but none of that mattered. They were being swatted down with every moment.

And yet… some of those flies must have been diseased. Foul creatures that slew those far above them. There was no way that anyone's energy could be fading otherwise. Or perhaps it was some sort of deception by the Holy Stars? Putting overconfidence in their enemy to make them think they were winning, to instead drive them to despair. Yes, that must have been it. They couldn't have been dying to… nothing.

Nearly ninety percent of the Holy Stars captives had been freed now. Nello had the misfortune of being at the end of a long hallway, deep and winding, but they would get to him soon. He leaned up against the bars to see his holy brothers and sisters coming for him. One of those very sisters rounded the corner and caught his eye. Then she looked over to her side and turned directly about. She fled. From nothing!

In his normal state, Nello would have been nearly impossible to render unconscious. However, a sudden blast knocked pieces out of the prison, dropping false rock onto his head. With his energy suppressed, the shock caused him to lose consciousness for only a moment. He knew it couldn't have been long, because he still sensed the energy of cultivators of the Holy Stars. It wasn't far.

But it was getting further.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Nello struggled to breathe. Normally, the facility had airflow… but cracked into pieces none of the formations functioned. They would have to hurry back to save him and those alongside him. Was there some great foe they had to handle first, off in the other direction?

The Holy Stars wouldn't leave anyone behind. They simply wouldn't, no matter the danger.

Nello was hyperventilating, but there was no air to be had. And then… a flicker of light. Clunking sounds. Dull lights appeared, and a shimmer around the bars. A hiss of gas as his cages were no doubt flooded with toxic chemicals. So that was what it was. They knew he was dead already. He only wished that he could have had the honor of his corpse being retrieved for his family. But most likely, it would be gathered at a later date.

Nello collapsed onto his face, dead. The last thing he saw was a reaper of death directly in the center of his eye. It was black as sin as it reached forward and… touched his nose?

Nello coughed. The air now filling his lungs was… fresh. Just as he had been breathing for the time of his captivity. He could see, from a certain angle, how the corridor was open to empty space and the stars beyond. No energy flowed through the remains of the prison. And yet, the air was contained.

The cultivator struggled against his chains. They held strong, their enchantments strangely minimal as always. His energy was nothing, so he couldn't tear apart even simple steel. He pulled himself into a sitting position, and he saw ahead of him an ant. No, not one. Many of them. The black demons. They were sitting there, menacingly.

So, the Holy Stars had been driven away by these demons. That made sense.

Except… they had a Divinity. Clotilde should have been able to overcome any demons, even tricky ones such as these that hid their true forms. And they had covered pretty much all of the rest of the prison. Which meant… they chose it.

He replayed the scene in his mind. The woman's eyes caught his as she rounded the corner. She looked away- in disdain.

"Those bastards…" Nello said. "Curse them and their kin!" His time in captivity must have driven him insane. He thought he was saying things, but he couldn't be. He would never think such a way. Besides, merely considering cursing a Divinity would result in death. How could it be otherwise? "What is the Holy Mountain? Nothing but a pile of rocks! They have nothing divine, and can't even complete a simple mission!"

Those were the most comprehensible words he shouted. At times, there really weren't even words as he yanked against his chains, rubbing his wrists raw and bloody despite the relative comfort they normally had. His lungs ached, not from lack of breathable air but strain of another sort. His vocal chords couldn't withstand any further sounds. He slumped. He would die still, but it was far worse to see hope and have it torn away by those that he placed his greatest faith in.

-----

"No," Aerona shook her head. That recording wouldn't be any good for Chiara to see. From pretty much any other perspective, it had been a wildly successful prison rescue. Almost perfect, but fortunately some of the void ant wardens were able to fight properly. Only one segment remained, but they had caused enough damage for the enemy to retreat at that point. From what Aerona heard, they had been trying to reach the divinity- but he pulled away at the first sign of void ants.

Chiara didn't need to see despair, or to be lied to about possible hope. This particular truth wouldn't be helpful at the moment. Though it was of interest to the Alliance, still. Would the curses of this single angel cause any actual effects on the Holy Stars? Would those around him feel the same? They trembled in silence, unwilling to voice anything at all.

The emergency backup lights barely illuminated them, and many of the cameras weren't high enough priority to catch anything more. Life support and the cell of an angel were the priority. They would all be moved to another facility- perhaps a more secure one. Sometimes, they had to use prisons like that asteroid. It hadn't exactly been bait… but it was quite possible the Holy Stars had damaged themselves more than it seemed. They probably hadn't lost more than they saved, but the survivors would nonetheless see the fallen- under the watch of a divinity. It was unlikely that large enough cracks would form on any except for Nello to despite the Holy Stars, but revealing a lack of perfection was good enough.

From other perspectives, it was a great loss for the Alliance. Letting a divinity get to the place at all was a bit rough. However, they never promised their people perfection. They could be honest with them about what happened, though they likely wouldn't broadcast it.

For a moment, Aerona wondered if the Alliance would have survived this long without the void ants. She at first was considering the war with the Holy Stars- it was quite possible they would be far more on the back foot without them. Overall, though… the answer was no. They were simply highly resource efficient and powerful allies. Void ants were far from solving all of their military woes. They needed humans just as much as humans needed void ants. And that was… good.

Oh, and of course Aerona wouldn't forget the other people. The Akrysians, those from Klar… and Reneden. There was a whole thing going on where Reneden had 'infiltrated' a number of different things, and a lot of surveillance beacons. Aerona really didn't care. There wasn't a shred of hostile intent in it. Obviously those that were more tech focused were worried about some sort of 'AI apocalypse', but it wasn't like that at all. Well, it could replicate between computer systems so Reneden kind of fit the bill… but Reneden wasn't an AI.

Just synthetic life that happened to have come from computer stuff. Reneden was a computer the way Bear Hug was a plant or humans and Akrysians were meat. Actually, that Bear Hug thing was technically not correct by botanical definitions. Algae was algae. But everyone knew green was plants.

Anyway, Aerona wasn't worried. Nor was anyone important, really. Reneden was probably getting punished somehow, though. And then, hopefully, they could openly make use of Reneden's ability to be in many places and run the beacons better than they could alone. Apparently, it had been finding clever ways to get people to act as necessary, but being direct would be better.

Aerona would suggest military service. That thing Reneden was already doing. There would probably have to be some sort of official apology and a bunch of other mess, but… Reneden was also good at dealing with the Everheart virus. People would forgive Reneden pretty easily once the small portion of them that were actually worried calmed down a bit. Aerona supposed she might need to focus on that for a while. People had to work past their feelings to get to logic, and she could help.