Chapter 538


    The issue with fighting a distortion beast was not that it had any sort of tactics. Nor was its significant power thergest concern. Instead, the troubles came about by how the creature worked, its pieces reaching into the world in ways that were unintentionally confusing.


    On the grand scheme of things, the openings its tendrils came through didnt move, rtive to the. That didnt mean there was no rtive motion, but it was more or less consistent providing stationary targets. Those were the target of most attacks, to reasonable effect. Severed tendrils quickly ceased their aggressive movements. The biggest issue was simply that there seemed to be no end of them, both individually in length and size, as well as by count. More and more continued appearing- and they didnte from just one direction. It took some time, but seemingly after realizing there was a proper assault on it, tendrils came from behind the fleet as well.


    Perhaps it had been a mistake to provoke it, though Anton still stood by his understanding it would havee through at some point. At least it couldnt reach the orbital defense tforms just yet, though it seemed to be vaguely moving towards them.


    Every Ruteran fighter and every foreign cultivator fought hard, making use of everything they had. Auras stretched throughout the battlefield, bolstering allies and restricting the creature. Merves Angelic Providence bolstered the attacks of many around her, while her wings allowed her to maneuver around the iing attacks- despite there being no real atmosphere to interact with.


    Devon was focusing his chains of a few tendrils at a time, squeezing, crushing, prodding, and slicing until he or someone else destroyed his target, severing something. The distortion beast seemed to have no blood- at most, there was an inky ck mist that lingered for a few moments as wounds were caused. It seemed to have no immediate ill effects, but everyone was cautious about it.


    On a personal note, Anton found himself less of a target with everything else going on. That allowed him to focus on offense, including trying to hurt something important. For the most part that meant firing his arrows through the length of the limbs, trying to have his attack pass through the entry points to the other side. Dozens of arrows moved with no effect, but Anton didnt give up easily.


    Spectral energy was even less effective than he would have hoped, with no obvious critical points to target the energy simply caused minimal damage where it was first allowed to interact with the creature.


    Anton drew upon ascension energy, focusing on the vague start of a technique that was probably not even a thousandth of the wayplete, or even determined to be viable. Here, he didnt want to shoot arge distance, just <em>somewhere else</em>. He was able to distort space around himself traveling between systems, but doing anything of the sort near a gravity well was difficult, and only affecting some energy in exactly the way he wanted was something he had no experience with.


    Two, three, four, five. Anton quickly burned through half of his ascension energy trying to achieve results, the main thing he learned being that ascension energy was at least effective against the limbs.


    Then the maw opened. Determining its size was impossible, as it couldnt be seen. Nor could it be properly felt, a hole in space much like void ants appeared to be. Natural energy was drawn into the area, attacks absorbed including one of Antons own Ascension shots. An area several kilometers wide was being drained, with the spread widening. Energy used for sensing was devoured as well.


    Two things happened simultaneously, either of which could have produced the end results- or perhaps they were both necessary. First, Anton gathered a sizable arrow of spectral energy andunched it towards where he presumed there might be something important, not <em>quite</em> following the flow of energy. Second, a ship flew through the center of the area, wings like des. Natural energy augmented it, but the vehicle itself was made out of expensive alloys that were both sturdy and sharp.


    The whirlpool of energy rapidly snapped closed after both attacks, condensed energy bursting back in all directions. All around, tendrils were withdrawn back into nothing.


    The pulse of energy had little effect on anything but Ty Quigleys ship, near the epicenter. Its spherical shape meant the power it had rapidly fell off, and anyone closer than one kilometer had already been consumed- some leaving no traces of body or energy. Beyond that point, it was mostly ufortable and at best able to shake the starfighters or loose cultivators slightly, their energy defenses withstanding the dilute energy.


    What remained behind were crushed ships, some dead pilots and individual cultivators that had been targeted and many tendrils of unknown material. Anton was surprised that they didnt simply disappear, but he hadnt actually encountered many distortion beasts. There had only been one, and it seemed both smaller and weaker, quickly chased off by himself and Everheart. Hopefully, thetter would have some idea of what to do with the material. Or for the sake of Rutera, he might not know and decide to purchase it anyway.


    -----


    The small meeting was ufortable. Nicodemo was there, not upset but not happy. Anton was there, along with Devon. Finally, there was the Great Queen, who was resting on her belly in a way generally unnatural for ants.


    Im sorry for the losses, Anton said. I maintain my stance that it was necessary.


    I agree, unfortunately, Nicodemo shook his head. I only wish there was more we could say about our victory and of course fewer losses.


    I will admit, Anton said. I expected it to be smaller and weaker. I dont think such a creature would naturally find its way to Rutera. Your natural energy is moderate at best, given recent advances. Nothing special. Nor did you have exceptionally high spatial activity.


    The Great Queen just looked disappointed that she could not eat the distortion beast. She had asked Anton to show her a sample, and had immediately taken a bite. A momentter she vomited it up, an act quite unnatural for ants. They had certain methods to share food, but doing so for something unhealthy was outside of the norm. Then again, the Great Queen was in every way. The main thing she could conclude was that it was not normal flesh, and whatever it did with the energy it did not linger in the various tendrils it exuded.


    What do you think lead it here, then? Nicodemo asked.


    Sabotage by the Snis Cluster, most likely, Anton said. Or perhaps the Ivory Maw, as a form of petty revenge. Though if it had appeared when you were unready, the results would have been quite different.


    The bone craft that B Sycora had slipped easily into and out of subspace, correct? Nicodemo confirmed. He hadnt been at any of the battles, and there werent recordings.


    Thats right, Anton nodded. So I would put that near the top of the list. The good news is weve determined that you have sensors that can detect this. The bad news is that it was only <em>barely</em>. I dont know what will happen from here, either. The beast might retreat permanently. It mighte back for revenge. Or there might be another who finds the spatial distortions and determines this is a good ce to feed.


    Could we repair them? Nicodemo asked. These spatial distortions.


    I would imagine they should go away on their own, Anton pondered. But I could be wrong. As they were almost certainly caused intentionally, doing the opposite should be possible. Counteracting the effects to prevent this might be useful. Unfortunately, this isnt even close to my expertise. Perhaps Weos might know more. Contacting them would be in order anyway. B Sykora might target them, or perhaps Leonas could do the same- if one of them made it away from the purge, perhaps both did. There had been no official information out of the Snis Cluster on that topic, or much of anything.


    Devon added his contribution, My tactics were rtively effective, but I could not stop any part of it from retreating once it chose to do so. Individual tendrils, specifically. I didnt even think about attempting to stop its final withdrawal.


    One thing that seems fairly certain is that it takes effort to bridge the gap, Anton said. Effort and time. It should be made easier by any spatial distortions, though information I have says they <em>generally</em> just wait on the other side, slurping up any stray energy that gets through.


    Hardly aforting thought, Nicodemo said. But it is what it is. He drummed his fingers on the table. Strange to think that in a hundred years I might be able to deal with such things myself. And that Id still be alive and youthful.


    I do believe your people lived quite long without full cultivation methods, Anton said.


    Perhaps, Nicodemo shrugged, We dont have anyone who is two hundred and thirty, though.


    Im not one of the oldest ones, Anton said. I mostly startedte. Though I suppose much of the older generation has perished now. Even so, there were still people up to three or four hundred years old on Ceretos- though those who were talented in cultivation had already Ascended. None of the older generation Anton was aware of had attempted Assimtion, though there might have been some who were unsessful and perished.


    Nicodemo shook his head, Whatever. We need to get working on countermeasures. Cant say if theyll take a year or ten, and when we might need them.


    -----


    Specific practice did little more to improve Antons ability to shoot arrows into subspace of any sort. He needed more. More skill, more power, more understanding. Possibly all of them. Doing so with himself was simple because all of him was there to provide power as needed, and maintaining the state was rtively easy. Even if he managed to do it to a Spirit Arrow, uracy would be an issue. Subspaces were moreplicated than just a space behind every point in natural space. Going from somewhere on one edge of a system to an edge of a different system was about as close as Anton got to urate, and he could be off by thousands or hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Over a shorter distance one would assume greater uracy, but that wouldn''t be quite true.


    He could stillunch arrows vaguely towards the upper realms, and he was able to convince himself he shortened the distance his arrow traveled, but that had only range and no uracy- and effectively no flexibility. It was simply a vanity or a hobby, like distance shooting. Trying to get the furthest shot with a bow while he was younger had been fun, but it relied just as much on the luck of the winds changing as skill- and simple distance from the starting point meant nothing in actuality. Hitting a stationary target was a step above, but also insufficient for practical matters.


    Anton wanted to consult Everheart at some point, but he didnt want to rely on the man. Both for his own safety, and because if he couldnt manage on his own then his growth would just stagnate.


    As he performed his tests- that was what they were, more than proper training- Anton also drew upon the power of Ruteras star. It was only energy that the star would have output anyway, it simply went to him instead of being among the masses of heat and light being sprayed in all directions. A tiny portion.


    Yet drawing upon it, Anton gained energy inside himself without it crossing the intervening distance mostly. Distance was still a factor, but there wasnt a dy on any level he could sense. Anton had taken the time to read through many papers Rutera had on theoretical- and now <em>actual</em> subspace mechanics. Their mathematical avenue of understanding didnt fit Anton quite as well, and as a cultivator he also relied on insights into the mechanics that went beyond what could be written. The transfer of energy from a star was somewhat like a wormhole- though only in the barest surface level understanding.


    Anton had to admit he didnt understand everything hed read- even if he could read it quickly- but given some years and additional study he might actually digest it to be something useful. It was simply a matter of where he spent his effort. Once again, Anton understood why Everheart made so many projections of himself to get more things done. Though he certainly hadnt been intending to reabsorb most of them- <em>especially</em> not the way it ultimately happened.


    Still, the idea of spitting himself off in the short term was appealing. He might even be verging on understanding enough of the mechanics of formations and the other things required to manage a basic version of that. The question was how much study it would take him to save time in the future. Time. He had an unknown quantity of it. Perhaps not long before further troubles with distortion beasts, and within a decade no doubt there would be more conflict with the Snis Cluster unless they could push for peace before then, or perhaps the Ivory Maw would cause trouble. A good seventy to a hundred years before the invasion. Would he live that long?


    He didnt know. Perhaps if he continued to grow in cultivation he would not reach the end of his lifespan. Or maybe he was close to the precipice. He might be able to push himself to understand, but he thought it better to not. Fleeting Youth was training rather consistently, which had <em>some</em> implications, but ultimately Anton would choose to spend his time the same way regardless of whether or not he died tomorrow. Well, if he knew he had one <em>actual</em> day to live hed go back to his family, but he visited Ceretos regrly to begin with.


    An arrow shot through space into nothing, well away from Rutera. Anton clicked his tongue. It would take a while for him to get much of anything down, but he wouldnt give up easily.