Chapter 636


    Chidi was dead.


    Or he would be. A de with the force sufficient to bisect a mountain sliced towards Chidi. Instead of doing something sensible like dodging- not that he had time to do so- Chidi thought about how true that thought was. Could that de cut a mountain? Perhaps not. But if he were topare himself, the attacking for him, and the one that had cut a concerninglyrge slice of the nearby province, thetter two were closer together in magnitude than he was to what was about to kill him.


    Yet somehow, his brain managed to finish that thought. Hey, said an unfamiliar but distinctly feminine voice. You seem like the sort that should have noticed my challenge.


    Ah. There was a woman standing in front of him. And a hundred swords? He couldnt quite count, but it was a field of death. One he didnt belong anywhere near, nor did he have any intent of listening in on their conversation.


    Youve finally shown yourself! That was Rakiyas voice. Youve been hiding for two decades, and you finally returned for our rematch!


    Hey, who is that? the strange womans head turned towards Chidi as he was just backing away. Do you know her? Also wouldnt you have been a baby two decades ago?


    Chidi froze. He didnt want this attention on him. Thats Rakiya.


    Who?


    Dont pretend you dont remember me!


    Strangely, Chidi was unable to feel the iing sword swipes. It was not that they were concealed, and he heard the sound of des whistling through the air. But it was like there was an impassable barrier where <em>danger</em> ended, just in front of him. There was no longer a sword moving with great speed towards him- it was just a device made of metal, incapable of attacking.


    No really, said the strange woman. Who is she?


    Chidi felt like he should answer. As I said, she is Rakiya. Most notably, she cut off the arm of Grandmaster Chikere.


    Oh. Oh! Two sword-wielding arms pointed towards Rakiya, changing their stance. Except one of them felt wrong, somehow. That was <em>you?</em>


    As if you could ever forget!


    The perfect counters for the iing strikes shed in Chidis mind, ingrained there from years of practicing Citadels Downfall. And the swordmaster blocking the way did none of them. One of her swords just floated out, touching the tip of the iing de and justpletely negating its momentum.


    Yeah I totally forgot about that, the odd woman said. Whatever. I can beat you with one arm.


    You can try, but-


    The odd woman turned around and looked directly at Chidi. But her right arm stayed in ce? Seriously, it wasnt that big of a deal. I dont get what her problem is.


    Sorry, um, grandmaster do you happen to be Chikere?


    Obviously. Dont you recognize me?


    Ive never encountered you before in my life, Chidi said. You went away before I was even conceived.


    Youve got a good point there, Chikere nodded. Her floating arm was deflecting all of Rakiyas attacks.


    Your, um your arm came off.


    Yeah, it does that, Chikere agreed. I mean, <em>technically</em> Im not supposed to disconnect it. But its my arm, you know?


    Chidi literally had no words.


    Anyway, youre uh Chidi, right?


    He nodded. My parents named me after you. If you <em>are</em> Chikere.


    I am. And I can prove it! But since you cant, I guess I cant have youpare to a picture of me. Oh, I know. The sound of shing steel. A de whirled through the air,nding in the ground twenty meters behind a stunned Rakiya. Ill teach you to defeat her. Then youll know I am who I say I am.


    What? Chidi asked.


    Yeah, <em>what</em>? Rakiya had no weapon, but Chidi could feel her re settling on them.


    I said, Chikere waved her hand. Ill teach this kid to defeat you. Just give me I dunno, thirty years.


    ... I just entered Essence Collection, Chidi said.


    Twenty-five, then.


    Thats not better! Chidi choked out. Shes an Integration cultivator!


    So?


    I dont even know if I can reach Life Transformation by then!


    Hmmn.


    Suddenly, the entire world was des. Chidi couldnt do anything but pull his arms in and rotate his body slightly, as if that could somehow save him from the surrounding field of death. But it did. Sure, he knew the des were heading towards their current positions, but why would they stop?


    What, did you think Id actually stab you? We havent even started training yet! Chikere said. Your sword is fine, by the way, she said, almost touching it with her face as she leaned towards it. And yours sucks! she yelled over her shoulder toward Rakiya. What did you even do to it?


    My de is attuned to the essence of the Sword Saint, Rakiya said with teeth gritted. Every time she tried to move to retrieve her de, or pull out another one, the floating arm poked the sword it held slightly further into her neck.


    Ruined. Utter garbage. Cant even perform a small percentage of the best techniques.


    It is optimized for the perfection of the Harmonious Citadels style.


    See, little guy, this is why you can beat her. Anyway, were going now.


    She started walking, indirectly herding Chidi with her field of des. Aconite stood slightly further along the path, confused.


    Oh hey, Spikes! Youre uh smaller?


    This is Aconite, Chidi introduced her.


    Cool. Wanna learn how to use a sword?


    I dont think that would work.


    Chikere seemed to understand wolfspeak enough. Dont wanna? Well, your loss.


    Chidi made sure to grab the messengers bag as they walked along the road, the rest of the squad joining them. He wasnt sure if it would have anything useful- especially if it was actually intended as a trap- but he didnt want to just leave it.


    As for Rakiya, she made one more move to follow- and ended up with her foot impaled to the ground. Chidi felt it probably wouldnt have long-term effects, but it seemed enough of a deterrent. He kept his senses focused behind them just in case she chose to follow, though.


    Dont worry, said the odd woman who was the source of his name. Shes noting.


    How can you tell?


    Her sword is still back there. Obviously. A moment of silence. Hey mymunication thing seems to be busted, can you fix it? Your mom made it.


    Chidi took it in his hands. It seems to be in working order. There is, however, aary formation limiting them.


    Oh. Maybe I could Another silence.


    Maybe you could what?


    I was thinking about cutting it apart, but were going to be busy with training so Im not gonna.


    We could really use that formation being taken out Chidi frowned.


    Eh, Ill think about it. First, did you feel me challenge?


    Was that the mountain you cut apart?


    Yeah! I knew youd feel it, little me. I considered trying to cut apart the whole Chidi shivered, recalling the dream, But I stopped with that. I wasnt that confident and I didnt want to get most of the way and look like a doofus.


    ... Also people live here.


    Eh, it wasnt going to fall apart. Not that way.


    ... Could you really have cut Yaitis <em>most</em> of the way in half?


    Yaitis? Oh, this? Yeah probably. Maybe even the whole way but well, I have some insights to digest still.


    Chidi was not dead. But he was still wondering if he was going to be okay.


    -----


    Catarinas gums were bleeding from how hard she was clenching her teeth. Each swing from Abhsh was a tremendous echoing of power as his axe nearly cut through space itself to slice apart her, her husband, and many others. But her manual control of the formation had the area on lockdown, and she was manually tuning it to his energy and style. At the current moment, the power of formation was based in ice- but the sun wasing out. Bad timing, but that was how it was.


    She was almost knocked off her feet, but held steady. Timothy stood with her, aforting hand ced on her shoulder as she focused her energy on the formation. Years of work had gone into the formations creation, though it wasnt as powerful as it might have been with ess to greater resources on a that was properly popted. Months of work had gone into the n, and it took weeks to actually lure Abhsh in- while at the same time keeping the others split up.


    If all was going well, Tauno was inbat with Luksa. That would leave only the shield cultivator, Eterna. Her offensive capabilities were least concerning of the group- though she would still need to be pinned down by a dozen or so Integration cultivators.


    From here, they had several paths to sess. First, Tauno defeating Luksa. That was unlikely, even if he was the stronger of the two. Preventing her retreat wouldnt be simple, and she would not be without her own forces. However, if he <em>did</em> manage to kill or seriously injure her, that could snowball into killing Abhsh as well.


    Though Catarina would have preferred to make a directional formation through which to continuously assault their captured enemy, it would have lost some efficiency. And considering that it was barely putting up with the strain as it was, that would have meant it falling apart almost immediately. At some point, raw power overtook nning. Unless they could counter with their <em>own</em> raw power, but keeping a formation like this secret but effective was the most important. If Abhsh had been able to sense it, he would never have stepped into the area. That came with restrictions in power- or another decade of construction they simply did not have time for.


    A message for councilor Catarina! a messenger appeared sometime during the wrestling match- though Catarina felt she was winning. The formation was not going to easily run out of power, but Abhsh would fatigue himself attacking like that. If he weakened himself too much, they could just kill him. Potentially.


    It better be an emergency, Catarina said with clenched teeth.


    You were instructed to receive the information even in abat scenario.


    What is it? News about Chidi?


    Y- uh, youd better read it. Or


    Have Timothy read it.


    Timothy looked it over himself. Chikere is back.


    And shesing here?


    She showed up, asked questions, and thenmandeered a ship. But it does not appear she was heading towards Torthunes, but rather Yaitis.


    ... Shed better take care of our son.


    Im certain she wont let him die.


    Catarina focused on the frozen red pirs around the formation, now dripping a substance that was conclusively proven to be at most a small percentage blood. Too bad it had no power there. Instead, it was melting. That meant switching over to the heat based power.


    Timothy.


    Catarina said only that, with no other instructions. But he nodded, standing ready.


    Three formation te were in front of Catarina, carved with various runes connected in different ways to the formation as a whole. The first she flipped over, a momentary fluctuation letting Abhsh shake the surroundings. No doubt he would have noticed the change. Otherwise he would have never be an Augmentation cultivator.


    She skipped the one in the middle, flipping the one on the right. mes began to pour into the chamber, as the sun rose into the sky to melt and boil. Abhsh swung with his great might, cutting into the melting icy pirs. The formation was not quite down, but it was not at maximum solidity.


    The next step had to be perfect, or the whole thing would fall apart within the hour. Catarina pushed a surge of energy through the system, but Abhsh didnt fall for her feint. Then she ced her fingers on the third formation te twisting it, rotating it within its confines instead of lifting it out. The fluctuations would be different, which was why she saved it forst.


    Outside of the formation, a great axe rose into the sky. It chopped downward like a guillotine, aiming for Catarina and the formation tes and everything else. It cut through the sky until it stopped, quavering.


    Timothy held his shield high, prepared for this possibility. He strained against the power. Even though it was transmitted out of a half effective formation, he couldnt fully withstand it. But his style was meant to counter a stronger offense. Some of the power vibrated back along its course and Catarinas transition finished the job, snapping the gap closed.


    mes covered Abhsh, who seemed to find it to be optimal to conserve his energy for the moment, forming a protective bubble around himself and waiting.


    Timothy looked at his left hand, fingers and wrist swelling already. Whether anything technically broke he was not sure, but he also felt the strain in his elbow and shoulder. But he wasnt dead- and Catarina was uninjured. His body would heal and he would be one step closer to Augmentation himself. Though that had never been the intent, surviving an attack like that was useful for anyones growth.