Chapter 939

Chapter 939

Although it had been shown that the long term adaptability of individual void ants was significant, even allowing for self-directed evolution, Crossed Antennae feared that an adaptation that made her resistant to the numbing agent currently plaguing her would come too slowly. Though she did note the idea for the future, as having weaknesses was intolerable.

For the moment, however, she was unable to fly and thus stuck piddling around atop this stupid lake. No, it was more of a pond really.

She couldnt believe she was betrayed by her own people. She should do something about that. It was too late for her to win a physical confrontation, but if they wanted to kill her they had already had the chance. Perhaps she could leverage that to her advantage.

Seriously, though, what was the purpose of bringing her here? Relaxation was for those who couldnt handle responsibility. For humans. And while humans were nice and all, they didnt share her burden as a queen.

So what could she do here? Seeing she was surrounded by water and dirt, not much. Even so, she dipped her head down and picked up a droplet of water in her mandibles. She had grown large enough that the drop she carried was hardly stable unlike the smaller ants, but it should be enough to completely cover one of her captors. And then what she would escape past them or something?

Crossed Antennae stopped thinking about it and simply tossed the water. It landed about halfway to them. Well, that was going to take some practice to get used to. And since she had nothing else to do, practice she did.

A day later- after taking time to replenish herself with some of the food stored on her island- Crossed Antennae was confident in her abilities. She looked for the location of the four captors. Snips, Chops, Bullet, Fire. They would regret what they did, somehow.

She grabbed another dollop of water and flicked it with great precision, watching it sail towards Snips who stepped aside, letting it splash next to her. Hmph, how audacious to disrupt the plans of her own queen.

Crossed Antennae followed up with a flurry of attacks, launching water at Snips at first then the rest of them. Some dodged out of the way, occasionally the more sword oriented ones sliced apart the droplets. Bullet was the first to counterattack, dipping into the outer edge of the lake and directly tossing a droplet into Crossed Antennaes eyes.

She shook her head, dislodging the droplets from her head. So it was like that, huh? These fellows were going to get splashed for certain! They would rue the day they chose to stand against their queen!

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Water crashed over Chidi, but he let it sweep around and through him. His sword followed an arc in front of him, connecting with his opponents shield. The collision sent vibrations through both of them and the energy around them. Angling for control of an entire areas energy was a difficult task, especially with the interference of additional sources of energy beyond simply Chidis opponent.

Yet he didnt let himself become discouraged. Indeed, if he had any hope of negating the energy of a sole domination cultivator, then the fluctuations from the battle of a few dozen Life Transformation and Integration cultivators shouldnt be out of his reach at the moment. Yet he found himself always a single step short. Something stood in his way, a blockade he could neither cut through nor find his way around. The most uptodate novels are published on n0velbj)n((.))co/m

The shield pushed him back, a spear reaching for his midsection a moment later. Its length extended beyond the body of the weapon, the tip cutting into his chest even as he parried it to the side. The formation markings inside of Chidi flared as energy shifted.

His sword came once more from his right- his opponents left. Blade clashed with shield, but neither gave out. Yet that was not the intent of his assault to begin with. Ambient energy was redirected by the flow of weapons, armor, and formation markings. Even his opponents energy followed the flow, slicing behind the shield arm.

Today they had gathered the reinforcements from the Scarlet Alliance and the locals from Terbettem to destroy the last bastion in front of them. Ravina stood strong in front of them, preparing to rally them with a speech.

We have all fought against the Dessicated Deep this last half a year. Some of you are here to defend your homeland, others of us are here to stand as allies. Either way, we will not lose.

Chidi found himself slightly inspired, though his own self-confidence was at a high regardless. Still, it was helpful for others.

There is no way for us to avoid a concentrated attack as we approach their fortress, Ravina continued. However, a united front will allow us to minimize the damage to each of us. When we reach their walls, our formation specialists will make an assessment. Whether we continue our assault momentarily retreat relies on said assessment.

Nobody wanted to sit and be bombarded by attacks unable to properly respond, so everyone understood. Retreating properly was not an issue. Though personally, Chidi would find it easier if the enemy would simply open their gates- or whatever they had.

An assault up the slope of a mountain would have been completely insane for lower stage cultivators. As it was, there would be a few minutes where they had minimal cover as they approached up their chosen path- a compromise between navigable terrain and the available cover.

The assault began a short time later. As predicted, the enemy was waiting for them. A wave washed over the assaulting army, followed by a hail of arrows and spears. Chidi attempted to cut apart one of the spears, but the enemy controlling it pulled it back out of his reach.

Ravinas spear twirled and spun, deflecting many of the attacks at their frontlines while also distorting the Dessicated Deeps pulling and draining ocean. The strength of an Augmentation cultivator compared to Integration was clear, even if Chidi were to look at himself in the late Integration stage. Even Alva clearly fell short, though she was at the peak of Integration.

The assaulting army surged upwards, leaping up their chosen path in great strides. Their momentum seemed unstoppable, until the appearance of another cultivator. The ocean sweeping down the mountain suddenly became twice as deep, surging against them as an old man stood atop the walls.

Ravinas spear pierced forward, splitting the tide of energy and attacks. Forward! she shouted. We cant lose momentum!

Chidi provided his own support, his sword slicing to divert the incoming tide of energy. Their army moved forward at an even greater speed, knowing that remaining in the influence of even the longer range form of the Dessicated Deeps ability would drain them of too much energy. Once they were closer the power would increase, but they would also be able to fight back.

Rather than coming upon a gate, they ran directly into a section of wall. However, to cultivators the important thing was the formations protecting such a wall. What was a ten meter high pile of brick and stone aside from a slight inconvenience? Certainly, where Augmentation cultivators were involved it didnt mean much.

Chidi could feel the flow of energy through the walls. The formations were fairly straightforward, but he sensed at least two separate styles. These formations were good enough to hold off a layperson for some time, or at least get them to exhaust their energy. However, it only took a few moments to find a line of intersection where the styles clashed.

Here! Chidi called out, slashing his sword in a cross pattern. He was unable to cut into the wall himself, but Ravina clearly understood along with others. The woman swept her spear from where she blocked for the army, driving it into the designated location and unraveling a core piece of the formation.

The formations had been less effective than the defenders might have wanted, but they still served their duty. That moment Ravina was distracted, the old man atop the walls attacked with a sharp line of energy, a jet of water that pierced into her shoulder. The injury itself was trivial but the wound began to leak energy like a sieve.

So that was what it could do at Augmentation. Chidi found it fascinating. And worrying.