The Attack

  The advance warning ended up not being that much advanced at all. Zacharia had apparently followed the enemy force through the Ethereal, and had sent word the moment he arrived in the Real Realm, but the time dilation between the two Realms hadn’t worked in their favor.

  Selia tried to contact Ryun and Erdania, but was unable to. She could feel them, and she felt like they were engaged in combat themselves. That made her suspect that this was coordinated, though she didn’t know how they timed it with the difference between Realms. Probably some Exalted Empire technology.

  She worried a little bit, but she also trusted them and didn’t want to distract them. If they knew that she was in danger, it might’ve thrown them off enough to actually put them in real danger.

  Though, how much danger she was really in was… debatable.

  She stood on top of an airship, two dozen Sect warriors standing all around her, their weapons ready and Qi cycling. Another four airships held position around hers, and there were several hundred more sect warriors on the ground. This was not the force dealing with the assault.

  No, they were here to protect Selia. She could order them away, of course, but being a leader was about more than just giving orders. It was knowing which orders would be followed.

  Erdania and Ryun had made it clear to everyone in the sect that nothing was going to happen to her. And well, there were two of them.

  Not that she believed that it was just the threat of what they would do if something did happen to her, she knew that the people in the sect loved her and respected her. She knew that she had their loyalty and that many would die to protect her. It was her job to honor that sentiment. So she stood on the prow of the airship and watched the battle taking place from a distance.

  But knowing all of that didn’t mean that she couldn’t feel a certain type of way.

  “I don’t need a minder,” Selia said, her eyes focused on the portal just outside of Consequence walls, and the enemy force spilling through.

  “It is not about minding you,” Reki said from his spot just next to her. “You are our Sect Leader, it’s our duty to keep you safe.”

  “I could crush that invasion all by myself, I don’t need keeping safe.”

  “The sect can as well,” Reki added. “We can’t always rely on you to fight all of our battles.”

  “So why are you here and not down there then?” Selia turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

  “Uh,” Reki shuffled his feet. “I’m letting our warriors test themselves.”

  “Why aren’t you down there then?” Selia asked.

  “Eari can take care of it,” Reki answered.

  Selia turned her head back to the battle beneath and found the man in question. Eari stood on the Consequence walls giving orders. The defenses built into the walls were firing at the portal, while a sphere of energy hovered over the portal, protecting the invading forces as they crossed over.

  The first wave was shades and spirits wearing skreen vessels. Distorted according to their nature, they looked like a chaotic bunch.

  “You should be on the front,” Selia said. “Both of you.”

  “We did our part, Sect Leader Anrosh wanted us back here,” Reki told her.

  Selia tried really hard not to let it bother her. She knew that it was probably Ryun and Erdania’s doing, that they’ve asked Anrosh to send the two of them back to keep an eye on her. There was no other reason for them to be here, not when they were some of the strongest warriors their sect had. Though, as it turned out, there was something for them to do.

  She turned her attention to the invasion down below.

  For now, the enemy sat behind the protective shield, unwilling to cross over into the constant stream of fire thrown from the walls. Then, a massive skreen-spirit crossed over. It’s carapace was crimson and wreathed in orange flames.

  Selia’s eyes were active, seeking insight and seeing deeper than most ever could see. Her Ruler’s Eyes: Eyes of True Insight were a gift from Ryun, what she had gained when she first took the Legacy of Laqruud, what first put her down the path she now walked.

  Her eyes saw the deepest part of every spirit or shade that walked through that portal. She saw the fire spirit and knew it was filled with rage, an anger that defined its existence. It wasn’t here for any kind of a reward; it was here only to destroy. It was an intelligent being, but a spirit didn’t think the same way a chosen did. It had been guided and manipulated, and some parts of it knew that, but it didn’t care.

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  The spirit stepped out of the protective sphere and unleashed a wave of fire that swallowed up the attacks from her walls, then the flames washed up against the wall itself. The intensity of the flames was impressive; the spirit was very powerful. More powerful than most High Rankers Selia knew.

  For a moment she almost interfered, but then formations blossomed on the walls; her people acted in time. A wave of Essence rippled out of the walls, Void primarily, enhanced with some aspects of the End by Ryun. The flames were swallowed up, turned to nothingness. The defenses were designed by Vryull and Valthua. Ryun’s contribution was minor, just an imprint on the formation that enhanced it, but the result was apparent.

  The ground in front of the wall was turned to molten glass, the air had been burned up and a vacuum created that quickly drew back the air with a force that caused a large thunder.

  The defenders might’ve turned back the attack, but the destruction of the wall wasn’t its apparent use. Under the cover of the attack, shades and spirits had advanced, split off, and gotten out of the protective sphere.

  Selia saw some take to the sky, others dashed for the countryside outside of the city. And some started attacking the wall from different sides, spreading around it and splitting the defenders’ attention.

  Selia grimaced, she could’ve nuked that portal to oblivion the moment it opened. Hell, the others probably could’ve too. They should’ve done that, the only thing that stopped them was the strange readings that the portal gave off, which were probably just some bullshit empire tech that kept the portal open, and the sentiment of her people.

  They wanted to prove themselves; they wanted to redeem themselves for the attack they had missed. The arrogance of cultivators, she understood it well. It was a risk, it was dangerous, but this was how they advanced. How they grew strong.

  Selia didn’t move, despite seeing her people struggle for a bit. The shades were powerful, old, even if their power was simple. A shade was rarely anyone who had gotten far in life; people who had climbed and gotten power made their way to the afterlives with greater ease. But these shades were obviously old, each of their simple attacks struck with the power of someone near the peak of their focus.

  The battle spread, and she kept watch, her eyes scanning and looking for any outliers, anyone powerful enough to be a real threat.

  Insights in the shades were the ones that stuck the most to her. She knew who and what they were. A mother that died fighting to keep her children safe, then losing herself in the Ethereal. Wandering for centuries, looking for her children and not even realizing she was dead. The empire had promised her her children. Her stay in the Ethereal had washed away the kind woman she used to be, left only scars on her Soul that had hardened her into a being that killed everything in her way.

  Her power was over the Air; she summoned the wind, her power so great that a tornado formed nearly instantly.

  This was the first time Selia had the chance to actually watch a shade in action. She had only encountered one a handful of times in her life, long before she was what she was now.

  She could feel the shade tap into the plane of her Aspect, not like how a Cultivator usually does, but far more forceful. It was like she was closer to her Aspect than anyone on the equivalent tier of power should be. It was not understanding as she knew it, it was a taking, a violent rip through the planes.

  For a moment, the tornado hit the defenses of the wall and for a moment nearly overwhelmed them. Until a group on the wall unleashed their techniques. Qi shaped walls sprung around the tornado, techniques from the Path of the Unbreakable Wall, stifling the air and cutting off the tornado’s power.

  The same happened all over the battlefield, the shades and spirits pushed forward, but quickly her people pushed back, making her proud.

  Seeing how well they were doing made her feel better about not acting herself. It was good for them to fight, to test their strength and know that they could fight and protect what they loved.

  But, she still kept her eye on everything, still using her eyes to search for greater threats amongst the invaders. Her authority spread outward, touching every person around her. Each of them had a Legacy even if they didn’t know it. They carried the legacies of those that came before them, their family, or they wished to leave one behind them. It was a small thing, an ember that could be ignited like the great mountains of Laqruud.

  Everyone wanted to create something, and she had authority over such things. She didn’t exert her authority, but she kept it in the background, ready to act in a moment.

  The insights from the shades made her sad; not one of them had anything but a tragic path. All had regrets, all had lost their lives and then lost their chance at an afterlife. All were lost in their sorrow.

  She didn’t want to help, but she couldn’t help herself. She pulled out her awakened object, Acceptance, and slid her mask over her face. She felt Reki and the others around her shift at that; they were familiar with it and what it did.

  She doubted that her people would begrudge her this. She saw the faint lines blossom out of the shades. Their sorrow, their pain, their regrets. All of them were barely there, some just swaying in the air, telling her that the sources of those emotions were no longer in this plane, that the shades would never get the chance for a confrontation.

  Other lines were taut, telling her that their targets were still alive, still here on this plane. Though such connections were few. She used Soothe Pain, affecting and lessening the pain of the shades. It was too much; it had built up over a long time of their lives in the Ethereal, but it did have an effect. All over the battlefield the shades faltered.

  Perhaps she could offer some relief, here and now, at their end.

  As more shades came through the portal, she continued to reach out to them with her mask, soothing and pulling their pain and sorrow into it.

  Then, a new line appeared, and she froze. A line formed from the portal and lanced straight across the battlefield to her. Confused, she frowned, her eyes looking and finding the shade on the other end. Her eyes saw a deep sorrow, a need, a desire, a familiar Soul.

  Shock ran through her, her authority trembled and everyone on the field her authority touched felt it.

  “Selia? What—” Reki started, but she ignored him.

  Her Qi flared and she moved, heading down. She punched through the barrier over the portal, barely even noticing it, and dropped down among the shades, her eyes landing on the one that was familiar.