Chapter 895
In time, Anton arrived at his destination vague as it was. Generally north of the Trigold Clusters lower realms operations was a large area. Not only did they cover at least a dozen systems in width, but they werent oriented along a single flat plane. Some of their systems were placed higher and lower in the galactic plane, which could be hundreds of systems deep.
That left Anton with a very large area to cover as he attempted to find something. Hed come on a hunch, presuming something was passing between the upper and lower realms. But from where and to where? If they hooked around further to the east or west than he imagined, he might miss them entirely.
But he couldnt search everywhere. Instead, he focused on what made the most sense. Direct routes to and from planets in the lower realms. They had more certain knowledge of the various locations and what was occupied with regards to the lower realms. They were able to actually track the locations of stars within the upper realms. Hed probably been cataloging them back when he was stargazing with Vandale. Their orbits were known.
Occupation was a bit more difficult to discern, and spy networks in the upper realms were slow to build. Though all they had to do was come across an archive with poor security, despite the intentions to obfuscate everything about themselves in the Trigold Cluster. It was even to the point of detriment to their common citizens, it seemed.
In the lower realms, however, their planets were measured in the dozens- and they were less populated. Even their core worlds couldnt rival those of the Lower Realms Alliance. Assuming logical paths between them, Anton could pick out only a few hundred systems they could be shipping things through.
Which was still quite a few. He was hoping that he might be able to pick things up from adjacent systems, cutting down his exploration distance to a third or less. Or maybe hed underestimated the scope of the project and shouldnt be undertaking it himself. He wondered if he could at least replace old stars as he was going. That was an iffy topic, because he wouldnt be physically co-located with a single star for long.
But so what? His connection with his current stars transcended distance. It was worth a try, expanding his abilities. But if he was going to pick one, he wanted something central. The best candidate was a blue supergiant, vaguely in the center of his chosen cluster. No more than a handful of lightyears off, anyway. No doubt it had several names depending on who you asked, but Anton was going to call it Naewu as it was only numbered in the Lower Realms Alliance database. After all, it wasnt near enough to matter, and it wasnt even adjacent to their territory.
This was the second star of the sort he would bind to, the first being the star shared by Tenouna and Shrenn, and now their expanded territories. Both were massive, tens of times that of Ceretos star and similarly larger in radius. But that extra mass made them smaller and hotter than stars like Akrys, a red supergiant that had expanded and cooled somewhat.
His first step was to free up space, carving away one of his old stars. That came with a very slight drop in power, but only one noticeable if he was fighting in the Life Transformation range. Since reaching Enrichment he was above that strength even away from his bound stars, so it was mostly irrelevant on its own.
Anton split his attention between the world around him- focusing on the nearby stars and anything that might be passing by- and Naewu, his target star. In the former, he was looking for signs of civilization. Outposts, old and new, or actual occupation. Given the information from interrogations, there shouldnt be anything large enough to be in the general consciousness, but that didnt meant there wouldnt be small bases.
As for Naewu, he was focusing on what he felt of it. Even at a great distance, he could see it and feel its energy. It was faint, but strong.
The day finally came where Varghese no longer had to speculate about their plans. Instead, he saw them enacted as he sat within the safety of an allied base while at the same time enemy ships entered the system where Egnos stood.
They were sufficient in number- some two hundred easily- that Varghese was willing to reveal the whole extent of his reach. Except instead of passing by the central star towards Egnos, they spread far around it towards one of the other two in the system- one of the pair of red stars.
There was nothing Varghese could do but watch. He thought that perhaps with more experience he could bind the star from his current location, or by extending himself through the local star- but he reached out and felt only the vaguest of connections, insufficient to manage anything in a short time period. Even if he managed to bind to the star, was he willing to do so just as they destroyed another one?
Except this time was different. It was a smaller star, and rather than approaching they fanned out around it. Varghese felt a change in the flow of natural energy. Together, the hundreds of ships arranged a formation that began to pull apart the small star. Varghese was fairly sure it would only work on red dwarfs such as the one they were after, but it still concerned him greatly.
The red dwarf began to vibrate, and then lengthen. Finally, it began to stretch, the formation of ships extending with it until it was more ovoid. That entire process took about an hour, but it sped up rapidly after that- soon it was twice again as long and Varghese could tell what the plan was, as it pointed towards the central star he was bound to.
There was something more, other than trying to crash the stars together. Some disturbances of energy. Varghese wasnt quite sure what, but he steeled himself. Whatever they were doing, he didnt want it. But he was too far to show up in person, so he could only maneuver the star to defend itself.
As the red dwarf stretched into a spearlike shape, it began to be pulled in by the central star- and in turn, that pulled the far end of it. Varghese felt the impact, a great power causing turbulence within the star he was bound to. He could handle it if it was just that, but the ships formed around the star, another set of formations they carried activating.
That was when he properly felt it, a pulse of energy going through his bound star which was already destabilized by the other one piercing into it. That pulse was much more than a simple nudge. Instead, it made him tremble and feel violently sick, as his own connection was exploited to reach out towards his other bound stars. Including Inistra.
Varghese clenched his teeth to the point they began to crack- but the pain didnt even register. He lashed out at the ships, cautious to the point they were even beyond what he felt his limits were. But if he focused on one at a time, he could reach them with a focused beam of light. Yet he couldnt simply fight back, as Inistras star was groaning in sympathetic pain along with his others. He felt himself being torn apart, not just once but in many places.
Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. First Azun, then Inistra, and finally Poriza. All of which were local to him and all of which he shared with Anton. Varghese let out a strained laugh of relief. Even hundreds of lightyears away, his master would come to his rescue.
Not that he was out of danger yet. Egnos star was still in a wild state, and it could easily still collapse. He wasnt certain he could handle two bound stars in as many decades being destroyed, either on an emotional level or as a cultivator. The second wound was bound to be worse than the first. And he had to stop the fleet. His resolve was strengthened as he handed over the safety of his home system entirely to the hands of Anton, and focused entirely on one.
