When you were going up against enemy sects, making an entrance was important. It could really set the tone for how things would go in the future. There was some value to the spooky ghost approach, where one silently made several groups disappear, but that wouldn’t get across the point that the continent was trying to make.
So John was trying to think of things to say that didn’t make him sound lame, like a villain, or like a lame villain. ‘Grovel, worms!’ was no good. But ‘You dared to attack us again so now we’re going to kill you’ was far too wordy. John supposed he could prepare a proper speech, but that wouldn’t have the immediate impact he wanted. ‘You dare!’ was pretty overdone and rather empty. Also, less applicable now that they were on offense.
Maybe he should hire a speechwriter or something. He had literally no idea where to get one or if that was even a thing that people did in this world. Which indicated that more likely than not, they didn’t. After all, he’d been around for a century. There certainly wasn’t a widely developed field of such writers.
John supposed he did have some appropriate words for one person. Determining every sect’s involvement had been a bit of a pain, but the Stormy Sea Sect had certainly been one of them. As the closest location and the one with the most well known territory, they would be the initial target.
Their forces had already been spotted as the continental fleets made a direct approach, but so far they had been avoiding any sort of conflict. Then again, it was likely they were gathering their forces- as they should with the goal of the continental fleets being extremely clear.
-----
“Sect Head, a ship is approaching carrying a banner of peace.”
“Thank you,” John said. He had of course been aware of that particular ship for a while, but it was good to see that everyone was doing their jobs. “We will let them approach slightly closer and then I will fly out to meet them.”
“But what if-” the messenger stopped herself. “I am certain you know best.”
John simply nodded. If it was a trap, it wasn’t a very good one. He wouldn’t particularly have a reason to approach alone, and nobody on that ship was strong enough to matter. The one leading things appeared to have a mid Ascending Soul Phase cultivation, and most of the rest were far weaker.
Flying was good. It was an expression of freedom and power that John very much enjoyed. He’d been capable for some time, but he’d only gotten better over time. Small improvements to cultivation could make a big difference for such an ability. Of course, reaching the Exalted Soul Phase had been anything but a small step. Except in particularly desolate surroundings, John could maintain flight constantly if he wished. At the very least, he would not drain his stores of spiritual energy before he lost consciousness from simply being awake for too many days. He’d already proven he could fly at a fast pace for over a day at a time when he had to deal with the Mozdar clan.
The polite thing to do was wait for some sort of acknowledgement before landing on a ship. John wasn’t in a polite mood. He crashed down on the bow with just enough force to threaten tearing apart the enchanted wood. It didn’t appear the crew had been prepared for such a fast approach, but their leader at least reacted well.
“Greetings, mighty sect head,” a woman bowed formally. “We come with peaceful intentions.”
“Good,” John said. “Then you must have a prepared explanation for why the Stormy Sea Sect has violated the terms of our agreement.” He pulled out the treaty that had been signed at the end of the previous war. It was a nearly useless piece of paper, now, with them having openly violated it. Neither side would care about any further political justifications for what they might do. But it was still something.
“Regarding that,” the woman said hesitantly. “The Stormy Sea Sect thought it best to negotiate certain terms regarding our perceived violations. You see-”
“Unless you are in the middle of a civil war and a rogue faction is trying to have all of you wiped out, you have no excuses.”
“Actually-”
“But you seem to have prepared very significant forces on your island. And you are just trying to stall for time so they can finish gathering. Do you think we can’t spy the names of the very ships that assaulted us nested within your harbors?”
The woman’s eyes widened. “You can see that…?”
They couldn’t. Even John, focusing his best on his eyes, couldn’t magnify things that much. But he could guess. No, it was barely a guess. If his theoretical scenario had actually happened, they would have sent envoys to catch them much further afield- perhaps even reaching them before he arrived in the Gloom Desolation.
“Now then,” John said. “We are done here, I believe.”
The woman inclined her head. “We will return peacefully.”
“No,” John said to the woman’s shock. “You will surrender yourselves.”
“But the flag of peace-”
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“Only means something when it is in good faith. So you can allow yourself and your crew to be taken prisoner, or I can just slaughter you.”
His confidence sent ripples of concern throughout the ship. John was currently suppressing his cultivation so that he appeared closer to the peak of the Ascending Soul Phase, but even then it was a threat he could have easily followed through on. And his fleets weren’t far.
The elder bowed her head. “We will surrender ourselves.”
That was probably the best choice for her. Because John was fairly certain the rest of the crew wouldn’t have backed her up. A few of them had been trying to subtly assess the limits of his strength. Surely the news of him reaching the Exalted Soul Phase should have spread- but the Windswept Sea might not have confirmed it yet.
He wasn’t planning to conceal his cultivation much longer, though. Just half a day or so as they covered the remaining distance to the Stormy Sea Sect. Though perhaps they would take a short rest before covering the final dozen kilometers.
-----
It was far easier to parse an individual flying in the air than it was to see them standing on a ship- especially at a distance. That was why John rose above- along with a number of cultivators from the Sky Islands and other air cultivators capable of flying. Anyone air cultivator in the Ascending Soul Phase could, though whether that was their best option was a different matter.
As far as intimidation went, however, it made their fleets look larger. Though they already were quite significant, as they had a significant portion of all their vessels devoted to this task. They stretched beyond the horizon, at least to those at sea level.
“Ruha!” John’s words would carry across the whole island, reaching the various gathered fleets and land forces. “It appears you have grown tired of being alive. I am here to fix that little issue for you.”
This was the point John revealed his full cycle Exalted Phase cultivation, displaying the balanced power of six elements. Morale was very important in large battles. While weaker cultivators weren’t generally important, in sufficient numbers they still mattered. Especially against the weaker allies on the opposite side.
If they were a few seconds slow to reaching their positions because of fear, that could make a real difference. If they simply ran away? All the better. Because without that support, stronger cultivators would also find themselves faltering.
“So what if your cultivation has grown?” she responded. “Do not think I have been idle.”
Peak Ascending Soul Phase. It wasn’t bad, but… John wasn’t impressed. Simply put, he didn’t think she would have been a threat even if they were at the same cultivation… and he doubted she had the talent to properly advance to her current rank in the time given.
At no point did the continental forces slow their approach. John retained his position above the flagship as they continued forward. He had little better to do with his hands than to use the treaty as a prop once more. He appeared as if he were idly glancing at it. “You really should have paid better attention to the penalties for further warmongering. Especially the part where you die and your sect is destroyed.” John looked around at the various other sects gathered. “Don’t think that this doesn’t apply to you as well, Maelstrom sect.”
They might actually spare people that ran away. But that was only if they were willing to abandon all of the physical components of their sect. They might try to gather all their resources and flee, but there were limits to that. Buildings, training grounds, special regions… and if they carried many valuable resources on their persons it might not just be the continent that would hunt them down.
The sect head of the Maelstrom Sect was named Anthea, if John recalled correctly. They had never encountered each other, but some information had been gleaned from various captured individuals. That detail wasn’t something people should bother lying about.
She appeared neither young nor old. Being unfamiliar with her, John couldn’t tell if her peak Ascending Soul Phase cultivation had also been forced, or if it was legitimate. But it didn’t matter either way.
“Do not think-” she began.
But… John wasn’t interested in talking. He flicked a single throwing dagger at her. From his distance, it might be thought that it stood no chance of killing her. If anyone had bet on her survival… they would have merely been lucky. The earth and air infused dagger did fling her off their walls, but sadly she was sufficiently on guard to protect her vitals even against such a quick assault.
“Begin the assault!” John ordered. Not that there could have been any other follow up to his actions.
The Maelstrom Sect was known to be capable of creating great whirlpools and sinking ships. They could also drag in cultivators running atop the sea, though usually the latter were a bit more agile. Either way, such things could be countered by those who were prepared- and the Shimmering Islands certainly were. They had their own similar cultivators.
John moved forward slightly ahead of the others, at the head of a V formation- both above and below. Ursel was at the lead of those below. Her new suit of armor was no less functional than her previous one, just with a different elemental arrangement- and locked to her own will. That was one of the features that it had gained to make it more difficult for Aldara to destroy. Slightly more enchantments, instead of just relying on an extreme form of material to hold it together.
She shrugged off blows as she moved across the waves like a cannonball, Tirto and Verusha supporting her from behind. She wasn’t running, though. Just standing, until her platform got her in reach of a jump. Then she threw herself at the walls- while Carl attacked the island itself.
John slashed through the enchantments above the walls at the same moment as her impact, doubling down on breaking through. Ruha blocked his sword with her trident, waves surging over the walls around her, but they had already caused enough damage that the wall could be bypassed- over, under, or through. Normally there was a barrier preventing flight- at least to a certain height. It would recover… except it only had a limited capacity. Further attacks were striking the rest of the walls. Sky Islands cultivators had the power of earth behind them as they flew, and from the sea cannons and individual techniques bombarded the wider span of the defenses.
Anthea had righted herself and was trying to lead her sect in creating great whirlpools. The problem was that Carl was in the way of most of them. The leviathan kept growing. He was still only the tiniest fraction of his predecessor… but just because it wouldn’t take days to traverse him didn’t mean he wasn’t enormous.
Ruha looked at John with murder in her eyes. John couldn’t work up the effort to care about her, personally, to such an extent. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to return her efforts in kind.
