Chapter 597: Heroic Rescues at Monskon City

  When Ankrastor stumbled back through the gates of the city, covered in the blood of monsters, he had Goralians cheering for him on every side. It should have been the best day of his life, the culmination of everything he had been working for, yet all he could think was that it wasn't enough.

  He'd gone out to do his part, taking on the hordes that would have swept over Monskon City. It had been time to pull out all the tricks he had been saving, like the river of molten fire. When larger monsters had overcome those, he'd fought to his limits and beyond, stopping the tide. The armor Tori had worked so hard on had saved his life until it hung in tatters. And now, as he retreated to the defenses, he didn't think the city would survive.

  The biggest problem for him was the strange slime-like monsters, which his fire rolled off - they were slow, but he had no solution for when they reached the walls. As he walked back inside, he saw that the city was plagued by flying creatures, a step stronger than the normal monsters.

  Rallia was fighting atop the Hunter's Guild, taking down one of the flying monsters with each targeted arrow. But they were mobbing her, and Aglahai could barely keep them at bay - the old man was tough, but he was slowing down from his wounds.

  Where were the others? Ankrastor had come to know some of the other hunters who had defended Monskon City alongside him, even if they weren't at the same level. Unfortunately, it looked like they were fully occupied defending the walls, which were under assault at multiple points. It was just too much for them to keep up.

  If Kai returned, Ankrastor knew that it would be over in an instant. Part of him still hoped that they'd see that monstrous form show up to save them, yet he knew that the incursion was hitting everywhere at once and the chances weren't good.

  "Could you go back out there?"

  The abrupt voice made him jump and turn, shocked to see that Gunjin Granfian was standing nearby. He must have come through a portal, but either Ankrastor was too tired to notice or the old man was more subtle than he looked.

  "I have rejuvenation potions," Gunjin explained impatiently. "If I give you one, could you keep the horde back?"

  "The problem isn't stamina," Ankrastor answered tersely, and not entirely honestly. "I can't take out those slimes, no matter what I try."

  "Damn. This is going to be rough."

  "What's going on? Why is there such a large secondary wave?"

  "Kontlan City fell," Gunjin said grimly. "There was a city-destroyer we missed, a subtle one that melted their walls. It took all the elites we could spare to kill it, and meanwhile entire hordes merged. We sent them here, hoping that Monskon City could stop them..."

  "This is all we have." Ankrastor waved a hand over the grim defenders. "Don't you have anyone else? Can Kai spare the time to come here?"

  "We can barely keep up in Krysal as it is. No, you have to stop them here or it will get a lot worse for Goralia. Let me see these slimes."

  Ankrastor hadn't expected that, but at least he could help in one way. He vaulted up the stairs of the city wall, Gunjin following silently, and they found a good vantage point. There they saw the monsters pushing toward the gates, and it was what he feared: the defenders could kill most, but their Class abilities bounced off the slimes, which were forming a vanguard pushing toward the gates.

  "Alright." Gunjin rolled his neck to either side. "You and your friends will surpass me soon, but not everything I've tried failed. I can handle this."

  Was the old man actually going to fight instead of just teleporting and coordinating? Ankrastor knew that he actually had a fair amount of power, but everyone always treated him as a failed elite while simultaneously giving him an odd level of respect.

  In any case, Gunjin didn't throw himself into battle, he instead extended both arms and began summoning mana. Ankrastor could feel a rush of power that he associated with teleportation, but he didn't see the portals and didn't understand what was going on. Was this mere preparation?

  A group of rougher monsters that had been shielded by the slimes roared and charged at the gates, aiming to batter them down. Just before they arrived, green portals opened up in front of them and they vanished inside. Ankrastor was a little disappointed... and then he realized that the linked portals were emerald specks in the sky.

  The attacking monsters tumbled from above, falling faster and faster, gaining incredible speed before they struck the ground. Yet Gunjin had placed the height of his portals perfectly so that they fell on top of the slimes. Their ability to resist mana abilities clearly didn't extend to the impacts of monsters falling at such speeds, and the result was a messy explosion. When it was done, an entire wave of the monsters had been annihilated.

  All of the defenders cheered, but Ankrastor looked to Gunjin, and he saw that the old man was sweating and his fingers trembled. He'd been pushing himself throughout the incursion and there was clearly a limit to how much he could use portals in combat. This bought them time, but...

  "You have to handle the rest." Gunjin handed him a set of three slim potion vials. "If you don't stem the tide, Goralia is going to be the surprise victim of this incursion. I'll check with the others... but I don't know what else I can do for you."

  With that, he stepped off the wall, falling into one of his own portals. It sounded like they were on their own, and despite the recent turn in their favor, Ankrastor didn't like their odds. There were still a lot of monsters coming toward them, fresh against the weary defenders.

  At least he could do a little. Ankrastor drank one of the potions as he ran through Monskon City, using that renewal to burn some of the flying monsters out of the sky. When he reached the Hunter's Guild he offered the other two to Aglahai and Rallia - the old man accepted to heal his wounds, but Rallia insisted that the last one go to a younger hunter who had received serious wounds.

  "Gunjin says there might not be anyone else coming," Ankrastor said after finishing his terse explanation. "What do you think are our chances of holding?"

  "The question is whether we can finish off the flying ones." Rallia launched another arrow even as she spoke, impaling one more. "There aren't usually so many in the air, so our defenses aren't set up for it."

  "Let me take a hand, then."

  Ankrastor joined her in the aerial fight, bringing down as many as he could. Because he had strong melee skills as well, his presence defended Rallia, allowing Aglahai to go down to the gates. With a heavy hitter there, the defenders started to get the upper hand.

  Soon enough, the skies were beginning to empty of monsters. The horde had split up somewhat around the city, no longer attacking the gates so much. Other cities would have to deal with the remainder, but it looked like a manageable mass to Ankrastor. That had been their job... so why did Rallia look so unhappy?

  "Please tell me I'm seeing things," she said faintly.

  "What?" Ankrastor turned to look, at first seeing nothing but a stream of monsters. Nothing so large or dangerous, and fewer than before.

  And then he realized that she was looking higher up: there was a swarm of flying monsters following the main horde. That had to be double the numbers they had just struggled to fight off. Unless Ankrastor could stop them, they'd savage the walls, crippling their defense and letting even the remaining monsters destroy the gates.

  But what could he do? Even his largest wave of fire wouldn't reach that high, and he couldn't take down a swarm like that one at a time. Rallia had a few arrow tricks, but she didn't look confident either. It really seemed like, unless they got reinforcements, they were finished, and yet he knew that no one was coming.

  Maybe that was part of being a Goralian too. Some of the cowardly hunters began to lock themselves away, but Ankrastor stood with the others at the city walls as they faced the end of the horde that looked to be the end of them as well.

  Before it arrived, another portal flickered not far from them. Ankrastor turned, hoping for Kai, but it was a different muscular man... Lofgan Tonjin?

  "Lofgan?" Rallia frowned in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

  "Saving my home," Lofgan answered in a voice so quiet it was barely audible over the sounds of the battle. He turned away from the city to face the horde.

  At first Ankrastor had no idea what to expect - would Lofgan really jump down there and fight the horde himself? Yet he didn't seem to be looking down, instead focusing on the flying monsters. As he waited, Lofgan began to sway, whistling a low tune that was lost in the noises. Something was surging around him, not quite like anything they'd seen before.

  Then Ankrastor saw his soul and realized that he had underestimated the man.

  <

  Name: Lofgan Tonjin

  Total Power: 653

  Whistlewind Advanced Class: 6 (318)

  Waterborn: Oncedrowned (99)

  Physique Level: D-0 (200)

  Soul Level: 6 (36)

  >

  Lofgan raised a hand and brought a storm down from the sky, sweeping over the monstrous horde. Water battered them, but the true threat was the wind. Ankrastor saw one of the first flying monsters split in half, as if cut by invisible blades. And as Lofgan continued whistling, far more blades sliced through the air, devastating the incoming swarm.

  The defenders cheered and even Rallia clapped Lofgan on the shoulder. For his part, Ankrastor only breathed a sigh of relief and made a new commitment to himself.

  Even if Kai Clanless hadn't come on his own, he had trained someone else, part of the chain of Goralian hunters who defended one another. This time, Ankrastor had been the one saved, but in the future, he needed to do the same.

  Chapter 598: Through the Voidshell

  As she flew south, Zae Zin Nim knew that others were concerned for their lives, but her primary fear was that she would be disappointed. Many people did not understand the huge gulf of power between the average level on Deadwaste and her current strength, so a monster that was a threat to them might be trivial to her. If it wasn't strong enough to have a meaningful monster core, then she wouldn't have a proper gift for Kai, which was what really worried her.

  When she saw her target, those fears disappeared.

  The creature was roughly the size of a house, not nearly as large as some monsters, but what struck her was that it seemed invulnerable to the attacks coming from all sides. It was crawling toward the walls of Wontiir, one of their major bases for acid cultivators. Streams of acid poured over it and only dripped off a glossy dark shell. There were crystalliers flying around it, hurling crystal javelins that shattered harmlessly.

  All that saved them was the fact that the monster didn't move particularly quickly. Zae Zin Nim floated down to land beside the acid cultivators atop the walls. She waved a hand for them to stop and they looked toward her in relief.

  "What have you tried so far?" she asked them.

  "The Voidshell seems immune to everything," one of them told her. "Of course, we're limited to acid, but no one else has succeeded either."

  Now that the attacks had stopped, Zae Zin Nim could get a clear look at the Voidshell. It was reminded her of a snail with a nearly spherical shell, which was made of a glossy dark material. Unlike a snail, no head emerged from the front, only dozens of sinewy claws that dragged it forward. Just the feel of it was far stronger than the other monsters in the horde, which were mostly being killed around the base of the walls.

  "Zae Zin Nim!" The familiar voice proved to be Yurwa, who emerged from a lower level, waving to her urgently.

  "What is it?" Zae Zin Nim asked.

  "Not everyone can keep up," Yurwa told her in a low voice. "Unless you think you can defeat that thing immediately, some of the areas will be overrun. There could be serious losses..."

  "Evacuate them." Zae Zin Nim reached into her spatial bracelet and pulled out another Krysali ship. "Pull out anyone who can't keep up in this battle - take them north to help there. I'll handle this."

  "That is generous, but there are quite a few of us..."

  Zae Zin Nim's only response was to pull out another crystal ship, then another and another, until they stopped complaining. Some of the acid cultivators looked inept to her, but Yurwa could be trusted to follow instructions. The weaker fighters could clear out, letting her properly fight this monster one on one.

  It was getting close to the walls, so Zae Zin Nim leapt out to go face it. She drew back a hand and prepared an intense Coldfire Palm, with fully phased qi. Yurwa hadn't expected her to finish the battle instantly, but she intended to do her best.

  The palm of blue fire struck the dark shell... and was snuffed out.

  That made Zae Zin Nim raise her eyebrows in surprise. Even Sky Soul cultivators would have been shaken by such an attack, but the Voidshell had simply ignored it. The beast had only tilted back slightly... no, it had done that intentionally, turning the opening toward her.

  Claws lashed out, stretching many times the monster's body length to scratch at her. Zae Zin Nim was overly cautious at first, incinerating them with a Coldfire Corona, but the claws didn't seem particularly strong. She let one grasp her and she was able to tear out of the grip easily enough.

  If its shell deflected energy, the next thing to try was brute force. Zae Zin Nim dodged aside from all the grasping claws and flew down, landing beside the monster. Before it could redirect itself toward her, she thrust out her best palm strike.

  The blow resonated with the shell... but didn't break it, and didn't destroy any flesh within. Frowning, Zae Zin Nim turned her palm into a fist, then used the Pure Yin Shroud to punch the side of the shell with all the raw force she could muster.

  Now the Voidshell finally flew backward, thrown by her blow. Yet after sliding across the ground, it smoothly rotated back to the proper orientation so its claws could begin pulling it forward again. As far as she could tell, the shell had taken no damage from her strike.

  She frowned and went out to try again, testing the shell for weak points. The Voidshell slashed at her with numerous claws, but she easily dodged or destroyed them. Unfortunately, her blows were equally useless... they were at an impasse, unable to penetrate one another's defenses. Normally she might retreat to reconsider her options, but though the Voidshell's attacks weren't a threat to her, they could easily tear apart the acid cultivators and their fortress if it reached them.

  Obviously the remaining potential weak point was the hole in the shell, filled with slashing claws. Zae Zin Nim focused on it, fighting through the swarm and hurling qi and flame into the opening. No matter how many claws she destroyed, no matter how deeply she cast her flame, the Voidshell didn't stop.

  In fact, it wasn't trying to defend the opening at all, just using her attacks as an opportunity to target her. Maybe that would change if she plunged straight inside, but Zae Zin Nim wasn't so superior to this thing to take that risk. It was very possible that the shell itself was the source of its power, or the core inside was equally durable, so she wouldn't do that yet.

  Instead she flew back to the fortress, noting that many of the acid cultivators had wisely retreated in her vehicles. Those who remained were doing their best to keep up the fight against the other monsters at the walls, though they struggled.

  As she flew down, Zae Zin Nim annihilated all of them with a storm of qi, then landed with her arms folded in her sleeves. "Its defenses are strong," she said. "How are things here?"

  "We've sent away the weak," one acid cultivator reported, "but we don't want to lose this position, we're using it to defend three different city-states..."

  "You will not. If I do not find a solution, I can knock it away." Still, to be stymied against this glorified snail irritated her.

  As the Voidshell continued to crawl toward them, Zae Zin Nim began using various techniques she knew but hadn't polished. For example, she tried a Brightwind air burst as well as a flame burst from the Brightphoenix Sect. Perhaps a true use of the technique would be enough, but as far as she could tell, all energy dissipated against it.

  Actually, it occurred to her that matter wasn't negated: the Voidshell didn't damage the ground, weapons bounced off, and the acid dripped off instead of disappearing. Perhaps there was something to be done there...

  She shot upward, arcing into the clouds before coming down like a meteor. Zae Zin Nim destroyed a massive section of the ground and then shot her qi downward, carving out a larger hole beneath her foe. The Voidshell clawed at her as it tumbled in, but she struck it down to the bottom and then kicked the side of her new pit, triggering a landslide.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  That finally trapped the monster, but didn't stop it: dark claws began to emerge, pushing through the rubble to pull the Voidshell out of the hole. Irritating.

  "Acid could do it!"

  The unexpected voice was Gundle, his voice breaking but determined. Zae Zin Nim looked over and saw that Yurwa was still present as well - they were using the crown of Yul Wei Ren to fight on the wall and keep back the other monsters. Since they had made their decision, Zae Zin Nim flew over to hear what they had to say.

  "You believe a strong enough acid would damage the shell?" she asked. "Why?"

  "I've been watching," Gundle said defensively. "Qi is negated, but not the crystals or acid containing it. The crystals land, they just aren't sharp enough to break the shell. So if we can generate strong enough acid..."

  "I suppose it is worth a try. Yurwa, you take point, while the others should gather here..."

  Yurwa moved to the wall to hold off the monsters. She was a decent acid cultivator, but not fast or powerful enough to hold off the horde. However, thanks to the crown, when the monsters reached her they failed to damage her phased barrier. While she flinched a little at their strikes, Yurwa didn't let that stop her and continued to burn through them with waves of acid.

  Meanwhile, Gundle led the other acid cultivators in building a sphere of concentrated acid. Even though his soul was still too immature to do it himself, she recognized that he had been working on the technique he had used back in the Battle of Yulthens. It was, even to her high standards, actually becoming a sophisticated qi technique that concentrated acid in a potent sphere.

  However, the gap in power was simply too great: cultivators with a few hundred Power couldn't create any effect that would damage such a monster. Fortunately Zae Zin Nim was not completely inept with acid cultivation herself, so she stepped forward.

  Taking the sphere away from the formation, Zae Zin Nim began to intensify the acid within, using phased qi that would harm even a Sky Soul. It was half a cultivation technique and half essence, using her power to strengthen the potency of the acid until it was far more dangerous.

  As soon as she was done, she grasped the sphere in her qi and leapt overhead. The Voidshell had nearly clawed its way out of the pit when she hurled the acid sphere down.

  It definitely felt that impact, which slammed it back down in to the rubble. When the acid collided with the shell, it lost its compressed form and exploded into a small sea that completely filled the hole. They saw a few claws above the acid, but they fell underneath and the ripples stopped.

  "Did that... get it?" one of the acid cultivators asked. Gundle watched with a grim expression and shook his head a little after Zae Zin Nim realized.

  A claw burst from the acid and the Voidshell began to pull itself out... but it was not untouched. Its claws were ragged and damaged now, and it moved far slower than before. That dark shell, which had been so untouchable before, had lost its luster in places and even showed pitted areas.

  Zae Zin Nim soared toward it one more time, burning away the claws that reached for her. As soon as she arrived, she delivered all the force she could in a single hard strike, and this time she felt the shell crumble. She battered it over and over, cracking the shell and driving the monster back into the acid until at last she could reach inside.

  The search was disgusting, but in the end Zae Zin Nim pulled out a monster core, pulsing with new power. Around her, she saw that the assault on the fortress was faltering, and the stream of monsters approaching had become intermittent.

  Very good. She had acquired a suitable gift before the incursion ended.

  Chapter 599: Healing After the Hordes

  Technically there were still monsters roaming through Irun, but Omilaena could finally stop pretending to care about them. What was the point of going to so much effort strengthening soldiers if they couldn't take out some tedious monsters for her? The last time she'd needed to fight had been a big blob that resisted sword blows but not poison - no monster core she could find, unfortunately.

  With the dregs of the incursion being handled by others, Omilaena was free to switch to something more interesting: recovery. Now, in the aftermath there were a lot of annoyingly pleasant non-combat healers rushing out to help their loved ones, with all kinds of obnoxious reunions and protective instincts.

  Omilaena lacked those, almost entirely. Because she was working in Irun, however, she got to do some much more interesting work with bodies.

  For a while she'd been healing the average Irunians she'd been helping fight, which was relatively conventional. At least she got to see how well her various Physique models held up under practical terms. It wasn't as simple as raw Power, which should have been obvious but was still good to confirm. The Ironpath Physique was much more durable against certain kinds of injury, such as blades or claws, and weaker against spiritual or elemental attacks.

  Most healers considered this just another stage of the incursion, a grim ordeal of triage trying to save as many as possible. As far as Omilaena was concerned, this part was just a game to figure out the best paths for the future. Sure, she didn't want random Irunians to die, but the best thing she could do for them was find new answers.

  After some of that, Tusquo and Quinta showed up needing her attention, and Omilaena was happy to switch to more interesting bodies. They had apparently fought back some city-destroyers and needed her expertise, so they moved into a private room for her to examine them.

  "We've had fewer casualties than usual," Tusquo was saying as she examined his bare back. "Some of that is our alliances with healers, but I think a large part of it is the Ironpath Physique becoming mainstream."

  "What about loss of limbs?" Omilaena asked.

  "You'll have to ask further after the incursion ends, because many are still in critical condition. But I'm worried about blunt impacts, which is why I wanted you to look at my organs."

  Omilaena kept poking at his lower back, sending in tendrils of chakra to investigate. There was a nasty bruise where he'd taken a direct blow, and Tusquo sounded afraid that it had caused organ damage. Though she was no healing expert, Omilaena did know his Physique better than almost anyone, so she could investigate in a different way.

  "It feels like your liver took a hit," she said, "but I think what you're feeling is actually your Physique healing it. You might be tougher once it heals up, as your body is turning a little more steel."

  "Would that cause long term health problems?"

  "I'm fairly confident it won't, but you can check in with me later."

  Now that Tusquo had been checked, Omilaena turned toward his partner, who also stripped down to bare her back without any hesitation. Hmm, up close Omilaena could confirm that Quinta seemed to have naturally silver hair, which was an alluring thought. She glanced back to Tusquo's lean body and realized that Kai was right: they'd be very intense together, but it would work.

  "So what did you need me to check?" Omilaena asked, as if she was a professional who wasn't imagining her patients banging.

  "My breathing has sounded wrong since I took a blow to the chest," Quinta explained. "I'm concerned there may be fluid in my lungs, and that fluid..."

  "Could have changed due to your Physique? It's worth checking. Take a deep breath for me."

  Omilaena didn't use this model often, but she could create a simple disc that would magnify sounds. She placed one on Quinta's back over her lungs and listened to her breathing, which indeed sounded a little rattly. That was normally bad, but it didn't seem to be impeding her at all.

  "And you feel fine?" Omilaena asked, and got a quick nod. "I want to test something else: I'll need to take a little more of your blood."

  That proved to be about what she expected, not really useful. For her next experiment, Omilaena used a scalpel to cut across Quinta's arm, then watched the blood coagulate. Chakra began to flow into it and the blood turned more silvery - within a minute, the injury looked almost like someone had welded her skin together.

  "This deserves closer study," Omilaena announced, "but in the short term I think you can ignore it. These changes are just you shifting closer to metal, which has been done frequently on Rosemount without long term harm. For now, there are more urgent patients, and I know you have things to do."

  Tusquo nodded and pulled his shirt on again, moving away. Quinta, however, regarded her and frowned. "Would that lead to a loss of sensation?" she asked.

  It was oh so tempting to tease her about that, since Omilaena could imagine all kinds of reasons why Quinta might be asking. Since it had taken so much to earn even this much trust, Omilaena restrained herself.

  "That's typically considered a dead end," she explained. "You don't want your bodies to literally become metal, you want to be flesh that's spiritually akin to metal, actually stronger in some ways. I did my best with these Irunian Physiques, so I think you'll be fine. That said, some Physiques do have new weaknesses, so you're right to bring concerns to me."

  Once the two of them had left, no doubt to lead Irun very seriously in the aftermath, Omilaena was kicked back out into the general healing rooms. That was disappointing by comparison, but she made herself keep working for Kai's sake. And, if she was honest, for her own: going out of her way to help Irun had given her opportunities for experiments that she never would have gotten alone.

  The only bit of excitement was when an elite came in with Mariyay and Kifaela - Kai's students were heavily injured but triumphant, apparently having stood against part of the horde alongside the Irunian elites. Omilaena had never been as fond of the students, and their enthusiasm was too youthful for her taste, but as she inspected them, she reflected that they would be good opportunities for future work. Kai would eventually want them all to have unique Physiques, most likely, which could be fun for her.

  As for their injuries, those were more problems for potions than Omilaena's specialties. Fortunately, she still had some flasks from her work with Juray, so she could bring the two of them back to health without any permanent injuries, maybe even with a little boost. They'd be out of commission for a little while, sleeping off the potions, but at least they'd be useful in the future.

  "I could use you for something."

  The quiet voice proved to be Fornil Andalion - Omilaena had a bizarre non-relationship with the elite healer, because he had tried to save her life, then mostly avoided her afterward. At the moment, however, he simply looked tired.

  "What's the situation?" Omilaena asked as they stepped into a portal. The other side was deep inside the Frontier, in a fortress surrounded by a wasteland of monster corpses.

  "One of us fought a serpent monster and it delivered a deadly venom," Fornil explained as he escorted her past rooms filled with various patients. "So far it has been resistant to my attempts. I think it may be a sort of phased poison, so I thought you might-"

  "Create a phased antidote? Shouldn't be a problem."

  As they walked, Omilaena tried to take inventory of the injured elites. They always pushed themselves hard during incursions, which meant that they frequently ended with lots of severe injuries. Their goal was to push up to that line without experiencing deaths or permanent injuries, which meant that the aftermath was a critical time for future incursions.

  Fuck, were they going to pull her into that? Maybe the elites would have more interesting problems, but Omilaena could also see that becoming a draining obligation. Fornil was skilled, but he didn't seem like a man who had any fun, ever.

  When it came to the poisoned elite, that was a simple enough job, just requiring intense power. Omilaena started with the Prana Jewels, hoping that they might solve the problem instantly, but they almost immediately felt stretched to a breaking point when she tried to absorb the monster venom. Maybe it really was phased.

  She managed to absorb one drop for herself, then inspected another. The poison was deadly, but she'd worked a lot with Kai's manticore-derived poisons, so it was familiar. All she needed was time to generate an antidote and then concentrate it into a phased mode, which didn't require her full attention.

  "Do monsters frequently make use of phased threats?" she asked.

  "It's more ambiguous than with people." As he answered, Fornil slumped back against the wall, clearly needing a break from his work. "The stronger monsters definitely have the equivalent of phased strength and durability. When elites have tested the abyss, sometimes it has produced monsters with a full speed phase, which as you can imagine is devastating."

  "But you're saying they tend to strengthen across the board, like cultivators."

  Fornil grimaced. "Something like that."

  "What was that face?"

  "I have... studied a little of Cloudspire medicine, and I can't say I liked it. So much of their medicine seems to be based on models of how the body works that don't correlate to physical bodies."

  "Don't be so sure." Omilaena pulled a hand away from her antidote work to wag a finger at him. "If a cultivator continues for long enough, their body really does start to change, and ideal cultivators tend to match what their medical theory suggests."

  "And is this related to all your work with Physique?"

  Omilaena was glad to talk to him about that, since Fornil had an intricate knowledge of anatomy. She was almost irritated to finish and administer her antidote, but thankfully it worked immediately. That put Fornil in her debt, which she intended to use to get more information from him. Natural anatomical knowledge wasn't strictly necessary for Physique, but it was essential for quality, so he could be useful.

  Before they could really get into the conversation, however, they were interrupted by another elite teleporting in carrying three others, all heavily injured. Fornil leapt to his feet, rushing to help them. Omilaena was more concerned about what would have happened to injure so many elites this late in the incursion... especially as a second group came in, then a third.

  And then someone arrived carrying an elite who had been cut in half, already long past healing.

  Tedium evaporated as Omilaena shifted to her feet nervously, drawing needles without being sure quite why. Whatever this was, it wasn't the aftermath of the incursion.

  Chapter 600: Not the End

  Kai streaked across Krysal, eyes focused past the horizon on a destination he couldn't see. There were people slaughtering each other in Philaster and he didn't have any time to wait for elite teleporters, he needed to arrive now.

  His rush was made a bit more awkward by the fact that he was carrying Nirka along with him. It wasn't exactly a romantic pose, since she was wincing at the wind slamming into them. Just in case there was any confusion, Kai had shifted his arms and torso to his armored form, so her body was only pressing against the chitinous plates. Even if they had closed off that relationship between them, better to leave no ambiguity.

  At first he'd intended to just rush there and take care of things, but as the flight continued, Kai had to admit that he couldn't actually fly to Philaster instantly. There was no point traveling the entire way in silence, especially when Nirka might know more.

  "So how did you fall in with the rebels?" he eventually asked.

  "That part was easy." Nirka looked away and shrugged against him. "I was well-known in the revolution, you know, and I've been active afterward. I actually agree with them on some things. Too many crystalliers and merchants got to keep their power after the revolution."

  "But you don't agree with them enough to let them kill."

  "No, I realized we weren't the same fairly early. A lot of these people... some of them are hateful over what was done to them, but others... they were in different mines, some of which sound easy compared to mine. It's the wealthiest miners who are the most vicious, sometimes."

  "Vicious enough to slaughter the families of former crystalliers."

  "Right. That isn't the revolution I signed up for... I stayed and learned everything I could, but when I realized they were going to attack so soon after the incursion, I realized that I had to tell you." Nirka went on to explain how she'd made contact with the elites and gotten ahead of his path to intercept him.

  The conversation seemed to make her grow more relaxed, but Kai only grew tenser. The longer it had taken her, the longer the plot would have proceeded in her absence. While the crystalliers weren't defenseless, if this was really a vengeful mob, they'd probably be targeting the weak, like the children of noble families.

  He'd been convinced that the incursion would bring everyone together, and there were signs of that: ex-slaves and ex-crystalliers at the Frontier had fought together against monstrous hordes that didn't care about their class differences. But if a radical faction ended the incursion by bathing Philaster in blood, slaughtering innocents with no justification...

  Well, he had no idea how much more violence that would set off. Even if Kai stopped it, the new Krysal might be mortally wounded.

  When they finally came within sight of Philaster, his mind shifted entirely. Nirka pointed him toward the right district and then leapt away - just as well, since she should maintain plausible deniability. Kai let his senses sweep over the city, seeking the violence she described.

  He found it all too easily: there was a huge mob of men and women in slave tunics assaulting one of the noble districts. Some crystallier had built up a huge crystal shield in their path, but it was being battered down. On other streets he could see the remnants of similar shields, and there were dead bodies in a few places. It looked like children and other non-combatants had been pulled back, but the mob had them surrounded and was baying for blood.

  "Enough!" Kai landed on the side of a watchtower and shouted out to the crowd. But, for the first time, a Krysali mob ignored him.

  It was too late for words, he realized. These were deep hatreds that had been unleashed, trying to settle scores both old and new. Some of the people saw him, but they didn't care, they just wanted to take their revenge before someone stopped them.

  Kai sighed as he realized there was no choice: he dropped down to the street and unleashed Famished World.

  His power exploded in all directions, consuming the color of the world. The technique had been designed to overwhelm cultivators, so he was devastating to former miners with a little crystal cultivation. Crystals shattered, many went unconscious instantly, and others were driven to their knees. A great cry went up across the entire district and Kai knew that this might cause nightmares for years to come.

  But it stopped the mob. He hated to do it this way, but he didn't see any choice.

  The defenders looked as though they might have been willing to strike back, but they were too terrified to take action. Kai maintained Famished World until he saw the authorities of the city beginning to arrive: normal soldiers and hunters who had previously been too preoccupied with the incursion to take action.

  Some of them approached him, but Kai merely shook his head and gestured for them to work. He had already taken a step he could never take back, by crushing the faction's attempt at revenge, so he didn't want to become any further entangled in politics. The local forces arrested some of the mob's ringleaders, but they let many of the average people go.

  As the authorities did their work, Kai found himself retreating, strangely exhausted. It wasn't his physical condition for once - if anything, he had too much restless energy now. He just didn't want to watch this secondary revolution be taken down and have to think about whether any of this mattered.

  So instead he retreated to the Acidarium of Philaster, since it seemed to be a relatively neutral location. He distracted himself temporarily by sitting beside one of the acid pools and considering his condition: he had drained some qi with his hard use of Thunderbird's Wings, and Famished World used a bit more, but both of those were being restored rapidly. At this point the only thing he needed to be in top shape was a night of sleep.

  Well, maybe an entire day in bed with Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena, not just sleeping. Even talking with the two of them sounded like paradise compared to this, but they had their own concerns after the monster incursion.

  His meandering thoughts were interrupted by an old woman approaching - an acid cultivator, but there was something familiar about her. Kai realized that he had actually spoken with her in the the very first acid pits of N District. She was more hunched and wrinkled than before, but at her age, surviving the revolution, seven years, and an incursion was impressive.

  "You look unhappy for a man who just stopped a slaughter," the old woman said.

  "I only stopped it today," Kai said heavily. "The hatreds of the revolution aren't over. Some of the former slaves are trying to make Krysal better, but some are becoming new masters. If I have to maintain peace by raw power... have I accomplished anything at all?"

  To his surprise, the old woman clucked her tongue at him. With her standing and Kai seated, her eyes were lower than his, but she still managed to give the sense of looking down at him. Bizarrely, for the first time in ages, he felt a flicker of shame.

  "Kai Clanless... I was born in the acid pits, destined to spend my entire life slaving away." The old woman coughed briefly, but it was nothing like the hacking spasms he remembered. "I may still be sick, but my children were able to heal the damage done by the acid, my grandchildren are growing up healthy, and my great-grandchildren may help lead Krysal."

  "I guess I spoke too-" Kai cut off when she swatted him, her hand almost as fragile as paper.

  "I'm not reprimanding you, young man. I just wanted to remind you that you changed everything for us. The new Krysal isn't a paradise? Of course it isn't. Anyone who demanded you create one is being silly, you just need to leave the world better than you left it. You freed Krysal, and now you brought it through the incursion... don't convince yourself that doesn't matter."

  "Thank you for the reminder." Kai smiled as he focused on her, realizing how little he'd actually come to know her. "How have you been? You said they were able to do something about the damage to your body?"

  "Just a little." The old woman sat down beside him with excruciating slowness, her body straining even with the simple motion. "I am a very old woman, Kai Clanless. I don't expect to live to see another incursion, and that doesn't bother me. I get to pass away in a house my children own, watching my grandchildren play free. This life was enough."

  That was a healthier attitude, but Kai still found himself wondering what would come of Krysal in the future. He had been granted more power, and had taken more responsibility, so he still had a commitment to the nation as it went forward. Depending on his travels, he realized this might be the last time he got a chance to speak to the old woman.

  Part of him wanted to introduce himself properly, to meet her whole family and ask her for what wisdom she had to offer. But first he just sat there with her, staring at the pool of acid that now carried such different meanings. The time for talk would come later.

  Except it didn't come at all: he felt a surge of mana as elites arrived.

  "Report on the abyss," Plinkesa said as she slithered into the chamber. She bowed her head slightly to the old woman, who just waved her off and kept staring, too old to be bothered by strange snake ladies. "I've been monitoring the anomaly we looked at before."

  "And?" Kai asked.

  "That source of power? It started to fade at the end, and it was completely gone before the last monsters crawled out of the hole. A few of us took precautions and went to look, even explored a little, but there was no danger. Not like before."

  "So it only appears during the incursion. That makes sense, I guess."

  "Maybe. Even between incursions, the abyss can still cause trouble, so it isn't all clear." Plinkesa continued to tell him about their explorations as they headed out, back into Philaster. It seemed some of the others had carried out experiments of their own, confirming that there was some sort of aggressively fatal phenomenon related to the soul and monstrous essence.

  What it all meant, they still weren't sure. Kai was strangely encouraged that his little experiment hadn't been brushed aside as a needless risk: Plinkesa and some of the other elites seemed to view understanding the whole process as key. It really did feel like they had more facts that before, perhaps enough to begin to come to grips with the whole phenomenon.

  Now that the incursion was over and they had time to think, Kai was eager to experiment further. Exploring deeper into the abyss might be useful, now that he was stronger and had more allies. The real test would be during the next incursion: could he try to isolate the power that the god-like beings had fought over and take it for himself? The exceptional version might be beyond him, but the energy produced by a normal incursion might be within his grasp.

  Just as he started to get engaged with all of that, another portal appeared beside them. Kai turned, smiling expecting to see one of his wives, and instead discovered Gunjin scowling as if the incursion hadn't ended.

  "We have a problem," the old man said. "And, as much as I hate to say it, this could be worse than the incursion."

  https://www.audible.com/pd/B0GLR2GWKW