Chapter 662
It had been three days since Anzela handed herself over for her husband. Rikuto was going to be so mad at her, but she couldnt help herself. It was foolish, of course, to listen to the words of enemies rather than a trusted associate. Perhaps some of it had been Antons callous suggestion- destroying the entire system. Whether or not the planets themselves were destroyed physically or with massive amounts of radiation or technically unscathed, Anzela knew that a destruction of the sun would end the system. Not even cultivators could live for long in a system without a sun.
And yet, Anzela didnt care about anyone from Ekict. The only one she cared about was her husband Rikuto. He couldnt be die. He couldnt be dead. But logically, he was. Anton knew that, and had told her. And now she was going to die for nothing. She couldnt say she didnt deserve it.
Three days and some smaller amounts of time that she knew intimately but were not relevant at the moment, three days locked up in a dark cell. No food or water. She felt herself begin to grow weaker, but her body would hold on for a while yet. Now that she had regained a sense of clarity, the bigger problem was the shackles binding her. It was very uncomfortable to find out how effective the shackles Ekict had were. Even an Assimilation cultivator could not break out, though Anzela found herself barely qualified in that respect.
The reason they wanted and needed such restraints was speculation, but relatively well founded. Which meant that in addition to likely not saving her husband, she was going to make the enemy stronger. At best, she would just die. Stupid. Reckless. She should have just accepted the obvious truth.
So, what could she do? Breaking the shackles was out. Breaking her own wrists probably no good. Shed felt how the shackles had tightened snugly, so she probably couldnt slip her hands out. And her feet would be several steps more difficult. She probably didnt have the strength to overcome her physical durability. How ironic.
So the weight of the shackles held her down physically and metaphysically. There was something familiar about the latter part, which made her understand why she was here. Similar abilities, she imagined.
She shouldnt have been here. This was a foolish mistake. Too careless. It really wasnt like her, even in a state of emotional distress. Perhaps perhaps it hadnt been her at all. No, she understood that ultimately she still made the fateful choice. But after several days alone, was she shaking off some sort of mental influence? Had this affected others? How had Anton not noticed?
She shook her head, sending a pulse of pain through her skull as she was reminded of her dehydration. It wasnt his fault. He warned her she would not get what she wanted, but she didnt listen. Was it his job to stop her? Even if he failed to recognize mental influence, he was just one person among many.
How do you get out of here? she muttered to herself. Actually speaking plans aloud was dangerous, as they might be overheard. But hearing anything was useful.
She imagined her husband responding to her. This was neither illusion nor reality, but simply wish fulfillment. Youre clever. Youll figure it out, he would say.
Support was nice, but she wished imagination Rikuto would be more practical. But he couldnt tell her what she didnt know. I cant move my body nor access my energy.
Not now, he conceded. But wont you be able to? This is just a prison. Eventually, youll be taken away.
Right she muttered. Ill wait.
She tried not to focus on her acute awareness of time passing, and instead meditated to limit how much her body needed. Her breath slowed, to save on water lost through respiration. Her thoughts slowed, since she couldnt plan for anything.
Anzela bet on blood. Just a dollop, and a burst of energy. She ultimately had no idea if that was how it was supposed to work but it certainly did something. Immediately, something ate one of the disciples hearts, and from the sound of it part of the inside of her ribcage. Sharp blades came towards Anzela, who was dodging their trajectories before they even entered the local plane.
Shed accidentally summoned one of these things once. That was enough for her to understand the danger. But it had also drawn her more towards the mysteries of space. Weos star had stronger distortions on space and gravity than its size and mass should suggest, and the way they developed their ring ships also spoke to the same principles. Understanding how to use all of their abilities without causing something like this was important. Until it came time for destruction. Then, she didnt care.
She wanted to live, but if she didnt she was going to make sure she caused as much damage as possible on the way out. She charged towards the stair climbing disciples, dodging the attacks reaching for her through space. She also dodged teeth, bone spurs, and all sorts of horrid things she didnt want to think about. At least this one seemed to be small, or this whole place would be rubble already. A few people were torn apart by the distortion beast, a few were killed by Anzela punching their brains directly.
Stop! the command came. It forced her to halt, if just for a moment. If she didnt have an ally, that would have been disastrous. A few of the disciples were in Life Transformation, and there was a woman at the very peak who seemed particularly dangerous among the crowd. If she hadnt been dealing with something trying to eat her, at least. You will- argh!
She would argh indeed. Anzela hoped that was the man getting half his face bitten off or melted, but she didnt check before she leapt over the railing down towards him. She could have teleported, but that was a much more expensive and currently very dangerous option. A kick hit her in the ribs, sending her off course and breaking one or two but she landed only two paces away from the man. He was flailing about despite not having any obvious distortion beast injuries. As the only non spatial practitioner, he was likely the safest person present. From the distortion beast.
Anzela lunged forward, wishing she had a weapon. Blade, spear gun. But it seemed this sect either fought without weapons, or had forgone bringing them along to this ritual. Her fist struck out, and the man blocked. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, defensive energy bolstering it. So was he not from this sect after all? Well, it hardly mattered. His chest crumpled anyway.
But Anzela didnt stop there. She stabbed a finger towards his gut. It didnt matter that the man was likely dying, he didnt deserve to have Rikutos energy. She tore him apart, shredding his dantian and spilling natural energy everywhere.
The chaos of combat continued, but Anzela had already won. She could gladly accept death. But she didnt have to. As the distortion beast bit at her neck, she slammed a fist into its jaw. Reading the entirety of how such a thing was arranged hurt her brain more than a little bit, but general things such as the thinnest points around her where it could reach through to her and her to it that was much simpler.
The woman who might have been slated to receive Anzelas cultivation was still in a better state than her, and she didnt fail to take the openings Anzela left. This time, something hit the side of her knee, nearly shattering it. A true warrior, then. Anzela could fight, but killing those above her own cultivation level was a pipe dream. Sure, it was carelessness that shed been so easily injured by someone nominally weaker than her- though she was alone against many- but she knew she would never affect the course of a war alone.
Then Anzela sensed nothing and saw many things. A black mass. Not a distortion beast hiding behind space itself, but instead familiar allies. She wasnt alone. And shed much rather count a bunch of void ants as an ally rather than a distortion beast. She only briefly wondered how theyd gotten here- but she realized the truth. Theyd been with her all along and then on the man with her husbands cultivation. They hadnt killed him, but theyd certainly limited him.
The sect woman spotted the void ant as well, and recognized their danger. She stomped towards them, intending to crush them. That was a terrible choice. It was entirely possible to crush void ants, but she didnt do it directly. Instead, she performed the attack from a distance. As soon as her spatial energy crossed the gap to them, they tore it apart. The woman was lucky not to lose her leg. Or at least not all of it. The distortion beast seemed to find that an opportune time to take a little nibble.
Realizing the severity of the situation, the woman began to flee up the stairs. Anzela would get her eventually, but for the moment.
Any of you guys have experience fighting a distortion beast? she called towards the ants. They rolled towards her in a ball, alighting on her outstretched hand. She saw a whole lot of sign language, before a single spokesperson came to the forefront. Sorry, Im kind of rusty, she admitted. Can you follow my lead? They agreed. Alright. Ill show you where to bite.
She was going to get out of this so that she could apologize to her husband. And then to Anton, because hed been looking after her- and everyone else- the whole time.
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