If anyone could take care of a quarter system's worth of the Swirling Swarm in a number of minutes, they might be able to save the final Shimmering Spears planet. Obviously Sect Head Kuzman didn't have the capabilities- holding his own at the head of the local defenses was already impressive enough as an Augmentation cultivator. Ratna in the guise of Vlasta certainly couldn't, especially if she was to keep her actual status a mystery.

Prospero was the most capable of such large activities, but the Domination energy mixed into the swarm was limiting him. Saying they were Domination cultivators was a bit depressing, so he wouldn't. There were just some particularly volatile sections strewn throughout their forces… or so he was choosing to consider it. Of course, that didn't change the seriousness with which he had to take the battle. He was focusing all his energy raining falling stars among their ranks, annihilating one after another. Targeting individuals as he picked them out required him to build up more momentum, orbiting Falling Stars around him until they approached the limits of his control.

As Prospero fought, he circled around the planet, drawing the Swirling Swarm after him. It was for his own defense, but it also happened to serve the safety of the planet. If most of them were focused on him, they were wasting their effort chasing him. Except for the Domination cultivators. Every once in a while, a few got too close. Prospero had a few moments where a club was suddenly coming towards his head, and one time he only managed to get away by detonating a falling star between himself and the transitory Domination cultivator, pushing them apart.

Prospero might run low on energy. In that case, he might have to abandon the fight. If these were members of the Alliance with which they had a formal agreement, he would fight harder- and he would be able to fight better. But the Alliance wasn't entirely selfless, and neither was Prospero. Dying for a random system of those that were technically his enemies… he wasn't that good of a person.

The final planet was reached. It was fortunate, in a way, that the capital planet happened to be at the far part of its cycle compared to the entry point of the Swirling Swarm. However, a few more minutes to prepare wouldn't save them. How regretful. Prospero thought that Kuzman was taking things exceptionally well, though he wondered why a less populated planet was important enough for the Sect Head to lead its defense.

Then the season changed. A meaningless concept outside of the atmosphere of a planet. Even so, Prospero had the distinct feeling of summer. Summer brought with it warmth. It was comforting.

At least, for allies. Prospero also felt the reactions of the Swirling Swarm, and they were not comforted. Instead, they were immediately oppressed by a desert sun, hot and oppressive.

Domination. Yet the aura of the Shimmering Spears.

Prospero smirked. No wonder Kuzman hadn't been too concerned. To think the sect was hiding a Domination cultivator. And maybe the Sect Head- or perhaps acting sect head- would reach that stage soon enough himself, with the guidance of this mysterious elder.

A single stab annihilated nearly a quarter of a fleet. Prospero could tell that this Domination cultivator had longer to grow than himself- at the scale of Domination, Prospero was fairly new.

Fall. For Prospero it was the gentle breeze upon which leaves blew. The winds carried his Falling Stars forward with greater impact, while pressing Swirling Swarm cultivators into the paths of his attacks. A moment of triumph was tainted by a sudden transformation of Augmentation into Domination- a cultivator that certainly had no business doing so. So it was like that. Perhaps he should focus on the second ranks.

Ratna seemed to have figured it out long before. Or perhaps it was simply easy enough for her to target the Augmentation cultivators mixed in among the Swirling Swarm. Either way, her portion had only a few souls left between Integration and Domination- and that gap would soon be empty, no doubt. With the aura of the Shimmering Spear's Domination cultivator supplementing their side, she could likely finish off the rest of the Domination cultivators swiftly enough.

Winter. In a way, it was warm like summer- snuggled in among blankets. Not that Prospero had been subject to weather in almost two lifetimes. The harshness of winter and cold was clearly concentrated on their enemies, as a single spear strike froze yet another section of the attackers. Prospero's Falling Stars had exceptional effects on the cold and lumbering Swirling Swarm cultivators, the intense heat putting them through powerful thermal shock- their energy unable to adapt. Their bodies were nothing without.

Spring. The growth of rains invigorated Prospero. And the storms of spring brought lightning upon the Swirling Swarm. Even if the only direct attacks were concentrated around the most populous planet by the Shimmering Spear's Domination cultivator, his aura still oppressed what remained of the fleets.

There was no doubt in Prospero's mind that they would be victorious. Thoughts of retreat left him. They had enough… though the local defenders would certainly suffer casualties beyond what they had already, it would be nothing in comparison to what might have happened.

-----

When the battle came to an end, Prospero introduced himself. "Prospero Vandale. Of the Order of One Hundred Stars, and the Scarlet Alliance."

The Domination cultivator nodded. "Joakim, of the Shimmering Spears. Perhaps we should have taken your warnings more seriously."

Prospero shook his head. "This was far beyond what we anticipated. Preparing for this… wouldn't have been possible."

Though they were traditionally enemies, Prospero was happy to stand alongside Joakim. The Swirling Swarm was a threat that had been allowed to fester among the Trigold Cluster for far too long. Those around them had only thought of them as slightly worse neighbors- likely because the Swirling Swarm were born among lesser sects. Their growth had been slow enough as the spread. The Trigold Cluster wasn't a real alliance that worked for the prosperity of all their people. They simply mediated between their own sub factions when it became necessary, and worked together against larger threats… mostly the Exalted Quadrant, though the Scarlet Alliance might be in their sights now.

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Joakim looked off towards another system. "As much as I would enjoy taking our time to become better acquainted, I must ask for your aid delaying the approach of the Swirling Swarm. Other systems… we will have to abandon. We have not the forces to protect them all. Of course, you are under no obligation. The Shimmering Spears will reward you appropriately."

"We want you to open up trade routes," Prospero declared. "And to continue diplomacy."

Joakim smiled. "Then I suppose we will have to."

They weren't friends. They might never be. But they could at least make their way closer to uneasy neighbors rather than certain foes. The more of the Trigold Cluster the Scarlet Alliance could convince to act like both sides were real people, the better.

-----

The Scarlet Alliance had been at war with the Fearsome Menagerie shortly before Devours Villains was born. She was aware of that, of course. However, that didn't mean they could just let the Swirling Swarm ravage their planets. That was not an attitude worthy of a queen, especially not with her chosen name.

More practically, all of the people she knew had been abducted to this planet, Heuromo- except a few other queens she wasn't sure had managed to come along. They would be fine though, feeding off human scraps until they could begin small scale agriculture. Void ants didn't need to eat much. Most likely, they would produce more than what the Swirling Swarm had been doing anyway. But they were there, and Devours Villains was here.

The planet wasn't destroyed yet. It had been over a day, so it was doing great. It helped that Devours Villains and the other void ants had helped slaughter the Domination cultivators. Speaking of Domination energy, it hurt. She should have probably nibbled rather than gorging herself, but if she'd held back then maybe whatever planet they were on wouldn't still be. It was that close.

The pain would go away, though. It was just her body reconstructing itself. It would still have been better to take it one step at a time, but since she'd eaten the energy she had to use it. Devours Villains was making herself better, though mostly that meant more of the same. A little bigger, but not too much. Humans would find it easier to attack her.

"Next target," Madiha said. "I can get you there."

"You need to sleep," Devours Villains commented.

"You need to sleep," the human countered.

"Can't."

"Void ants sleep."

"I can't now. I'd crumble to nothing."

Madiha folded her arms in front of her. "I wouldn't do much better if we lost our last pockets of resistance and the planet falls."

Neither of them mentioned another option- the void ants could hide all of them. No sense of energy. The Swirling Swarm wouldn't pick them out with normal senses. The only thing was, they'd have to let the planet fall. They were both becoming slightly fond of Heuromo. And the humans needed to do it to stay human. Otherwise they'd just be part of the Swirling Swarm. Though that aura was… diminishing.

"I'll meditate for a few minutes," Madiha finally said. "To stabilize my energy."

Taj was roaming around, finding the strongest Swirling Swarm cultivators they could among the pockets of chaos that they created. Madiha thought that things were hard for the youth. Even if void ants were doing most of the fighting… it was still a massive effort to get them there. But that was what Taj wanted- they just couldn't circumnavigate the planet fast enough to hunt down Domination cultivators. Instead they were focusing on Augmentation and Integration.

In a way, Augmentation wasn't any more dangerous. Both levels of cultivation were so far beyond early Essence Collection that it didn't matter. And void ants often found stronger cultivators easier to deal with, simply based on said cultivator's habits. They would sooner crush something small with their aura than try to slap their arm. The void ants didn't give them time to adapt, but they had a long history of anti-cultivator training to work with passed down from previous generations.

A single human could carry pretty much a full colony, with the limitations not being weight so much as their tolerance for ants crawling over them… and the ability to not accidentally crush them. At some point, it would become visibly obvious as well- and the Swirling Swarm might react in a dangerous manner. As it was, those infiltrators supporting the Fearsome Menagerie against the Swirling Swarm did their best not to be seen. That also meant by the Fearsome Menagerie, since they were doing their best to feel like part of the Swirling Swarm.

After everything was settled- Madiha and Devours Villains would make sure things settled in their favor no matter what- they might have to reveal themselves. Or maybe they would steal a few ships and flee off planet. The other agents would have to come up with their own methods.

-----

Taj and Horst squeezed through a press of Swirling Swarm cultivators. Both hoped that none of their friends got crushed, but they couldn't do much about that. At least the more developed ones were likely to be fine… and they were the ones that were 'people'. That was still a difficult thing for humans to believe. Anything that could and would be a person given time still felt like one.

But they were fighting a war, so dead comrades were something they had to deal with regardless. They hadn't exactly signed up for the war. They were born into it, on the wrong side. And somehow they were people, even though the Swirling Swarm had just wanted them to be a member.

"I'll circle left," Taj commented. Only one of them had to reach their target. They had a place to rendezvous with the void ants afterwards.

Horst nodded. He was a bit weaker, but he was slightly older as well. He was used to keeping his head down, not drawing notice of the Swarm. Now he had proper techniques. It wasn't a bad life at all. He had no idea how much the people of the Scarlet Alliance would pity him for that thought.

The two had a plan, but it was ruined by their target suddenly reaching Domination. If it could even be called that. It was wildly unstable. Even Swirling Swarm cultivators pulled away for their own safety. Yet the two of them rushed towards the woman. They wouldn't have survived the explosion if they ran anyway.

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