Devon's chains impaled Siro with the spikes. They squeezed and contorted, tearing into the man's flesh. He could feel foul energy trying to reach back to him through the connection, but Aerona and his own suppression of Siro's energy kept him firm.

Devon hadn't even been sure his attack would work, but he'd had to try. He felt Aerona bloom into Unity, and the connection between the two of them in particular was greater than anything he'd felt before. Then Siro had come for her, and he had to react. He was quite pleased with the results… even though the man might have instantly died were Devon there in person. Then again, his attack might not have been such a surprise otherwise.

The rest of the battle was quick. With the first shift in the direction of the Lower Realms Alliance, they rapidly built momentum. The Holy Stars' divinities still had power, but with Daria's grand defenses lost they were short a key component. Suddenly, Anton could attack whoever he pleased with impunity- focusing mainly on angels to free up their own cultivators. He didn't simply stay in the shelter of his star, provoking a direct attack on himself as he moved closer to the main battle.

The initial reaction of Tammuz to Daria's death was to triple his assault on the planet- and Lev. Clearly, he didn't care if the planet survived anymore. Lev wasn't going to let Enduriel's primary planet fall, however. Even if the willow wasn't the grandest present in the area, the fact that he had one at all made him feel obligated to defend the area.

Unity clashed with divinity. Though they were very similar in design, Unity excelled in times of trouble- whereas divinity required victory after victory. The tree split, and with it Lev's skin. But he could feel Tammuz weakening. If he had not already exhausted himself from enduring previous assaults, Lev would have taken him down swiftly. Instead, it took him a moment to get on his feet.

Realizing the tree itself was tied to Lev's power, Tammuz landed on the planet and swung his mighty axe at the base of the tree. Tammuz the Beheader… didn't have the practical skills to cut down a tree. His chop sent the grasping willow reeling back, his blade sinking deep into the wood. Then it snapped back, pressing down on his axe. Lev and the tree and the planet and every disciple of the Grasping Willows were determined to win. Vines coiled around Tammuz' limbs and neck, squeezing tight.

Tammuz looked at Lev himself- not far away. He pulled another axe- smaller and able to fit into one hand- out of storage. The axe slicked into the back of Lev's neck, but only just. Thousands of strands of hair from his head and beard fell, and Lev's body fell forward. Then Tammuz' neck snapped- Lev never needed access to his own limbs to begin with.

It took the axeman some time to die. His energy lashed out repeatedly, trying to cut anything and everything around him. Each time, the grasping willow absorbed the damage, negating it with energy and flexibility or the long branches and sturdy trunk. It was left massively battlescarred, but the last of Tammuz' life left his eyes.

At the same time, Devon was keeping Siro restrained. His chains continued to seek any damage they could cause, while the latter tried to get any fragment of spiritual poison to move through Devon's energy connection back to the man. Devon held firm… and a 'random' selection of Anton's arrows targeted the man. Each arrow was insufficient to harm Siro- but Devon's chains tightened at every opportunity. Then, a single spike sunk into the man's gut, piercing his dantian. His energy was already diminishing rapidly from his struggles- and the witness of his own people.

At the same time, Adelardo had come for Anton, the flaming cultivator unafraid of Anton's elemental affinity. Anton's arrows pierced straight through him- even spectral energy did very little. Anton danced around the man, splitting his arrows between key targets.

The fire cultivator was counting on the oppressive heat radiating from him to stop the Great Queen. The problem? There was nothing to transmit that heat. Of course, his own energy carried it perfectly. To a void ant, energy was nothing. Extremely powerful cultivators such as divinities were an exception- but the Great Queen was not a youngling. She was the most developed void ant in the entire galaxy, as far as anyone was aware. And she had long been itching for a fight.

She bit through his energy, dragging herself along as she devoured it. Then, she bit his heart. It was a heart of flame, until she forced him to coalesce back into matter. If he had maintained proper distance, he likely could have avoided her forever. He wasn't unaware of the Great Queen- he just hadn't expected things to go the same way as Daria… barely a few minutes prior.

Nobody sounded the retreat. However, Isiah made use of his great speed to plummet his way out of the system. Smart. Those Holy Stars cultivators that still could follow did so immediately- though their angels were losing feathers like it was peak moulting season. Their wings vanished rapidly as the doubts of those in front of them witnessed their weakness, cycling into an accelerating loss.

Isiah had enough power and widespread followers that the loss for him wasn't immediate. Indeed, it would likely take him years to crumble to nothing. But he had to flee, as the only divinity left among the assault force. He wouldn't survive.

Anton could have killed him, but he didn't. Not because he didn't want to, or because it was inappropriate. It just wasn't time yet.

"I'm sure you can make the shot," Lev said. "I'll be supporting you every step of the way."

Anton looked down at his longtime friend. "I would be more encouraged if you could stand."

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"I can!" Lev hopped to his feet. "Look!"

"Without energy?"

"Oh hell no," Lev said, sitting himself against his willow. "But honestly I pretty much burned out my nerves before this. A little cut here," he slapped the back of his neck. "Nothing."

"Good," Anton said.

His words and ears were with Enduriel. The rest of him was following Isiah. He would be doing so for quite some time- long enough to replenish some energy, which was good. He needed that for his final shot.

-----

Xaliima was still among the Holy Stars, trying to provide any relevant information back to the Lower Realms Alliance. She- and everyone else- had felt the death of Clotilde. That message likely wouldn't reach home for several weeks, maybe a bit less if they reached some instant transmitters efficiently. It was monumental news, but whether it would reach anyone in time was a different matter. After all, it was likely that most of their other divinities were already on the path of war, close to the Alliance or perhaps already attacking. Though that warning should have been in time.

There was one more known divinity still present in the Holy Stars. No doubt she would be on edge, but Xaliima couldn't give up on her task just because it became riskier. Oriana could be in one of a half dozen locations. Xaliima began to track her down immediately.

It wasn't luck that she was first picked up a few systems along the path. That was the most probable outcome- at least, within a jump or two. And Oriana stood out brightly. Was she overcompensating for something? Certainly, Clotilde's death had to be made up for.

Actually catching up to Oriana took several more jumps between systems, but once she had been found it was trivial to keep up. She wasn't running or hiding, though she did sometimes swiftly move from place to place. Perhaps paranoia due to Clotilde's death- which was fair. If Xaliima had sufficient void ants with her, she'd absolutely have dropped them off in the area. Unfortunately with insufficient numbers, they might do more harm than good.

They couldn't let the Holy Stars get used to fighting them.

Xaliima and her crew observed. They considered various options. And then, he returned. Isiah.

He barely touched the border of the Holy Stars before he began a grand speech. "People of the Holy Stars. Your Divinities have won many great victories in the territory of this 'Alliance'."

So it was straight into lies. Not that Xaliima didn't think they couldn't win. He was just back too soon for it to be many. Maybe a handful of systems. A dozen, if they were particularly aggressive.

Xaliima felt it coming. Not because her senses were that good- there certainly wasn't time for her to feel it with her body. Instead, she felt it because of Unity. She still called the Alliance her home, and was connected to those stars and their people. Power was called upon, far and wide.

She'd felt this once before. Exactly one time, but she remembered it well. How could anyone forget? The limbs of a might bow were drawn on their stars, a string stretched taut over hundreds of lightyears. An arrow of tremendous size- but it compressed as it flew. By the time half its length was beyond the front of the bow, it was half the size. The string was already dissipating, its job done, as the energy compressed and accelerated.

"Fear not for the fallen, for we will rise again!"

Xaliima couldn't tell if Isiah had come back with anyone. She was a couple systems away, but she imagined that he had not. If they lived to tell the truth, it would probably weaken the Holy Stars. But if he had killed them… what would happen to him, she wondered?

Well, she already knew. But in some theoretical future where he was left to decay, how bad would it get?

The flash pierced through space and time, instantly blinding Xaliima. It was quite possible that those in the same system as the dead divinity would never see again. Xaliima's energy senses were overwhelmed, but the ship had been prepared. It was registering dead cultivators in this system. There were warning alarms even before Xaliima recovered her own senses, and the ship was directed away.

There wasn't another attack- but Oriana was massively unstable. It was better not to be in the same system regardless of what happened.

-----

Devon pulled Anton aside. "So. You did it."

"I did," Anton nodded. "I felt the impact, deep inside him. We know of one more among their ranks. How they're dealt with will be decided soon."

Devon put on a poor smile as he looked at his grandfather. "How much did it cost?"

"A few systems. Too many lives."

"How much did it cost you?" Devon asked. "How much lifespan did you burn?"

Anton shrugged. "Not a drop more than necessary. And no, I don't know how long I have left."

He felt old, though. He had to various degrees for the majority of his lifespan, but for so long time had been falling behind him. Now it was catching up. He didn't mind though. He'd been ready for it so long ago. Now, he didn't even have to worry about the Alliance. Unity cultivators would continue to bloom. Once the matter in the upper realms was settled, they wouldn't have any troubles to worry about for a long time.

"How are things going in the upper realms?" Anton asked Bear Hug. He didn't have to guess, and though distracting his friend would very slightly weaken the fighting power the Scarlet Alliance had, nothing was hinging on Bear Hug.

"Pretty good. I have some new plants I'm going to ship here for us to try in the lower realms. Oh! The battle." Bear Hug paused. "Everheart is pretty strong. I don't know why he's fighting. People say he's a bad person, but I don't think he is. There's some sort of mind guy that's bothering people. We're sending void ants and plants."

"Plants?"

"No brains, you see," Bear Hug said. "Oh, and Zazil's big choppy rings. Chidi's battle should be done soon."

"How is that going?"

"No idea at all. Can't feel it. I assume that means Chidi is doing great."

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