C_Mantis
patreon
Chapter 298
🕑 Added 2024-01-08 19:59:07 +0000 UTCChapter 298
Captain Elkdren jogged alongside his men as they went through the start of an exercise routine. His unit, like all stationed here, had taken serious losses and damage on the frontlines and were being given time for rest and recovery. They needed to be in top condition when they reentered the war. Elkdren was just happy his people were only in the horrifically wounded category, as while they had needed months of healing, none of them had died on their last assault. A fortune few other units had.
They were all Tier 26s and now in perfect shape thanks to the healing, but today was the day for their yearly serum dose, so the exercise was preparation threefold.
Firstly, the serums were better ingested into the body if the body was warm and ready to absorb blood and energy to repair itself. It seeped into the muscles and tendons, giving a better effect per serum dose if taken warm.
Secondly, and while no one would admit it to anyone but themselves, the serums hurt less if the body was already energized and primed to take in energy. None of them feared pain as the warriors of the Federation, but taking a serum cold was like pumping cold honey into your veins.
A warrior only needed to experience that once in their life to vow to never take their physical augment serums cold again.
Thirdly, from the moment they entered the Federation army as warriors they had only been given their serums after being pushed to their physical limits for the above reasons, and such a tradition and habit was hard to shake. It wouldn’t feel right if they didn’t work out beforehand.
Captain Elkdren even had a good plan for this warm-up.
Captain Kesler’s unit was also up for their serums, and so they had decided to have a little spar between their companies. It was more engaging than just running through an obstacle course, and it gave everyone a chance to hone their skills a little before they cycled back to the frontlines.
The sparring went well, and despite Captain Kesler’s unit earning a single victory more than them, they were all eager for the upcoming serums.
Elkdren’s usually well-disciplined troopers fidgeted, some of them going as far as rocking back and forth on their feet, but even he could feel the tingle of anticipation of the serum in his fingers. He just had the discipline to keep his hands in a relaxed position, clasped behind his back.
The serums weren’t addicting in and of themselves. There were dozens of tests on the subject, but what loyal warrior of the Federation didn’t desire, yearn, and crave to grow stronger and retake the glory that was rightfully theirs? All of them, of course.
An overly attractive Makers man opened the door with a wide smile and gestured for them to enter as he went over the same information that they had heard thousands of times.
Elkdren wanted to say he was beyond needing the repetitive information, but it was protocol, and hearing it made things feel right.
Tradition and holding onto their past honor was how the Federation would regain its former glory, just as their past humiliation at the hands of the other Great Powers who had descended upon them was a reminder of why they needed to not only regain their former glory, but surpass it.
Elkdren sat in the chair and returned the smile of the Maker who personally saw him. As a Tier 26 Captain, he not only got better treatment, but he also got a stronger potion, green compared to the warriors yellow.
As he felt the potion slide into his veins, he sighed as his muscles tensed and relaxed in waves.
It took a few minutes for the initial pain to pass, but when it did, he felt like he was even stronger than before and could take on a thousand of his past selves.
Most of the power would fade over the course of a few weeks, but a portion of it would remain behind. While his potion was better than the average trooper’s, he knew that Majors, Colonels, and Generals all had better serums. He had heard rumors that there were even stronger variations that the true archwarriors had access to.
He had never been able to get one of the few archwarriors he had spoken to to confirm that rumor. All they ever told him was to reach their level to find out.
Elkdren knew it was a far-fetched dream, but it was also the one he held closest to his heart.
Stretching, he called out to his men and gathered them up to take a nice slow run back to the barracks where they could digest their new power.
Or, that was the idea.
They were only a dozen steps out of the Makers building and heading towards the barracks when a high priority alert went off in Elkdren’s head and his carefully paced run came to a sudden halt.
His troopers, perfectly in sync with him, came to a halt with him, knowing something was wrong and ready to react. It only took a moment for the actual orders to come in, and when he saw the provided information, he immediately spat out orders.
“Back to the barracks, top speed. Prepare for rapid deployment.”
The moment his orders left his mouth, the troops blurred as they cranked their perception to the limits and moved. In less than a second, they had already returned to their barracks and geared up.
Two minutes later, they were on the staging field as dozens then hundreds of other companies arrived.
Elkdren linked up with the other Captains he was familiar with to ask what they knew, but they were as clueless as he was, even as he listened to his warriors asking similar questions to each other.
He didn’t know who started it, but someone said they heard from a Major that there had been an attack on a civilian planet and they were being mobilized to retake it. Just the idea of such an engagement set his serum warmed heart ablaze with fury.
He had known the other Great Powers had never been content with just ganging up on the Federation, and must have taken the opportunity to kick them while they were down. He wondered how many of his brothers and sisters from the Community had had their lives reaped.
Hundreds?
Thousands?
Millions?
Horror washed over him and he added his voice to the chatter in the Captain's chat about wanting vengeance, as he realized the crux of the issue while others talked about the possible death toll.
“It doesn't matter how many died. If even one of our brothers or sisters died under the hands of the inferior invaders, I’ll extract ten times that many lives from their Community in retribution.”
His words started a litoney of similar calls to arms. “Not just ten times. A hundred times!”
“A thousand!”
“No, a million times as many. Do they think we are just pushovers who will tolerate such behavior?”
“No, burn a planet for each life lost. Then maybe they will understand that there are consequences to their actions.”
The chat quickly devolved into a fever pitch, but it silenced when a group of Majors came out led by two Colonels and a General.
A General Elkdren knew. General Falcon was a decorated Warrior who had only been a newly commissioned Lieutenant when her unit single handedly repelled an attacking force in the War of Great Shame.
Everyone was silent as they waited for the legend to speak and give them their orders.
Contrary to his expectations, she didn’t immediately speak, and instead let her silver eyes roam over all the Warriors. Elkdren even had the honor of having her gaze linger on him for an instant, and he tried to stand taller despite his posture alreadying being ramrod straight.
The General's voice was soft but hard, like steel wrapped in velvet, when she finally spoke. “I’m sure you know something odd has happened. Even questioning what the other Great Powers have done. Some of you are closer than others. The main rumor I heard was that the other Great Powers attacked a planet. That rumor is false, but only to the first degree. The dogs of the Empire have attacked Mobile Shipyard Seven, killing indiscriminately like the rabid dogs they are.”
General Falcon paused for a long moment, letting everyone absorb that information. “Word has just reached us, so the details are unclear, but our objective is clear. We are the closest gathering point for Warriors, and so we will be the first in—” Her speech was interrupted by a roar from the warriors, which caused the General to smile for a moment before she continued. “We will be the first in, so we don’t know much, but our mission is clear. Retake the system, dislodge the attackers, and make them pay for their indiscretions.”
Her small smile turned into granite as she said, “We don’t know what we will be facing, so we need to be flexible. To that end, I’m giving general orders now, and it will be up to the Majors to lead the Captains assigned to their ships. Maneuver as you see fit, but our objective is as simple as it will be difficult. Defeat the enemies. No quarter given.”
The moment the order was given, the ships that lined the mustering yard lowered their hatches, and assignments were sent out through their AI.
Elkdren barked orders to his two Lieutenants as they hustled over to their assigned ship.
Despite the chaos of hundreds of companies moving across the battlefields, not a single one got in each other's way as they moved under the Generals eyes.
They were Federation warriors, better than such simple mistakes.
After he got his troops settled down he met up with Major Rattle, who did his best to prepare them for their upcoming assault. Sadly, information was scarce, so their planning was limited. The only thing they knew for certain was that the target of the first attack had been the shipyard, and not the fortress world. The fortress world was undoubtedly already defeated by whatever occupying army had been sent.
What they debated and tried to game out was where the army would be stationed.
They suspected it would be the fortress world, but there was always a distinct possibility that the defenders were holed up near the inhabited planet in the shipyard instead. While it didn’t change their mission, it would change how they would attack.
Elkdren and the others, along with Major Rattle, hoped the enemies were foolish enough to stay with the shipyard, but they doubted they would be so lucky.
As the attackers had proven in their ambush, it had less defenses than a fortress planet.
The moment they entered real space they poured out of the ship and organized themselves in their companies, but as Elkdren looked forward, he had no idea what he was looking at.
Where the shipyard should be was a massive fortress of ice.
It was like someone had grown an iceberg around the shipyard, as absurd as that sounded.
Even an army of ice mages couldn’t create that much ice in just a day and a half since taking the system. It was just impossible.
Except it was in front of him.
Elkdren would have thought it was a trick, brought in by some impossibly large spatial item, but he could see bits and pieces of Mobile Shipyard Seven captured inside the ice, which meant that was impossible.
But what he was seeing was impossible, and he didn’t know how to weigh two equally impossible things and decide which was true.
Thankfully, he didn’t have long to ponder, as orders came down for them to advance with shield teams leading.
That settled him and those under his command. Elkdren didn’t know about impossible feats, but he did know how to fight. He was good at that.
“Lieutenant Marqus. Take Corporal Diana and Menendez forward to join the shield wall.”
“Aye, sir.”
Elkdren watched as a wall was formed by the various defenders and smiled. They might not be a proper army that had dedicated shield walls, but they were numerous and were more than capable of creating a facsimile.
When the wall was formed, they started flying forward and towards the impossible fortress.
They were halfway to the fortress when it seemed to come alive.
Where there had been hills of snow, constructs made out of mana rose up and started unleashing their spells. It was like autonomous crossbows had been given form. Their wave of spells slammed into the shields, and while a few crumpled under the onslaught, the deaths were few as the healers were ready to mend those wounded. After the first wave of attacks the shield stabilized, and while it forced them to slow their assault, it didn’t stop the indomitable Federation spirit.
“Sergeant Sal, go relieve Diana and Menendez with your squad.”
When he got a crisp, “Aye Sir,” Elkdren scanned the fortress of ice.
He had been in enough battles to sense that something was about to happen, and he wanted to cut it off if at all possible.
There were many things wrong with this situation, but the main one was nagging at him. Where was the army that had taken the system?
Had they really left?
If they had, who was commanding these spell constructs?
Were they trying to defend the fortress itself and make them fight inside its icy corridors?
That seemed foolish when the Federation army could just choose to hang back and blast this icy fortress to bits with their overwhelming power.
An ambush from the rear?
That was equally impossible with their numbers. He asked Major Rattle, but he was just told to keep a steady advance.
Elkdren didn’t like that, as it meant the Major knew something and wasn’t sharing it, but he had his orders.
As they reached the quarter mark, where Elkdren could feel the cold radiating off the mountain of ice despite the lack of air to transfer the cold, a figure in black armor accented with gold stepped out of a crevasse in the ice.
Elkdren’s AI recognized the figure a moment before he did.
Slayer Quill.
Horror dawned on him and his company as the Slayer pointed his left hand seemingly right at them.
A blinding flair of light lanced out and a person-thick beam of energy reached out to reap lives. It punched right through the frontline shields of the company next to Elkdren’s and then swept to the left, away from Elkdren’s company.
Like a sharp blade through a vegetable, the beam of energy cut through Elkdren’s comrades regardless of their individual defense, killing indiscriminately as it went.
Elkdren looked to where Captain Kesler’s command had been accompanied by Major Rattle just moments ago.
There was nothing larger than the occasional arm or leg that hadn’t been in line with the beam of death.
Except, that was proven false when Major Rattle’s bits and globs, all that was left of his body, rippled as he reformed, gasping in the void of space. Elkdren was about to order his warriors to protect the Major when a crossbow bolt took him in the head, and his AI signature vanished.
Seeing Major Rattle was truly dead, Elkdren took operational command of his company back. “Scatter out, and don’t clump up!”
It was a standard tactic to counter such a strong single point of damage. Normally it was better to gather behind shields, but when a spell could kill you through the shields, it was the height of foolishness to remain clumped up.
Elkdren just hoped that logic applied to Slayers.
“Lieutenant Marqus, get our warriors back to me.”
He was only half listening as he looked for somewhere they could enter the fortress.
Entering a hostile position fortified by ice constructed by an Ice Slayer sounded like the height of foolishness, but staying out in the open when there was someone using a beam spell to cut them down was certain death. The more he thought about it, the more Elkdren was certain that was the right choice. Slayer Scoop was known to be a beast bond, and everyone knew those animals who could only hope for human forms were weakness incarnate, and those created by rifts were even weaker.
That meant she wasn’t even a real Slayer.
Better to fight in her fortress than to fight a monster like Slayer Quill, who simply pointed a hand and killed hundreds, even if it meant getting close to the spell constructs still firing at them.
He wasn’t the only one to come to a similar conclusion, as close to half of the companies broke ranks and rushed forward while spreading out, until they were just feet away from the ice. There, they regrouped out of danger from the Slayer still above them, cutting through any groups who stayed too close to each other. It was a good thing too, as the armored figure started to engage with the units who were too slow.
Elkdren cried out the moment his feet touched the ice as a debilitating cold tried to creep into his legs, but he flared his Domain and resisted the power.
He and his Lieutenants had to grab a few of his warriors to help them free themselves, but they managed to prevent any deaths. They were fortunate that they acted quickly, as they saw how in the crevasse next to them, Captain Ablor lost three people from her team, frozen from the inside out.
They tried to melt the ice, which didn’t seem to work; fire spells were weaker than they should have been and any ice that was melted seemed to regrow the moment the heat was taken off it. Elkdren even had their ice mage try and carve a tunnel through the ice, but she wasn’t to do more than the fire mages to the giant structure before them.
With no other options, Elkdren gave his order. “Gather yourselves and push deeper. Watch out for traps like the crossbow things. Sergeant Ultrch, Sergeant Exlor, take your squads and take point and rear respectively. Slow and steady. This cold is blocking my spiritual perception.”
They climbed through cracks in the ice until they reached the metal hull of the shipyard, and Elkdren ordered his warriors to halt while he inspected the structure in front of him. If the ice was only outside, getting inside the shipyard could mean an easy path forward.
Drawing his finger on the frozen metal, he cracked the hull of the station and jumped back as the plate fell back at him, thanks to the slow rotation giving the illusion of gravity.
“Sergeant Ultrch.”
The man and his squad jumped into the interior of the shipyard and spent a few minutes scouting things out. When it was noted as being seemingly untouched, Elkdren nodded.
If the Slayers had more time, they probably would have booby trapped the shipyard, but the speed of their response had prevented such measures.
“Sergeant Exlor, take your squad and return to the opening of the crevasse and spread the word that we have a seemingly safe opening.”
Once she was on the move, he dropped into the hole and set up a secure breach point.
It took a few minutes, but when Sergeant Exlor came back, she reported that there were a dozen similar points and that over a dozen other companies were on their way.
Pursing his lips, Elkdren ordered Lieutenant Marqus to interface with the shipyard systems and see if they could tap into the life support systems. If they could, they could not only start to thaw out this ice cube, but track their enemies.
While Lieutenant Marqus was able to get the system operational, the shipyard's power station was either disconnected or robbed of the stored mana. Elkdren suspected it had been spent to make the very ice around them, but simply filed that away for later reporting.
As the other companies funneled through his section of the shipyard, he had his warriors finish setting up a makeshift healing station. The moment the support personnel arrived and started healing the wounded he gathered his men and progressed deeper into the hull.
With Major Rattle dead he didn’t have access to the Command staff channels, but he also hadn’t tried to fall under someone else's command. He wasn’t a glory hound who wanted to pave his own path to fame, but he knew the Majors would be struggling to maintain operational command over their own sections without him reporting to them. He knew the mission as well as they did. Reach the top of this fortress and hopefully find and kill, or at least repel, the Slayers defending that location.
Easy enough.
While he had never been in a space station like this, he knew who had spent significant time on one.
“Corporal Ves, you did a rotation on one of these tubs. What is the best way to get to the top?”
Corporal Ves chewed on his lower lip for a moment before pointing up. “There are really two options, sir. The fast and dumb way and the long and impossible way.”
Elkdren didn’t like that answer and waited for the Corporal to elaborate. “Normally, you would just use an outer hatch to exit the station and fly to another of the rotating rings. If you don't want to use that and want to stay inside, the only way to move between rings is the central shaft.”
Elkdren was about to say that was where they needed to go then, but Corporal Ves shook his head. “Sir, it’s a straight shaft they move cargo through. If being outside was allowing the Slayer to shoot at us, that might as well be sitting in his sheath.”
Cursing, Elkdren thought as hard as he could, but had no perfect answer come to mind.
Lieutenant Vallotton thankfully did have an idea, even if it wasn’t a good one. “Corporal, what kind of cargo is moved through that tube?”
Corporal Ves shrugged. “Everything from specialty parts to processed materials used to make the ships.”
Seeing where she was going, Elkdren asked, “Barstock and the like? Lots of metal?”
“Yeah, they use a lot of that shit… Oh, fuck yeah! I get what the LT is asking, and yes. They always have these girder things. They are the backbones of the ships. Fifty feet thick of solid steel, and they always had some of them in the central spires. Can’t make a ship without one, and if it's busted you need to replace it. Can't really fix it, so they always keep a few dozen in reserve. Even a Slayer ain’t burning through that much steel if we bundle them and just ride behind it.”
Elkdren slapped Lieutenant Vallotton on her shoulder even as he stood. “Spread the word and then let’s go. Corporal Ves, where do they usually keep the girders?”
“If this shipyard is like the one I served on, then they usually keep a few by each ring for easy access.”
With a mission goal, Elkdren led his warriors down the cold tunnels. They weren’t sprinting along, but they were careful where they put their feet.
No one wanted to find a trap with their boots.
They made it halfway to the central pillar before they heard fighting in one of the adjacent halls.
Rushing forward, they found two companies fighting an armored form that was covered in blood.
It was alone, but had cut down half of the two companies with bodies littering the floor.
“Advance and fire. Frontlines shields forward.”
Putting actions to worlds, he pulled out his projection lance and channeled [Severance Shot] through it as fast as the spell amplifiers could cycle.
His company's concentrated fire caught Slayer Torch off guard, and she staggered as she took a dozen shots in rapid succession. That brief pause allowed the other two companies to disengage, and they added in their own fire.
The Slayer raised her spear and spun it rapidly, but while it blocked some of the attacks, more slipped through and slammed into the feather-like armor she was wearing.
This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and seeing it was working, Elkdren called out, “Give it everything you have!”
To kill a Slayer. That was a feat worth bragging about. Maybe his name really would go down in history.
As the armor started to falter, he grinned.
As Slayer Torch fell back into the blood that surrounded her, he called out, “Prepare pulse grenades! Throw on my command!”
Slayer Torch fell back into the pool of blood, and he was about to command the grenades to be thrown when the decimated companies rushed forward melee weapons at the ready.
He wanted to curse them as he held his command to throw the grenades. It would be best to blow the Slayer to bits first then ask questions later, but seeing their casualties, he understood their hatred, rage, and desire for personal revenge.
Except, something was wrong.
The Slayer who fell into the blood sunk too far. It was like she was ice melting on a hot summer day.
He was about to cry out when the blood that coated everyone and the floors and walls started to writhe like the tenderals of an octopus.
Then, they spun like a blender, and the warriors in front of him were cut down.
“Throw the grenades! Throw! Throw! Throw!”
A full dozen grenades flew forward, and the rapid pulses of energy blew the pool of blood into droplets and then those droplets into nothing.
Still, he didn’t trust it.
“Fire spells! Fire spells! Fire spells!”
A dozen types of flame spells blackened the corridor and heated the frozen walls until they glowed and started to drip, despite the cold aura that weakened the spells even this deep inside the shipyard.
Panting, Elkdren swept his spiritual perception across the corridor and found nothing.
They had actually done it.
They had killed a Slayer.
Slayer Torch had been snuffed. A fitting end for a tainted human such as herself.
A small cheer started to rise, but he instantly crushed it. “Back in formation! Prepare for an ambush. Our mission isn’t over and hasn’t changed. Refill your mana pools and get ready for another engagement.”
They carefully moved forward and through the searing heat of the area they had cooked just to return to the frozen corridor ahead.
They found the remains of another two battles, and to his anger, could only find the bodies of his warrior brothers and sisters. Some of them looked like they had been strangled by the scraps of cloth littered around them, but he wasn’t able to find the one responsible.
His company was closing in on the central pillar when Sergeant Exlor cried out, “Rear!”
Elkdren spun and froze, not able to understand what was going on.
Slayer Torch stood there, spear in hand. Head snapping back to the front, he saw another Slayer Torch standing there.
There were two of them.
How?
[Clone] was the obvious answer, but not one that Elkdren liked or could accept.
If they had only managed to kill a clone that had been ambushed by them while it had fought two other companies, what chance did they have alone?
None.
Making a desperate play, Elkdren called out, “Through the wall!”
To their credit, his warriors followed his command and Chancellor Virgil herself must have been watching out for them, as when they cut through the hull of the space station, they found themselves in a crevasse in the ice fortress.
“Go! Go! Go!”
He followed the troopers into the bitter cold and turned to the hole they had made as his mind spun. “Corporal Ta. Reform the metal. Lance Corporal Gala, create some stone behind the metal. Everyone else prepares to repel the Slayer.”
That order sounded mad, but he had no other option.
Corporal Ta threw her shield forward which grew until it was large enough to cover the hole they had made in the shipyard’s hull and Corporal Gala created a mass of stone behind it.
He expected banging and clanging as the Slayer battered her way through the metal and stone, but nothing happened. As heartbeats turned into seconds and seconds into minutes Elkdren’s nerves didn’t settle and instead his panic spiked.
Something was wrong. You only didn’t bother to charge someone when they jumped into a trap.
He tried to scan through the ice, but his spiritual perception couldn’t pierce more than a few feet of the ice before being halted.
Turning, he visually scanned the ice around his squad.
“Lieutenant Marqus, have your squad take position in the rear.”
When Elkdren didn’t get an instant acknowledgement of his order, he turned to where Lieutenant Marqus should have been, but the man was gone along with the rest of his company.
Spinning, Elkdren looked around, but all he could see was ice and snow.
But that didn’t make sense. He was inside a glacier of ice. How was there snow?
He looked up but found nothing but the gray and white of a snowstorm. Looking left and right, he tried to find the glacier.
Reaching out with his free hand and spiritual sense, he found nothing.
Was he in an illusion?
If he was, then firing his projection lance could be dangerous, but there shouldn't be anyone above him, so he raised his arm and fired, watching the spell get absorbed by the wind and snow.
There was something wrong, but he just knew he needed to move. Flying forward with everything he had, he felt it growing colder and colder, with ice creeping into his very spirit until it seemed to reach his cultivation cores.
As the ice reached the center of his power, his Domain tried to resist but it was cold and sluggish, and he felt his power vanishing as his very essence turned into ice.
Elkdren didn’t want to die here, and kept running with his mundane body trying to find an exit.
All illusions had an end, and he was sure he could find it.
He—
Comments
Abigail Hale
This chapter slapped like a MF. You had me rooting for a Elkdren there for a minute!
Phil
Ngl, some of my favorite chapters to read are the horror story povs following those who fight against the main cast. It can get old if over done, but its rare for me to feel that way.
Sandy
Mantis, if you still accepting ideas for cool missions - rescuing high value asset from one of the Great Power, for example a spy with vital information or something like that.
Namorat
“Putting actions to worlds“ - words
Calista
I wouldn't say he's incompetent. He analyzed the tactical situation and made reasonable combat decisions based on his knowledge, education, the mission and the needs of his government. His internal dialog, thinking he killed Liz / Torch, wasn't particularly realistic; but is he expected to know that?
Andre cook
No chapter today?
Istyatur Elestel
Another major factor is the empire is strong and growing stronger at an astonishing rate. The sects and federation aren't and won't be in a position to conquer them anytime soon, but the empire just got it's 3rd active ascenders. If their growth continues they will be able to steamroll her and everyone else. Better devil's you can manage than an eldritch god you can't.
Kenneth
One of the bigger contributions to keeping the alliance alive is the fact that the leader of the Republic is basing a huge portion of her actions on past trauma. She has entire worlds locked away from the rest of the universe to "protect them" from how horrible the reality kf cultivation is. She is irrationally afraid of the Empires tradition of awakening every citizen once they reach a certain age. It doesn't matter that the Sects and Federation are the exact thing she is really afraid of. For whatever reason, shes attached the Empires forced awakenings to her trauma. The Empire is the devil, everyone else are just demons.
Bob Bryan
Japan and Germany were definitely not going to let the other exist if the axis won. Germany also would of made the Italians slaves if they won. In addition the west and Russia split not long after ww2. Let's not even get started on what they did to Eastern Europe. All immortal means is they have that much longer to stubbornly believe they are the best and will crush the other 2 after beating the empire
Paper_Link189
I think you are forgetting Stalin and Hitler's pact in the early years of WW2. Both side hated each other, but had objectives on occupying the land between them. It only fell apart after Hitler decided he didn't need the truce anymore.
Observer Whimsy
The fragility of our worlds diplomacy is a salient point, but i think genuine immortal rulers would change the game a fair bit. Historically, the longest lived nation rulers are only in power for some 50 years tops, and that’s incredibly unusual, whereas great powers are basically controlled by gods among gods that can choose to live forever.
Fleetpanda
Nobody was saying she isn’t really strong. It’s just that the caliber of an ascender isn’t how good you are when you’re defending a prepared position. It’s how good you are when you’re tired, weak, and facing impossible odds. I think Aster will get there, but at the moment if she doesn’t have a ice fortress she’s the squishiest of the bunch, which is a weakness in an ascender team that prides itself on its toughness. I think evolving to aurora will fix a lot of it, giving her illusions to defend with.
egondro
This doesn’t take into account of the history or deep rooted oppression and hate. This would have bred a level of hate and fear that would supersede the politics for a long time. It outlasts generations and considering life spans, generations haven’t occurred with some of the leadership so Monser Collective wouldn’t forget. Hell knowing the power the beast wield in the empire should speak to the collective that even operating through proxy would be more preferable than the alternative. They would slip their own special people with an agreement of staying hidden under an operation command of the phoenix to secretly hurt the federation and make them bleed more via someone else’s hand. That would be the real politics of the day not this weird noncommittal fear thing. Also the limit of higher tier people and actions doesn’t really make the reaction of the path seems logical on the global scale. I mean simply banding together to say pathers have to level up quicker or face embargoes seems a more realistic response on this scale. Certainly doesn’t help with the story though so yea. Does take the story out of character development into the kill and grind mode quite a bit though. Hopefully this war ends sooner and later so the MC’s can’t get back to crafting and leveling adventures to have some personal growth. Or maybe mix that into the war campaign more. You have a collection of people that could real make something earth shattering if he wanted to.
Tom Henman
Think in terms of percent of leadership life span instead of years. As to declaring war immediately after there have been time where things were close to that and even now we have some supporting those who wish them ill. (Not going any more into that as too political.)
adam1
Actually, some of the Enpire POV chapters had people referring to other Powers' Ascenders. I think the Minaklla floor 7 chapter had a good example. It doesn't seem like the misnaming is any kind of a thing, culturally.
Corwin
I get that, but those alliances were also very fragile and prone to breaking apart rather than lasting hundreds of years. I also can't recall any where one considered working with somebody who directly said they were going to declare war on them immediately afterwards.
C_Mantis
Look at european history with the great powers of the time. England, France, Spain, Austria, Poland. They were more than willing to band together with someone they hated to take done anyone who was getting too big. Its not about friends but politics and preventing anyone from becoming too strong.
Corwin
This chapter really highlights my confusion with the factions attacking the Empire. I get why the Sects and the Federation would work together, and I definitely understand how the Corporations would be willing to sell their services to either of them, but I can't understand how the Republic would work with the Federation. Everything that has been shown from the Republic indicates that they actually care for their citizens, which seems completely at odds with the callous disregard that the Federation and Sects have for their people . It seems strange that they would be willing and able to to work together. At the very least I would have expected some plotlines aimed at exploiting some rifts between them, but the war has been going for a very long time with nothing even hinting at any dissent. The reaction of the Monster Collective seems strange as well. The Federation all but declared war on them when they declared war on the Empire, and they completely ignored it. In fact, they acted like they wanted to go after the Empire for some reason, rather than the people who literally said that they would destroy the Collective when they finished with the Empire.
Albadia
I think the perspective is great though. like we knew how great Aiden was but this is MLA going 3vsArmy, lower tier than the regular troops and they’re decimating. Ascenders are built different
Len
its worse than that she can completely reform from her blood AND she is a PHOENIX. you know the race that LITERALLY gets reborn when they die. she leaves "blood clone" at the base (if she can keep the link that distance) all her "bodies" on the mission die. she is fine. weird side thought. if all her clones are blood, and are all " her" due to her powers and one dies, since she is a phoenix, does said rise from the ashes? her powers are a bit weird so in a weird logic, it might work. probably won't because that would cause a weird tangent story even if by accident.... risen/reborn blood clones ARE Liz reborn, with a unique "cloned" soul now due to having died and been reborn via bloodline.
Kain
Eh not really cartoonish to me. Just standard fascist/hyper nationalist dogma with some added speciesism mixed in I just despise that more than like you said callous straight forward might makes right of xanxia world.
The Grey Mage
From what we’ve seen the Tier 50 is specifically controlling them to be this way, so I imagine everyone who doesn’t fall in with that becomes fodder for the Propaganda Machine.
BurnNote
It might have been when it was newly introduced, until everyone else reverse engineered it and that's how you get the potions everyone uses (those have been mentioned in several chapters, Liz just takes it further with her blood stuff). These days, it's probably just a control mechanism, because it's definitely not addictive, the boss said so. The other nations (even the godawful Sects) don't go for that kind of nasty.
BurnNote
Endless is the concept, dauntless is the intent
M van Dongen
Yes Scoop is the weakest link. Relatively speaking. She still finished the Path succesfully. And Matt and Liz seem quite unique as far as their power levels go. Comparatively she's still miles beyond Joe McGrunt.
Mister Cakers
After thorough investigation we’ve found the serums to be pretty cool guys seriously you gotta try it.
M van Dongen
Just a few Centuries of selective News Agency psyops and drug cocktails. You can see it happening IRL with people still thinking cloth masks did anything statistically significant. The data on cloth masks was old b4 the covid pandemic happened.
M van Dongen
Standard play would be for the people that ddidn't drink the flav-aid to have "accidents". We can see it happening in Russia quite frequently. And we can see it with Epstein as well. The actual data of the autopsy and the circumstances suggest something other than "suicide". Now add all the powers a trillion people state has access to and imagine the kind of "accidents" it could generate. We saw it happening to the Super Soldier that "failed" his folded reflections Level on Minkala.
Colin Groh
Sick chapter! Exactly what I was thinking about when I suggested the frozen world thing a few chapters ago. Not sure if you spun this off of my idea or someone else's, but Scoop's Fortress with an army of Liz swooping through it and Matt outside stopping the big guns from firing on her looks like such a dominant strategy. Grats to the squads for killing a single torch clone. Medals to all
Matt
Yep, gotta keep that torch burning.
Forestfire
Pun intended?
Tom Henman
And probably meant to drain resources (mana) but that does not work so well with Matt...
Sanairb
What a great chapter.
MikeL
Game over, man!
Matt
This was beautiful but horrible. These massed soldiers who are weaker than kittens in comparison to MLA didn't stand a chance. And they are powerful. They know it. (The drugs help.) But the drugs also add to their power. Against an army they would do well. Against an ascender they are litteral walking blood donors.
Andrew K
To 99.999...% of the populations, the differences between the nations' relevant program are irrelevant - all that matters is that their success stories are nightmarishly dangerous to anyone at the same tier except a handful of peers. Only high-ranking members of the military and political establishments and those heavily involved in the programs themselves would really be expected to care enough to make the distinction (especially given the different languages also in play).
Andrew K
Given how the serum those soldiers are on must be subject to serious-scale mass production and distribution (and for quite some time), I doubt there's anything important the Empire doesn't know about it (and this make available to Liz). Alternate formulas for the real elites would probably be the only thing with any real hope of keeping information well-enough locked down to be possible for the Empire to still need to discover anything new about.
Haikaiko
This chapter feels like a cold hard slap to the face of all of us fans, myself included, who mused Aster wasn't quite Ascender caliber like the other two... and I for one love it. Her item that makes enemies underestimate her magic attacks + a 'harmless' layer of snow that flash freezes to death anyone who so much as stands on it... chefkiss NOW you're thinking like a top tier murder fox, Aster.
Bob Bryan
Happens alot In real life. Do you realize how many commanders though history were incompetent. The Roman's looked down on the Gaul's and then lost 3 legions in what Is now Germany and same up in Britain. Napoleon looked down on the Russian winter. Plus they are raised in what is essentially nazi Germany meets the humans in halo, with their own evil spartan program. Of course the lower level guys would have drunken the flavor aid by now.
Tim Johnson
i would guess a bit of both. Keeps the troops indoctrinated and probably some sort of natural treasure alchemy to strengthen them.
Lorevi Q
It does seem kinda cartoonishly evil. The sects is just classic Xianxia callousness. Not really deliberately evil they just don't value life. The Feds though seem like an amalgamation of evil country tropes and propaganda fear mongering lol.
hachetnif
Yeah I'm enjoying it when we see it from there perspective they don't seem like monsters or inhuman but from other person's perspective how can a human do that and so on
hachetnif
The way I see it is you never blame the people on the bottom because they are always the tools for the top Yes he's doing all this and you can even see the reasons why he's doing all this but ultimately I believe that they were meant to die as in sent to their deaths for information so the next group can actually put up a fight
Pannath
My biggest issue is how all the other powers can't seem to use the correct terminology. I realize that 'Slayer' is the Federation Equivalent of an Ascender, but the Empire personnel refer the the other powers using correct terminology. An Ascender is not a Hero or a Slayer, etc... each power's version of the Path is different. I wish they'd refer to people correctly, even if out of spite, like spitting the word 'Ascender' implying they weren't the equal of their own Slayers or something. Please
Zachary Blevins
Ouch that’s a rough way to go
Storyhunter
Frosted fed. How Quaint.
Envoy
That's not an argument. He can be as amazing as you think when facing weaker opponents, it doesn't change that he's not anywhere near ascender-power nor anyone on his squad so thinking that they had managed to kill Torch so quickly and easily is stupid. If that's the quality of the Federation's captains then there's truly nothing to worry about.
Daniel S
Propaganda is one hell of a drug
Kain
So the feddie’s are confirmed the worst lol, I mean we knew this from the rune soldier program and the shit they did while being the top great power. But still If this is what their standard rank and file soldier think and act like I might legit hate their society more than the sects.
Sezra_
Thanks a bunch! ʕ•ᴥ•ʔゞ゛
Melody Haren Anderson
I heard about a shooter called Haze, about fratboy like guys who are mercs and are hopped up on heavily addictive and mentally affecting combat drugs. Consider that along with they JUST had their "serum" treatments. Do you think the Federation really told them the truth about the serum? If I had a guess, the serum is supposed to long term just make them a bit more pliable, bit more willing to obey foolish commands, but while it's fresh and hasn't degraded, I suspect it might have far more negative effects on their ability to reason by increasing fanatical bravery.
Dominic Harney
It’s nice to have an outside opinion of what a slayer is like. With the MLA chapters it is sometimes hard to understand how powerful they are compared to other people. I wonder if Liz is gonna get a fresh new upgrade from the serums floating around in the feddies blood.
Jeff Wells
I didn't feel like he was incompetent, just severely outmatched. If he were fighting another Empire or Guild army he'd probably do just fine. The Federation goes heavy into brainwashing. We saw that with the super soldiers they sent into Minkala. After thousands of years you either go all in on drinking the koolaide, or you have yourself a little accident in a rift and are never heard from again.
SunStar
Matt is dauntless and endless. :)
Jana
You are right but I noticed that everyone in that chapter acts a little strange, well everyone who takes that cocktail of drugs. Over enthusiastic, easily riled up to the point they disobey orders… I think the Drugs might have some side effects, the feds are known to us for devaluing human lives and I think that the Drug keeps their minds in a certain space - the higher up you are the less influenced but elkdren is only one step up from the bottom so a part of his hybris might be induced.
Kelly Bryan
The Princess of Frozen Stars is fulfilling her promise to bring Winter to the outside world! Also, not surprised coming from a Feddie but the beast bond hate really makes their deaths satisfying.
Tijay Arnie
Their bunghole could be very tight, for all you know
Tijay Arnie
Isn't Dauntless one of his things? Or am I confusing Endless with another characters thing
Renegade
Yeah but you can just says its cause shes a dragon and thats the only reason why.
sambee
You have to make sure to Kill Quill too since he might be holding some blood in reserve.
Envoy
To me Elkdren sounds incompetent as fuck. How did he become captain with that brainless head of his? Did he really think that the Empire is 100% propaganda like their own GP? Ascenders aren't fake. Torch can't be so easily killed by weaklings like them. He both way overrated his own squad's power while way underrating the enemy. Poor leadership. I really enjoy how much of a nightmare the ascenders are on the battlefield. Finally getting to see how truly powerful they are. Matt should easily be a top 2 (and he's not 2) strongest within 5 tiers across all GP so I'm glad we got to see how feared he is even compared to his peers.
Matt H
Which is really strange considering Lila Worldwalker is a bond as well. There's no team to carry her weight or hide her supposed weakness. Her prowess and legacy are hers and hers alone.
Martin Banks
I thought it was interesting that the captain was addressing aster as a slayer in his head even though he was calling her a false slayer like some Freudian slip
RedLeaf
Thanks for the chapter! The POV from the "common soldier" was just terrifying .... and a great way really highlighting just how nasty Ascenders are.
dontputmeonyourlist
a large portion of monsters in horror media are scary because they never stop coming after you. matt is kind of the embodiment of what we find fundamentally scary. 99.999% of people who can legally attack him cant hurt him and he can keep going at near 100% multiple times longer then a similar portion of people.
Alex
I want an echo from the rune soldier guy that left the federation after Minkalla
Tomi .
You just had to end on a cliff hanger Mantis, you just had to huh? 😭😭
Greg Lambert
Really good chapter of how the enemy sees our team.
Jeff091
hi, thanks for the new chapter typo but she wasn’t [+Word] to do more than +able /capable/powerful enough
Mokuyobi
Easily my favorite chapter in awhile. I love getting the different perspectives, especially in active fights. Keep up the excellent work!
James Faulkner
Goddamn, Aster is terrifying and that’s disregarding how Matt is a God of Destruction and Liz is a monstrosity to pretty much anyone below Ascender level
Anime Problem
His horror is of the meaninglessness of fighting him their horror is the visceral and the bending of what's real and what's fake
Anime Problem
This is exactly what I wanted I think I mentioned this in my comment during the ascension chapter or slightly after it that the most impact full way we could be reintroduced to Matt, Liz, and Aster in the war was starting with an enemy's POV because it shows the difference in a way that the MCs POVs can't
Discordian23
I out loud said this is Horrible while reading this. Like they were completely fucked they stood no chance and The Trip weren't even serious, they just herded them towards Aster. Fighting Liz is a lesson in Futility. "Ooh yay we Killed her"
JauPim
Yay, we finally burnt all her blood! Eh, why aren't those flames going out?
Chioke Nelson
Ok that was fucking sick!
Constantin
breath taking chapter, thanks
Jana
The Federation seems to be big on body enhancement, while I see a ton of potential there so far the results seem lacking. But this could be an interesting case for Liz, no? Does the freshly dosed up blood feel different? I can see something like higher mana content etc. If Liz manages to reverse engineer part of the potions or just take some inspiration she might be able to match Matts „limitless“ potential.
Violet
Aster and Liz are a horror show. At least Matt doesn't fuck with your head or pull jump scares on you. He just disintegrates you with overwhelming power.
Violet
Not much point filling in your cannon fodder on how the Ascender-class of fighters fight. They aren't going to survive an encounter either way. Also, I wouldn't be shocked if the Federation distributes propaganda suggesting that the Ascenders are weaker than they actually are for morale purposes. No point in telling your cannon fodder they have zero chance of survival, after all.
Havokk
Okay this one actually gave me a cold chill, and looking outside its actually snowing........ Dammit Aster. Was I the only one that thought "That poor poor man this isnt going to end well for them " the moment I realized just who they were to be deployed against? First you get Slayer Quill who just evaporated a very large part of the army with just the wave of his hand then to run into Slayer Torch and think you got a very very costly win only to realize the win was against a clone and finally to be lost in the inescapable frozen doom in the form of Slayer Scoop who you and all your comrades so easily dismissed. Yup not a good day to come off a healing downtime.
Cross
"The serums aren't addicting, we've investigated it ourselves and found nothing" Hmmmmmmmm where have I heard that before?
Skyra
Damn Fedies are delusional.
Forestfire
This was like reading a first hand account from the marines in Aliens.
Bob Bryan
This is also why you deal in tangible facts and not idiotic specisim when making military strategy or anything really.
mitchell kaiser
Fantastic chapter, these kinds of chapters help show how scary ascenders actually are. Keep up the great work Mantis!
Darune Albane
Yes you are first in the barrel with an open bunghole 😁😂🤣
Istyatur Elestel
Oh no, She just killed a few people and used their blood to make two new Torchs.
MikeL
Then every drop of blood in the entire system. No problem!
WhiteRabbit
Man. They are a nightmare squad
Chakfor
Come into my web said Aster to the Feddies
Teatime42
bUt ShE's NoT a ReAl AsCeNdEr XD
MinE
Are the serums just glorified drugs or do they actually have a permanent boost? P.S Are they a form of mind control?
ForTheAfro
Those sons of bitches downplaying the wonderful Aster and all bonds. Federation sucks. Bonds are the best in any series
Gunnar Crider
"but she wasn’t (able?) to do more than the fire mages to the giant structure before them." Loved the chapter. Though it's surprising how little they knew about torch.
Stephen Balinski
Thanks for the chapter! litoney > litany tenderals > tendrils
Authorii
Those aren't bad ascender names lol
0x0F
We killed Torch!! only need to repeat it 150 more times!!
Bender
Some serious flexing going on here. Lovely!
Authorii
So was this Aster's tier 25 coming into play a little? If so that is very neat, and these people seemed to really underestimate the hype that surrounds ascenders
C_Mantis
Reread of the early chapters a few months ago and I cribbed some names for future use.
SCDarkSoul
Hah, Exlor and Ves? Somebody reading The Mech Touch?
William Johnson
So, better the beam, the blender or the blizzard? How do you want to die?
Bob Bryan
Well they took a calculated risk but damn are they bad at math.
Arvid
Thanks
Austin
Thanks for the chapter!
Fucking Shracc
first
