Chapter 195

Chapter 195

When Matt finally got back to the fight, it was over.

Given the number of cultivators hed had to fight on his way, and just how long it took him to get back on his feet, he wasnt terribly surprised. It had been perhaps five minutes since hed been thrown several blocks away from the fights epicenter, and fights of this level rarely lasted longer. The massive wave of Genesis Energy and Favor hed gotten a minute or so ago was also something of a dead giveaway.

But back in the zone of destruction, he surveyed the aftermath of the fight. Crumbled and broken buildings, the aftermath of countless skills, and many half-reclaimed bodies all spoke to a truly lethal encounter. Still, all that mattered was his AI informing him that his team had all survived, though they werent unharmed.

Liz in particular looked rough. She was covered in blood, missing half her arm, and struggling to stand, even supported by her spear. Matt knelt by her, put one arm around her shoulder, and picked her up so she could at least stand on her own feet.

Liz glanced at him with a pale, blood-streaked face, but still managed a smile.

Got the fucker.

It came out as little more than a whisper, but then she looked guilty as she looked down at her missing arm.

He also She paused to cough up a clot of blood before clearing her throat and finishing, His attack also destroyed both my ring and glove. Sorry.

Matt pulled her into a hug and used the opportunity to both reassure her and cast [Bandage] on her arm. There was no way he could heal her, and she wasnt in any immediate danger.

Hey, its okay. You did great.. Once she was steady enough to not need his full attention, Matt cast his gaze for his other teammates. Susanne seemed to be intact, but was on her knees either hyperventilating or dry heaving. He couldn't quite tell.

Aster scampered over, whined how happy she was to see him, and promptly passed out. Shed been running on sheer willpower for at least half the fight, and not needing to do so anymore was clearly a relief for her.

And she was right. The fight was also over.

It seemed that with the fall of their General, the Fall cultivators decided retreat and escape was the better part of valor. Even the annoying archer who kept peppering them with shots during the fight had stopped their incessant attacks.

Matt scooped up Aster before dropping her into Lizs good arm and moved to Susanne.

Patting her armored back, he asked, What's the damage?

Physically, she seemed uninjured, and his AI reported the same thing, but she was clearly not fine.

As she clenched her fist around a rock that burst under her strength, she croaked out, I cant summon my sword. My Concept is just he broke it. Like swatting a fly. Fighting even after that did not help, and now I wont even be able to think without a headache for a few days.

Matt shuffled through his ring before finding a Tier 14 painkiller and handing it to her.

She shook her head, then joined Liz where she was sitting on the ground Already took one. Kinda helps, but I dont want to overdo it. .

Matt stood up to see Bradley limping over, carrying a surprisingly still alive Dexter.

The man was little more than a head and part of a torso, but Matt could still see the life in his eyes, and slow pulses of his exposed heart. Like cockroaches, enemies always survived.

Bradley gestured with his head, Can you cast [Bandage] on his ass?

Matt really wanted to reject and let the asshole Feddy die, but the man had fought valiantly and until the end, not running away like so many others had. He would happily kill the man on the next floor, but it felt wrong to do so now.

Looking at Bradley, it seemed he had a similar thought process to Matt, as otherwise, he wouldnt have brought him over after seeing him cast [Bandage].

It might be dumb, but Matt cast the spell the half dozen times it was needed to prevent the man from dying.

Seeing that, Bradley dropped Dexter and said, You're lucky I was looking for your spatial ring to loot. Or you wouldnt have made it.

He then proved that false when he dropped a simple silver band onto the man's chest.

As Bradley walked away, he tossed out, Dont worry. I took my payment. That Deep Plum Ale you were bragging about will cover the cost. Worry not!

Matt laughed as Dexter managed to go even paler. He paused for a moment, seeing if the man would actually croak, as he could then loot the man himself. But of course, the bastard didnt, so Matt walked away.

Seeing a Sect healer climb over a wall of rubble, he pointed at Dexter. Might want to start on him first. Hes about a sneeze away from dying, and I don't think there are any Sect cultivators here for you to heal.

Matt didnt care to watch the woman and see if she healed the representative, as most of his attention was on the battle for the city.

Primus had entered the city from the front gate that was opened, and then proceeded to slaughter anyone he encountered, which at this point was just stubborn Fall lieutenants still fighting for their city.

Having just fought one of his kind, Matt knew that the power the Fae was showing wasnt even a tenth of his actual abilities. It was a frightening thought.

Still, the battle was won, and the only thing that was left was the clean up.

And that was a job for someone else.

Matt and his team needed to rest.

They had earned it.

As he was helping Bradley find the few other survivors, they stopped for a second over Tiffany, the Guild representative's body.

She had not survived a [Mana Bolt] that landed on her chest. It had eaten her heart, leaving her with only a vacant expression.

Bradley covered her eyes with a strip of cloth and sighed. Tiff, you did your best. Thank you.

Having said that, he removed her spatial ring and put the woman's body inside.

Turning to Matt, he said, I'm going to try and get this back to her family. She doesnt deserve to be absorbed by the planet. He worked his jaw before asking. If I die, and you can get my body, can you do the same?

Matt nodded slowly. I doubt it will come to that, but yes.N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.

Bradley shrugged as he looked out to the dark city interspersed with flashes of spells. You never know. We signed up for this, but it's disconcerting to see someone I was just talking with now dead. Just makes you think.

Together, they just stood for a long minute before Jill came walking out of a shadow with a head in her hands.

The man's face looked terrified and angry, but her expression wasnt any better.

Got the fucker who liked to shoot arrows at us. Her words surprised Matt. He had figured that the man had retreated once the battle turned, not that Jill had run the man down and decapitated him.

Well fuck that guy. They all turned to Liz as she stood up with an unconscious Aster in her remaining arm, with Susanne using the stump to steady herself.

Seeing them all look at her, she asked. What? That guy was a dick.

Jill shook her head, but Bradley laughed out. No, I just figured wed be finding your body next. Glad youre enough of a beast to be up and walking already after that hit.

Jill turned to Matt and asked, Im nearly as surprised to see you up and moving, White. That kick looked vicious.

Matt shrugged. Broke nearly every bone in my chest and shredded my lungs. I had to inhale a healing potion, which wasnt pleasant. Plus I'm sure Im well over my healing cooldown, and my ribs still need a professional healer. So I didnt get off that lightly.

Jill inspected him, but said nothing, just shaking her head.

Bradley ended up being the one to speak first. Well, I got a Title, so that's nice. Lord of Fallen Trees has a certain ring to it.

Jill turned to her husband and shook her head. Later. We need to get out of the city and rest. Then we can look at our loot. For now, I just want to fall over. Let the clean up crew deal with the loot too. I'm not waiting around for it to get inspected we'll get the report tomorrow.

As she turned away, Matt saw that she hadnt come out of the battle unscathed. Her chest plate had a large rend in the back, showing that a portion of her flesh had melted away, leaving bone exposed.

Seeing it, he cast a [Bandage], which caused her to pause to look back at him and nod.

Saying nothing more, their teams trekked through the war zone that was the city.

They didnt even need to leave the city to find a healer station. One had been set up inside the city walls, but after seeing they were overrun with critical cases, they moved on and tried to find a less busy healing station.

That failed, as they were in the middle of a battle, and no matter their status or accomplishments, they didnt have a greater priority than those who were on death's door.

Matts spirit wasn't more strained than usual, so he was able to drop their house inside the Fae encampment without issue, where the four of them promptly fell asleep in the living room.

None of them wanted to be alone, and they were all too tired to do anything like shower and change clothes.

***

Matt woke up hours later as a beam of sun moved across his face.

That made them all pause for a while, and while Matt had more that he wanted to say, it wasnt something he wanted to discuss in front of Susanne. But at the same time, he wasn't willing to grab Aster and Liz to escape into their own room to talk about Liz nearly dying like he wanted to.

Susanne was a friend, and he was both unwilling to abandon her when she also needed help, and unwilling to designate her as an outsider. That action would show more than anything he could say.

Even thinking that, he still found it hard to open his mouth and get the words out.

Liz, you almost died. You ripped out every drop of blood from your body, lost your arm, and both of your combat growth items. You cant teleport until we regrow your ring from mine, and the glove is gone until we can get some replacement, if we even can. Neither is coming back while were in Minkalla. Thats a serious hit to your combat capabilities. Not to mention your armor is fucked six ways from Sunday, and I dont know if I can repair it. So that drops you to your backup armor None of this is ideal.

Liz nodded. Susanne was staring off into the distance, slightly wide-eyed, seemingly in deep thought.

Aster, meanwhile, spoke up. As much as I hate to think about it, we also have the problem of everyone else. This floor bottled us up tight, and now, when we get to the next floor, we won't have a lead over them.

Nobody particularly wanted to carry on with that train of thought, and Liz spared them all by clapping her hands together and shifting them to a brighter topic. At least we got good rewards for it. You may now address me as the Lady of Red Snow, peasants. Herald, announce my presence.

Be mindful how you speak to your Princess, Aster shot back. Herald, announce my presence. I am superior to a mere Lady.

Well excuse me Princess, but you shouldnt belabor our poor Herald with such requests. He has better things to do with his time. Susanne defended Matt, then promptly backstabbed him. Like announcing the presence of the Duchess of Days Cut Short.

What if I just want to announce my own presence? I still have more Favor than any of you.

That set off a small round of bickering that eventually settled into quiet self-reflection.

After about ten minutes of contemplation, Susanne broke the silence. I got my Concept clone cut in half. Thats the closest Ive been to dying in at least twenty years, and the first time it wasnt me messing up somehow. I was cutting it pretty close for the rest of the fight too, and I saw plenty of people die because they were a hair too slow. To see someone exactly equivalent to you get cut through like so much firewood? To realize that the only reason youre still walking is that you never warranted his full attention, and a single bad roll of the dice could have sent you to the healers table with half your limbs gone? Its not a small thing. She extended her hand, and while it was steady, Matt could see she was concentrating on making it so.

Liz nodded, staring off into the distance. I know what you mean. I nearly died back there, or at least I came close enough that my bloodline tried to resurrect me. It couldnt, though Id hoped it would. Normally, its Tier 15 before bloodline resurrection really kicks in, but some people have pulled that down a few Tiers if their Concept helps out. Mine didnt. It did help me get back up after I almost died, and I think the closer to death I get, the stronger the Concept triggers. But it was well, it was scary. Im not actually ready to die, not really. All of my preparations, it was just nothing. I got overconfident, pushed too far, and paid the price. Its well its terrifying.

Susanne agreed. That General having an Intent, or whatever it had of one, and being so strong was more than a little disconcerting. Then I think about how we are going to need to fight at least one more

She paused, and they all gave her the time to gather her thoughts. Part of me is terrified, but a larger part is excited. I want to see how it goes. I learned a lot during that fight. But She grimaced. Tiering up will be the safe and easy move. With the rest of the power of Tier 11, actualizing that fight would have been much easier. With the essence stones, we picked up along the way, we can up our next Tier easily. I think at peak Tier 12

Susanne paused as she grinned a little. I was going to say at peak Tier 12, the fight would have been easy, but that's bullshit, and even I know it. But the fight would have been a lot easier. Death was right there in a way like it never has been before. My skills and abilities have always been enough to pull me through before. Id rather lose out on the best rewards than die.

Liz reached over and squeezed Susanne's hand, and Matt leaned over her to pat her leg while Aster claimed the swordswomans lap.

She brought up good points, and he felt a lot of the same things.

Aster slowly asked, We all already have Titles, and we have all earned more than enough Genesis Energy to take our boons out and get the floor reward. Why don't we just hang back in the next fight? There isnt any reason we need to throw ourselves into a battle with a General. Call it conceited, but I don't think there are any teams of ascenders who can beat us. As long as we avoid the big guys, we can stay safe. So I think Tiering up now is premature. Let's wait until we see how the siege goes before we do anything we can't undo.

Matt nodded and ruffled her fur.

I think that's a good idea. Ill also cut off my mana supply, which should slow down the production of troops and give us a little extra time before we start the siege of Summer. Then, we rush through floor five and hopefully put a bit of room between us and whoever comes after us.

He forced out a fake smile. Hopefully, Summer will put up a good fight and give us enough time to completely remove our healing cooldown as well.

***

So we are surrendering then? Everyone agrees?

Long Zhiyuan nodded.

Surrender wasnt the honorable or proper move, but it was the smart one.

Even Young Mistress Meteor Fall didnt object, which was all that mattered to Long Zhiyuan.

He might also be a Young Master, but she was the Young Mistress of a Tier 39 Sect that was as old as time itself.

She was not only powerful, but held an exalted position amongst the Sect cultivators in Summer. He thought he had a better than even chance of defeating her, but her background could crush him without hesitation. Not that they would do so until after he failed to keep up with a Young Masters expectations, but the second he failed, he would find himself having an accident if he needlessly challenged her.

He had been afraid that he would need to before the last reports came in, but seeing her agree, he knew that the situation was salvaged. She had been obstinate in fighting it out with Winter before this, despite the situation turning for the worse day by day.

For the honor of the Sects, she said. But really, she liked the boon Summer had given her and wanted to take it with her as she left the floor.

All of them had. But facing down Winter was an impossibility.

What had prompted this change was the report that had just come in from their scouts, he was sure.

Even a Daughter of the Heavens, who never needed to treat anyone as her equal couldnt deny reality when it smacked them in the face.

Winter had somehow managed to take over Spring in a surprise attack, which shocked everyone, but no one expected them to immediately turn and take down Fall less than two weeks later.

At that point, everyone thought they were an arrow at the end of its flight, and would be easy to roll over, but Long Zhiyuan thought differently.

The reports of Spring and Falls defeats said that their General had yet to take action in any meaningful way yet. After the reports, he wasnt sure that even with their prodigious lineup of Young Master equivalents that they could handle the General named Primus.

Everyone else seemed to miss the fact that the Fae grew stronger. They saw them all as faceless monsters, only to be used as sacrificial pawns, but Long Zhiyuan had seen them grow.

Once a private killed five other Fae privates, he was promoted to sergeant. Everyone knew that. The same applied to sergeants, and he supposed lieutenants too, despite not seeing it for himself yet.

Everyone else seemed to think the jumps in power were reflective of their kills.

Long Zhiyuan believed differently. He had used his [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] to fight those Fae who defeated other Fae, and he could see the differences in their martial prowess even before they gained a new rank. They grew stronger with each kill, and their promotion was a reflection of that increase, rather than how they got the increase. The better equipment and new skills just obfuscated the power change. And General Primus had already won two sieges and killed hundreds, if not thousands, of cultivators.

Long Zhiyuan wanted nothing less than to have to fight the monster that an experienced Fae General would become.

Young Mistress Meteor Fall had been pushing for them to directly attack the army as it was recovering from its taking of Fall, and she had a number of supporters from all eight Great Powers before this. At least, she did amongst the strongest of cultivators, and it wasnt like the weaker ones' opinions mattered for matters of grand strategy.

But the latest scouting report changed all of that.

Whatever oddities were going on with Winter that allowed them to take the initial lead had only magnified in the recent month. And now, outside Winters capital city, there was a second army. It was even larger than the initial one, and was led by another General.

And it wasnt even the second General. No, it was the third.

Winter had apparently created a General, but kept it to defend her city walls rather than immediately send them to the front.

Now they would have to contend with two armies, and two Generals, with only one of their own.

In theory, Summer should have been at a strict advantage. Nearly all of the strongest delvers had found that the boon it offered improved power with Light and Fire. And that was to speak nothing of the defensive advantages it offered as well. Certainly, the boons were a tempting prize. Their reports indicated that each of the seasons had perhaps a dozen, maybe even two dozen truly top-caliber warriors within their ranks.

Summer claimed at least three hundred, and more joined them with every passing day.

Yet whatever strange twist of fortune Winter had experienced completely upended that advantage. Each person within this room could take down a hundred, perhaps even a thousand of the weakest Fae with ease. But the armies of Winter would still press them to their limits in numbers alone, discounting the generals, their powerful magics, or any other tricks they may have held by simple virtue of not needing to have shown them yet.

They could almost certainly protect their city. Two generals attacking it was a daunting proposition, yet perhaps not insurmountable. But to win? That was folly. Winters forces grew at a rate truly incomparable to any of the other seasons. It was entirely possible they would be physically incapable of killing the Fae faster than they were born.

Winter had come, and fighting it was fruitless. Many of those who mattered had already collected sufficient Genesis Energy to undertake the themes Tribulation by attacking and taking their neighboring seasons' forts, and with no hope of victory, there was no benefit in Favor.

Anyone who disagreed or possessed insufficient Genesis Energy for either the Tribulation or exit prize could happily sit back and fight Winter after they left, but the strongest weren't going to struggle needlessly.

Once everyone accepted the fact that they would, indeed, be retreating, they broke the news to the weaker cultivators, which didnt go over well. Mostly because they made it clear that they expected them to vacate the city, and not interfere with Winter taking it until they were able to leave.

If they weren't able to leave because of their actions, Long Zhiyuan didnt mind killing them if they slowed his progress.

This alliance was a farce, and would be dispensed with as soon as they left this floor, so what did it matter if he lost his little Favor? He couldnt take it with him anyway.

So, after gathering everything, they exited the city, and those who wanted to leave started marching through the last vestiges of Summer, and into the swirling winter lands that had taken over most of the floor.

At the intersection point between the four seasonal cities, there lay four pillars that reached towards the untouchable sky.

Their exit.

Three of the four pillars were frozen over, but the last one of Summer stood strong and green.

So Long Zhiyuan and the others settled in to wait.

It shouldn't be long now, and once Summer fell, they could be the first people to leave.

Deeper into Minkalla.

Where the real prizes lay.