Chapter 318

Chapter 318

Matt wanted to feel good about their latest fight with the Harmony Accords, but considering they had only rebuffed their latest ambush, he didnt feel as good as if they had wiped them out. He wanted revenge so badly, he could taste it.

Sadly, it was still out of reach and that made him feel like a coiled spring ready to pop at the slightest provocation. His being on edge made him keep his distance from those around him, and the different perspective helped him notice that Darrow was a little more quiet than normal. Matt knew why he was behaving that way, but he didnt know what he should say to the man.

While Allie might disregard military orders, he, Liz, and Aster hadnt done so before. Officially, they should be reprimanded for their actions with loss of rank, pay reductions, and time in the brig all being possibilities but they were Ascenders. If they were punished according to the rules, Duke Waters would be in the brig for the next millennia. That knowledge didnt make Matt feel any better about it. He genuinely felt bad about flaunting Darrows authority like that. It was rude and unprofessional in a way that reflected badly on Matts image of himself.

The moment they entered the rift, connected to the LocalNet, and got their deployment updates, Darrow gave them their leave. You have seventy two hours of liberty then we redeploy to the frontlines, but orders arent yet settled and will most certainly be updated now that we know the Harmony Accords have a way to pierce our anti divination wards.

As they exited Joys ship, Matt hung back and waited until Darrow exited.

Darrow immediately noticed him and raised an eyebrow at his unusual actions.

I just wanted to apologize for ignoring orders. I Matt paused as he searched for the right word, but when he didnt find it, he simply gave up. He was too emotionally tired to think right now. Im sorry for flaunting your orders so blatantly.

Darrows third eye scanned Matt for a moment before he said, I have come to expect such from Ascenders.

Matt could hear the rebuke in his voice and accepted that as his due, but stiffened as Darrow ruthlessly continued. Before you are so willing to disregard my future orders, I would remind you that I have many years more experience in battles than you, and I dont call for a retreat because I am scared of a fight. I have no doubt that some more of us will die in the next decades as we clash in the twilight years of the war. As people get desperate, casualties will increase. If the Harmony Accords insists on chasing us down at every opportunity, more of us are going to die. Probably not the five of you, but the rest of us are affected when you ignore orders. I cant reprimand you, and even an official complaint would do literally nothing, but I want you to think about the rest of the team next time you ignore orders. Right now, you can say you made the right call because none of us died, but next time? Will you still consider it the right call when another of us is sent to the incinerator? Think about that Ascender Titan. The rest of us arent so durable. Enjoy your time off, and be ready for deployment in seventy-two hours. I suspect our next orders are going to be testing the Harmony Accords response times, and that wont be without risk.

With his piece said, Darrow turned and marched off, leaving Matt standing there feeling small.

Taking a deep breath, Matt thought about what Darrow said and was forced to agree with his assessment. He didn't like it, but the team leader had a point. A month ago, he would have blown the reprimand off, content in the knowledge that none of them would die in this war. But that illusion had been shattered along with Erics life.

Matt hated being made to feel small. He hated to be reprimanded. But instead of reacting, he took a moment to process both the reprimand and the mentantly behind it.

Darrow wasnt wrong. Matt and the others had been more concerned with their pride, their desire for revenge, or whatever other feeling pushed them into fighting in the last fight, when they should have been following orders.

At least, that was what the logical part of him said. The emotional side of Matt said he should keep throwing himself into fights, live up to his name and his Domain, and force the enemies to test their durability against his. Show them why he was an Ascender.

Looking down, he inspected his hands.

His left hand was utterly immaculate, now as always. He could count on one hand the number of times that hed done more than scratched it since hed applied Stygian Gossamer to it centuries ago. But his right hand was likewise in perfect condition, thanks to [Regeneration] knitting it back together and his Millennium Willow Lifesap helping him flush away all hostile influences from it. And nothing could stop that, not truly.

If he lost his hand, it would come back. If he lost his body, it would be put together just fine. If he lost his head, it would regrow with all of his memories intact. No sniper could take him out like they had with Eric.

He wanted to demand that he be given the opportunity to be thrown into Harmony Accord's path and given time to just wear them down, except that was still his emotions talking. He, like Gan Le, was vulnerable to being entangled and imprisoned. It might be harder to do it with him, but it was definitely possible, and he was sure that the Harmony Accords had something in reserve for him.

Matt had his own countermeasures to being captured, but they werent foolproof. And his willpower, unlike his mana, could be depleted. Was being depleted. He couldnt afford the years or decades it would take to recover if it bottomed out. Bottoming out on willpower meant one needed to completely refill their willpower before they could safely use their Domain again. One could push through it, but that led to serious spiritual damage in the best of cases.

Having taken a few moments to process, he ran through his feelings once more before going to the hospital more centered and stable. Even after some ruminations, he wouldnt call their previous decision wrong, but he better understood Darrow and the rest of the team's feelings.

Once Liz and Aster were taken care of, Matt accompanied them back to their house where they were able to finally spend some time alone. They mostly sat in silence, but conversations inevitably turned to Eric and their memories of him. That more than anything helped Matts mood. They might have lost a friend, but they had spent many good years with him and had the memories of their time together.

If they had been given their full break time to ruminate it probably would have turned morbid, but things were never that easy.

About seven hours into their break, Duke Waters came back into the rift bloodied and battered.

Matt raced over with Liz and Aster, but kept some distance as what was left of Aiden was rushed to the hospital. Unlike last time when he came back battered but able to banter, now he was spending all of his efforts on staying alive.

The healers stabilized him, with Melinda arriving shortly thereafter and stabilizing his wounds. It was kind of disturbing, watching his face re-form itself, like clay un-melting, yet still deeply fascinating.

Matt, Liz, and Aster hung off to the side, but they werent shooed away, which allowed them to get the debriefing. Aiden had fought Maya and they had thrown themselves into the fight with everything they had, resulting in serious damage on both sides.

Seeing how bad Aiden was, Matt had to wonder about what sort of condition he left Maya in.

Even with the damage, Aiden seemed ecstatic and loudly contemplated how he'd be ready for round two, even before he had a mouth. General Bell, the general Aiden had thrown through a wall last time he was this injured, was nearly tossed through a wall again at the suggestion that Aiden should stay inside the rift to accelerate his willpower recovery.

You think Im going to sit inside and twiddle my thumbs up my ass while the war is going on? Did someone replace your brain with a sponge? This is the time to hone myself.

Ascender Waters, you will be needed for the eventual defense of the Citadel. The regional capital can not be allowed to fall. Everything before that is

If you can pull ten thousand Tier 35 troops out of your ass, a few million Tier 25s, and hundreds of millions of Tier 15s, sure we could. In fact, it be downright easy. But at this point, the war is more a matter of logistics than anything else.

General Almora said the last bit with a resigned sigh, but Matt disagreed. Logistics only matter in an even fight, but like you said, logistics matter. If we are giving up on hiding the capabilities of Shadows Talent, we can widen the range of attacks. What are we able

The General shook her head as he asked. That is beyond your paygrade Ascender.

Hearing that, Matt let his expression go flat and he stared down at the General. She could toss him through a wall thanks to their Tier disparity, but he didnt care. His anger still simmered at a low level, and that made him disregard the consequences. So for the second time today, he threw his title around.

I wasnt asking, General. What are our plans and where are the highest value targets we can possibly hit. I want a list and I want it now. As for what I do with it, that's not your problem.

Ascender Titan, I assure you that High Command have already considered all the possible missions with far more information than you can get from us. In fact I

Matt cut her off with a glare, letting his true feelings leak through, meeting her tone with hardened steel. And what you and High Command believe is impossible might be limiting your viewpoint. It's time we, the Ascenders, take a look. Not wanting to burn this bridge completely, Matt let his expression and tone soften. I do appreciate what you and your people do. It's not easy and is incredibly valuable work, but we do the impossible.

His piece said, he waited, letting the moment grow.

It dragged out long enough that Matt was sure she was going to refuse, but in the end, General Almora gave him what he wanted.

Scanning the information packet, Matt nodded. Thank you.

Despite wishing he could go and inspect the divination amplifier, he read the general's mood and made his exit.

Instead of going back to his house, he went to check in on Dena. He wouldnt say he was worried she would hurt herself, but he also wanted to remind her that she still had friends who both cared and worried about her.

He was a little worried when she wasnt in the camp, but he found her just a few hundred miles away, sitting under a tree and watching a waterfall.

Matt watched her for a moment, not wanting to intrude if she really wanted to be alone, but Dena waved him over.

Hey. It wasnt his best opening, but it would hopefully gauge the waters without causing any harm.

He loved this spot. He complained about it all the time, but he secretly he loved it. He tried to play it up like I was the one who wanted to come, and that each time we came here he was doing me a great favor. He liked how the water spray could just make it over here when the wind blew correctly. I hated it. Dena hiccuped as she half laughed, half sobbed. Now, I cant wait for the wind to blow a little harder. Why didnt I treasure those moments before? Why wont the stupid wind blow over here. Does it hate him? Does it miss him? Am I not worthy? Why

Seeing that Dena was working herself into a spiral, Matt put an arm around her and just listened.

Eventually, she petered out and they sat there in companionable silence, just watching the waterfall. Matt tried to relax, but every time he did, he felt an overwhelming desire to move try to tear him apart, so he eventually gave up and just concentrated on being there for Dena. That was easier than dealing with his own grief.

They had been sitting there long enough that Matt was almost caught off guard when she chuckled. I remember when we were Tier 7 and spent like a week and a half inside a rift because the apartment we rented had over booked. We found a waterfall like this. Ok, not really like this. It was small, ten feet or so, but similar. And on our third day after we cleared the rift, just when we were starting to go stir crazy, Eric went on this big adventure trying to figure out where the water came from and how the rift kept having more water to move through a waterfall. He was convinced the rift was cheating with a looped space where the river reached the limit of the rift. I didnt believe it at all and was convinced rifts were just destroying and remaking the water. We spent hours arguing our sides just for something to do, each argument becoming more and more tangential to the actual point. When we left and looked it up, he lorded the fact that he was more right over me for weeks.

From there, they just spent some time exchanging stories about Eric until finally Dena stood and brushed the grass she had pulled apart while sitting down off her legs. Let's go to whatever planning you had in mind.

Matt copied her sans brushing himself off. How did you know that was why I came out here?

Because I had the same thought. Come on. Just before they took to the sky, Dena reached out and pulled Matt into a short but tight hug. Thanks for checking in on me, but I dont intend to die until I rip that snipers head from their shoulders.

Matt nodded, but wasnt brave enough to ask her about what would happen after she accomplished her goal. Hopefully a little time and distance would, if not make the wound heal, let it callus over enough that it didnt hurt so much.

As they arrived back to the base, Matt called a team meeting. It wasnt official, and no one had to arrive, but all of them did. Even if Zack looked disgruntled at being pulled away from whatever he had been working on.

Even Darrow arrived, though he took a seat when he saw Matt standing in his usual place.

Looking at everyone, Matt took the opportunity to memorize their faces. Darrow's earlier words about their lives being more fragile than his had stuck with him. That made what he was about to suggest feel like murder, but they all knew the costs and had signed up for this. Even Eric.

I dont like our situation. Weve been in a holding pattern, just running around trying to plug holes in a leaky ship with our fingers. The moment we leave, the leak continues. I went and got a list of the most vulnerable targets in the enemy Great Powers. As was pointed out to me, High Command has most certainly already gone over all of these missions and disregarded them for whatever reason. Part of that, Im sure, is them not wanting to give away Allies Talent, but another part might be them not believing in our abilities. Fuck that. As Luna pointed out, we do the impossible. What on this list is not just impossible, but our flavor of Impossible? The impossible we can do? Maybe it will amount to nothing, but we are already losing. Its time to flip the board.

Allie grinned wide enough that he could see her rubbing her incisors with her tongue. Oh, I like this. What about you, Darrow? Are you going to run off to High Command and quash this little idea?

General Darrow caught Allies gaze before looking around at the rest of the Ascenders. I will, of course, inform High Command about all plans made here. But like myself, they have no way to stop an Ascenders antics. After a small pause, Darrow shrugged. And General Raven would more than likely agree with any asinine plan we come up with, and he's our direct report. Besides, Ive been trying to get the five of you more involved in tactical planning for the last seventy years. I wont complain about the subject of said plans, so long as they arent truly suicidal. I do value my own life at least that much.

Hearing Darrow wouldnt actively hamper their planning, Matt grinned.