Chapter 499: Aeon Joins the War

Dareth left the command vessel and crossed toward the white-grey figure beyond the supply ships. A broken axe turned past him as he approached, its blade still carrying a faint trace of crimson essence. He moved around it and stopped several paces behind the stranger, looking once at the bodies scattered through the void before lowering his head.

"Senior, thank you for helping us. We would have lost most of the expedition without you." The stranger turned, and Dareth straightened enough to meet his gaze. "I am Dareth of the Azure Ascendant Sect. Did headquarters send you to support us?"

The white-grey sword beside the man's leg dissolved. Up close, Dareth could see no wound upon him, and his frame was steady despite the number of spells he had released. Behind them, blue-robed disciples were bringing their injured companions toward the transports while others gathered around the abandoned Bloodfang vessels.

"Headquarters did not send me," Adrian replied. "I am Aeon of the Origin Sect. I heard there were opportunities here for cultivators willing to take assignments, so I came to see for myself."

Dareth's expression eased. Outside cultivators regularly joined the war effort, whether they travelled alone or came from sects beyond the region. He had worked beside several during earlier operations, though none had arrived in the middle of a failing expedition and changed its outcome so completely.

"We would be glad to have you, Senior," he said. "I cannot arrange your registration myself, but the elder can help with that. I can take you to him."

"All right," Adrian replied, glancing toward the returning disciples before looking back at Dareth. "Where is he?"

Dareth hesitated. "There is one problem. He was coming from the defensive base in Teralis to reinforce us, but a Bloodfang Astral intercepted him on the way. Their fight has not ended yet. We may have to wait until he can return."

Adrian looked past him toward the distant glow of the galaxy. The expedition had been close to losing its retreat when he arrived, and the cultivator who should have supported it was still occupied elsewhere. "Do you know where they are fighting?"

"We have his last position, Senior. Our observation vessels have been following the battle from a distance."

"Take me there," Adrian said. "I can help him."

Dareth nodded immediately and opened his communication channel. "I am taking Senior Aeon to support the elder," he told his officer. "Finish destroying the Bloodfang supply vessels and recover everyone still outside our ships. Once the wounded are aboard, bring the expedition back to the base."

"Understood," the officer replied. "The fourth transport is moving again. We will keep the damaged ships together on the return."

Dareth brought a small vessel out from the expedition and boarded it with Adrian, setting its course toward the latest position sent by the observers. They travelled farther through the intergalactic void, with Teralis remaining a distant glow behind them. Before long, pale-blue and crimson light appeared ahead, spreading across one another as flashes of Divine spells crossed between the two domains.

He reduced their speed and stopped well outside the overlapping fields. A crimson arc broke apart against a pale-blue barrier in the distance, scattering light through the surrounding void before the domains closed over the space again.

"This is as close as I can take the ship, Senior." Dareth enlarged the image above the controls. "The elder is within the pale-blue domain."

Adrian nodded and disappeared from beside him. Dareth turned toward the forward window in time to see the white-grey figure outside, already accelerating toward the distant battle. He brought the observation display closer and followed him across the remaining distance.

"Eternal Continuum."

Dark-violet light spread through the pale blue and crimson, carrying thin golden currents between them. The two existing domains pressed against the newcomer's influence, and the space where they met trembled as three cultivators opposed one another's control.

The elder turned toward the interruption with a blue spear held across his body. He had sky-blue skin and short silver hair, and one sleeve of his robes had been torn open above the elbow. Across from him, a horned Beastborn drew back his curved blade and looked toward the white-grey figure approaching through the violet light.

"Who is that?" the elder asked, shifting his spear as the stranger passed a fading crimson attack and continued toward his opponent.

The Beastborn pulled his domain closer, trying to slow the newcomer while keeping the elder within his sight. The man changed direction without losing speed and crossed the edge of the crimson field. A thin current of the newcomer's willforce reached toward his consciousness, separate from the pressure of the competing domains. He sensed the deliberate intent behind it and raised his mental defense. The newcomer possessed an awakened consciousness, and his attention was fixed upon him.

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The Beastborn began turning away. He had no reason to remain between two enemy Astrals when he had already failed to overcome the first. Crimson essence gathered along his legs as he tried to pull back beyond the stranger's reach.

HUMMMM!

Before he completed the movement, a far heavier consciousness bore down upon him. His raised arm stopped, his body held at an angle as though something had seized him in the middle of the turn. He tried to force his willforce outward, but the defense around his mind buckled, and the essence gathering along his legs scattered.

The elder felt the edge of that presence and stiffened. He had stood before Anchors during his service and knew the dense mental weight they could exert beyond their own bodies. The will holding the Beastborn carried that same quality, gripping him without any mana flowing into the restraint.

"He has reached Anchor," the elder realized as the crimson domain faltered.

Adrian used Continuity Step through the opening and appeared beside the Beastborn. A white-grey blade formed along his hand and passed across the exposed neck before the man could raise his weapon. His head separated from his shoulders, and the crimson light surrounding them began to disappear.

Dareth's hand stopped above the observation controls. "How did he kill him so quickly?" he muttered, staring at the body beside Aeon. That enemy had kept their elder occupied while the expedition nearly collapsed, yet the fight had ended before Dareth could even adjust the display.

During the earlier battle, Aeon had used his sword and released thousands of spells without once openly attacking the enemy's consciousness. Seeing that, Dareth had assumed he was an Astral who had not reached Chime. Someone with stronger mental cultivation could have ended that fighting with far less effort, and Dareth had even worried that the stranger was wasting the mana he might need afterward. He could not tell exactly what had stopped the Beastborn, but Aeon was clearly far stronger than he had assumed.

The pale-blue domain withdrew, followed by the dark-violet light. Dareth checked that the remaining spells had dispersed, left the ship, and hurried toward the two figures. As he approached, he saw the elder lower his spear and bow his head toward Aeon.

"Thank you for your help, Senior. I could not break away from him to reach the expedition." The elder glanced toward the severed body, then returned his attention to Adrian. "They were fighting near the supply route."

"They are safe," Adrian replied. He looked toward Dareth, who was closing the remaining distance. "Their commander brought me here."

Dareth stopped beside them and bowed. "Elder, this is Senior Aeon of the Origin Sect. He reached us while we were withdrawing and destroyed most of the Bloodfang force. The surviving disciples are recovering our wounded and finishing the mission."

The elder's shoulders eased. "How badly were the transports damaged?"

"The fourth vessel took the worst of it, but it can move now. I left the officer in command. They will return together once the supply ships are destroyed."

"Have him send the number of wounded ahead. The base can prepare before they arrive." The elder waited while Dareth passed on the order, then turned back toward Adrian.

"Senior Aeon came to take assignments in the war," Dareth added after closing the channel. "I told him you could help arrange his registration."

The elder nodded. An Anchor willing to fight here would be valuable, especially when so many of their stronger cultivators were needed at the central fronts. The surrounding galaxies still needed people to protect their bases and supply routes, and the fight he had just survived showed how easily one intercepted reinforcement could leave an expedition without support.

"Our War Service Office handles outside cultivators," he said. "We would welcome your help, Senior. Were you looking for Fixed-Term Service or Independent Mission Service?"

Adrian knew the difference from the horned Anchor's recovered memories. Cultivators who accepted fixed terms agreed to serve for a set period and received payment and resources according to their contracts. During that time, the force employing them could assign them to expeditions, defensive positions, or other duties within the agreement.

Independent service offered more freedom. After registering, a cultivator could examine available missions and choose which ones to accept. The responsibilities lasted for the accepted assignment, and completing it brought the listed rewards and contribution points. They were not required to remain with one expedition while waiting for their next order.

The memories had shown both arrangements being used during the war. They had not given Adrian the current assignments available through Azure Ascendant, nor the information shared with its registered cultivators. He looked toward the elder while the last scattered traces of crimson essence faded behind them.

"Can independent cultivators receive the more important assignments as well?" he asked.

"They can, Senior, once we have a record of their service." The elder adjusted the torn sleeve above his elbow. "Strength matters, but some missions involve information we cannot give to someone who has just arrived. Once the office confirms your completed missions, your contribution will grow. That will help you qualify for more important assignments and the reports you need for them."

Adrian considered the answer carefully. Independent service would allow him to begin building that record immediately while continuing to attack Bloodfang forces. Instead of relying entirely upon fragmented memories and whatever intelligence reached public networks, he could learn directly from the people fighting the war and gain access to current reports connected to the assignments he accepted.

As his contribution increased, more important missions would become available. Those assignments could eventually take him closer to the central fronts, where the strongest cultivators from all four Upper Major Sects were fighting and where Adrian would have a far greater chance of observing Weave-stage consciousness in actual battle.

More importantly, Independent Mission Service would leave him free to choose his path through the war. He would not be bound to one defensive base or expedition for the length of a contract, nor would Azure Ascendant be able to send him somewhere unrelated to what he needed without his agreement. Adrian could continue striking Bloodfang's forces, weakening them one mission at a time while accumulating enough contribution to eventually qualify for access to the regions he truly wanted to reach.

Adrian looked once at the dead Beastborn before turning back toward the elder. "I would like to register for Independent Mission Service. I will choose assignments as they become available."

"Of course, Senior," the elder replied. "Please come back to the base with us. I will inform headquarters and arrange your registration."