Some fluctuation of energy woke Erin in the middle of the night. That was not something she was used to, as her life had been relatively peaceful. She still found it difficult to believe she was the head of a sect, but that was how things were now. In truth the position mainly involved management rather than leadership, keeping things organized and people content with limitations.

Things were peaceful, so what had awoken her? She didn’t feel anyone fighting. Yet she wouldn’t wake up for nothing either. There was something strange that she couldn’t place.

Or perhaps she simply had a nightmare. Her senses had scanned all around the island, finding no problems among the sect or the guests. Not that there were many of the latter at the moment- with a war going on, fewer people were passing through on ships. Speaking of ships, when she pushed her senses further she sensed it.

After finding the first ship, her senses soon picked out the next. Then one more, further around Paradise. In total, there were seven spread out evenly, starting towards either shoulder and going around the sides with one in the rear.

Paradise was still drifting along casually, apparently unconcerned. But why would he be? He never reacted to humans except the invaders, and had grown quite used to them.

Erin had to do something. She couldn’t tell what was happening, but there were subtle fluctuations of energy from the small fleet. If they were guests they would have simply landed, there were attendants on hand at all hours of the day.

“Miklav!” Erin directed her voice to extend to the vice head. She didn’t bother focusing it so that her words wouldn’t spread. Soon enough people would hear, and if nothing was happening she’d simply feel silly. If there was a real problem, waking as many people as possible quickly was important. “Gather everyone you can. There’s some sort of attack… or similar. Go to the left, and make sure to include our guests. This is a neutral zone, I’m sure they won’t be pleased if it comes under attack.”

“What is it?” a reply came from Miklav.

“You’ll be able to spot them. Ships in formation around Paradise. If they approach peacefully we can handle them as normal, but the way they’re lingering…”

“Understood.”

Erin began gathering people as well, heading over to the right side of Paradise. Proper nautical terminology would perhaps call the left and right port and starboard, but Paradise wasn’t a ship. He was a turtle.

When she arrived at the guest houses, she found a group from Marvelous Rabbit Mountain waiting for her. An old woman lead them. “Island Head, what is the cause of all this commotion?”

She simply raised her arm towards the nearest ship. “Something abnormal. Either guests who somehow don’t know how this works… or enemies.”

“I find it difficult to imagine anyone from the continents is unaware of the protocol here, not if traveling by ship.” The old woman turned off towards the ship. “I think I can sense something there, in front of the ship.”

“Ah, yes. Well, that settles it,” Erin nodded as she felt a turtle attached to the ship. “This is an attack of some sort. The Ponderous Turtle Clan has some gall, coming here.”

Though she said that, there wasn’t much she had that could back up her words. They had only a few Life Transformation cultivators, counting the guests no more than ten. What could they do against an attack? Even the closest ship had five.

The fluctuations in energy became more obvious. “They’re unleashing a technique! Help me to counter it!” Erin didn’t know exactly what she needed to do, but she called upon her own energy, and the energy of Paradise, trying to sever the line of connection they were forming. The group from Marvelous Rabbit Mountain and the other Island Tenders lent a hand, but the attack was ephemeral and difficult to tie down. It wasn’t like blocking a fireball or something simple.

Around the island, there were six more strands meeting in the middle like a strange net. Miklav was trying to fight one off, with less success than Erin.

Erin tried to stop the final strand from properly connecting, but with a sudden shove she and the others were bowled over, and the connection formed. Dozens of additional lines webbed between the seven connections, and the effect collapsed over the island, binding it. The ships began to move in closer, the web tightening.

Then a flipper slowly rose out of the water, between the front two pairs of ships. It seemed to take forever, even though it was moving with quite some speed. A torrent of water poured off of it, not quite completing its journey before the flippers slammed down. Instead of creating great waves, the flippers sunk into the water and created a great vacuum. Along with a tug of energy, it pulled water inward.

There was a sudden tide of monumental force that pulled the two ships together. At the same time, the tail in the rear flipped upward. It was far enough away for it to be hazy in Erin’s senses, but she could see it when it rose above the height of the thirteen hills- the shell of Paradise.

It wasn’t just the front two ships on either side that were pulled into the sudden void in the ocean, but also the ones by Paradise’s rear feet, the back corners of the formation. The water rushed for a few moments, ships being pulled down… and then the water crashed.

Over the next several minutes the surface of the water stilled, but Erin could feel something further happening underneath. Even if she hadn’t been specifically attuned to the natural energy around Paradise, it was quite obvious to anyone how the power flowed from its back and middle down its sides. After a few minutes the water stilled, and the ocean returned to its vaguely calm state… but with no ships.

Except the ones anchored in the small docks, technically atop Paradise’s shell. Either Paradise avoided causing turmoil around himself- which was quite possible- or he had intentionally avoided what they constructed. It didn’t matter either way. It was clear that Paradise had made known his opinion about whatever they had been trying to do. Controlling Paradise, most likely.

Then there was another disturbance of energy. “There’s something happening at the head,” Erin said. Come along.”

She stomped rather quickly as she moved. As far as she was aware, she hadn’t been able to do anything. It was clear that Paradise didn’t need defending, but she’d thought that maybe she could do something. Clearly, she needed more work. If she could just tap into more of the sea of energy Paradise kept… as long as he didn’t mind. Because if she angered him, there was nothing she or any of the others could do about his response.

Erin had been worried there might be survivors congregating. If Paradise had left some alive, they might be strong enough to take out the Island Tenders. But it was clearly not humans that remained there. Instead, it was a handful of turtles. Six, to be exact. That would be all of them, except the one by the tail who had been flung who knows where.

Paradise had raised his head out of the water as the turtles- which would have been quite impressive at five to ten meters in length anywhere else- circled around below. They seemed to want something from Paradise, but after a short few moments he simply lowered his head, snorting into the water. This raised waves sent the turtles scattering, but clearly didn’t cause them much actual harm. Some of them lingered nearby regardless, but a few more snorts and they gave up.

Well. At least Erin could now report on the result of the attack. She had communication plates for some groups on either continent, and she’d warned of something that looked like an attack to both. Now she could report… and let them know that the Ponderous Turtle clan was down… something like thirty or more of their best. Though maybe they’d find a way to swim back to shore somewhere, if they hadn’t been killed by that swirling energy under the surface.

A trail of floating flotsam from the ships began to surface, indicating that it had been more than just the weight of water that would have crashed down on them. Normal ships might have fallen apart, but these had been reinforced by powerful formations. And now they were junk.

-----

Anton was ecstatic to hear the news from Paradise. More victories than losses were happening for the continents, but few had been big. From their estimates of the Ponderous Turtle Clan’s power, however, the attack on Paradise might have been pretty much everything they had left. That was also a significant chunk of the forces arrayed against them, and the fastest ships.

Further intel gained during the war indicated that it would be around five percent of the enemy’s forces, with the Ponderous Turtle clan being one of a couple dozen larger groups in the Exalted Archipelago. Some still remained out of the war, and it was hoped that they would not change their minds.

Anton couldn’t do anything about that at the moment, though. Or much of anything. There were still lingering traces of poison inside him, and whenever he recovered a bit of natural energy it flared up. In small amounts it wasn’t harmful, but if he tried to gather quickly it felt a bit dangerous. He was slowly recovering, though, and he estimated the poison should be completely gone within a month.

Not being able to fight was frustrating, though it wasn’t because people needed him. In fact, it was because they didn’t. An uncomfortable blow to Anton’s newfound inspiration. What point was there in being the guardian of everything if nobody needed him?

Of course, the inner turmoil settled itself rather quickly once he got around to straightforwardly asking himself such questions. There was no point at all, and it would be the very best possible outcome. If everything was just fine without him? He could die happy.

It just wasn’t going to be yet. His health was decent and he had some decades left in him. Even if this particular war ended without further need for his assistance, there were threats further beyond.

There was something about being truly empty of energy that Anton found peaceful. He had taken a wagon back to the sect, away from the more dangerous battlegrounds. He didn’t want anyone getting hurt trying to defend him.

For the last week he’d been working the ground with just his body. It brought back so many years of memories, but there was more to it. He could still sense the energy around him now, if passively. Perhaps he’d had the slightest inkling of it before he became a cultivator, from the sense of peace he had working the land. Or maybe that was him projecting his current feelings. Either way, he enjoyed the feeling of the sun beating down on him and the wind cooling him off. Sweat and dirt and plain old normal muscle aches.

But above it all he felt the flow of the world, the inevitable tides of everything that would inevitably open up the world for invasion by outsiders once more. And it wasn’t even all that far away, by cultivator standards. He had consulted with others, and they agreed that it seemed likely to be a shorter cycle this time. Yet it wouldn’t be quick. A couple centuries, which was enough for at least a pair of long generations of cultivators- children growing up to become masters and raising disciples of their own.

Anton hoped the current pointless war settled down soon enough. Neither side would come out ahead with more fighting, and instead they would simply have dead bodies. Recovering from another large loss would set both back for far too long. Anton hoped the Exalted Archipelago would see that, but communication with them was still minimal.

Maybe that should be his goal, when he recovered. Even if peace was offered, the continents would be totally justified in wanting some sort of retaliation. He would even support it, as long as it wasn’t too excessive. And if he was sent as a diplomat to the Exalted Archipelago and they killed him, what would the world lose? Just him. And though he certainly valued himself to some extent, it was better him than those he loved- or anyone with a long future. He’d have to bring up the idea soon, so that people could have time to properly process it.