The results of Anton’s probing attack were interesting, disappointing, and at the same time encouraging. He knew that somewhere around the enemy fleet was Bala Sykora and her bone mountain, hiding out in some sort of subspace. Anton had just enough insight into such things to use space folding principles for travel, but he couldn’t just remain in such a place. It seemed that she could, though.

The encouraging part was that his attack managed to break into her subspace. The interesting part was his attack was almost pulled in. The disappointing part was that there was still a mountain of bones in the way of the woman herself, so his attack ultimately reached its end.

Even as she reacted, her mountain of death pulling itself out of hiding, Anton’s other attacks were finding their way into nearby ships, intent on disrupting whatever thing they wanted to do with poor little asteroid IGE94. Despite having numerically fewer allies- or similar, if he counted every individual member of the royal guard- and Bala having people beyond herself, Anton was more confident in this battle.

Did he have a good reason? Beyond his improved understanding of spectral energy and a marginally closer position to Rutera’s star, not really. But he wasn’t going to get anywhere by doubting himself. He had shown up, so he would simply have to win. Anton was aware that such an attitude could easily result in death… but on the other hand, unshattering confidence in oneself was half of the Million Sword Vault’s claim to fame. They were good with the sword, but it wasn’t like nobody else devoted themselves to the craft or had the technical understanding of swordplay.

Like Rahayu and Chikere, however, the Million Sword Vault just believed they would win, and then they did. It was a sort of insane confidence that threw off the enemy… much of the time. Elder Intan had in fact perished to this very opponent… but it was unfortunate for him that he was completely unsuited for this foe. Bala had a wide area undodgeable and mostly unblockable attack, which was exactly the sort of thing that could kill lower power cultivators regardless of other factors.

Anton kind of hoped she would lead off the battle with one such pulse of spectral energy… because she only had allies nearby. Alas, he didn’t manage to panic her enough to open with such a thing sight unseen. From his position hundreds of kilometers away, he would have been perfectly fine. And the Great Queen and her royal guard weren’t quite there yet, though Anton only knew that because no ships had their barriers torn apart yet. Void ants were hard to track nearby, and practically impossible at such a range.

Interestingly enough, Anton felt a significant improvement in his efforts from Merve’s support. The woman didn’t have the range to impact the battle herself, instead remaining near Anton wrapped in the wings of Angelic Providence. Quantifying exactly how she augmented his attacks was difficult, but it was something akin to an injection of additional energy and a refinement of the power in what he was already doing. The important part was he didn’t have to coordinate with her- all of that was on her part, and he was merely able to strike more effectively. That was exactly the sort of thing that would be great with a larger group of cultivators, if she could manage it.

Many-masted ships turned towards Anton, but the ships had the weakness that it was difficult for them to accelerate effectively so far from a star. Anton wasn’t confident in winking out the light of the star again, but the ships were slow enough he just flung himself around in a manner difficult to follow, Merve managing to follow in his trail without disrupting his movement. If he accelerated greatly she might get left behind, but he had no intent to build up momentum away from the general area.

Bolts of spectral energy came from Bala, but they were pitifully slow and inaccurate. She was likely quite precise within the hundred kilometer mark, maybe effective at twice that. But while she had range that would make nearly any Life Transformation cultivators ashamed, Anton felt she was merely adequate. He actually did his best to not react to any attack too quickly, both to not give away his situational awareness and to give her hope that she might hit him.

Of course, the mountain of bone began to push its way towards him, and despite having no visual method of movement it was better able to track him than the enemy ships. And there was something else that Anton sensed. Something extremely uncomfortable given that he was now certain that Alaia was dead. At the very least, he doubted she would let Bala pour energy through her if she was alive, yet Anton distinctly felt the Worldbinding cultivators there as well.

This was why people hated necromancers. Anton was almost completely certain that Alaia would be less effective, even with what had to be the rest of her sect around her, but it was an additional layer of difficulty Anton didn’t need in his fight with Bala, who was rapidly getting closer. It was at this point that Anton had to make a choice between immediately fleeing or staying to fight. He could always change his mind if he stayed, but this was the only safe opportunity to retreat.

The fact that the Great Queen had already flung herself at the battle was a motivating factor to stay, but Anton was also interested in avenging his former foe. Had she deserved to die? Probably. Did she deserve to be refined into a skeletal weapon? Certainly not. In other circumstances Anton would have been ecstatic at the Sylanis Cluster killing their own Worldbinding cultivators, but he simply didn't have it in him. At least they’d retrieved Zarina’s corpse when Zala retreated after the first incident, which was some measure of comfort.

Anton realized he was a very tempting target for Bala. He would make use of that to the best of his ability as he struggled to maintain some distance. He could go faster, but his efficiency dropped rapidly if he did.

Arrows sought out openings in the giant mass of bones. It seemed that Bala needed whole bones to be maximally effective, which meant they didn’t completely fill the space. Arrows wormed their way through tiny openings seeking the woman in the middle, settling for breaking anything that might be important or valuable when they inevitably found an end.

Soon enough Bala was in range of her attacks, but Anton was still quite capable of dodging them smoothly. However, after the initial volley was avoided and the second about to reach him, Anton realized he wasn’t the only target. Several bolts of spectral energy sought out Merve, and Anton couldn’t stop them. Not now.

The struck the wings covering Merve’s upper and lower body, the barrier the appendages formed rippling but not breaking- and the spectral energy miraculously not passing through. Anton was relieved, though he didn’t imagine Merve could just take hits continuously. Anton led them a bit faster, taking the time to shoot down some of the bolts so that Merve wouldn’t be overwhelmed. Ultimately, he still felt her presence factored into his favor somewhat… though it would be nice if she were stronger. Then again, when didn’t Anton want more Assimilation cultivators by his side? The trifold alliance simply didn’t have many that were mobile enough to travel with him.

Anton didn’t feel the Great Queen or any of the void ants. That meant they either embarrassingly missed their target and were now floating in the void of space, hopefully orienting themselves towards a place Anton could find them… or they had reached their target and so far avoided raising a fuss. Anton had to bet on the latter for the moment, because if it was the former he just had to leave immediately.

With Bala getting ever closer, now just a few dozen kilometers away, Alaia and her sect made a show of what they could do. Bolts of energy, fire, lightning, as well as a number of ranged weapons like bows and spears began to bombard Anton. Individually they weren’t much. As a group, it was enough to be inconvenient. Added to Bala’s own attacks, they were somewhat concerning.

Unlike Bala herself, however, it seemed the animated Worldbinding cultivator could not function from the center of the skeletal mass. That meant they were viable targets, and Anton began with cutting down the weaker subjects. He found that hitting the spine just below the skull was extremely effective- everyone being nothing but bones meant there weren’t many options to begin with, but that also meant nothing seemed important. But the separation of head and body was at least metaphysically important, and everything he struck deanimated.

Alaia herself was a bit harder to take down. She still had more power, whether from some ‘self’ that remained in that body or from Bala Anton couldn’t tell. Either way, there was enough defensive energy that Anton couldn’t simply take out the key target.

The mountain of skeletons was getting uncomfortably close. Bala’s accuracy remained similar now, but the giant bone arms and tails stretching towards Anton were somewhat problematic. This was the point he would have started going all out, if he hadn’t committed to that from the beginning. His access to ascension energy was nearly dry, his own natural energy replenishing quickly but still approaching below half. Spectral energy was still difficult to use, but he had a plan that might work with it. If it didn’t, he’d have to admit defeat and flee. He wasn’t going to be stubborn and remain to fight, especially with no sign of the Great Queen.

What was spectral energy? Death, and false life. But also true rebirth, something that Anton couldn’t have… at least not and retain his current self. Not that he was ever expecting that to begin with. The point was, there was more to it than Bala was making use of. Either she didn’t care to explore the full details of spectral energy, wasn’t aware of the possibility, or more probably had locked herself into particular aspects. Which meant when Anton focused an arrow with the concept of passing on and rebirth, it pierced through Alaia. That part was inevitable- the part Anton had been unsure about was whether it would do anything.

Fortunately, it did. As intangible power passed through intangible power, something was yanked out of the bones and energy, causing them to collapse. Anton kind of hoped that whatever happened to Alaia she had a chance to be reborn, though he wouldn’t shed tears if her soul was gone forever. If it was someone he cared about, dying a death beyond death would affect Anton… but for his enemies he simply didn’t intend for that to happen. Except the Twin Soul Sect, because they deserved that for attempting to exploit reincarnation and for being traitors.

The good news was that any Worldbinding cultivators Bala took over were definitely weaker than normal. The bad news was that Anton had overly discounted the maneuverability of the Sylanis Cluster’s other ships, and they were now blocking his best escape route. Anton pondered his options. Candle Wax would either provide him a significant amount of energy or instantly wipe him out, possibly kill him. That might be better than being captured or traditionally killed, but if he was going out Anton would prefer to properly incinerate his own corpse. He kept a tiny bit of his own consciousness sealed in his dantian, ready to let the unrestrained power of a star release inside him if he perished.

“We’re going through that one, with the stupid face,” Anton gestured to one of the ships. Merve nodded. She had little in the way of ranged abilities, but if they were breaking through a blockade she had options.

There were nowhere near enough ships to physically prevent Anton from fleeing, but he didn't want to pass between them and let them attack him unhindered. As skeletal arms began to stretch towards him at a low single digit number of kilometers, Anton pushed himself and Merve towards the indicated ship.

Instead of staying with him, Merve pushed ahead, her upper wings providing a defensive shield over her head as she dove towards the ship. The ones in the middle seemed to be responsible for the actual flight, while the lower ones suddenly found a purpose as Merve reached the enemy’s barrier. She used the lower two wings like blades, slicing a line through the enemy hull. Anton didn’t fail to take advantage of that opening, dozens of arrows piercing through the small gap and targeting important enemies.

Then the two of them tore their way through the center of the ship, shielding themselves from the rest of the fleet. Anton had his blade-bow in hand, alternately firing and slashing with it. The ship had enough enemy combatants that they couldn’t sit still as they pushed their way through the ship. It was likely the fleet would be waiting for them to come out the other side… but personally Anton was interested in reaching the helm, where a dead helmsman was sprawled on the ground.

Anton couldn’t believe the Sylanis cluster still used traditional wheels for their ships. Sure, he hadn’t expected technological joysticks like Rutera had, but there were better methods of control than using hands to spin freaking wheels around. But he vaguely understood what they all did, and flipped the ship around at a rate it was absolutely not meant to manage. He had to inject some of his energy into the ships system so it would do that much, and it would doubtless fall apart in a couple minutes. But who was he to care about that? He pushed it to its limits and beyond, pulling away from the rest of the fleet. Anton was extremely pleased that the barrier was almost one hundred percent effective against ‘allied’ attacks. That made perfect sense in most situations, but now that he’d commandeered it the rest of the fleet was basically doing nothing.

It was too bad Bala was still catching up. This ship wasn’t as fast as Anton, just a safer place to be. As skeletal arms began to tear through the ship, Anton prepared to vault himself and Merve out the opening they’d torn.

Then he heard a scream. It was partly physical, transmitted through the physical medium of bones, but partly mental and spiritual. It came with a pulse of spectral energy, washing over him- but it wasn’t as intentional as before. It was, however, very good at ridding Anton of the annoyances on his ship and the others nearby. Merve even managed to use her wings to block it, which might have put her ahead of Anton in terms of safety.

Chunks of bone fell away from the mountain as it tore into space around it, pulling itself into some manner of subspace. Along with the bones, a few things remained. Anton was able to lock onto them with his energy for how different they were- and thus he detected the void ants that came along with them.

Just to have a place to talk in peace, Anton directed his ship around to pick up the hand and three toes that the Great Queen and her royal guard were holding onto. The Great Queen stood triumphantly atop the severed wrist, though when she came into the ship she looked slightly disappointed. “I have no idea how to follow her into that place,” she signed.

Anton shrugged, “I guess we can try to figure that out. But at least you claimed some prizes.”

“I’d rather toss them,” the Great Queen said. “I simply wished to display our success. We don’t eat humans, and this one would be particularly foul, like her spectral energy. It is unfortunate how adept I have gotten at navigating shifting piles of bones, but our casualties were minimal. If there is another time Bala appears before me, she shall not live.” Though the Great Queen said that with confidence, she also collapsed into a heap along with most of her royal guard, proving once more that spectral energy was still a threat to their kind.