Only upon returning to the site of the battle could Chikere confirm with her own eyes the presence of Dubet’s heart. Petals larger than a man, a mix of electric blue and the red of fresh blood in veins. The smell was the same, the stench of blood and… souls, maybe? Chikere didn’t know if she could smell that. But that was theoretically what this plant thrived on. There was no mistaking it as something else, now that she’d seen it with her own eyes.

Chikere’s competition came into vision. A man with a spear, a woman with a large axe. Neither were visibly missing anything of importance. No arms or legs or eyes, at least. Perhaps their damage was internal, or they were simply after Dubet’s heart for mercenary purposes.

The third human cultivator was an archer, a young woman. She at first appeared whole. Certainly, the way streaks of light pierced through everywhere Chikere was trying to be indicated her effectiveness. And yet, something was quite right. Her shots were accurate and quick, powerful. But just a little lacking. Then Chikere saw it- the woman’s left hand was missing two fingers. It made it quite awkward to hold the bow, but that was only a minor issue comparatively. Because had this archer been whole Chikere imagined those fingers would be holding the strings of her bow.

How unfortunate for her. Perhaps she should have learned to project bows like Anton- or wield additional physical weapons like Chikere. Though the woman was good enough as she was. Not enough to scare Chikere off with a few dozen shots, however- and the woman couldn’t remain focused on her because of the other trouble. That would be the two other humans, and of course the beasts.

A dragon- or at least a flying, clawed serpent. It was somewhere over one hundred meters long, its sinuous body winding over a large area. Then there was a bat of sorts, surrounded by a fog of blood. And most strangely, a tortoise. The latter was slowly plodding towards the flower they all sought, largely ignoring the others around it.

Chikere rapidly closed the remaining kilometers of distance. Her ten best blades came with her, one in her left hand and the others floating free. There was no conversation trying to get her to stay away- the archer’s shots hadn’t worked, so the other two wouldn’t bother speaking either.

A single chop of the axe seemed as if it were aimed at no one- it would hit directly into the ground next to the woman swinging it, the others too far to be affected. But that was only the blade itself, as a larger projection of the woman wielded a proportionately larger weapon, her energy that of at least mid Integration. As her axe struck the surface of the strange ring formation, it split open in a fissure aimed towards both Chikere and the dragon.

No amount of confidence in her own blocking would have Chikere remain in the path of that attack. She had to immediately change her trajectory away from the Dubet’s heart she had been aiming for, avoiding the zone of death. The dragon, on the other hand, was too large to move out of the way- and yet the attack only chopped through a few scales.

Chikere’s blades flickered out, seeking any opponent that might have even the slightest opening. Everyone present was a danger to all of the others. The bat in particular gathered the blood from the dragon, swelling with power as its bloody mist expanded.

Everything except the tortoise, of course. It had shown no signs of attacking anyone yet as it slowly plodded forward.

Chikere had no reason to be polite, gladly taking a swipe at the back of the spearman. His battle senses were sufficient for him to avoid, and not only that counterattack with the reversal of his spear. Though there was no point upon it, Chikere was quite certain it would make a hole straight through her if she was careless. A sidestep and parry adjusted the trajectory enough that she only had a small gouge taken out of her side, the attack continuing on through the full depth of the ring even at an angle.

For having nothing to support it, the footing was surprisingly solid. Not that anyone needed solid ground for their movements. The bat was flying around- but its wings were hardly relevant to that, the same with the dragon. Only the barest hint of an atmosphere remained in this strange place.

There was no moment to catch a break in the battle, but Chikere enjoyed it that way. If only there was a worthy swordmaster to match her skill against, it would be even better. She cut her way through the cloud of blood around the strange bat, forcing it away from her path as she made her way closer to her ultimate target- the tortoise who had so far ignored the casual attacks placed upon it.

Moments later, she was next to it- and only a dozen meters from the goal of the battle. The sword she held in her remaining hand sliced down towards the creature’s bare neck, an attack that allowed no avoidance or resistance. Blade met neck… and the force of her blow vibrated back through her arm, up past her elbow and shoulder into the rest of her body. Chikere’s arm was numb… and the tortoise seemed oblivious to her attack.

She was glad her sword had not shattered upon impact. Furious that she had failed to cut something. Confused at how that was possible, with what felt like only the upper energy a proper Integration cultivator would wield, not even focused on a single point.

An arrow pierced through her thigh. That was her penalty for her moment of weakness. Chikere slashed out as a counter, her blade crossing the space towards her opponent in line with the woman’s neck. Her attack wasn’t focused on the archer, however, but the string of her bow. Of course, a woman of that caliber would not so easily let her weapon be rendered useless, her steps instantly bringing her to another part of the battlefield.

With one of Chikere’s legs half-dead, the dragon thought it was a good time to take advantage of her weakness. This would be the time where having companions would have saved Chikere. But if she could not save herself, she wouldn’t have reached her current position.

This was not her time to die. That was not some sort of divination or even hunch- that was simply what she decided. If she was going to die, someone better be killing her with an incomprehensible sword move.

Her dancing array of swords shifted, following the point of Sadiq’s first blade. She thrust towards the open jaws set on chomping her in half, a single larger blade forming from the synchronous attacks of the weapons around her. Jaws snapped closed, but Chikere leapt past the teeth. The rear of the dragon’s head exploded outward, and Chikere stood tall inside the creature’s mouth. Good. It was not her blade that had dulled, merely that the tortoise was something incomprehensible.

When she leapt out of the creature that had just tried to eat her, she focused on the tortoise… and how it had just taken a large bite out of the Dubet’s Heart. “That’s not how you’re supposed to do it!” Chikere yelled. “We need to stop this thing!”

The cultivators around her didn’t agree- but neither did they disagree. Arrows that seemed to simultaneously occupy everywhere along their trajectory struck the creature in the hind legs. A spear aimed directly for the tortoise’s eyes. The great axe crashed down on the creature’s shell. Even the bat moved forward to bite one of the front legs.

The tortoise took another bite, somehow swallowing a larger chunk of the flower than would fit in its mouth. Chikere thought it looked quite pleased as it munched on its treat.

Nobody so much as scratched it. That was the point at which Chikere swore to herself she would someday find this creature again and cut it. No, that was not enough. She would cut it, and someday she would be powerful enough to cleave it in two.

The tortoise finished its meal and began to plod away. The cultivators and even the beastly bat looked at each other stunned. Then Chikere remembered the thing she was actually there for- at the same time as the others, it seemed. The flower itself was impressive, powerful. But not the core of the Dubet’s Heart. Instead, that was the bulb that grew in the rock below.

A sudden flurry of attacks tore apart the ring section around the fighting group. Four cultivators and one beast stood face to face- even the archer. The surroundings of the bulb were instantly destroyed, but fortunately the Dubet’s Heart itself was more durable than that.

Everyone aimed to snatch it, but Chikere was the only one willing to completely take her hand off her weapon and stretch her arm into the zone of death. Axe, spear, and arrows all competed to be what tore apart her arm, while blood was tugged out of the open wound in her side by the bat. But with a combination of lacking teamwork and Chikere’s own blades, two of which were sacrificed and shattered to pieces, her fingers grasped the prize. Then she stepped forward, her blades cutting open a seam in space for a single instant.

She stepped out on another part of the ring. She was quite glad that had worked, because if it hadn’t she was going to be sliced to ribbons and full of holes. But she had been confident enough to do it.

Chikere plugged up the holes in her thigh and side. The bulb of Dubet’s Heart went into a special storage container where it would best be preserved until she could bring it back.

She contemplated trying to find another. Catarina wanted one for something, after all. However, she had to judge herself properly. There was no way she was going to survive another battle like that. She’d grow stronger from that battle, but she needed time to rest and rejuvenate. Having two arms would also help.

Now it was time to leave properly before the remaining individual from that battle figured out where she had gone and came to seek revenge. Or worse, that tortoise realized she had the last bit of its snack.

-----

Medicine was miraculous. Chikere had watched as a brownish bloody lump of a bulb had been transformed into both powder and liquid. Xankeshan had medical formations, set up by Catarina of course, and guided by seasoned alchemists. The price of their work was easily covered with Chikere’s wealth- certainly less than the value of her arm.

What remained was a small bead, the size of a single drop of water. It was translucent, swirling red and blue. Chikere held it up to the light, watching how it shone through. “So this is it, huh? This can grow back my arm? Or fix basically anything?”

“That’s right,” Catarina nodded. “It is an extremely valuable medicine that even the saints of the Harmonious Citadel would not easily lay their hands on.”

“Amazing,” Chikere said honestly. “I can feel the power.” Outside of sword combat she completely lacked subtlety, but she did her best. “What did you need it for anyway?”

“Oh, I… something like that is always valuable,” Catarina said. “Nothing that would be more important than restoring you arm.”

“I see. Oh, Timothy!” Chikere waved her arm. Catarina turned around, even though she couldn’t feel her husband’s energy. Or perhaps because she couldn’t.

Chikere’s movements brought her next to Catarina in an instant, causing the other woman to snap her head back in surprise, her mouth hanging open slightly. The fingers Chikere was holding the bead of medicine with stabbed towards Catarina, tossing it into the opening. Catarina stumbled backwards, swallowing in surprise as she fell onto her rear.

She coughed several times, looking up at Chikere. “What did you- you need the full potency of the-”

Before Catarina could even think about pulling the medicine out of her stomach, Chikere had a sword to her throat. “Just digest it.”

“... This was for you.”

“You didn’t look it up for me. You wanted it. For yourself, otherwise you would have told me who it was for. Any of our friends, your husband. You would have made it quite clear. So the only option left was you.” Chikere stood there with her sword out, then frowned, “Right? I’m not that good at social deduction.”

“... I did want it,” Catarina admitted.

“Good, now that that’s settled,” Chikere sheathed her blade. “I have to get going. There’s a war to fight in the lower realms, and I need to see if I can get a cool sword out of it.”