The flow of the battle soon became clear to Vari, and though it meant swapping her combat priorities constantly, she could see the value in the rotating weapon augmentations. From spear to axe to daggers to morningstars, the priority weapon shifted- and with it Everheart’s weapons. This allowed him to drive away the members of the Harmonious Citadel, bombarding the spear saint with a variety of attacks. The rest of the time, every other sort of weapon was weakened- or rather, the styles used by the Harmonious Citadel.

Vari’s own style focused on unarmed strikes and grappling. If one considered that a technical weapon style it might be boots and gauntlets, but either way it was neither augmented nor weakened by whatever formations Everheart had set up.

None of the four Vari had to deal with were currently augmented, and she took advantage of the situation, swinging the spear wielder into the one with the sword. She did have to deal with a small portion of the bow cultivators targeting her, forming barriers to block their arrows.

A sloppy spear thrust let her grab and counter. Vari had the feeling that her normal move, disarming the weapon and using it to stab the man, would be met with some difficulty. Instead, she simply held onto it with her free hand and kicked out, a burst of fire surrounding the man as he was knocked away. She dropped the spear, still holding Luminous Heartpiercer and waiting for its moment.

Another shift. Shields seemed to be the next in line, though the Harmonious Citadel hadn’t been ready. The few minutes of combat so far had left them off balance, and even though they defeated some of Everheart’s projections he seemed able to make more at will.

More than that… Ye’sin’s toxins were getting to them. Vari was protected due to a layer of now-dried local mud, plugging the pores of her skin. As for her breath, the awful spiky fruit Everheart forced her to eat seemed to have created a layer of protection inside her as well. So while Vari had to expend more of her energy to fight multiple opponents, all of them were weakening. Including the spear saint Damjan, though the man only had the single thin wounds from Everheart’s surprise attack.

Vari truly didn’t know who was winning or losing, and perhaps that was by design. But regardless of the current state, she just had to do everything she could. She had no doubt that fleeing now would result in her death, one way or another. Everheart was holding strong, but several more Integration cultivators free to target him might push him beyond his limits. Or perhaps Vari shouldn’t be here at all.

But she needed to be, to test herself if nothing else. She drew upon the power of those around her, their promises of protection strengthening her regardless of their actual intentions. Devotion streamed most readily from the spear saint, and the man would no doubt attempt to kill Vari if he found an opening. According to the pattern, his strength should return soon.

For a moment, Vari could do nothing as bows became the weapon of choice. Then, suddenly, masses of weaker cultivators fell. Up until that point, Everheart had been mostly using styles Vari recognized, the best bits and pieces stolen from the Harmonious Citadel. His bow style bore only the faintest resemblance, instead reminding her more of… Alva and Kseniya. Which was odd, because he’d never interacted with them.

Though it only took a moment to realize what that meant. Kseniya was Anton’s master, and Anton in turn taught Alva. Though Vari had never met him- and probably never would- she heard great things about his skills. It would make perfect sense to adopt his style.

Suddenly, each Everheart not only began to fire their bow, but had a twin pair of purely energy weapons floating next to them, the cause of the weaker cultivator’s demise. Each of the projections could focus on more than one enemy during that time, and despite being attacked in melee they continued to fire their weapons with little care for the theoretical disadvantage.

Then a sword swept towards Vari, its power augmented. She blocked with both bracers together, holding her ground. This individual was fairly skilled, so she couldn’t do much but defend against it as well as the axe and dagger wielders. The one with the spear hadn’t stood back up, and the continuing flames indicated that they never would.

Once more, Vari lost control of her body- no, she gave it up. The weapon’s great power and the skill of former wielders, combined with the augmentation of the formations, allowed her to quickly strike down the surrounding trio. That left her free, just in time for Damjan to break past Everheart.

Vari watched as her own body fought, spears clashing. Spearheads scratched against each other, their shafts rattling with power. Vari couldn’t win this, even with a superior weapon and the man poisoned. It simply wouldn’t weaken the Augmentation cultivator fast enough, and he wasn’t holding back.

The spear swept down, an overhead chop that would certainly kill her. Her spear came up, blocking with its side- and being severed by the attack. The explosion of energy sent Vari flying, even as she somehow tossed the broken upper half of the spear towards Damjan.

She landed on her back, and for a moment she forgot to stand up. Her body was once more hers. And the spear… Luminous Heartpiercer was destroyed. A spear connecting her to an unknown mother and aunt. It had been with her only for a short time, but it hurt to lose.

Her eyes rose to find the tossed half of the weapon, though it was barely visible through Damjan. On the other hand, she could see through Damjan. He seemed just as surprised as her. Maybe more so.

The weapon should not have broken so easily, even in the hands of a mere Integration cultivator like herself. Perhaps that was the intention it had all along.

Damjan’s head was lopped off with Everheart’s axe a moment later, and the remaining combatants quickly turned to flee. Everheart was not normally the type to let people go, but he did not give chase.

“... Are you alright?” Vari asked Everheart.

The man just sighed. “That’s one out of eight. Hopefully they have trouble suppressing this.”

That reminded Vari she had a message to send, as soon as possible.

-----

The message Tauno Heinonen had been waiting for finally came. He had never doffed his dragonscale armor, and his dragon fang sword hung by his side, ready for action. He was the only Augmentation cultivator taking part in this particular mission, but hearing that the spear saint was dead filled him with confidence. They didn’t have time to ask for confirmation- they were already relying on their communications traveling faster than the Harmonious Citadel’s. If they hesitated, the news might reach the local area somehow.

Aside from those he knew from the past, Tauno saw that some of the catalysts for this new wave of action were participating. Individuals from the lower realms- a rather large quantity of individuals from a single planet, even if they had ascended over the course of decades and centuries.

The two most relevant were those who matched their target, the bow saint. One was an old woman, though her attitude showed her as anything but. The other was young- her path of cultivation must have begun early and progressed continuously, to look as she did. She rode on the back of a wolf, one that gave off a strange energy. It also had formation runes glowing across its body. Kseniya and Alva. And the wolf had a name too. Fuzz? That was probably wrong, as it was entirely too cute of a name for such a fearsome warrior.

“Well then,” Tauno grinned, “Time to hunt a bow saint.”

The old woman- Kseniya- approached him. “You should have some knowledge of them. This woman’s ability to kill at a hundred kilometers, how accurate is that?”

Tauno shrugged, “I’m not entirely sure. It was reasonably accurate some time ago. Now, perhaps, that number has increased.”

“She was an augmentation cultivator, though?”

Tauno nodded. “Yes.”

“What a pathetic thing to brag about. For her sake, she’d better hope she’s an excellent skirmisher to make up for the range.”

Tauno tilted his head. “And she would have to make up for it because…?”

“Because I could do that in Life Transformation. Easily.” Kseniya gestured vaguely towards Alva, “And she’s far from a sniper, but that’s within her range.”

The youth known as Alva had to be able to hear their conversation, but she had no reaction. Interesting. Tauno made a note to pay attention to whether or not they lived up to what they said. Were they braggarts, or as amazing as he heard?

-----

Tauno had a whole speech prepared for Tisiphone. He would make statements about how careless the bow saint was to come out to the border of the Harmonious Citadel’s control. Perhaps mix in something about how foolish it was, after the death of the spear saint- though she would likely not believe that. How the Harmonious Citadel would pay for their actions.

Then Kseniya happened. “I’m getting off here,” the woman declared before they got anywhere close to the planet. Then she began taking shots with her bow. Tauno would have chastised her for wasting her energy… but the confidence he exuded made him reconsider his first instinct.

The ship he was traveling on only took a minute to approach the planet, but by that time Tauno could sense chaos down below. In truth, it was only a handful of Integration cultivators dead- but those below had been able to provide no response.

As the ship slowed at the edge of the atmosphere, Tauno felt the bow saint finally locking onto a target- a nearby ship in the fleet. Time to act. He burst forth, slicing the woman’s first shot out of the air.

Next to him leapt Alva and her wolf. “Let’s get ‘em, Fuzz!”

So that was his name. The wolf turned into a ball of fire as he fell, the arrows shot from his back formed of pure energy picking up the fiery power of his descent as it bombarded the area below.

Tauno had to cut apart the atmosphere to make himself fall faster so he could keep up. No way was he going to be left behind on an opportunity like this. Besides, he was the only Augmentation cultivator among them. Alva might not be many steps away- a realization that made the relatively youthful Tauno surprised- but there was still a major difference to be had in their power.

The bow saint, in turn, recognized Tauno as the greatest threat, rapidly approaching from above. Arrows streamed through the air towards him, propelled by her mighty bow. He had every intention to sunder it with his first blow.

Each arrow that came for him was cut apart by his quick blade, crafted from a dragon he had slain himself. That connection made it greater than it seemed, though it was not a legendary artifact passed down like the weapons of the saints.

One minor adjustment to his fall, and his blade met with Tisiphone’s bow. Surprisingly, the bow held- though her arms trembled with the strain of holding back his blade. He wondered what fabulous material it was made out of. But it hardly mattered, as he began to weave together his attacks, continuously forcing the woman back. She was miraculously able to continue attacks of her own, drawing back her string and firing towards his chest.

Tauno angled his body so that the arrows would deflect off the scales of his armor, reducing their impact. He had to admit, if this woman had been free to attack him as he raced towards her across the land, she would have been a dangerous opponent. As it was, however, she was without support- the vast majority of her compatriots being shot down by the two specific archers.

Realizing she could not win, Tisiphone fled. If the situation were different, Tauno would not have been so confident chasing after her. However, after hearing of the death of one saint…why not go for two? It was clear Tisiphone had forgotten that she was mortal. Time to remind the Harmonious Citadel what they truly were.