The Path of Ascension

Chapter 193

Matt cursed as he was brought out of his workshop not long after Bradley had gone off to talk to the Fae nobles. Seeing that all eight representatives were with him only made him more wary of the situation.

Thankfully, Bradley didnt mince words. We have a problem. None of the Fae will talk to us because we arent Titled.

Matt counted to five in his head before agreeing. Lead on.

There wasnt much else he could do, being the only Titled person left in the camp.

As much as he wanted to tell them to deal with the situation themselves, he knew that they wouldnt have come to him if they hadnt exhausted all other possibilities of getting around the restrictions.

When they reached the city, he was led to a large building that he knew wasnt there when they besieged the city. It looked like a miniature version of Winters palace, and was directly across the street from Springs palace, which had been ransacked in the siege.

Matt wasnt sure if that was the doing of the Fae around them or the cultivators on their side, but the palace was a mere shadow of its former glory, with large holes peppering the exterior walls. The few rooms he could see into were in a similar state of disrepair.

When he entered the smaller but much more pristine Winter palace, he was quickly identified by what he could only label as a functionary, with the woman's obsequious but still commanding attitude.

Herald, please come with me. Eth-ere-akual Stardust Iceglow has been awaiting your presence.

If she had a clipboard, Matt was sure that she would have flipped a page with how clipped she spoke that final line.

He also had no idea what the title the Fae had been given was, but assumed it was some equivalent of the Empire's system of Emperor, King, Prince, Duke, Marquess, Count, Viscount, and Baron. It was just a question of where on that scale the Fae noble fell.

The man they were brought to seemed normal for the Fae, considering their outlandish features, but what caught Matt off guard was the power of Favor he radiated. It was like standing next to a roaring furnace after coming in from the cold.

The Fae, Eth-ere-akual Stardust Iceglow gestured to the seat and said, Its a pleasure to finally meet you, Herald. I have heard so much about you. You're Winter's champion, spreading her will across the seasons. The man smiled, but it seemed hollow. But we must get down to important business. The occupation of Spring is a serious matter that we need to discuss.

Matt didnt take a seat immediately, and looked to the eight representatives who had been blocked in the hall before asking, Can I delegate that to them?

Eth-ere-akual Stardust Iceglow's smile turned genuine. Of course not. Where would the fun be in that?

***

It took Matt nearly a week of tedious negotiations and arguments, but eventually, he got the noble faction of Winter settled in.

To his surprise, it wasnt the Winter Fae that took most of his time dealing with, but rather the Spring Fae.

There were apparently a lot of things that the Fae started offering to Titled, and that extended to a captured city.

There were perks like vendors who traded in Favor or rare items and materials, item identification, boon adjustments, or having items custom-made by the Fae crafters. All of which needed to be taken into account and then negotiated with the Spring Court. All of the rewards, Matt learned, were possible for the non-Titled, but they would each then enact a bargain. As they had all learned, any bargains with the Fae were dangerous. For the Titled, it was just a relatively safe transaction of Favor.

It brought up an interesting point that Matt hadnt considered. By boosting Winter with his mana, he was disrupting the normal state of affairs. By the time a faction had ordinarily taken a city, they would have dozens or even hundreds of Titled, not just a whopping two.

Susanne even managed to get a steady stream of Favor from the whole affair; her Talent helping her calligraphy meant that she could write out a dozen letters in the time it would take anyone else to write one, and with substantially better handwriting. That last part was apparently very important to the Fae, judging by the Favor that providing beautiful documents earned her.

As the occupier of any city must do, the Winter Fae, and by extension Matt, had to negotiate with their captives and find a middle ground to which all parties could agree.

Eventually, they hammered things out, and the Fae army and remaining half of the cultivators were able to move on, with one tenth of their numbers remaining behind to guard the city from both within and without.

One thing Matt tried to check was the new recruits of Spring, along with their current locations and movements. As far as he could find out, they appeared outside the city somewhere, but nothing more than that. It at least proved that Spring was still recruiting, which was all the more reason for them to leave a portion of their ever growing army inside the city.

It would be beyond irritating if they beat the other two factions, only to have their first conquest reclaimed for Spring before they were actually able to leave. If it happened right after Matt and his team got out of this floor he wouldnt complain, but if anyone stopped them

Towards that end, they wanted to quickly take the final two cities, and the army moved at its mile eating speed.

The work their forward operators did was immediately noticeable, as they were able to get deep into Fall territory before they found their first undefeated fort, and the line where Fall and Winter's influences met.

Just like before, it was strange to see the seasons shift in real-time, but going from Fall to Winter was a much more natural progression than Spring to Winter. Vibrant orange and yellow leaves quickly faded to brown and fell, turning into snow as they drifted to the ground and serving as the first dusting of snow before more fell from the sky.

Not wanting to waste any time that could be spent moving, the representatives had assembled a mobile war council platform, floating along at a steady rate. It was fairly barebones as such things went, just a thin wooden room with basic winter-themed furniture.

Despite his best efforts, Matt had found himself firmly embroiled in the politics and power plays of the court. It was inevitable really, as the only one with a Title and all that it implied, his word held a lot of sway with the Fae. Even so, his recently-attempted break from the politics game was already coming back to bite him.

I saw it with my own eyes, Lotus!

You will address me as Young Mistress Diamond Lotus, peasant.

I will not, not until you show my people the respect they deserve! You are responsible for ensuring that the Sect members behave, and I saw Radiant Spring break Corins leg with my own eyes. You will get a handle on your people or you will be replaced! Bradley growled out as his eyes flared red.

Really, you dont have that authority, Olivia, the new Republican representative, drawled. I dont see much point in putting that much weight on hearsay. Its pretty clear what happened. Some whining little Imperial dog tripped and broke their leg and decided to blame it on the man who he quarreled with the previous night. I mean, weve all seen how with these last few forts the Empire has been so woefully under performing. It was only inevitable that they would start to try and blame the rest of us for their incompetence. At the last meeting I predicted as much would happen, did I not? Regardless, even if such claims did have merit, I have no problems with Young Mistress Diamond Lotus serving as the voice of the Sects, and you, Bradley, dont control the rest of us. If anything, you should be replaced again, given how many Empire wannabes keep interfering with the rest of our battles. Really, you should let them know that the Fae are supposed to be the ones sacrificing themselves futilely, all theyre doing is disrupting our plans.

We really ought to be focusing on the actual battle plans, William pulled them back on track. With a wave of his hand, the Corporations representative pulled the illusionary battle map they were using from a wide-view into just focusing on the fort they were approaching.

I agree, Diamond Lotus smiled, steel in her voice and eyes locked on Bradley, I suggest that, given how even the smallest tasks seem to be beyond them, we should keep the Empire and Guild forces in reserve. Instead, we can have the Corporations reinforce where the Republicans were previously picking up the slack for our under performing allies.

Not a terrible suggestion, William conceded.

The other representatives, other than Bradley and the new Guild representative murmured agreement as well. Of course, Bradley and his counterpart in the Guilds protested loudly, but there was only so much that could be done.

It was a decently well-executed plan, Matt conceded. The Federation, Republic, and Sects all cooperated to sabotage and hinder the Empire, and the Guilds, in their assault efforts. Then, they kept using their lackluster performance to lobby cutting back the amount that the Empire was supposed to contribute in the attacks in the first place, giving it to themselves and the neutral factions as a bribe of sorts.

The Empire and Guild delvers didnt listen, of course. Bradley had even temporarily lost his representative position, but his replacement had been murdered within a day, and her replacement had utterly failed at getting the Empire any more favorable terms. So, Bradley had managed to return by organizing his own attack plan separate from what the master battle plan was. Of course, without the cooperation of the other factions, they had skyrocketing casualties.

The Empire was suffering twice the casualties of the Guilds, who in turn had five times the average casualty rate. It only reinforced the numerical superiority that the other factions had over them, and pushed them even further into this death-spiral. At some point, the neutral factions would stop turning a blind eye, and would allow the Empire to make a slow recovery, but only once other factions had their own Titled and the floor was likely to already be won.

Of course, there was something they werent considering. Matt was done listening.

No, Matt spoke.

His voice cut through the arguments.

No? Olivia scoffed, You dont have any more authority than the rest of us, less than your useless counterpart.

No. The Empire and Guilds will be given equal part in the battle. He said in a steady voice.

Youre being preposterous! Olivia countered him, Your people-

If you prefer, we could have the Empire solo take on this side, then the Guilds and Corporations here, the Clans and Collective on this wall, and the Sects, Federation, and Republic here. But, I dont think you do. Or maybe, we pull all three of your factions out into the reserve altogether and dont let any of you get the rewards from our attack. But, I prefer to be fair, unlike some people here.

Diamond Lotus started to say something, but Matt cut her off, See, what all of you are forgetting is that I am the one you need, not the other way around. The Fae listen to me, not to you. I could easily get all of the lieutenants to only support Empire delvers, even if we completely break from this war council. And dont forget why that is, how I earned that power. Its by making Winter utterly crush all of the other factions, and I can undo what Ive done any time that I want. I can go to some distant corner of this floor and wait for it to all end, and Ill know that none of you get ahead of me.

He let a blank look show on his blank mask giving them nothing to read. I could even go to Summer, right here and right now, and do for them what Ive done for us. Would I get Favor? No. Do I care? Also no. If Winter loses this floor, I can still move onto the next floor, and the next, and the next. I might not get the Boon, but I already have enough Genesis Energy for what I want, and that just returns me to the one in four chance that we all thought we had at winning this floor before I did what I do best. I single-handedly brought us to where we are now, about halfway to complete and total victory, within four months of this cycle starting. All of you stand to get incredible rewards and Favor, probably even earning full Titles by the end of all this. Thats far more than you ever stood to get without me, and youll get more than you thought you would at the start of this floor, even if you let my people do their part without being murdered in battles.

Matt took a deep breath for both theatrics and to give everyone a moment to really digest what he was threatening. And so, Im just asking for a fair distribution. Im not talking to the Empires enemies, but to those of you who have watched and stood by as they keep trying to sabotage us... Are the little scraps they keep handing you really worth potentially losing the war? All I want is fair treatment. But this stops now, or I burn this entire farce down.

That seemed to settle it, and tipped first the Clans, then Corporations, and finally the Collective into supporting a more equal distribution of forces.

They would kill him for this, Matt knew. As soon as the floor was done, every single person from the Federation, Sects, and Republic would be aimed directly at him and his team.

But they would be doing that anyway.

Resentment might push them a bit harderthan otherwise, but not to any major degree.

They were in a unique position on this floor, able to win and win fast. The longer the other factions had the chance to build out their defenses, the harder the fight would be, and nobody wanted to face a Fae general on the battlefield. Not after having seen and felt Primus decimate the Spring cultivators who retreated out of the city, and when their victories were giving them such massive hauls of Genesis Energy.

Simply being part of the army that took a city provided so much Genesis Energy that once they took Summer, everyone expected all of the old Tier 14s on this side to get their Concepts, and be able to afford the Genesis Energy cost of taking the theme challenge. With the insane prices that Tier 14s faced in Minkalla, that was nearly unheard of, but crushing opposition was something that the Forge loved to reward.

Matt enforcing fairness, instead of pressing his advantage, should at least prevent the neutral factions from also going after him, or taking their chances with the existing lead.

Now, they had a fort to take.

They were interrupted from their further planning by a rain of arrows from their left, peppering the army of Fae and cultivators alike. Screams blanketed the air and sent everyone on high alert as they turned to face the ambush.

But that wasnt all. Of course it wasnt.

From their right rear, a wave of spells and arrows slammed into the army's less protected flank.

From his position with the representatives in the center, Matt was relatively untouched, but he was able to see exactly what was going on with his better view.

The attacks from the left were done by a small army of Fae in radiant gold armor that emanated the life and greenery of nature in full Summer.

There were at least five thousand archers and mages positioned on the top of a hill, defended by twice that many melee fighters moving into position in front of the ranged attackers. A smaller number of Fae privates were furiously digging into the hill to create defensive trenches and barricades that would turn any frontal assault from just their own Fae into a bloodbath, a cost that Winter could hardly afford if they were to maintain their momentum. Nevertheless, the strong positioning forced Winter to take the hill. Otherwise, they could be harassed from the rear and have their supply lines cut out from under them.

And from their other flank was a seemingly small contingent of Spring cultivators hiding in the trees.

Matt didnt trust the weak seeming force on that side, and suspected that they were trying to lure them into the trees, where they probably had a number of traps and ambushes set up.

He had no idea how both sides had set this ambush up without their forward scouts detecting it, but that was a question for later.

Now, it was time for a fight.

The representatives seemed to split themselves up evenly in a wordless exchange of looks in just a second, and Matt didnt argue with their decision.

With a flurry of AI messages, most of the Empire, Guilds, Corporations, and Monsters Collective soldiers who were closer to that side all turned left and charged for the Summer Fae hill, with Matt alongside them.

As he and the others rushed the hill, Matt took to the air and was instantly the target of at least a dozen Fae archers, all shooting various types of magically empowered arrows at him. [Bulwark] took care of most of those arrows, but one that he suspected was from a lieutenant punched through his first layer of defensive spells and was caught on an exquisitely crafted shield that Matt had taken from the delvers who had attacked his party after the previous floor.

The closer he got to flying over the melee defenders, the more the ranged Fae started to attack him, but that was exactly what Matt wanted.

Throwing a bit of mana into his gravity gauntlet, he allowed the world to warp around him and started to pull all of the attacks towards his gauntlets center of gravity, so they didnt fall onto his teammates.

With the reduced pressure, his side was able to get their first wave of troops into melee range with the frontline Summer Fae.

Matt was still moving forward, trying to gather more and more attacks from the Fae, but they suddenly stopped attacking him and returned to peppering the still grounded troops.

Maybe they thought he was only a defensive fighter that wouldn't be able to hurt them, and so he wouldnt be willing to actually attack them directly. Regardless, he decided to call their bluff and plummeted down into the mass of archers.

In midair, he summoned one of his backup weapons- a massive warhammer- to his hand, throwing mana into its [Impact] enchantment even as he parted the air below him with his Concept and [Air Manipulation]. He slammed into the ground and the enchantment sent a shockwave of dirt and stone out in every direction. He magnified the blast with judicious use of [Hail], and a wall of ice and snow rolled out and washed over everyone unfortunate enough to be in his general vicinity.

He stashed his hammer and rushed to the nearest bank of archers, even as they peppered him with arrows.

Now that he was inside their ranks, he wasnt just taking a portion of their attacks. All of the archers around him were launching attacks as fast as they could work their bows. His first impression was that they didnt care at all that their missed shots would impact their own forces, but he had apparently underestimated their capabilities. Any arrow that flew past him dispersed into nothing more than a passing breeze before it could hit anything solid that was aligned with their forces.The ground under his feet started to ripple, but he put a stop to that with a flex of [Earth Manipulation] as he activated his physical boosts to a small degree.

He rushed forward and swung his halberd as he took the archers arrows, and [Cracked Phantom Armor] started getting breached by the arrows hitting him so rapidly in succession. His upraised shield could only cover so much of him, and he even redirected the second layer of his armor to cover his head and organs in case the skill was broken under the rain of arrows. Even a few seconds of taking the focus off his allied forces could make a difference, but he was paying for that distraction.

Recasting [Bulwark] to act as a rear shield, Matt swept a plume of flames forward to keep the archers off him for a few seconds.

And a single second was all he needed to cast [Cracked Mana Trap] with Aster's Winter mana all around him.

The Fae immediately set off the traps, and were met with massive Boon-empowered explosions of ice and snow, covering all of them with a layer of ice. The Summer Fae almost immediately started melting through their imprisonment, but a half-dozen [Mana Slash]es smashed them to pieces. Before he could push his advantage further, a Fae in better armor rushed forward and started loosing arrows at him. Instead of a single arrow, a stream of ten shot towards him and bent through the air to follow him, even as he threw himself out of the way.

Running forward and to the side, he forced the arrows to come at him from an angle, and his Concepts repulsion effect was able to ensure they didnt actually hit him. Still, that single use of his Concept took nearly a tenth of his will power, and the archer lieutenant already had their bow notched with another arrow.

As the lieutenant jumped back and glided along the air, their bow started to glow with mana as a combination of spells took effect.

Matt recognized [Charging Retreat], [Empowering Shot], [Air Slide], and [Entangle], all in that single move.

The first spell was an archer specific one that empowered their next shot, as long as they were moving away from their target, which paired well with [Air Slide]. That skill allowed the user to move without actually needing to walk, while also giving them a speed increase while channeled.

The final two skills were mostly self-explanatory, but were just as effective. [Empowering Shot] allowed one to charge mana into their bow and arrow to empower their next shot, and [Entangle] would raise roots from the ground to wrap around his legs and keep him from moving.

Not willing to stand there and take the hit like a fool, Matt threw mana into [Mages Retreat] and ran forward towards the Fae.

The roots of [Entangle] tried to hinder his steps, but he was stronger than their magically empowered forms, and they tore around him as he raced ahead. It didnt slow him though, as he teleported out of their grasp, cast [Bulwark] to give him a foothold, and launched himself at the Fae lieutenant, bringing his enlarged halberd down on the archers head, and activating the voidflames for good measure.

As its head exploded into black fire, he looked up and saw the Summer Fae archers in disarray as others had copied his tactics and flew over the melee defenders. That lessened the enemy forces attention on him, and he started to gather the ice he had been creating with [Hail] during the entire fight with [Ice Manipulation], commanding it to rise.

He was going to end this ambush right here and now.

***

Susanne cursed as she dodged a Tier 14 man wielding a magical staff that he had wrapped a mana construct around so the weapon would look and act like a glowing, oversized sword.

If she was fighting him alone, she would have been fine, but the cultivators of Spring were ganging up on her, and the cultivators of the Sects, Republic, and Federation were actively ignoring her plight. To make matters worse, a few of the Clan ranged fighters were at least attacking the cultivators attacking her, but they seemed perfectly willing to hit her as much as the enemies, as the arrow sticking out of her forearm attested to.

If she was any less of a fighter, she would have already fallen to the five men who tried to take her down. At this point, she was pretty sure that they were a hit squad that had either been assigned to attack her, or just took the opportunity to do so now that she had been identified.

The squad was made up of the mage who wielded a magical blade, a melee fighter with a massive shield and a mace that glowed with void mana, a dagger wielder who seemed to blend into the very air, a crossbowman shooting bolts that punched through even her growth armor without issue, and finally a healer who kept back and acted as a support and buffer.

They were all peak Tier 14s, and fought much better than even that would have implied. They were strong, coordinated in their moves, and always had a follow up to best take advantage of their party members' attacks.

It seemed the cultivators of the Great Powers around her had decided that she was better off dead, but she was going to disappoint them.

She might have been on the wrong side of the army when the ambush started, but she wasnt so easy to take down just because she was separated from people who would actually help her. She had been alone her entire time as a Pather. This was just a return to the norm for her.

After blocking a swing of the glowing mace with her manifestation, she cast a quick [Entangle] on its owner, then swung her greatsword and flexed her concept to cut the space between her and the healer in half, closing on him much more quickly than he had anticipated.

She didnt go all the way to him, but stopped the spatial manipulation short and created a full second version of herself to cut down at the back of the crossbowman, who had shot at where they expected her to appear next to their healer.

Both her blades came at the man from opposite directions, and like an oversized set of scissors, she cut the man in half at the waist.

But cutting someone in half was only a job half done.

She brought her blades back around and cut the man's falling torso in half, even as a healing spell landed on him to try to keep him alive.

Susanne wanted to slice through him one more time, to be thorough, but both the shield wielder and the mage turned on her and forced her to jump out of the way of their strikes.

That still didnt save the man, as she and her clone cast [Wind Cutter] with [Hypersonic Edge] to cleave through the falling crossbowmans head.

Both the healer and the shield wielder tried to block the attacks, but they were too slow, and her first attacker's head was sliced into pieces.

There was no one on Minkalla who could save someone at that point, and she felt the rush of Genesis Energy and Favor that confirmed the kill. It sent the team into a rage, and all of them tried to rush her, but she capitalized on their anger.

As the dagger wielder tried to close in, the stealth skill that had been concealing them dropped, allowing Susanne to identify her as a woman. Wanting to take advantage of the womans grief at seeing the death of her ally, Susanne sent out a [Wind Cutter] at her head.

The woman dodged it with [Dash] and closed the distance, so Susanne cast her own [Dash] to keep the woman from getting close. She needed to drop her clone thanks to the distance and willpower requirements, but she didnt let that hold her back. The fact that the skill brought her closer to the hit squads blademage was only to her benefit, and her greatsword came down on his leg.

Blood flew, and through her spiritual sense, she saw a [Mana Bolt] heading directly at her, but she pushed herself out of the way with a gust of wind. The attack passed by her harmlessly, and as the dagger-wielder was forced to dodge it as well, she let loose with a pair of [Mana Slash]es herself, scoring a deep wound in the woman's side.

Before she could properly follow up and take the woman's life the shield wielder attacked her alongside the now healed mage, and a [Shield Bash] came at her with astonishing speed, hitting her in the face and cracking a tooth. Before she could regain her composure, a [Fire Spear] from the mage scored a burning gash on her shoulder.

After adjusting her footing, she cast [Cracked Berserker's Rage] before she put every bit of power that her Concept now gave her into her body, and she slashed out at the glowing shield while casting [Hypersonic Edge].

The stacking power and damage over time mist that the skill created compounded with all the small injuries she had taken from both the enemies and allies, allowing her to boost her power to new heights. Minkallas rewards truly showed their benefits here, as she would have been hard pressed to fight even two of these people before entering. As Tier 14s, they would have had to rush past most of the rewards of the first three floors in order to get here so quickly, while Susanne was free to reap Minkallas bountiful harvest.

And what a crop it was.

As her blade hit the shield, she felt the enchantment try to repulse her blade and then try to suck away her momentum, but she hardened her willpower and reinforced her greatsword manifestation.

She was the blade, and the blade was her.

At the end of the day, she didnt need allies that would let her die, or who accepted hitting her as part of the price of killing the enemy.

A Sword is Reliable.

Her Concept's phrase resonated with her, and she embraced its meaning.

Allies could turn on her. Friends could leave. Her mana could falter and run out. Even her body could become injured and fail. But she would prevail, her will would never break, and her sword would always be by her side.

A shield was only as strong as its wielder, and her blade was no exception to that rule.

Her greatsword cut into the shield, into the mans Concept, into his collarbone, into his armor, and finally through the other side of his body.

The look of confusion was the last thing on the man's face as she created a second manifestation to cut his descending head in half.

Still, her decisive attack had its cost, and the mage cast a sickly green ray at her, but her armor blocked the entire thing between its physical presence and new shielding enchantment. A followup [Fire Spear] was deflected to the side by her sword, where it hit the dagger wielding woman in the knee to delay her for another few seconds.

She would have liked to use the armors shield more often, but the damn thing cost 300 mana per cast, and that was too expensive to use repeatedly, unless she was fighting directly next to Matt and benefiting from his Concept.

The shield was still useful at times like this, and she allowed the damage she had taken to spread across the silver mist, watching as it ate into the mage's body despite his armor and magical shield.

Sending a [Wind Cutter] at the man, she ducked under his swipe with the odd mana blade, and had to quickly cast [Dash] again as the dagger wielder was able to close the distance from behind after being healed.

Except this time, she was followed by the womans [Dash] and took a dagger to her hip, sending both pain and heat racing through her body.

She could feel the poison on the blade coursing through her immediately, so she cast [Cracked Second Wind], using the skill to force out the arrow in her arm and the poison in her blood alike.

That removed most of her power from [Cracked Berserker's Rage], so she dropped that skill and used the freed up power to increase the mana she had reserved in [Mana Strength].

The boost was smaller, but still substantial, and she used it to gain more ground between herself and the dagger wielder, using her weapons greater range to keep the woman on the defensive.

Susanne was about to trap her when the healer cast some sort of buff on the woman, increasing her speed and allowing her to dodge the slash that would have taken off her legs.

Not letting the missed chance bother her, Susanne cut the air and used her spatial Concept powers to land next to the mage. Instead of using her greatsword to slash out at the man, she appeared close enough to slam her back up dagger into his neck, wrenching the blade out as she rolled around the man to dodge the follow-up attack from the squads rogue.

The healer tried to cast a heal at his team's blademage, but Susanne was faster, and cut his extended arm off with a [Mana Slash]. That stopped the man from healing his teammate long enough for Susanne to create a second manifestation of her Concept and bring it across the mage's head.

His helmet didnt stop her blade from cutting his head in half at eye level.

With the fight down to a temporary one-on-one, the dagger wielder tried to run, but Susanne slowed her down by aiming an undercast [Sword Gale] at her legs. She closed the distance with another [Dash], a brief use of her Talaria Seeds wind powers, and by slashing through space with her Concept.

The second she landed next to the woman, she cut her in half, sending blood and entrails everywhere. She didnt hesitate in bringing her blades back around to cut the woman's head off, ensuring her death.

Turning back to the healer, she saw him reattaching his removed arm and offered surrender. Drop everything and surrender, and Ill allow you to live.

He nodded and kept trying to heal his arm, but as she went to mark him, he threw a dagger at her head.

Having expected the sneak attack, she easily blocked the blow and cut the man's head off.

Turning, she let her blank mask glare at her allies. She had already noted them in case they encountered each other on the next floor, and was tempted to just kill them now and save her the trouble later. The main thing that stayed her hand was the fact she would lose Favor for killing people on Winters side, and she could feel that she was close to becoming a Titled. Before she could give into impulse, she spotted Bradley and Matt fighting a squad of Tier 14s who seemed ready to counter each and every attack that the lava mage sent at them.

They were less prepared for Matt, and she could see how they struggled with his odd assortment of attacks. They no doubt thought that he had a prodigious degree of different elemental attacks, but no, he was just making them directly from the appropriate manipulation skills.

With a flex of her Concept, she collected the bodies spatial items and stored them in a normal bag on her hip.

Normally, she wouldn't bother and just collect the loot later, but with the way her allies treated her, she was sure that the items would have mysteriously vanished by the time she came back.

Eaten by Minkalla. That would be their excuse, she was sure.

Jumping after Matt and Bradley, she went to help take out the second death squad.

Susanne had formed a grudge with the practice after her last fight, and wasnt going to stand and watch them attack someone on her side. She was better than the trash around her.

But first, she needed to identify their healer. She didnt want to deal with one of them extending the fight over and over yet again. Once had been more than enough.

***

Matt blocked one ice blast aimed at Bradley with a [Bulwark], then deflected the second to the side with [Ice Manipulation] and his Concept, nudging it just enough to keep it from hitting his comrade.

He knew he shouldnt have been surprised by the ambush, but the attack coming out of nowhere after they finished off the Summer Fae had caught them both off guard, and Bradley took an ice spike through his chest.

If that had been all, it would have been annoying but mostly harmless. Instead, it spread like a corruption, turning Bradleys body to ice. The cold itself may not affect him, likely thanks to Winters boon, but it clearly didnt stop whatever this was.

Matt was faster, and ripped first the ice spike and then the creeping ice off and out of Bradleys body with [Ice Manipulation]. If he had more time, he probably could have removed it all with no damage, but the amount of blood and flesh hed torn out in his haste only served to make the initial wound worse. At this point, the other Pather was a bloody mess, and was only able to fight thanks to a trick very similar to one Liz was fond of.

While he couldnt heal the cut spine in a few seconds, he could use [Lava Manipulation] to control his transformed limbs like Liz did with [Blood Manipulation].

The assassins had expected that and rushed the older Pather, but Matt blocked them with his halberd; the weapon was excellently suited for keeping people away, and gave Bradley enough time to reorient himself.

Roaring, the man transformed into a mass of molten metal and sent a stream of the liquid at their attackers, but they were prepared, and threw up a barrier of a watery, jelly-like substance that absorbed the attack with little more than a ripple.

Bradley immediately changed tack, casting with wind spells that caught the attackers off guard and allowed him to get a few injuries in.

Matt took advantage of that to grab the ice around them and create a barrier between themselves and the hit squad, allowing the two of them to run back to friendly lines.

Unexpectedly, the attackers charged them despite the entire faction of Empire and Guilders turning to support them.

In an impressive display of skill, the Tier 14s dodged most of the Winter forces attacks and kept chasing down their targets. Matt wanted to stop and fight there, so the others could assist them, but Bradley was too injured, and their pursuers were too close for that to have even a remote chance of working.

Bradley must have been feeling better as he sent Matt a message. You want to know why I went with Winter? This is it. Stupid starting boon, protecting me from frostbite but not this.

Matt ignored the comment and asked, Status? And your wife?

Shes fine and on her way now. They didnt hit her, but that was probably because she was hidden and taking out the Spring fucks who attacked our other side. And I have a giant fucking hole in my chest that punctured both of my lungs, and I cant feel my legs. Im doing pretty well, all things considered.

As they passed the central area into the forested right side of the path they were following, Matt caught a glimpse of Primus cutting a swath through the Spring cultivators despite the nearly fifty people surrounding him.

Realizing that his first idea wouldnt work, he sped up and grabbed Bradley from behind. The man flinched, but he relaxed seeing that it was Matt, allowing him to dump one of Lizs healing potions on the man's lungs. He also cast [Ranged Heal] and [Bandage] twice to cover the hole in the man's chest, so when the spell and potion actually repaired his lungs, the fragments of bone wouldn't easily puncture them again.

Bradley brought out two talismans and slapped one on himself and the other on Matt.

Feeling the strength in his legs increase, Matt carried them further into the trees, earning them a few more seconds of healing for Bradley.

Sadly, their reprieve didnt last very long. A massive spiders web of mana appeared behind them and rapidly caught up with them. Not knowing what it was, and not willing to be caught inside it, Matt pulled Bradley close and used his ring to teleport to the side by a few feet.

That got them out of the range of the attack, but slowed them down enough that a [Water Jet] hit his rear facing [Bulwark] and destroyed the skill.

Turning, Matt cast [Flamethrower] and used [Fire Manipulation] to spread the flames in a cloud, hoping to obscure their senses more so than to do any damage. If they came prepared to fight Bradley, they would be as fire proof as possible Tier 14 items. No, he just wanted to buy himself a second to cast [Create Water], and he dropped a bag of salt into his construct before throwing the ball of salt water towards the direction of the latest attacks.

When his ball of water hit the attackers as they came through the wall of fire, he then hit them with [Jolt], relying on the salt to bypass most of their armor.

That caught the attackers off guard, and he used [Earth Manipulation] to create a wall around them, but that was quickly dismantled. Matt was fine with that, as each second he delayed them was another second for the healing potion and spell to work their magic.

Turning to run again, they were able to stay away from the attackers and started to circle around back to their side where they could get reinforcements. But seemingly from out of nowhere, Susanne cut one of their attackers down from their blind spot.

Neither he nor Bradley needed to be told to attack, and they both threw themselves at the Tier 14s.

Matt abandoned his magic and concentrated on his physical boosts to close the distance before Bradley, and brought his halberd in a downward chop at the man with a great shield.

The blade bit deeply into the shield, but failed to break through. Hard-stopping a full-power, full-size blow wasnt without its cost, though. The man had sunk into the ground up to his knees, and Matts enhanced senses registered that both of his shoulders were at least cracked, if not broken outright.

He didnt hesitate to press his advantage, and he kicked out at the man's lower leg, feeling bones break on impact.

Bradley finished him with a club of solidified iron that grew directly from his arm, in a near mirror image of Matt's first attack.

The ice mage took that chance to attack Bradley once again, but Matt cast [Bulwark] in front of the spike of ice, not knowing if it could do the same odd converting thing as the one before.

As the first Empire cultivators arrived, the death squad tried to disengage, but Matt refused to allow this threat to escape and linger in the background. Activating his gravity gauntlets at their max power, he paired it with [Earth Manipulation] to prevent the ground from hitting him.

Trees and snow still flew, but it also pulled two out of the three unprepared assassins off their feet and towards him. His halberd, wreathed in black flames, met their bodies, and his magical armor was instantly covered in a fine dusting of ash as it was attracted to his gloves.

A panting Bradley dropped to his knees and wheezed out, I owe you guys one.

As the final assassin was killed by the Empire cultivators who followed them, Matt was surprised by Jill appearing.

She looked to be in worse shape than them, with half her face melted to the bone and most of her right arm just gone.

But she was upright and walking.

Before they could ask, she explained, Someone thought they could attack me on my way to help you. Well, they won't be doing that again, but I paid a price to end the fight quickly.

Matt used his AI to call over some of the Empire healers on a top priority as he cast [Bandage] on her, and finally took the time to inspect his own injuries.

He had four arrows still inside his chest that hurt something fierce when they pushed against his lungs, or he moved his hip.

The arrows that pierced his armor he expected were all from the sergeants and the lieutenant, but despite his armor and the speed at which he cut them down, they still managed to inflict considerable injuries.

It had only been the second layer of [Cracked Phantom Armor] that protected his heart from their arrows during his descent.

He needed more mana to throw around.

It was a greedy thought, but another doubling of his mana would have allowed him to run both layers of [Cracked Phantom Armor] and avoid most of those wounds.

With Susanne's help, they cut the heads off the arrows and pulled them through as he channeled [Lesser Regeneration] and cast a few [Bandage]s.

While he wasnt quite over the healing limit, he could feel his body starting to resist further attempts to mend it.

This floor had injured him more than any other, and it was starting to build up, faster than he could shunt it away with [Endurance].

While Susanne was close, he used his Concept to start refilling her mana pool. She wasnt injured, according to her AI, but she had blown through most of her mana pool in her last fight, which was unusual for her. Matt didnt want them to be caught off guard with her still low on mana.

That might spell a disaster.

Sighing, he looked down at Bradley and Jill, who were now being healed by a proper healer, and asked through a private AI channel, Were they the hit squad you expected?

Jill answered instead of Bradley. Probably not. As much as I hate to say it, they didnt match the description of the Sect death squad that was trained to take us down. I think they were Federation, but that's a wild-ass guess.

Bradley wrapped an arm around his wife's waist and added, Joy for us. But seriously, thank you, White. I dont know what that ice spike was, but it was converting my flesh and blood to ice while also restricting my lava. If you hadnt ripped it out when you did, I don't know what I would have done.

Matt just nodded as Bradley turned to Susanne. And thank you for the ambush. It was beautiful. Your skills have only gotten better since the tournament.

Susannes response surprised Matt. Pretty sure I already dealt with one of their ilk. Peak Tier 14 team, five really coordinated individuals who were more determined than desperate Tier 14s should have been to kill me. They were also good, and at least one already had a combat Concept. Each fought to the death, including their healer. But I cant be sure they were an actual death squad. Lets just say I take hit squads' existences personally now.

Matt inspected his teammate and had to re-evaluate her. Killing five peak Tier 14s who could have been specially trained to take down strong cultivators was no small feat. Even if they didnt have training and items to directly counter her, that was a bad situation to be in.

It was also a warning that when people linked him to Quill, he would start earning the same treatment.

Before too long, the couple of older Pathers were fully healed, but they were told that they were both well over the healing cooldown and any new injuries sustained wouldnt be cured through magical healing.

Bradley and Jill had a private moment where they just held hands, and Matt and Susanne gave them as much privacy as they could. After making sure the area was secure, they returned to see that the two had stood up to talk.

Well, this has been fun. Bradley actually sounded amused as he poked his chest where his armor had a giant hole in it.

Jill looked to the side and got back to business. We should help Winter clean up the Spring cultivators.

Matt snorted. I don't know if there will be any left. Last I saw, Primus was cutting them down by the dozens. He still moved with the other three, though.

There was no reason to leave Genesis Energy for others to collect.