There spells slammed into my defensive wall for nearly ten seconds before I got tired of them. I unleashed my aura and killing intent at full blast and started my attack. I pushed off from the ground and practically teleported in front of one warrior. The man had just enough time to realize I was there before I launched him into the woman next to him.

  I spun and launched a straight kick into another man's chest. I hit him with enough force that I felt his ribs crack. I decided not to follow up. I wanted to frighten these people not actually kill them. Their leaders didn't have that same sentiment toward me though. They pulled the pin on a variety of grenades and lobbed them at me. I reached out with Psychokinesis. I grabbed what was either a pair of smoke grenades or stun grenades and launched them back. The rest I let explode. I closed my normal eyes but left the Eye of Heaven. A moment later all the bombs explodes.

  The flash blinded everyone but me and the smoke might as well not have been there as far as the Eye of Heaven was concerned. The pieces of shrapnel couldn't make it past my Tao field which meant the attack accomplished nothing. "Come on you guys got to make at least a bit more fun than this." I grinned as people scrambled to get away from me. I ignored them as I advanced on the group. The trio had grown to five. I wasn't sure who the other two were but they didn't seem happy to be here so I wasn't worried.

  Their auras exploded but they might as well have been candles caught in a tsunami. I could snuff them out from here if I wanted. "Come now. I am not here to kill you all. I am here to conquer you though. You can give up the settlement and accept me as your new leader. Or we can fight. You five won't survive that though."

  "No" Their leader stepped forward. His answer so curt that it took me by surprise. I cocked my head in his direction expecting him to say something else. That he would threaten me or something but that was it.

  "Well that was straight forward." I shrugged and formed a halo of blades.

  "Activate the Array!" One of the two newcomers called as all four of them took up positions around their leader. They each formed a series of hand signs that caused their energy to surge. I took a step back as beams of energy traveled from the four and into the man in the middle. Whose power began to surge. He was as strong as the princes in the forest before it finally stopped.

  "You combined your power and pushed it into him? How fun." I grinned as the leader took a step toward me.

  "My name is General Zacharia Lawson and I am going to put an end to your insanity." He drew his sword as energy surged into a sigil on his feet. A moment later he disappeared. His speed wasn't bad but it wasn't enough to avoid my soul sense. He reappeared ten feet behind me. His sword glowing the a Tao related to cutting or sharpness.

  I countered with all six of my blades. His sword slammed into me with the force of a runaway train. The force shattered all six blades in an instant. My Tao field countered which was the only thing that kept him for slashing through my spine. I turned toward him and laughed. "I take it this new level of power can only be maintained as long as the other four don't move. Or rather is it their energy. They have to keep giving it to you."

  I couldn't help but laugh when his face darkened. "No need to worry. If I had known you could do something like this I would have let you do it earlier. This is what I needed." I took a breath and withdrew my aura. "You look almost like you are about to break through to the 2nd-realm though I guess it isn't your power. I doubt the System would count it."

  "Enough talk." Zacharia waved his sword and seven more blades appeared around him. "Die" All seven shot for me.

  I didn't need my danger sense to know I wouldn't survive if all of them hit. I activated Psychic Aegis in its wall form. The first three blades caused a spider web of cracks to form. The second set of three caused the barrier to shatter. I leaped backward and formed a ball of compressed space just in time to counter the final blade. No sooner had it shattered did my danger sense scream. I ducked to the side just as Zacharia appeared. His blade slashed through the spot I had just stood.

  I gritted my teeth. I checked with the other four cultivators. Who hadn't moved nor did they provide more energy. So why was he getting faster? Was it the spell he was using or something else? Either way it was time to get serious. An indigo sun imbued with the Tao of Compression was born a moment later. "Lets see how long you all can keep this up." I shattered the sun and exploded backwards. Psionic Rain shot toward Zacharia like bullet from a machine gun.

  He tried to counter with his sword but there were too many. Instead he activated his movement skill again. A scream of danger let me know he decided to focus on killing me and not avoiding the attack. That was fine by me. I unleashed Psychic Blast just as he reappeared. Just before the mental attack hit him a ring on his left hand exploded. A shimmering barrier surrounded him and Psychic Blast was repelled.

  Zacharia continued. I imbued my right hand with the Tao of Adamance and used it to block his blade. My palm held up for a moment before his sword punched straight through. Pain shot down my arm just before he yanked it back out. Blood dripped won my hand as I created distance between us. I summoned a pill from my ring and swallowed it. The itchy healing sensation took effect and I turned my focus back to the battle.

  "Where did you get that ring?" I shook my head. "Never mind don't tell me." I pushed energy into Inverted Dimension. A second world was born a second later as he and I were pulled away. For a moment I worried that the array would end if we weren't next to the other four cultivators but it turned out not to be the case. I wasn't sure if it was because this area wasn't truly a separate place but more like a private arena or if the array was just that good.

  "I don't get it. If you are this strong why aren't you ranked higher? Do kills gained with this array not count for you? Are you not a cultivator?"

  Zacharia wiped the blood from his blade and glared at me. "The person who brought us this array is dead. They got it from a quest and asked that we used it to kill you. It isn't our power."

  I nodded and my thoughts flashed back to that family. The one whose kid I accidentally killed. "Was it one of the parents from back then?" He nodded and I sighed. "I take it this means there's no chance you back down?"

  "None."

  I sighed and activated Realm of Consciousness. The domain spell was imbued with the Strand of Lucidity. "For what its worth. I won't kill the others after this. If they lay down their weapons they can join Amara."

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  Zacharia grunted and pulled out what looked like a slip of paper. Only it was covered in strange sigils. He infused it with a bit of energy and then it shot into the air. "We hadn't expected to fight you today but we've learned a few things. I still don't understand what your abilities do. This talisman should deal with the confusing mist nicely."

  I couldn't but laugh as the talisman unleashed a pulse of energy. A pulse that cleared out an area of ten feet around him. "Not bad at all. If you all had worked with the rest of the top ten you would have done so much better."

  "That would be trading one master for another. The others had their own goals and believed they could win without us."

  I watched energy surge into the sigil at his feet but I wasn't worried. His talisman dealt with the mist just fine but it did nothing for Inverted Dimension. Sure enough he disappeared and reappeared further away from me. He tried a few more times but he wasn't anymore successful.

  "If you have another talisman now would be the time to use it." I formed another halo of blades as Zacharia did the same. There was a clear difference between blades from with a proper swords related skill and my own. His felt like they could cut me in two if I let them hit. Of course that was still a huge if. Just before I unleashed my attack the Inverted Dimension trembled. It took me a minute to realize what had happened. When I did I couldn't help but chuckle. "It appears that the people on the outside are trying to break in."

  Zacharia glanced at the wall and slowly nodded. His sword glowed with the same Tao from before. The blade increased in size until it was nearly ten feet long. At first I thought his plan was to hit everything as to not worry about the dimensional restrictions but that was wrong. He unleashed his attack at my spell. It was strong enough to leave gash but not to break free.

  A moment later the attacks from outside focused on that spot. I slowly nodded. "You have a way to communicate with the people out there?" I checked him with the Eye of Heaven but there was nothing. No signs of mental communication at all. When it hit me I started laughing so hard my stomach hurt. "You are using old world tech. I hadn't considered that it would work here. Very impressive but it won't be enough."

  I activated Manifestation of Perfection. As soon as the familiar diamond appeared in the sky Zacharia's movements slowed. His strikes became less sure and his attention drifted to other areas. "I launched six blades at him. He barely had the time to activate his skill before my blades slammed into him."

  I waited a moment half hoping the old general had some final card up his sleeve but it wasn't to be. Energy surged into my dantian and I shook my head. Without his help it would take the people outside a little while to break through which gave me a few options. I could attempt to get the Tao he used. Or rather some version of it but was that the correct option? I shaped my attacks into swords but that didn't mean I wanted the Tao of swords. Assuming that was even a thing. If I assumed it was the Tao of or I guess the strand of sharpness than it could match.

  Combining it with one of my other Tao could work. Focusing on mental sharpness but I wasn't sure that was good. After all how was that any different than lucidity? I shook my head there was no reason to get too concerned about it right now. My current power was more than enough, especially for the Earth. I pulled Zacharia's body over and removed his spatial bag. I slipped it over my shoulder and then I put his sword into my ring. I let him keep everything else. I wasn't sure if burials were an important thing anymore but he deserved it.

  When I was ready I collapsed my spell and stepped out. The cultivators ceased their attacks. The four warriors had abandoned their array and had grim looks on their faces. The rest had expressions that ranged from furious to terrified. "Put down your weapons. Zacharia lost and I promised not to hurt the rest of you." I turned toward the four leaders who still hadn't moved. "Lead me to your System Hub. I am willing to let you four stay in charge here as mayors or whatever you want to call yourselves."

  "How are we supposed to know that you aren't lying to us." One of the leaders asked. He looked like he was in his early thirties with an army style buzz cut and an axe on his shoulders.

  I shrugged. "You can't. I gave the man my word but none of you have to do anything. If you don't want to be here than you could leave. Either way I am not going to kill you. I want you to show me where the Hub is but I can find it on my own."

  "Why would you do that." The woman next to the axe wielder asked. She looked like an ice mage of some kind.

  I shrugged. "It was a good fight. The toughest I've had on Earth it was fun. I am leaving now. Make your decision." It took me around fifteen minutes to find the hub even with my soul sense. From there the rest was straightforward. I took over the city with no issues and purchased another teleporter. I was about to leave when the four warriors stepped into the room.

  "If that offer is still open we'd be willing to take it." This time it was the pugilist who spoke. He glanced at the others before turning his attention to me. "We don't exactly have anywhere else to go."

  I nodded and made the arrangements through the System. "It won't let me appoint all four of you so which of you officially wants the title?"

  The other three looked at the only person not to speak. It was an older man maybe in his early to mid forties. He was almost as tall as me with thick white locs that fell down his shoulders. He had a sword on one hip and revolver on the other. "I suppose that means. I will take it. Many is Ezekiel, Ezekiel Washington."

  I nodded. "Sounds good. I will have someone sent over to help get you all situated. Get your array up as soon as you can. I assume you understand that you all will be expected to follow any and all of Amara's laws."

  "Of course" They replied one after another. I went over a few more details. I decided to let them keep the array to themselves. They wouldn't be able to use it properly until they got a fourth person anyway. That and they wouldn't be able to take full advantage of it at their current levels. It wouldn't give them enough power to stop me but it could help with monsters. I stepped through the portal and a few moments later I was back in Amara.

  After I made arrangements for a group to go and reinforce the city I made my way to the Tower. Today's battles were still a net loss for me in terms of energy. It wasn't a problem but I needed to reach level 50. The sooner I did the sooner I could focus on what came next. I also needed to make arrangements for the Road of Kings quest. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go alone for that or bring Xerxes. I wasn't even sure if that was an option. Either way those problems could be dealt with later. I stepped out of the elevator and entered my apart. I decided to start with a shower before settling into cultivate.

  I divided my time into the thirds. One third went to cultivation, the second to meditating on the Tao and the final third on my spells. I wasn't sure if I had to have them all at max before I evolved but I figured that it couldn't hurt. It might even get my some kind of title. I decided to extend my cultivation session to three days instead of one. The extra time turned out to be worth it when I reached level 44. The energy required for level 45 was more than every level before it. It would probably take a full week of cultivation unless I consumed a treasure or the spirit water.

  Unfortunately I couldn't afford to take that much time away. There had already been several attempts to contact me. None of them seemed especially urgent so I decided to let them take care of it. When I was ready I left the tower and made my way toward the academy. I checked the bond with Xerxes and found still inert. Though I couldn't shake this sense of anticipation. It wasn't like last time this felt like something wonderful was going to happen or at least something beneficial. I formed a connection through Ethereal Convocation with Christopher and Aaliyah.

  "Is there anything I need to know?"

  "There has been a sighting of that madman. He left a message for you." The disgust in her mental voice made my skin crawl.

  "Meet me in the teleporter room." I swore out loud and changed directions. I wasn't sure what the herald was up to but it was unlikely to be anything good. I opened a portal and stepped through. When it next opened I was in the teleporter room with Aaliyah, Christopher and a group of four other soldiers. The soldiers weren't very strong from what I could see. I looked at Aaliyah who was paler than usual.

  "What are we dealing with? Is he challenging me to a fight or something?"