Echos Chapter 4_The Path of Ascension

Echos Chapter 4

 Duke Waters spun through the emptiness of space andunched a dozen [Water Scythe]s at the squad of generals who were trying to stop him from massacring their troops. It was quite rude of them. Hed so much rather be back with Liz, Matt, and Aster, congratting them for a job well done and messing with them back in the home base, but the Republic just had tounch a deep strike. Honestly, didnt they know how this sort of thing was done? You had to give the newbies a few softballs, and not pull aside their senior Ascender to answer a stupid invasion. And then another, and another, and another.

 It was just rude.

 Sure, normally it wouldnt be that much of an issue. It was an easy enough mission of the sort he usually liked, just enough pressure to be fun. But damn it, he was missing all the good parts of watching a new pair of Ascenders being brought into the fold.

 He couldnt even p the kids around a bit to keep their heads from getting too big.

 Oh well.

 General Grotesques fired off an array of decay needles. They mmed into his side with almost no resistance and began to liquefy his flesh.

 Oh no. However might a water mage manage to survive being turned to liquid?

 Water flowed from his side, carrying the poison with it and coalescing into a clone of himself, an Edgier And Cooler Abyssal Duke Watersplete with all kinds of murky water and glowing red eyes. It charged at the people responsible for its creation, meting out proper justice while the main Duke Waters called upon his Anchor, letting the ocean inside him refill the tiny amount of water that had sshed away.

 What kind of mortal could harm an ocean? They were all hopeless before its overwhelming might. No attack could do more than cause a few ripples.

 Not that he was fighting mortals, but hey, it wasnt like he was always an ocean.

 The other two generals, Tivus and Regta, outnked and tried to destroy his clone, but hadnt ounted for the incredible pressure of the abyssal ocean. Tivus sword crumpled like paper as it passed through the ck water, while Regtas bullets just vanished into the inky depths.

 Then the water exploded and coated them, and they began to feel the unending pressure of the ocean. The surrender notice came, and he relented.

 Danger rang out from behind him, and Duke Waters twisted just a moment too slowly.

 A searing bolt of pain punched through his chest, sending the ocean within into turmoil, but he leashed the power before it could spiral out of control. Instead, he locked on just who hadnded the blow.

 Yuvgret. Now leading a bunch of discount Graduates instead of the normal flunkies he liked to boss around. Figured.

 Fucking assholes had been hiding in a spatial fold or something and used the rest of the army as bait.

 He had suspected something like that might be up when he heard a Tier 35 army had jumped over the established line of battle. He had just assumed he was wrong when they didnt appear after he killed the first of the generals. Waiting until after the surrender came in was impressive dedication. Not against the rules of war, because this attack group clearly wasnt part of the army, but it was just kinda cheap.

 Not that Duke Waters was a cheap date. Hed make them pay full price.

 Of course, before he killed them, he had a few questions. While normally he might have asked out loud, his lungs were quite inconsiderately not healing, and it wasnt the same to talk using just his Domain if he couldnt apany it with an appropriately menacingugh from his own lips.

 So he settled for sending it on his AI.That stung. What was it?

 Rugrat and ke, the team''s melee fighters, rushed forward with earthen shields raised.

 Seriously, the Republic had just lost all sense of proper procedure in this war. The quips were half the fun! But noooo, apparently President J wanted to take this seriously and the elites were actually listening to her. Bah, at least Maya had kept her head about all this. Hed dly take her or On The Last Line, they appreciated the importance of proper mid-fight banter.

 Hell, even Light could get chatty if you hit the kids right buttons. Because he knew how it was done!

 The InSects were always augh with their grandiosity, the Feddies couldnt stop themselves from yelling out hrious insults, but these punks? They just kept refusing to have a philosophical conversation with him during the middle of a life-or-death battle! No self-importantst words, not even a good old For the Republic!

 Shameful.

 He flushed himself with mana and willpower, trying to reset his body to regain ess to his lungs and glorious voice. Unfortunately, whatever stupid attack theyd hit him with wasnt so easily washed away, but he tided himself over by reassuring himself that the attempted Domain damage he could sense had just sshed harmlessly off him.

 If that was the best the Republic could do as an anti-Duke Waters opening shot, it was fucking embarrassing.

 Involuntarily, he coughed up some blood and noticed there was actually a curse hidden inside whatever he had been inflicted with.

 Ok, so maybe it wasnt a totally awful attempt. If the Domain portion had worked, which it couldnt because he was the best at Domains, he would have been in serious trouble.

 Rugrat cast some earth based spell that tried to ensnare him, but a [Washing a-Wave] dispelled it, the stone ending up very firmly lost at sea. While normally the dispel would have ended there, he called on his Concept to keep it running, rushing over to the next attack.

 A flurry of molten des was eaten by his spell at the cost of a negligible amount of willpower, but he must have surprised Yuvgrets team, as they werent reinforcing their spells with their Domains beyond the basics.

 Interesting. So they had really expected that initial bolt to disable his Domain. How fascinating. How foolish.

 He manifested a bubble as a spell focus, overcharged it, and popped it. Torrents of water flooded forth, sting into the pitiful fire and air-based walls Yuvgret, Kimberly, and ssa were sheltering behind. He enhanced them with his Domain, and fire and air gave way to the superior element.

 Currents of power, unleashed through his Intent, ripped and tore at his opponents, and while Kimberly and ssa only lost an arm and leg respectively, Yuvgrets body was torn outright in half, already being crushed from the overwhelming pressure of the ocean.

 Drowning wasnt the only danger in the depths.

 Annoyingly, magic red and she began to be put back together. A quick query to his AI told Duke Waters the name and identity of the healer responsible Ethan the chronomancer? Time-based healers were always a pain in the ass to fight.

 He wasnt able to do anything else quite yet, as the melee duo of Rugrat and ke were already on top of him.

 Aiden wasnt a melee fighter, and while he was happy to test his mediocre skills against weaker troops, he wasnt dumb enough to treat these two with such contempt.

 A wash of seafoam stopped a massive iing spell, a whip of water pulled their des to the side, and two more attacks bounced off a bubble shield he created around himself. [Water Armor] brought a cloying, sticky orange spell to a near halt, but it still brushed his skin and drained itself into his body, giving a really weird sensation.

 That only heralded even more spells, and he found himself hard-pressed to keep any level of control over the battlefield, but he began counting down as the tide slowly turned in his favor.

 Ten.

 He dodged a de and took a crossbow bolt to the shoulder as payment. It didnt over-prate, but it shattered and sent shrapnel into his shoulder that locked it up. It attempted to send off a series of biological failures cascading through his body, but he called on his Anchor to keep him in one piece.

 To his surprise, it took some effort to do so, but nothing he wasnt able to handle.

 Nine.

 He dodged a bolt of dark purple mana that his spiritual sense suggested had some amount of void in it, but took a de to the leg that suffused his body with a caustic green energy that smelled of pinecones. No, that wasnt right. It was reacting with the Domain-inhibiting curse and somehow increased its strength. That was less than ideal.

 Eight.

 The torrents of his Aspect dragged six blows just enough off-track for him to avoid them, then he used that opening to shoot a [Riptide Hook] at Kimberly.

 It pierced her thigh and dragged her off into the distance.

 Seven.

 A bubble-shield popped, and his attempted dodge was insufficient to stop the sword to the gut, but instead just provided extra leverage as it tore up his chest.

 Man, you guys are heartless, he sent. Or maybe I am. Is there a difference?

 Eh, he could do better. Come on guys, stop ignoring me. Youre breaking my heart!

 Six.

 A bubble was a funny thing. Below the water, it was the only source of air. But above water, it could either be a prison made of the best element, or simply a solitary refuge for the ocean in the form of a droplet. And any droplet preceded a rainstorm.

 [Hurricane Arbor] manifested a bubble, and he flooded the rain-seed with mana until it began to glow a vivid, shifting blue. Instantly, a storm-tree sprouted, its trunk ice, its branches clouds.

 Its fruit, a storm.

 Five.

 Rugrat proved himself the smarter of two as he started hacking at the tree, while ke rushed Aiden down. In response, he shot off a column of water as wide around as his head that tragically missed, or perhaps mist, as it burst into a cloud of white not far behind the onrushing elite.

 Four.

 Duke Waters harvest had ripened, and artillery-grade rain began to fall. Like petals, or perhaps bubbles, tiny drops of water fell in a meandering pattern beneath the still-growing tree. But instead ofnding gently on their targets, they punched holes in hastily-raised defenses and tore into his attackers.

 Three.

 A bolt snuck through the swirling torrent of raindrops, striking him directly on the open wound in his chest and exploding into a toxic gas. [Cleansing Waters] took care of that, leaving nothing but the scent of freshly-fallen rain.

 Two.

 Raindrops slowed lethargically as his [Hurricane Arbor] was destroyed, but a wave of his hand collected the water around him into a [Tidal Wave], washing Rugrat and ke as they came too close, and giving him a moment of respite.

 One.

 Kimberly re-entered the battle just as her would-be support left it, and Duke Waters released his hold over thepressed water hed deposited in her thigh.

 Blood and saltwater spread into a thin mist, and [Salt in the Wound] ensured that pain debilitated Kimberly long enough for him to pull her close to him.

 [Calm the Storm].

 All water in the woman simply stopped, even her slight twitches freezing instantly.

 He smiled a toothy grin, then bodily raised her up, directly into the path of [The Water Cyclone]. Dispersed mist re-coalesced into water and unerringly shot back into his other awaiting palm. That Kimberly happened to be in the way, and was reinforcing her body with her Domain, did nothing to slow it. Still, he made sure that the guts sprayed at him simply washed past him and into the face of Ethan.

 The healer thought he was being sneaky while trying to heal his teammate, but hadnt been prepared for intestines smacking his eye. Even if they didnt do any actual damage, or even truly disorient him- fighting professionals could be annoying- it was at least a moral victory for Duke Waters.

 Then, the currents of his Aspect mmed Kimberly into Ethan, and the healer was knocked into an awaiting bubble of water, where he was most vulnerable to Aidens domain and was forced to try and take it onpletely solo.

 A hasty defense was raised, but Duke Waters simply crushed first the defense, then the Domain, and finally cracked the spirit itself as if it was a child trying to stop a train.

 The move took a lot of willpower, but Duke Waters dug deeper and growled as he cast [One With Water] and [Water Swap] to join the still reeling healer in his bubble. He needed to re his Aspect to break through their spatial lock, but he did so without care for the willpower expenditure.

 When he appeared, he didnt attack the healer, but rather Yuvgret, who had made it back to the fight and was trying to stabilize the man.

 The bubble was popped, and its pressure redirected into a [Water de] that broke through Yuvgrets shields and armor.

 She was trying to use her Domain to stop him, but Duke Waters didnt get his title because of his good looks.

 The pressure of his own Domain rose, suffocating and crushing the womans spirit. She was deep in the depths while this close to him, and while Rugrat and ssa tried to break his spatial lock to save their team leader, it was too little, toote.

 Yuvgret drowned in the depths, and the moment he felt the wash of essence, he cleansed it of Yuvgrets Domain and immediately started allocating it. A Tier 35 had a lot of essence, it was a shame the realm only let him have such a small fraction, miserly fuck.

 His willpower and mana were both running dangerously low, but he still managed to replenish some of thetter by re-absorbing the mana in the bubble of water around him. Rugrat and ssa charged, but Aiden had already left the spot they were attacking.

 As his clone was destroyed, Duke Waters snatched his prey. ke was still trying to rid himself of the parasitic [Hurricane Arbor] seeds, and was wholly unprepared for a [Water de] to tear him twain. Some kind of life-saving device began to activate, but Aiden refused to release his Domain grip. Between the potent rescue lifeline trying to spirit ke away, and the insatiable grip he had on the mans spirit, something had to give.

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 And it ended up being ke.

 The mans body vanished in a puff of smoke as essence washed over Aiden. Hmm. Between Yuvgret and ke, hed gotten a pretty good sense as to how that particr lifeline worked, what were the odds the rest of them had it as well?

 Clearly, theyd prepared for his Domain to not be fully suppressed, because it was set to trigger when foreign willpower infiltrated the body. Well, he could oblige that.

 Kimberly was still floating around here somewhere, trying to patch herself up with a broken Domain, and there she was. She was out of range with ssa, trying to stabilize herself, but Rugrat was charging at Aiden and ran right into a drifting bubble of his Domain. It didnt actually do much, and didnt cost much willpower, but it was tuned perfectly for what their lifelines were looking for.

 Rugrat vanished in a puff of smoke.

 Aiden couldnt retreat, not without giving up the battle hed literally just won. But the Republic stuck-up squad, with their leader killed, two members in serious need of healer attention, and only one member still in fighting shape?

 ssa decided discretion was the better part of valor, with a st of wind dragged herself and Kimberly over to Ethans catatonic figure, then the three of them vanished.

 Duke Waters wanted to copse into a puddle as the exhaustion and injuries hit him all at once, but he couldnt look weak.

 So, instead of retreating like he wanted to, he looked out at the Republic troops who had been watching on in horror.

 Using his [AI], he sent a short message. I believe you all were in the middle of something?

 Aiden mentally sighed as nobody tried to retract their surrenders. And that was why having a reputation was useful.

 If anyone else had the wounds Aiden had and still pushed for surrender, they would just get attacked, but he had proven his tenacity in a thousand battles before this.

 Aiden stabilized himself with a couple of subtle healing enchantments worked into his gear, careful to not give anything away as the haggard Empire defenders mobilized to begin securing their new prisoners.

 The moment the final Republic soldier was taken into custody, he withdrew his personal ship and boarded it while telling it to enter chaotic space.

 Breaking a fragile ceramic te from his spatial ring, he felt his ship recall to deeper into the Empire with a lurch that aggravated his wounds.

 He hated to use the stupidly expensive teleportation formation, but he needed to get seen by a healer sooner rather thanter, and the ship would get him to the military base without a million questions or anyone seeing just how badly he was wounded.

 As he concentrated on keeping his wounds under control, he counted the days.

 If the kids were sent on the normal kill-an-army Ascender first mission like he had been, they should be back by now.

 And Melinda should be back. Perfect.

 Then he could fight the kids and not have to hold back too much.

 How much better could that be?

 He pulled up the Ascender group chat and sent off a mocking picture to Maya, depicting a cartoon version of himself trapping the elites hed just fought in bubbles.

 Your puny little team of elites were no match for the awesome might of Water!

 He smirked as L, Gideon, Sien, and Krodag began to express their amusement. Maya was probably out of service range or silently stewing, figuring out a scathing response of some sort.

 Eh, so far as he knew, Maya wasnt too attached to either of the elites hed killed. Worst-case, shed probably respond in kind. If any of them got too salty about a few random dead countrymen, their group chat wouldnt work. Of course, the new kids wouldnt be invited quite yet. They needed a proper war under their belts, a bit more experience before they truly joined the cool kids club.

 After all, what was a bit of mortalbat between friends?

 ***

 ***

 Krodag Oakarmour sighed as he kicked the air, reading about Aidenstest fight.

 There was nothing to do. Damn it. Why did the new Saint need to be a chicken? If she was a little more brave, he could be out there kicking ass like Aiden was. The little shit wasnt even a proper Tier 35 like the rest of them, but he was out there living it up and wiping the highest-Tier battlefields while they were stuck at home.

 But hey, maybe once he did reach Tier 35 theyd be able to face a truly overwhelming opponent! It had been far too long since theyd had a proper uphill battle. Once On The Last Line had hit Tier 35, the hardest fights were just those that they couldnt catch their breath. Lug outmuscled everyone, Boney had trouble finding good skeletons, and Jack barely learned anything actually worth copying. Krodag just wished there would be more good stories to go around. Crushing ants just wasnt the same.

 Maybe that was why Aiden liked being Tier 31,e to think of it. Even as a fresh Tier 25, the man had never settled for just the normal fights. Well normal by their standards. Same-tier armies and all that jazz.

 At least the newest Ascenders seemed a bit more sane. It was crazy that theyd gone from being the most junior set of Legends in the entire Realm to middle of the pack in less than two thousand years, but crazy was the best kind of.

 That thought brought Krodag back to the present, and he sighed. The documents on the center table were still projecting images of the most-junior Ascenders, and all the lore theyd gathered on the trio. The diviners were hard at work trying to learn as much as they could, but at least in Krodags opinion, it was all a waste of time. It was far better to learn about people through fighting them yourself.

 He sighed again, and a sharp painnced up his leg. Ow!

 Stomping his foot, he started punching himself in the thigh, trying to kill what had bitten him, but he was slower than the bone mouse shaking its tiny fist at him. He didnt need the mouse to speak to hear Boneyining about his moping.

 With a whiplike crack, his rope struck the undead mouse and sent it flying into the far wall, where it fell behind the bar and skittered away. Boney you fucking necrophiliac, if you have a problem with mee out here and say it to my face like a real man. he took a deep breath, [KOLGAZORS HONOR DEMANDS YOU PRESENT YOURSELF]!

 Krodags favorite taunt skillbo was strong enough topel an entire rift to run straight for them, but Boney didnt even budge. Well, he couldnt leave that lying down. Krodag stomped up the stairs and kicked his friends door open, revealing the man leaning back in a chair, sketching something in his notebook.

 Most people thought that the Deadlord was actually a lich, held to life by the samework of phcteries he used to control his armies on countless worlds, but Boney was still as alive as any of them. He had a fully adult human body just barely shorter than he was technically allowed to have, but with fluffy enough hair it would be nearly impossible to prove.

 Boney didnt even bother looking up as he replied, I told youst week. If you sigh more than three times a day, Im going to have something bite you. This time, it was Anny Mouse. Next time, maybe Draco McDragonFace will be close enough to do the job. Do you want to find out?

 Krodag huffed and stomped into the room.

 Bottle, if you sit on my bed I will Boneys threat went unheard as Krodag threw himself into the bed with an emphatic sigh.

 What are you gonna do about it?

 Send a video of you sleep-talking while passed out on the couch to the Ascender chat?

 Psshhh, you do that and Ill stick the silliest wig I can find on your fanciest skeleton and send a picture of that.

 Jack popped her head through the doorway, Look, I know were all very impressed that you knocked up a hooker, Bottle, but theres no need to try and pretend that Boney could do the same.

 Ohe on! I didnt even say where I was going to get the wig, how did you knoooooo- Krodags eyes widened as he fell right into Jacks trap.

 I know everything, she struck mercilessly, performing a perfect triple flip onto Boneys bed, right next to Krodag.

 Lug lumbered through the door, sweat dripping down his beard from whatever exercise hed been working on.

 Whatcha guys talking about?

 Bottle cant stop sighing. Boney called.

 Ookie spookie bit me as a mouse!

 No, that was just Annie.

 Then he made a mouse bite me!

 The idiots were fighting and I wanted to stir the pot, Jack mock whispered.

 Lug nodded. So the usual. I

 A gruff voice called out from behind him, Are in the fucking way! Move it, tiny!

 Krodag groaned, but this time, he was joined by his teammates.

 Jack threw a pillow at the new arrival, but he swatted it away with a growl. I told you to stop throwing shit. I tell all four of you shit every day and I feel like I''m talking to myself most of the time. Do you fucks remember anything I say!? Why cant I have easier Legends to manage?

 Krodag offered up his opinion, Because you hate yourself?

 Jack nodded. And you''re a masochist.

 Boney added with a straight face, And you hate your wife.

 Lug gently patted their boss on the shoulder. And youre dumb. But it''s ok, we love you anyway.

 Ugnud''s face went a deeper shade of brown as he tried not to explode.

 Seeing how close they were to getting him to pop, Jack added, Or are you trying to steal my panties again? I told you I''d just give you some. No need to dig through my hamper.

 That did it.

 Ugnud punched out, and all of them jumped and dodged as their Tier 45 questgiver started wailing at them, sting them through the wooden floor and into the middle of Boneys secret crypt.

 I was looking for the unstable reactor you idiots thought you could smuggle into your rooms, you stupid shits! I hate you four. I hate you four. I hate you four. I swear you four are powered by pure concentrated stupidity! I hate you four. I

 By the time they were beaten into the ground Ugnud finally stopped repeating his mantra and Krodag squeaked, Feel better?

 He got another kick for his efforts, but it at least dislodged him from the indent he had created in the stone floor.

 No, you idiots. This does not calm me down. What calms me down are Legends who do what I say and not stir up trouble. Now get up! Theres a job for you four to do.

 Krodag perked up at that somewhat, but didnt let it show. Theyd been trying to get them to do all kinds of boring, non-Legendary stuff for ages. In fact, he didnt want to give a speech to snot-nosed brats about the importance of the Power Of Friendship for the hundredth time. Theyd even managed to burn Boney out on public appearances, and the guy didnt even need to leave the house to do it!

 Nuh-uh-uh! Jack wheezed, Say it right!

 You have a job!

 Nope!

 Ugnud leveled a tumultuous expression at the four of them. I have a quest for you, Legends.

 With feel-oof! With feeling! Jack didnt relent.

 Ugnud dramatically closed his eyes and sighed before pepping up and actually emoting as he said the line, Brave Legends, I havee to deliver you a quest!

 With their cue finally spoken, the four of them popped to their feet.

 ARE WE [JOINING THE FIGHT]? Krodag''s taunt, specifically named in preparation for this very asion, just got him a boot in the chest, but it was worth it to get the old man to slip up like that. Now he could say hed taunted a Tier 45, which would get under Ugnuds skin.

 Jack immediately pounced, starting to sing-song, Bottle taunted Ugnud! Bottle taunted Ugnud!

 Even a squadron of Boneys skeletons dragged themselves off their shelves and began to bob up and down in a mocking dance.

 Scrunched up, face lost behind his puffing beard, Ugnud yelled and restarted their beating.

 A few minutester, some real bruises started to form, and Ugnud calmed down. As I was saying. You idiots have a missi-quest.

 Jack popped out from a pile of rubble. Is there a mining outpost under attack by sinister forces from beyond the unknown?

 From his hole in the ceiling, Boney asked, Do we need to infiltrate a secret cabal of mages who want to summon some kind of eldritch entity that cant exist in a Tier 50 realm?

 Lug piped in from where he was dusting off his towel. Is there a that descended from a higher realm thatnded in the middle of all Great Powers we need to fight over?

 Krodag added his own suggestion, seeing the others hadnt managed to fluster their boss. Is there a fair maiden who was captured by an evil lord who needs rescuing?

 Ugnud Smiled.

 Krodag knew something was wrong upon seeing that. but underestimated how bad it really was.

 Ugnud''s smile only grew as he spoke. No, no, nothing like that. The Saint felt you four could put your power to better use by training Seasadh with her new skills. She

 Boney retreated, pulling his head back into his room. Not interested.

 Ugnud flickered, pulling Boney back downstairs just to kick him back upstairs, but the necromancer was unbothered. Not interested. Make Jack do it, shes the one with a Talent for teaching.

 Jack shook her head vigorously. Nope, sorry. Teaching is the only thing my Talent doesnt cover. Its about learning, not teaching. I hoard the knowledge. Rawr. My knowledge. No givey.

 Ugnud shook his head. You idiots have declined too many missions, this is yourst chance before you lose your sries and I send you on a publicity tour through charted space, with absolutely no hidden grottos, forgotten ruins, or powerful rifts for you to find. The Last Line of The ns must do its duty.

 Lug shook his head as he crossed his massive arms. That''s not our name.

 Ugnud nodded once like an axe falling. Yes, it is.

 Lug shook his head. No, our name is On The Last Line because you told us to write down our name, on thest line right there, or get kicked out of the Legends program.

 Ugnuds face started to grow dark again, but he was clearly trying to control it. And you were told that name was rejected. You four, as Mastermind, Lifegiver, Deadlord, and Greathammer are The Last Line. The only optional part of that name is if you want to include of The Unification of ns to the end of that. Its that or your real names, and I know you dont want that, do you, Brian?

 Boney shook a head, sending the skulls loose jaw flying across the room.

 Still sounds dumb. Krodag didn''t realize he had spoken his thoughts out loud until a boot was flying towards him.

 [THE HEALING LIGHT OF HEAVENS RADIANCE ENGULFING THE SKYWARD BOUND]. Shouting with a broken jaw was hard, but Krodag managed, and the healing spell knit himself back together quickly.

 Ugnud shook his head. It''s either this or a press tour. Your choice, but you are doing one or the other. If you arent at the Inheritors training square in an hour, it better be because youre packing for the trip.

 Ugnud wasnt even out the door before the four of them were racing ahead of him.

 ***

 Maya Embers stretched as she woke up. Wiggling her toes, she saw a dozen messages waiting for her in her [AI]s inbox.

 One was from J, but she ignored that one.

 She slept once a year, but her new Tier 50 couldnt wait until she woke up.

 Going to her other messages, she growled at the spam messages addressed to Maya, Reality Maniptor Extraordinaire. She was going to make Ellens brains an illusion next time she saw the Legend. How the woman managed to keep sneaking spam through all her filters, she didnt know, but she knew she was responsible. Only Ellen, Gideon, and Max had the technical know-how and drive to actually do it, and the retirees usually didnt mess with the active Ascenders.

 Deleting those messages, she looked at the messages in the Ascender group chat.

 Aiden had killed Yuvgret and ke, who had tried to take him out in an ambush.

 Well, at least they would have gone out in style.

 She conjured a winess and toasted to the memories of her formerrades. Theyd had some good fights together, were admirable opponents, and shed make sure to give her constions to kes wife when the news officially broke.

 Then she toasted Aiden, for a fight well-fought. Even she would be hard-pressed if a half-dozen elites ambushed her at the conclusion of a battle. Doubly so this deep into a war. Of course, it would take more than that if they wanted to eliminate a diator or one of her ilk, but managing to kill two of Evermores own was never something to scoff at.

 Naturally, only time would tell how long Aiden would be out ofmission for. If she were to hazard a guess a few months to return to a hospital where he could get treated by an out-of-war-Tiers healer, then somewhere between a few days and a few years for the healing and recovery afterwards.

 Sounded like the perfect opportunity to strike back while he couldnt do anything about it. If she was lucky, shed be able to pick off an elite or two of the Empires, get back a bit at Aiden. Of course, it was way harder to actuallynd a kill on a defender eh, shed manage.

 For now she needed to figure out aeback. Hmmm.

 So your smell really is stronger than an Everborn. And here I thought L was just joking.

 Once she was done sending that message, she again looked at what J sent her. After reading it once she read it out loud this time to make sure she wasnt going crazy. I need you to create an illusion of the new Ascenders so a team can practice against them.

 Her response was short and sweet. No.

 First of all, she was strong, but not that strong. There was no seeker element to it, and she wasnt going to pore over reports that J had gotten to try and recreate their styles, and any guesses she had for their hidden tricks would be way off-base.

 Besides, she had better things to do.

 Putting the Tier 50 on mute, she walked into her shower, where she created a few helpers.

 An hourter, she dried off and sauntered to her wardrobe, where she got dressed in a cute little top and bottombo before she made it her armor.

 Her outfit momentarily flickered like an illusion, and then she was all set.

 She exited her house to find herself in the middle of a busy army base. Whoops.

 That hadnt been there when she started her nap two days ago. She checked her [AI] and sighed in relief when it told her it really had only been two days.

 She hadnt overslept in decades.

 Checking her orders, she sifted through them before rejecting them en masse.

 No, she wasnt going to go work with Yun Me. The Sect woman might be nearly as strong as she was, but she was as boring as one could be. No, thank you.

 She was just getting started, and the old fuddy-duddy would just put a damper on it. Once the war was really underway, then sure. But not yet.

 That was how things were done, damn it. Not this skipping steps thing J wanted to do.

 A trooper passed by her, and given his missing arm was likely en route to the healers. But Maya fidgeted with reality for a moment, and her imagination became an illusion and then became reality.

 And the man was healed. He jumped as he was startled, but she was already gone before he started thanking the air.

 She made a few other minor changes to reality as she walked to the military leaders buildings. Freshly taken fortresss usually had at least one.

 Once she found it, she created a new door for her to enter and slipped through into the meeting room.

 The Tier 35 generals were startled and grabbed their weapons, but when they pulled them out, they found they were now bouquets of flowers. Shed put them backter, of course. But for now, the expression on the guy who kept trying to re-manifest his anchor, only for it to keep being a chrysanthemum was too good.

 Leaning forward, she sniffed the closest.

 It smelled perfect.

 diator Maya, what can we help you with?

 Maya spun, letting her dress re up, teasing what was hidden underneath and pulling all eyes to her rear. She ended the enthrallment by sitting on the table they had been using to project things.

 I need new orders, She sing-songed.

 The oldest looking woman shook her head. We already issued orders, diator Maya.

 Shrugging, Maya tapped the table and started shuffling through reports and general information. Yeah, well, I didnt like them. Oh, this one looks fun. A ce where the Empires repelled the attackers twice. Oh and its even got a Graduate! I want to go there.

 The same woman stood forward and started to speak in the negative, but Maya waved her hand. Wont you please agree? Id really like to go. I would hate to kick up a fuss about it.

 That made the general freeze, and finally, she nodded.

 As youmand, diator Maya.

 Jumping down from her perch, Maya blew them all a kiss. Thank you all!

 Sauntering through the newly manifested door, she set a new rule.

 All paths lead to war.

 With a skip and a hop, she set about her way, and woe betide any that crossed her.

17kNovel

Echos Chapter 4