The Lower Realms Alliance was readying void ants… not because they needed them to take down a single divinity from the Holy Stars. That task could be managed with far smaller numbers. For example by some combination of Devon, the Great Queen, and perhaps Nthanda. Devon was not bound to a particular location, and while he would be slightly weaker without the defensive boost that Unity provided, it was still aligned with his essence. The Holy Stars could easily be said to be under bondage of a sort, so he would still be effective.

With the faith of the Holy Stars shaken, Oriana would be weakened. They'd barely been able to confirm that effect until the chain reaction of deaths during the massed assault, but they were quite certain.

The void ants weren't to kill her. They were to spread the word to others that were there- and help them gather for retrieval. The Alliance just wanted peace, so if they could have it they would much prefer it.

But they did send Devon and the Great Queen. Aerona, Chiara, and the others would need a proper escort. Risking their lives to make people more comfortable simply wasn't worthwhile.

-----

They arrived in a fairly timely manner- though still nearly half a year after the battle where most of their divinities perished. On the scale of cultivators, that was almost immediate- but they weren't concerned about powerful cultivators. They were concerned about the common folk, and while they might cultivate to some extent not everyone could wait a decade for some sort of resolution.

The call was made by Chiara and Aerona together, based off of the immediate observations of the scouting vessels in the area. When they arrived… Aerona was glad. She shared her impression of the locals with Chiara. They were her people, but Aerona still felt nearly the same way.

They were broken. Common people went about daily tasks, but there was no levity in their actions. Casual gossip was rare. Yet, there also wasn't any strict oppressive atmosphere.

"This isn't how things were before," Chiara explained. "I know that things weren't precisely right. But the appearance, at least, was far better."

"Agreed," Aerona said.

Devon nodded. "According to our initial information, your systems were surprisingly productive and prosperous. We hoped that the first conflicts were some sort of misunderstanding. Even if those people had to travel quite far to cause trouble specifically within our borders."

Speaking as if the attackers were somehow different from those that remained was for the sake of company more than anything else. After all, they had been from the Holy Stars, and it had been quite intentional. The Lower Realms Alliance could put the conflict behind them, but they wouldn't ignore its very existence. It wouldn't be good for anyone involved.

Chiara looked down on the planet below. "I don't know what I should say."

Aerona shook her head. "There isn't always something right to say. You can't tell them to cheer up, to return to their previous lives. They have experienced a great tragedy. Their worldview has shattered- just as yours was."

Chiara took a deep breath, before spreading wings of radiant flame. Just a single pair, which would have said to some that she was barely even qualified as an angel. Yet she no longer concerned herself with such trivialities as whether she met specific steps on a cultivation path. Especially since that wasn't even her path anymore. She barely even knew what her path was, but she did know one thing.

"My people." She let her words ring out over the planet. Aerona helped further her range- and to transmit her heart to others. "In your time of despair I bring you words of comfort. There is a better way than what we have been told… and we don't need anyone to give it to us. For it is something our worlds must have known in the past, though it may have been lost in pursuit of unnecessary power. A vision of prosperity for all, not raising up specific individuals- and being told they matter more than ourselves."

Chiara's words took some time to settle on the people below, and within herself. But eventually, she continued.

"I know some of you will have objections to my words, large and small. I can feel the terror and hatred some of you possess for my companions, but they are here for precisely the reason I feel from others of you. I am weak. You could kill me. And you would, to make yourselves feel something for a short time. You would deem me a traitor, while ignoring the true story. But any concerns you have, I will speak with you on." She lifted her head, staring off into a vague distant place. "And should Oriana, the sole remaining Divinity of the Holy Stars, wish to voice her own opinions, we will meet her where she pleases. But not without my escorts."

It was unclear to Chiara if she would die for her people. She would have. She might yet again feel that sense of connection in the future. But at the moment, they were barely people at all. Most importantly, she would prefer to die for something, so she couldn't be careless with her own safety.

She hoped that Oriana would respond to her words… though she wouldn't mind the people of just one system. Or one planet. If she couldn't do any better… at least a city. The more people the better, but so many people were broken. It was possible they couldn't be fixed. She didn't blame the Lower Realms Alliance, though. The people were already broken. They just didn't know it before.

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-----

In the upper realms, the systems directly east of the Scarlet Alliance had already been sympathetic towards them for some time. Now, with very little military might pushing against them and quite a lot potentially threatening them on the other side, they were willing to officially swap their allegiance. Still more were happy to be officially neutral.

The Scarlet Alliance wasn't going to instantly trust systems, of course. It would depend on their own prior assessments of their people. The controlling factions were the most important. The Trigold Cluster wasn't the most organized power to begin with, but even if they weren't really aligned with the greater idea of the Trigold Cluster many were still typical cultivators. Ideas that might makes right would fill their heads. Some had already been influenced to various extents, but the Scarlet Alliance wasn't planning to subsume dozens of systems without careful consideration. Certainly not instantly.

And that was just the border. Deeper in the Trigold Cluster… they began plans to make official embassies. Which of course required the ability to travel back and forth safely. Not open borders, necessarily, but not the chaos of war hanging over their heads at any moment. Those with the greatest objections were by and large dead. If the Alliance hadn't killed them, they had killed each other- or the Exalted Quadrant had. Sometimes the eastern systems beyond them, taking advantage of their wars to secure their own positions. Finally there was Everheart, specifically if one considered groups like the Tilki clan.

He had also been causing quite a lot of chaos just before his death- not just harassing the Scarlet Alliance. Out from his various systems had come various fleets. Upon his death, those that survived had retreated as they could- though many of them found that the network they had to transport between systems was failing. The Alliance was trying to observe as many as possible to help determine why. Had they been relying on Everheart? Was it self-sabotage? Mostly, they wanted to calculate the odds of him being actually, permanently dead.

Most oddsmakers wouldn't go below ten percent, though whether that was his odds of being alive or his odds of being dead certainly varied. Certainty was quite impossible with the man.

On the other end, the Scarlet Alliance had already been expanding. The Exalted Quadrant was more cohesive than the Trigold Cluster, but not entirely united. Either way, there were massive power vacuums after the war, with various of the top sects dropping significantly. The Scarlet Alliance was looking to expand their safe corridor to the Little Alliance- though with the western territories expanding, the name wouldn't be appropriate for much longer at all.

Some exchanges of systems came from willing sects. The replacement for the Forest of Death had been peacefully existing on their border for centuries. They were quite aware of how they got the opportunity to control that territory, and it was a good opportunity for them to move towards greener pastures. Just like the Trigold Cluster, the Scarlet Alliance wouldn't allow for immediate full integration- but they would slowly let them adjust to see if they could actually fit in with their culture.

It wasn't difficult, exactly. The Scarlet Alliance promoted hard work, but compared to desperate cultivation and backbreaking labor their view was actually rather mild. The give and take of energy with the planets they lived on was also merely practical, easy enough for even the most slow to adapt groups to pick up if they had to. The biggest issue was… accepting competition.

Allowing even the weakest and poorest an opportunity to develop- especially knowing that from among their ranks might appear some of the strongest cultivators of the next generation- was terrifying for some. Those who were not secure in their own positions for many reasons simply couldn't stand anything akin to equality. Even if they would still have significant advantages from their early starts, the mere attempt repulsed them.

Those were the people the Alliance wouldn't allow. They would be watching for those sorts to catch them breaking the rules- casual lawbreakers were no good. It wouldn't be tolerated at any point, but especially not in a time of flux.

-----

"You know, things are pretty good," Bear Hug commented. "Do you think it's too soon to say that?"

Anton shrugged. "It is your opinion. And you see many things. After a war, even a brief reprieve is a time of good. But while I certainly hope we are headed towards a lasting time of peace, I can't yet say it will be so. I'll happily wait to find out, though."

"I don't want to just wait. I want to do things! There's a lot of people over to the east to make friends with. The Holy Stars probably don't want me right now but later I'll visit there. I don't know what's way to the west, but I'm going there too!"

Anton smiled, "I'm sure I'll explore some too. But I'm waiting for a good opportunity for friends and family from the upper realms to come visit."

It was a shame that many of his loved ones made up the strongest core of the Alliance, so they couldn't easily all go at once. But even that was changing. The first Domination cultivators would likely stay strongest for a long time, but more were appearing. There was that Runa lass out west, and there were others with potential. Anton hoped that people kept growing more powerful, and that they were never needed to fight again.

There were far better things for people to be doing. Like farming, or advancing teleportation. Speaking of which, the lower realms really needed to get widespread spatial distortions or some equivalent. It was difficult to fight a defensive war. They'd been so focused on the upper realms- where they only had to watch the paths of the tides- or having enemies that were a handful of specific systems that they had little way to cover their entire border.

If the Holy Stars had been patient instead of trying to drive a single wedge for great victory, they might have cause far more damage. Forcing the Alliance to split up, if they had killed just one Unity cultivator things might have collapsed. The Great Queen probably wasn't invincible. She wasn't around to verbally contradict Anton, but he knew she would have. Confidence was good, after all.

He looked at his bow. Everheart was dead. Possibly for real… yet Anton thought there was something more to it. The way he emphasized words- Anton had watched the recording many times. Legend… did that mean something specific? Was it just another way to get devotion- even the negative kind? Unfortunately, tracking Everheart's devotion or whether it even existed had always been difficult.

If he was gone, the old bastard had deserved it. But he shouldn't have been forced to live in a world that put him along his path. Most of Everheart's actions Anton could see logic in, but that final assault… maybe he was just afraid. But if that was the case, Anton would have expected him to concentrate his forces. Maybe he would discuss that with Timothy and Catarina, whenever they could find time to visit. Though at least Catarina could do so on business for that whole spatial distortion thing. Kids these days needed to learn how to relax. He hoped he wasn't responsible for that part of how they ended up.

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