"She wrecked me," Ursel spoke sullenly. "It was barely even a fight. I barely even saw her face, and then I was flooded with light and flame and my armor melted. That was Continent Steel! That sky woman couldn't even dent my Mountain Steel armor, and this stuff was so much better and it just melted!"

The fact that Ursel could barely even summon her usual spirit spoke to John about how serious the situation was. Ursel didn't say who she was, but it was rather easy to make a presumption.

"Aldara?" John asked.

"Unless they have another one like her," Ursel shook her head. "We didn't talk much, obviously."

John had to think for a moment. Astrid asked a proper question before he could really mull over the situation. "Do you think she will remain in her position? We could launch a strike team."

"No." Ursel spoke the single word with such conviction that John knew it wasn't an answer to the first question, but to the follow up. "That wouldn't… she doesn't fight alone. Not that she needed any help to take us out."

John didn't want to push his daughter, but she was the one who had most directly experienced Aldara. Many of those in the same assault force with her hadn't returned at all. "Is there anything functional that you can tell us?"

Ursel shook her head. "Just that she knows what she's doing. Not that I would expect anything different from someone who managed to reach five elements."

"An important question," Yustina joined in. "But would it have been the same against your father?"

"Well…" Ursel hesitated for a moment. "I suppose so. I do know some of his habits, but he could probably have undone my armor just the same. Right?"

John nodded. "Without sufficient active effort, I could certainly undo it. After all, both iterations of your armor were created with the aid of an elemental cycle. Perhaps she recognized that flaw on sight. Or more likely, reports about it reached her and she came with a specific plan."

Ursel didn't look pleased at that answer. "... How would she know I was coming?"

"Perhaps their scouts are better than we believe. Or it could have been a coincidence of timing and she happens to have plans for all of us." That one John could certainly believe. "After all, we have gathered as much information on their Ascending Soul Phase cultivators as possible. You've engaged in many battles already, haven't you?"

"Yeah."

Ursel's lack of enthusiasm was understandable. Her confidence was shaken- and confidence was one of her best features. Ursel was used to taking on opponents of higher rank and coming out on top- or at the very least fighting them to a standstill. A loss was a huge blow to that, and John didn't have anything to say that could change that in the moment.

Especially with the loss of her armor. It wasn't simple to replicate, and John should know as he'd been part of the original process and the upgraded version. The materials required wouldn't be too cumbersome to obtain most of the time, but during an active war it was far more difficult.

The situation was eye opening for everyone. They would have to change their tactics if Empress Aldara was directly involved on the frontlines. Of course, they would always want to seek out an opportunity to take her down. The problem would be if that wasn't a victory condition, they might be drawn into an even deeper war. But so far, all negotiation attempts had failed. They could only hope to get some sort of superiority and force capitulation in some manner.

The risks of being too harsh were actually less than the risks of appearing too soft. If the Empire of Elements thought them weaklings, even if they agreed to some sort of ceasefire for the moment they would be looking for more opportunities.

They'd need to snag some serious victories. Even if that didn't include the defeat of the empress. But if it could… that would be best.

For the moment, however, it appeared as if the best official policy was to minimize engagements. If even Ursel could lose so soundly, chances were she could easily slay most of their Ascending Soul Phase cultivators. They had perhaps a handful or two that might match up- including John himself- but it was impossible to actually know without a deadly test.

------

John sensed her from afar, the empress. It wasn't difficult. In turn, he had no doubt she was aware of him. Not least because she soon began moving towards him. John didn't have to observe the forces around her to know that was not something he was prepared for. Not this day.

She might think him a coward for refusing to face her. If she approached alone it would be a different story, but ultimately he was aware of his current supporting forces. If she had even a pair of Ascending Soul Phase cultivators with her, John would be outmatched. History indicated that she never had fewer than three or four others, plus of course numerous other cultivators to fill out their ranks.

Tactically, no matter how this influenced her perception, he couldn't afford to engage. Not this time. If he could get some solid backup, things would be different.

Empress Aldara had been a menace to their forces. That wasn't just continental cultivators, of course. They weren't foolish enough to take all of the hits for the remains of the Molten Sea. The Kelemen Clan held the center, around the Searing Sarcophagus, and they were frequently met with attacks. The continental forces merely filled in the gaps, staying mobile and seeking advantages where they could.

John had been looking to take over a small outpost. There was an outcropping of solid land, not large enough to host a proper sect- but perfect for use in the war. Either the empress had anticipated the move, or she had another objective in the region. As John accelerated the ship he rode upon, he considered what other targets might be nearby. He might be able to send a fast ship to warn them. If they could secure their defenses properly, Empress Aldara might not attack at all.

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She was strong, yes, but not reckless. Whenever they got word of her and properly fortified a location, she tended to strike elsewhere. A sound strategy. Unfortunately, they couldn't afford to do anything but consolidate their forces where she was involved. Other Ascending Soul Phase cultivators could more or less match the average- but she was far from it.

John almost wanted to fight her. He knew it would be necessary, of course… but aside from that. Something was calling to him. Her cycle of elements was the opposite of his. Or, from another perspective, they were both a single step from completion. Not opposite, just different starting points.

Witnessing firsthand how she fused her light element with air and fire would greatly benefit John. Other members of the Bright Trinity were insufficient. They were solidly in the category of triple element cultivators- an allied cycle was barely like a full cycle.

Maybe Roi would be sufficient, if John encountered him again. To John's understanding, he was her top lieutenant. Late Ascending Soul Phase, he would be a true challenge for John. Even if he wasn't a full cycle cultivator, there would be something to learn.

But Aldara would be best. John just had to survive the battle. He was quite confident in his own power, but not so confident that he thought he could defeat the Empress and an outmatched number of Ascending Soul Phase cultivators.

The opportunity would come again. She seemed to be constantly on the frontlines these days, much like John himself. He couldn't always attach himself to larger forces simply for his personal gratification. Some missions needed to hit hard and fast, and John had the power to aid that. He had to do what was best for their mission as a whole.

But he would be back to face her… on something resembling even ground. That, he promised himself.

-----

Ursel. She was a problem. Her stubbornness was a boon for her most of the time. She had the unyielding nature of a mountain. No, a proper Continent- that was the right term for an Ascending Soul Phase earth cultivator.

The loss had hit her hard. However, she also refused to pull back from the frontline. For the last few months, she had been fighting completely unarmored. John himself had only light armor, but it was enchanted. Ursel, meanwhile, had been taking hits directly- without the benefit of armor or even much defensive energy.

She came back beaten and bruised, often with deep gashes and broken limbs as well as frequent burns. Without Diamond Defense, she would be dead. Of course, that also was the case for her advanced body tempering. Even without her armor, she should have been nearly unbreakable if she properly rallied her defensive energy.

But she was stubborn. Eventually, it came to the point that John accosted her in her room- she had been avoiding conversations lately, but she couldn't run now. She actually couldn't, with one leg broken and the opposite ankle shattered. John didn't doubt that she might try, though. That was why he made sure to properly seal the room with his spiritual energy.

"Ursel. Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"You should know, dad," Ursel grunted as she looked for exits. "Training."

"Is it training, or slow suicide?"

Ursel spat out her next words. "Really? You think I'm that dumb? Maybe I… have been taking things to a slight extreme. But it is training. In many ways, people are stronger than mighty beasts." She gestured down to her leg- though John noticed she winced even at that. An untreated shoulder injury, perhaps. "Once this heals up, I'll be stronger."

"And the burns?" John asked. "Fire dominates earth. Can you even recover properly from those?"

"Metal is forged in flames," Ursel said. "I do have to manually rebuild things here and there, but I know what I'm doing."

John sighed. "Why won't you let me help you make new armor?"

"Because it has to be mine!" Ursel declared. "I can't… that armor was nearly indestructible… until it just fell apart."

"She could likely unravel pure earth element armor, if it was left without your active defense," John commented.

"And that's why," Ursel emphasized, "I'm going to turn my bones to steel and my skin to diamond."

"That sounds terrible," John said.

"I'm not being literal. Quite. I'm testing out different configurations."

What could John say? Aside from 'don't do this, it's stupid', which he didn't expect to be helpful. He formulated an answer after a few moments. "Just make sure you don't skip any steps," John said. "Can I take a look?" he held out his hand.

Ursel grunted. "Sure. Just don't change anything."

"I'd like to think myself better than that," John said as he approached closer. It didn't take his spiritual energy long to pick up the various clearly different concentrations of earth element, inside of Ursel. Not free spiritual energy, but instead it was locked into place to form the basis of her advanced body tempering. John had made numerous modifications to himself… but he'd never taken anything so far. Nor made so many trials at once. Usually he would change a small part of him- a patch of skin or the like- and see if it was comfortable for a few weeks.

Ursel radically altered whole bones, sometimes with drastic differences within the same limb. One of her hands had at least twenty different configurations just for the bone, ignoring what she was doing with her muscles and tendons.

It went deep. So deep, in fact, that John almost couldn't find the end of it. He didn't dare to make any changes at a certain level, even if it had been his own body. However, he could sense some amount of the detail Ursel had gotten into.

"... Have you studied molecular structures?" John asked. "Because I'm going to say right now, as the head of the alliance, that you can't continue this sort of experimentation without proper proficiency."

"But-"

"Yes, I know you learn better by taking practical steps," John said. "But… you at the very least need to know about carbon structures."

"Like diamonds, right?" Ursel asked. "I told you, I'm not literally making myself diamond."

"How about something flexible and harder than diamond?" John asked. He could see the curiosity in her eyes. "I'll admit I can't remember how much of this is in the libraries… but the structures are pretty simple at a base."

Graphene was literally just a complete mesh of connected carbon. Hard to go wrong there, but it involved working at the level of single atoms. The same with carbon nanotubes, which might flex better. John hadn't done much experimentation with either because the materials he had access to were better for what he needed. Graphene wouldn't make a good sword, for example. He also didn't expect it to make good bones. But knowing what she was doing would help Ursel in the end… and maybe slow her down a little.

It would mean pulling her away from the frontline, but she could be replaced by bringing in a few others. The continent didn't have a glut of volunteers, but they could draw a sufficient number of people in times such as this. Though he did have to be careful of how the war affected politics back home.

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