Chapter 605: Strategy in the Wake of Defeat

At first, despite the obvious arguments against it, Kai wanted to go back. There was a part of him that was convinced that he could always save the day if he just pushed harder, that he could somehow return and rescue Sheiri.

The majority of him knew the truth.

After Kai and his wives had encountered the enemy, the Frontier elites had adopted a policy of completely avoiding them. Kai had remained awake, ready for some new disaster like the invaders spontaneously developing teleportation, or even more impossibly strong sailors showing up. Eventually he reconciled himself to the new normal, helped take care of Omilaena, and they all fell asleep. It was nothing like the rest he had hoped for after the incursion.

In the morning his body was much restored, but his mind was only further stressed. It was as if he'd spent the night contemplating everything he'd done and might have done differently, not to mention imagining everything that could have gone wrong.

The first thing he did was consult with his wives; this time it was no relaxed morning conversation, it was unquestionably a war council. Omilaena's arm was healed, but she remained in a distant, analytical mood. Zae Zin Nim had been sullen ever since the conversation with the cultivator that she'd related to him.

"I don't see an obvious strategy," Kai said to start. "Maybe we could build something around how they seem to hunt me, but... the gap in power is too big, and they have the numbers even if we can isolate the top five."

"Any ideas about why they're hunting you?" Omilaena asked.

"Actually..." Kai hadn't thought about it the previous night, but in the time since he'd remembered a parallel. When the god-like beings had fought over the abyss, Kai hadn't been able to sense anything meaningful about their abilities or souls, but there had been one who had used gray power, and he had seemed interested in killing Kai.

Once Kai finished explaining, the other two sat in silence until Zae Zin Nim nodded. "That may be connected, but I don't think that helps us."

"Actually, I think it gives us some useful information." Omilaena raised one finger to begin counting off. "First, the people who fought last incursion may not be able to come here. Because if they did, obviously we couldn't fight them."

"That might not be true. It may be some sort of truce so that no one tries to steal whatever is in the central pit."

"Eh, can't or won't, same difference for us. But I do think it's clear that the invaders have some kind of foreign power making them hunt Kai, so it's very plausible that this outside being could be responsible. It stands to reason that it's not a stupid attempt, that is, these outsiders won't have an obvious weakness that makes them all melt, and the power controlling them won't make them suicidal."

Kai wasn't sure whether it really mattered, since they needed to fight the invaders regardless. He realized that he might be avoiding the inevitable conclusion: there was a chance this was his fault. It was bad enough to know that Deadwaste was being invaded and elites were dead because of this senseless invasion, but far worse to think that it was targeted toward him.

"The counterpart is that this attempt may be limited." Omilaena raised another finger. "Whether this is the most they can do, or trying to sneak under some treaty, I doubt they can do much worse. If they could have sent a thousand fighters like that, they would have. If they had better weapons, I don't know why they'd repurpose random sailors. So if we can take them out, we can beat this."

"Easier said than done." Zae Zin Nim folded her hands in her lap and scowled at them. "If I could reach Sky Soul, the gap would lessen. But even with a huge boost in power, we need a good strategy..."

That bothered Kai too, since he didn't see many options, but at that point they were interrupted. The Windborn teleporter took them out of the elite base to a new location, a mountaintop between the Elemental Nations and Krysal. It was a picturesque scene, and he saw Gunjin along with a few other administrators, but they kept speaking among themselves.

What was the point of summoning them, only to ignore them? Kai decided that he was just taking his frustration out on available targets and pushed those thoughts away. Even if the situation was grim, they could still come up with something - he had to believe that.

"I agree we need to get stronger," Kai said, "but I don't see how. We already threw in everything we had before the incursion."

"That's not precisely right." For the first time since waking, Omilaena displayed a small smile. "We did everything we could easily, on Deadwaste, before the deadline. There are a lot of possibilities for growth that we set aside until later. I think now, facing a threat beyond what anyone expected, is the time to take some risks."

"Huh." Kai shifted back, folding his arms as he considered the problem from a new angle. "I could return to the Blood Current. I'm so much stronger now, I could probably eat some of those monsters and develop new abilities."

"And that's a good strategy for you, but I was thinking of going to Lostwreck."

Both of them stared at her, Zae Zin Nim even more than Kai. Omilaena gave them a languid shrug, enjoying their surprise, a bit more like her normal self.

"I was serious about taking risks," she continued. "We know the Frontier elites have visited at least once in the past thanks to the mortal phase trials and it's just south of their waters. But if I can get some stronger poisons, I could finally recreate my Physique, then I might have a chance against these invaders."

"They might also have qi." Zae Zin Nim seemed to have come around to the idea quickly, now nodding her approval. "I could join you and assist on my way to Sky Soul. But would Kai...?"

"I think he should head back to Rosemount. The Glorious Tree supposedly grows those enhancing fruit that no one can survive... well, Kai has already survived one breakthrough like that, so I think he can take more. Taking on an Insanity was risky for me, but it shows us how close we are."

"Wait..." As he thought about the Insanities, Kai's eyes widened. "Do you think the Insanities...?"

"That's right." Omilaena shook her head. "I think they're objects from outside the Deadlake, from the 'real world' so to speak. It's most obvious with monsters like the Heaven Eater or the Slumbering Colossus... if our world is in the middle of a giant lake, doesn't it make sense that outside monsters might be able to make it in?"

"The Impossible Elixir could be just a normal elixir for stronger cultivators." Zae Zin Nim's face fell into neutrality, masking darker emotions. "If cultivators outside are so much more powerful, they might be able to create a potion that grants immortality."

"What about the Royal Crest?" Kai asked. "It's obviously a coin, I can believe it came from a more powerful world, but what... do they use coins as energy sources out there? Why would they?"

"I don't have all the answers." Omilaena's eyes unfocused as she stared out toward the ocean. "If anything, I think this is a sign that the outside world is far larger and wilder than we know. I imagine it contains many things stranger than we can understand right now... the Insanities are just a glimpse of it."

As mind-boggling as it was to think that the legendary Insanities were just objects that had drifted in from the outside world, Kai was willing to believe it. Parts made too much sense: the First Metal in Irun, and the Loam of the Gods in the Southern Rivers weren't divine or unnatural, they were materials from a more powerful world that eventually ran out.

Perversely, despite the grim situation and the losses they had suffered, Kai felt as though he was a step closer to the unimaginable fight he'd seen in the previous incursion. It wasn't that there was an impossible gulf between him and those powers, they simply existed in a broader world with greater sources of power. As he'd seen, even ordinary men born in those lands could obtain great strength.

And if he'd learned anything about power, it was that it could be consumed.

"I don't want to split up," Zae Zin Nim said abruptly. "But will we have to?"

"That depends on a few strategic issues." Omilaena glanced over at Gunjin and the other planners, who were still apparently ignoring them. "I think we'll find out about that soon enough. But for the time being, we need to start making lists of targets. If we're going to win this in time to save Deadwaste, we need to gain a lot of power, and quickly."

They started doing that, some on their own and some out loud. For a start, Kai was interested in seeing if he could track down a gold dragon, if it wasn't too late. Transforming his monstrous abilities hadn't been a priority when he was facing the incursion, but now he needed all the power he could get. Omilaena was fixed on the idea of the Glorious Tree, though it struck him as awfully far from Deadwaste when they didn't know how much time they had.

Before that could go for long, they were interrupted by more people arriving, including teleporters and Inafay. She rushed over to them with concern, asking about their battle, from the invaders to the details of the fight. It seemed like she had wanted to join in, but hadn't been allowed.

"The frustrating part is that they're probably right," Inafay said as they finished. "If these invaders are really fully phased, anyone except the elites would get killed instantly. It sounds like they've done exactly that in the Water Union, whenever anyone stands up to them. I can try to finish my phase training, but I just feel so helpless..."

"Even a full sect of cultivators would be unable to deal with them," Zae Zin Nim said quietly. "This is a threat that no one here is prepared to face."

"We're not entirely useless, though! Some wind users have started doing extremely distant monitoring of the invaders, and it seems like they don't notice. So we can keep track of them without risking anyone getting caught inside their suppression field."

At that moment, Gunjin and the others came over to talk to them. They all had grim expressions, which was understandable considering the circumstances... but there was something strange about the way that Gunjin was looking at him.

"Sorry for making you come early," he said, "but we wanted to test something. Until recently, the invaders were moving south through the Water Union. Not always, but their average movements took them consistently south."

"And?" Inafay asked, puzzled.

"This morning, they changed direction and began heading on average west." Gunjin folded his arms behind his back. "At exactly the same time we teleported Kai here."