“Don’t let me stop your game,” the golden goddess said.

Wyllan swallowed convulsively and instinctively ran anti-mental influence techniques on himself. When encountering divine beings, that was just the standard operating procedure. 

He condensed his Anima within himself, as close to the core of his being as possible without actually touching it. Igniting the core was just a fancy sentence for suicide after all. He compressed roughly a hundred Xan of Anima—each Xan was a cubic inch of Anima at base density—then Ignited it. The resulting surge of power was then sent to his mind as he reinforced it and formed a light, ablative shield. Thankfully, he wasn’t being affected by any mind-controlling technique though his body was still reacting to her presence.

It couldn’t be helped though. She was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen, even compared to other goddesses of beauty or daemons of lust. Wait… 

He squinted at her and checked his HUD. There was the presence of an Anima perception aura that was suppressing his own. She wasn’t a deity, but another Ancient. He almost sighed in relief, only to gasp at the realisation that she was more than likely a level or two beyond the Circle. A Transformation or Manifestation Ancient? If she were in the Domain Stage they would have been warned of her presence as soon as they entered the Void Ocean. Or more likely, the fleet would have been wiped out the day before they would have arrived on the planet. Unless she allowed them to arrive in the first place? Who knew what the higher Ancients did for their own reasons? No, he didn’t think she was in Domination, but probably in Manifestation or close to it. The power radiating from her body and Anima couldn’t be anything else. 

And this put paid to the notion of them being rogues. No one ascended beyond Actualisation without backing and knowledge. Perhaps they were from a hidden faction, too. 

Heron moved next to the floating woman, just a step behind and to her right. He stood stiffly, back straight as a rod. The woman chuckled, and the sound nearly broke through Wyllan’s mental defences. Worse, he was sure it wasn’t an intentional attack but a mere side effect of her mirth. 

Left with little choice, Wyllan took a step forward and bowed at the waist, turning his body ninety degrees. Glenn was the combat leader of the Circle, but he was the one who faced others at the negotiating table.

“We are honoured by your presence, Your Eminence,” he said, opting to address her by the higher title. 

The woman smiled, and nodded. “There is no need to bow.” Grace, she might have extended, but the command was firm in her tone. “My companions informed me of your names. I am Yuriko Mishala Davar.”

She made no mention of her primary Truth, an odd exclusion but not unanticipated. She was talking down to them after all. 

“Thank you, Your Eminence, for gracing us with your name. If you will allow us to withdraw from the field of battle?”

“Hmmm, no, let Gwendith continue her challenge,” Lady Yuriko said. She nodded to the other girl. “You may continue now.” 

With that, Alyssa and Gwendith’s Anima expression and Clash of Truth renewed, though with lessened vigour. Alyssa was understandably cautious, but Gwendith wasn’t pushing much either. 

“Now then,” Lady Yuriko said as she crossed the distance between them.

Wyllan swallowed convulsively as her presence washed over him, and with a start, he felt his mental barriers had already turned to dust. He didn’t even realise that they failed, and continuing to erect them would only burn his Anima to ashes, to no good result. He would have to bear the consequences of her presence, and even now, he could feel his heart rate increase, his loins afire, and his palms clammy with sweat.

She landed in front of him and he realised she was just a couple of inches shorter than he was, and much more slender. He was bulkier because of his Ashigaru armour, while Lady Yuriko wore form-fitting clothes that hugged every curve of her body, well, aside from her overcoat.

“Shall we talk?”

Wyllan’s mouth felt dry and he had to lick his lips so they wouldn’t crack. Thankfully, his face was hidden behind the helm and the Ashigaru prevented Anima perception from easily penetrating. Since his Anima was infused into the armour, he would also know of any attempt. “What do you wish to speak of?”

“You,” she said and his heart couldn’t help but skip a beat, at least until she continued. “What are you and your group doing on this planet?”

“Ah, we’re raiding for supplies on our way back to home base.”

“Your group?”

“Hartdel Defiant.” 

“Your purpose?” 

“We…” Wyllan swallowed, “Hartdel’s purpose is to strengthen our race and give those wandering the cosmos a place to call home.”

She tilted her head slightly to the side. “You’ve no home plane?”

“Gone with the Shattering.” 

“I see. Why did you challenge us?” 

“We are Ancients,” Wyllan said with much more confidence. “We fight to grow.” 

Lady Yuriko stared at him for a long moment, then smiled slightly. “I agree. It seems the Debate is over.” 

Wyllan barely managed to tear his eyes off her to look at the battlefield. Both women were done, and it looked like they ended up in the expected draw. Anything else wasn’t really tenable as to lose a Debate was to have their Ennoia core shatter. Alyssa wasn’t foolish enough to push and since she had a bit of an upper hand, she managed to keep herself safe. Both debaters were breathing heavily, though Alyssa wasn’t bent over on her knees like Lady Gwendith was. 

“Your Eminence, what happens now?” Wyllan asked, more than a touch nervously. 

“What happens? Hmmm, well, you came for a fight and three of you haven’t fought yet.” She tapped her lip with a slender finger. “Hmmm, but facing any of you alone is blatantly unfair, and two of your number need to recover. Hmmm, I’ll give all of you an hour. Then,” she smiled her temptress’ smile. “All of you will face me in battle.” 

“Your Eminence…” Wyllan paused to swallow. “We are not worthy.” 

“Don’t discount yourselves, and besides, I haven’t had the chance to face a challenge in quite a while.” She sighed. “I hope you don’t disappoint me.” 

Wyllan bowed his head and said, “As you wish, Your Eminence.”

He didn’t know whether they were lucky or not, to encounter a hidden faction’s ace. What were they doing on this backward planet anyway? He waited for Lady Yuriko to return to her people before he gestured for the others to gather. 

“This is an opportunity,” Anya said eagerly. “I sensed some of her Truth from her movement and the way she stood! She’s a swordmaster.” 

“Rulers’ Will, that’s good for you,” Glenn said, “or bad if you don’t put up a good showing. None of us think she’s just playing with us, right?” 

“She was, but not with her words.” Alyssa grumbled, “I could feel something press against my mind.”

“Yes, I didn’t notice when my defences crumbled,” Wyllan said. “It’s some kind of mental influence; attraction, I think. Or lust.” He swallowed as he felt his sustained arousal tight against his underpants. It was a bit uncomfortable in armour. 

“Lust, probably,” Glenn said. “I’ve experienced something like it before.”

“You think she’s trying to seduce us?” Zanji asked anxiously. 

“I doubt it,” Wyllan said. “All of it seemed subconscious, so it might just be who she is. Besides, if she wanted to seduce us, given the power I sensed, I doubt any of us would even be able to resist. Instead, she wants to fight. A challenge.” 

“How would we even be a match?” Alyssa asked bitterly.

“We aren’t, but that doesn’t matter. As long as she doesn’t kill or cripple us, then this is a boon. How often do we get to spar against someone above our level?”

“Never since we reached Actualisation,” Alyssa said.

“Right, so this is an opportunity. Thank the Rulers we weren’t brash. And from her attitude, I don’t think she cares much for the fleets outside. Even so, I’ll send the signal to be cautious and merciful. Subdue but don’t execute.”

He did so after a moment, along with an authentication code as well as an emergency code to notify the rest of the fleet that there was an extraordinarily powerful entity on the planet. 

“She’s above our level. Do you think she knows about Shangria? Is she new to the Void Ocean? I can’t imagine someone of her power lingering here,” Anya muttered. 

“We can give her the location and importance of Shangria Station as a gesture of goodwill, but for now, I believe we should focus on recovery,” Wyllan said firmly. 

“We’ll go over some basic tactics when fighting against a superior foe,” Glenn said, “Let me refresh you…” 

___________

“Are both of you alright?” Yuriko asked Gwendith and Heron. She looked towards a seemingly empty space a few paces away but shook her head. Saki had been watching her lovers’ backs and it didn’t look like the Conclave Ancients noticed her. Her handmaiden had focused on honing her Shadow Ennoia to the point where she couldn’t be detected easily, and on expanding her concealment to more than just sight. Only the thread connecting master and servant allowed Yuriko to easily detect her now. Ryoko and Devotee were inside the spaceport since her bound Chaos Lord was tasked to protect the older woman. 

“Fine,” Heron grunted. “That man is stronger than I expected for all that I suspect their reach is half of mine.” 

“Anima density is what they focus on after they reach a limit of sorts,” Yuriko said, recalling what the other Conclave Ancient she met, Johann, said before she split her incarnation. She still had no inkling of where in Astoria he was, or if he even was there. “Anaflexio is the process they use, I think.” 

“Do you know what it is or how to use it? No, foolish question, you would have told us if you knew,” Gwendith said. 

“Right. Well, we can ask them afterwards.” 

Heron shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “We’re supposed to defend the colony.” 

“And we are,” Yuriko said with amusement. “We’re stopping those soldiers from bombarding the spaceport aren’t we?”

“But the rest of them are raiding the supply depots.” 

“Do you want to run around to stop them?” Yuriko asked, “I may be fast but I can’t be in more than one place at a time…er…. Yeah, ehehe.” She chuckled awkwardly when both of her lovers gave her pointed looks. “Anyway, I think our priority is to defend the port, not defeat their enemies for them.” 

“Last instructions sent were to defend the port anyway,” Heron relented. 

“Hmmm, well don’t have too much fun later,” Gwendith muttered as she sat on her heels. “I’m exhausted.” 

“Meditate to recover then, I’ll do the same,” Yuriko said. “Oh, I captured a ship and its pilot. I left them with the port authority. That should do for our duties.” She took a seated meditation pose and simply gathered her thoughts. 

In Astoria, Yuriko finished memorising the script for her audition. Scarlett had gone to the pantry to grab a cup of coffee and there was no one in the hall that she wanted to talk to, so she got up and thought to wander around the studio while waiting for her turn to begin. According to Scarlett, it would still be half an hour at least. 

Since she fancied having some sweets, she followed in Scarlett’s footsteps and soon arrived at a hall that had dozens of tables and chairs set up. There were a few people inside it, and she easily found Scarlett at the counter. Her friend spotted her and waved, so Yuriko nodded back and pointed at an empty table. When she walked there, she noticed a couple of men chatting with each other. Yuriko noticed one of them. 

“Mister Hiller, what a coincidence,” Yuriko greeted the man. Lance Hiller, also known as Weavemaster, the Altered Human superhero.

Lance looked up at her, confusion clear in his eyes.

“Hello, do I know you?”

There was no deceit in his eyes.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep