Chapter 1105
The instant the forces defending Xankeshan seemed to be getting a leg up on Zaur, a certain alarm went off. With most communications on lockdown during a battle, Koralo knew that the incoming message had to be important. He diverted some of his attention from bolstering the formations- though he didn’t feel like he could spare much- to hear the message.
He almost wished he hadn’t. But of course, ignoring problems wouldn’t make them any better. It appeared Alva’s senses had been correct. Fleets were approaching their eastern border. The questions he would have asked to try to bring some hope to the situation had already been answered. It was not, unfortunately, the Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance. Nor the Distant Shadow Sect. It didn’t even happen to be the Creeping Fire Sect- who might prioritize Exalted Quadrant cultivators despite any other plans they had.
First were a smattering of Silver Fang cultivators- with those numbers a trivial threat except for the current circumstances- but they appeared to be more of an addendum to the main forces. Those forces were the Imbued Fragments.
Koralo didn’t have the luxury of time to look at the breakdown of enemy forces beyond that point. The numbers were sufficient to be threatening, especially at such a sensitive time. What could he even do?
Perhaps he should drop the spatial distortion. That was a risk, because it would take time to gather enough energy to re-establish it. Still, that would force the approaching forces to fight their way through the eastern systems. Systems which were… relatively unprotected at the moment. And if the Exalted Quadrant was repelled, they would pass through the western systems. They might feel the need to plunder vulnerable targets along the way.
If it led to the survival of the Scarlet Alliance, Koralo was willing to make the sacrifice- and take the consequences of such choices upon his head. But… he didn’t truly believe that was the correct solution. Regardless of the reason the Imbued Fragments were here- having drawn the connection to their losses in the lower realms or simply trying to take advantage- would they really prioritize the Scarlet Alliance over the Exalted Quadrant?
He had no idea, but Koralo would prefer to limit their choices. He couldn’t stop them from coming- a solid barrier around Alliance territory would be more like a thin piece of paper waiting to be torn open. However, perhaps he could… redirect the arrival location of the incoming fleets?
He had a few minutes to think of a solution. The grand formation mapped the space at the edge of their territory onto Xankeshan’s system. But did it have to map it onto the same side?
No. But just because he had an idea didn’t mean the solution was trivial. “Uzun!” Koralo urgently contacted the head engineer. Perhaps Catarina could have managed a solution on her own, but he needed every bit of help he could get. They had to at least try.