When the figurative dust had finally settled, what greeted them was a chaotic region of space, marred beyond recognition by the many attacks. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't make out anything at all at the original location of the Guarding Eye which they had aimed at.
'It... seems to be gone?'
Even Shara couldn't be sure, as his perception was getting significantly interfered with by all of the spatial turbulence and scars. Still, there was no barrier of any sort that he could spy, and no remnant of the targeted structure which he could make out.
"Brace yourselves."
Instead of letting down his guard at this 'success', he sternly reminded everyone to be careful. They couldn't allow themselves to count their chickens before they've hatched, as their foe's counterattack was no doubt about to arrive.
"Sir, someone is trying to take over our Central Fortress!"
Right on cue, an expected but unwelcome update put everyone on high alert. All that they could do was to leave these matters to their experts. Fortunately, about a minute later, the red warning lights and sirens quietened down, then they got the all-clear.
"According to the newest reports, not just this place, but all Guarding Eyes came under attack simultaneously, as expected. Due to our earlier preparations, we've 'only' lost our grip over ten percent of them."
Forwarding the newest status report, the leading Grand General grew a little more pale, a mixture of relief and worry shimmering in his eyes. While it was great that they had merely taken a comparatively slight hit to their fighting power, what their opponent could do with these new 'toys' was what truly concerned him–rightfully so.
Moments after they had ceased to blare, the sirens once again made themselves known, ruthlessly assaulting everyone's eardrums. The worst had come to pass.
"A-All of the seized Guarding Eyes have begun to charge their Planetary Destruction Cannons and aimed them at other Guarding Eyes still under our control!"
Remaining unshaken despite the bad news continuously trickling in, Shara steeled his heart and mercilessly decided the fates of many of his people. His next orders were spoken without hesitation.
"Have an equal amount of still safe Guarding Eyes aim at the ones that have been taken over, and destroy them. Every place our foe is currently targeting has already been lost."
In the following minutes, first, ten percent of their military surveillance stations were lost in the counterattack, then their volley of space-rending blows reduced the enemy's recently acquired tools to less than dust. Many loyal, competent soldiers and scientists were lost as a result, leading to a moment of silence, and a heavy air bearing down on the gathered decision makers.
"Guard against any further infiltration attempts! If our opponent is spotted, then report immediately. The rest of you, split up and thoroughly comb through this world. I will arrive to reinforce you as rapidly as I can, but be aware that the one who we are fighting should be fully capable of killing you instantly! Therefore, put your survival as the second-highest priority, other than the search for our target."
Deciding on the next course of action, Shara sent out all of the troops at his disposal, intending to force their foe out of hiding. From his behaviour until now, it appeared that he wasn't fully confident in facing the Enki Imperium head-on. That might just be another trap that they had to step into, but Shara wouldn't give up without a fight.
"Enmerkar, you will keep Ganzer at your side and join the search efforts. Be careful."
Although it was dangerous, he couldn't just let his ward stick close to him constantly–that would merely hinder his growth. With their greatest assassin at his side, his safety should be relatively assured. To make doubly certain, he would be keeping a close eye on him at all times as well, ready to intervene at less than a moment's notice should something go wrong.
"Leave it to me, Uncle!"
Nodding seriously, Enmerkar dashed off into the distance. The communication artefact which he brought along was constantly getting updated in real time, letting him know where exactly their people hadn't gone to yet. Combined with assigning each squad their own ideal route, they could all ensure an efficient sweep of this world.
'Where are you hiding, rival dearest? Come out, I want to trade blows!'
Keeping his immature desires solely to his thoughts, he scanned everything that he saw in detail, hoping to catch the shadow of the troublemaker who had the entire Imperium's upper echelons' attention.
Meanwhile, in a shadow close to him, Ganzer helplessly shook his head. Rather than hoping to have a smooth day at work, his friend looked forward to encountering the worst possible trouble.
'What a headache.'
-----
Once he had set up his inescapable net, Theodore returned to back to Enki XVII. There, he proceeded to enact his little play, first focusing the enemy's attention on himself, then showing off the threat which he posed to them.
During the day that it took for Shara and the soldiers to travel here, he secretly prepared a defensive Array, which he then linked directly to the world's Energy Veins to create a minor obstacle. During this time, he was careful to not be detected by any people or instruments under the control of his foes, allowing him to move to and fro unhindered, especially in combination with his infinite readily available teleportations.
Naturally, the people aboard the Guarding Eye that he had brazenly taken over were brought far away and housed in a secure, secret location. It would be a waste for them to be killed by his opponents–or, well, by anyone but him. While he wouldn't go out of his way to end their lives, the following was still true: Everyone who died by the hands of someone other than him, or by those able to benefit from such actions, didn't live up to their full value.
This was the real reason as to why he had praised that middle-aged worker. All those civilians perishing would be a total waste! At that point, he might as well reap their lives himself. That way, they could at least be of a bit of use to him, rather than meaninglessly passing away.
Naturally, he wouldn't outright state this, preferring to be seen as someone who cared about the common folk. After all, that gave him a positive public image, which could come in useful in far too many ways, and might even subconsciously influence the way that his truly dangerous enemies thought of and assessed him.
After he had laid out everything that was necessary, he casually retreated from the scene, observing the goings-on with a relaxed smile on his face. During this time, he gave bits of advice to his Subordinates, some of which found it difficult to stay hidden, or needed to relocate their Array Disks. But overall, nothing unexpected occurred.
Watching the newly arrived military obediently hop from one trap into the next, he couldn't help but shake his head in amusement. He was very well aware that he had left them with no good options to choose from, yet to see it all play out exactly as expected still brought a hint of joy to his heart.
He could hear everything that they said, and see every single one of their facial expressions, gaining a clear understanding of them and their command structure. All the while, they had no idea where he was, or that they were in the range of his perception.
Admittedly, encountering someone like Shara–a relatively advanced Holos Acclimation Stage cultivator–was a pleasant surprise. He hadn't thought that he would be able to lure out one of them this early and easily.
For a while, he felt tempted to end this man's life right then and there, but that would spook his foes too much. At this present time, his goal was to slowly string them along, whittling them down over the course of a day or two. That would make it easier to clean them all up than if they chose to frantically escape in all directions from the get-go.
Getting a grasp on how their technological systems worked, and how to infiltrate them, wasn't difficult for him, especially with one of their creations and some of their more outstanding minds in his hands. Combined with plentiful preparations which his foes couldn't even detect and weren't aware of, he successfully staged a battle with them, 'wrestling away' control over a portion of their Guarding Eyes.
Obviously, he could have simply seized them all, but that didn't fit the narrative which he was trying to sell to them. Because the Planetary Destruction Cannons had been activated by him, the Heavenly Dao acknowledged that the kills resulting from their Energy beams were his, showering him in plentiful notifications as soon as the space-destroying confrontation took place.
'Beautiful! There are quite a few science-related Talents to pick up here. What a delightful treasure trove! That aside, I suppose I should get a bit busy...'
Jumping to his feet, he chose an ideal spot and teleported there, at the outer edge of the Enki Imperium's military's current scouting efforts. Hiding in silence, he waited until the nearest small squad of a hundred came close, then froze them solid immediately, shattering both them and their souls into pieces instantly afterwards.
It all played out so quickly that by the time that his enemies realized that they had just lost a team led by an expert at the Initial Ascension Stage's Dantian Engraving Realm, he had already activated a Teleportation Array Disk in his hand. It transported him far away to place which they couldn't detect, leaving them impotently seething in rage, and Shara furrowing his brows solemnly.
He repeated these same actions more than a dozen times, always behaving almost exactly as before, with only slight adjustments. Additionally, he made certain to never appear in an area that had previously been swept through, leaving them uncertain if them always encountering him in uncharted territory was merely a coincidence. Could he possibly not go where they had searched before? Or was he purposely leading them by the nose and deceiving them? Well, he most certainly was–but to what extent?
Keeping them in this state of doubt was his goal, and although it wouldn't fully interfere with their decision-making process, it could still at least subliminally hinder them a little. Of course, he could have chosen not to make such a big deal out of it all and been far more efficient and ruthless, but that would just scare them off too severely.
"... our foe's guerrilla tactics have already cost us many Generals. For what it's worth, there seems to be a cooldown time which cannot be circumvented when making use of that teleportation artefact. If we can catch him at an inopportune moment, then we should be able to trap him!"
Confidently stating the results of his analysis, Enmerkar broadcasted it to all of the participating Grand Generals, as well as his uncle. He wasn't the only one who had taken note of this pattern, yet the more experienced amongst them were not so eager to jump on this opportunity as he had anticipated.
"Ahem, Sir. Excuse me for raining on your parade, but judging from this man's prior actions and preparations, him exposing this to us is likely to be another trap. He could easily be faking this observable cooldown time."
Having one of his subordinates pour cold water upon his boiling excitement stemming from 'having seen through it all', the youngster froze for a moment, then heaved a self-deprecating sigh and shook his head with a small smirk.
"That's a fair point, I didn't think of that. But tell me: What else are we supposed to do? If any of you have a better idea, then I'm sure we're all ears."
His comeback left them all speechless, as they had neither expected for him to so openly and humbly admit to his misstep, nor for him to throw the ball back into their own court. Worst of all, they truly had not come up with something more promising yet!
"Let's go with what you've proposed. We currently have no other option."
Admittedly a bit frustrated at not having had any initiative throughout this confrontation so far, and at having been made to charge from one spot to the next all this time, Shara interjected, dispelling the awkward silence that had taken over.
"Adjust all squads' routes, so that they're closer to each other."
Hoping that this might help in buying him the tens of nanoseconds that he would need to make it to the scene of the repeated one-sided slaughter, he slowed down their pace a little. The chances that doing this would be of help were extremely minuscule–but they were better than nothing.
'As soon as I get my hands on this cunning bastard, I'll give him a thorough beating!'
Clenching his fists and keeping his senses as sharp as possible, Shara's gaze darkened.