"Yes! We did it! Saint Stark did not disappoint us at all! She not only struck the enemy formation anchor, but inflicted enough damage to put it out of commission!"
Though there were people who grew worried that the deathborn would find a way to repair their damaged artifact and make use of it again, this should not be possible in the short term!
As long as the Amaranto Mark III took out several other large formation anchors in quick succession, the aforementioned concerns wouldn't matter anymore!
Yet just as Saint Stark wanted to rely on the existing mathematical model to guide her aim on her next target, she soon began to frown as she took notice of an undesirable development.
Others noticed the changes as well.
"What is the status of the other three energy vortices?! Have they exhibited any changes?"
"They… they are moving!"
When Ves looked at the local map, he could see that two of the energy vortices spontaneously drifted around the combined fleet.
Though their movements were slow, Ves could already extrapolate their approximate destinations!
"The enemy spell array is manually or automatically compensating for the removal of one of its formation anchors!"
"I knew it wouldn't be that simple." Ves grumbled under his breath.
Formation Master Andrea Vos also anticipated this possibility, though she did not think this outcome was inevitable.
Many qi formations possessed a certain degree of tolerance towards damage and deviations after they became active.
It took quite a lot of advanced knowledge, resources and effort to add mystical redundancies to their work, but it was often worth it in most circumstances.
Well-designed spell arrays designed to be deployed against enemies needed the slack in order to keep operating when things started to fall apart.
The deathborn's formation masters evidently shared this common ideal.
Their formation arts may have been derived from a completely different galaxy's cultivation traditions, but they still shared a lot of common traits with the formation arts mastered by the Red Collective.
"If we assume that the death energy formation is originally based on four primary formation anchors, then I am almost certain that it can only handle the loss of one of them." Andrea Vos stated with a strong hint of resolve in her voice. "A formation consisting of four strong anchors is stable. A formation consisting of three strong anchors also remains stable, though it is already flirting with the edge. A formation consisting of only two strong anchors… cannot properly function anymore. Saint Stark only needs to shoot down one more enemy construct to free us from this trap."
All of that sounded great, the problem was that much of the groundwork put into guiding the Amaranto Mark III's aim had become outdated since the opposing side's adjustments!
Ves groaned.
"What is the problem, cousin?" Saint Jannzi frowned and asked. "Shouldn't it be easy enough to predict where the formation anchors are moving? You can still track the overall shifting of the energy vortices. Even I can guess that the formation anchors are trying to form a perfect triangle shape."
"It is not as simple as that, Jannzi. This is not a simple geometrical problem. It only looks that way on the surface. The behavior of the energy vortices and the many ripple effects they produce completely changes the dynamics of the space affected by the dark miasma. All of the data gathered by the Woodsap mechs and the monstrous calculations made by the smart AIs had become… irrelevant. While there are still a lot of common rules that can be reapplied in the new situation, the lack of data on the new situation makes it a lot harder to produce an accurate mathematical model that closely aligns with the new situation."
The latest ace pilot of the Larkinson Clan finally began to understand the greater problem.
"So… we have to send out a bunch of Woodsap mechs again?"
"Possibly."
"NO." Saint Davia Stark forcefully responded to the spoken and unspoken doubts by those who realized the issue at hand. "I WILL ACCEPT NO FURTHER DELAYS OR SACRIFICES. MY AIM IS ALWAYS TRUE. WITNESS MY ACTION. MY LIGHT SHALL SEAR AWAY THE DARKNESS!"
The Amaranto Mark III had not waited to hear the results before she had already begun to accumulate energy yet again!
Though Saint Stark originally intended to shift the muzzle of her Instrument of Vengeance by a 90 degree angle, the changes taking place beyond the curtain of darkness forced her to rely on her own judgment!