Steel and Mana

Chapter 184 – Empress & Sovereign (1)

I was with my kids, helping them learn to write and read, when Merlin entered the room, trying to remain calm to not scare them… but I saw it in his eyes, there was a problem, and it wasn't about him and Elena this time.

"Mikan, can you take over?" I asked while standing up, looking at her nodding.

"Daddy!" My kids protested, reaching for me, and I couldn't help but rub their heads and smile at them.

"Don't worry, it won't take long, and we can do it again soon. Be good and listen to your mothers!" I don't know if they sensed it or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

The moment I was out of the room, I looked at Merlin, whose hurried steps led me away surprisingly quickly. Whatever happened wasn't good; it was either beasts attacking us in the summer or something to do with Ishillia.

"Duke Kustov's warning CC broke five minutes ago."

"Damn it." I cursed, knowing that it could mean only a few things… one of them was that someone from the capital was coming here and they would arrive very quickly. "Mobilize the army and bring the mechs to Avalon at once! Sound the warning signals and make people return to their homes as soon as possible! The army should be ready and load all of our cannons and howitzers. I guess I know what is coming…"

"A flying ship." He agreed, coming to the same conclusion as me.

"If he used his emergency signal, then yes. Putting a regular army together and marching toward us would give us ample time to prepare, but if they come flying? That's different. We will shoot it down and think of something after!"

"Don't worry, my Sovereign, we will be fine. Lady Sasha is already at the walls of the city and is preparing a formation for her spell."

"Let's hope that we won't need it."

The first sightings and their reports came from the border between my Uncle's territory and the Black Lands. By our soldiers' description, Merlin confirmed that it was not an ordinary flying ship. It belonged to the Empress; it was the biggest one, called the Judgement.

"It is coming… alone? Do they think one is enough?" I asked, standing on my city wall between Merlin and Sasha while Oleg was commanding the ground troops and setting up the howitzers. For the past half an hour, the speakers around the city, the ones we used to broadcast speeches, were blaring warning signals, turning my busy city into a deserted ghost town, everyone hiding in their homes and basements.

"Isn't that good?" Yuri asked, her voice coming from the Princess as the two mechs stood ready 50 meters ahead of Avalon.

"Their pride is our advantage." Father agreed; the Lion's shoulders were equipped with four barrels, and even its hands were replaced with cannons, ready to fire constantly, going through its weapons in a repeating sequence, prepared to exhaust all of its energies to go out in a blaze of glory.

"I am finding it weird." I answered, "It is… sudden. Something had to happen…"

"Second thoughts?" Sasha asked, whispering, stretching her arms out, holding mine, and squeezing it.

"No." I smiled at her in answer, "Fire the moment we see them."

…
….
…..

On the bridge of the Judgement, Empress Mirian was looking forward with a serious expression while she was surrounded by ship slaves, operating her vessel in perfect independence, without a need for a crew. By all means, this ship was above any of the others, capable of working autonomously if Mirian wanted. She only had to issue her orders, and the flying fortress, run by 300 magically bound slaves, would do her bidding to the letter.

"It is weird to be back on one…" Kustov murmured, the only other regular person standing beside the Empress.

"Hopefully, this time, it won't crash. You are a two-legged jinx to be brought aboard." She answered calmly, yet her fingers dug into her crossed upper arms, worried because Milan was in her bedroom, attended to by her personal servants. "Open visuals!" She ordered, and soon enough, all the quickly changing scenery before them was projected into the air, giving them a wide field of view without the need to head into an Imaginary like on the other ships.

“…”

"You seem nervous, Duke Kustov. Why is that?"

"My son…"

"I think there is something else." She added, not looking at him, keeping her eyes locked on the image, watching the passing of massive fields, finally noticing something off. "Maybe that?" She pointed, and the image froze. She quickly enlarged it with a pinch, showing them a tractor working the fields below, puffing out white smoke from its miniature chimney.

“…”

"Interesting…"

“…”

“I am not mad, Duke Kustov. But I am curious as to what is going on here."

“…”

"No matter, we will have a talk after Milan is healed." She continued, even if the now deathly-white Duke refused to talk about it and just kept looking ahead, watching as the image of the tractor disappeared, showing them the blurry passings of wheat fields again, closing in on the actual Frontier.

It didn't take long for the ship to cross the borders and see the ongoing construction, the machines that were there, creating a canal, connecting the two rivers; Mirian's eyes flashed once again, but she didn't ask any questions this time. It didn't need to take a genius to understand that the changes happening to the Frontier were above anything she first believed… This was even more dangerous than what was happening at the southern borders.

"My, my…" she mumbled as the ship slowed down after raising her hand, focusing on the image before her. She looked so far into the distance that it wouldn't be possible for the human eye, but the ship's magic zoomed on the horizon like a modern camera would. "What are those?" she asked with honest wonder and surprise, looking at the two massive machines standing before a clearly newly built city.

"I don't know…" Garbank Kustov answered, and Mirian wasn't going to ask if he was lying or not.

"Come to a complete halt! Keep the shields up for now! It is your turn, Duke Kustov. Contact them… We are here to save my most important person in the world and not here to fight."

…
….
……

"That is a big one…" Sasha mumbled as we watched the flying ship stopping in the distance, outside of the accurate reach of the cannons mounted onto the Lion. We have yet to install a marker onto the mechs, so they will need luck to hit the ship precisely from this distance.

"Prepare the howitzers! It's time to show them what a Dragon's Tail can do!" I ordered, signaling the soldiers to lock onto the golden flying ship with their completed Markers.

We weren't taking chances, and soon, a roaring cannon fire echoed through my city, and arcing, crimson fire flew through the air, hitting the Ishillian warship, making its multi-colored shields flicker and becoming visible to the naked eye.

"Continue! Dad, Yuri! Start moving in!"

"Roger!" they answered simultaneously as the two began marching under the constant fire of our howitzers, bombarding the enemy and showing it what absolute judgment really meant. The Lion's canon began shooting, and although not all of his shots hit their mark, they did explode close by, sending shockwaves through the air.

…
….
……

"Shields weakening." Said one of the ship slaves, his voice monotoned and uninterested, while Mirian was cursing left and right. "70%. 66%. 58%."

"Back up! Back up! Damn it, stop attacking me from nowhere, Milan is going to die!" Mirian cried out, having to grab onto the railings on the bridge, stopping herself from falling over as they were being rocked back and forth.

"Incredible…" Kustov whispered, amazed at what was happening and a bit proud that even the Judgement was in danger, its shields being hit by a spell at every second.

"Do something, I don't care if the ship goes down, but if it does, my Milly will die!" Mirian yelled, grabbing Kustov's garb and shaking him back to reality. Her eyes were watered up, and she panicked like a young, scared teenager would. "Don't let my Milly die…"

"Can… can we talk to them? Somehow?" Kustov asked, returning to reality. A moment later, Mirian dragged one of the ship slaves over, pulling out a glowing, charged CC, pressing it into the back of its carved-out skull, and inserting it directly into its brain. Next, she pulled out a finger-thick CC-cable that was running along its spine, connecting to the side of its head, giving its spiky end to Kustov. "This is…?" He asked, gulping at the horrific sight and at the dripping, sharp end he was holding, moist from some kind of transparent mucus.

"Don't ask; the ship was built by the hands of the Emperor of Magic. We couldn't figure out how it works, and everything is maintained by the ship slaves themselves. They even make new slaves if we gave them mages… This is not important right now! Squeeze it and speak! We don't have time to waste!" She shouted as the ship was already shaking, the rest of the slaves working silently, trying to keep the shields up and running.

Kustov hesitated before clutching firmly onto the cable, pulling it close to his mouth, and starting to speak. When his voice left his mouth, the shaved head of the ship slave twitched, and then its mouth began moving, replicating his words silently. Yet, at the same time, the many faces decorating the flying ship on the outside, belonging to past rulers, also opened, and his voice was echoed far and wide.

"My Sovereign! It is me, Garbank Kustov! Please… Don't attack! I… We came not to fight! Please, help me! Help us!"

…
….
…..

Watching our bombardment, seeing the ship shake and flicker in the distance, I was getting more confident. Although it wasn't like what the Scorc kingdom managed to do, breaking its defenses in one move, it was still enough to allow us to have a chance. My only concern was that the ship never returned fire. Why? If it wanted to, it could have flown forward and started returning fire; I was sure of it. That is why I was also here; if it did and brought us all down, I wouldn't want to try and hide in my palace and wait for the sky to fall down. I won't be that kind of example for my kids. Still, that didn't happen. Instead, we were hearing our dear Duke shouting…

"Could it be him? Really? Did our spell fail?" Merlin asked, looking at me while our cannons continued firing without stopping.

"I doubt. He sounds… troubled." I mumbled, looking at my wife until she nodded back at me with a smile. It was enough to make my decision, so I raised my hand, giving the order to stop firing.

With the orders to our mechs to keep their distance from each other and not allow the ship to fire at both of them so easily, they looked as if they were escorting the flying monster as it began advancing toward Avalon once again. Well… this was it. Even with Oleg's constant complaining, it was now or never, so I walked out with Sasha on my right, heading to where the ship was landing. I watched as its belly opened, landing supports descending, like four individual landing pads, balancing the ship-like design, stopping it from tipping over after it touched down.

Of course, we weren't alone as my Father and Yuri surrounded the massive ship, their weapons aiming at it, although I was unsure if they realized if any of them did anything… that would also kill me. Heh. What a thrilling experience… I observed the creepy yet beautiful design as another ramp opened, landing not that far from us. Looking up, the elegantly dressed young woman standing up high had similar features to the previous Empress, but this one's gaze was less… hostile. I didn't need a perfect memory to recognize someone from the royal bloodline, and seeing the nervous Garbank Kustov next to her was enough for me to know he didn't betray us. Interesting… Very interesting.

"Sovereign?" The Empress asked, looking down at me, but I think her question was aimed at my dear Duke.

"That would be me." I replied, "Sovereign Leon, ruler of Avalon. Welcome to my territory, Empress Mirian."

"Are you openly stating that you are no longer part of my Empire, Viscount Leon?"

"I am." Was my swift answer, keeping my eye locked onto hers, standing about 40 meters below her while she was still in the opening of her ship

"Then let me ask you this, Sovereign Leon. Are you capable of saving a life?" Hooh… What the hell happened?

"What if I can't?" I asked curiously, making her voice shake and not because she was lying… But... She was… Desperate?

"Then we can all kill each other because I won't have a reason to live."

"Well!" I clapped, releasing my wife's sweaty palm because both of us were nervous enough, even if we didn't want to show it. Neither of us was keen on dying here. "My fourth wife is a professional priestess, capable of healing most injuries with magic!"

The moment I finished speaking, I saw something I didn't expect. Mirian's legs buckled, and she began crying, shocking me more than anything that happened so far.

"Please… Please save my Milly!"

"What… the… fuck?"

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