Steel and Mana

Chapter 544 – Bluff

Checking the pings, which were now almost constant, I already knew Seltana was on point with her prediction, while Kustov's somewhat sarcastic voice came over the comms.

“That’s not wildlife.”

"In a way, it is," Sasha leaned forward, trying to see the readings, “They are the owners of this land.”

"True," Seltana nodded, “I just do hope this is focused on us... And only on us. Then, more of my theories will be confirmed."

"I do hope so," I nodded, watching the signals multiply like some bacteria on a petri dish in some documentary, "I'm heading back to the Camelot, the floor is yours!" I patted Seltana on the shoulders before hurrying out. By the time I arrived on the bridge, the faraway pings had already reached closer, visible on the Imaginary of my airship, accompanied by Seltana's voice.

“First wave approaching,” She announced, “Estimated numbers are... About... two hundred creatures.”

"Sovereign?" Kustov asked, and I just smiled at him.

"For now, follow Seltana's orders."

"We will hold fire," she continued, "But we will give her the results she wishes for, but we are going to hold back. Let them come in at least half of our range before firing."

"I just hope," Sasha whispered next to me, "That the creature's mind is unlike yours or Galahad's. That would be a possible nightmare."

"Me too," I nodded, "I don't need it to compare our first encounter and this one. If she does, she may discover we are hiding our actual strength."

While we waited and watched as a tide of two, four, and even six-legged creatures appeared, stampeding directly towards us, the Vasas also got into a defensive position, many of them standing as a wall to protect the retreating workers who were out, helping to build our airfield, the maintenance bases, trenches, and whatnot.

“They’re getting closer to the minefield,” Seltana added.

“Let it trim their numbers first,” I answered her, "That's not a significant loss to let her know about."

It was a massacre and a fast one. The moment they activated them, the resulting explosion of different elements was instant and devastating, turning almost half of them into corpses, while the other half were injured, left there limping, trashing on the ground, or causing them to scatter, away from us.

"Another ping!" Kustov reported, and soon enough, we could see them... Indeed, there were more coming.

Watching them appear, they were of the same variant, probably from the same area or nest, and their second wave hit the same spot before the first even finished dying.

“About four hundred,” Seltana reported, "This may be an intentional doubling..."

"I wouldn't be surprised..." I nodded, watching the feed.

“She’s observing this, maybe she is even nearby,” Sasha murmured. “Studying our reaction time, most likely, and counting our responses or response types."

"Maybe," I leaned back, "But we will hold. She won't see everything..."

The second wave came in a thicker, denser cluster than the first one. When they passed by their brethren, trampling over the dying ones, they kept rushing and then... hitting the remainder of the mines that were left inactive; they died just the same, mainly because they were even more clustered than the first group.

"Well," I chuckled, "She chose the wrong order for the second wave. I wonder what she will do for the third?"

"I hate that there is a third." Sasha pouted, but the moment she said it, there it was.

"I think there will be even more." And I knew I was right.

"We have about... Six hundred this time around." Seltana reported again, making me raise an eyebrow.

"Well, we can now say for sure, she knows how to count and multiply."

"Not funny," Sasha whispered, but I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Things won't change even if we make fun of the situation or just don't laugh." I shrugged, shaking my head, "This won't even make a dent on us... We stopped similar assaults, and we are stopping them again."

"Firing." Seltana's order came in, and it was time to give Ignis what she wanted.

With the artillery booming, the wave of monsters had not even a chance to do anything about it or reach the line of the Vasa warriors. They died in a curtain of fire... even though another wave was already coming. Of course, my people were well trained, so nobody fired beyond the line they were told to keep, letting them come close before bringing judgment down on them all.

"Are we going to thin them all out?" Sasha asked, and as if reading her mind, Sa'Ith's voice came through the comms.

"This is barely anything... These types of creatures are almost countless. Are we going to be able to contain more? Keep your weapons firing without pause?"

"We are indeed able to do that," I answered firmly, but I could feel the slight anxiety in her voice. It seems that the Beast Land earned its name... Well then, we will build a dam from their bodies.

It was the end of the eighth wave when finally, Ignis had had enough and sent forth something more... appropriate. It was an eight-legged creature, but at least not spider-shaped. I mean, it was more like someone drew a rhino from memory, or a nightmare, adding another set of legs and covering it in crusty-looking skin... As for the horns, there was only one at the top of its snout, if that is a snout, looking like that of a beetle's.

"Can that thing fly?" I asked involuntarily, because that was like a rhino-bettle mix, the more I looked at it... Of course, Sasha nudged me, and luckily, I hadn't jinxed the battle, because its back never opened out and it never got to show us its wings.

"Well... that's a problem," Seltana murmured because that thing stopped moving, just as it got near to the previous minefield.

No more waves were coming right now, and neither did that creature move... it just stood there, looking at us, probably being Ignis, surveying the battlefield through its eyes. It was within range but... Oh well.

“Artillery?” Kustov asked after about a minute of silence.

“Still no,” I shook my head, “We don’t give her our actual range.”

"This at least shows she hasn't got a good memory," Sasha muttered, "Or she would have realized we can fire at her."

"Should we send out the Vasas?" Seltana asked, but I had another idea.

"She wants to see us," I leaned forward, "And I mean the Camelot. I bet she wants to feel the spell we used on her, wanting us to kill it with it so she can learn more about how it works."

"So we should send out the Vasas," Seltana repeated.

“Not exactly,” I said. “Let her think she can provoke us. If we give her what she wants now, she will build on the assumption that we will bite on such bait. We could later use it to our advantage, surprising her. Kustov, take us further out!”

“Aye.” Kustov nodded, and the Camelot began moving at once.

“She sees us,” Sasha added after the airship left the Pride, drifting forward, seeing as the creature's head was following our movements, directly looking at us.

“Make sure the shields are at maximum power,” I spoke up, "It will attack us."

"Shields prepared!" Kustov reported, and I could feel it... I could feel a thought in the distance, like hearing some whispers you weren't sure you heard right.

Shaking my head, trying to ignore it, I focused on the now.

"We won't use the main gun; prepare the cannons," I ordered, and just as I said, a tingling sensation ran along my spine.

It was then that the magic flared along the monster's horn, and an electric bolt snapped upwards, heading straight towards us, spreading along the sky before hitting the ship, or more precisely, our shields. When the two made contact, the bolt of golden lightning was scattered, thrown outwards into all possible directions, never managing to penetrate our defenses.

"We are holding." Kustov reported, "No damages, cannons are ready."

"Fire back."

It wasn't an equal exchange at all. That thing didn't have any shielding, nor did it have much energy left after its first spell. It was visibly... exhausted. Which told me another thing: Ignis was not yet versed in controlling her enslaved creatures. She made it use a spell, but she also made it spend its strength, all in one burst, without achieving anything. As for its tough hide? It could only keep up with our ferocious bombardment with magic and physical cannons for just a little bit longer. In the end, its body was cracked, penetrated, and then blasted to pieces, killing it. Yet before it actually died... I was hit by a thought, one that made me black out for a moment.

"I finally see you...!" A voice said to me, making me twitch my lips.

"I didn't know I could speak the Black Speech, to understand you, Sauron."

"I am Ignis! Mother of you all!" She shot back, and although her voice sounded somewhat ancient and alien... The tone was indeed that of an angsty kid, teen, or something close to that... Huh.

"Not my Mother, my Mom looks gorgeous," I replied, shrugging, "She is kind, and also, pretty much the greatest mother of all time. Don't let my wives hear me say that; they are also super good with kids."

"Who are you?!" She yelled at me, making my spirit flicker, but... it didn't hurt; surprisingly, it just felt a bit stuffy. Like... I walked into an attic that never had fresh air blown through it.

"Your mother," I answered immediately, which brought on a sudden silence, but I knew the connection wasn't gone; she was just... surprised. "Why not come out? Give mommy a big kiss, hm? Whose the good girl? You are! Good little girlie, come, shake!"

"I will rip you to shreds! WHO ARE YOU?!" She yelled again, and although she was angry, I could tell... There was something else. Wait... Is this the same thing that Zah'Ratil felt? The difference in my soul? Huh... Maybe I can pull some pranks on this bastard... Well, it was worth a try.

"I am the Sovereign," I answered, puffing myself up, but I don't know if in this mental link it had any effect or not, "And you are getting on my nerves! If you could relax, that would be great. We can work things out, but if you keep this up, I will have to destroy you."

"Like you could!" She shot back at once, and I wasn't going to back down.

"Oh, I can. Don't you feel it? I am not from this world. I am not your child. I came from a place where we eat things like you for breakfast. So... be a good girl, settle down, and enjoy the fact that you can rule over the beasts. Keep poking at me and I will poke you back, but that may mean I will have yummy dragon-made shish kebab for dinner!"

"You can't!" She yelled again, but I could tell she was a bit disturbed, "You can't pierce my body, I am Ignis Primordia!"

"Yeah, I know. And I am the Sovereign, eater of Ingis Primordias. Omnomnom."

While saying it, I was also doing my best to direct thoughts and images into her mind, images about killing dragons, eating them raw, with two hands, tearing them apart like they were made of paper, and many such thoughts, not knowing if it was working or not. But the connection was cut, so... Maybe?

"Leon?" Sasha asked, putting a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it, making me flinch and blink my eyes as I returned to the moment.

"I had caught her thoughts..." I murmured, feeling my head start to ache.

"What?!" She crouched beside my chair, looking at me.

"It's fine," I smiled, "I think what we have on our hands is a... fresh mind... No matter how ancient she is. Plus... She can feel fear."

"What do you mean?" She asked, surprised.

"She could feel my soul," I smirked, because Sasha knew everything about me, "And she realized I'm... special. I think I made her think I am more than just a human."

"You do realize this can be really bad?" She gulped, but then also smiled, "You just can't help it, can you?"

"Nope." I chuckled, "And let's gamble... If she calls my bluff, so be it. It is still a good strategy to use it and make her doubt everything. One of the first rules of war is deception... I am not going to hold back on it, not when the chance presents itself to me so well."