Steel and Mana

Chapter 552 – Ignis (2)

The moment the movement of the beasts appeared on the horizon, the teams below the Camelot were ordered to retreat, no matter what their completion rate was. Although Arthur said they were done with the formation and managed to lay it to 'rest' so to speak... Without reviewing the spel, who knows if it will work? If we didn't finish it in time, then that was it, Ignis had countered us with this attack... If we finished it, then good. We will have a chance to take her down. For now, I had no way to know it, though.

“She’s early,” Sasha murmured beside me after the Camelot had turned and we were drifting backwards, "Maybe she sensed something? You two did connect. Can she... read your thoughts? Or just get a feel for your ideas?"

“I was hoping that nobody else besides me thought of that,” I squinted towards the treeline, “And I hope to believe that is not true, not after Sa'Ith's explanation. I, for one, had not felt any connection being established between us. But that doesn't mean she couldn't get into my head without me noticing it... Because we have been caught with our pants off, well, almost. We are not ready, though... I hoped we would have time until winter, have our showdown when everything is ready to go...”

Maybe I made some moves too late. I couldn't help but think back on all I did. I couldn't help it... I am not a clairvoyant to read the future... Haaah. Well, at least I made sure to spread my ideas across half the world, so maybe, just maybe, even if we fail here, they will have built up enough strength to keep resisting. I don't know, and I don't want to think about it so gloomily. Let's be optimistic, Leon... just like always.

“What a surprise,” Sasha exhaled with a slight smile, reaching out to touch my hand, probably sensing my brief thoughts, just a bit darker than usual, "This time, it didn't go as one of Luna's books."

"No, it did not." I nodded, "I had run out of lucky points, it seems... We have to make do with what we have, even though we're not at our optimal strength."

"We are still strong."

We watched as the first wave appeared, dozens at first, which then turned very quickly into hundreds, flowing like a living avalanche of claws, scales, fur, and chitin... Haaah... I hate swarms.

“The preliminary scans show that these are all smaller creatures, the biggest is around eight to ten meters tall,” Kustov’s voice came through the comms, just as we walked down and entered the bridge, watching him turn towards us, lowering his radio, “As for their numbers, we had counted somewhere between fifteen and sixteen hundred. Sovereign, orders?”

“Same as always.” I shrugged, “Follow the battle plan and listen to Lucca, Oleg, and Seltana's orders. We will dock at the Pride and keep an eye out for Ignis. When she appears, we will be the ones keeping her attention away from everything else.”

“Aye!”

“Artillery teams, fire at will, keep to Patter Alpha.” Lucca's voice came just then, and the next moment, we responded to Ignis's battle plan.

Dozens of cannons thundered the instant the order was given, the shockwave sending almost visible vibrations through the air, while a moment later, massive eruptions bloomed across the field where the first wave was galloping forward. They were made out of dirt, fire, and shredded monster parts... I could almost taste it on the tip of my tongue, watching as their clusters were blown into bits. The first wave didn’t even make it past our current range limit, but sadly, the wave didn’t stop, because there were a lot... and they just kept coming.

“They’re disoriented,” Sa'Ith said as she finally arrived, directly coming to us, narrowing her eyes. "They aren't dominated wholly, but they had to be touched."

"I noticed it too." I agreed, nodding my head, "Even with the explosions, they aren't trying to avoid it. Plus, the way they are running,” I added, pointing it out, “Sometimes they’re staggering or tripping over each other. It is not even because of panic, they run into each other as if not even registering they are there.”

“This isn’t normal.” Sa'Ith hissed, "Even if it gives us a bit of advantage."

“Maybe Ignis is pushing too many at once.” I leaned back a little, crossing my arms, watching, “It would be best if her mind gets tangled up in these bastards and then she can lose control, making her an easy target.”

“It’s helping us,” Sasha agreed, "If that is the case."

“If,” Sa'Ith said warningly, but she also shrugged.

But I hoped that was the case, because I saw how the next wave that was rushing forward slammed face-first into a crater from previous bombardments and tumbled down the other side like a sack of potatoes falling off the back of a truck. Another beast, not even registering it, did the same, rolling down as it fell, having difficulties getting back up and orienting itself as to where to go next. It would have been funny if it weren’t also tragic as hell.

“Sovereign, you seeing this?” Lucca radioed me, and I knew he had noticed it too.

“Yeah. It is as you think it is.”

“These creatures aren’t thinking,” he said, a bit disbelieving. “And I don't mean how the big ones aren't really smart. They’re… confused. Or overloaded and they are fighting each other in their own heads.”

“That’s exactly what’s happening." I continued, "Our best guess is that Ignis overstretched a little, giving us this opportunity.”

"Don't forget," Sa'Ith said warningly, "That if that is the case, that also means the more we eliminate, the less apparent this will be. And she has yet to make a move..."

Just then, amidst the constant artillery fire, the first of the bigger ones, a creature about twenty meters in height, finally walked out from the trees. It was six-legged, wearing plates of bone armor, and had horn-like protrusions along its spine, with a head of a turkey, as far as I was concerned.

“…And here come the big ones,” Sasha announced grimly.

Then, even with being so far away, the giant creature reared back, and the bone plates on its spine lit up, each one glowing like a bright light in the dark.

"That's... new." I stiffened, watching it use a spell, something that wasn't rare to do for monsters, but from that distance?

It was a beam of yellow light... but it fizzled out before even going halfway through the distance between us, never reaching the first of our lines in the first place.

"She doesn't know the weaker one's capabilities," I chuckled, shaking my head, "She may control them or order them around, but Ignis has almost zero knowledge of what the beasts she took control of are capable of doing. At best, she can use them to throw bodies at us."

"It will learn in the middle of it," Sa'Ith grunted, "You'll see... I wouldn't be too happy about it... sadly."

She was right, of course, but still. It was an advantage. As more and more appeared, now accompanying the constant flood of the little ones, they sometimes stopped, used their magic to breathe fire, ice, lightning, whatever else they got, aimed at us... but it never reached us. I think she was confused about how we could fire so far out while she couldn't even fire back. I could partially hear how angry she was, cursing us and her own puppets for being useless. Well, at least it had the effect of helping us kill more of the horde when their spell fell short of range.

Of course, no matter how much I wanted it to remain the case, it couldn't keep up for an extended period of time, because no matter what, they were getting closer and closer. Finally, she had a few beasts, surviving and marching close enough, some who had the range. When that happened, our defenses finally had to come online as half a dozen barrier spells on the wall were lit up as golden and blue shields flared into existence, blocking the one incoming spell of blue lightning, originating from a beast, about five kilometers away from us.

"One is not an issue," I muttered to myself, and watched as it was blown apart by our answering cannons, this time, from the shoulders of our long-range mechs atop the wall. While it died, soon more would reach the same point and start using their spells... As I was scanning which ones would be the next targets, I noticed that multiple, freshly appearing big ones were slowing down, standing at the edge of our supposed limit for artillery fire. "What are they doing...?"

"I don't know," Sa'Ith muttered, watching the same scene as multiple creatures were huddling together, as if talking out their next move or something.

"Whatever it is, I don't like it," I moaned, raising my communicator, "Lucca, do you see that? At..." I asked, overlaying our maps within my mind, "At J-19?"

"I do." He replied after a pause, "They are preparing something..."

"Monsters... And preparation?" Seltana joined in on the call, followed by Oleg's voice.

"They are being controlled. So the planner is not them."

"We can't let Ignis finish!" Sa'Ith remarked, properly anxious by now, and I agreed.

"No, we can't," Lucca stated, and I could already hear his next orders. "Fire at coordinates J-19. Mixed projectiles."

Just a few minutes later, the cluster of creatures and through them, probably Ignis, too, had their surprise delivered to them. I don't know what Ignis was trying to do, but as our artillery fired, expanding its range, they were hit at once. Lucca's decision to fire physical projectiles alongside the magical ones was right, since they did have shields. Still, our shells flew through it, with no issues, ripping them apart, canceling their shield spell, and letting the rest of the magic hit, causing a massive explosion.

"I don't think we need to hold back anymore." I shrugged as our range expanded at once. Or I expected it to, yet Seltana still ordered the crew to hold back from the full range. For now, we have only covered the new, added ring, not yet firing further out. We would do so only when she tops the beasts outside of it once again. If we could play Ignis a second time, that would be funny... I wish I had some popcorn with me.

“Leon,” Sasha said slowly as the big ones kept appearing, while the small ones kept pouring out between their legs, “they just keep coming.”

“It is the end of the world, after all.” I smiled, shaking my head, "It wouldn't be if we cleaned house this early."

"You are calmer than expected," Sa'Ith muttered, standing next to me, looking at my half-smile, finally letting her shoulders drop, noticing that she was more anxious than anyone else around her.

"Panic won't change things," I shrugged, "Whatever comes, will come. Let's face it, then and until now, I am not going to piss myself over it."

A few minutes later, below us all, the waves thickened, now mixed with big ones, medium ones, and smaller ones crawling under the greater ones’ legs. And finally... the flying ones had joined their parade. I just wish they were indeed ones, not hundreds. But, oh well, we can't have everything!

“Kustov, take us out,” I commanded, "Order Oleg to follow suit and prepare the air force for action. As for the rest of the airships, stay in formation! We will deal with the bastards in the air, leave the battle on the ground to Lucca!"

By the time I finished speaking, our airships were flying forward, with my Camelot in the middle. From my left, there came the Eagle's Nest, with Oleg on board, and the Knights Errant, while from my right came the rebuilt Stormbringer and the Punisher. Like an orchestra made out of fire-spewing cannons, they opened fire, filling the sky with a storm of flak-like spells and actual shells that exploded into clouds of shrapnel. It didn't take long to start raining, but instead of water, it was made of monster flesh, blood, and fire, dousing the horde running at full speed on the ground.

“Vasas,” Lucca snapped over the shared channel, “Prepare for intercepting! The horde is about to reach the first battlements! Only retreat to the secondary line when ordered to!”

“We will not retreat, nor run,” Ur'Tokh's voice replied sharply, "Today is the end of all days. We will either die on our feet, or while facing the dusk of this world."

"That's all poetic and whatnot," I grunted, raising my comms, "But when ordered to retreat, you retreat. Dying before even seeing Ignis is stupid."

"Plus," Oleg chuckled, "We aren't losing it yet."

It was then that the first of our airplanes took to the skies. For now, they were only circling behind the line of our airships, letting us thin out the horde's flying variants, giving our squadrons time to form up.

"Fighter squadrons from 1 through 10 are airborne," Oleg reported, waiting for my next order.

"Keep them as such." I mused, thinking, "We are going to spread out! Ships, take up a spearhead formation around the Camelot! As for the planes, Oleg, order them to protect the airships. We will hold the line; don't venture out yet. We will need them when Ignis comes and to force that bastardly dragon to the ground..."

"Acknowledged," He answered, and I heard him sigh a little, "This will be a long day... isn't it?"

"Most likely," I shrugged, "I just hope we will be able to keep going because I'm afraid these beasts don't require as much sleep as we do."