Steel and Mana

Chapter 556 – Ignis (6)

Ignis didn’t hesitate after I managed to make her anger rise, and the moment she finished screaming bloody murder into my skull, her ashy wings snapped, propelling her straight toward us, the Camelot, the most dangerous enemy she identified. Haaah... let's do this then...

“Kustov!” Sasha yelled, already bracing herself for a possible impact, “Pull us left, give us an angle to—”

"Too late," I muttered, catching the feeling and seeing the magic gathering in her. I mean... the light of it, because I could not detect runes or a formation, but I knew it was in her, in her body, bones, blood, just like the Vasas. Even then, without seeing it, I still felt it.

“Brace!” I shouted, grabbing the armrests, not even blinking.

"That's fire..." Sasha muttered, then raised her hand, determined to do something about it.

When the spell Ignis had cooked up left that massive maw of hers, the thing she called a mouth, a beam of molten-white line of fire erupted from her throat, whistling and screaming across the sky and crashing into the Camelot’s barrier like a sunrise witnessed from the first row.

But I knew we were unharmed for two reasons. Yes, my airship shuddered as if we’d been struck by a hammer, and we were being thrown back and forth as if we were in a tiny dinghy on a big ocean... But I had the two best mages for the occasion, here on the ship. For one, my wife had managed to summon her own fire, right before it would have hit us, and if there is a prime example of how to fight fire with fire, this was it. Her own flames, albeit smaller, thinner, and less intense, were still like the front end of an icebreaker, splitting Ignis's fire. Of course, this was not all, because hers was still weaker than a dragon's breath, but its interference was precisely what we needed for our shields to shrug off the rest.

“I have it.”

Merlin said through the comms as he came through at a clutch moment... I knew I could count on my people because, unlike Ignis, I am not alone right now. As our ship stabilized, consumed by her fire yet remaining unhurt, I just hoped our planes had enough time to dodge and not get burned by the spell. The moment it finished, and we reappeared, unhurt, smoke curled off the barrier that flickered around us, but it held up until the end... When Merlin spoke again, I could hear from his voice how his forehead probably glistened from sweat, and how his shoulders trembled a little.

“Do not—” he grunted through clenched teeth, “—let her do that again.”

"Agreed..." Sasha groaned just the same, panting, holding onto a console she was standing by, straightening herself by force.

“Let's bite back,” I muttered, unable to promise them she won't get a second shot at us.

I could feel the dragon's utter surprise that we were still in the air. She for sure thought that even if her spell would not kill us, at least we would be injured, maybe go down, but no... Nothing. So, while she was reeling from the realization that we were fine, I fired our primary weapon again.

"Let me!" I heard Mikan's voice through the comms, and by the time I pressed the activation, the ship shuddered, more than usual. Immediately, I could tell that she used her knowledge to amplify it even more. It was she who made it in the first place...

When the blast left our ship, it was going at the speed of light, not even Ignis having a chance to react to it. It was a proper blow, landing on its massive body, resulting in something that I could only call a bodily explosion. It made something, I guess mostly her magic, react under her skin because part of her chest, along where her right front limbs were at, was blown outwards. From the inside... I saw chunks of blood, fire, and scales fly outwards like shrapnel, causing the bastard to scream in pain, trash in the sky, utterly bewildered that we actually hurt her.

"You made her bleed..." Sa'Ith inhaled, and I could hear her shock, something she didn't believe was possible.

"We are trying to kill her, did you forget that?!" I yelled, because now Ignis was... actually angry.

I saw how her head snapped toward us... Then the Eagle’s Nest, the Stormbringer, the Punisher, and finally at the Knight's Errand... She was thinking what if they could do the same...

“Shit—!” I cursed, "All ships! Disperse! Break formation at once!"

But we were slower than she was as four beams split from her maw, each a different color, each screaming toward one of our airships. She wasn’t attacking them in sequence, as she managed to let it loose to hit them simultaneously, probably at full power, with no restraints.

But there were some people who were quicker and readier than we were. I only blinked for a moment, but by then Sa'Ith was gone from inside the bridge, and before I could ask what happened, she and the rest of the Vasa Elders had appeared above the airships...

I couldn't really tell what they were doing, but then our shieldings got reinforced, and when Ignis’s beams struck us, it made us rattle once again, forcing me to hold onto my chair to not fall out. But... it didn't go through, which was the most important part. When the beams landed, the entire sky lit up red, blue, yellow, and green for a brief moment, followed by four massive detonations that erupted around all of our airships, shockwaves rolling through the air and land below us... When the light dissipated, I could swear I felt another ripple, but a different kind...

“That was close,” Kustov muttered, wiping her forehead even though he hadn’t physically exerted himself at all.

“Close?” I wheezed. “If Sa'Ith and the rest hadn’t reinforced us...”

Just as I said that, Sa'Ith reappeared, staggering, collapsing to her knees, and vomiting a good amount of blood onto the floor, and watching it splatter, I could swear it had chunks of her organs in it.

"Sa'Ith!" Sasha yelled, unexpectedly appearing next to her, helping her up.

“It's fine,” she said forcefully, “We do what we must... She must... die...” she groaned, and when I looked around, I could tell, I could feel that not every elder was alive anymore.

“Yes,” I told her, nodding my head, "She will be defeated."

"You made her bleed." Her lips curled into a bloody smile, quite literally, “I have faith in you... Sovereign...”

As for Ignis, the bastard was huffing and puffing, watching the airships realign their positions, albeit still a bit rattled. But it didn't matter as they were once again firing their cannons at her, causing her anger to rise even more. Once again... another failure. How could she fail so many times? She just couldn't conceive the idea.

“She’s coming again,” Merlin warned us, his voice strained a little, “And I'm afraid that she won’t use magic this time.”

“Meaning…?” Kustov asked, wanting to prepare for impact, knowing the answer before Merlin spoke it out loudly.

“She’ll hit us physically.”

"I agree," I blinked my eyes, focusing on Ignis, “She’s going to ram us! Merlin?” I asked while the bridge lurched as Kustov swore, preparing evasive maneuvers.

"I don't know... I will try." He answered nonetheless.

"That's all we can do." I agreed, preparing for another shot from our main weapon, even though I was worried about what it would mean for our output towards the shields.

“Sovereign! She’s accelerating! She’s coming straight at us!” Kustov reported just as Ignis folded her wings, doing precisely what Merlin was expecting.

“Everyone brace—!” I spoke up, but then again... We weren't alone.

"We got this, Dad!" Arthur spoke suddenly, not through the comms, but I could hear his voice in my head, and I think Sasha and Sa'Ith did too. "Wasn't I supposed to be the Savior?" He chuckled, and before I could say anything, I was sure that more than just his own mind suddenly joined up with his lead.

Just like before, when I sensed the connection, my own, well... my own soul resonated with it. I could sense Kiva, then Lucca... then the minds of the Subjugators, their pilots.... It was as if their thoughts came into one, like an invisible fist, as all of them struck Ignis at once. I could sense, once again, how shocked Ignis was as a new collective of minds intruded into her own, without her actually being able to detect it in time.

"Good..." I heard a faint whisper, and I could swear it was Zah'Rail... or... did I simply imagine it? I couldn't say... because it was gone the moment I heard it.

Whatever it was, though, Arthur's strike hit home for real. I watched as Ignis's body jerked mid-flight as if someone had driven a spear into its brain... Good indeed! Get shocked...! Of course, she retaliated, and somehow, I was dragged into it, just like when Zah'Ratil tried to contact my son. I didn't fight the feeling... If I can shield Arthur with my consciousness... Even better.

It was a weird feeling when Ignis’s mind collided with both of us, the subjugators and... Hm... No. It seems she only rammed into my mind. I expected pain or disorientation, something, but... Nothing, really. Not even a headache.

WHAT—?!

Oh? That thought was very primal-feeling. Heh... Hey there, Lizzy Lizzard the Lizardest!

“You—” Ignis choked, her mental voice breaking apart. “YOU—YOU CAN’T—YOU CAN’T—GET OUT!”

"Sorry," I answered, giggling to myself, "I can't control this. It just... happens. Well, now that it happened, though, let's make more things happen, shall we? I guess it also means that your mind is inferior to mine. What to do... what to do...?"

“What is this…?” she gasped mentally, her thoughts spiraling like a panicked animal all of a sudden. “What are you DOING to me?! HOW—?!”

"I told you, I don't know!" I shrugged, opening my arms, facing a big nothing, but I could tell that it was her consciousness, while behind me I could feel Arthur and the others, still pushing back against hers... Yes... They were cutting off the control she had over the horde. They just needed more time, and for her not to be able to focus on them. "Ah! Yes... If we are already here... Do you want to know something... fun?"

"WHAT?!" She yelled at me and well... I guess she doesn't have a photographic memory. I do.

With a childlike grin, I decided to share some of my memories with her. Starting with diagrams... machining plans, manuals, and descriptions of how to field-repair specific tank models. All from my previous life. When I was done with that, I began sharing other memories, books I read, recipes I learned, how to make the perfect 2-minute instant noodle... the good stuff. When that ran out, I moved on to my favorite movies. I don't think she was enjoying speedrunning the extended editions, with multiple three-hour-long movies being shoved into her mind in under a second. She couldn't even understand if it was real or not, hah! It had to be disorienting. Get rekt, bitch! Here, have some walkthroughs of the most complicated quests in some obscure MMO I played! What about guides for completing a puzzle platformer?

"Hm, let's see... what else...?" I laughed, feeling myself to be almost invincible, "Do you like porn? Do you even know how human babies are made? Want to? Here, let me share some very juicy parts! I'm quite proud of my stamina, although don't tell my wives that I have shown you this."

By then, Ignis’s wings were spasming mid-air, and even though I couldn't see her, I could feel it. Her entire body jerked sideways in a way that would’ve snapped the spine of anything less outlandishly sturdy. It was followed by how she clawed at the empty sky, desperate to right herself, but...

“No… no, no—STOP!!” she shrieked at me, trying to push me out, and she was finally making me flinch... Hehehe... That's it. Struggle.

It was also what made Arthur and the rest finally cut through... Below her, the hordes of beasts began staggering, collapsing, or twitching uncontrollably as the mental command chain was broken between them. Hundreds, if not thousands, now suddenly toppled over, or just stopped moving, coming to a halt like some uncontrolled husk, while those who were only barely touched, now freed from the pressure, began scattering, running away at once.

YOU. DID. THIS!

I WILL KILL YOU FIRST!

This time, she wasn't speaking, she thought it, felt it, but oh well... I was trying to do the same to her, so... It's fair game.

"Anyway," I shrugged, trying to exert my own will on her, "I think you should fall from the sky... Did you know I once memorized a whole library? Here. Take a look..."

And before she could yell at me again... I began transmitting all the books within Ishillia's library, straight into her head, without filtering anything. If she dies from an aneurysm... even better...