The Storm King

From above the clouds of his storm, Leon watched the groups of arks patrol around his valley. The great war machines plowed through sheets of rain as easily as they plied the waves and depths of the ocean. Pulses of magic frequently emanated from the arks that were powerful enough to visibly shake the torrential downpour around them as they maintained a vigilant watch for any more potential ambushes.

A certain amount of pride was fostered in Leon’s heart at seeing his enemy respond to his tactics, even if it was dwarfed by his anger and outrage that they were present around his valley at all, killing his people and attempting to run him off from his new chosen home.

After a day spent watching the arks, he’d seen through their strategy. The magic pulses were irregular so that they couldn’t be tracked and exploited, while the patrols consisted of two to four arks depending on size and role. The arks had even spread themselves out more evenly instead of focusing solely on the southern and northern passes.

While they were smart adaptations, Leon still identified weaknesses in their siege strategy.

The greater presence in the west came at the expense of the other cardinal directions, and the pulses the arks were sending out were focused on the land beneath them and not the sky above them. Perhaps scanning the sky was too power intensive, maybe it slipped their mind that he might be above his storm clouds given how omnipresent they were around the valley, or for all he knew, the one running the siege was just stupid. Regardless of the reason, he identified blind spots above his storm clouds and decided to exploit that blind spot to the hilt.

This time, however, he wasn’t bringing an entire company, but instead only his most powerful and trusted followers. The Jaguar, Red, Cassandra, Maia, Valeria, Anzu, Anastasios, and Eva were the extent of his combat force. If the need arose, he was even willing to summon Xaphan.

The Aurichalcum Lances and their crews, meanwhile, were being reinstalled in their towers just in case another attack came when Leon made his move. He had other ideas for what to do with those Lances, but for the moment, they were put to best use on defense duty.

Now, he glared down at his target: a patrol consisting of two frigates, a destroyer, and a light cruiser. A powerful force, but the larger patrols also meant more space between the arks—this patrol was farther away from reinforcements than the two frigates he’d previously targeted. The closest patrol to this group was another of similar size to the south, and a group made up of a carrier, two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and four frigates. That was a group he wasn’t yet willing to attack, which meant he had to make this attack short and brutal so that he had time to get back across the misty veil before his watery foes could muster a proper response.

His opening move began hours ago, as he’d started calling down silver-blue lightning all over the valley and surrounding mountains. He directed a few bolts into some of the patrolling arks, but at such a range, his ability to damage them was limited. Still, the bolts did their job in drawing attention and keeping his opponent guessing about where he would strike next.

Now, that preparation was coming to fruition; he sent a few stray bolts down in the east, waited a few minutes, and then, with Iron Pride in hand, called down such hail of lightning upon the light cruiser that its defenses were overwhelmed, and its hull cracked and began to glow red hot.

His attack was the cue for his companions to begin their own assaults, and they did so with enthusiasm.

Maia, Valeria, and Cassandra descended upon one of the frigates like goddesses of war; Maia assumed the form of a colossal ice dragon and crashed into the frigate’s prow, while Cassandra, wielding Sunlight in one hand and a star-like ball of light in the other, fell upon it and hacked and cleaved her way into the hull. Valeria, meanwhile, took a more standoffish approach, using her glaive to conjure and launch ice spikes with the force of a Lightning Lance.

The Jaguar, Anzu, and Red targeted the other frigate, laying into it with all the power at their command. The Jaguar, bearing the hammer of the Blood-Thunder Jaguar, crashed into the frigate like a meteor, and the hammer, now thoroughly embedded in the broken hull, oscillated like a tuning fork and shook armor plates from the ark’s frame. Red was quick to capitalize on the opening, tearing into the hull beneath the armor with her hind legs before turning and breathing a sizable stream of yellow-hot fire through the hole, causing catastrophic damage. Anzu, much like Valeria, stayed back and used his command over wind magic to wrench weapon emplacements out of position, preventing the frigate from attempting to fire its Lances in its defense.

Finally, Anastasios and Eva targeted the destroyer. Eva hit it like a falling star, glowing from the light magic she emitted and carving deep into the unprepared hull. At the same time, Anastasios, who’d prepared by picking up hundreds of boulders with his magic and raising them into the air, brought them down as literal meteors, crashing into the destroyer with deadly force.

The net result was that all four arks were taken by surprise and suffered heavy damage as a result. But they reacted with greater alacrity than Leon anticipated; all four activated their thrusters in a brief but powerful moment of acceleration, knocking all of Leon’s companions off their hulls and gaining some distance. Doors then opened and mages started streaming out to defend their arks.

Leon kept up his barrage on the light cruiser, trusting his companions to do the same with their targets. The mages that emerged from the light cruiser suffered mightily, with most dying outright under the power of Leon’s lightning, while some of the stronger mages who avoided direct strikes, were only grievously wounded. The light cruiser suffered most of all, as successive strikes reduced most of the ark’s weapons to molten slag, while the hull bent and broke under the pressure of Leon’s magic.

For Leon, it acted as a powerful reminder that arks ought to be used at range and robustly supported with fighters, giants, Ulta suits, war beasts, other mages, and any other means that he might have available at any given time. If a powerful mage managed to close the distance and get past the ark’s minimum firing arc, then its Lances, its primary weapon system, was useless.

The arks below had other defenses, though, including encasing themselves in shells of ice. Against him and his companions, however, such defenses amounted to little, and once again, Leon was treated to the sight of a falling frigate as Maia’s ice dragon crushed its front sections, Cassandra sliced her way through critical rear sections, and Valeria punched hole after hole through its central sections.

Only a few seconds later, the other frigate joined its wingmate, falling to the mountains below as Red’s fire liquified its hull, the Jaguar’s hammer broke and crushed everything it touched, and Anzu rendered it powerless to respond.

So inspired and determined to add another kill to the day’s work, Leon was about to redouble his assault upon the light cruiser when a magical signature to the south caught his attention.

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It seemed Terris wanted to respond personally.

When the Despot emerged from his palace ark, his aura felt like the Origin Spark above had come down to the earth, shining in all its terrible brilliance. At the same time, the wall of water behind him where all the twisted abyssal monsters the King’s Ocean had spawned swam, roiled and rippled. A moment later, a colossal serpent emerged, as thick as the southern Talon and long as a river. Its dark green scales hardly glittered in the light of Leon’s lightning, but its eyes, each three times the length of a fighter, glowed a baleful green and tracked Leon’s movements with intelligence and awareness.

The serpent roared as its tongue tasted the air, and then shot from the water with greater speed than its titanic bulk suggested. As its body came into full view, so too did its aura, and Leon identified it as a tenth-tier equivalent being, possibly on the cusp of achieving Apotheosis. Yet despite this power, Terris landed upon its smooth, scaled forehead, using it like a mount as it exchanged water for air and flew toward Leon’s intense battle as easily as it swam.

Leon shifted targets then and there while ordering his companions to retreat. Two downed frigates and a damaged destroyer and light cruiser were success enough; he didn’t want to risk any of his people. With Terris’ aura dominating the southern horizon, no one argued, especially since he was moving quickly enough to reach them in less than a minute.

Ahead of the oncoming Despot, the rain froze into hailstones sharper than arrowheads. The Despot launched these deadly projectiles at speeds barely even possible for Leon to track, let alone someone weaker—but with lightning flowing through his veins more thickly than blood, Leon reacted in time, swinging Iron Pride and letting loose with a wave of lightning that evaporated the oncoming hail of ice.

Terris continued his assault, however, and Leon scowled, not wanting to cede any control over the sky yet also not wanting to supply the Despot with rain. In the end, his pragmatism won out, and he cut the rain off, though it would take some seconds before it cleared up.

However, as soon as he did, he felt Terris’ magic immediately war with his, causing the storm clouds above their heads to spin and whip around like the clouds of a hurricane. Leon, now covering his companions’ retreat to the misty veil, poured his all into maintaining his control of the sky, and brought bolts of lightning raining down upon Terris and the great serpent. So intently did he focus on them that he barely registered the Diluvian arks backing off to lick their wounds and not get caught up in this fight.

As Leon’s bolts struck the serpent, it screeched in pain as its scales were torn from its body and the flesh beneath was rent and burned. A moment later, however, Terris drew and raised his black ice mace and conjured a dense, opaque cloud of ice crystals that covered him and the serpent like an umbrella. Leon’s lightning entered the cloud to strike his targets, but diffused through the cloud, vaporizing much of the ice. This cloudy shield was instantly replenished by Terris’ mace, however, leaving the Despot and the serpent untouched.

Now furious and much closer to Leon, the serpent opened its enormous maw and screeched. A moment later, a jet of glowing steam shot from its throat like flames from the mouth of a dragon, and Leon, feeling the heat roiling off the steam even from his distance, shot back toward the misty veil. His people had made it, with only Anastasios and Eva pausing at the edge to wait for Leon to catch up.

Leon shot toward them, but Terris’ voice caused his pace to falter.

“Willing to strike unseen, but not willing to stand against me, coward?!”

Leon grimaced, continuing to retreat despite his momentarily slowed pace.

“I call upon you as a man, though you are not one!” Terris shouted again as Leon neared Anastasios and Eva. “FACE ME!” The Despot leaped from the head of the serpent and charged Leon under his own power, brandishing his mace in challenge. “FACE ME, MONSTER! SHOW ME THE POWER YOU CLAIM!”

“Keep going, Leon!” Eva shouted as Leon this time paused and glared over his shoulder. “Ignore the provocation!”

“DO NOT IGNORE ME!” Terris bellowed as natural lightning flashed in the chaotic clouds in the sky. “SHOW ME YOU DESERVE YOUR PLACE! SHOW ME YOU DESERVE TO STAND IN THE HALLS OF THE THUNDERBIRD FROM WHICH YOU CLAIM DESCENT!”

“You have nothing to prove to him!” Anastasios shouted as Leon turned to face the Despot, anger and a desire to take this chance to end the war once and for all warring with his logical need to retreat.

“STAND AGAINST ME!” Terris challenged again. “LET NONE INTERFERE WITH OUR DUEL!” As soon as the Despot shouted that, the titanic serpent writhed backward, giving them space, while the arks, both those damaged in this attack and those that had moved to respond and were now on approach, peeled off their direct trajectories to assume something of a spectator position.

It seemed that if there was to be a duel, they wanted to watch.

Continuing, Terris roared, “BY THE RIGHT OF COMBAT, I CHALLENGE YOU, MONSTER, UNDER THE STRICTURES OF KHOSROW’S LAW!”

From within Leon’s soul realm, the quiet voice of the Thunderbird explained, [An ancient right often used by the cowardly who cannot otherwise force a confrontation. Yet another way for Khosrow’s boot lickers to make themselves feel powerful.]

Xaphan, meanwhile, growled, [Such a challenge can’t be ignored, boy. Upon my name, I demand that you show this shit-eel the endless and everlasting glories of death by fire!]

Leon scowled, wanting to accept the duel, yet knowing that doing so would be a risk of calamitous proportions. If he were to die here and now, all he’d worked for would be for naught.

[Make your decision, Leon,] the Thunderbird soothingly intoned, while both Eva and Anastasios behind him went silent, apparently giving Leon time to consider his options.

After a few seconds of thought, Leon said to his ancestor, [I seek to claim your legacy, to assume your mantle. To be a King. What kind of King can I hope to be if I ignore this? What pride could I have after ignoring such a challenge? How can men follow me if I lack the pride to fight against someone like this?]

[He’s strong,] the Thunderbird said, sounding like she was smiling even though Leon knew she was in her natural form. [Are you willing and able to confront such strength?]

[Willing?] Leon clenched his fingers around the handle of Iron Pride and felt the reassuring presence of the Iron Needle. [Sure, I’m willing. Able? I suppose we’re about to find out…]

Leon began drifting back toward Terris even as his companions who’d already retreated into the mist suddenly reappeared, frantic fear and confusion on their faces.

“What’s happening?!” Cassandra demanded, speaking for the rest of the group.

“Something no man, King or otherwise, can ignore,” Anastasios explained with a sagely nod. “A challenge.”

“Though I hate to agree,” Eva added, “sometimes a monarch has to accept such things.”

“No he fucking doesn’t!” Cassandra shouted. “Leon! Let’s go!”

“This is too risky!” Valeria added, her normally stoic face now contorted with worry. “What will we do if…” She halted there, not even able to speak the possibility aloud.

Maia, however, voiced her opinion simply. [Kill him.]

Though he wore his face-concealing helmet, Leon turned and flashed his river nymph wife a grin that was altogether far more confident than he actually felt.

Then he turned again to face Terris and raised Iron Pride. “I accept your challenge!”

“HAHA! THOUGH I WOULD NEVER HAVE GUESSED, IT SEEMS THE MONSTER HAS SOME IDEA OF A MAN’S HONOR! COME, THEN, BEAST BIRTHED FROM THE BLACKEST EGG, AND FACE ME! LET ME SHOW YOU MANKIND’S POWER, AND WHY WE RULE, AND YOU DO NOT!”

With a swing of his mace, rain once again began to fall from the sky, offending Leon to no end. The sky was his domain, not Terris’. A swing of Iron Pride saw the rain stop, while what fell before Leon ended it parted around him and Terris like curtains.

Then Leon charged, putting all the speed of his primary element on display. He crashed into Terris, Iron Pride blazing with power, and Terris raised his black ice mace to block. Leon almost sneered as the Adamant of his blade met the ice, bolts of silver-blue lightning arcing between and around the weapons without end.

The mace, to Leon’s surprise, held firm against the power of Leon’s weapon, and the Universe Fragment within, enduring Leon’s opening move with nary a scratch.

Terris then pushed hard against Leon, knocking him off balance and sending him tumbling through the air. The Ocean Despot followed, raining blows upon Leon with the black ice mace that Leon met with Iron Pride, showing with every strike that the mace standing up to Leon’s weapon was no fluke.

“HERE YOU MEET YOUR END, BEAST!” Terris roared for all their watching followers to hear. “HERE, YOUR ARROGANCE IN STANDING AGAINST THE MIGHTY SEAS RECEIVES DUE PUNISHMENT!”