Steel and Mana

Chapter 189 – Shield

Within the capital, after returning home, Mirian didn't let Milan leave the confines of the palace, deciding that he would be safe only there, with her. Garbank Kustov, on the other hand, was escorted back home by the Royal Guards, giving a surprising display of power for the city that also ended up with Pascal calling for the Empress.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"I am cleaning house."

"What...?" He asked, half-serious, half-annoyed, waiting for her answer.

"Nobles are causing trouble for me, challenging the authority of the throne. They think that they are above us. Above me. I am going to show them how wrong they are."

"Don't go too far! We keep instability to a minimum because we are in a dangerous position! An uprising or unrest of nobles would result in a cascade and a loss of–"

"Territories. I know. I know full well, so what? We can take it back after we reorganized our Empire! We are Ishillia; we are not some pushover, nor are we a bunch of degenerates. Maybe the bloodline forgot that, but I am more Ishillian than any of my predecessors. I will reform this Empire to something that can stand strong for another two thousand years!"

Pascal was looking at her, thinking, his mind considering multiple possibilities, outcomes, and opportunities that Mirian's decisions may entail. He could feel her boiling anger and something that was missing from previous Emperors: ambition.

"Sometimes the forest needs to be burned down to make way for its growth." He whispered to himself, crossing his hands behind his back.

"While I was away, I realized that we are losing control over our territories, Ancestor." She began, telling a lie coated in truth, making it believable even if he was using a lie detection spell. "Our nobles are forgetting their place, who is in charge, and who gave the name to this Empire! Insubordination is rampant, and even if my predecessor did what she did because of unbridled rage, she revealed the problem that I now have to deal with."

Instead of arguing, Pascal was thinking of something entirely different. His life force was completely stuck to the capital now. There was no way he could leave it ever again, and his descendant standing before him was correct. His inability to travel made him miss the distant domains and allowed nobles to rise to such a level of power, which had never before been allowed while an Ishillian sat on the throne. "What is lost can be recovered through immense strength." The Empress of Death always said the same thing, and maybe they needed to reforge themselves in the flames of hardships to become strong once again. Perhaps that's why the Spear of Death was fidgeting... it was feeling the approaching wind of warfare and carnage. Not to mention that in war, if Mirian proves to be troublesome, it is easier to find a reason why she disappeared or where she died...

"I want an overview of your plans, Mirian. I want to go through everything before you make any moves! You are still young; you need a proper mentor."

"Thank you, Ancestor." She bowed, but Pascal asked another thing that made her stop before she could leave.

"Who healed the boy?"

"The Frontier." In the end, she answered honestly, "I remembered that the Empress of Envy has sent a priestess there."

"She did it?" Pascal flinched, his eyes lighting up, fueled by flames of greed.

"Yes."

"Make her return to the capital at once! We need all the great mages on our side."

"Don't worry, my Ancestor, the Frontier will come straight to you."

"Bah, I don't need those barbarians; I just want that priest! Understood?"

"Yes." She nodded with a smile before finally leaving. She decided to use Pascal and his connections to eliminate those who would stand against her and Avalon while also using it to better understand Pascal's strength and the reach of his influence. It was a dangerous game, but somehow, she didn't feel troubled. No. She was excited.

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"WHAT?!"

For the first time in a long time, Duke Jauwn was screaming so loud that every servant in his manor could hear him. The news he was reading was making his body sweat, making his silky clothes stick to his body as his hair began graying at a visible speed.

The news that shocked the capital was like a gut punch to him. When Empress Mirian announced that she was going to marry, it was only a simple statement, making the nobles aware that they were going to need to prepare gifts and well wishes. Then, they heard who she was choosing as her husband, sending ripples through the city.

Everyone knew the Kustov family's name, but now they were no longer dukes of a new generation but were also the in-laws of the royal bloodline! Milan Kustov, who everyone knew was the target of an assassination by the Jauwn family, was whisked away by the Empress a few days ago. People thought he died... but hearing the news, it was clear as day, the Empress had saved his life. It was a bit weird that Milan and his father disappeared for days, but now it made sense. More than that, he was about to become the Emperor of Ishillia, even if only in name. Milan would still be the one who would father future possible emperors and empresses, and what Duke Jauwn did... was akin to announcing a full-blown rebellion.

Reading the news, he wanted it to turn out to be nothing but a prank. A ploy pulled by his enemies, but it had the royal stamp at the bottom, sent out to all dukes, earls, and any family that had any kind of influence within the city. Now, he finally understood what Duke Kustov meant when they met. Was... Was it too late?

"No, it isn't..." He murmured, telling himself, scrambling to call upon everybody in his family, at least those who hadn't tried to disappear yet. "If it would be late, I would be dead already. Yes, she did this to warn me... I just need to show my sincerity and my loyalty! Show her that I didn't know! Shit... Shit!"

While Duke Jauwn was panicking, the Kustov family began moving and seizing every property in the city that belonged to their now mortal enemy. Anybody who previously had friendly relations with Duke Jauwn stepped aside, abandoning him, and just watched on from the sidelines. Some even tried to grab some of the crumbs for themselves, not expecting the Kustovs' response to be quick and heavy, killing their people on the spot.

The sudden bloodshed on the city streets enraged multiple noble families who were now calling the Kustovs for overstepping their boundaries, even if their eldest son was going to marry the Empress. Yet, the Kustov family's response was simple: They didn't say anything; they simply took what they wanted and attacked anyone who tried to step in the way or interfere with them.

Changes were happening not only in the capital city but also further away, within regions that previously belonged to Duke Jauwn. Matilda Zimmermann wasn't surprised when she received the letters informing her about her new backers. What did surprise her was that she was invited to the Frontier, a place called Avalon.

"I could send one of my sons..." She mumbled, but then she quickly shook her head, having three reasons from the start why that would be a bad idea. "Vacation it is then!"

What she didn't realize back then was that one trip would change her life forever.

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"So we are going to become more open?" Sasha asked, reading my documents detailing the future direction of Avalon and the preparation for war, which were about to be sent down to our ministers to execute.

"Yep. Now that the cat is out of the bag and we have the Empress on our side, we don't need to be that secretive. For starters, we will demonstrate our power to our neighbors. I have invited Matilda Zimmermann over, and we will welcome her with the Princess. If our neighbors begin to cause trouble, especially in the Black Region, we are going to walk in and force them to fall in line."

"Is Elliot ready?"

"We have time." I answered, "We can pin all our technology on Ishillia and tell everybody it is from the Empress."

"I still wonder if we can trust her..." she whispered, making me chuckle while I looked up at her from my drawing.

"Were you influenced by Yuri?"

"Mikan. She knows more about the capital city." She smiled, walking next to me, leaning in, and kissing my face before glancing at my plans, "Are we going to build this? It looks like a zeppelin."

"I'm glad you remembered, ahaha! Yep! I took that design and modified it a little. This one is going to be massive and utilize multiple anti-gravity spells so it can stay in the air. We are still going to need to deal with the propulsion problem..."

"Hmmm, it is big." She whispered, dragging her fingers along the rough measurements I had written down. "This is going to be like a flying fortress."

"It is. It will also be capable of transporting six mechs at once... I hope. For now, I am only doing concepts until Merlin figures out how to rework the ship's engine so as not to require human sacrifice; we can move on and finalize the plans afterward. What about your work?"

"I should be finished in the next day or so." She replied, tilting her head, thinking about it. "The attacking spells are way too complex; I need time to deconstruct them. As for what I will do with them, I can't tell yet. I will need to try and get a feel for it after I'm done and see if it clicks!"

"I trust you; fire is your specialty!" I added with a giggle, pulling her into my lap. "The following years are going to be turbulent... so this winter will be important. We are not only going to defend the Pass, but we are also going to use it to test our army's ability to work together. Artillery, soldiers, and mechs. All components are coming together as one army."

"How many people will Elliot send over?"

"Five thousand. This time around, we will occupy the land before the Wall and baptize the army. War is brutal, and if our forces fail, do it early and do it now... not when we march against the capital city."

She was about to open her mouth to say something when a knock interrupted us, and Mikan entered the room. Her eyes were a bit saggy, black bags becoming visible under them, while her fingers were clutching a rolled-up parchment. I knew she was working on something, but I didn't realize she was doing it night and day!

"I did it!" She exclaimed, coming in, her face full of excitement and eagerness.

"What is it?" We asked in tandem, curious, watching as she rolled the paper out, showing us a magic formation on it, one that was detailed and complete enough to be considered a finished work, ready to be applied in live testing. "Wait... is this?" I gawked, recognizing parts of it but I wanted to hear it from her.

"It is the shield spell the flying ships use! I was studying your recreation, Leon, and it clicked in my head! The shields... They are using the shipslaves' magic and life energy to operate. In essence, a ship's shield is as strong as the amount of slaves it has and how strong they were in life. I managed to break it down, and I think I understood what the old Emperor of Magic did!"

"What do you mean?" Sasha asked, her voice filled with wonder. She had already stood up and patted Mikan's hands, pulling her into a chair to sit and relax.

"He was confident in his powers and abilities, so he designed the spell in a way that would resonate with his powers. I found clues within, which remain of a design that was made so that when a spell hits the shields, part of it would be deflected while another part absorbed, powering the CC within the vessel and recharging it!"

"Wait, are you saying that originally, the spells of those ships would refuel the vessels the more hits they took? That old insane bastard!" I laughed, thinking that old Merlin was still Merlin, alright.

"Not entirely. It had a threshold!" Mikan continued, wanting to explain it in one breath, "Anything below the Emperor of Magic's powers, his proficiency, would be trivial for him to deconstruct and absorb. Those would be channeled for his own use, either reflecting it or using it to power the ship! Spells on par with his strength or above would be the ones that could threaten and break the shields. Anyway, I managed to go from there and work this one out! It is not perfect, but... I think it would be useful."

I bet... just by looking at it, this was something as complex-looking as the one that appeared behind her body when Mikki-2 dragged my soul back from the brink of death. Heh... And the Empire threw her away. I should thank them.

"It's..." She continued, licking her lips, "I made it so that it would connect with the machine's core. It is a beast's CC, no? It was once part of an organism, so it has all the strange properties that fit the Emperor of Magic's designs! It could... work."

"Wait!" I exhaled, my mouth opening in surprise, "Are you saying that, for example, putting this on the Lion would mean that it could withstand a spell, like that monster's icy breath?"

"In theory... yes. But I am not sure! There could be problems with it! Hauh... The theory is different from actual testings."

"Holy hell..." I exhaled, blinking my eyes in rapid succession, "My dear, you may just turn our army invincible against conventional weapons..."