February 28th, Year 021 Angels Descent
Daniel was on guard duty with Krel the Fist guarding the walls of the Octogram overlooking the nearby port. It was an incredibly dull job with little to do, and he often wished for something interesting to occur so he could actually gain battle honours. Exhaling a deep sigh, he paused mid-step and leant against the battlement.
“Daniel, we must be efficient in the execution of our task. Slacking off will bring dishonour,” Krel said, looking at Daniel with a frustrated look.
“Please, this is the Octogram; any invasion will come from the west. Only an idiot would try to land here first.”
“Whether that is true or not, we must obey our orders to the letter,” Krel replied, puffing his heavily muscled chest in pride.
Daniel had to restrain another sigh. Orcs were typically very literal and made for great soldiers, but they lacked flexibility and were often paired with another race when on patrol. Especially as part of their duty included enforcing the law. One too many times had he seen Krel try to arrest children for assault when they were playing fighting with their friends.
“We need to take breaks, Krel,” Daniel said, gesturing out to the foggy bay. “With this weather right now, if we keep a fast pace, we may miss some minor clue as to movement,” Daniel explained. He knew he was speaking out of his ass and just wanted a short sit down, but he knew Krel would accept this logic.
“Most intriguing. I must thank you for this insight,” Krel said, thumping a fist to his chest in salute.
“Yes, it is nothing too much to praise for Krel. Personally, I would want to fight in a battle and gain some real praise and honour,” Daniel replied as he leaned on his elbows against the battlement while Krel leaned against it to his side.
“Battle honours are glorious,” Krel said, clenching his fist. “But a true warrior should wish for peace.”
“I know, and I don’t want the innocent to die. But with Crozonia still recovering from that Hero the Holy Continent sent, there are a lot of rumours an invasion fleet has been built.”
“I see the old adage comes to mind,” Krel said with a nod. “Hope for peace but plan for war.”
“Though I imagine we won’t need to prepare too much, the officer core are all monsters, especially that new one… you know the human?” Krel nodded in confirmation.
“She is a terrifying force. Krel would choose retreat rather than confrontation.”
“How very practical,” Daniel replied with a smirk.
“Well, at least we can take comfort in that our forces might not outnumber theirs; we certainly outclass theirs,” Daniel said, giving a short arm flex.
“Yes, Krel understands even our base soldiers are worth ten of theirs.”
“Ten? Hah, they’ll need more now we’ve had a few decades since the last crusade. Our men are stronger than ever.”
“Don’t Lord Lust and Pride keep them from even trying to declare war?” Krel asked.
“That’s what I heard. They aren’t letting them get any Casus Beli.”
The pair of soldiers chuckled at this that the land of outcasts and exiles followed diplomatic procedure better than those who exiled them. Not a surprise considering. But this land was theirs, and it was the result of their ancestors' hard work. They wouldn’t let an outsider have it without a fight.
Their laughter was interrupted by a loud and resounding thud. Like someone had struck a ground drum in the distance. Not long after, another thump went out. Looking at a barrel near where they were standing, they could see the water ripple with each thud. It wasn’t their imagination.
Looking out over the bay, Daniel felt his blood freeze as the silhouettes of what looked like a forest began growing in density within the fog. What was scarier was the behemoth moving in front of the forest. It was a genuinely giant humanoid form. Watching in horror, they could see it put its foot down in a step only to feel the thud.
They now understood that the thudding they had started to feel was this monster walking. Krel wasted no time upon seeing this to rush to the nearest ALarm bell and begin ringing it. Soon more and more alarm bells began being rung, alerting the entire fortress city that an enemy had been sighted.
“Rejoice, Daniel, you will now have a chance to gain battle honours,” Krel said, slapping the soldier, who was now paralysed with fear. Silently moving through the waters below was a vast fleet. Bigger than he had ever seen before.
Amongst the ships' numbers was a giant armoured figure that was dragging several ships itself, and Daniel even swore he could see a writhing mass of tentacles and mouths around a few of the ships.
More and more soldiers began showing up on the wall as every barracks began mobilising their troops. Lord Envy himself had come to the battlements to observe what must’ve been the biggest invasion attempt in centuries.
“Listen up, men, we will not falter. We are the true fist of the continent. We are their shield!!! WE WILL DIE SO OUR LOVED ONES CAN LIVE!!!” Envy’s roar or triumph was joined by every soldier, and slowly but surely, the roar grew in volume as it spread across the city. Soon thousands of voices were joined together in a triumphant roar.
“Don’t worry, men, I am here, and I will not… is that a dragon?” Envy began before pausing as he looked down. The troops around him all followed his line of sight and spotted a dragon lying across two ships that had their masts torn off.
“Why is a dragon working with the theocracy?” Envy muttered. “Amelia!!!” A blur of movement shot through the streets below up the stairs and stopped right in front of Envy.
“I’m here, you old fart!” the new human officer answered with a sloppy salute. A number of the more official officers and orcs barely restrained their disdain for this freewheeling human who ignored their honoured traditions.
“I want you to scout ahead and check the fleet out. Giver me a rough number of the troop numbers and return here and report,” Envy said, seemingly too exhausted with Amelia to deal with her flippancy.
“Sure thing, boss!” Amelia said, giving a big salute as she peered over the battlements at the fleet.
“Sithy? Amelia muttered.
“Sithy?” Envy repeated.
“Yeah, he’s one of my baby bro's best friends,” Amelia replied.
“You can see him? Where?!!” one of the officers demanded.
“Surprised you can’t see him? He’s lying across two ships,” Amelia explained, pointing out the dragon.
“So the dragon is a known entity? What class is he?!!” the officer demanded.
“I dunno; last I heard, he reached ancient class.”
Every officer paled at those words. The ancient class was enough to burn a nation to cinders. The first great ruler of the Dark Continent that caused the creation of the Shadow Empire was an Ancient Dragon. This was a beast beyond any chance for them to beat.
“How did the Theocracy get an ancient dragon?” Envy muttered.
“Oh hey, look, it’s fluffy,” Amelia said, gesturing to the writhing mass of tentacles and mouths.
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“Fluffy?” Envy repeated, looking older and older the more Amelia said.
“Yeah, my baby bro’s familiar. It became an elder god somehow. He sent me a winter's gifting card last year with a picture of him with her.”
“I am hesitant to ask this but do you recognise any more of your brother's allies?” Envy asked.
“Well, that big suit looks like Yuukiko’s work,” Amelia replied, gesturing to the still, slowly stomping behemoth.
“So your brother is attacking us. Well, ok, at least we know the enemy. Tell us about him.”
“Well, boss. He was kidnapped by that bastard Sloth and made to learn magic from him.”
“Wait, he is the human apprentice Sloth took?!! YOU’RE THE BROTHER OF SLOTH’S APPRENTICE?!!!” an officer shouted.
“Well, hello, Mimi,” a voice from above them said with a cheery tone. Everyone could see a figure cloaked in dark robes, looking like death personified, standing in the air above them.
“I AIN’T DYING WITHOUT A FIGHT!!!” Mimi shouted, holding up her fists.
“I know that; you always declared you’d join the valkyries,” the figure replied as the necrosmoke cloak dissipated.
“Alex?”
“Hey, Mimi. I brought a gift to sell to Lord Envy over there,” Alex replied with a little wave.
“Gift?!” Envy repeated with a furious tone. “You have brought an invasion to my doorstep and call it a gift?!!!”
“I brought the invasion fleet. Not the invasion troops. I kind of stole their entire fleet with all the resources they had stockpiled,” Alex casually replied.
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March 3rd, Year 021 Angels Descent
Alex, Yuu and Sithy had been called to the castle at the centre of the Octogram. They had spent the past few days under house arrest as they tried to decide what to do with them. The Dark Lady Crozonia had even been contacted and, despite her injuries, had taken the journey to the Octogram.
Walking into the throne room where Crozonia was sitting, looking entirely annoyed by having to do this. Around her were a lot of the military top brass. Stood on either side of her were Envy and her Vizier.
“Hi!” Alex opened the conversation by giving a big wave.
“Hello?” Crozonia replied, looking perplexed. “Do you know why we called you here?”
“Yes, we got you a nice-looking fleet, and you need to decide on how much to pay us,” Alex replied.
“SUCH INSOLENCE!!!” A general roared as he picked up his battle axe.
“My Lady, allow me to separate his head from his shoulders and-” The general collapsed to the floor before he could finish the sentence as Mimi stood over him, pure murder on her face.
“You want to do what to my brother?!”
“Now calm down, Amelia, he didn’t mean anything by it,” Envy said, calming down the seething Mimi.
“My Lady, we, through information channels we have access to, discovered the location of an invasion fleet the theocracy was building. We had planned to sabotage it, but certain circumstances enabled us to better manouver and steal the fleet for our own use,” Alex explained.
“I am still recovering from their hero, so their threat was true. But this will, if anything, incite them to declare war sooner,” Crozonia replied as she rubbed her temples.
“My lady, the circumstances I was referencing was me, and my companion Yuu here consumed some alcohol.”
“Yes, I heard you are still under the influence of it.”
“Yes, and we can see all our memories from the day of our birth to our death. A lot are blurry, but we saw how we did this,” Yuu explained.
“So you took it upon yourselves to steal an invasion fleet?” a general asked. “Without approval nor any input from us? Does the chain of command mean nothing to you brats?!”
“Sir, with all due respect, me and Yuu aren’t military personnel. We aren’t even under your command. What we partook in was privateering. We have documents that Sloth approved granting us the right to commit such acts.”
“The Gramps approved a privateering contract for a region with no sea access?”
“You know how he is, ma’am,” Alex replied. Crozonia nodded, presuming Sloth had just rubber-stamped documents without reading them to be rid of a distraction.
“Do you have any evidence for this full-access memory?” Alex nodded to Crozonia’s lesson.
“If I am permitted, I will whisper something highly confidential.” Crozonia nodded, consenting to him whispering to her.
“My Lady, I must protest. Do you not recall when you first met him, and he blatantly tried to assassinate you?” the chief of the royal guard asked.
“Calm down; he did that to show our openings. Now Alexander, tell me this secret.”
Obliging, Alex approached Crozonia and began to whisper. Crozonia occasionally nodded, only for all colour to drain from her face. With a swift strike, she punched Alex in the chest and sent him flying backwards into the waiting arms of Sithy.
“Everyone but them and my vizier, leave the room!!!” Crozonia ordered.
“Ma’am?” the chief royal guard asked.
“LEAVE!!!!” Crozonia roared, releasing a concentrated aura that sent cracks along the stonework of the floor. Obeying their orders, everyone began leaving the room.
“That means you too,” Crozonia said, turning to look at Mimi, who had, in the confusion, approached her and held a sword to her neck.
“You struck my brother. I don’t care if you rule us; I will kill anyone who hurts my family.”
“It’s ok, Mimi… Elissa punches harder than her,” Alex said with a wheeze as he coughed up some blood. Mimi hesitated, glancing at her brother before relenting to his lead and leaving the room.
“Ok, tell me, how do you know that?”
“It becomes public knowledge in a few years. That your assassination was all a ploy to get your workload lessened.”
“Not that…. I meant the other thing… Only Dark Lords linked to the Ebony Thrones soul gem know what you told me…. Depending on how you respond, I will have to eradicate your soul.”
“I have already told you the booze. I have access to all my memories, even future ones. I will one day annoyingly sit on that dammed throne.”
Crozonia looked at Alex with a searching gaze, trying to look deeper and determine whether he was lying. Only to exhale a deep sigh and collapse back into her seat.
“What am I going to do?” Crozonia lamented.
“My Lady… we have received a few messages from the Theocracy demanding we return their fleet. Otherwise, they will declare war with it as the reason.”
“Great, even more of a headache…. You got any suggestions, future brats?” Crozonia asked, focusing her gaze on Alex and then Yuu.
“They won’t declare war over this. They will have to announce to the world they let an entire fleet of over a hundred ships get stolen by three people from the Dark Continent. It will be a bigger blow to their reputation than they are willing to take,” Alex explained.
“Me and Alex will accept being sent to Angdrast prison as an appeasement to those bastards,” Yuu added.
“What about your dragon friend?”
“Sithy is not a citizen of this nation technically,” Alex replied, placing himself between Croznia's gaze and Sithy.
“He also is more than powerful enough to beat any pathetic attempts they will make to pursue him back home,” Yuu added.
“Very well, you will both serve three years in Angdrast prison,” Crozonia said with a wave of her hand.
“One,” Alex corrected.
“Are you dictating your sentence to her?” the vizier asked, looking shocked.
“Yes, we will serve one year in prison and help stamp out the corruption from within. Then I will serve as Gluttony for the final two years to help reverse the declining harvests.”
“How do you… no, of course, future knowledge… Very well, I will accept. Now, what about this fleet? You technically stole them as privateers, so we will be obliged to buy them unless you wish to gift them to us?” Crozonia said, looking hopeful.
“No, what we want…” Alex paused as he glanced at Sithy. “What we want is a copy of the imperial archives and library. To be given to Sithy here.” Sithy at these words practically breamed with unrestrained joy at the sheer number of books he would receive.
“Books? Is your friend a Book Wyrm?”
“Heh, kind of,” Yuu replied, laughing at the joke.
“Only books? Not gold?” Crozonia asked.
“We got enough gold and supplies in the holds. This is also why we are confident their invasion has been greatly delayed. They don’t have the funds nor the supplies, let alone the transportation for any invasion for the foreseeable future.”
“I see… very well…” Crozonia paused to pinch the bridge of her nose as if trying to force an oncoming headache down.
“We will also seize that battle suit. There is no way we can let a private citizen possess such a weapon.”
“SEE ALEX; I TOLD YOU THEY ARE COMING FOR MY SUITS!!!” Yuu shouted.
“We will add it to the imperial armoury. You two will eventually regain ownership. Thinking about it, we will need to expand its size. Hiring someone to oversee it will be a headache.”
“May I suggest Lord Sloth? He will enjoy the challenge, and you can spend extended time with your Grampa.”
“BRILLIANT!!!!” Crozonia shouted with joy. “Ok, get the guards back in to arrest these two.”