The Sigma laws were enacted by the Council of Lords a few years after the first war, aiming to limit the destruction of future conflicts. Battle zones within each kingdom were then classified into sigmas, ranging from 15 to 99, with participation restricted to those below the third milestone. Notably, the distinction between a Sigma 15 and a Sigma 99 battlefield lies in the density of energy within the area and its strategic importance to the host kingdom.
Duke Arethia Corvius.
High member of the council of lords, Central Kingdom (Lutia).
Year 2267.
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Command center, Ragnarok capital.
The command room was a chamber adorned with several runic maps and charts of the Lutian continent.A golden corona hung at the center of its concrete ceiling, its luminescence casting long shadows on the faces of the gathered generals.
The thirteen generals—twelve of whom were in the Mythic class—sat around a large wooden table made from enchanted Jorgumien wood, their expressions grim and determined as they deliberated on a retaliating move against the Sunstonians, who had dared to attack the 8th sector and destroy their industries.
The actions of the Sunstonians had come very close to breaking the rules of war laid down by the Council of Lords. If they had taken even a single civilian life, the other kingdoms would have descended upon them like a pack of desert wolves. Alas, they had not.
Unfortunate. General Lucas Deaton thought, shaking his head as the Supreme General, Marcus Daystar, laid out their plans for retaliation. The calamity could have been mistaken for a mere child at first glance due to his diminutive appearance, but a second glance was sure to knock that idea off their heads.
Marcus Daystar was a calamity-class war veteran with a stellar affinity who was rumored to have fought in the previous war about 400 years ago. His piercing gaze swept over the gathered generals as he rounded up.
“This is the plan, but we must be cunning in our approach," he continued. "Our enemy is formidable, and a direct assault would be foolhardy. Instead, we shall employ scorched earth tactics to cripple them and weaken their resolve."
Several generals exchanged uneasy glances, and unsurprisingly, Cerindale Donnovan was the first to speak up in opposition. “No disrespect, Supreme, but I suggest we attack them head-on regardless of the losses we may suffer. It makes us look weak to simply fold our hands and do nothing.”
“Hold your breaches, Cerindale; no one is proposing we fold our hands and do nothing.” General Beltharum objected with a snort of disdain.
“Perhaps, but entrusting a plan of this magnitude to a group of mercenaries and degenerates isn’t any better than rolling over to die.” General Arlette argued.
“You’re right, but it’s a much wiser choice than simply attacking head-on.” Beltharum responded.
“That is true. We have fought the Sunstonians countless times and have lost every round.” General Moonlake said in a calm tone. “The entire continent is watching, and we will become a laughing stock if we lose again—which we will—if we attack them head-on.”
“But sneaking around is not the Ragnarok way.” Cerindale persisted. “Our fathers were warriors.”
A thick aura of bloodlust erupted out of the supreme, and he turned to Cerindale with a chilling glare. “You dare presume to lecture me on who our fathers were? I knew our fathers; I fought alongside them before you were even born.” His gaze swept across the gathered generals again, and Lucas had to fight the urge to flinch as it passed over him. “Our fathers were not warriors; they were mechanics with a fervent love for innovation and creation. This plan is one they would have agreed to, not the foolish loss of life that you want us to engage in.”
“I did not start this war! The king did.” Cerindale shouted back, surprisingly unaffected by the Supreme’s gaze. “If any one is responsible for a foolish loss of life, it is him who has been driven completely mad by his hatred for the Sunstonian people.”
Several chairs scraped back in anger, and Lucas shook his head in pity. Cerindale had lost three children to the war already, but to speak of the king in such a manner was terribly out of line, even if he was right.
The king was obsessed with destroying the Sunstonians, and they’d been fighting this war on and off for centuries now. At first, Lucas had been ecstatic about the war, relishing the opportunity to punish the Sunstonians for their treachery against the continent, but after almost a century of losing, he was tired.
The citizens were tired. The soldiers were tired, and after several years of bitter fighting, even Unoros and Calodan had given up, choosing instead to focus their resources on developing their respective kingdoms and fighting the curse of their oppressors.
Rather than do the same, the king had decided he would rather die than forgive the Sunstonians, and now, many years later, they stood alone, fighting an enemy many times stronger than they were.
Still, Cerindale was his friend, and he understood his grief and anger; after all, he had also lost a daughter to the war, but it would be incredibly foolish to come to his aid after such a statement.
“How dare you!” The supreme spat as the intensity of bloodlust quadrupled. “To speak against your king in such a way is the height of treason! And I assure you that the king will hear of this.”
Cerindale gulped, only now realizing the gravity of what he’d said, but he made no move to apologize, and after directing a glare at the gathered generals, he stalked out of the room.
Lucas shook his head sadly. Cerindale Donnovan was no longer a man, but a walking corpse that would be put to rest before nightfall. Lucas pushed away the sense of grief and pain that rose within him at the thought before turning his attention back to the meeting.
The meeting proceeded with the sounds of agreement echoing fervently as the Supreme laid out the plan once more. Even Lucas joined in, nodding vigorously every time the Supreme’s gaze landed on him, and before long, the meeting reached a close.
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“Good. Since we are all in agreement, how far along are the plague wraiths?” The Supreme asked, and General Moonlake hesitantly responded.
“The underground facilities have reported that the preliminary tests are done, and the wraiths are estimated to become fully functional in a week.”
“Good, then we shall attack in a week.” The supreme replied, and his gaze landed on Lucas. “General Deaton, put together a list of ‘degenerates’, and send it to me for approval; we do not have time to waste. It’s high time the Sunstonians taste the wrath of our vengeance.”
…..
After the meeting with the supreme general ended, General Lucas Deaton returned to his office and began making preparations for their retaliatory attack. The production of the wraiths was underway, and all that was left was the squad they were sending along with the infernal construct.
As thoroughly as their scientists had worked on the weapon, they’d only managed to reduce its activation time to ten minutes. After the meeting, general Lucas had met briefly with the supreme, urging him to give the scientists more time to work on the construct, but the supreme had been adamant and unyielding, and now he found himself saddled with the task of providing half a dozen individuals who would accompany the wraith and defend it for ten minutes until it activated and wrecked unfathomable destruction on Sunstonian lands.
Their actions were sure to escalate the war, but the supreme was keen on making a statement with this attack, and after Cerindale’s outburst in the meeting, Lucas had decided to keep his head down and follow orders.
The plan was to strike at the agricultural sector of Sunstone in a week, once the wraiths were ready, and since the sector was classified as a Sigma 75-99 war zone, he had to find six champions in the advanced class with affinities geared towards defense and protection.
He spent the next five hours scouring through a list of champions provided by his secretary, reading through their individual abilities and known skills, and by the time he was done, he reviewed the names of those he had chosen and nodded in satisfaction.
The first was Geneva Ryntharion, popularly known as the Witch of Selia, a mercenary of great renown with the elusive affinity of Quintessence, which granted her the ability to manipulate, control, and transform energy. Geneva was a genius runic warrior who favored the use of large-scale rituals and runic formations.
She was currently at the 89th tier, and her most notable feat was the solo protection of Seneschar, a small city at the outskirt of the fourth sector, from a horde of advanced-class beasts. Her entire skill set was geared towards area/large-scale protection and defense, which made her highly suitable for the mission.
The second person on the list was Ali Hassani, who had a void affinity and preferred to mostly keep to himself. Although Ali’s skill set was geared mainly towards offense and destruction, his affinity afforded him the ability to bypass most runic locks and restrictions, which they would need if this mission was to be a success.
He was currently at the 78th tier, which made him the lowest-tiered individual in the group, but he had shown tremendous control and capabilities in his line of work, and Lucas was hoping he would be strong enough to bypass the runic shields the Sunstonians had put in place to protect their farms. Such a breach was sure to alert the sector’s army, but they only needed to hold for ten minutes, after which the deed would be done and there would be no going back.
Just in case Ali was unable to bypass the breach, he’d added the third person, simply known as Zero, a fallen noble who had awakened the null affinity, which, while similar to Void, was vastly different.
The null affinity was purely anti-magic, and the only known skill Zero had was his null aura, which simply erased any magical attack of his choosing within a certain expandable radius. After his family had fallen from nobility, he’d estranged himself from them to become a mercenary—more of an assassin—who targeted high-profile individuals for an exorbitant amount of money.
He was currently at the 81st tier, which qualified him for the mission, but Lucas had been hesitant to add him to the list. The man had almost no renown in the kingdom, and information about his skills or abilities was nonexistent, save for his aura.
The Ministry of Awakened Affairs (MAA) had also flagged him as extremely dangerous and cunning, and as General Lucas reviewed the list, he once again contemplated removing the man and adding another, but Zero was too good at his job, and results were all that mattered in the end.
Lucas sighed as he moved to the fourth name on the list. Artemis Valerion, one of Duke Valerion’s many illegitimate children, who had left the family after graduating from the second academy a few years ago.
Just like his youngest brother, Cyrus, he’d also awakened the element of space, but if Cyrus was considered a genius, then Artemis was a monster. He had gained his first seal only hours after awakening and was so in tune with his element that he was capable of traversing the entire continent in minutes.
His most notable feat had taken place two years ago when he’d locked down space within the capital of the 5th sector and challenged his father to a duel, which he had of course lost, but the fact that he’d even lasted a minute against a mythic was astounding. But what surprised Lucas the most was that the boy had already begun touching upon his aspects before reaching the mythic class, which should have been impossible, but everything about Artemis Valerion was impossible, and Lucas doubted this mission could succeed without him.
He was currently at the 92nd tier, which made him the highest-tiered individual in the group as well as its leader and transporter. Lucas was counting on him teleporting the group out of the Sunstone Kingdom the instant things went sideways.
The fifth person in the group was Matharantha Veneirs, or, as she was popularly called, The Mirror. Currently at the 85th tier, Matharantha had awakened the concept of reflection, after which she’d suddenly been afflicted by a mental illness of unknown origins.
The illness had lasted for years, but she was now reported to be doing better. Her doctors had even gone as far as declaring her in full possession of her faculties, but Lucas was still slightly wary.
Her mental issues had put an interesting spin on the progression of her skills, with the most interesting being {Temporal reflection}, which not only reflected an attack but also the time of the attack itself, causing her attackers to experience their actions in reverse, potentially undoing their skills or causing temporal confusion.
The skill was a real brain twister, and Lucas imagined only one such as her could have come up with it. The skill was her most popular skill as she had used it with brutal efficiency during her time in the coliseum.
Just to be sure, he read through her medical reports again to ascertain that she truly was mentally stable before moving on to the last name on the list.
Uduak Goradon. She was the only elemental awakened in the group, not because he was biased, but because elemental affinities rarely lend themselves to defense, except for the element of earth.
Currently standing at the 90th tier, Uduak was the current champion of the coliseum in the advanced class. He’d chosen her because he believed she would be able to pull all the other members together and remain calm even under the pressure of the mission.
Uduak was the only person he’d met from the group, and from the conversation they’d had, he knew she was better qualified to lead the group, but he also knew that to avoid problems, the strongest was best appointed as the leader.
Satisfied with his choices, he sent the names to the command center for the supreme to approve, after which he began making preparations to house, feed, and train the group until the wraiths were ready.
After the preparations were made, Lucas began going through the list of probable opponents they might face—a list he’d gotten from his secretary, and although he knew the information wasn’t entirely accurate, it was better than having no information at all.
He spent the next few hours scouring the list and even marked out a few who seemed like direct counters to the group. His mind whirred as he tried to come up with ways to circumvent that problem, and it wasn’t until dawn the next morning that he dismissed the list and began writing a letter.
Halfway through the letter, he stopped, unable to continue, and stood up to watch the waking city below him. Just as he opened the blinds, though, his chip pinged with a message approving his selection, and Lucas sighed as he forwarded the list to his secretary and asked her to contact the champions immediately.
He turned his gaze to the condolence letter he’d been writing to the soon-widowed Aliya Donnovan and sighed. “And so it begins.