“What in the Nether happened!” Jebuthar shouted, standing alone in his command room.

He and Narazoth reviewed their memories and the memories of the handful of automatons who had escaped. He had expected something to do with gravitonium, judging by his other run-ins with the giganotos. But that moment, their roars had almost reversed Narazoth’s mind-molding of the saurian souls. At the very least it had brought repressed instincts to the surface.

The gravitonium cannonballs uselessness proved his suspicions. It must be the spines on their backs. The Nether-bound beasts had normalizing gravitonium growing from them . How could that be? Gravitonium had to be mined, mixed, forged, how does a beast of flesh do it alone? Not even Beadoróf had known, and he was a historian specializing in the north. Despite the torture getting Beadoróf to make Jebuthar his life master, Jebuthar believed the man still kept secrets. And his gamble to capture Omrai and Revin had ended with Beadoróf actually getting rescued.

Jebuthar shrugged. Complaining about reality doesn’t change it.

He turned his thoughts to Narazoth.

“We need a way to defeat them, Narazoth. They’re strong, resilient, and immune to our most powerful weapons.”

“I know, but what can we do? The prophet won’t give us the right to ordain.”

“We need to think. How did Revin master them?”

Jebuthar remembered that attempt, all those years ago, and his fight to get himself and Narazoth away from that scarred one. They’d almost died. He hadn’t had a chance to try since, but he had doubted Narazoth could succeed now. The giganotos intelligence bordered on sentience, and fully sentient beings were impossible to master through Mastery, unfortunately.

We need a plan for stopping him next time.

“Jebuthar?” Lemri’s voice said, pulling him out of his thoughts. Jebuthar snapped his head in her direction.

“What is it?”

“Most of the ruling families have been taken into custody on the isle of Volisna.”

“Finally,” Jebuthar said with a smile “and you are sending Almerians to rule in their place?”

“We are… as you ordered.”

He could sense the hesitancy in her voice. He sighed. “What is it, Lemri?”

“It’s just, we’re scientists, not bureaucrats nor warriors.”

“Some of your men fight very well,” Jebuthar said.

“Yes, but most of that is due to learning from you. I don’t know about us ruling nations.”

“It’s only a temporary agreement,” Jebuthar said, “To be honest, the nations will be easier to control if I place natives as territorial governors. But right now…” Jebuthar firmed his jaw, “This change is going to hard for them. I want it to be hard, I want them to remember this day. That I changed everything. I am the one you’ve been searching for, Lemri. I will bring peace to this world. I just need your people to follow my orders.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“We will do all you say, thank you for letting me express my concerns.” She bowed.

“And also, know this,” Jebuthar said as she lifted her head back up, “Your counsel is heeded, and your concerns are duly noted.”

Lemri nodded. Then she smiled. “Also, the volunteers are ready for the transformation.”

An idea took root in Jebuthar’s head. He smiled. “That’s how we’ll do it! Now, you’ve only picked men willing to face the risks? To live that kind of life forever?”

“Yes,” she said, “Some are even eager.”

“Good. Revin has some new allies, and a smarter breed of automaton will be necessary to use against them. Our prototype was… moderately successful.”

“Against the giganotos?”

Jebuthar nodded. “But only due to having human intelligence. The saurian core was just as frightened as the rest. To make matters worse, however, the giganotos are resistant to gravitonium.”

Lemri cocked her head. “How is that?”

“Normalizing gravitonium grows out of their backs. ”

Lemri’s eyes widened.

“Then we’re going to need as many volunteers as we can get,” she said, “I will begin production immediately.”

With an affirming nod from Jebuthar she left.

“But Revin has a ship,” Narazoth thought to Jebuthar, “And Omrai will be gathering his forces.”

“He can’t use the ship to transport them,” Jebuthar thought back, “Omrai’s army can only move as fast as the giganotos.”

“How will we beat them?”

Jebuthar took count of his armies. They were spread thin. Far, far too thin. And still, Alrin Henrir refused to give in. Refused to hand over the power to ordain. Only half the monks he’d captured had sworn him an oath, and only half of those added much more than a handful to Jebuthar and Narazoth’s capacity. He needed the ability to ordain true believers. Almerian acolytes who thought of Jebuthar as their chosen one . The unity of mind would be great, and he wouldn’t have to use them as extra brain power. How many timid monks was one faithful zealot worth?

Of course, Alrin Henrir wasn’t the only monk with the ability to grant ordaining rights.

I need a new plan…

An idea struck him. A delightful and terrible idea. No need to be stretched thin anymore. He needed those monks.

“Mareleh,” Jebuthar said.

One of his scribes approached from her desk off to the side. She spent most of her time documenting the war and Jebuthar’s day-to-day, as well as sending messages.

“Yes?”

“Tell our northern allies to bring their ships to the northern shores of Ateya, right north of the highest peaks of the Hishidor mountains.”

She nodded and scribbled notes.

He reviewed a map of Ateya. Directly between him and those mountains was the capital of Ateya itself. He smiled.

He could make one stop on the way.