***Mobile Fortress Ragnarok, Council Main Base, Higher Planes***

***Angrod***

“And I still don't like it!” I grumble while a formation of our new battleships, accompanied by two fortresses, advances towards the enemy.

Our vessels are arranged in a loose spherical formation to allow us to lend aid to each other should the need arise.

A few thousand miles to the side, multiple prototype ships from the Arcane Community are holding their relative positions at the same velocity. Asheim, the planet with Warden's Crystal City, is following both fleets, using them as shields against the Calamity's forces.

I wince at the memory of the issues which our temporary evacuation of the whole planet caused.

With a single city and a population of a few hundred thousand people, the task doesn't sound like something that should take more than a few days at the most, but given the fact that all of the inhabitants were godlike beings with egos as large as an entire solar system; let's just say that there were complications.

Warden's proposition of using Asheim as a mobile attack platform only sounded easy on paper.

There was also the issue that not all of the city's inhabitants were Chimeran citizens and therefore not as familiar with my reputation as my own subjects. Which meant that I actually had to lower myself to resolving two or three disputes personally. Thankfully, the word of my methods got around quickly after, discouraging others from getting me involved.

My eyes are drawn to another section of the tactical display, where a swarm of little ships from the Gaian Pact is trying to outmanoeuvre the Calamity's forces, which are black blobs of fiends moving as one, some of them large enough to rival our ships.

After already having seen that there are different versions of the creatures this shouldn't surprise me.

I would have never thought that as a god I would ever be forced to employ normal battle tactics like moving fleets around. Normally, it would be just a matter of using a pathway to be right in my opponent's face or on the other side of the multiverse.

Unfortunately, the entire region of space around the Calamity's bastion is so saturated with dampening fields and other teleportation-hindering effects that not even I dare to use the pathways.

At least the same seems to be the case for the Calamity. At first, the fiends seemed unhindered by our dampening fields while we had to approach the enemy slowly in the old-fashioned manner.

But as more and more of our ships showed up on the battlefield, the Calamity's surprise attacks lessened and then finally ceased. Now we have a significant advantage as long as we can stay out of the swarm.

An advantage which won't help us with the direct attack which we are planning.

“If we only had more ships...” I grumble, dissatisfied with our lack of equipment. Aside from ourselves, only the Arcane Community and the Gaian Pact have a mentionable navy. They wouldn't have had even that, if it wasn't for the fact that the original purpose of their ships was to explore Void Zones.

Admittedly, our people could just get out into space and fly towards their targets on their own, but that would cause another set of problems. Most gods aren't on the same power level as myself. They would be easy pickings for the far more numerous fiends or other kinds of attacks. As long as our people have a ship, they have a rallying point to defend and something that can function as a focus for their magic.

As I understood it, the ships from the Gaian Pact might be organic in nature, but their crews use the vessel as a gigantic ritual focus for defensive and offensive magic which makes even a group of lesser deities a mentionable force in an encounter with the Calamity's fiends.

Our other allies contributed by providing fighting forces, like Carne's empire. Sadly, they don't have any mentionable ships to join the effort.

The guys from the Arcane Community, on the other hand, have ships but not many fighters. There is also the thing that they are building their ships just out of curiosity and for the fun of it, which means that they are ending up with so many different designs that rarely two ships look the same. Their vessels are an insane mix of different forms and sizes.

“What else can we do? This is a ridiculous battle. There is no sneaking up or anything like that.” Celes comments from right next to me.

We are standing on board of the Nomad's observation platform. Arthur and Nicosar are on board the Ragnarok, while Samuel, Nix, and Tanja are watching the battle from other vessels in our fleet. Gabriel is commanding our own ship.

“You do realize that we will get very bloody noses by attacking the Calamity as we are doing right now?” I look to the side and study my wife's expression. “Head-on assaults always end badly for both sides.”

Celes nods. “That's true, but it isn't as if we haven't taken our time to investigate all options.” She pats her belly which is now flat again, making a point that we took our sweet time with organizing this attack.

Months have passed since we discovered the enemy's main base, allowing Celes to deliver the babes safely. Several worlds have fallen to the incursions of fiends, but thankfully we were able to put the outbreaks down before they became uncontrollable.

“If we can stop even greater bloodshed by causing it on a smaller scale, it's worth the price,” she explains her reasoning confidently, showing her independent side. “For whatever reason, the Calamity didn't truly utilize the Spheres which it must have in reserve. Either it can only activate a few at a time, thanks to the interference which we are running at its prison, or its capabilities are naturally limited from within the black hole, or there is some other reason or plan which we cannot comprehend yet. In any case, we shouldn't give it any more time than we absolutely have to. We should take our chances as long as we have the strength to do so.”

I nod while I wait for the formation to advance to our destination. It's quite certain that Amaru, or rather the Calamity, knows that we are intending to finish this. For months we were content with biding our time while besieging the Calamity's bastion world. Having our forces advance in the open broke the status-quo between us and the enemy.

Annoyed by the fact that there is nothing else to do but to watch, I summon my staff and grab it tightly in order to reassure myself of my determination and to have something to hold on to. Will I look back at this point in time and berate myself for having taken the wrong path?

If we fail, a few million Spheres could start generating demons. We would be fucked, unable to deal with an endless tide. I only hope that Chiffre's idea of interfering with the Calamity's signal directly at the source will work out.

“Our forward ships report encountering fiends which are trying to invade their ships. They are apparently just drifting out there in space, like mines,” a technician informs us, sounding baffled at the idea. “We don't know why we can only detect them from extremely close.”

I nod but say nothing. It isn't as if we didn't plan for anything like this in advance. Encountering some kind of minefield while closing the distance wasn't outside our predictions, even if the nature of these mines is surprising. The plan is to hold out until Warden gets close enough to start picking off the enemy's planets.

Our formations tighten to make sure that Warden's planetary body stays unmolested. The price for getting Warden close enough will have to be paid in lives.

I watch in silence while our fleet starts picking off fiends which are detected by our ships. They are too small to be seen from a distance, and so we have to rely on slowly working our way through the swarm.

It will take us about forty minutes to get close enough to the enemy's central planet for a decisive shot. Warden will start firing at the closer small planets at the five-minute mark, but we don't even get as close as that.

Four minutes after the start of the engagement, two of our ships suddenly disappear from the tactical map.

“What happened?” I straighten, requesting an answer from the personnel which is with us on the observation platform.

“Serious hull breach on both vessels. One reported a very big demon with huge claws. It cut the hulls open like paper. Then the vessels were boarded by the smaller versions. Because of the number of invaders both captains decided for the situation to be hopeless and activated the self-destruction.”

I nod. Our smaller ships have a serious problem in this type of engagement. There aren't enough crew members to fight a big boarding party. I refrain from instructing everyone to look out for those big demons. My people should know by themselves what to do.

Celes links arms with me and smiles, giving me a kiss on the cheek. “It will work out, honey. There is no reason to worry,” she comments with a bubbly tone in her voice.

“Y- yeah.” I nod, patting the back of her hand awkwardly, not bothering to tell Celes that her behaviour became a little strange in the recent months. More than once her personality switched between Myrm's confident 'No Bullshit' type of character, and Isabella's overbearing love for me. It has been a little disturbing, but I didn't have the heart to bring it up. Especially, since I know that she can't help herself.

Once in range of the out planets, Warden takes the first shot. A small red line of red energy shoots out of the Crystal City's central tower and slices into one of the enemy's orbiting planets. For a moment, nothing happens, and I am about to ask what went wrong when the planet disappears in an explosion of red energy.

The screen immediately dims down as the sensors try to filter out the radiation.

As soon as the interference is gone, it's clear that clean and complete annihilation was wrought on the opponent.

Wondering, I raise an eyebrow and note that Warden's version of my spell seemed to be a little more refined than my current one! I have to get the details for it out of Warden. If the AI's theory is correct, then this alternate personage of myself must have had a little more time to refine his magic. The machine's story was that this multiverse went through countless iterations like in some time loop. If so, I wonder what else would be lying hidden inside Warden's memory banks.

The fleet continues to advance while losing ship after ship to barely detectable flocks of the Calamity's fiends.

Then it is finally our turn and the warriors are ordered to defend the hull as the Ragnarok encounters a dense cluster of the enemy. I instruct the main-screen to give me an overview, coming quickly to the conclusion that the whole engagement looks like one big clusterfuck, and sadly, all I can do is to stay here and to watch.

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It is the fate of those who command a military battle. You make your plans, think of strategies and counter-tactics, then you lean back and wait for something unexpected to happen. Otherwise, you aren't needed anymore.

“The Ragnarok's defence was broken on Deck 3! They are trying to push the fiends out, but it looks bad!” someone from the security personnel informs us.

I switch the central screen to another scene by accessing the sensor array of another ship. The new image shows a picture of my fortress from the outside. What was once a beautiful flying fortress has now a giant scar in its side. The extent of the damage surprises me, especially since there was no indication of it through any kind of vibration.

Narrowing my eyes, I take a closer look at the inky mass of bodies which is crawling around inside the damaged section. “Those fucking things are actually scratching off our hulls bit by bit! We made it out of Mana Crystal! How is that even possible?”

I feel Celes's hand tightening around mine. “Tell them to hold on as long as they can and move the ships to cover the hole which is caused by the Ragnarok's damage.”

Suddenly, the room rocks sideways, as the Ragnarok splits apart on screen before the damaged section blows apart! “What was that! Report!”

“We don't know. There was no communication about it. We just got the information that the enemy was too close to the crystal core!” one of the officers informs me.

I form a fist with my free hand, lamenting the damage that was done to my ship. Watching the battle from the observation platform is frustrating, but if I had been on the primary command deck, I would be constantly tempted to question Gabriel's commands, and that wouldn't have made him look good.

My friend must have decided that fighting off the enemy in our current situation wasn't worth the effort, so he used the compartmentalized design of the fortress to eject and self-destruct the damaged sections. Due to their size, only our fortresses were designed like that.

My useless thoughts are suddenly interrupted as the whole observation platform bucks downwards, causing Celes and me to be slammed into the ceiling before we fall back down again, only whole thanks to our god-like constitution. A mortal would have been a smear on the wall. The whole room is thrown into disarray as people try to get back to their positions.

“Something took out our lower spell projector! We have a gaping hole there!”

I get back to my feet and help Celes up as I take a look at our time table. Eighteen minutes! There is no chance that we will make it at this rate. I have no clue how the Calamity is damaging our ships, but if this goes on, we won't have a Ragnarok left by the time Warden is done with the Calamity's bastion.

“We have detected several intruders who didn't get ejected with the rest, someone strong is fighting his way to our crystal core,” a technician warns us.

“You have to stop him.” Warden's voice drones from the speakers. “The defence can't be upheld without the help of both of our crystal fortresses. If you don't free the way, Asheim would be open to attacks! You have to hold until I am close enough!”

Warden's voice echoes through the room.

“I will go and see what I can do to defend the crystal core.” Celes stomps out of the observation platform, a group of security personnel following on her heels.

While looking at the ceiling, I wait until the door is closed behind her. Then I turn towards the main screen. “Get me a connection with the captain.”

It only takes a few moments before Gabriel's face appears on the screen. “You need something? We are really busy here. Coordinating with the rest of the fleet isn't easy after the hit we took.”

“I want you to defend the engines and the crystal core. Abandon the rest of the fortress. Break the formation and advance at full speed towards the enemy's main planet. Also, signal the retreat for everyone. They have to use a pathway as soon as they are able to.”

“Your majesty?” Sven looks concerned. “You are abandoning the ship?”

“You heard me. We won't make it at this rate.” I point at the timer which is displayed at the main screen. “We haven't even reached the twenty-minute mark and one of our most valuable assets is already almost out of commission! Sound the general retreat and get the rest of the fleet out of here.”

I stand up and leave the observation platform without looking back. Then I walk at a leisurely pace towards the control room with the fortress's crystal core, followed by second security detachment while the rest of the crew prepares to jump ship.

“What are you planning?” Warden's voice follows me.

“They will have taken the fleet apart long before we reach our destination, even with the ships from the Gaian Pact playing distraction. Get everyone out of here, Warden. This plan backfired on us, but I am not willing to give up yet.” I turn around a corner.

“That wasn't my question,” the machine insists.

“Try to take it easy, Warden. You almost sound pissed off. I will just attempt a little experiment before I lose this fortress.” I smile as I enter the core's control room.

Celes is already there with a good amount of other defenders. They started setting up a barrier in order to delay the enemy. She is looking with expectant eyes at a door which leads in the direction of the fortress' surface.

I am about to address her when something hits the door from the other side, causing a few cracks to appear.

“Is this a bad horror movie?” I ask her jovially with a slight smirk on my face.

Celes just shakes her head and rolls her eyes while I walk towards the big crystal core in the centre of the room, which is essentially the fortress's heart and power supply. The crystal cores are the focus points. They provide all applications which use the crystal technology with energy.

I place my hand on the console in front of the crystal core and start giving it instructions, annoyed that Margerie's hideous security measures cost me quite some time. But then I am done.

The hologram which displays the core's status switches to red letters: '-Full Energy Conversion activated. Fail-safe deactivated. Silent Countdown started-'

“Everyone, please evacuate now. I've ensured that you can teleport out of this room, but the dampening field will turn to full power within a minute. Afterwards, you will be stuck here,” I inform the others as I turn around to face them.

“What are you doing? Who will defend the core if everyone is gone?” Celes looks at me with an awkward expression.

“Nobody. We will all retreat now.” I smile at her and place a hand on her shoulder. “In a few seconds, the field will invert shortly, giving everyone a chance to get out.”

A few seconds later, I feel her relaxing. Her defence drops, giving me all the chance I need.

A quick jab to her sternum, combined with a little spell is enough to drop her. Normally, it would be impossible to do something like that to a master of inner mana manipulation, but I know my wife's mana pattern inside out. She slept beside me for years and the feeling of her soul is even more familiar to me than those who I harvested for my experiments.

She probably didn't even notice what happened.

I catch her as she goes limp in my arms. “Sorry, sugar cat, but I can't have you fighting this one. Not when someone has to look after the kids and especially not in your state,” I whisper into her ear.

Taking her into a princess carry, I become aware of her betrayed expression, but I pay it no heed.

I stare down one of the defenders who are looking at us. “You! Take the queen and everyone else out of here. I will defend the core alone. Try not to be too close to her when the healers fix her up. It will be true mayhem, and if I ever find out that she didn't get to safety, you better hide on the Infernal Planes under some rock and hope that I will never find you, which I would, as soon as I reincarnate.”

The guard swallows visibly and takes Celes.

As soon as our inhibition field emitter inverts, the guards enter a pathway with my unconscious wife to get out of the ship. I turn towards the door while one defender after the other disappears.

A few try to stay, but I raise my voice once more. “Get out! Fast! I don't want any hindrances locked up in here when the dampening field reactivates!”

The last of them vanishes a moment before the dampening field spins up again. Well, at least I will have nobody aside from myself on my conscience.

Another crack appears on the door and I ready myself.

Suddenly, the door shatters into thousands of shards and multiple demons storm into the room, but they are only the small versions. I don't hold back as a short chant leaves my lips and a torrent of red energy sparks forth from my outstretched hand.

The first wave of demons falls victim to my new adapted version of what I have yet to give a name. Soul Shredder would be fitting, but it sounds stupid. I will have to think of a better one in the future.

I stop channelling the spell, leaving naught but ash on the floor. Yet, I don't lower my hand, expecting a second wave to rush into the room.

But there is no second wave of monsters.

Instead, a person with a monocle steps through the blasted doorway. He is wearing something like an exoskeleton, his mien reminding me of the scholarly man who I met so long ago when I took the Crystal City from the Council.

“So, no more defenders? How boring. At least they tried to resist up until now.” His eyes fall onto me and I wave at him.

His expression brightens. “If it isn't the little king!”

“If it isn't the mad scientist,” I answer Amaru while I take a glance into the corridor behind him. It's filled to the brim with fiends. “How did you manage to get on board? I was so certain of our safety features.”

The man snorts, not falling for my attempt to stall for time. “You are quite the brave man to stay behind alone. What do you intend to do? Self-destructing the ship? You really think you can stop me with that?” Amaru gives me a devilish smile.

“No, not really. I don't think that I can stop you, but I would like to know if I can hurt you.” I point at Amaru. “The connection to your fiends isn't deep enough, but I bet you are a little more invested into this particular body.”

Amaru's expression falters with worry for a mere moment before the puppet starts smiling again. “Step aside and don't waste my time. I will join your soul to mine later.” Amaru starts walking in my direction but is stopped short by the magicial barrier which Celes and her men set up earlier. The shimmering force field springs into existence between us, causing him to bump his nose against it.

“How cute. The others tried that too.” He pokes the barrier with his finger.

I frown at his comment. “Others?”

“Nah, just an old geezer and a demon girl who looked similar to you. Their souls tasted very good!” The maniac licks over his lips, grinning.

I grab my staff tighter, knowing that he is only trying to taunt me. There is no way that the Calamity got its paws on Nicosar and Nix! I growl. “Bad luck for you then, because if you really have them, all it means is that I will have to rip their souls out of your guts.”

“Ahahahahaha! You are funny. I guess we are done talking for now!” Amaru waves his hand at my barrier and shatters it like nothing.

I immediately invoke a fury of red energy bolts, but they just bounce off of Amaru. With a step, he is in front of me and a strike wipes me off my feet.

While falling, I grab his collar and try to connect to his soul as a wild fury of elemental power starts a dance between us. He roars as I try to rip the mana and his essence out of the body. Instead, it is my mana that is rapidly sucked away! It is as if I am fighting multiple people at the same time in this duel of minds. Before I can lose my power completely, I try to kill us both by disconnecting my soul from my body and pulling him with me. It's a dirty trick, but a kick sends me flying and I land at the console before the crystal core.

“Fuck!” I spit a mouthful blood onto the floor. Something important must have broken. I can't feel my legs.

“See? You aren't even worth the effort.” Amaru starts walking towards me, but he is clearly more interested in the core. “You try that every time. It's honestly becoming boring and frustrating that I can't ultimatively defeat you, despite the incompetence of all of your reincarnations.”

Amaru hisses and wrings his hands in silent frustration. “Even when I do everything correctly and manage to eat you, it's like your soul is drawn right out of my gullet once the next iteration of the multiverse starts. Infuriating, so just stay down and get out of my way! I am going to-”

His insane rant is abprubtly ended when the crystal core starts pulsating, emitting pure, raw power and magic.

“Ahahahahaha...” I laugh at the startled Amaru.

“What are you laughing for?”

“No idea what other versions of me you are talking about, but I am obviously different. This experiment of mine has several stages. I rigged the crystal core for a direct energy conversion while Amaru's body was already inside the dampening field! Even if you start running now, you won't get out of here in time. For you to come here personally! I couldn't have wished for more! I will not only blow all these worlds to quantum dust, but I will also get another head of the monster!”

I look down and raise my palm, summoning my tome into my hand. “And I thought I might add just a little bit of spice to the mix.”

Amaru's eyes widen as the tome's seal cracks and breaks. Then the heavy binding opens, revealing madness to the world as Amaru turns, trying to run while my mad laughter follows him down the hallway through which he is trying to escape.

“I will rise again! You won't get my soul with a cheap trick like that!” His voice is carried back to me over the corridor.

The fiends follow their master in a vain attempt to escape what's coming. I don't even understand why he is trying to run. There is no way to escape from this one.

By grabbing the console, I pull myself into an upright position from where I have sunken to the floor, which is complicated by the fact that I can't feel my legs. Reaching out with my tome, I try to touch the crystal core, but my grip slips and I slide back to the ground.

“Fuck!” The core is pulsating even faster now.

Somehow, I manage to touch the tome to the pulsating crystal core at my second attempt, opening my mind to the raw power, basking in it, just like I do when I enjoy the Chaos.

This searing light and its raw power! I was foolish when I thought that I could control this, but I still try to connect to this immense pool of energy. It's pressing down on my mind like a gigantic weight.

And then the pulsing stops and there... is... just...