NO MAN'S LAND, BATTLEFIELD, LOWLANDS IN THE VICINITY OF THE MIGHTY ATLANTEAN EMPIRE
OCTOBER 12 FROM THE CALENDAR OF OUR EMPEROR
DYING TIME
The day of Xian Fang's reckoning with destiny had arrived. Her army roared, ready, the drums of war sounding in their ranks. However, the mage wasn't sure what to expect from all of this, because even though she had arrogantly challenged for a great battle, she didn't know what her enemy was planning. Although she had studied him carefully, she simply didn't know who she was dealing with; her rival went by the name of Cesar, like the Roman emperors. The same name was "Tsar" or "Emperor" in Slavic, "Kaiser" in German, and "Qaisar" in Arabic, but his personality was far from what a strong leader could ever be. He was quiet and shy at home, a jester, a degenerate transvestite, to say the least, perverse, lazy, a child who didn't even command in his own house, someone not even his own family respected. Such a stupid creature was the one who had challenged her the day before to send her best army against him if she wanted to survive. Xian Fang didn't really believe him, but she began to doubt if it had all been a deception when the bastard didn't die no matter what he threw at him. Surprise betrayals had been executed, proxy wars had been fought, cruel monsters had attacked him, curses had been cast, an entire city had searched for him but never found him, yet the unknown transvestite clown had remained alive and disappeared. It must be a mockery of fate that she was the guardian of the mighty ruins that the sorceress so desperately wanted.
Using her gift of clairvoyance, she searched for the nobody and found a beautiful and voluptuous girl standing atop the mountain. But Xian Fang knew her true identity; inside that girl was the soul of the degenerate who had so happily changed his body without looking back. The girl whose body was made of water looked at a clock; it seemed that the appointed hour for the war had arrived. Xian Fang, curious, continued to watch despite the distance of an entire city separating them. The perverted girl had summoned an object, a new one. Unlike the giant sword the girl had used in the past, this time a large chair had appeared in response to the summoning. A luxurious throne, a huge work of Celestial art carved from a single piece of the most precious jade ever known, the clearest symbol of a powerful emperor, was suddenly placed unprotected on some insignificant mountain, a humble chair made to the humble taste of the humble emperor.
image [https://i.imgur.com/GKqTnD1.jpg]
The lewd girl arrived and sat on it, crushing her fat buttocks with impunity, resting her head on her arm with a gesture of laziness and boredom, suggesting that all this was a waste of time, as if her battle had already been won with certainty. Xian Fang thought she would be doing the world a favor by getting rid of such an unknown nuisance and using the power of Atlantis to do something of real use with the legacy of such a wonderful civilization, as its true inhabitants wanted, and conquer the land with it.
Between the two rivals was a huge city, modern, complex and beautiful, its white and immaculate concrete walls a monument to modernity, contrasting with the huge magical circle in the sky, the magical barrier that prevented this battle from ever becoming known to the world. Xian Fang ordered her army of cruel monsters to march, the horde advancing as a single unit toward the lone present enemy, a worried observer seeing the whole panorama, the clairvoyance of the future ordering half of her army to march ahead, reserving the other half to deal with any surprises that might await them. Her rival on the other side of the valley watched as the horde approached his position each time, scornful that such vile creatures would disturb his vision with their presence. He raised his free hand and spoke his words of power.
"Walküre der Töten," the emperor proclaimed.
With a snap of his hand, a shudder rippled through the place, and the magic circle in the sky shattered into a million pieces. In its place, day turned to night, noon to midnight. A new floating island appeared behind the mountain where the Empress sat. Atlantis could be seen in all its immense splendor from afar, overshadowed only by the massive white moon behind the lost continent of legend. The face of a goddess could be seen in it, the beautiful moon goddess gracing the future battlefield where her husband would fight. The city of white and modernity fell away like foam, leaving behind a vast plain of death and mud. The no-man's-land of the Great War came into view, with trenches and barbed wire stretching for miles, a vast sea of entanglements and traps, as if an eternal war had been raging uninterrupted for centuries, engulfing a place where nothing like this had ever happened before. Millions of crosses of all sizes, from small improvised ones to monuments larger than temples, dotted the horizon. The cemetery for the fallen answered the call, a disheartening act of death to behold. The only place left untouched was the mountain where the Jade Throne rested, sheltering the crowned emperor.
The Horde's march slowed considerably, but their numbers did not diminish, more than enough for the Emperor's plan of massacre as he continued his second movement.
"The instrument of a million cannons playing its infernal music"
"The anvil that the devil hammered with wrath"
"'All hail the offensive Kaiserschlacht'"
Behind the hill with the holy throne, a sea of towers rose, each one deadly loaded with fury. At the sound of the field general's whistle, they all began to thunder, a deadly, cruel cacophony, an orchestra in honor of death. An infinity of projectiles crossed the sky, the winds began to whistle, sounds of the approaching reaper. Explosions took over the no man's land, hammered with fury to exterminate life, tearing up the earth in search of more to kill. Like the infinity of lost drops in a hurricane, each explosion of death was but an insignificant drop compared to the thousands more happening around it.
Xian Fang, horrified as half of her army was consumed in an unexpected attack, desperately tried to locate the force behind the girl sitting on the mountain throne, but her magic failed to find anything; there was no other living being on that side of the barrier except the girl on the mountain. Worried, she ordered her remaining troops to take up defensive positions; the prepared trenches were a blessing from the enemy, but such a gesture would not be without consequences. Seeing the Horde act with reason for the first time, the Emperor would be forced to go on the offensive instead. Still sitting comfortably in his seat, he ordered his next move:
"Tanks leading the way, living or dead, always ahead, fed by your fear".
"Blitzkrieg was invented to make room for them."
"7th Panzer Division,the Ghost, It's already too far away leading the way, thus earning the the famous name"
The sound of igniting engines began to roar; from hidden and advanced positions, the huge metal machines began to roll, making the ground tremble, their cannons roaring. More and more war machines began their march, gaining speed without pause, intimidating their enemies. Tanks and armored vehicles marched over the barbed wire, bypassing the trenches and firing machine guns; the Emperor's army had doubled in size without moving. The horde was attacked in its own dugouts; when the tanks couldn't find them, the foot soldiers began to take to the trenches to search and shoot, quickly taking up positions and even taking the liberty of fortifying themselves in case of a swift counterattack. Such acts were only possible through unparalleled magic; each piece moved with freedom and cunning, operating efficiently as both a military unit and as intelligent individuals. A simple illusion couldn't accomplish such a feat, and neither could monsters created by magic. It was the same reason Xian Fang had created the Horde in the first place; even their elite agents like the Arachneas had been carefully crafted with more than a dozen spells to manipulate. It was the same reason why the old mage still had human followers in the first place. How could the Emperor wield such power by simply sitting and giving orders? Had his enemy called for a real army of people? The concerned mage used her clairvoyance, which she often used to see the rival army better, to try to understand.
image [https://i.imgur.com/qoJfRMb.jpg]
The army that answered the call was in no way normal; instead of fleshly soldiers, they encountered angry, passionate spirits. They had been called to battle, perished in it, and risen to fight again. Heroes from other times and other battles had gathered to answer the call for another. Each apparition had its origin in the power of its emperor; each soldier was capable of acting as his counterpart had done in life. The brave charged first, the strategists coordinated, the officers gave orders, the snipers watched, and the ranks of reinforcements marched swiftly into battle. The army of the dead even had its own logistics and supply chains to support the war effort; each soldier gave his all for victory, each the hero of his own story. Some, those who died first, sought the redemption they had not found in life, each with an iron will forged in battle, all being watched and supported by the emperor on the Jade throne.
image [https://i.imgur.com/D0tF7Jb.jpg]
The power of the Seventh True Dragon, War, was to summon an army at will, but that didn't matter because he didn't need it.
Xian Fang had never seen it coming. Cesar had set a deadly trap, luring her into a battle she could never win. While each creature under her command was a life she could not replenish, while she was unaware of what other tricks her opponent could save. The forgotten emperor had feigned incompetence all this time, only to reveal his true face in one simple and decisive crushing move. The witch could be considered dead; at best, she had hours of life left if the undead army took its time, but they were tireless, their fury greater, their will unbreakable, unstoppable.
Without needing to be a prophet, she could see her end in the palm of her hand.
Backed into a corner, she had no choice but to make her final, desperate move. Looking at the beauty and grandeur of the continent of Atlantis, soaring majestically and shamelessly in the sky, she gave up her ambition. Now it was a matter of surviving the day of destruction. From an old and cursed safe filled with papers, ropes, and wax seals, she pulled out an ancient parchment that her travels and knowledge of magic had led her to in her younger years. Despite the ancient, lost, and unknown text in which it was written, the first letters of the same could be read clearly, to the horror of any mortal: "In the name of the Brutal Infernal Lord, the soul of the present is sold in exchange for protection," a dangerous contract whose repercussions were mysterious yet dangerous. It was clear that the time to be paid for such a thing would be literally eternal. But Xian Fang, deluding herself, thought that perhaps she would have time later to avoid the consequences of such an act. From among the dark shadows of the house emerged a new figure, an envoy of the infernal lord, an inspector of the law who had come to ensure that the signing of the contract was legitimate before lifting a single finger.
"It's good to see that after all this time you are finally thinking about the contract."
"Please sign with your blood on the line at the end."
"Be careful what you write, this document is important and special," said the ambassador reaper.
Only a moonbeam was the only light in the wizard's house, faintly illuminating the contract paper. The Moon Goddess looked directly into Xian Fang's eyes, a smile of both pride and condemnation on her face, mocking the Imperial Immortal Priestess for resorting to such a lowly practice to avoid the downfall she had brought upon herself with her unrestrained ambition. Being seen as less than others was the greatest sin against her person that Xian Fang detested, so with renewed fury, she cut off part of her palm and signed the contract with her blood. The lawyer read the paper carefully, checking its legality and admissibility in court, and after seeing the approval, he put it away in his briefcase. Then he snapped his fingers and an infernal flame consumed Xian Fang's body, transforming her from an old but still human magician into something different and cruel, a new monster born from the ashes of her old self. The new demon took on a form reminiscent of the man-eating Arachnea she had been so obsessed with in life.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
image [https://i.imgur.com/GLtP9GP.png]
The new creature was now Xian Fang, the newest commander of the infernal army. A monster with a disfigured face, the scars and smell of burnt flesh still lingering on her new body, a creature as hideous as the new army she commanded. Her mission now was to lead her army into battle and conquer the territory of Atlantis for the benefit of the Hells, a massive war bastion with which to gain another asset in the eternal struggle. The setting was ideal; the Emperor sat on his throne, the land he commanded visible in the distance, and the same enemy had used the city's magical seal to hide its summons. It was time to seize it, now that the sorcerer had a new, improved, and rejuvenated army to fight for control.
The first thing the witch called for were the assault ships; now that she knew such technology existed, she thought that perhaps by attacking from space with powerful space battleships, she could bring the Emperor to his knees in a swift celestial assault. A dozen ships made the jump, exiting hyperspace in a fraction of a second and appearing in the sky above the battlefield in an all-out assault against the enemy. But the enemy Emperor remained unfazed; perhaps even faster and more sudden than the spaceships were the anti-aircraft defenses of Atlantis, which responded to the appearances with brutal artillery fire and rays capable of quickly wearing down the shield of such magnificent engineering. It was no coincidence that the Atlantean civilization did not declare war on the heavens until they were ready. The war against the dragons only served to further strengthen such machines with the necessary advancements to face such untamed beasts; mere spaceships were nothing more than target practice. Perhaps that's why they still reserved the heavy weapons inside the floating island.
Such a reaction was unexpected for Xian Fang, who undoubtedly least expected such a crushing response from what she understood to be the ruins of an ancient and lost civilization. Nevertheless, she continued to call for more large ships to join the battle, now with the modest task of keeping the sky above the great emperor's head occupied. Looking around at her forces, she thought that perhaps the only way to win now would be with a combined operation of different armies, so she called upon the lesser demons to be the foot soldiers, the bulk of her new troops. From the vicinity of the house, red-skinned creatures with bitter voices rose and launched the attack, moving toward the front lines, advancing mercilessly. From the trenches, the Emperor's army fired their machine guns, together in a concentrated effort they protected their trenches, clinging to the territory they'd gained with greed, the Demons couldn't overwhelm the enemy, but they managed to stop the enemy's advance, forcing them to retreat to their more fortified positions, just after the tank attack, which fired ceaselessly to cover the retreat of their comrades.
Looking for the next step, the cursed magician called upon the heavy assault division. Their specialty was to break the stalemate of a battle with strength and speed. Armed with light vehicles, but with determination and courage, they would be able to maneuver behind enemy lines and attack the Emperor while his forces were busy attacking the front lines. From the few surviving paved roads, amidst machines of fire and steel, they sped at full throttle toward the head of the enemy leader. Terrible screams were their signal to charge, cursed lives eager to trample all they could.
The Emperor on his throne could sense the valiant suicide attack aimed at him, but still the Ruler remained unfazed by the new threat, instead simply calling out his next move.
"Poland broke before the guard did,"
"Baptized in fire,"
"Seventy to one,"
"When the Elite Hussars 44th arrived, from the top mountain downside."
Just like their counterparts in the war against the dragons, the brave horsemen rode downhill at full speed to attack. Their anti-tank weapons at the ready, their horses galloping in a blaze of glory. Skillfully, they slipped behind enemy light armored vehicles and fired, destroying the enemy's attack in an instant, saving them from defeat, just as in real history. The Emperor watched complicitly as his attack was executed with total precision, remembering how he had been saved in the past by such a display of bravery and sacrifice.
Answering the call for reinforcements from the Hell Fleet, a new Leviathan-class special ship arrived on its own. The flagship, Litany of Fury, made its presence known as it emerged from the rift, unaware of the true strength of the battle it was entering. It was greeted with a barrage of attacks and explosions as the vast continent rumbled its might halfway across the sound. The still bored Emperor paid no attention to the aerial battle yet, knowing that the attack would eventually fade under its own weight. Instead, he turned his attention to see what move Xian Fang would make next, with the slight hope of perhaps seeing something new on the battlefield for the first time, a moment of joy for the ruler. Xian Fang tried to respond with something better after seeing the huge battle between sky and land, so she thought of involving another part by using the nearby lake where the original city was built. She called upon the infernal Ayamandar Choir. From the powerful magic of the invocation, a dozen metal ships sailed to Lake Dian Chi, ready to lend every possible support to both the troops in the sky and those fighting on land. Their rockets swept in all directions, columns of fire crisscrossing the sky, adding to the chaos.
The True Dragon, finally raising an eyebrow at seeing a new battlefront open, couldn't resist the temptation to take the war to a new place, so he raised his left hand again, without moving much, and called out to his subordinates.
"The ship that comes to push their luck back"
"With her Five Fateful Minutes at Midway Naval macht"
"By the enemy Sunk three times, but defeats never met"
"She comes at once, Enterprise, the goddess of luck and war is back"
A new beast appears in the same lake, right next to the fleet of the Ayamandar Choir, a new unit of ships takes its place, among them a citadel stands bravely ready for battle, the most famous ship in the history of mankind adorns all with its brilliant glow, thirsty for another victory, on its deck a squadron of planes awaits, their engines already roaring. The enemy fleet sends its best pilots against the legendary carrier, but it is already one step ahead, delivering a devastating blow, its pilots smiling as they go in for the kill. Finally, the rest of the Gray Ghost's allied companions join the attack, a brutal torpedo assault to sink the infernal fleet, but perhaps that is not all, perhaps the submarines lurking in position are ready to attack. The demon fleet is not intimidated, but the flagship Ayamandar is already ablaze, its ammunition depot blown apart by the first dive-bomber attack, and without its cover the others can only serve as shields against the relentless assault of the Emperor's personal naval fleet.
RMQzasq.jpg [https://i.imgur.com/RMQzasq.jpg]
But the naval assault didn't end there; called upon by both the battle and its sister, the Emperor's Seventh Fleet called for a more modern and recent addition, so the Continental War's Essex CVN-88 arrived at the same lake to assist where her World War II ancestors could not. Its artillery and advanced armament were capable of supporting the space battle raging in the highest skies. Seeing such a ridiculous power, Xian Fang slammed her fist on the table. How could the emperor bring such a thing to the battlefield? This ship had not been destroyed or sunk; how could the enemy summon the spirit of something that had not yet died? But what the mage never thought about was the reason behind the summoning in the first place, nothing was random.
The Emperor's power had only pretended once more, first bringing out the old weapons, then scaring with the real strike that was now in motion. The Sovereign did not hesitate with his next call.
"In the dead of night, the bombers take flight"
"Operation Thunderdome, the city's plight"
"Through the darkened sky, they bravely roam"
"Target in sight, facing anti-air's domain"
The already crowded sky filled up even more as a huge group of supersonic B2 bombers swooped in, ready to drop their bombs on both the no-man's-land and the huge ship Litany of Fury. But it was nothing more than a mere distraction from their defenses, for hidden among the bombs were several brave paratroopers who would attempt to board and occupy their rival's ship, just as they had done in New York. The carriers of the Seventh Fleet didn't lag behind either, and even legendary Enterprise pilots like Ace Flash Gordon couldn't resist adding another kill to their record.
nOgpQxa.jpg [https://i.imgur.com/nOgpQxa.jpg]
Meanwhile, on the front lines in No Man's Land, soldiers fought valiantly against a relentless horde of repulsive creatures, but the battle dragged on longer than necessary. The True Dragon had grown tired of seeing what little power his rival had borrowed, so he called for a final formation.
"White Cloaks, guardians of the light,"
"In the darkest hour, they shine so bright,"
"Dragon hunters with might"
"With valor and honor, they stand tall,"
"For the glory of Mankind, they give their all"
A glorious stampede broke the battle formation, the spearhead had been launched. A thousand warriors in white robes decimated their enemies. They advanced in an unparalleled charge toward victory or their end. A glorious unity that would never be repeated, they wreaked further havoc in the name of the Emperor to whom they had never sworn allegiance. In a twist of irony, the Dragon Hunters that Atlantis so proudly hailed as their saviors were now leading a campaign in the name of the true Dragon of War they had sworn to slay. Walking without breaking a sweat in battle, they set the tanks rolling again to finally lay siege to the rival capital.
image [https://i.imgur.com/ihKrnaH.jpg]
Xian Fang watched in horror as the enemy army advanced, the fear of eternal damnation making her hesitate. With her clairvoyance, she saw that the commander of the special unit had no rival, with his powerful explosive lance and a bravery that amazed even his own soldiers. The White Banisher was always the first to advance, charging head-on against any opponent. He never turned his back on an enemy, in life or in death. The hero whom even the Emperor respected for his efficiency in battle was the one who approached the mage's home the fastest.
Fearing for her already ended second life and the repercussions such a defeat would have on her creditors, the millennia old and wise mage didn't hesitate long and tried one last invocation. With all her might, she cast two spells simultaneously. The first was to summon every infernal creature possible to slow down the Emperor's unstoppable forces, while she tried to destroy the warlord with her last curse: an instant death spell. It required perfect concentration for nearly a week without sleep or food, draining her own strength. But perhaps with a victory, and by delivering the continent of Atlantis to her contractors, she could reduce her cruel eternal sentence.
What she didn't know was that the Emperor had already made his final move. His personal elite guard had already been dispatched and had successfully infiltrated the mage's home, now standing alongside Xian Fang. In their hands, they held a freshly crafted jade-poisoned dart, supervised by the Moon Goddess herself, forged in the small smithy of Celestial Castle. A single touch was more than enough to end the immortal. However, the Dark Cloaks wanted to make sure that the head of their enemy's leader was presented to their king on a silver platter.
image [https://i.imgur.com/S8GNiTv.jpg]
The great immortal magician, the curse of millennia and dynasties, the high priestess and alchemist Xian Fang, was murdered by order of the Last Emperor of Atlantis, the True Dragon of War, an order carried out by an elite commando of the Dark Cloaks led by Commander Dion. Her head was severed after 23 stabs with the poisoned jade dart, and her body burned in the Purification Pyre for fear that her remains would curse the land.
When the battle was over, and his troops had earned the great honor of warriors, the Sovereign drove the Codex Crystal into the forehead of his enemy's severed head, the screams of the souls rose to the sky, and shouts of joy were heard for the death of the cursed one. The legendary crystal had only been charged to 45% of its capacity, and its rightful owner was not pleased to see the gauge growing. But with the chapter closed, there was one more ritual to perform, Atlantis had once again won the victory in the war, it was time to reclaim the territory for the Eternal Atlantis, for that was his Empire Domain.
When it was all over and the magic barrier finally fell, Elise found herself back in the city, standing in front of the TianHui Data Terminal, as if nothing had happened. The people of the city went about their lives as usual, oblivious to the glorious, decisive battle against the forces of Hell for Earth that had taken place just the day before. The no-man's-land, the soldiers, the weapons, and the bombs had all disappeared without a trace in the bustling modern city.
It was finally time to return to the dull and peaceful life.