There is no point in trying to reason with the Ardans. We were taken aback in the First Arascan War when we saw how distrustful they are of outsiders. It was almost understandable in one fashion, they are a people who have had to claw themselves away from extinction several tis in their history. Yet we review their history, how many tis was that extinction brought on by their own hands?
Fundantally, your Ti of Ruin and our Calamity were brought on by natural forces. The Ardans may very well have sothing equivalent in their history that is comparable to such an event, yet it is simply not noteworthy enough to return to. Instead, they talk of Worldbreaking. What is Worldbreaking? Their own planetary Anarchy, brought on by their powers, by their own untad Divinity and magic? Nothing but sheer luck prevented them from accidentally turning their planet into a collection of asteroids. A century of terraforming that now Allasaria talks about as a needed culling of malicious Divinity.
That is the lesson they took from it. Not the ability to reason, nor the willingness to set aside differences but rather the fact that they survived Worldbreaking. It has beco calculation, the mont they enter a position of true, actual weakness against us, and not the farcical imaginary weakness that they think they are in, Worldbreaking is brought into the fray. Any who thinks that they would not be willing to unleash a second Worldbreaking upon themselves because the calculation that it is more survivable than us is an ignorant fool.
Arascus is an Ardan anomaly because he possesses eyes that can see beyond the next war. That is the only anomalous trait about him, which the rest of the Ardans do not seem to possess. Yet this ‘revolutionary’ nature ends as soon as it begins, beyond the next war, he sees another. In all other ways, he embodies Arda wholly. That was mistake made a thousand years ago, it should have never been the Arascan War but the Ardan War instead for the White Pantheon are no different than the Deity of Pride.
Do not reason with nor talk of treaty or stipulation or negotiation. I write this as a warning to you. They are accelerating, Allasaria will have not told you and we have only discovered this, but they have a space program to put a human into space. The only reason it has not happened yet is because the program has been put on hold due to the war. Arda is not slowing down. Arda is accelerating.
Take the Ardan logic to the extre, for that is where they shall take it. When Arascus unites the world, for without the counterbalance of a White Pantheon it is certain that it shall happen now, they will incarnate a World-Spirit. And the lesson they shall take from the World-Spirit is not one of Divine Protection, but rather that World-Spirits exist, and that they’re World-Spirit is undoubtedly a tiny little cornered rat, and that the only way to protect it is to wipe out all other worlds.
If Paraideisius does not co to assist us in sending Arda back into the stone age then Arda shall co to do the sa to us this century.
Maybe this decade.
- Letter written by Emperor Leonifer, of Tartarus, to the Councils of Paraideisius.
Tarapheus drew his blade and raised it into the air. He took a deep breath as demons around him put warhorns to the mouths. How many had assembled in the past couple of hours? Fifty thousand? Seventy? Eighty? More would be coming in, but those would have stream in and join the battle once it started. What could arrive had arrived.
Countless legionnaires, all in their black armour, with shield and cleaver and halberd. So even had the new style of thick plate that was strong enough to withstand the small, handheld rifles of the Imperial military. Succubi were already in the air, other magicians were on the ground, firewalls for cover had been ford. Defensive magical formations to intercept shells had been prepared. The cavalry was split into two, they would charge around from the sides, they had enough forces here to even advance towards the beach and draw fire away from the main force. Best of all, they even managed to hastily assemble two Tartarian grand cannons.
Everyone saw the ripple of warhorns being raised, everyone heard the single beat of drums that signified preparation for a charge. And everyone stood and watched as Imperial magicians forced that massive battering ram into standing position.
Whatever they were doing, it would be stopped.
If only he could believe it.
Imperial Battlegroup Reclamation begins raising the ICDT tower.
The first blow ca over the ridge and not from the troops that were still busy fortifying there. That Ardan tenacity, to still be digging trenches and carrying crates of ammunition forward even when an enemy army was approaching was sothing that Tarapheus had to respect. It was borderline insanity that they were still working, no Tartarian force would ever hold composure long enough for that. Maybe though, they didn’t need to intervene yet. Not when the thunder coming from the ocean and the glowing lines brought on by Epan naval artillery began to howl through the air.
Tarapheus sat on his steed in the rear and watched the battle unfold. The first wave of ship artillery ca in mass, in one overwhelming strike to try and overwhelm the interception mages. Standard doctrine at this point, standard because it was effective. Half the shells exploded as they reached their peak. Air heated up around them, cooked the explosives within to points of ignition and made sure that the only thing which ca down was small pieces of shrapnel. Half of that half was caught again by other magicians. Snakes of fla and pillars of fire roared up from prepared runes on the ground and swatted at and swallowed the incoming artillery.
One shell made it through. It carved out a crater in the charging, roaring force of Tartarus. A full platoon of demons was launched into the air or knocked down. The hole was quickly plugged and filled as the cavalry on the sides broke into a charge. Behind Tarapheus, the pair of great cannons began to stir and channel their energies. Tarapheus raised his sword one more ti and gave the final order as the chaos of battle took over his troops. “Charge! Cast them back into the sea!”
Imperial Battlegroup Reclamation begins stabilizing the ICDT tower.
Tarapheus’ eyes spotted the Divine with white hair get down on the ground as all chaos broke loose. The Imperial forces opened fire in mass, he tracked the trajectories or tried to. The infantry and their smaller guns focused on laying firepower down into the ranks at the front. The demons that had their shields raised ground to a halt under the oppressive flurry of steel. The demons that had been caught up in battle-fury dropped to the ground as Imperial lead ripped through them.
But it was the vehicles that he was most worried about. He had expected the Esberian style of battle, where the Imperials tried to grind down and swap lead for life in even trades. Instead, the mortars and tanks, too nurous to be intercepted wholly launched up and towards the rear of the army. Tarapheus watched the runes that channelled an interceptive fla die as the team of flaseerers channelling it was ripped apart by a tank shell. A succubi in the air was unlucky enough to be hit directly by an oncoming mortar shell, she simply disappeared into an explosion.
And the demon prince found the Divine again. He watched her shoot. An instant later, the head of a greater demon was ripped from its body in another explosion. The monster was the size of a barn, it fell forwards, driven to the ground by the montum of its own run, and crushed another team of demons. The thunder of naval artillery sounded once again. The interceptions weren’t as clean this ti, not with magicians from their side falling or being engaged directly by artillery or forward Imperial wizards and witches who made themselves into birds of prey that rained ice from above.
Most concerning though was that tower. Pillars of stone were going up around it now, it was supportive beams being violently dragged out of the ground to serve as scaffolding. The entire structure shifted as it was driven into the ground, another few feet deeper. What exactly where they doing?
Tarapheus scanned the ground again. Good news here at least, for all the Imperial firepower, they were closing the gap.
Internal ICDT catalysts begin channelling excess magic.
Tarapheus gazed up at that structure of silver and steel, now lit up like a lighthouse. Mages sward around it like flies buzzing in the air, deflecting and catching and blocking any Tartarian flas aid towards it. The sa style of light-blue runology was carved onto it as onto the ships. On those steel fortresses, the mana veins would maintain a steady glow and pulse only when they were strained. Here, they from the top to the bottom to the tune of a beating heart, they seed to send waves of energy towards the peak.
His troops entered into a pure combat fury with a roar. That weapon, whatever it was, could not be allowed to activate. The amount of battleships, now shelling directly into the forces, the heavy guns of those two beached cruisers firing up at them, the tanks and other vehicles, the troops in their trenches, even the three Divines, who had seemingly ran out of ammunition and drawn swords as they prepared for lee no longer mattered. It was a battle for survival, pure and simple. They would close the gap, they would tear through the enemy ranks, they would topple that monunt of silver and grey, or they would die.
The foot of the Imperial ridge was reached, the countless tides of demons still largely intact as more reinforcents stread in from every direction. It didn’t matter now if the Rilians made a counter-attack from their own front in the north, that land could be given, reclaid, lost, flaseerers had sent out the orders. Every single demon that was in Rilia had to co here, and it had to co here as fast as possible.
The veins on that tower grew brighter and brighter, almost to a blinding degree.
Transmutation Crystal’s protective armour is dropped.
The mont the three Divines made themselves into the final roadblock, the mont that the Tartarian massed charged reached the first trench line, the mont that the Tarapheus thought he was beginning to see victory on the horizon was the mont that he heard the uncanny hiss of pistons releasing and steel moving. His eyes once again turned to that gigantic tower as it whined, hissed, steam or gas or sothing else released from its top.
And suddenly, the top of the tower was exposed as plates of armour fell off the very pinnacle to reveal a massive white diamond, easily larger than a horse. It was shining already as the magical blue veins adorning the surface of the tower stread more energy into it. They were running out of ti. Tarapheus looked back down to the army as massive pieces of steel crashed down around the tower, sending up massive plus of ash.
The three Divines cut channels through the demonic ranks as they fought. It was the dance of creatures too large to be moving that quickly, and too terrible deft to have the strength to launch demons into the air with one hand. Walls began to rise out of the ground, the ridge shattered as ravine spiderwebbed itself across the surface, brought on by Imperial mages who had seemingly finished their job. Flas roared up to try and disturb that gemstone, but they were t by the organised resistance of mages hovering in the air around it. Barriers of ice, or hardened air, or the Ardans’ own flas roared out to et and crash into the fires that were rising from the horde Tarapheus had under his command.
Tarapheus gripped his blade even tighter as he heard the audible whine of the diamond at the top of the tower. That wasn’t good news.
Elassa’s Passive Transmutation spell begins channelling.
The battle ca to a pause from the Tartarian side as that massive spear let out a single pulse. The terrible madness, the sheer terror of certain death if they didn’t destroy it fled from their bodies. A few of the soldiers, utterly exhausted, collapsed in their black armour. Tarapheus was sure it wasn’t honour, Ardans didn’t possess such a concept, but rather awe at their own creation that stopped the gunfire and shelling coming onto his forces.
Every set turned upwards towards the sky as a wave of white light rippled along it, and then dissipated. Tarapheus looked back down at the tower as it charged yet another wave of energy from its bottom. The blue veins beca blinding white, then that magical stread upwards like a waterfall flowing upwards, it hit the crystal and cascaded out of the structure, once again rippling out over the sky.
The sound ca first, grating. Like chalk being scraped along sandpaper, it lasted for only a mont though. Another pulse ca from the tower. Glass shattering from the sky. Tarapheus felt his eyes widen uncontrollably, his jaw drop open, the heavy cleaver slipped from his grasp as the hellsteed under him neighed and trotted. A demon collapsed to his knees as the ceiling that was the ashen sky began to change colour. The tower in the distance whined again, and released another pulse.
This ti, the sky changed colour. From black and grey to red and blue and yellow and green and purple and all the colours of refraction that bounced against each other and cascaded in all directions. The ceiling that obscured the gave way to a sky of diamonds. Ash slowly began to crash into itself and crystallise, and then those crystals fell to the ground in a mist of perfect, clear diamonds. A fog that began to fall down as the Imperial forces released a cheer and then kicked right back into battle with redoubled might.
The diamonds gave way to gravity as they began to fall.
And behind those diamonds ca a blue sky.
And that blue sky was no doubt hopeful for Ardans, but for Tarapheus, it was a nightmare given form. They had done it.
Empire gripped the curtain of Ashen Skies and tore it down. And behind it, Arda sighed a breath of relief as her skies were returned.
Daylight.
User Comments
0 comments from readers