Transcendence?

***Norfolk, Sarn-Valley, Southern Col***

***Ascathon***

It took us a little longer than expected to defeat the enemy fleet, but we haven't lost a single ship in return. Three of our ships are badly damaged, but they are still able to drop their mana bombs on the enemy.

The fleet from the Nation of Mist gave up and turned to sail home when we had reduced their numbers to eight ships. Or the reason was that we destroyed their command vessel. Probably we did them a favour by eliminating that slimy rat of a Sky General.

I didn't bother to hunt them down and set our course back to Sarn. Right now I am looking down on the ground to identify some landmarks. It's a good feeling to have solid ground under my ship. At least we won't drown in case of a crash-landing.

The mountain in front of us should be the right one. We just have to circle around it to get our first view on the southern pass-road.

“Sir! We established a connection with the defenders of the Southern Col.” An officer calls for me from the bridge. I nod and head back inside.

[….chrr... are under heavy attack!]

One of the younger officers is trying to adjust the communication device to get a better signal. He is doing what the handbook says, but it's clear to me that he has no feeling for the device.

“I will do that.” I inform him and he steps aside. A few quick adjustments on the regulator solve the problem and I press the button for sending.

“Den, is that you? We are close, you don't have to hold out for long.”

[Good to hear from you. We will hold, but the problem isn't us. Our scouts found out that the enemy has a group of about five thousand soldiers trying to bypass us. They are on their way to one of the Eastern Cols.]

I purse my lips and press the button again. “That's no problem. We will split the fleet to go after them.” Then I take a look at the captain who listened to my conversation.

He turns to one of his officers. “Three undamaged ships. They have to follow the mountain-range further towards the Eastern Col.”

[It would be nice if you came sooner than later. Apparently the mages of the Inquisition are also here. They are protecting the foot soldiers from Mislow with barriers while they attempt to overrun us. We already stopped two attempts, but our ammunition for the railguns is running out!]

I smirk. “Then you have to return to old, proved methods and slay them by hand!”

[ … As you command. Wouldn't be bad to reduce their numbers tho … ]

“We are soon there. Just watch the sky.”

I turn to the captain. “We attack as soon as we get in comfortable firing range. No need to hold anything back. Sarn is just half a day away with the ships. Even if we temporarily lose the col, we can return with our ships before they reach any important places. The Col hasn't the same meaning for us as for them.”

Everyone nods while I walk outside again. A look over the railing confirms that we finally circled around the mountain. It's a pain in the ass to fly so deep. But I don't want to risk my ships before they got some necessary improvements.

Despite their ability to fly, they are still very roughly built. I am afraid that the strong winds higher up could damage the ships. Another point is that wind travels in different directions at different heights. We would fly slower if we climbed higher, because the wind would be against us.

Then the col comes into view. And the enemy army at the foot of the mountain. They are attempting to overrun the col, like Den said.

There are about forty to fifty thousand people down there. I see the banners of Mislow and the Inquisition. They are really bent on taking away what's mine.

I watch the pass-road being bombarded by railguns. But the foot soldiers of Mislow keep going. They climb up the mountain like ants, ignoring fallen comrades without any hint of stopping.

Either they have a resolve like steel, or they are being manipulated by their own people. I guess it's mind magic. It's not necessary to manipulate the enemy in order to influence a battle decisively. You can also manipulate your own troops, making them believe that they are unbeatable, or that their own death is a reasonable price to pay.

My fleet finally takes position over the enemy army. Red flowers start to bloom under us as the ships begin to unload mana bombs without holding back.

Each hit deals a decisive blow, costing hundreds of lifes. The tightly packed army camp at the foot of the mountain is the perfect target. Unlike the naval ships, the Army can't deploy barriers which are big enough to negate the damage.

A ship covers a relatively small area compared to columns and columns of soldiers. They may be able to shield small areas, but they loose their foot soldiers by the hundreds in return. Another big point is that bombarding their camp will destroy their supplies.

And once such a big army loses access to food and water, the battle is essentially over.

I watch as the defenders of the Southern Col start to use their close range equipment and my gatling-guns join the fray. I devised them as the final defence of my mountains. The guns are dug deep into the rock faces and have a nice view on the pass-roads.

Den has to be running very low on ammunition for his railguns. Otherwise he wouldn't give away the well hidden positions of the gatling-guns.

The enemy finally takes notice of us and attack magic starts to fly our way. Fireballs, ice shards and a few thunderbolts. Fortunately we are a little too high for them to reach us. Unlike the nation of Mist, Mislow doesn't have my sight orbs.

We don't even have to aim properly for the other side. Just shooting down into the general area is enough.

Then my flagship rocks without warning and I am thrown to the deck. It didn't feel like we were hit! Something else must have gone wrong! I jump to my feet and run into the bridge, where I find the captain screaming at two technicians.

“What happened?”

One of the technicians faces me. “Something went wrong with our mana core. It is collecting more power than it can handle! One of the buffers blew up!”

I am out of the bridge and running to the engine room before the technician is done talking. I designed the buffers extremely robust. They can't blow up from one moment to the next!

In the engine room, I find seven people trying to stabilize the mana core. A short glance at the engine gives me the full picture of the catastrophe. Not just any buffer blew up, it was the central one, directly under the core. A miracle that the core wasn't damaged. The core pulses and vibrates ominously. A fatal failure is at hand if nothing is done.

“Get out, abandon the ship. You can't stabilize this thing without the central buffer.” I shove one technician away from the central console and place my hands on the magical circuitry. It's impossible to keep the control long enough with this crude mechanism.

I release my mana into the circuits and take control while concentrating on stabilizing the core at least long enough to retreat.

“But the ship!” A technician calls out.

“Run now. We'll build a new one. Take the parachutes and tell the other ships to pick you up before you hit the ground. There are some unfriendly guys down there.” I close my eyes and concentrate on the flow of mana inside the core.

“It should be no problem for me to stabilize it long enough to get the rest of the crew from board. Then I can jump off the ship myself with a levitation spell.”

Slowly the technicians start to retreat and I can finally concentrate on the core. The damn thing is bucking and vibrating like a wild animal.

I start to search for the problem because I can't imagine that the loss of a buffer is the sole cause for the failure. The technician from earlier was right. The core is really gathering more mana than it should be possible.

It's practically being overloaded with power! I try to dissipate some of the mana into the surroundings, but it doesn't help. So much raw mana! Where is this coming from? It's almost the same as with the small core back then, when we attacked the fleet from the Nation of Mist.

Something … Someone is interfering! Is it that hidden power which the Immortal Empress was talking about? How can they transfer so much mana into my core!? It would take dozens of magicians to accomplish such a feat!

The ship rocks again and I feel weightless! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Did the circuitry for the levitation spell melt down? This is a really shitty situation.

I place my feet on the console and push myself off towards the core. If I am going to die, I will at least solve this mystery.

My hands touch the glass and I fuse my soul with the stored up power inside the crystal. Without further ado, I activate my clairvoyance spell from the orb of sight and power it with the mana from the core. I follow the flow of power with my mind to a far away place.

There is a big table with four people in frilly clothes around it. I immediately notice the long ears. All of them emit an aura of power and self-confidence, like untouchable kings … or gods? On the table is a big map of the world. Two of them are women and two are men. One of the guys is holding an orb similar to mine.

The two women are beauties, one has brunette hair and the other is small and almost childlike with red hair. The guys look athletic and both are blonde, while the one who is holding the orb is definitely older.

He looks astounded at it, while the other three have worried faces. I realize that he is the one who is transferring all the power with the orb as a focus point!

I gather all my power and concentrate on the orb. With and act of pure will, I force the orb apart and it splits within the hands of the old guy. I might as well use the chance to play with them, as long as I am on the longer end.

“I SSEEE YOU!!!”

The air vibrates all around them and they look up with shocked expressions. Then my mind is torn back to the engine room, as the connection between the orb and my core fades away.

I am still weightless, still falling while hugging the core. “Hahahahahahaha.” A crazy laugh escapes my lips while I turn all the core's power into a single point. I might as well take the whole enemy army with me by creating the ultimate explosion.

This will also answer my question of what happens if you compress mana to its utmost density. I always speculated that it would result in a huge explosion, so I never tried it. A small part of me still fears death and so I erect a barrier and pour all my power into it.

All that's left to do is to wait for the impact, for death, for the next life.

Sorry, Sera. I couldn't come back like you wanted. I will miss teaching the little critter about my devices …

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