Steel and Mana

"I said, go closer!"

"But..."

"Be glad that I am telling you this in person, Marquess Kustov. As the new captain of the Justice, it should be your decision... don't make me ruin your reputation before your men by doing it myself!"

Kustov wanted to tell off the lazily dressed man sitting opposite his table in the captain's quarters. The way he was resting his legs on his desk, eating an apple, not even showing the minimum courtesy towards his rank was rage-inducing. He felt as if some of his jet-black hair was about to turn grey or he would tear off part of his short beard... This bastardly mage was unbearable. Yet, no matter his thoughts and deep desire to tell him off, he couldn't rebuke him. The man before him, bearing the official name of Imperial Mage Nahl of the Adept Level, was untouchable. Not even the Dukes could do anything about him, as any Adept level mages or higher skilled ones were directly under the Empress's rule; only she was allowed to regulate them.

"Got it?" Nahl continued, taking another juicy bite, "You have been looking at me for long enough! I am giving you some friendly advice here... I am being respectful, don't you get it? If I wanted, I could take over the control of the ship and maneuver us where I want it to be! I am allowing you to do it yourself and keep your face intact. You nobles love that shit."

"Maybe Lord Nahl missed the report I sent back." Kustov continued, trying to remain calm, but his voice was audibly trembling.

"Nah, I read it. That is why I am here! With me controlling some of the ship's functions, their spell will not drain the shields so quickly, and we will be able to decimate them."

"Still, going-"

"Just go to the point I marked!" Nahl grunted, throwing the apple cob on his table while munching on the rest loudly and annoyingly. As he continued speaking, his saliva was landing all over Kustov's table. "They won't be able to shoot at us from that far away, and we can use the Imaginary to take a look. I want to see what is inside the city and what they are up to!"

Kustov was on the verge of exploding, and maybe Nahl also felt it because he finally stood up, fixing his clothes. There was nothing more to say, and the Marquess also knew if he didn't do what he said, Nahl would indeed take over, controlling the ship and forcing it to fly forward.

"Son of a bitch..." He cursed the moment Nahl left the cabin. "This son of a whore dares to order me around? Worthless piece of shit..." While grumbling, Kustov took out a cigar, lit it, and walked to his cabin's window, watching the heavy rain as they floated above a dark forest at the occupied territory's border.

The army was already on its way, marching slowly throughout the Empire. The melting snow and constant rain made the rivers swell and flood, turning the land into a mud pit. Those nobles who arrived early patrolled the temporary borders, ensuring the enemy did not try to launch attacks or slip past. Meanwhile, in the south, there was already news of bloody battles raging the moment the first troops made contact with the enemy. From what he could tell, the allied countries deployed more than twelve mages, forcing the Empire to re-evaluate everything and focus its efforts first and foremost on them. Here, he was stuck with the Justice and one of the most hated mages in the Empire, Nahl, and some forces who would arrive... sometime in the future.

He never wanted to become a captain... now, for the next ten years at minimum, he would be far away from the capital city, and even if he ever returned, his brother would have taken over the family, essentially stripping him from any chance of being his father's successor. This was the worst outcome possible...

"This sucks..." He sighed, blowing out a thick cloud of smoke before turning away from the window, trying to not think about it.

When morning came, the staff received the order from their captain to prepare to move closer to Rorira. On the deck of the ship, he walked behind the control wheel, and by grabbing it, the rings on his fingers lit up at once, reading his thoughts and will.

They were no ordinary rings as all of them housed meticulously crafted CC, specifically attuned with the Justice's formations, acting as their master keys, allowing anyone in their possession to control the ship. Of course, being someone magicless, he couldn't do everything alone. While the captain was the one who steered the vessel, making it fly through the air, Kustov had multiple subordinates working together in tandem.

For example, his gunners, thirty-two men in total, controlled the ship's eight cannons on each side by loading CC into the weapons when they needed to be fired. Then, there were the Shipwizards, twelve ship-bound Basic Mages. They were responsible for controlling the shield formations, making sure they operated to the maximum. They were tasked with repairing it or dying, trying to see if anything broke in a battle, and in truth, they were nothing but walking batteries.

Kustov still couldn't get used to their presence; their shaved heads, dead eyes, and emotionless voices creeped him out. They were like some kind of undead, wearing a necklace that was nailed into their skin and collar bones, never to be taken off, binding them to the ship until their death. Of course, even more regular men were serving on board the Justice, numbering a hundred and twenty people, and there was space to house hundreds more if necessary.

"I am already in the Imaginary." Echoed Nahl's voice in his head, making Kustov shiver, unsure if he could read his mind all the time or if it was a function of the ship. "Stop where I told you and keep the ship steady. If you want, you can come down; I will show you how to use this beauty for real."

No matter how much he hated him, he was also curious about what he meant by it. Everyone knew that these ships were designed to be captained by mages and not by some low-level Shipwizards. Initially, they were made for individuals at the Adept level or higher. But... those types of talent were needed in too many things to send them to live on a ship.

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"Something is happening..." Yuri murmured, noticing the scrambling around the walls and how multiple soldiers were racing ahead. It didn't take long for her to climb up to one of the nearby houses and see that high in the sky, far away, a small, flying dot was floating in the air. "The ship is back..." She couldn't help but gulp and look at the giant formation in the middle of the city, then towards the forest where Leon was hiding.

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"Just as big as I remember..." I murmured, crouching on a thick tree branch, using my telescope to spy at the ship in the distance, forbidding my soldiers to get out of the cover of the thick treeline.

"It is my first time seeing it... we should build one, Sovereign!" Merlin murmured, sounding greatly awed, making me chuckle.

"Get me the blueprints, and we will."

"We already have anti-gravity spells..." He continued, already planning something, "We just need to get a solution for a proper propulsion and-"

Then it happened. He flinched, and it was as if something had hit him. Not physically, but like when the wind pushes you or brings over something foul that you did not smell before.

"I don't understand... But something has spread from the ship... no, it did it again! I can feel it! It is magical, Sovereign!"

"I don't know if this is good or not..." With unease growing within me, I couldn't help but look back into my telescope, trying to see if the ship would move again or not. It would be unlucky if it decided to fire at us.

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"What are they doing?" General Daito asked, noticing his king's change in expression as they watched from the palace's balcony, holding their own exquisite telescopes.

"It is releasing some kind of magical pulse... It isn't harmful, but I never felt it before. They may be trying to establish long-range communication with another ship. Make the army ready; we may be attacked soon! I am going to man the formation with the rest of the mages! If it comes just two hundred meters closer... we can fire at it!"

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Inside the flying ship's belly, there was a room called the Imaginary. It was a sealed-off, spherical room with a magic formation on its floor and a skull-sized CC suspended in mid-air. When Kustov arrived, Nahl was already inside, clearly waiting for him.

"I know you use this device to snap images of the target." Nahl began, not looking at him, instead raising a hand, and Kustov watched as the CC pulsed in a blue light, and on the opposite wall, the clear, still image of the occupied city appeared. It was closer than if you would look towards it with the naked eye. Even if you used a telescope, the image would not be this clear or this big.

"So?"

"This is the amateur way. Let me show you what it can do when used properly!"

With that, Nahl began chanting under his breath, and four other, previously invisible formations lit up on the walls while the CC had already started rotating faster and faster. What Kustov couldn't feel was that the formations were sending out sonar-like waves of magic, capturing the landscape around them and turning it into an image. A moment later, the whole room was transformed as the walls, floor, and ceiling disappeared, and instead, they were 'standing' in the air, awing the Marquess.

"Now, let us zoom in!" Nahl laughed, pointing at the city, and with a pinch and moving his fingers apart, the image changed as they appeared only 300 meters from the city.

"What is this..." Kustov gawked, feeling as if his stomach had dropped, his mind trying to cope with the fact that the world around him had suddenly changed.

"This is the Imaginary. And if you pay attention..." Nahl smiled, pointing at the image of the city, while a formation appeared around his wrist, changing its few runes as bright points lit up before them.

"What are those?"

"Mages. All of the magic-capable individuals in the city. More than that... watch!"

With another pinch and hand movements, the image went even closer, and they were now above the city, looking down at it. Focusing, Kustov could see the thousands of people within, looking like ants. As Nahl's formation changed again, the image turned monochrome while the people below began glowing as red dots.

"These are the humans within the city. As you can see, he exploited the city's sewer system. Well, no wonder they built it and owned it; there ought to be secrets we couldn't discover. Not that we bothered about it, ahaha!" What they were seeing was that most of the occupying army was housed underground, spread out the city in some kind of catacomb.

"How deep are they...?"

"I can't tell. But by the magic reaction, I am sure, even if we raze the city with Justice, they would lose only a minimum number of their soldiers. What I am more interested in is this." He changed it back to color and zoomed in on the obelisk within the city. "I have never seen something like this before, but I can tell that this is a formation. As for what? Good question."

"It has to be what they used to attack us. Only one is there?"

"Mmm... I can only find one, and by the looks of it, the mages are concentrated around it." He added that when he recalled the dots, they were going to surround it, changing places on the image every five seconds when it refreshed. "Oh? What is this?"

"What?" Kustov asked, flinching and watching as the image zoomed out. Now, they were looking at the nearby forest where around fifty people were hiding, and one of them was glowing in the same, much brighter color, just like the wizards within the city.

"A mage... and some soldiers... probably a spotter..." Nahl whispered, nodding to himself.

"A what?"

"When I do long-range spells, where I can't see the target, I also have spotters sent out and working with me. Mage subordinates who find me my target and use magic to place a mark on it. Then, I don't need to see them to cast a spell. They are smart... I guess he is the one communicating with the others in the city about how to aim their weapon. This is... interesting."

"We can't get closer!" The Marquess mumbled, scratching his chin, "We are out of their range, but so are they. If we fly in, they will be able to shoot at us.

"For now, we will retreat! Nahl hummed, smiling in an excellent mood. "Don't let them know we found their hidden mage! We will fall back to prepare and collect some troops onboard instead. Then, when we come back, we blast their spotter, and when their weapon loses its aim, we can skirt around the city and drop them in. I don't need them to survive... we just need them to cause chaos and destruction."

"You really are the Herald of Death..." Kustov grimaced, recalling Nahl's unofficial title, while the sleazy-looking wizard simply licked his lips.

"You'll see... The more dead people are around us, the stronger I will be. Let them massacre the civilians, too. I need bodies, blood, and agony! Then, they will realize what a mistake they made..."