The Pantheon Moves

by Michael Chatfield

  The spearhead formed and the cap on the base of the spear was finished. Malsour even made the spear a bit weathered, making it look well used so that the Nalheim would be confused. It looked identical to the spear that the Nalheim were using.

  They checked the coding and walked back into the room.

  “Try using this spear.” Malsour passed it to the person who had put a crater in the wall just a few moments ago.

  They took the spear, checking the weight and, not seeing anything special with it, they stabbed outward at the wall. A new crater didn’t appear. However, one of the interface screens linked to the disruption ray magical coded program showed that it had been activated.

  Dave and Malsour looked at each other.

  “Seems that I was overthinking things. Shard, there’s no need to do the reverse spear coding,” Dave said.

  “Well, I was only about half done anyways,” Shard said.

  The corner of Dave’s mouth twitched upward in a slight smile before he looked to the Nalheim who was looking at the spear in confusion.

  “I think that there is something wrong with this spear, King Malsour,” the Nalheim said.

  “I’ve just taken the power source out from it. I’m just checking over your form with the spear.” Malsour opened the party chat once again. “I’m thinking that we keep them in the dark about what they’re doing. It seems that their attack is more instinctual than anything. If they know that we’re testing them for that, they might get nervous and mess it up.”

  “Understandable. Also, with each of their attacks, I have a program recording it all. Maybe later we can work out a system that doesn’t need them to activate the disruption ray by stabbing wildly into the air,” Dave said.

  “Well, we’ve never been a group that really goes by the more orthodox methods,” Malsour said dryly.

  “No, we’re not,” Dave agreed. “I’m looking forward to seeing how this ray will do.”

  ***

  Denur looked over the Alturaran portal. All of the aerial forces and those that moved in close to the portal had been recalled a little bit ago as four of the flying citadels were now moving between the citadels on the ground. As they got closer, magical formations started to form underneath their islands.

  The Alturarans seemed to sense something was amiss. Their ranged attacks sparked off the Mana shield.

  Lines made of light and compressed runic lines spread out from the magical formations underneath the four flying citadels. A diamond was created between the flying citadels with round magical formations appearing inside all of them, rotating in different directions lazily.

  The Alturarans picked up their attacks as the air started to get hazy with the release of Mana between the massive flying citadels.

  The citadels stopped moving. The Alturarans attacks were little more than annoyances to the flying citadels that were two kilometers up in the air.

  The air suddenly erupted with myriad noises and a blinding flash that originated from the center of the magical formation that lay between the flying citadels.

  Anything that lay in this blast’s path was destroyed. The green poison that had been hovering in the air was wiped out by the blast that weakened slightly as it passed.

  It smashed down against the Alturarans. It killed off hundreds of them in a single blast and severely weakened the various shield and Mana barriers of those remaining.

  It was if watching a massive flaming hammer smashing down upon them all.

  Again, that deep noise ignited the air, with light smacking against all that were below. All magical spells and ranged attacks had stopped as the blast from the combined flying citadels continued to rain down upon the Alturarans.

  “It looks like...could it be those Nalheim’s disrupting spear attacks?” Denur muttered to herself. She watched as that blast of light and noise continued to form below the spell formation, smashing into those below.

  Her eyes moved to the flying citadels. She was the mother of dragons, one of the most powerful creatures in all of Emerilia. But here, looking upon those citadels, she felt a chill run through her body as she shook her head to free herself of that feeling.

  These flying citadels had taken the Nalheim’s already powerful attack, increased its power and area of effect, and used it to completely suppress the Alturarans.

  As Denur watched, the Alturarans’ fate had already been sealed.

  There was nowhere that they could escape to as the attacks ate through their different protective shields and barriers. Once reaching their actual bodies, many of them seemed to make screeching noises before their bodies shattered and exploded outward.

  The ground around the Alturarans was churned into dust. The portal shifted as the ground was wrecked around it.

  Even its own protective measures took a pounding. For twenty minutes, it continued, the Alturarans unable to do anything about their fate.

  A plume of dust spread up into the air, being pulled by the wind. The portal shifted and fell on its side.

  The magical runes along the outside of the portal’s ring shut off as the sand-covered plains on the other side of the portal disappeared.

  In a flash of light, the portal was teleported away.

  In the space of an hour and a half, the flying citadels had crushed the Alturaran forces. The solid runic lines made from Mana faded away as the flying citadels moved away from the portal’s old location.

  They moved into formation with the rest of the Goblin Mountain flying citadel group and set out toward the west, where four more portals waited for them.

  The citadel commanders at the Alturaran portal called out different orders, calling for people to check their people and gear and be ready to move out to Terra.

  Denur looked up from her perch on the edge of a volcano, watching those eight flying citadels continue on their path.

  Chapter 4: The Tide

  “Did you just see that?” The Jukal controllers all looked to one another as they watched the Alturarans get smashed into oblivion.

  “That was so awesome! How the hell did Dave do that?” a green-furred Jukal controller asked the others.

  “He somehow took it from the Nalheim, had some guy whipping around a spear—whenever they used the spear, then that disrupting ray would smash down on the Alturarans. That’s so badass!” a purple-furred controller said.

  “You better not be watching them having sex again,” a Jukal wearing a thicker necklace than the other controllers said in a bored tone.

  “Controller Commander, the flying citadels just crushed the Alturarans. They couldn’t do anything!” the green-furred controller said.

  The controller commander let out a bored nod as mist sprayed down on him. He rubbed his furred chest and stomach, lazily opening up the video recorded from the satellites above Emerilia. His scratching paused as he watched the flying citadels send blast after blast down on the Alturarans.

  He let out a warbling chuckle, his frog-like body shaking in glee. “Looks like we’ll be getting a nice bonus! That’ll definitely bring in the ratings!” the controller commander said. His tastes were expensive, part of the reason that he had got his mother with her high status to get him on controller duty for Emerilia.

  It was a military position but there was no threat of anything going wrong. As long as they garnered good ratings and viewership, they could get a bonus from the higher-ups. Also, if anything did go wrong, the AI were there to warn them and deal with the people of Emerilia. It made it an essentially brainless job that anyone could fulfil.

  In over five centuries, nothing had gone wrong in Emerilia and there had been no need for the AI or the controllers to step in.

  “The portal was removed and is now being looked over by our techs,” the purple-furred controller said.

  The controller commander frowned as an alert appeared on his screen. It showed a warning about the strength of the flying citadel’s weapon. Another alert underneath showed the number of people who were logging into the Emerilia
stream to watch everything. The controlling commander dismissed it and looked to his people. “Get some video chopped together of the Party Zero POE’s dying—hack it together with the flying citadels and their attacks, something about the underdogs coming out on top, or about their revenge and reclaiming their land. That’ll bring in the people.”

  Another alert came up about the forces used by the disrupting ray as the AI controllers were running calculations and firing it back to the Jukal controllers.

  This one said that it was going to a higher authority.

  The controller commander rolled his eyes and continued working.

  ***

  “Brilliant, brilliant! Yes!” The Jukal emperor stood up from his bed, bowling over the slaves who looked after his every need.

  They all flinched back slightly, afraid to incur the emperor’s wrath as he watched the overwhelming power of the disrupting ray smash the Alturarans down again and again until they were destroyed.

  “Did you see that!” he roared, a bloodthirsty look on his face as he ripped a mist bottle from one of the slaves and used it to spray his fur. He let out a satisfied noise as he slumped back onto his seat. His arms grasped the beauties around him and pulled them onto his lap. “This emperor is not yet satisfied.”

  Two of the slaves grabbed the newest female slave and pushed them onto the emperor, making sure to not block his view as a new scene appeared in front of him, showing the loss of Anna and Jekoni, as well as the destruction of Steve’s body.

  The emperor roared with laughter at the expressions on their faces. His beauties fed him, his every need seen to as the scene changed and the flying citadels charged forward in a valiant light, like war chariots advancing on the enemy.

  Cut scenes showed the clashes of Xelur and the Terra Alliance drop forces; the atmosphere grew tense. The emperor was wrapped up in it all, as his excitement grew once again. Finally, the flying citadels defeated the Xelur; then, painted in a valiant light, they once again charged toward battle, music in the background bringing up the atmosphere. The scene was cut to show the flying citadels arriving and almost immediately crushing the Alturarans. It panned to those on the ground who looked up at the flying citadels as if they were watching the war gods descending to Emerilia.

  It ended with the emperor cheering from his seat. The beauties held smiles on their faces, as they were shocked in their hearts. Usually their emperor was bored and morose, but with the death and destruction that was happening on Emerilia, it was as if the bloodthirsty beast within him had awoken.

  The scene cut to the flying citadels now moving across Emerilia.

  The emperor settled down. A voice came from behind him, waiting for the emperor to calm before talking.

  “My Emperor, this humble one begs your forgiveness for interrupting.” The underling’s face scraped the floor.

  “Speak.” The emperor was in a good mood. The underling had thankfully talked after the video was finished; otherwise, he might find himself being thrown to the emperor’s beasts for interrupting his fun.

  “The AI controllers of Emerilia have expressed concerns with the level of destruction that this disruption ray has caused. Even the portal that the Alturarans were using was damaged,” the underling said quickly.

  The emperor snorted. Mist sprayed on his fur, the massive and heavy chain of the emperor shifting around his neck and chest. “Those AIs know nothing but numbers and stupid rules! Did we not change those rules to give this great display to the people! Ignore it!” the emperor bellowed. He wasn’t about to have his entertainment destroyed by a few AIs calling out warnings.

  “Do you wish for us to increase the level of damage that the Emerilians are allowed to use?” the underling asked.

  “Those controllers seem to know what they’re doing better than you! Did you see the video that they made or the way that they’re already compiling a list of the best fighters on the Terra Alliance’s and Xelur’s side? Let them deal with it! They’ve not come to annoy me and they’ve shown that they know how to provide entertainment for their emperor!” the Jukal emperor yelled.

  The underling pressed their face further into the ground. “This one understands. I will pass control over to the Jukal controllers at Emerilia.”

  “Leave.” The emperor dismissed the underling as he moved to partake in the delicacies his beauties held out for him.

  ***

  Party Zero once again stood atop the citadel. Aerial scout groups were out with dragons supporting them; the artillery cannons as well as repeater batteries were secured and ready for action at a moment’s notice. Soul gems were being shipped in from Terra to keep the citadels fully charged. The various power-creating devices were all active to pull in power to the flying citadels.

  People looked upward to see the massive soul gem islands brimming with guns, the drop tubes and bays visible as they cruised by. The Goblin Mountain group split; the second wing of four flying citadels headed to the dragon mountain in central Ashal, to deal with the portal before the mouth of Ashal River and the one between the mountain and the Strabon woods.

  The first wing, which Party Zero was a part of, was headed more south. Their target was the portal at the southernmost point of Ashal, south of the Baerux Conglomerate. As they passed, the beasts and creatures of Emerilia, as well as those that had been released for the event of Myths and Legends, looked up with a sense of fear filling them; from the control room’s vision displays, you could see them scatter in all directions.

  The flying citadels were visible from the Strabon Kingdom the city, numbering some three hundred thousand all looked up at the powerful and dominating Citadels.

  As they passed over the Baerux Conglomerate, the Terra Alliance members who had been defending the walls of the various villages and cities got a boost of morale, forcing the attacking forces backward.

  “New targets! Support fire!” the commander of Goblin Mountain Wing One called out. The artillery cannons on the top of the citadel as well as those at the underside of the island rotated onto their new targets, the dwarven crews working with polished efficiency.

  “Fire!” As the commander’s words dropped, the flying citadels were covered in the Mana shock waves of the fired rounds.

  The guns had barely finished moving when the dwarves changed targets and fired again. All of these cannons were the new soul gem-powered versions. They used a soul gem crystal at the base of their firing tubes that would power up the runes inside the cannon, creating an impressive and powerful artillery spell without needing the round.

  These cannons were also made to dissipate heat quickly and efficiently, turning it into residual power to be used later. Their rate of fire was nearly four times of the normal dwarven artillery cannons. They could also fire grand working shells; that did require them to load and remove shells every time but then their destructive power couldn’t be compared to that of the original dwarven cannons.

  The ground was covered with all manner of creatures that wished to tear apart the different walled villages and cities. These creatures looked to the whistling noises that seemed to come from overhead. Explosions bloomed among their ranks, killing tens of them and leaving them in a state of shock as a rolling dwarven artillery barrage descended upon them from the passing flying citadels.

  As they started to react, already the third volley was released from the dwarven artillery cannons.

  While Deia, Induca, and Suzy watched those impacts across the different groups that were trying to attack the people of the Baerux Conglomerate, Dave, Malsour, Steve, Lox, and Gurren were in a workshop within Flying Citadel One. Lox and Gurren were cutting out different pieces of metal and passed them to Malsour, who used his abilities to refine the pieces down and combine them before passing them to Steve and Dave. Dave replaced the parts that had been broken in the armor while Steve helped him and made sure that he didn’t forget anything and also added in the magical coding for each piece. There was so much magical coding in the Devastator armor tha
t Dave took a moment to pull the complete plans from his memory. Thankfully, with Steve’s memory storage, he could easily help Dave to carve out the necessary magical coding and runic lines.

  Steve looked identical to the body that had been destroyed at the Xelur citadel. He had a number of copies made after seeing that it worked, practically making him like a player. But, unlike players, his body still had the exact same stats as it did before.

  They paused in their work to look at the images on the interfaces around the workshop that showed the Baerux Conglomerate. They had been in heavy fighting but now with the flying citadels, the enemy was in confusion and shock, unable to do anything as they tried to escape the hail of powerful rounds coming down. As they did so, they ran into other groups from the event that they had bad blood with, adding to the confusion as battles ignited in the midst of their retreat.

  The dwarven artillery was merciless as it continued to rain down hell upon the attackers.

  “Alter flight path to move in closer to Baerux Conglomerate’s southernmost city Ieiezoth. Maintain speed. We can’t stop, but give them as much help as possible.” The flying citadels’ wing commander’s voice passed through the flying citadels.

  Dave once again turned to what he was doing, holding a piece of metal in one hand and a torch in the other. He used the torch to heat up where the piece was going, match up with the actual replacement part; then, using his soul smithing skill, he was able to place it within the Devastator armor he was working on.

  “Steve, are you updating the runes used within the armor?” Dave asked.

  “A few of them. As more runes have been added to the magical coding database, I’ve been able to find a few ways to modify the armor. It might give another five percent increase to power.” Steve’s voice was serious. Ever since Jekoni and Anna had died, he’d been professional and detached, none of his normal humor appearing as he seemed to have slipped into a sort of depression.