Chương 1334: 1364 - Defending Artorion I

What might be the cost of failure? Triton had never failed, so he had no idea. He knew of others in the past who had failed Kamran and had disappeared, but that didn't necessarily mean that anything unpleasant had happened to them. If he knew one thing about Kamran, it was that the man detested waste. Still, he would rather not end up like Despot Ilopos or Strategos Nountos; neither had been seen in public since their separate disgraces millennia ago.

Even Kamran's lower servants, such as Jonas Tzimiskerion or Justin Isynos, had been exiled after crossing Kamran. Though Triton supposed he was too high-profile for his end to come as quietly as the latter two's end had—Kamran had largely covered up their scandals, but Triton had still heard their lingering echoes. For all his power, however, Triton wasn't eager to see how far Kamran's magnanimity might extend. Yet he still found himself back in his comm room, awaiting his true Lord to answer him.

He'd been waiting for two hours now, a far greater time than usual. When the coral tree before him finally cast dappled light across the tritonite floor, his heart almost seized, and his body stiffened.

"Triton," Kamran growled, his lack of patience plain for Triton to hear within his Lord's usually even tone. He also heard the unspoken demand from his unseen Lord, and he wasted no time in answering that demand first.

"Leon Raime has returned to the Nexus. It seems Antipatra has failed to contain him in the planes. I do not know her current status." Kamran hissed in displeasure.

"More setbacks… how quickly a storm can break…" There was more there, some frustration there that Triton had never heard before. He wondered what could make his Lord turn so dour…

"How have you responded?" Kamran rumbled.

"The siege was broken as Leon Raime's fleet is too large to maintain it safely. I'm rallying my forces, and soon, we will have our confrontation. I intend to win, so I won't be attacking until I'm certain that the battle will favor me."

"You will walk with the Great Lord, and see his will imposed upon the chaos of this universe." Heat rushed to Triton's face, and it took an inordinate amount of restraint not to turn his bowed head to gaze upon the Origin Spark, where he was sure the Great Lord looked down upon them all—and upon him, in particular… He knew that the Great Lord Khosrow would approve of his war, though he doubted a man who overthrew primordial divinity would be that impressed by the results so far.

"I must say," Kamran continued, violently pulling Triton from his thoughts, "I'm surprised you even contacted me. How concerned are you?" Triton opened his mouth to respond, but his tongue turned to lead as his throat tightened, rebelling against his desire to tell the truth. He swallowed thickly, forcing his vocal tract back into action, but when he spoke, his words still came slightly slurred.

"Extremely. If this boy has defeated Antipatra, whose fleet exceeds my own in absolute numbers…"

"She didn't commit her entire fleet," Kamran stated with a detached air, reciting as if from a history book rather than treating it like a contemporary event.

"Too many had to secure her borders and the supply line through the planes she took in Rhea. Your fleet in the Nexus was larger by far than her fleet in the planes." Triton almost quipped about his commitment to the cause compared to hers, but given that she was likely dead and he knew that Kamran wouldn't appreciate it, he forced his throat closed again, ensuring that his snarky comment remained restricted to himself.

"Are you going to ask for my permission to retreat?" Triton clenched his jaw, desperate not to show just how much he wanted that—and he wanted it fiercely. But then more sobering thoughts crashed upon his mind like a frigid tsunami. His Nexus territories lay within the King's Ocean, directly under the auspices of the Ocean King—the very same man who had a pseudo-alliance with Leon through his profligate and decidedly arrogant thirty-third daughter.

His holdings out in the planes were also well within King Ahndhas Gargan's reach. To stay where he was now was… not an option that sat well with him. He'd planned on defeating Leon Raime's Kingdom relatively swiftly, needing only a month or two. He could have justified it as enforcing the King's buffer zone order since that was never formally rescinded, as far as he knew. He could have justified it in a thousand other ways, too.

But now that Leon Raime was back, his options for justifying to the Ocean King his continued hostilities had grown rarer than the silver-tusked whales that had long been hunted by ivory traders. Triton felt like he was powerful enough to still get away with his actions with the right justifications, but only if he retreated now. If he did not retreat, then he was certain the Ocean King would harshly punish him.

If he wanted to get away from that ire, he'd need support from someone equally powerful—someone who was powerful enough to seize the Storm Throne, for instance…

"I do not wish to retreat," he finally choked out.

"… But…?" Kamran hissed impatiently, audibly frustrated by Triton's hesitation.

"I… would need assurances. Or just one assurance."

"What kind of assurance?"

"Protection. From the Ocean King. From anyone else who might desire revenge against me for landing the final blow against the ancient tyrant's bloodline. I may not be able to return to my holdings if this isn't wrapped up before a proper response can be mustered. I will need your support." A deeply uncomfortable silence settled within the chamber. Triton could feel the light pouring from the coral tree speckling across his face like sunlight shining through an ocean's shallows.

He could feel his knees complain about how long he'd been kneeling—practically since he'd entered this room hours ago. He could sense Kamran's frustration even through the man always refrained from showing his image even to those who'd seen him in person before. When Kamran finally responded, Triton almost jumped out of his own skin.

"Do you know what has happened in the past few days, Triton?" A simple enough question, and asked innocuously enough, but there were few things that Triton wanted to do less than answer it. But as the awkward silence between them stretched, Triton came to the unpleasant realization that this waiting storm was going to wait for him to respond.

"I…" he hesitantly breathed, hoping beyond all hope that Kamran wouldn't have him immediately punished.

"I… have not heard anything…" Kamran scoffed.

"A good general always pays attention to what happens around him. If an actor disappears from a play, how should you react? Such a thing could change an entire campaign." You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"My negligence shames me."

"Ensure it does not happen again." Triton almost opened his mouth to promise that he would pay all needed attention to whatever needed his attention, but Kamran pressed on without waiting.

"What has happened, my friend …" A chill fell over Triton, and he barely kept his composure.

"… is that everything I've gained over the past few years has been undone in a matter of days." Triton blinked in shock. Kamran rarely admitted even temporary defeats. It 'tarnished his reputation even if it was true', as he'd put it in the past. He kept his mouth shut, though, not wanting to draw any more ire than was needed.

"Auset made a move," Kamran spat.

"She raided Ula Rahaia and pushed as deep as Yala Riga." Triton's jaw almost fell. That was a deep raid, targeting not just some border regions but pushing into Kamran's heartland in the Nexus.

"I returned from the planes to defend my territory and launch a punitive expedition, but my absence was noticed by Halbast. He pushed back into Meonos, and the citizens rose in rebellion against my garrisons. A strand that took me years to win was lost in days." Shock rippled through Triton at the scale of the defeat and the challenge that Kamran faced.

"I… was not aware that Anassa Auset could be so bold…"

"She has always been bold. It is her joining with Halbast that is surprising. I—" Kamran cut himself off, and it took all of Triton's self-control not to ask him to continue, if for no other reason than knowing Kamran's political situation would be key to knowing his own future, which only made his earlier negligence that much worse.

"I must fight on two fronts," Kamran stated.

"I cannot aid you, Triton. But… if you deem it necessary to end your campaign and retreat with your forces intact, I will not punish you. The horizon is dark, my friend. A storm is coming that we will struggle to contain. A final reckoning that will decide the fate of the entire universe.

"We have been setting the conditions to win for millions of years. The Thunderbird Clan's fall was an important move, but not the only one that has been made in our years. Our chances of ultimate victory would be greatly heightened by casting Leon Raime down and ensuring that you join our cause. But if both are not possible, then I would prefer that you and your forces join us for that final battle than have you fall here. If you cannot defeat Leon Raime, then I will arrange something else in time.

You need only tell me."

'Yes,' Triton silently said in the safety of his own mind. His fingers curled with disgust at the thought, however, and the currents of power within him momentarily raged against him for even considering that possibility. And after a moment, that wave of cowardice and self-concern broke upon the sharp rocks of his determination and dedication to the cause.

"I will defeat him," Triton promised.

"Even if it costs me my life, I can go this far for humanity. If the Great Lord could break the Primal Gods and Devils, cast down the Great Dragons, and usher in the age of humanity, then I can do this much." Kamran chuckled softly, but his smile could still be heard.

"I hope you are right. If you are not, I might have to call in favors. Alderion will be the most likely option, but before then…" Triton felt a pinch against his mental defenses, and he lowered them just long enough to let his Lord in. Immediately, several runes filled his head. One was an improved version of the anti-Inherited Bloodlines rune that he already knew. The three others were completely new, and he could only guess at their functions.

When Kamran told him what they were supposed to do, Triton's heart jumped in excitement as relief flooded his body. With such runic powers at his disposal, even against Leon Raime, he couldn't see himself ever losing a one-on-one fight. He'd lost some measure of respect amongst his people for not accepting Leon's direct challenge when the beast-in-human-skin reappeared in the Nexus.

That was his role as their leader and strongest mage—to fight against the enemy's strongest mage and either kill him or lock him down in battle so that the fleet could do its thing. He had chosen not to fight the stinking creature as he wasn't sure he could win. But now… now, he knew in his heart of hearts that he could show the mud-dweller just how a champion of humanity handled such threats to the species…

Serana seemed almost peaceful as she lay in the healer's bed, the piece of furniture heavily enchanted to aid physical healing. Unfortunately, Leon knew that it wasn't her body that needed healing, but rather, her mind. He'd been struck by black ice before, and knew it to be an incredibly dangerous weapon, able to affect the mind almost as much as the body.

He hadn't been able to immediately come to his mother's side since he had to speak with dozens of people and inspect much of the state of the city after his first strategy meeting, but fortunately, Cassandra hadn't been so tied down, and so had done as he'd asked and taken the White Dragon scale to Serana. Now, it sat upon her sternum, glowing so brightly that Leon could almost be convinced that her origin spark was trying to break out into the physical world.

Beside him stood Nyra, the Gold Dragon dour and serious, and if the healers could be believed—and there was no reason he knew of why they shouldn't be—the younger woman had barely left Serana's side since that duel with Triton that left Serana comatose. Nyra looked like she hadn't bathed or slept in all that time, maintaining her vigil mournfully and fanatically, her face stuck in a deep, terrified frown.

"She'll recover," Leon said after several awkward minutes.

"She will," Nyra agreed definitively, sounding like she would fight anyone who dared to challenge that belief.

"That scale will ensure it. That is the power of dragons." Leon smiled shallowly.

"Keep watch of her for me. If she ever wakes, I want to know immediately." Nyra finally turned her eyes to him.

"I will. She'll be safe with me." Leon shared a nod of gratitude with her, and he squeezed her shoulder before taking his leave. He almost felt like he was leaving his heart behind, the organ not willing to leave his mother until she opened her eyes, but this crisis wasn't even close to being resolved. Triton wasn't going anywhere, clearly, and with his enormous numerical advantage, Leon was going to have to do something drastic to even the odds.

He'd promised that he wasn't going to summon the Eye of Calamity or death lightning unless either was necessary, but that didn't mean he was out of options. It was those options that saw him coming to a private courtyard bathed in the yellow glow of Xaphan's fiery exterior. The demon stood at the center of a venerable group that had been summoned by a single word from Leon. His Paladins made up the majority of the group, nearly all joining him for this expedition.

Even Anna was with him, her recovery having been long enough that she'd practically threatened to resign her position if Leon let her sit this next one out. He was a little surprised that she wasn't leaving her post, but he couldn't help but preen at the trust and dedication she showed. Along with his demonic partner and his Paladins, a couple of Tribal elders had joined him: Solomon, Singer-in-Caves, and Xanthippe.

The three were his strongest Tribal warriors in the entire city, with all other post-Apotheosis Tribal mages back on Aeterna and unable to quickly get back to the Nexus. Of all of his newer followers, only Theron was present. The Strategos-turned-Stellarch was more than eager to prove his worth in this fight, despite having already done so in Leon's eyes when he came without even being called to join the fight against Antipatra. Finally, Nestor completed their small unit.

The dead man was not the strongest of Leon's allies, but what he brought to the table couldn't be replicated. He held such a masterful command of the runic arts that he'd been the lynchpin of the city's defense while Leon had been gone. If he hadn't been around, Leon knew that Triton would've penetrated the storm wall and assaulted Artorion. If he hadn't been around and willing to fight, then Leon might not have had a city to return to.

He hoped he wouldn't need the dead man's aid in the battle to come, but he was going to play this safe and bring him anyway.

'Can't let his upgraded body go to waste, can I? He gave himself those combat enhancements for a reason…'

"Thank you for joining me," Leon said as he cast his golden gaze around the room.

"This past year has been… rough. I could not be prouder of what all of you have accomplished in this time. You have all done what was needed, and then some. Truly, what more could be asked?" He paused, their attention fixed upon him, listening with rapt attention, their eyes tracking his every twitch.

"And yet," he continued, ignoring the weight of their attention, "I brought all of you here to do just that: to ask more of you. Our enemy outnumbers us terribly, a situation that must be balanced. And to do that, I've planned a raid. I will lead a rapid strike upon the enemy, one that will see us inflict moderate damage before returning to the safety of Artorion. If this one goes well, then there will be more."

"Just like how we dealt with Terris?" Anzu asked with a grin of anticipation.

"Something like that," Leon said.

"Make their lives seem like they've fallen into their personal hell, and slowly reduce their numerical advantage with every strike. If they're successful… which they might not be. I will not order any of you to join me; I will only ask, and ignore all judgment around your decision. Will you join me?" Not a single one of them turned away. All remained with him, ready to do what had to be done to protect their home and kin. And so, it was with a wide smile that Leon began final preparations for his raid.

It was time to bloody Triton's forces a little…