"Here we are, the city of Carla."
The clankering of chains.
Hikari towed the wagons through the swamp.
Ria rode in front of her.
They approached the gate.
Improvised gate.
The hole blasted into the wall when the fortress was besieged.
The troops had cleared most of the rubble.
Supports to prevent the wall from caving in.
"So that's the titan. It's vastly more immense than what the reports suggest. I can't believe you faced such a behemoth yourself."
Ria looks to the right.
The husk of a titan.
Its legs are longer than the walls of Carla.
It had crushed an entire section of the city.
Its cannons were still intact.
The weight made it impossible to salvage.
Ria stopped by the roadside and stared in a daze.
"My lady."
"Oh right."
Ria steered her horse, catching up to Hikari's stride.
A column of troops marched behind them.
"Ooh, this is the best view."
"March slower, captain."
"Shut up, or it's guard duty."
Ria kept close just behind HIkari as they passed through the narrow gate.
"Just ignore them."
She whispered. She's sure that Hikari could hear them.
Hikari passed the gate.
A guard directed her to the left.
It was a narrow road.
Just wide enough for her.
Clank.
The sound of chains hitting the ground.
She overhears the sentries in the distance.
"Did you see the holy lady that just arrived in town?"
"Yeah Damn. Her hips are wide. She marched through the forward post in her full armour."
"How did you get a glimpse of her?"
"I drew the best spot to do sentry duty. The watch tower."
"Aw damn. I wish I was that lucky."
"That shining armour too. Worth enough for me to retire several times over."
The troops began unloading the stores.
Ria squeezed through to Hikari and poked her boot with her finger.
Hikari bent over, scoping her up and placing her on her shoulder.
The view was breathtaking.
They stood on a ledge.
In the distance, they could see the zeppelin lanes.
Tiny oval shaped balloons flying along their slip streams.
They popped out of mega structures.
Sometimes in convoys.
The lands below. Bottomless pits. Corrupted, uninhabitable wastes.
The zeppelin was the only way to traverse them.
"Look over there. Port Aechorn. A free port. Free enough all manner of criminals to take refuge. But the city itself maintains such tight order that it has the lowest rates of violence amongst proper cities. The city itself is buried deep into the ground where the corruption is stone. It is shielded by an ancient magical device that still functions to this day."
Hikari turns her eyes towards a vertical structure. The tiny zeppelins docking around it looked like pop candy. The structure extends downwards into the dark abyss below.
"Now look over there. Port Yanshire. That's where our guest, one of Silora's anointed lives. I haven't been there yet. It's a long zeppelin ride. I have talked to plenty of guests that live there. It's a stunningly beautiful place. Home to its own exotic vegetation. Perhaps we should go there sometime?"
It looked like a giant floating island.
Most of it was obscured by clouds.
She could make out shades of bright green and squarish ivory patches.
"Ria."
"Yes?"
Ria could see her ear and the side of her cheek from where she was sitting.
"I hate zepplins."
"Eh?"
"I hate them."
"Why?"
"I just do."
Ria paused.
She was tongue stuck at her unexpected response.
"Well, they are the only way you're going to travel to far away lands. Some areas are just too dangerous to travel overland and too barren to ever reclaim. At the spire academy, you should expect to travel by zeppelin several times in a year so-"
"I hate zepplins."
Ria thinks for a moment.
She takes out a wrapper from her pocket.
Before she could say anything,
"See this? This one comes from Port Yanshire. Wouldn't you like to visit the cacao farm there? See how the chocolate is being made."
Hikari nudges her with her finger.
The giantess opens her mouth and sticks out her tongue.
Ria's heart pounded.
It was large enough to swallow her.
"Later."
She keeps her chocolate.
"You still have some work to do. The workers need your help clearing the way to the observatory. It's too difficult getting the heavy machinery in here."
Hikari puts her down.
"I still have some paperwork to do. When you're done, maybe you could show me how you are making the bean paste."
"Yes, my lady."
…
Thud.
A scaled up shovel. She recalls seeing them being attached to the front steam tanks.
Driving them through the swamp is a sure way to get them bogged in the mud.
She began the shoveling.
The city was shaped like a circular auditorium.
The area where an auditorium would have a stage was a broken elevator shaft that the engineers were trying to restore.
She shoveled the debris from the road.
Debris left over from the shelling and the titan's movements.
She stopped.
Using her boot, she pushed the pile of debris in front of her.
The entire surface caved, collapsing into the depths below.
"Close one."
She backs off.
A group of engineers showed up and cordoned off the area.
She looks around for an alternative.
"There."
She backtracks two blocks.
There was a street going outward.
It was filled with leftover junk from the previous war.
She shovels them out.
The way to the next street was clear.
She moves on to the next.
"Hm?"
She senses a tinge of mana.
It was so faint that the normal soldiers wouldn't notice it.
A tiny crystal fragment so small that it would fit into her lady's hand.
Out of curiosity, she pressed on it.
The crystal response.
She absorbs its power.
Words start flashing through her mind.
Day 156
Praise Eon. The seed has germinated. Our prayers have been answered.
The first convoy of cattle has arrived. Time is now ticking. Though this territory has pledged to us, the amount of bodies we need is going to draw attention to us sooner or later.
But for now, let their flesh be merged-
Pop! The crystal shatters.
[Blessing of Eon (+1)]
"A record?"
She continues shoveling.
Clearing the debris along the path the titan took.
"Another?"
Day 215
The titan is building up mass. We are fortunate for the recession in Herdial. No one would notice a few homeless people missing. We will strike the capital with the very flesh that they had abandoned. And reclaim-
The crystal shatters.
[Blessing of Eon (+1)]
"Phew. It was not going for the estate."
The titan's leg was in the way.
There was little that even she could do to move such a mass.
She took a detour around it.
There was a pothole.
She could sense a hint of the mist rising from it from below.
The engineers bring up a bridge.
Five men pushed the metal plating.
Hikari lifts it and places it over the pothole.
The engineers proceed to fix it.
She notices another crystal.
Day 280
The core has reached adolescence. We can start fitting the cannons onto it. We have managed to kidnap a few cannoneers. The vessel of Eon is absorbing them. Absorbing their flesh. Absorbing their knowledge. It recognizes the cannons. But I fear abducting specialists might draw attention. Time is short, I must hurry.
The crystal shatters.
[Blessing of Eon (+1)]
Hikari places one boot onto the bridge.
It held her weight.
She walked over it.
The engineers nod to each other.
More rubble.
She finds another crystal.
Day 331
The legs. The swamp regenerates endlessly through absorbing the mana from the depths below. We can feed it with bark. The flesh is more rigid. But the authorities are starting to notice. We can't keep feeding it with bodies. Transporting through the swamp is difficult. But we have to. We need the power source and the seclusion this abandoned city offers.
The crystal shatters.
[Blessing of Eon (+1)]
Another street cleared.
The growling of ghouls.
The engineers nervously drew their muskets.
Hikari draws her dagger.
Three appeared over the rooftops.
Slice. Slice. Crunch.
She clears them.
She notices a crystal buried inside.
It responds to her presence.
She pulled it to her hand.
Day 385
Magnificent. The supply of bodies is drying up. But it has accumulated enough mass. It only needs power. Blood from inferior flesh will do fine. We no longer need their fresh bodies. Drain the blood from the villages. Before that, kidnap as many scions from the surrounding noble houses. Many of the heads are off to war in the north. Their mana form would feed the titan. This will trigger a war. But we have exhausted our resources to bring the vessel of Eon into form.
The crystal shatters.
[Blessing of Eon (+1)]
"Damn."
Several knights showed up to escort the engineers.
They had passed the most ravaged part of the city.
A volley of musket fire.
Slice. Slice. Crunch.
They cleared out a small hive of ghouls.
They stood before the observatory.
The way is clear.
A breaching team of knights and engineers made their way to the gate.
Hikari raised both palms facing the sky and stretched.
Her shift was done.
She looks around.
"Any more crystals?"
She senses a trail.
She steps onto debris.
The stone creeks below her.
"Careful."
She shovels away some of the debris.
She found it.
Day 391
The team we sent to the RazenHeir estate had been decimated. A giant knight that could wield telekinesis wiped them. Another report, the forward post had gone silent overnight. Our informants reported that the giant knight had taken over it. No matter. The titan is almost ready. The mana flow from below the Carla shaft is stronger than we expected. It will take Herdial and the Moradale territories sometime before they could muster an army.
The crystal shatters.
[Blessing of Eon (+1)]
She could still sense the trail.
She shovels away more rubble.
The alleyway was narrow.
She stepped carefully.
The ground felt like it could collapse anytime.
Another crystal.
Day 397
They found us. That's not a surprise. But the territorial army has already been assembled. They outnumber our standing army but they just have to stall until we awaken the titan. We still need some time. The team earmarked for the wyvern peaks had left. Even if the titan gets defeated, we still have something else up our sleeves.
Hikari follows the narrow alleyway.
She emerged into a zeppelin bay.
The zeppelin was torn down to its frame.
A ghoul hiding inside lunged at her.
Crunch.
She looks around.
There was a cloaked corpse in the bay.
The ghouls had made off with an arm.
The remaining one grabbed onto a chest.
She could sense its mana.
She pinched the chest between her fingers.
The crystal inside rattled in response to her presence.
It bursts out of its chest.
It was much larger than the previous ones.
Day 401
By Eon's grace. The territorial army had pierced our defenses. Reports of a giant knight cutting deep into our backlines. Destroying our cannon positions and defeating our golems. Our elite teams of assassins could not stop her. We have to count on the swamp now. Withdraw all of the troops. Sacrifice all of them to bring the titan online. The swamp will consume most of them but the Herdial capital will fall. Glory to Eon.
The crystal shatters.
She feels the ripples of this one.
She feels its runes burning into her mind.
Her hand twitched.
"Argh."
It hurts.
She pushed the mana through.
A brief flare of Aether flame.
The zeppelin bay went quiet.
Hikari looks at her hand.
The afterglow of the rune.
[Blessing of Eon : 100]
[Unlocked : Flames of Eon]