Chapter 27 - General Afka
The roar of the wind carried across the walls standing in the night, the sun that had just set seemed to have lowered the overall temperature by several degrees, but the cold and the deafening howl were familiar to the guards of the jagged walls that stretched like a huge monolith into the vast distance. The hundred-metre-thick outer wall of Ba Sing Se was the first and most heavily defended part of the city. In its entire history, only one man had ever managed to breach its colossal strength. General Airo, in his six-hundred-day siege, managed to breach the wall, but once he entered the agricultural zone that stretched for a huge distance between the outer and inner walls, even he was surrounded, defeated and destroyed.
It was this agricultural zone that allowed the city to be an independent power: fields, water and minerals allowed it to stand for as long as it wanted. And cheap labour from the lower ring, where life was getting worse every year, ensured the prosperity of the other districts. They were already almost impossible to see from the outer wall, the distance to them was about the same as from the capital of the fire people to the very edge of the archipelago. The soldiers standing on the walls heard that somewhere in the upper ring today there was some kind of celebration - a lavish feast in honour of the glory of their great city. Perhaps even drink in their honour! At least, some of the young people sincerely wanted to believe it.
However, the outer wall was in no mood for celebrations today, and the outposts built every couple of kilometres trembled. The soldiers, who were snacking and filling themselves with warm, fragrant tea, quickly realised that the dishes and water in the barrels were ringing and shaking. Things slowly began to slide off the tables and crash to the floor, giving the guards a genuine sense of unease. Even during the siege of the Fire General, nothing like this had ever happened! But when they ran outside, all the guards and outpost captains realised that something terrible was happening.
No group could immediately recover, although it was necessary to send a message about what was happening directly to the palace. Everyone was paralysed by the huge self-propelled installation and the giant, who looked capable of easily reaching the top of the wall, except for a small group of people around me and Azula. Our immense charisma and orders immediately brought even the local captain to attention. Although they definitely shouldn't have known who had brought this trouble upon them... For a couple of days, we had been accompanying the huge drill and tracking the giant's movements with Afka's help so that the attack on Ba Sing Se would happen at exactly the right moment, and the fact that Azula gave permission to walk around the drill and even inside it allowed me to complete the most important preparations for the upcoming battle. It also allowed me to learn and understand how such a contraption could have been created in the current time period.
The thing is, it's hard to call it just a drill. This creation of the geniuses of the current era is called a tunnel-boring complex, or a mining shield. The invention was made possible by studying the magic of other peoples. The fire sages researched how to work with the earth, how to remove soil using water flows, gathered knowledge from all corners of the planet, and modified foreign technologies. Often, for quick optimisation, they had to resort to the help of captured magicians from other countries. And it was a real miracle.To begin with, the coal compartments were truly enormous, the labourers threw it into a giant furnace, and the fire mages repeatedly improved the performance of the engines using heat magic. The best workers from the volcanic factories that Oza had shown me, true adepts of temperature control, had been brought here. It was a pity to tell Azule that all this would be destroyed... yes, she herself understood that nothing good would happen to the drill if it ended up near the lord of metals, and in the worst case, this piece of metal would become a weapon that Old Iron would wield like a club, but even so, my words angered her a little. And all because the drill was supposed to become a weapon in my hands, since it contained many useful materials.
Take aluminium, for example. It would have been impossible to obtain it anywhere nearby, but the drill was used to make giant beams, wall panels and pipes out of it. This essential material cascaded through the entire interior of the machine, allowing me to create a thermite bomb on a scale that even the surface prison platform had never seen before. And I don't even want to talk about how much silver there was, which would have greatly improved my current control. This isn't a drill, it's a real weapons warehouse.
"Everyone be on the alert, a colossal titan is about to arrive and break through the Maria wall! Urgently send letters to the other walls so they can evacuate the areas this monster will pass through," my stern voice instantly sent them all running. Only one boy, whom I held by the scruff of his neck, looked with horror at the approaching trouble.
"Why is it even coming here? What curse have we brought upon ourselves!
"What are you whining about, even though you won't have to fight? Life inside the walls has made you soft," Azula rolled her eyes at him in annoyance.
I stood there talking to Afka, who was filling me in on what was happening. In short, the General was furious about the festival being held in Ba Sing Se. He realised that the people had completely lost their respect for the spirits — destroying their statues was considered the ultimate blasphemy! He left part of his army on the shores of the Earth Kingdom, but took two loyal assistants with him — they could also be seen, but for some reason the soldiers paid no attention to them. Perhaps they couldn't believe that the large mountains behind the General were actually moving towards them, that it wasn't just some kind of optical illusion. But the problem was not only them, rain was approaching with the spirit! The very same rain from which, as it seemed to me, I had managed to escape.
It was time to act... Old Iron approached close enough to see the people scattering and fearing him on the walls. The titan studied the barrier standing in his way with unprecedented interest and said in a grating voice:
"Humanity has fenced itself off from the spiritual world in every way possible. But you were unable to preserve the previous great city. Do you think you can save the current one? The voice sounded like a howl, even the eardrums were pounding from its relentless and cruel bass. But he spoke in a completely human language, which very few were capable of. However, he did not care about the little people, did not pay any attention to me, as if he knew that NOTHING could stop him. Finally, the God of Destruction approached, reaching the walls faster than the drill. But that was good. The giant hadn't yet seen the machine approaching from the north, most likely didn't even sense it, and was therefore relaxed. At that moment, I stood directly in front of him, with the very fox that had been circling him so often.
"Lord of Steel... I must admit, you have encased yourself in armour so thick that even a rail cannot pierce it," I was at eye level with him, which was already frightening. At first, the spirit didn't even seem to notice me, his gaze looking right through me. He saw in me a void that was not worth paying attention to... but then his gaze caught on Afka.
"Spirit of knowledge. I am grateful that you pointed out this heretical place to me — for thousands of years, humans have been devouring our resources, but now it is time for them to pay. Will you help me? Will this little one become part of my Giant Army?
They completely ignored me... I exhaled and looked at the fox sitting at my feet. She was trembling. She was almost bowing, as if she had met someone equal to Wang Shi Tong, or even significantly superior to him in status. And this sweet offer... it could only come once in a lifetime, because in essence, by refusing, you would immediately lose that very life. That's why I didn't say anything, just smiled quietly and watched.
"The great Old Iron does not share his knowledge with Wang Shitong, I cannot take your side...
"Of course you will receive my knowledge. If you become the head of one of my divisions. Do you think I am not familiar with the cunning and strategic talent of the spirits of knowledge? - but at that moment, he stunned Afka. Even I stopped, blinking in confusion.
Didn't Wang Shitong allow us to deal with this spirit only because he was a coward? If the spirit starts spreading knowledge, it will immediately fall into the clutches of that greedy owl, which means it will be a thousand times harder for me to deal with it without breaking the contract.
"Afka! - I lowered my gloomy gaze, I had to convince her not to spread this around.
"Hmm... this mortal — is he the one you call your friend? I can spare his life, I don't care about the genocide of monkeys, I just need to throw them back into the Stone Age. No, even more than that, I need to take their stones away so they can't build such huge walls. However, this mortal will no longer interact with you, you will have to sever ties with him. From now on, the spirits will rule separately.
"You are very kind, General," Afka wagged her tail. She thought seriously about this question, and I pressed my lips tightly together. "You have vast knowledge of metals and the magic associated with them, which will definitely be valuable to Wang Shi Tong. And if you agree to write a few treatises on your military campaigns, or perhaps publish a sequel to your famous Art of War, he will be overjoyed.
"Aren't you asking too much, little fox? - he smiled and laughed," - But if your master supports me, I will do everything to please him. Wang Shitong was a worthless miser who maintained neutrality, I think it's high time to establish relations with him.
They really started discussing what kind of support they would give each other. Afka seemed to agree to everything, and they even talked to each other like old friends.
"Hey, are you sure everything is going according to plan? - Azula approached me, touching my shoulder with her wet hair, and spoke heavily," "What are you planning to do?
What could I do? Just wait for the plan to be carried out and believe.
Squinting at the satisfied Afka, I touched the bonds between us and tried to find out what she was thinking. And that's why I felt only the cunning that filled her, which was her whole essence. Turning to me, she showed a sly face.
"Old Iron, could you take off your mask for a second? I'm talking to a friend, not an enemy.
"No problem, I have no reason to keep my full combat gear on in a place like this," the spirit calmly raised his hand to his mask and, as if it were nothing, removed the heavy protection, revealing a red face with a third eye. He looked like a man from an Eastern painting, his hair standing on end, and his pigtail, more characteristic of a samurai, fluttering even in the pouring rain. With his moustache and beard, he looked just like a human being! But he clearly wasn't.
"You are excellent! Then can you ask your subordinates to step back a little? - Afka lowered her gaze from the wall and stared at the spirits, who were significantly smaller than the General. Yes, they still looked like mountains, but only thirty to forty metres high," - The shock wave from the destruction of the wall could hurt them, after all, your power is unprecedented! Let them stand right behind you, it will be safer for them.
"Really? Your mind is already proving useful to me — being able to control your abilities is truly beneficial. I've always had problems with that," I froze with a lost expression on my face as the red spirit asked his allies to step back. Two mountains waited behind him, watching as their master raised his giant foot. "Then I'll crush this wall with one blow, and then we'll go destroy the capital."
"Definitely," Afka rolled her eyes, looked at me and nodded. At that moment, through the same spiritual bond, I heard a voice say, "Do you remember that mercenary's weak spot?"
I blinked a couple of times, looked at the spirit and its red, glowing third eye. Even in the heavy rain, it was clearly visible, like... a large target. Raising the spirit sharply and not giving Iron a chance to understand anything, I released a clump of sand so dense and fast-spinning that the electronites flew metres in different directions. A blow. A flash.
"A-a-aah!" A cry of pain rang out as if throughout the entire capital. The swift blow left the relaxed General no chance, his face contorted, his sense of direction lost. Because one of his legs was already raised, he simply lost his balance and fell straight onto his two subordinates... The crunch and crash that followed made Azulu and me open our eyes wide.
"Firk, what good is Wang Shi Tong's insignificant knowledge if he'll soon be charging for passage between worlds? Dagoth... I won't tell the master about the offer we received. But in return, don't cut him into pieces.
To be honest... even I felt uneasy about her cunning.
"Hah. Well, my little dumpling, the fox has outsmarted you," I threw up my hands and concentrated all my attention on the storm approaching the southern walls — my personal weapons store — and, clenching my fingers tightly, began to subdue the necessary pieces of metal. Even the help of the movements came in handy now, to take control of so much metal and pieces of earth. I was ready.Chapter 28 - The Frightened Higher Spirit
Disabling the assistant spirits of the renowned General was undoubtedly an excellent asset and the beginning of this multi-stage battle, for they were not to be underestimated. From Yuna's example, I saw that the power of one such spirit had unprecedented control, advanced levitation, and gigantic compressive force compared to ordinary mages. That would have been more than enough to destroy the entire capital; they could have left not even a single stone standing. But I was not only different from ordinary mages in that I had open chakras and spirits, but also in that I had an assistant who had already put this little brat in an awkward position. The target lay on a large pile of pebbles and cobblestones, grimacing and covering her third eye so that it could no longer be hit. However, her face was still a weak spot, and the materials I had thrown into the air were aimed at it.
The mountain-crossing platform began to fall apart, and the first thing it lost was the coal. It flew towards me accompanied by a black cloud of dust, shrinking along the way under the gigantic magical force and forming natural cobblestones of pure diamonds. In this form, they were already beyond the control of our tumbler's magic. One push, one correctly chosen direction, and the sharp crystals flew into the open face of the elderly General.
At that moment, a flash lit up the sky above our heads.
Azula did not forget to add lightning to the mix. But not ordinary lightning — during our journey to Ba Sing Se, while we were able to fully enjoy the rain and the accompanying natural lightning, she learned an interesting trick, and I even helped her with it. Gathering her fingers above her head and concentrating the negative charge of the jinga on them, Azula became a lightning rod, which the thick natural lightning rushed to strike. The power of such a bandura was significantly greater than that which ordinary magicians were capable of producing, but the conditions for using it in battle were harsh. Either you conduct the lightning through yourself and release it, maintaining perfect balance, calmness and inner harmony, or you die. Azula, as you can imagine, was not afraid of such risks.
A giant pillar of lightning simply burst into the girl, intent on reducing her body to sand, and the crash was so loud that even those who had not been deafened by the General were on the verge of it, and in the next moment, as if at the snap of a finger, the giant beam redirected itself to the side, as if thanks to a perfect repeater. The trick, which according to rumours only Airo could repeat, was perfectly reproduced again, enveloping the spirit's body with a blow that burned the very soul. For much weaker creatures, ordinary fire was enough. For stronger ones, lightning charged with anti-spirit magic would be useful, and what was shown now could wipe out an army, even clear a good part of the entire swamp.
But the General managed to survive the blow. Yes, he scattered the spirits that had fallen on him, getting rid of them completely, but his main opponent only glowed, as if accumulating this energy within himself and gradually suppressing it. Yes, the metal spirits conducted electricity well, but that was why they had learned to defend themselves against it. Perhaps not completely, but he managed to suppress the blow, and when he came to his senses, he rose to his feet wearing a metal mask covering his weak third eye.
"Well, how do you like the result, smart guy?" Azula sniffed, sensing the growing anger in her opponent. He didn't even say anything, just slowly took up a fighting stance. It was as if he knew that no one and nothing could rush him or stop him.
"I can only say one thing: run! Pushing Azula aside, I grabbed Afka, and at that moment, the entire wall beneath our feet exploded. It was pushed back a couple of dozen metres and torn to pieces by a single magical blow from Old Iron. The ground disappeared from under our feet, turning into stone debris scattered around us. Flying down, holding the fox tightly to me, I surveyed the extent of the destruction and couldn't believe it - the wall had been swept away not just to its very foundations, but several hundred metres in different directions, and the debris was scattered for kilometres!
The mages and the people in the outposts fell with us, some were even hit hard by stones, others were unconscious. Without direct support from the ground, none of them could somehow ease their fall, only a few unique individuals managed to grab onto nearby rocks and try to slow down with levitation, but Azula played well, pushing herself with reactive fire and dodging deadly boulders. One thing was certain: their magic, which worked only through movement, was ill-suited to such stressful situations. Only I, thanks to my advanced control methods, could help them in any way.
Using the grains of sand around me to calculate the exact number of people falling and find each of them, I quickly took control of the stones near them and brought them closer so that everyone could either grab hold or lie down. And just before they landed, I cleared the sky above us, slowed down and saved everyone in an instant.Giant boulders began to fall nearby, making frightening sounds and shattering into pieces. Some of them flew towards the guards I had just saved, one almost hitting Azura, who had landed safely, so I strained my brain again and stopped their movement abruptly.
For a second, the world around me seemed to freeze.
"Phew," I said, extinguishing the inertia of the objects, and I stepped back slightly and raised my head to the sky. The worst was not over yet. On the contrary, everything got even worse — we lost our strategic position in height and were now at the very feet of the huge giant. No, he didn't look down to see if anyone was left unharmed, he just kept walking. And in his path were all the people I had just saved. His giant footsteps, which could crush the ground at least five metres deep, hung over our heads like ants.
"We need the power of the Avatar..." whispered Afka, pressing herself against my chest.
"Better the power of your legs," I said, spreading my arms to push the people covered in stones as far away as possible, and immediately pushing myself away too. Forward, in the direction of the General's footsteps. Then I took off at a slight angle, propelling myself with the earth. Azula followed, shooting jet-like purple flames from her limbs.
The giant's first step was taken a few dozen metres away from us. The clouds of dust could have blocked our entire view if I hadn't clenched it into a ball and thrown it at the giant himself, so he would know who he was dealing with. The result was not surprising; his armour wasn't even scratched. How thick were the metals and alloys in the various bunkers? Well, Oza, to be on the safe side, had built himself a bunker with metal walls several metres thick, but magic could still pierce the unimaginable. But Old Iron's armour was dozens of metres thick, and his body itself must have been as strong as steel, simply because the impact of my crystals and sand had no effect on him.
But the worst thing was that he simply did not allow metals such as aluminium and silver to get close enough to him. Previous attacks had made him realise that it could hurt, so he had surrounded himself with some kind of magical shield. Everything that hit it passed under its control and then rushed back. It must have been a revelation to it that metal mages had appeared among humans, which is why...
"He's not stopping, he still wants to kill us," I froze in front of an aluminium beam that was just inches from my face. There were loads of them, he was throwing tons at me! "What should I do? Aluminium is vital to my plans, I'm not used to anyone being able to counter my metal.
And then an idea came to me. Tug of war. Water mages used negative and positive zing to dodge attacks and redirect them, and usually, the launched mass had time to fly for a while before being intercepted by the enemy again. Seeing how much aluminium debris was left after my attacks, I tensed up again and began to pick it up from the ground. And not only that, but I also continued to dismantle the drill, which took time. A lot of time.
The giant continued to move forward, destroying fields and shacks along the way with his feet, which, fortunately, were already empty. I would like to say that he stopped paying attention to me, but that would be a complete lie. He lifted boulders and threw them at me in cascades without even turning around. If it weren't for Azula standing guard and striking every rock with lightning, smashing it to smithereens, I would never have been able to defeat my opponent.
"How are you doing? The giant is almost at the next ring. It took him less than an hour, although it took Airo six hundred days," she said, turning towards me for a moment and then freezing. Above my shoulders, like some kind of giant, towered two huge piles of materials. In one pile, diamonds were gathered, forming a twenty-metre giant, similar to those that had died under the General's back. In the second pile, tons of aluminium were forming. My forehead was red from the effort, and I could see veins bulging. The sweat was only invisible because of the downpour.
"It's okay," - only the fact that I was being helped by the spirits of Rust allowed me to quickly prepare everything. And soon I climbed inside my crystal golem... lightning and flying stones were no longer scary to me, and thanks to my long strides, it was easier to catch up with the enemy. Azula, sitting on my head, began to act as a self-propelled hammer - we rushed after the General, and I immediately began to melt the aluminium. Due to its liquid state, it became extremely elastic, flew just as well, but most importantly, I was now using the style of water mages. So even before we got close, a hail of molten metal rained down on him.
"First he wants to destroy the capital, and only then finish me off. Although, more likely, these desires are equivalent," I knew that he would turn around and intercept the metal, this time perceiving me as a serious problem, as a creature that had gained power that should not belong to him at all. That was the plan.
"I don't usually look at the people I want to kill, because I can crush you like flies, I have enough desire to wipe out even your cities, but you... I thought your first strike was just a clever trick, but now I see. You are strong," the frozen metal simply began to merge together. It was as if he had created a whole lake out of thousands of droplets of metal and, with enormous force, directed it back. I was immediately reminded of the lava lakes in front of the factories on the fiery archipelago — just as long and deadly. Except this was flying at the speed of an arrow.
"That's it," said Afka, standing next to Azula, lowering her head.
"Northern style," I raised the giant arms of my colossus and signalled to my companions to prepare for something. The stream of metal was the size of the entire golem, but thanks to the fact that I could feel it as well as my own hands, I managed to do something unprecedented. I made a movement as elegant and smooth as the best water mages in the form of a giant. The metal passed a mere centimetre from my body, then turned around and was sent back by my giant paws. And the moment it flew back towards the General, I made a dash and ran after it.
The ground shook beneath my feet, and flimsy houses trembled and collapsed. And even though the redirected metal soon returned, this time thrown with great effort, I managed to split it again with the greatest of ease.
"You're suppressing him just because you have a more suitable style!" Azula couldn't believe it, rubbing her eyes repeatedly until we finally got close enough to see where the biggest problem was. It was impossible to get to the General's body because there was an invisible anti-earth barrier in front of him that intercepted control over the elements. Continuing to use the water style and fighting at a distance was monstrously exhausting for my stamina, not to mention that the ground around me was also beating down on me, trying to break through the diamond armour. There was only one way out.
Break through his barrier and strike him myself!
"What the... - the giant realised that he was unable to regain control of the diamonds, and having only managed to grow a stone wall in front of him, found himself trapped. My fist shattered the barrier first, then crashed down on his leg... but it looked as if a small, three-year-old child had decided to attack a huge Ambal. One blow from that leg and I would have been turned into a football, but I had achieved my goal. Direct contact with the metal allowed me to start the corrosion process, and it happened so quickly that most of the General's leg suddenly turned dark orange.
"What kind of magic is this?" He probably couldn't even imagine that I possessed the spirit of Rust, a weapon that was practically perfect against him. At that moment, my magic began to consume the leg itself — there was enough diamond dust to make it sway, and then I finally struck it with aluminium. Right on that rust-covered leg." "Huh?"
The General's pupils began to gradually open as sparks began to fly from his leg - the elements of his armour had been used as materials to create thermite. With a single effort of my mind, the materials mixed and a piece of armour burst into flames like a fire!
"How is this possible?" The old man did not understand the methods of modern magic and therefore felt considerable pain. It would have been fine if it had been magma or even lightning, which he was skilled at suppressing, but thermite could not be extinguished. It was like hot lava and was eating away at his legs. "It's burning... a burning pain!"
He shuddered, feeling strange for the first time in his life. All his life he had controlled materials that no one could subdue, and he felt special, but when he encountered an enemy like this, he began to tremble. It was... it was fear.
At that moment, I moved again, attacking the second leg of my unprepared enemy. Now both of the giant's legs were burning, and he was retreating from me in fear, straight towards the wall of the lower district. Leaning against the bastion, causing it to crumble and crack, Old Iron tried to simply remove the top layer of armour, discarding it like a useless trinket.
"What? - but I had already started climbing up his body. My golem's paws clung to his belt, his torso, almost reaching his chest, and every touch turned the armour into useless rubbish, actively burning along the way," - Don't come closer! Go away!
Huge paws came crashing down on me with all their weight, and cracks appeared on my body, but I managed to turn that to my advantage. Iron's gloves were also covered with rust, and then they began to ignite, driving the General to despair.
"No. Why does the fire hurt me? I've never felt this before!
"Because it's melting metal, Iron. Your own armour, imbued with your chi," I climbed onto the spirit's shoulders, wrapped my arms around its neck and began to break it down. Those frightened glowing spheres wanted only one thing: to escape. And all because his mask was already covered with rust and the first sparks were appearing. "But they should have already broken your mistress's statue.
And only he felt the pain somewhere deep in his heart as the mask itself burst into flames. At that moment, under his weight and fluttering body, the lower wall of Ba Sing Se collapsed. He crashed into the slums, and under my slightly tense gaze, he destroyed a pile of houses, an entire neighbourhood was destroyed in an instant. But there was no one left in the houses.
The local soldiers had been sent word in time, and the areas had been evacuated. And considering the scale of the battle, it's safe to say that it was visible even from the palace.
And since General Old Iron was so weakened that he could only emit loud, metallic sounds and flounder about, there was only one thing left for me to do.
"Your soul is now mine," I used Koch's help to subjugate another higher spirit.