The Camelot's whole body descended at an alarming speed, placing itself between the Stormbringer and the gathering energy inside the mouth of this damned abomination. I could feel every groan in the metal hull, even the pulse of the cores, and the gathering magic both in our weapon and in the mouth of this soon-to-be dead bastard... Because I wasn't going to take no for an answer. It will die. And that was it! I saw how Kustov's knuckles were white on the helm, but his hands never trembled as he maneuvered the ship to place it, even if it meant we might very well die. I gave the order... and he would accomplish it.

Behind us, the Stormbringer was already falling, her belly ripped open from the inside in a secondary explosion, fire and black smoke pouring from every seam that gave up resisting the heat. Despite that, her cannons were still firing, spells going past above and under us, even as she tilted into her death-spiral. Further away, the Judgement staggered, but it was still afloat, slowly descending. As far as her trajectory went, she was aiming to land close to where the Stormbringer would crash... probably trying to save as many survivors as possible.

"Ugh..." Merlin moaned, regaining proper consciousness, and tried to sit up, but with how sharply we were turning, pointing our nose downwards, he had no idea where up and down were.

"Stay put and don't move!" I yelled at him, "Wait until things are over!"

"It's... angry..." He grunted, forcing the words out of his throat.

"It won't get the chance to rage," I cut him off as my hands tightened on the armrests until the leather groaned under it, "We'll ram our own anger down its throat... Stuff it like a turkey..."

I watched as its maw grew larger on the Imaginary's projection, swallowing the entire screen in the end. For a moment, everything felt slowed down, and I could make out the spell-fragments, visible in its mouth. They were nothing like I knew of, yet also very much alike. It was a weird feeling... However, I also felt a particular resonance with it. I could feel when it was about to be completed, and... we were faster. It still needed a few seconds to draw on the energy in his body, which was hindered by its feast. Its natural core was connected to the others it consumed, still linked, and the resonance feedback within its blood was disturbing its spells, thoughts, and movements... I could sense it. You hungry bastard... You overfed, eh? Well... let me give you your just desserts!

The Camelot shuddered the moment I pressed down and activated the firing sequence. As a beam of magic erupted from our prow, it made the Imaginary blur into static, and for a single breath, everything was silent while I watched it enter its mouth.

"Pull us up!" I yelled and watched as... nothing happened.

I began thinking we failed because... There was nothing. Not even when we started rising to the sky again, steering clear of the monster. By then, the Stormbringer had crashlanded, and the Judgment also touched down, and the Eagle's Nest, along with the planes, were retreating, but... the Guardian was still... I mean... still. Yes. It didn't fire, it just... froze in place.

Then, there was a flicker.

First were the flying bone monsters, falling out of the sky as if their strings were cut. Then, the Guardian's wings twitched, followed by its entire body swelling grotesquely, its scales were cracking apart in irregular seams everywhere. I expected it to blow up, but... Where its hardy body began splitting, I could see magic still actively circulating inside. I mean... it was magic, probably what Merlin theorized, covering it under its skin. Now, all the magical reaction was stuck inside it, ravaging the beast, and the explosion that should have torn it into fragments was constantly burning, ramming, and exploding within its body, unable to escape. Fuck you... That's what you deserve... burning from the inside out!

Just as I thought about it, the Guardian's eyes burst first, all of them popping like overfilled water balloons, followed by fountains of multi-colored fire escaping, releasing a screaming, shrill sound, blasting straight into the skies like a jet engine. Then, all of it found its way out of its mouth, becoming a furnace, vomiting a column of magical flame so intense it was pure white in color. It was like a rocket, the only difference is that this one doesn't seem to stop... at all.

It became a fusion reactor, constantly burning magic... a furnace or whatever else you want to call this abomination.

"Reports coming in!" Sasha broke the silence, "The monsters at the river, all of them fell apart!"

"We won..." Kustov exhaled, "We won!"

"That we did..." I nodded, but I wasn't celebrating yet, "Get me every report! I want to know how we are and order them to start recovering and treating the survivors. NOW!"

"Yes!" Kustov saluted, and everyone was already moving, postponing the celebration for now.

... .... ......

Only an hour later, we were floating further away, but still in visible distance from the Guardian's corpse that still burned in the distance, constantly spewing a column of bright fire straight into the sky like some cursed lighthouse, giving out a shrieking sound. It was... bizarre, to say the least. But, we had won the battle... however, it didn't feel like a victory, not yet, as there was way too much to do still.

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As for Merlin, he was alright, but confined to a bed for now. He was experiencing issues with balance and sensitivity to bright lights and loud noises. Which wasn't surprising, so I ordered him to rest. It showed how bad he was feeling, because he didn't protest against it... at all.

By now, the reports had begun trickling in, and I was listening to them in Camelot's war room while also being given a written list. While Oleg was speaking, concentrating on the mechs, I was flipping the papers ahead, scanning for names. It was a hard read, as we had lost nine Knights. It meant that we not only lost the machines, but also the pilots. It was... not a number I would have been satisfied with, ever, but there was nothing to be done about it. The only thing I could take as a positive was that my loved ones were not amongst them. But... Amongst the ten that were crippled, meaning the Knights survived, but the machines were damaged... I noticed Lancelot's name.

I gripped the papers the moment I saw his name... Luckily, comments had already been added there, directly by Mikan.

"Lancelot is alive," she wrote, as if sensing the direction of my thoughts without being on the radio, "He only suffered minor injuries, only his mech is damaged, but not beyond repair. Jila saved him, and he can walk, though he'll be in pain for some time because of some of the torn muscles in his legs."

I exhaled slowly, tension leaking from my shoulders at once... Good... Good! My boy was alive... I will kiss that girl and make her his wife. No questions asked! As for the pain, he will have to deal with it, as the healing spells will go to the critically wounded first and foremost... and there were many of those, sadly. We had lost, by the current count, more than 400 soldiers... And then there were the injured and critically injured troops of mine, going over 2,000 and still counting. Honestly speaking... Every soldier from Avalon was injured, so I told them to stop reporting the injured and only inform me of those who are no longer with us.

When I sent back that order, I heard a voice interrupting Oleg, belonging to Yuri. She was also speaking about what happened to Lancelot, but her tale had an extra twist to it.

"Jila is unharmed," She explained, sounding amused, "Her mech is beat up, but it's functioning without issues... However, there is a matter that requires your attention."

"What is it?" I asked back, a bit nervous.

"You see... The Gauntlets," Yuri continued, giggling, "The thing the Khan was so proud of? Well, they manifested around her mech's arms during the battle, when she was saving our boy. They perfectly fit themselves to her frame, and when the fight ended, they shrank down to their original size and fell dormant. We recovered them intact buuuut..."

"The Khan?" I asked, expecting him to be raging or demanding that we return it. The last thing I need now is fucking political nightmare on my hands!

"He is gone," Father butted in before Yuri could continue, "I mean... He has retreated. His forces broke once the Gauntlets disappeared from his reach, and their morale collapsed, spreading like a wildfire. Without him, the Khulmani troops are scattered, directionless, and honestly speaking? This is a fucking mess."

If my Father was cursing... I can imagine the level of chaos, so I closed my eyes for a moment, picturing the Khan... I bet it was a humiliation for him, of the highest order. Like I could do anything about that!

"Try to get them in line some way or another..." I moaned, "I don't care how... And find that bastard before it's too late..."

"We are already trying," Father reported, before Oleg continued the reports. Or... he was about to.

"Then, there are the twins," Yuri spoke again, and I raised my eyebrow. I was glad Sasha was not here... what had happened?

"They are fine," Yuri explained at once, without me speaking, "Leyla is exhausted and needs a big rest, but she is alive and well. She did really well, Oleg will report it in more detail, but... Her… interference spells worked. Without her, half our lines would've broken, and we would have lost more troops. It is she who needs to be thanked for limiting the deaths on our side."

"Interference..." I muttered, wanting to hear more, smiling proudly.

Listening to the details, I felt a warmth spread in my chest, the pride a father could feel when hearing about his child making it big. My daughter, standing where she was needed, following her instincts, saving countless lives. That was my girl! But then came another beat of silence, a pause that made me frown.

"And Arthur?" I prompted.

"Well..." Father spoke again, "The thing is… He refuses to give a report. The boy says he'll speak to you directly, son, and no one else, not me either."

"I see..." I rubbed my jaw, the unease already there deepening. What happened... Wait. There was a report of one of the monsters going on a rampage here... They attributed it to the fact that probably some interference in the Guardian's control or something else had driven it berserk... But now... "If you can, bring him over here; if not, he must wait until I get back."

As for the rest of the reports... Half of our air force was gone. We have lost a number of experienced and skilled pilots. It was grim news... I couldn't help but shrug, knowing that they would need a long time to rebuild. And I will give them everything to do so, and place the two key figures, Lazlow and Brask, in charge of it. With their experience, they should be able to rebuild the squadrons and apply their expertise in training the next generation.

As for the last part of the report... It came not from Oleg but from Kustov, after I closed down the communications and watched him enter the room.

"Sovereign, the Stormbringer," he started, reading from the sheets handed to him, "Going by the latest news, half her crew had survived. More than half, actually. Those in the lower decks when the beam cut through it… they didn't make it. The heat and explosion from it spread downwards, killing many in the engineering department... The rest were pulled from the wreckage by the Judgement and its ground forces. They're alive, but need medical attention."

"Send the orders," I said after exhaling, "Recovery is our priority at the moment. Every survivor we can pull out from any wreckage. I need to sweep this battlefield and look for them, even if the chances are low. I want every name, every wound, every death recorded. The people will not be forgotten... And after everything is over, I will personally reward my people."

"Yes, Sovereign," Kustov answered, saluting and heading out to relay my orders.

Even though we crossed the finish line... There was still much to be done. We had to explore and plug the Pass. Then comes the scouring of the continent... Who knows how long it will take? Years? Decades? Haaahh... But at least, we stopped this monster before it evolved into something way worse.

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