The snow hadn't stopped falling for three days straight. Once again, there were thick, slow flakes drifting across the land, causing our soldiers to come up to the top of the Pride and clean it almost hourly before too much of it piled together. Well, it had one advantage to it, though, that I introduced the refugees to how to build igloos. Yep. The idea was so simple that I hadn't even realized I had missed it until now. It was perfect. So, instead of tents and whatnot, their refugees were now living in igloos, built behind the Pride. Pretty ingenious if I say so myself. As for their monsters and warriors, they had taken to the plains before the Pride, setting up a ring by their own monsters like a living barricade. It felt weird having beasts on our side, even if they were... controlled. Every time I looked down from the wall, I was thinking how easy it would be to shoot them all down... Good thing I had proper impulse control.

But that didn't mean there was no tension between the two camps.

"This is the third incident this morning," Pion reported, walking beside me as we patrolled the ramparts. "Another dispute between our sentries and their warriors. No fights, but the shouting woke half the camp. They are... adamant in that they know better than us, how to watch out for attacks and kill monsters, and our troops are not ones to back down from that challenge."

"Let them shout," I muttered, rubbing my temple, "As long as they don't start breathing fire at us, it's not a big deal. They have never seen us at work, so it's normal, soon they will realize we are even better than they are."

"Of course," He gave me a slight nod, his skull-faced helmet hiding any trace of a smile, but I knew it was there.

Turning, looking down, I could see my soldiers standing watch across the inner field, being ready and constantly surveying the refugees, using the helmets' magic detectors, vigilant for any possible Vasa shenanigans. Just in case... To my surprise, though, their Elders were fine with me being so openly suspicious, and they never once complained. Maybe they knew that would ease my suspicion... or I am just being paranoid. I couldn't help it because that Ignis fella did wake up, and since then, nothing has happened. Which was strange... but then I also thought about, if they want my son to control that beast, what makes it so that Ignis can't control the Vasas? I asked this of Sa'Ith, but she had no answer for me.

"Keep the cannons half-primed," I spoke again, "I don't care how good their intentions are... A single command could turn any of them... We can't endanger the Pride."

"Yes, Sovereign." Pion saluted, relaying the orders to Seltana via the comms in his helmet.

I left him there, continuing alone until I reached the 'secondary' tower. Merlin was already waiting in the designated war chamber, hunched over a glowing projection of the Beast Land, as the Vasas had shared not only spells they knew but also their knowledge of the land, while Sasha leaned against the table's edge, her arms crossed, eyes studying the map. Yuri also arrived yesterday, and she was perched on a crate nearby, her expression somewhere between exhaustion and irritation.

"Good, everyone's here," I said, closing the door behind me. "What's the word from Avalon?"

"Nothing good," Sasha sighed, nodding towards Yuri, "Arthur's message was as blunt as possible and he confirmed that Zah'Ratil was dead and that he... parted memories into our child's brain..."

"Really...?" I hesitated, then reached for the letter Yuri was holding out to me and began reading my son's handwriting, detailing everything he went through. "Damn... This feels like extra rambly... Unorganized."

"It is!" Yuri moaned, "Arthur looked... confused. Many times. But," she glanced at Sasha, trying to calm her apparent nerves, "Galahad is a big help. He has experience with something like this, so he is working with his big brother, and Mikan has also gone home to check on him. And..."

"And?" I looked at them.

"Leyla says she is also helping, and now not only is she absorbing the memories, but Arthur can willingly share them with her. The two of them are now like... linked, and Leyla is learning what Arthur is learning, without even wanting to do so."

"So my son's mind makes its mirrored backups in his sister's head? Haaah..." I shrugged, shaking my head. "They were always weird, that's why they are ours." I chuckled, "I won't worry. They are our kids. They will figure it out!"

"I told her the same," Yuri nodded, pointing at Sasha, "We raised them well... They will stand on their two legs, and if not, they can fall back onto us."

"It was something that my old self tried to play with once," Merlin's eyes gleamed as he spoke up, looking at me, "A direct blood-memory transfer. Impossible by conventional means, really... I mean, between different people, but between family? Feasible... The thing Pascal did, with his own body and the links to Lucca and the others, was derived from my spell, which had the same source, coming from the Vasa knowledge Ishillia had locked away."

"Can you replicate it?" I asked, making him shake his head.

"Not easily and not right away. Version-1 Merlin is working on it, but even he has no actual data on the original method. He would have to study the Vasas and Arthur."

"Merlin," Sasha said coldly, "he's talking about our son, not a laboratory specimen."

"Sorry, sorry..." That made him shrink back at once, "If Zah'Ratil poured centuries of knowledge into him, that means Arthur's carrying their entire history... I didn't mean to suggest I would do anything to him... It's just... Every ritual, every spell, could be useful in our fight, and Arthur now may know more than either of my own self could."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"That's enough," I shrugged again, "Speaking of knowledge... There is something I decided on, but... I will let Arthur give the final nod to it or throw it back."

"And what is it?" They looked at me, making me take a deep breath.

"We are going to share."

"Hm?" The group blinked their eyes in perfect sync, making me smile.

"We alone are not enough to produce everything, and..." I stopped for a moment, "I will share the basic mech blueprints within the Union. The same, very first ones we had ever built. I will give them the knowledge and let them start building their own or even develop their own variants based on it."

"What?!" They all flinched, looking at me as if I said I was giving away nukes. Maybe I was.

"Sooner or later it would happen." I shrugged, "So I want to control it as to when and how. That way, we can also stay ahead and predict the future a little. All in all, we need more mechs on the field. Ishillia will be able to produce them already; they already have their own knights lining up for the position. My guess is that Atuvia will be the same, and then Geth or Sar come next. The rest? Eventually. But this will be inevitable, it has been since I first introduced the concept... And we need them. If Ignis hadn't come for us at once, it means it's because that beast is gathering power. We should do it too."

The room fell silent as they thought over my reasoning... I was about to say more when the speaker next to the door crackled.

"Sovereign," Seltana's tone was sharp, and then I could hear the alarms going off a moment later, "Our pings report movement. Straight in the northern quadrant. Large beasts, and we also have multiple heat readings."

"I jinxed the fucking thing," I groaned, "How many?"

"Initial count puts it at..." she gulped, "ninety to a hundred. All... Massive."

"What?!" Yuri was already on her feet. "That's not a scouting pack."

"They're… moving oddly," Seltana continued. "Even for their size. They seem sluggish, and their formation is very much inconsistent, like they're fighting something while also moving towards us."

"Fighting?" I asked, "Explain. Are they battling each other?"

"It's hard to describe, as we have a very bad visual at the moment, but they're stumbling over each other. Their formation has broken multiple times before reforming. Although I wouldn't even call that af ormation, more like just a mass of monsters."

"Sovereign Leon." From nowhere, a new voice merged into Seltana's, as if it were overriding the wave we were communicating on. Damn... So the Vasas can use something similar, and they had already figured out a way to hijack our comm system?! Can they... listen in on us?! Peeping bastards! "My Elders sense it too." Ur'Tokh continued, "The beasts are most likely being dominated."

"Dominated?" I froze. "By Ignis?" I had no other idea what else that could mean, and then, another voice, Sa'Ith's, joined his.

"Yes. Their wills are chained to the mother beast, I am sure of it. Our opinion is that Ignis is testing its capabilities and using the beasts of the jungle to get a grip on what it can do."

"Well..." Merlin muttered, "If that's true, then she's experimenting on a pretty large scale."

"Send word to Avalon," I ordered Seltana, "Send the Camelot back, I don't care how much of the required supplies and reinforcement it has loaded in. We need it here. Now!"

"Understood," Seltana answered, before cutting the feed.

Without another word, we rushed out onto the wall. From the top, the horizon was still pretty far away, but even I could feel the presence of so many monsters, grouped together. Brr...

"Mana resonance…" Merlin murmured, summoning Wayland's book over his palm as he reached out. "Fragmented but identical across all signatures, as far as I can tell... Hm... They share a single source, indeed."

"A hive mind?" Sasha asked, "Like the Guardian had with its skeletons?"

"That's possible," Merlin muttered, nodding.

Around us, the Pride's wall began to open as Mechs were lifted to the top, and the artillery pieces began to shift to lock onto the target while the cannons inside began poking their tip out all over the front of the Pride. I wanted to catch what the Vasas were thinking, but... None was near me. Oh well, this time, I will simply imagine it. Looking down below, they were already moving as their warriors scrambled to form ranks while their beasts began stepping forward.

"Do you hear me, Sa'Ith?" I asked into the communicator, guessing they could and... I wasn't wrong.

"I do. Your communication spell broadcasts way too openly; it is impossible not to hear it. You should narrow it down; even the monsters can listen in."

"We will work on that later, anyway," I grunted, not wanting to get into the details, "Tell your people to stay put."

"We should head out and slay as many as we can, before they reach the walls." She argued, but I wasn't having it.

"I said, stay put. You will understand soon why." I snorted, "Seltana?"

"We are loading up." She answered at once, "Five minutes, and we can start."

"Hammer them with all we have," I ordered, "Hold nothing back, I want constant fire and aim at the densest clusters! Make them regret they are marching towards us like a bunch of idiots."

I expected Sa'Ith to argue, but she did not. Her people kept to the lines, forming a multi-layered ring before the Pride, waiting and obeying... I appreciated that. Even if they disagreed with it, but I guess that sentiment disappeared when the first booms rang out as the artillery units opened fire, easily shooting at the monsters, still in the far distance, more than a dozen, if not two dozen, kilometers out. There was no stopping now, and I meant my cannons. In the usual sequence, they were firing constantly, and the first reports began coming back to us very soon.

"Confirmed hit." Seltana said simply, "Multiple casualties, and they aren't even defending against our barrage. Some even fell over just like that, trampled by the rest coming behind them."

"Don't get used to it!" I warned her, "If this is Ignis's doing, and she indeed has a brain, look at her like someone who plays her very first round of a new game... She will adapt. I don't think the next time she sends her troops to scout us out, we will have an easy victory."

"We haven't won yet." Sasha elbowed me, making me smile.

"I know." I nodded, feeling the artillery shake the wall under me. "But can't I be a little bit optimistic?"

"What spells are these...?" Sa'Ith asked suddenly, her voice coming from our comms, "To go that far..."

"Avalonian." I answered, grinning, "Now you see why I said don't go."

"Incredible..." She muttered, but then a new voice joined the air.

"Sovereign, this is Kustov. We are arriving!"

"Good," I chuckled, "We have a sea of bastards coming at us, get into position and fire at will."

"Understood! Also, the Punisher was back for resupply... they are coming too."

"Even better. Free range on your cannons, kill them all!"

Before Sa'Ith could ask what we were talking about, the Camelot's warhorn echoed from behind the Gods' Formation as it finally passed through it, going at its maximum speed, flying over the Pride, its massive shadow covering everybody, making countless Vasa heads turn upwards. Then, behind it, the Punisher flew into view, blasting its horn too as the two Airships opened fire, too, joining in on the massacre.

"Well..." I looked towards the dying masses in the far distance, "I do hope Ignis can feel some shock... and maybe a little awe."

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