The war table glowed with crimson lines, the holo-map rendering every cliff, trench, and defense line of the Patron's mountain fortress. Kane stood at its head, his hand sweeping across the display as he set the plan into motion.
"Vanguard—frontline bombardment. You'll carry the siege payload. Stormbreaker—flank suppressive fire, layered artillery strikes, and air-denial systems. Erebus—scout the undersea trench and deploy torpedoes against sub-surface cores."
The three vessels loomed outside the command hall like titans waiting to be unleashed, their dark silhouettes glinting under the storm-filtered sky.
Kane turned next to his aerial arsenal. "Drones will serve in three divisions. Missile drones, you'll saturate outer turrets and intercepters—focus on overwhelming shields. Assault drones, pin the skies and strike their aircraft bays before they can launch. Scout drones, plant markers on weak points and prepare for secondary bombardment."
Each division flickered to life on the map, colored markers shifting across the mountain's projection.
But Kane wasn't satisfied yet. His eyes narrowed as he browsed through the system's upgrade prompts—each glowing with possibilities, each with a price tag steep enough to make even him grimace. Yet the Blood Moon rewards had given him coins and resources to burn, and he intended to use every last one.
Drone Upgrade Options Displayed:
Twin Core Armaments (Missile Drones) – Fire two missiles per salvo. Cooldown: 6 seconds.
Adaptive Homing (Assault Drones) – Projectiles adjust mid-flight to counter evasive maneuvers. Accuracy increased by 35%.
Cluster Mine Drop (Scout Drones) – Deploy up to 8 proximity mines mid-flight. Cooldown: 12 seconds.
Mana-Laced Payloads – Drone munitions inflict 20% bonus damage to barriers and wards.
Overclock Protocol – Temporary +50% fire rate, but increases cooldown by 15 seconds.
Kane's finger hovered, then tapped decisively. "Twin Core for missiles. Adaptive Homing for assaults. And scouts get Cluster Mines. The rest can wait."
The drones chimed as their systems synchronized, weapons bays shifting with mechanical growls as upgrades locked into place.
He turned back to his naval titans.
Warship Upgrade Options Displayed:
Vanguard (Battleship)
Heavy Plasma Broadside – High-penetration energy cannons.
Aegis Barrier Array – Projects temporary dome to absorb heavy strikes.
Siegebreaker Missiles – Anti-fortification payloads, double damage to structures.
Stormshield Javelins – Mana-laced missiles designed to pierce wards.
Overload Reactor – Temporary +60% damage boost, risk of system strain.
Stormbreaker (Destroyer)
Rapid-Volley Turrets – Quad-fire rotations, short-range devastation.
Suppression Barrage – Continuous artillery fire to pin enemy lines.
Mirage Projectors – Creates false phantom targets to draw enemy fire.
Mana Disruption Torpedoes – Disrupt barrier channels and mana-reactors.
Overdrive Engine – 80% faster repositioning during combat.
Erebus (Submarine)
Abyssal Mines – Undetectable nano-mines, detonate when triggered.
Leviathan Torpedoes – Slow but devastating payloads, +150% damage.
Cloak Dive – Extended stealth up to 30 minutes.
Depth Surge – Temporary speed boost to outmaneuver.
Mana Sensor Arrays – Detects hidden wards or sea-mutants.
Kane didn't hesitate. "Vanguard takes Siegebreaker Missiles and Stormshield Javelins. Stormbreaker gets Suppression Barrage and Mirage Projectors. Erebus—Abyssal Mines and Leviathan Torpedoes."
The upgrades shimmered into place. Vanguard's missile bays expanded, glowing faintly with ward-piercing runes. Stormbreaker's turrets rotated in a fearsome dance as new projectors activated, casting ghostly echoes of the ship onto the water's surface. Erebus disappeared beneath the waves, its hull shedding a faint, predatory shimmer as mine racks and torpedo silos expanded.
"War is a game of preparation," Kane muttered under his breath. "And I don't intend to lose."
But even as his forces aligned, a chill traced down his spine.
The ocean feed blinked.
The lizard stirred.
Its massive, scaled chest rose and fell, its body still half-buried in stone. The orb inside its gut pulsed like a heart. Not yet awake, but searching, as if its instincts had caught the scent of conflict and were rousing it from dormancy.
Kane's jaw clenched. "Not now. Not yet…"
Still, he couldn't shake the feeling: when the Patron fell, another storm would rise.
The council chamber thrummed with tension. Holo-maps rippled across the table, showing the layered defenses of the Patron's mountain fortress. Kane stood at the head, his voice sharp and commanding as the assignments fell into place.
"Maya—your fire mages will form the second strike team. Priority is suppressing entrenched defenses and denying their heavy infantry any ground to rally. You'll burn supply depots, choke points, anything they can use to dig in."
Maya gave a sharp nod, her eyes burning as fiercely as her magic. "They won't get a foothold."
"Lena," Kane continued, turning toward the ice-born tactician, "you'll lead the Frostguard. Defensive support and counter-pressure. Their fortress has mana-conduits woven through the rock—if they try channeling an environmental ward, you'll freeze their core nodes before they activate."
Lena's lips curved in her usual quiet smirk. "It'll be like snapping icicles. Consider it done."
"Elysia," Kane's tone softened slightly, though the weight of responsibility pressed no less. "You'll remain at my side as guardian detail with Reina. Prioritize defensive barriers—Stormbreaker will be our mobile bastion. Nothing touches her. Nothing."
Elysia bowed her head, her hand tightening around the little girl she carried in her arms. "Even if it costs me my life."
Kane nodded once, firmly, before shifting his gaze toward the gathered mage-corps. "The rest of you, battle groups will rotate by mana discipline. Lightning casters will overload their warding arrays, frost mages will isolate choke points, fire mages will clear entrenched infantry, and earth channelers will keep the battlefield terrain in our favor."
The Greywatch leader leaned forward, his scarred face half-hidden beneath his hood as his scouts and appraisers knelt behind him. "My men have marked critical weaknesses from the reconnaissance sweep," he rasped. "The southern ridge is honeycombed with support tunnels. Collapse those, and their eastern flank will lose resupply access. The western turret towers share the same mana line—sever it, and both will fall at once. And the fortress gates—reinforced steel with enchantment runes. Strike them at the central locking hinge, and they'll shatter."
Kane's eyes narrowed. "You've done well. This will cut days off the siege."
The Greywatch leader smirked, though his tone remained grim. "One warning, Commander. If the Patron himself is present, he'll be shielded by layers of false-wards. That fortress is a mountain for a reason—it bleeds deception. Strike hard, strike fast, or he'll vanish back into the stone."
Kane filed the words away, committing every detail to memory. The war council ended with final adjustments, the room bristling with sharpened resolve.
Then—
The ground shuddered.
The walls rattled. A deep, bone-vibrating tremor shook the chamber, followed by a roar from the eastern cliffs.
Every head whipped toward the sound.
An alert chimed on Kane's HUD—Seismic Event Detected: East Sector.
The holo-screens flickered, pulling up ocean-feed visuals.
And there it was.
The lizard.
The beast tore itself free from the rocky shelf that had cradled its dormant bulk, sending waves crashing against the cliffs as it surged into the water. No longer half-buried, no longer slumbering. The creature stood at nearly fifteen meters tall, its scales glistening with an unnatural sheen, its gullet still glowing faintly where the stolen orb pulsed inside it.
Even Kane froze, momentarily stunned.
"By the Abyss…" Lena whispered, her confident mask slipping.
Maya cursed under her breath. "That… thing survived the Big One?"
Kane's jaw tightened. Not only survived. It's evolving.
The lizard's head turned—toward the east. Toward the Patron's island. With a thunderous crash, it launched itself forward, tail cutting the water like a blade. Each stroke sent a wall of foam surging behind it as it swam, unstoppable, in the direction of the fortress.
Kane's system chimed.
[Warning: Dormant Apex-Class Mutant Activity Detected]Designation: ??? (Unclassified)Size: 15.3 metersRadiation Source: InternalizedBehavior: Dormant-Active Transition
For a moment, silence filled the chamber.
Then Kane barked, "Upgrade protocols—immediate execution. Override the timers. I don't care how many coins it costs."
The system flared, coins burning away like kindling in a furnace. Warships and drones shuddered as their new systems locked into place. Siege batteries extended, cannons roared in test rotations, and the hum of reactors filled the air with a promise of imminent war.
"All of you," Kane barked, "to the fleet. Now."
The fleet stirred like a leviathan awakening.
The Vanguard and Stormbreaker floated at the harbor edge, their upgraded hulls gleaming with etched runes. Alongside them waited two medium-sized vessels—sturdy frigates salvaged and reforged from scavenged wrecks—and the hulking large boat captured two days ago, its rust-scarred frame now refitted with weapon arrays scavenged from fallen enemies.
Above, the sky shimmered with wings of steel as drones lined up in perfect formation, hundreds of them gliding forward. On their backs, small fixtures glowed faintly, and each carried a little trinket—Reina's toys, strapped securely to their hulls like banners of innocence in a sea of war.
On the dock, three beasts padded forward.
Frostfang, once a pup, now a full-grown Ice Lupus, its fur bristling with crystalline frost, breath steaming with an aura that chilled the air.
Emberveil, once a fiery vulpi pup, now matured into a Flame Vulpi, tails ablaze in curling embers that danced like miniature infernos.
Radiant Fang, Reina's own companion, no longer the tiny holy pup but a shining Canis Sentinel, its mane glowing with threads of golden light.
The three summons stood proudly at the fleet's vanguard, guardians grown into their power.
Elysia, with Reina cradled protectively in her arms, boarded the Stormbreaker, her expression a mix of calm determination and maternal ferocity. Kane followed, his boots echoing against the steel deck as he glanced back over the harbor one last time.
The Greywatch leader was already aboard, his scouts melting into the shadows of the ship, eyes glinting with cold purpose.
"Final preparations complete," Kane murmured, looking toward the horizon where the Patron's fortress lay hidden within the mountain. "We set sail."
And in the distance, unseen by the fleet but ever-present in Kane's mind, the lizard swam—each stroke carrying it closer to the fortress, and to the chaos that awaited them all.