[Location: High Altitude - The Northern Border]
[Temperature: -20°C]
The HMS Profit Margin drifted through the clouds.
Below us lay the Great Ice Wall.
A massive fortification of magically reinforced ice, 300 feet high, stretching across the horizon. It separated the civilized world from the Empire of Frost.
Towers bristled with ballistae. Wyvern Riders patrolled the sky.
It was impregnable.
"We can't breach it," Sylvia said, shivering in her new fur-lined coat. "That Wall has stood for 500 years. The Anti-Air runes will shoot us down if we get within ten miles."
I stood on the bow, holding one of the X-99 Mana Rifles.
It was sleek, black, and hummed with dangerous potential.
"Sylvia," I said, adjusting the scope. "Do you know why Knights use swords?"
"Because... honor? Chivalry?"
"Because they are idiots," I corrected.
I mounted the rifle on the railing.
"The effective range of a Fireball is 50 meters."
"The effective range of a Longbow is 200 meters."
"The effective range of this Rifle?"
I grinned.
"Three miles."
I looked at the deck behind me.
I had 500 rifles. I had 3 party members.
"I need an army," I muttered.
I drew the Soul-Eater's Fang.
"System. How many Souls are stored in the blade?"
[Soul Count: 512.]
(Mostly Liches from the Airship battle).
"Perfect."
I stabbed the deck.
[Active Skill: Mass Raise Dead (Shadow Variant).]
"Awaken."
The shadows on the deck boiled.
One by one, dark figures rose from the floor. They weren't rotting zombies. They were silhouettes made of void-smoke, wearing the tattered outlines of business suits (The Liches).
They had no will. They had no fear.
They had Aim.
"Pick up the guns," I ordered.
Five hundred Shadow Liches moved in unison. They grabbed the rifles.
They lined up along the railing of the airship.
A firing squad of ghosts.
"This..." Ahri whispered, her tails twitching nervously. "This is cheating."
"It's innovation," I said.
I looked through my scope.
[Target: Northern Outpost Commander.]
[Distance: 4,500 meters.]
[Wind: 5 knots West.]
[Chance to Hit: 99%.]
The Commander was standing on the wall, drinking coffee, laughing with his subordinates. He felt safe. He was miles away from any enemy.
"Sylvia," I said. "That man. Do you know him?"
Sylvia looked through the digital binoculars I handed her.
"That's Commander Draven. He... he used to beat me during training when I was a child."
"Good."
I adjusted my aim.
"Primary Target acquired."
"All units," I commanded the Shadows. "Focus fire on the Rune Towers. Blind them."
The Shadows leveled their rifles.
The airship went silent.
"Fire."
P-P-P-P-EW.
It wasn't a loud bang. It was a high-pitched whistle of compressed mana.
Five hundred beams of blue light tore through the atmosphere.
——————————————————————————————————————————
[Location: The Great Ice Wall]
Commander Draven took a sip of his hot cocoa.
"Quiet day," he grunted. "Not even a snow rabbit."
"Sir!" a sentry yelled. "Cloud formation detected at 20,000 feet! It looks like... a storm?"
Draven looked up.
He didn't see a storm.
He saw the sky rain light.
ZAAAAAP.
The Rune Tower to his left exploded. The crystal matrix shattered instantly.
Then the Tower to his right.
Then the Anti-Air Ballistae.
"Attack!" Draven screamed. "Shields up! Where is it coming from?!"
He looked for an army. He looked for a dragon.
He saw nothing.
Then, a single blue beam hit him.
It didn't hit his chest.
It hit his coffee mug.
SHATTER.
Scalding cocoa splashed over his face.
"ARGH!"
A second beam hit his knee.
A third hit his shoulder.
He fell, writhing in the snow.
"Sniper!" he wheezed. "They are... they are invisible!"
——————————————————————————————————————————
[Back on the Ship]
"Missed the head," I tutted. "Wind adjustment."
"You... you missed on purpose," Ahri noted. "You shot his cup."
"Psychological warfare," I said. "If you kill the commander instantly, they rally. If you make him scream, they panic."
I racked the bolt of the rifle.
[Mana Cartridge Reloaded.]
"Sylvia. Your turn."
I pointed to the chaos on the wall.
"They are activating the Frost Dome. It's a defensive barrier."
"I need you to shatter it."
"Me?" Sylvia stepped back. "I can't break a City-Grade barrier from here! My magic range is too short!"
I grabbed her shoulder.
I held up the Void Ring.
"I'm going to act as a Router."
"I will channel the ship's Engine Power -> Through the Ring -> Into You."
"You are going to be the bullet."
"Aim."
Sylvia swallowed hard. She raised her hands, aiming at her own people.
"Mother... forgive me."
I grabbed her waist (to stabilize, obviously).
"Overclock."
I dumped 10,000 units of Aether from the engine into Sylvia.
She screamed. Her eyes turned pure white.
[Skill: Glacial Railgun.]
A beam of ice the size of a train car shot from her hands.
It crossed the three-mile gap in a heartbeat.
CRASH.
It hit the Frost Dome.
The Dome didn't stand a chance. It shattered like glass. The shockwave knocked every soldier on the wall off their feet.
The Great Wall was breached.
"Cease fire," I ordered.
The Shadows lowered their rifles.
Smoke drifted from the barrels.
Below us, the Northern Outpost was in ruins. Not a single defender was dead (mostly), but their defenses were erased.
I walked to the helm.
"Take us in," I ordered. "Land in the courtyard."
"Are we invading?" Seraphina asked, clutching her staff.
"No," I said, checking my hair in the reflection of the window.
"We're skipping the line at customs."
——————————————————————————————————————————
[The Outpost Courtyard]
The HMS Profit Margin landed with a heavy thud, crushing the Commander's favorite statue.
I walked down the ramp.
Commander Draven was crawling through the snow, bleeding from three non-fatal holes.
He looked up. He saw me.
Then he saw Sylvia.
"Princess?" Draven gasped. "You... you led this attack? You traitor!"
Sylvia stepped forward. She looked cold. The Overclock had burned away her hesitation.
"I am not a traitor, Commander," she said, her voice echoing.
"I am the Solution."
I stepped past her.
"Draven, right?"
I crouched down.
"You have two choices."
"Option A: You die. I turn you into a Shadow Zombie. You serve me anyway."
"Option B: You surrender the Outpost. You give me the Codes to the Empire's Teleportation Network."
Draven spat blood at my boots.
"Long live the Empress! I will never—"
BANG.
I shot his leg. The other leg.
"Option A is looking really popular today," I sighed.
"Wait!" Draven screamed. "The codes! I have the codes!"
He fumbled for a crystal key around his neck.
"Good choice."
I snatched the key.
[Item: Northern Network Key]
[Access Level: Military.]
This was big.
With this, I didn't need to march through the snow. I could teleport my team from city to city, bypassing the armies.
I stood up.
"Lock them up," I told the Shadows. "Stripped and bound."
I turned to my team.
"We have a foothold."
"Now... we need to go shopping again."
"Shopping?" Ahri asked. "We just looted a fortress."
"Not for guns," I said.
I looked at the snowy peaks surrounding us.
"We're in dragon country."
"And I need a Mount."
[Quest Update: The Northern War.]
[Objective 1: Breach the Border.] (Complete).
[Objective 2: Infiltrate the Capital.] (In Progress).
[New Objective: Tame an Ice Dragon.]
[Status:]
Army: 500 Shadow Snipers (Duration: Indefinite while attached to Cain).
Assets: Military Access Codes.
Threat Level: Empire-Ending Event.