“Ahh~, be gentle.”
“How gentle do you think I can be while resetting a bone?”
“Beats me. But if you’re poking my lung with it then I’d say there’s a problem.”
“Don’t get smart with me. You did this to yourself. You’re just lucky your body is still saturated with Vigor after the advancement.”
“Silver lining.”
I cringed while Umara made the final shift, my ribs falling into place with a few of their fragments.
She’d been learning healing magic for a long while now. Unfortunately she didn’t often get the chance to use it. Healers were highly trained and educated, for good reason. But that training was often done in a Stronghold where there were many patients and other skilled healers who could monitor.
Unlike other Strongholds though, Iron Legion wasn’t known for its high casualty rates. In fact, in the opening phases of Euclid’s Anvil, the medical wards saw more injuries from simple operator mistakes than Scourge inflicted wounds. Most of those were classified as workplace accidents because they didn’t happen on a battlefield. Thus, the number of patients a healer would see in a given day was so low that managing officers started getting in trouble because the medical wards were being turned into recreational areas out of sheer boredom.
So Umara never got many chances to train her skills extensively. Part of becoming better at magic was using it, and without many patients to treat, those skills were falling by the wayside.
Unfortunately it also meant that I was doomed to be her exclusive patient. Ilinca was there taking care of the bruises, but Umara was quick to have fun resetting my broken ribs.
Thankfully I was numbed, otherwise neither of us would be having a very good time.
Once done, the bone was fused and my lingering wounds were washed away with magic. Although my body would have to recover by itself for another day, I was at least brought up to fighting condition.
I took another sip out of my glass of wine, smacking my lips with a smile. To my side, Ilinca burned away the used medical supplies and bloodied rags. My DNA couldn’t risk being thrown in a trash can, after all. Who knows who might try to get a hold of it and grow a clone of me?
“Ahh, good stuff. I should start a winery.”
“You’ve got enough to do as it is.”
“Indeed. Like getting married.”
Umara froze, Ilinca glancing between us before finding a reason to leave.
We were silent for a bit as I lay back on the reclined chair, Umara packing away the rest of the medical supplies.
I asked.
“Is the fact that we haven’t set a date a concern for you?”
“...Not necessarily. Engagements can last many years, if not a decade or two. In noble circles, if a betrothed couple isn’t married before they get sent to the military, they’re usually engaged. They wouldn’t marry until they both returned stronger. So no, I’m not particularly impatient to get married.”
“Well, where I come from, a marriage would usually happen within a year or two of getting engaged, three at the longest. Any more than that and people start to ask questions. I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable, because unfortunately I wasn’t planning on holding the ceremony anytime soon.”
“Can I ask why?”
Umara stood there, gazing at me with mild concern. I waved her over, grabbing her hand when she was close and pulling her in so she could lie in the chair with me.
“Hey, you’re not completely healed yet.”
“I’m also a big boy. Be quiet and give me some skin.”
“Hmm…”
She resigned herself and cuddled, the two of us getting comfortable by ourselves in the room.
My words from then on entered her mind alone.
“The Kingdom is on loose sand. It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve been seeing things recently and I’ve got a distinct feeling that the next few years are going to be rough for us politically.”
“Seeing what? Rebellion?”
“No. Worse.”
I brought up my Aerial and projected some images of people.
Well, not people anymore.
They were human with new features. The distinct cosmetic changes came in the form of bright colored eyes and horns on the head, usually coming from the forehead, sometimes coming from the back.
The few pictures I showed were of these humanoids in wide society, pictures that my Pale Horsemen had acquired personally. Some were seen walking through the Capital, others were from large towns and other cities. There were some pictures of entire groups numbering in the dozen or hundred.
Umara’s eyes narrowed.
“Royals?”
“No. They’re a new breed of human, or at least that’s what they’re calling themselves. Nobody knows where they came from yet, but they’ve been appearing in large numbers throughout the Kingdom. Sector 4 reports also state that there are entire villages of these humanoids, and not new villages. All of these people are documented citizens of the Kingdom and have been for their entire lives. But they underwent changes, turning into this.”
“Corruption.”
“Yes, but of a new kind. And these Corrupted are attempting to pass themselves off as human. Unfortunately, it’s working, and it's going to lead to a massive problem. As more and more people offer themselves, an entire portion of society is going to turn into pawns for the Scourge to manipulate.”
I brought up a new batch of pictures, this time being images of famous nobles with the new corrupted features.
“Even high society will succumb. Then you’re going to have a massive chunk of humanity’s political and strategic power in the hands of the Scourge. All without a single fight.”
“How are they doing this? There’s no way people can’t see the obvious issue. Even then, such corruption can only be carried out by Scourge. Have they hidden themselves?”
“Nope. My theory is that they managed to refine their methods of corruption to such a level that it’s either no longer so mutating, or just not nearly as intrusive. They can corrupt people without reducing their sense of self and intelligence, at least not too much. In fact, Sector 4 has found a clinic for this corruption in the Capital. It’s not public, but it's gaining popularity.”
“...But people wouldn’t go through something like that unless they got something extremely valuable. Let me guess, it gives them magical power.”
“Ding ding ding! My witch is so smart.”
I smothered her in some kisses and put down my Aerial, wetting her neck and hearing complaints of ticklishness before stopping.
“This is a serious conversation!”
“Then stop elbowing me.”
“Stop tickling me!”
“Anyway.”
I pulled up some other reports and metrics on my Aerial, Umara grunting.
“I’m willing to bet that these Corrupted will manage to infect Kingdom society. But that doesn’t happen unless noble society allows it, which means they are, by extension, corrupted themselves. This eventually leads to the Scourge controlling the Kingdom and manipulating its resources, both human and material. Naturally, military installations like Iron Legion will have no place in such a society, and I would never bend to such corruption. This leaves us at a personal crossroads.”
“Which is?”
“If we get married, and I do something stupid, your family could be implicated. But if you want your family to have an out, a way to dissociate from me, or us, then I think it would be wise to either refrain for now, or get married in secret.”
“...Okay. But when you say do something stupid, you mean…”
“I mean treasonous. Something that the Kingdom will use to reduce my power. Iron Legion is this world’s only private military power, and it’s managing to compete with the Kingdom as a whole. Not to mention how Sawn Industries is rapidly becoming an economic power that controls the world’s technological level. If I started expanding, maybe multiplied my number of troops, there’s no reason I couldn’t build an army that could decimate the Kingdom. They know that. They just didn’t think I would initially succeed, and now they’re threatened. Given some years, they’re going to do something about me and it’s not going to be pretty for anyone involved.”
Umara was silent for a bit, eventually nodding.
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“Alright. But wouldn’t you want to cooperate with my mother? And the Raven Chief? I thought they were brewing rebellion themselves.”
“The only reason their initiative can even be called a rebellion is because of their own personal and economic power. Without me and what I’ve done for their soldiers, they would sit on their hands for another decade. By that time the Scourge would be crossing the River of Desolation and the Kingdom would be getting fucked anyway. This is to say that they still need time, need an opportunity, and unfortunately they wouldn’t be enough to back me if I did decide to do something. They need time, and I’m gonna have to burn some bridges long before they’re ready.”
“One of those bridges is going to have to be my family then.”
“Probably. They’re going to be a hidden card, but to become that, we have to be out of the picture. Getting married might make that slightly more difficult, but that’s also why I’m inclined to simply get married in secret. As much as I want to rub it in everyone’s faces, being subtle is probably the smarter move.”
“Probably. If that’s the case, I’ll follow your plans. But at the same time, I’m wondering if there’s anything we can do. For instance, taking out those behind the corruptions. If we can stop it before it gains enough traction, maybe it could prevent a massive civil war.”
I smiled a bit, enjoying listening to her talk about getting our hands dirty.
“That certainly sounds fun, but unfortunately it’s already too late. I’ve already picked up on chatter regarding some of the Royal children, the princes and princesses of the Kingdom. Four of them are in on this, and they also happen to be the four who wield the most political power. Three of those are in bed with the Sovereign families, the Grand Dukes, two of which are directly tied to the clinic itself. You have to realize that these issues don’t begin with the citizens. They begin with the elites. They are the reason these corrupted are propagating, so killing a few minions here and there will hardly do anything. They can and will be replaced.”
“Well, no reason we can’t kill Marquesses and Counts. They’re within our combat ability.”
“And they can also be replaced. They are a minion like many others like them. My concerns lie with the source of the problem, the Scourge itself. Primarily, the being who suddenly came up with this method of corruption.”
I pulled up another picture, on it the profile of a corrupted.
It was a man in his thirties, nothing outstanding about him. However, there was a mark on his neck. It was small, and with the resolution of the image taken from the distance it was, the mark was barely noticeable.
But my brain instantly resolved the mark to be that of three numbers.
- I zoomed in on the image for Umara, tracing the numbers.
“That right there is what’s known as the mark of the beast. I can assume it’s on every single one of these corrupted, but those numbers are a problem.”
“Why?”
“Because the mark of the beast is a concept from Earth. I’ve never heard of it here, not in the Church’s public scriptures anyway, but those numbers are unmistakable. That means that there is a person from Earth who has worked with the Scourge to develop this corruption method. Not only that, they gave them a rather obvious name.”
I pulled up a long document of text, highlighting one word.
“They’re calling these new corrupted Nephilim. Beings of Earthen Christian Legend. I’m absolutely certain that there’s an earthling working with the Scourge, applying their knowledge to the Scourge’s genetic mutation techniques.”
“You’re telling me that someone with your freakish talent is helping the Scourge?”
“Nobody ever said that we earthlings couldn’t be evil. I’m also not going to bother guessing what powers are responsible for bringing us to this world. But I have my guesses about who would know about all this.”
I brought up some more reports, these coming from my Pale Horsemen in Church territory.
“There have been raids conducted by the Order on clinics such as the one in the Capital. To them it's obvious that these Nephilim are corrupted, but it’s clear to me that even they are having a hard time simply wiping them out. Their remnant humanity is introducing this world’s first grey area, and the Church isn’t sure how to handle it without being accused openly of mass murder. So the Nephilim are spreading even in their territories, just at a reduced rate as they battle it out with propaganda.”
“But they’re doing something about it, at least. And you think they know about the evil earthlings?”
“I think they do. And now we’ve got a person here to confirm my theory.”
“Vetsmon.”
“Yes. But I’m going to let him have his fun first. Interrupting them now would be awkward.”
“Well, I’m sure both of them are pent up. Tana has complained to me no small amount of times.”
I chuckled a bit, forcing down the urge to tap into the estate’s enchantments. There was nothing that went on here without my knowledge, and I had seen Tana’s bedroom soundproofing activate a while ago.
I messaged Erhan and told him to send a chef to their place. They’d be hungry once they were done.
After that I grabbed and squeezed Umara’s thigh, my nose in her neck and feeling the goosebumps on her skin.
“So when should we get married? I’m quite eager.”
“W-Well it’s not like I know your schedule.”
“Babe, you give me a day and I’ll move heaven and earth to make it happen. If you want it on New Year’s in the Holy See, I’ll call the Pope and tell him to fuck off with his fireworks so we can have a peaceful night. If you want it in the Royal Palace then I’ll talk to the King myself and get us the throne room.”
“I thought you wanted to be subtle.”
“Au contraire. My wife’s preferences far supersede political tactics. Give me when and where, whatever you want. The world is yours.”
I planted more kisses on her neck, these ones softer. I felt her melt into me as I slid my hand across her clothes, her breathing quickening.
“I really, really want to marry you. You should hurry and decide.”
“Just… Let me think about it a bit… later.”
“Don’t take too long. Wouldn’t want me to get any more reckless than I have been lately.”
“Why don’t you just hurry up and grow the balls?”
“Careful woman. Those are fighting words.”
I sealed her mouth, swapping tongue before suddenly pulling away.
I stood from the chair with her in my arms, then slung her over my shoulder before walking out of the room.
“Let’s go cool off.”
“What? Where are you…”
I walked through a couple hallways before ending up outside, everyone around either the bar or the poolside.
Umara started flailing.
“Don’t you dare!”
“Watch the splash zone!”
“John Cooper I swear-!”
She was interrupted when I vaulted over the pool, her hands spreading and creating a large water spell.
My hand appeared right in front of the formation, my SEER Knife manifesting in my grip and activating with a quick command. The long purple blade ejected and stabbed straight through the formation.
With a slice it collapsed on itself, the water below us no longer shifting until we plunged into its heated depths.
I naturally didn’t have a cold pool. Not like I was interested in taking a cold plunge either.
We surfaced, Umara heaving for breath, her hair covering her face.
“You son of a-!”
“Love you too, babe!”
……
…
Night came and Vetsmon and Tana were still hiding away in their house.
I didn’t mind, but Aria was too nervous to enter so she took a room in the main building like the others.
After eating dinner and retiring, I tumbled under the sheets with Umara for a bit. Enough to make up for the cockblock earlier in the day plus a little extra so Vetsmon and Tana couldn’t outdo us too much.
In the end I wound up in my workshop, a doorway to which was in the bedroom.
I stared at the table in front of me, seeing my new generation of SEER Knife. It was roughly the same size but after attaining the Neural Gem from that Death Shrine at the bottom of the Citadel’s research facility, its power couldn’t be compared.
I had spent plenty of time over the last year or so refining everything about my magitech. Most of it remained secret. Some of it found its way into the hands of my Wonderland teams.
The piece in front of me would never be seen by anyone but my fiancé.
The SEER Knife was evolving. The potential was limitless, especially when I started applying what was being learned from the Island of Continuance and the Heart of Transmutation at its center. Those researchers were already pulling data and developing concepts never before conceived.
I would be able to utilize those principles of transmutation even without a penultimate technique that could generate all three energies. In fact, one could say I was ahead of those researchers without so much as a full day with the Heart.
After all, the techniques to create that protective shield around the Heart were owned solely by yours truly. It was a technique developed only after the Mantle had studied the Heart for years. They had done all the work for me, and not only did I hold the raw data they left behind, but I was able to reverse engineer the shield itself, understand it not as a researcher, but as a summoner.
Codifying Mana and Vigor with Psyka. It was like they had given the magic intelligence. It was a way of encoding magic unlike even enchanting, or perhaps at such a high level that the two looked nothing alike despite being in the same category.
Currently it was my greatest boon from that island. While the secret to the automatons was still hidden behind incomprehensible depths of complexity, this technique alone was more than enough to make that trip worthwhile.
Staring at the knife, I heard the door open behind me. Umara walked in, wrapped in a blanket and with droopy eyes.
“You’re really in the mood for workshopping after all that?”
“My best work is done after sex. Post nut clarity is motivating like that.”
“Not sure what that’s supposed to be, but you should come to bed. You had an exciting day today.”
I looked down and kissed her forehead when she came to my side.
“I won’t be too long. Go keep warm.”
“Mm.”
A quick kiss and she walked back off, my gaze turning back to the table.
A long breath escaped as I initiated another cycle.
I saw my newest prototype flash, a rough outline of a blade growing from the device.
This time it was composed of Vigor and given form by Psyka. I had done the same with Mana over the last month. Doing it with both at the same time was significantly more difficult to control, but I’d already had some successes.
However, I had another application in mind for this.
With this new ability to encode other kinds of magic, to some extent, I could wield the magic itself. While I couldn’t outright cast spells like a warlock or empower my body like a knight, in the realm of enchanting, this could negate the need for a warlock.
I wasn’t sure if I could enchant by myself just yet, but I had already developed methods to tap directly into enchantments. There was no reason I couldn’t also write or overwrite them.
Backed by the power of the Neural Gem, I could create a magic weapon capable of countering every known magic there was. My SEER Knife, previously only deadly due to its Psykic influence, would have its lethality multiplied once more.
Not to mention its utility. It would be the end-all enchanting tool.
I was just hoping that I could perfect it soon. The applications were endless. If I applied this magitech to my military then I could bolster their defensive powers massively. Tanks would be nigh indestructible to anything but the most powerful combatants. Sector 4 could start running operations in areas previously untouchable. Stealth systems would be impenetrable to anything currently developed. Weapons would become that much more efficient and more destructive.
But I intended to keep this for myself, for now. I couldn’t give up all my cards, especially not to a military that may not remain in my hands forever.
With a sigh I turned off the device, everything powering down as data was uploaded, backed up, and then wiped from all local logs.
I left the workshop and closed the door, climbing into bed and wrapping myself around Umara, sapping at her warmth.
I wasn’t sure how eventful the coming days would be, but I knew now that my fight was taking on new forms. I had a feeling my hands would only get dirtier.
Unfortunately for my enemies, the gray area they were introducing only got me excited.