The Storm King

Leon felt incredible. Magic power filled his body, and his body feasted upon it, using the ocean of power flowing into him from the Iron Needle to heal his wounds and obliterate the shards of black ice crawling toward his heart. With such power within him, he’d never felt so alive, so powerful.

He cast his gaze about the room, noting that Clear Day had stopped projecting a shield of light at some point while he admired the power of the Iron Needle. The other healers were slowly starting to regain their composure, while Leon’s family was a little more present and frantic.

“Your Majesty,” Clear Day stated, his tone rather neutral but carrying an undercurrent of surprise. He wasn’t able to get another word out before Elise darted forward and threw her hands around Leon’s neck. She moved so quickly that Leon feared she might accidentally impale herself upon Iron Pride.

“You’re back,” Elise cried into his shoulder as her arms tightened around him. “I was… so worried!”

Before Leon could respond, Maia joined them, sending love and relief flooding through their connection. Then Valeria laid a hand on his arm while Cassandra draped herself over them, grinning like a madwoman.

“Knew you wouldn’t die,” the golden-haired Imperial Princess stated.

“You were as worried as the rest of us,” Valeria countered.

Cassandra stared at her like she’d been betrayed, but Leon quickly jumped in before they could say anything more.

“I’m alive, I’m intact,” he said. “There’s nothing I want to do more than stay with all of you, but—”

He didn’t have to make his point; another shot from an enemy Lance hit nearby, shaking the portable villa and covering it in shards of ice. It almost looked like it had been snowing on the mountain.

“I have to get out there.”

“You’re leaving again?!” Elise cried as she tightened her grip around him even more.

Maia, too, made her feelings known by holding him tighter, though Valeria and Cassandra withdrew and wore expressions of determination—they wanted to accompany him.

“I have to,” Leon responded.

“Your Majesty,” Clear Day interrupted, “how is your physical condition?”

“Fully restored,” Leon answered.

Clear Day looked like he wanted to say more, but after a moment’s thought, he lowered his head slightly and backed down. “Do be careful,” he stated. “I’d hate to have to do this all again…”

“No need to worry on that front,” Leon said as he extricated himself from Elise and Maia. “I… I think this time will go a little differently.”

“NO!” Elise exclaimed. “You need to stay!”

With barely more than a thought, Leon returned Iron Pride to his soul realm, then laid his hands on his first wife’s shoulders. “I have to do this. Look outside. There’s no choice in this; I have to fight.”

Elise opened and closed her mouth a few times, looking like she wanted to argue the point. But after a moment, she just nodded and slowly sat down in the nearest chair. “You’d better come back alive,” she half-growled, half-implored. “If you die out there, I’ll kill you.”

Leon chuckled. “I’ll be careful. Just a quick war, we’ll get this done in a few minutes and be back in time for dinner.”

Elise snorted. “Promises, promises.”

With that, Leon glanced at his more martially-inclined wives, then to Anzu and Clear Day. “Who’s with me?”

The response was unanimous, all decided to join him.

Only a minute later, he was taking off from the closest courtyard, the others following closely behind him. After leaving his bedroom, he’d conjured Iron Pride back into his hand, relishing the feeling of power freely flowing between himself and the Iron Needle. It was almost like the Iron Needle had opened itself up to him, as if him asking for help in his ‘dream’, or whatever he’d seen while unconscious, had spurred it into taking more action.

It confused him somewhat, as the Thunderbird had always told him that Universe Fragments weren’t particularly sentient things, that they didn’t truly think. They had certain wants, such as the Iron Needle only accepting those of her bloodline, but they couldn’t be communicated with in any realistic way.

As this information ran through his head, he heard the voice of the ancient woman herself echo through his mind.

[You’ve returned, my boy. You had me worried for a while.]

[Apologies for that,] Leon sincerely replied. [Getting rid of those ice shards was a hassle. I think I spoke to the Iron Needle while I was out, too. I think we should talk when all this is over.]

[Really? Well… that’s… interesting. Iron Needle aside, be more careful around that Despot; his weapon was forged with the power of a Universe Fragment.]

[That’s… concerning. I’d already thought it strange that his mace was able to stand against Iron Pride, but I didn’t think it was that dangerous. Wasn’t it an ice dragon he conjured that injured me so badly?]

[He channeled the weapon’s power into that ice dragon. The specific Universe Fragment that created his mace is called the Heart’s Glacier. If those fragments managed to reach your heart, your body would’ve been completely frozen. Your mind would’ve shut down and your soul realm would’ve been as frozen as your body. Even your origin spark would’ve been encased in ice, causing it to die.]

[Don’t get hit by that mace,] Leon responded, filing away that information as he focused on the task at hand. [Got it, I’ll be more careful.]

[You’d better be, boy,] the Thunderbird stated both chidingly and playfully. [I’d hate for my line to end with you, especially after all the work you’ve put into continuing it.]

Leon chuckled as he and his small group of companions entered the misty veil over the southern Talon. The exchange of Lancefire was more intense on this front, so this was where Leon wanted to begin using the power the Iron Needle was placing at his command.

In moments, he and his group reached the edge of the misty veil—just far enough in to be concealed, but close enough to the exit that they wouldn’t be unduly affected by it. Leon then asked his people to give him some space and raised Iron Pride into the air.

The power that flowed through his body extended upward, almost like an extension of the sword. In jagged, lightning-shaped currents, his power invisibly climbed into his storm. The storm had faded somewhat with his extended period of unconsciousness, but as his power entered it, it suddenly and dramatically intensified. Peals of thunder rippled across the plains as bolts of bright silver-blue lightning flashed amongst the clouds. The thunder alone was enough to knock many tents loose and jostle the more permanent buildings erected in the Diluvian camp, and the wind that followed as the storm kicked up only made it worse.

Leon’s biggest problem, however, was the arks, and they were rather less affected by his intensified storm. At least, they were until lightning began to fall upon them unceasingly.

According to Leon’s will, bolts of lightning struck the enemy arks, putting great pressure on their defensive wards. Lightning from the clouds was weaker than lightning from his body or his weapon, but he called so much down that the enemy arks began to falter; their evasive maneuvers slowed as they were forced to suddenly change course and seek greater distance from the misty veil.

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But Leon didn’t stop there, and as power flowed through him into the storm, he lowered his blade until it pointed right at the closest enemy carrier. Given the nature of this current engagement, the carriers weren’t doing much, mostly hovering behind the rest of the arks and providing them cover from potential ark retaliation. They were, however, the largest and most materially expensive arks in the enemy fleet, just as they were in Leon’s fleet—the city ark excluded. Striking one down would harm his enemy far more than ‘just’ destroying another cruiser, even though those cruisers were firing into his valley.

Without missing a beat, as the tip of Iron Pride found its mark, a charge built within it. The Adamant blade began to glow with the heat of contained lightning. Bolts of golden lightning flickered up and down the blade as it glowed red, then orange, yellow, white, and blue. Then the blue began to darken, and in seconds, the blade had turned completely black, devouring all the light that came into contact with it until it resembled something that shouldn’t, that couldn’t, exist in the universe. So black did it become that it looked completely disconnected from the universe.

And then all that power was released in a single, cataclysmic eruption. A bolt of black lightning as thick as Leon was tall sprang from Iron Pride, connecting him and his target for the briefest of moments, pushing away all the mist around him for hundreds of feet, and releasing all of his contained power into the carrier.

This black lightning danced over the carrier’s hull just long enough for Leon to see it, and then the carrier exploded with such ferocity that the cloud of fighters that surrounded it was almost entirely consumed. Black lightning shot out from the explosion, devouring not only the fighters that escaped the dramatic explosion but also striking two nearby frigates, which promptly followed the carrier’s example and exploded in the sky.

The explosions themselves were dramatic and heartening for Leon to see, but it wasn’t the flames and the destruction of his enemy that he was most captivated by; rather, it was the black lightning he saw within the flames, turning every piece of scrap metal, every drop of liquified hull, every piece of the carrier and frigates larger than the head of a pin into dust. The lightning flashed millions of times within the fire, absorbing all the light around it, making the explosions themselves look eerie and otherworldly. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

Despite now being exposed and without his armor, Leon grinned and pointed Iron Pride at the closest heavy cruiser since the rest of the enemy’s remaining arks were providing cover for the other fronts. Iron Pride began to glow again as the Iron Needle prepared to showcase its power to him once again.

The enemy arks began to turn toward him, shifting their attention from firing blindly into the mist to target him specifically. A hail of Lancefire came rocketing out from the mist in this brief lull, knocking down another frigate and destroyer, reminding them all of the dangers of remaining in one place for too long and sending some of the smaller arks scattering.

Even without this cover, Leon would’ve gotten his second blast off without interruption. Another thick bolt of black lightning shot from Iron Pride’s blade and hit his targeted heavy cruiser. The ark’s defenses, already taxed by silver-blue lightning from the clouds above, presented no obstacle to the black lightning of the Iron Needle. The hull parted before the lightning, the metal vaporizing before the lightning even made contact. This light-devouring lightning still arced throughout the entire vessel, directed by Leon’s will, causing it to explode.

There was enough space between the heavy cruiser and the other Diluvian arks that the black lightning didn’t arc to any more enemy vessels this time, but Leon still relished downing another enemy ark, especially since it was one of their strongest and most threatening in this current exchange.

“Move!” Clear Day shouted as Leon admired the power of his Universe Fragment.

Without question, Leon moved, and a moment later, more than a dozen Lance shots flew through the space he’d just been hovering.

With a laugh, Leon launched himself out over the plains. The misty veil was not going to cover him, so he decided to close the distance a bit and answer those Lance shots with the power of the Iron Needle.

Two more frigates, a destroyer, and a light cruiser ceased to be as he called upon the Iron Needle’s power again and again. His enemy was now starting to run low on arks, having been reduced to six frigates, four destroyers, four light cruisers, three heavy cruisers, and three carriers. They barely had enough to surround the Artor Valley, and Leon could see them breaking off their limited engagements in other directions to try and reinforce the south.

He was determined to ensure that they wouldn’t arrive in time to save anything, but as he shifted his attention to a new target, a giant of blood-red water erupted into being only a few hundred feet away and swung its massive fist at him.

Despite moving far more quickly than something of its size should’ve, Leon still easily dodged. So in control over the situation did he feel that instead of gaining more distance for himself, he raked Iron Pride’s blade through the giant’s arm, and lightning of many different colors flashed within its body.

The giant reeled from his strike, the Strategos in place of its heart flinching with pain even as the arm exploded into a cloud of vapor.

After tasting Leon’s lightning, the water mage seemed to decide to abandon all caution; the red giant suddenly disintegrated, the water of its body reforming into a massive flying squid with a hundred tentacles. These tentacles of red water, each about as thick as Leon’s shoulder width, struck out at him, attempting to either envelop him or knock him out of the sky.

Leon easily dodged, bobbing and weaving through the mess. It seemed that in addition to these physical attacks, drops of red water were thrown from the tentacles and attempted to either shoot through him or stick to his body, but flashes of silver-blue lightning vaporized these drops as they came close.

Reveling in this power, in this taste of cataclysmic strength that the Iron Needle was giving him, Leon indulged in this dance for a few seconds, during which he dodged more than a hundred attacks from the giant red squid. Then he reached out with his power, letting lightning stream from his body into the tentacles that surrounded him. Lightning, both black and silver-blue, flashed through the squid’s body and reached the Strategos in the watery construct’s center before he could react.

The Ocean Strategos convulsed and screamed in silent pain as the red water around him lost cohesion and fell, formless, to the plains below, leaving the Strategos himself barely remaining airborne and with only the defenses his armor provided.

Leon wasted no time gloating; he charged, silver-blue and black lightning rippling across the surface of Iron Pride. He swung the sword fifty feet away, and a wave of lightning flooded from his weapon and crashed into the Strategos.

An agonized, blood-curdling scream followed until it was unceremoniously cut off. As the lightning died down, a charred skeleton with the broken, blackened remnants of the Strategos’ armor stubbornly clinging to it, fell.

Leon breathed hard as he stared down at his fallen foe. All around the battlefield, the Ocean arks were pulling back, their losses staggering, their defeat in this exchange unquestionable. With confidence blooming in his heart, Leon almost shot toward the enemy camp, but the pain he felt finally broke through his power high, drawing his attention to his sword hand.

His fingers were burned black and locked around the hilt of Iron Pride. Flesh up to his elbow had likewise been scorched, and his blood poured from cracks in his solidly burned skin. The pain he felt started to become more insistent, and if his fingers were still capable of moving, he would’ve dropped his blade from the pain.

Leon had to stifle a scream as furious, ferocious auras filled the sky—two of the three remaining Ocean Strategoi were taking to the field and rocketing toward him.

A scowl spread across Leon’s face. Suddenly, this newfound power didn’t feel quite as glorious as it had only a moment ago. Iron Pride vibrated in his hand, eager to strike at more enemies, and Leon was forced to choose: continue his assault upon the enemy at the expense of his own body, or fall back?

The Strategoi would be upon him in seconds, he had to choose quickly. His golden eyes flickered between them, then to his family behind him as they emerged from the misty veil to back him up. He could even sense Anastasios and Eva drawing closer within the mist, ready to add their strength to his…

None of them would reach him in time to give the charging Strategoi pause. But with their support buoying him, Leon raised his blade and called upon the Iron Needle once more.

It immediately felt like a mistake as pain lanced through his entire body and his vision blurred. Black spots appeared and disappeared in his vision as black veins wound through his golden irises. The muscles in his right arm seized up as black lightning rushed through them, before being burned from the destructive heat.

Suddenly fearing a repeat of the unpleasant few days he’d spent with only one arm so long ago, Leon released the power building in Iron Pride before it was truly ready. A thin bolt of black lightning with an ash-gray core burst from the tip of his blade and slammed into the leading Diluvian Strategos. His enemy screamed in pain as his armor shattered and his body beneath was savagely burned.

But he wasn’t killed, and the burns weren’t nearly so extensive as to completely debilitate him; with a set expression of determination, the Diluvian Strategos kept charging at Leon, his killing intent pouring from his body and filling the horizon.

Taking that as his cue, Leon turned and shot backward. He met his family on the way back to the misty veil, and without hesitation, every one of them turned with him. With their retreat, the Ocean mages halted their charge, pulling back toward their camp—though Leon could feel the baleful glare of the one he’d hit with black lightning burning a hole in his back as he and his family vanished back into the mist.

Despite his pain and extensive injuries, a smile still spread across his face. More than a dozen defense towers along the wall protecting the Artor Valley had been destroyed, as had much infrastructure down in Artorion itself, but the enemy had been fought off, and now their numbers were low enough that they were no longer capable of launching further offensives—at least, no sane commander would launch any.

This, as far as Leon was concerned, was a win.