April 26th, 629

  After spending the day doing some shooting with Umara and testing out the extent of my new ability, I decided to make a call and inquire.

  There was a reason I believed that I had just revolutionized the summoner class in a way never done before, despite the ability technically not being new.

  Some time ago, when I was still a fledgling at the Magisterium, I had met Vetsmon’s mother, Willow. She had told me then that the ability to hand off summons was a thing, implying that she had used it in the military herself since she was a cold summoner. It was clearly secret knowledge, which was fine and well. However, an ability like that should be widespread by now. She wasn’t the one who invented the ability, that much I was certain of, so it had been around for some time.

  I made the call, and Willow picked up quickly.

  “John. This is an unexpected surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “Hello, Madam. I was calling to ask you some quick questions. They might be slightly sensitive, but we’ve spoken about it before.”

  “Of course. I’ll answer it within my ability to.”

  “The ability to hand off your summons to someone else. You’ve spoken about it before some time ago. I was wondering about the limitations of the ability. I figured it would be widespread by now if it was truly that good.”

  There was a moment of silence before she responded.

  “I suppose you’re no longer the young man at the Magisterium. Very well. The ability is primarily used by a select few summoners within the Order, where I used to work. Back then, I was the weapons backup for a Tier Three squad of knights, a more experimental unit than anything else. Unfortunately, our trial runs weren’t long lasted.

  “The ability to pass off a summon demands incredible concentration and telepathic connection with another person. A summoner must dedicate their mind toward that mental connection, keeping in their mind the image of the summon they want to hand off. Then, the other person must make sense of the images. Only after extensive training between the pair can the summon be handed off. It’s tedious, and more often than not, pairs simply aren’t able to make sense of each other and the connection fails. Not to mention that even I, one of the best to go through the program, was only able to pass off one summon to one person at a time. I could never do multiple simultaneously, even with a Spark, and I was only able to make the exchange with three different people. The ability is extremely limited and difficult to implement in the heat of a battle. The moment concentration is broken, the summon is rescinded.”

  “I see.”

  I asked her a few more questions, and the answers came back about as I expected.

  The church had indeed developed the ability, and extensive study had been done on it. However, that was where its use stopped. The ability couldn’t feasibly be used in battle. It wasn’t worth the time or effort, not to mention the risk. The Order’s Tier 1 teams would never bring a summoner into the battles they engaged in.

  Not to mention that even if those problems were solved, if a summoner could only hand off a single weapon, that would necessitate one summoner per knight, which would increase the population of any military unit by around 50%. That was a lot of unnecessary manpower for a function that could be replaced by simply manufacturing a sword or spear.

  By every metric, their ability wasn’t useful, and after a few more questions, I found out that the program Willow had participated in was just about phased out. They still studied the ability and tried to improve it, but it was clear to the upper echelons that it wasn’t worth the cost.

  I decided to end the call after getting the information I needed.

  “Thank you, Madam. I appreciate the information.”

  “Of course. Was there any particular reason you wanted to know about it?”

  “I simply happen to be doing research on it myself.”

  “Oh my. Have you made any progress?”

  “I suppose you could call it progress. I’ve got some more work to do, but the project is not without its fruits. Either way, your assistance will help me.”

  “I’m glad I could help. Take care of yourself, John.

  The call ended, and I pondered.

  The ability I had developed, Bestowal, was the ideal form of what the Church had been shooting for. Their ability wouldn’t revolutionize the summoner class; mine would. That wasn’t mentioning the benefits that my Mind Palace and Maxwell’s Call would bring by themselves.

  Summoners had incredible potential to unearth. I was living proof of what they could achieve, and in the future I would be the pioneer of the true Summoner path. Maybe not the most perfect, but damn close.

  So it was safe to say that I still had things in my hands. The Church would be no threat to my designs for the class as a whole. Once I developed some concrete formations and arrays, both for the technique as well as for the Mind Palace technique, I’d be capable of releasing this ability to the wider summoner population. From there, the class would undergo an upheaval.

  Until then, I could hand things off to Sector 4, have them run tests and play with the ability in the field.

  With that knowledge in hand, I hid away in my study with Umara, doing more tests and refining what was in hand.

  ……

  …

  ……

  A few weeks passed.

  After Umara left to reenter the battlefield with her new spellwork, I continued to receive updates on everything going on in the Kingdom.

  The war was just one of the things I monitored, eyes being kept on the state of the blizzard to track the activity of the Sovereign at all times. While that went on, Sector 4 was busy fighting a three front war in the shadows: they were planting teleportation devices in all the Dragon corpse vaults, hunting down Nephilim cells in cities and villages, and running propaganda campaigns around the clock. All of that was on top of their standard duties, such as counterespionage and special combat missions. There was no rest for my Pale Horsemen and extremely little room for error.

  Sector 4 had expanded accordingly, of course. Over time we continued to find suitable candidates for the job, people who had been evaluated over time and found trustworthy. They believed in the cause, were radical enough in their drive and discipline to handle the jobs they carried out with excellence. And so they were inducted into the faceless ranks. Almost all of them passed our tests and entered a unit with flying colors.

  The Scourge had previously been an object of horror and despair. However, against my anvil of war, they had been turned into a hammer to temper my troops. When people were shown that they could win, they’d turn desperate to do just that. Many of my ordinary troops were showing that insatiable drive to slaughter our enemies, to relish in the achievement of not just battling the Scourge and surviving, but destroying them en masse.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  This all meant that Sector 4 had a couple thousand operatives now. Many of them were in the more logistical areas like counterespionage and special combat, their most important jobs. But plenty had been recruited into the darker units, those who employed special tactics to infiltrate the vaults, carry out raids, and sabotage our enemies. They were the premier, the highest examples of skill, and there were only a couple hundred of them.

  Sector 4 was my left hand, loyal and hidden. I was proud of the organization I had raised, but their job was far from finished.

  Iron Legion’s war, Sector 4’s operations, Wonderland’s research, and my own personal projects all seemed to be coming to a head. I was making breakneck progress with my advancement formations, soon to reach Authority 9, and Wonderland was perfecting key technologies. That wasn’t mentioning the branch on the Island of Continuance. Having been cut off from most of the news from the outside world besides Iron Legion’s fantastic battle records, they continued to buckle down and study the Anomaly week after week, month after month. It had been some time, and they had come out with key theories and research. I had monitored it, but hadn’t implemented much of it since I was so busy with other things. My time to focus on it would come though. I already knew when it would.

  They were also the people responsible for building my new plane. The idea that I had shown Umara some time ago wasn’t a joke. I was building a kind of megastructural airship, and the construction had already been started on the island. It had been months since they were put to the task, cargo planes constantly ferrying new materials and parts there. It would be ready before long. I looked forward to the day that my glorious creation finally made its debut.

  My days of keeping track of everything and pushing progress forward were constant. I hardly ever slept now. I only had to sleep once a week at minimum so long as I didn’t engage in combat, two weeks if I wanted to push it a bit. That meant I was sleeping on average of three times a month, which meant that I was gaining all those hours to put toward my projects. I went through a great many cigars, ending up buying more stock from the Tavera Family with more powerful potencies. At this point, my cigars were enough to give a jolt to Authority 5 and 6 knights.

  It was a good thing I was filthy rich.

  Unfortunately, the time for my days to grow longer ended up coming just as I expected it too.

  ……

  May 18th, 629

  An alarm on my Aerial blared, my hands coming to a halt over my desk. I glanced at the screen, which showed an urgent call coming from my General on the Line.

  I picked up.

  “General Gaffney. Everything okay?”

  “That might require your input to answer, sir. We’ve picked up movement from the Sovereign.”

  “How exciting. I’m on my way.”

  I hang up, tasking Erhan with spinning up two jets.

  Soon I was in the air, my jet taking me toward the Line, the other heading toward my solution to the Sovereign problem.

  I was in the Command Hardpoint before long, General Gaffney meeting me.

  “Sir.”

  “General. I can already feel it. Is the data in alignment?”

  “It’s right here.”

  He waved to the table, covered in a map, indicators, and statistics. The numbers and scans showed that the Sovereign had started amping up the intensity of the blizzard. The projectors and shields on the Line that pushed the blizzard back were already straining to keep up with it, blowing through Crystals like candy. Consumption had jumped by around 80% in the past few hours and it was still climbing.

  I could feel the intention of the Sovereign aimed toward the Hardpoint. Surrounding scans showed that mass Scourge concentrations were all primed to fall onto the Line. According to estimates of mobile armies as well as what was coming through the Intestine, they were numbering around 1.8 million and ready to siege.

  It would clearly happen soon, and this time, the Sovereign would join his armies. It had been 5 months, which was a bit shorter than I wanted, but not out of expectations or preparations.

  I stared, taking everything in, constructing an image of the situation in my mind. Then I smiled, patting the General on the shoulder.

  “Congratulations, General. We’ve finally made it. The big day is here.”

  “You mean, the day for you to bring out the solution to the Sovereign?”

  “Indeed. He’ll be on his way soon. In the meantime, you need to start preparing. You know what kind of stress the Line is about to come under, so get our troops ready.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “This Line will hold. After that, it’s the beginning of the end.”

  The General started moving and giving commands, and I left the room, moving to the top of the wall where I found myself standing on the Hardpoint.

  I gazed out at the battlefield. Thousands of monsters were charging the wall from the blizzard, being cut down by incessant turret fire. It was only fodder today, being nothing but routine for the troops behind the turrets.

  Only a few turrets were active, and more were coming offline as the General sent them to rest. At the same time, stockpiles of recovery drugs were being imported and cracked open to be prepared. The Whetted City, with its new farming equipment from Sawn Industries, was producing medicinal herbs without end. I had already bought a supply of them for this very purpose, and now they were getting ready to be put to use.

  Soon, there would be very little rest to be had. I needed my troops to have every edge.

  Up above my head, planes were pulling back as their aerial enemies retreated. There were no jets out at the moment, but they’d be ready to scramble at a moment’s notice. Pilots were required to live near the runways so they could deploy on demand.

  I could feel the currents of the battlefield. They were receding, like the pull of the tides before a tsunami. For now the field was clearing. Some of my troops might be relieved for a short moment.

  There was no more applicable phrase than ‘the calm before the storm’.

  It felt like I could hear the screams and cries of those two million monsters, all of them writhing with the knowledge that they’d soon be sieging this place for the last time.

  They would assume correctly. This would be the last time that the Line was sieged. Once it was over, the Line will have served its primary purpose.

  For a handful of hours I simply stared out at the battlefield, feeling the collective Aura of an army numbering 1.8 million and counting. While we had faced off against hundreds of thousands, even a million before, it had never been all at once.

  This time, they’d be coming as one unit, spread across the Line and demanding everything we had to offer.

  It would be possible, but only after that Sovereign was killed.

  Soon, I heard a helicopter make its approach.

  It landed on top of the Harpoint beside me. When the hatch opened, I turned.

  Out stepped my solution.

  “Sir Cooper. It’s been some time.”

  “That it has. I thank you again for taking on this challenge.”

  “On the contrary. I thank you for finding me a suitable chance. This needed to happen eventually, and now happens to be a perfect time.”

  We shook hands, my gaze turning upward at one of the few men I knew who was taller than me.

  The Raven Chief, Ironheart, had an unintentionally menacing grin on his face. Our coats fluttered as the rotors of the helicopter spun down.

  I asked the one question on my mind.

  “Won’t the Sovereign over there know you’re here? I thought Sovereigns could see each other.”

  “Whether or not they do wholly depends on each Sovereign. As for me? No, nothing can see me. Don’t you remember my Aura?”

  “Ah. Yes, how could I forget?”

  I chuckled, getting a hint of his Aura even now. It was mostly hidden, but a deeper look revealed nothing but an abyss that ate all that gazed upon it.

  I pulled away before my thoughts could be consumed. If he had that kind of Aura, then I believed him when he said nobody could see him.

  “I guess that’s how you managed to hide your Authority for so long.”

  “Indeed. I’ve been waiting many decades for this moment. I just didn’t think that it would rely on a boy I only met a handful of years ago. You’ve changed the world, John Cooper. Are you sure you don’t want to be King?”

  “Very sure. I’ll leave that job to you.”

  “Mm. Now, what’s the plan?”

  “We wait.”

  I brought up my Aerial, looking at the stats once more. The Sovereign was getting closer. The armies would close in on us within the day. They were moving fast.

  “You only need to wait one more day. Once they start attacking in full force, you’ll get your battle.”

  “Can your troops and wall hold until then? The Sovereign is putting vast pressure on you.”

  “I’ve been preparing for this day for years. It’ll hold. Long enough at least, but that’s all we need.”

  I turned my gaze back out toward the battlefield, feeling the collective Aura of those monstrous armies drawing near.

  “We’ll let them get in close, use our advantage for as much as it's worth. Because once we start, there’s no going back.”