The battle gear was ready in four days. It was a mystery what, exactly, powered Ragnar but the Dwarf seemed to run on coffee, energy drinks, and, probably most importantly, spite. He still felt the need to prove himself despite the wonders he created. If someone, anyone, said that something was impossible, he immediately took it personally and had to prove otherwise. Rubby was slightly worried about her husband but she also knew that was going to be fine. After all, only death couldn't be cured in Arcadia.

  The Empress's battle gear was infused with mithril and set with even more powerful gemstones who’s strength broke all earlier items. The Moonshadow Company's weapons were upgraded as well. However, the protection offered by Living Armours was similar to the mithril alloys. With the ship's cores and shield runes upgraded with mithril, for similar protections, the ships of the Royal Navy were ready for the mission.

  IBF Vishnu repaired itself, closely observed by Ian and his team, who quickly scribed off the feature as a novelty. The 'self-repairing' was nothing more than taking elements out of the spatial storage and crudely fusing them with the remaining hull. It was obvious that the lack of a living crew was a huge disadvantage but no one offered to help the Balantican ship. Amber was even delighted upon hearing Vishnu's complaints about the loss of expected efficiency. But, if that ship became our problem, then any lost capability was to our advantage. The ship needed three days to rebuild its hull and the result was a patchwork resembling a ship if someone wanted to see one. However, it was ready to sail and, while it wasn't going to keep the marching peace of the rest of the fleet, it honestly wouldn't be able to do so even at its peak condition.

  On the morning of the fifth day, they plotted their final course to Vanushka. Vishnu, who was still convinced about its superiority to the growing amusement of the Arcadian sailors, was trying to order ships which were nearly two times bigger than it was. The ancient frigate estimated the time to reach Vanushka as four days but only if the Arcadians could keep up with its pace, which was met with rounds of laughter. Even if the Empresses wanted to waste their time to travel traditionally, it would take no more than eighteen hours for the Royal Navy at their maximum speed. However, Amber wasn't sure how long the expedition would last so each moment was priceless. After all, they had one week before they were going to be forcefully brought back to Avalon. After they said goodbye to Theon, they entered the bridge of Dauntless.

  "Calculations are finished. The capacitors are charging." The nervous system officer reported as the polite exchange between the Admiral and the Empresses ceased. "Ten minutes."

  "All ships’ condition green." The communication officer reported moments later.

  "What the hell Vishnu is doing?" Amber asked after looking at the frigate that was drifting towards Dauntless for a few moments.

  "I ordered it to dock to my ship. There was no need to waste more mana to expand the field more than necessary." Janet explained as the sailors fixed the Balantican ship with ropes to the dreadnought.

  Once they finished, they quickly returned to Dauntless and disappeared under her deck.

  "It listened to you?" Amber looked at the Elf in surprise.

  "Once I aimed my main battery and prepared to fire, it announced that my ship's power was out of scale and mellowed down." Janet chuckled.

  "Five minutes, Ma'am! All crew are secured and all ships report no issues."

  "Ten percent forward. I want to have some manoeuvring capabilities." Janet ordered and opened her gold pocket pocket watch.

  All ships started slowly moving in unison. The next few minutes elapsed in silence and all eyes were fixed on Janet, who turned the key on the armrest and pressed a small, blue button over it.

  "System is primed. Navigation, enter the coordinates." Janet ordered.

  "Coordinates set!" The officer quickly reported.

  "Manoeuvres, confirm the coordinates." Janet followed the protocol.

  "Coordinates are correct, Ma'am!"

  Janet nodded as she checked everything herself. She took a deep breath and started counting down according to her clock. Her voice was carried through the fleet communication system. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one... Jump."

  In an instant, they left the green fields of Avalon and appeared in the mountainous region, two kilometres from Vanushka. When the people realised that they had teleported, the ships were filled with cheers of happy shock. Admiral Sparrow, however, gave a stern look to the sensor officer who shook her head in denial.

  "All clear, Ma'am. No hostile contacts, we can see the city." She reported.

  "Systems?" Janet looked at another officer.

  "All systems nominal. The fleet is green across the board."

  "Slowly towards the city," Amber ordered when Janet looked toward her.

  "As you wish, my Lady!" The Admiral relayed the orders, turned back towards the Empresses, and activated the privacy barrier. The spell buzzed as it spread and Janet was able to finally smile. "That was something... I was shocked when you told me I had something extra like that added when you installed the VLS."

  "Sorry, Janet." Aoi smiled. "That toy is still a top-secret... Albeit, I have no idea how long we could keep it that way."

  "When it comes to our soldiers, they can keep their mouths shut. As far as the civilians were concerned, the fleet just made a Dungeon Jump. Nothing really new, honestly." The Elf smiled and waved her hand dismissively. "Should we call all the Captains or should we simply react to the situation at hand?"

  "I don't really know what to expect." Amber shrugged. "Telling past encounters once again might simply be distracting. Let's come as close to the city as we can; if anything tries to stop us, we will scan it and I will, probably, lead the ground forces to scour any points of interest."

  Hestia, Aoi, Mia and Tia nodded. Only Irene closed her eyes and everyone looked at her in shock as a golden wave of searching magic spread around the fleet and reached the city, highlighting anything hostile to the Saintess. Janet lowered the privacy barrier and looked at the suddenly tensed sensor officer.

  "Contact! Fifteen, large contacts are approaching the southern borders of the city. They are all ground and we don't have a clear picture yet. The radar scans indicate they are made of ceramics and metal."

  "Golems." Amber sighed as she leaned back on her throne.

  "Fifteen of them." Tia slowly nodded.

  "Vishnu is using its front lamps and sending some sort of identification signal. It's... Gods in Heavens. It's an open text! He basically identified himself as IBF Vishnu and demanded an open pass for him and the ships belonging to Princess Amber Na'laar."

  "Talk about advanced..." Amber snorted with contempt, making most of the bridge crew chuckle quietly.

  "We are being targeted by the golems, Ma'am! Their light-comms demanded the Princess reveal herself for scanning." The communication officer loudly swallowed. "I'm so sorry, my Empress..."

  "Don't worry..." Amber sighed and stood up. Suddenly, the combat alarm sounded and she looked at Janet, who huffed.

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  "Imagine, they just fired a warning shot and demanded to stop..." The Admiral's hands were dancing over the illusion screens. "Fleet full stop. Main battery, aim for the golem who shot us. Communication, forward the message with light to those clay heads: 'Anyone firing on the ship carrying Arcadian Empresses will be destroyed'. Use five percent power, piercing spell, and... "

  Janet looked at the communication officer who finished her task. "Message sent, Ma'am!"

  "Fire," Janet ordered with grim satisfaction.

  Everyone watched as the single shot hit the golem and basically erased its body. Its limbs and head dropped helplessly to the ground which caused a consternation breath among the bridge officers. According to all legends, they believed the golems of Balantica should be nigh invincible. The hit was clean and the spell died out after crushing a large stone slab that was a road without making any serious additional collateral damage.

  "Vishnu praised our accuracy, Ma'am..." The communication officer tried to remain serious.

  "It was a proper response, it seems..." Amber sighed. "How much damage has their spell inflicted?"

  "Less than one percent of the shield power, my Lady." The Admiral replied instantly.

  "I'm going outside to be scanned. This is so stupid..." Amber said and shook her head as she left the bridge.

  After a few minutes, she reached the bow of the ship and stood in the familiar red light emitted by the golems on the ground. The light changed to blue and soon turned green. Unfortunately, nothing was shooting, so she couldn't simply erase the city. Rhys, who was like her shadow with four more of his people, informed her that the golems allowed them to land in the city. Again, with the sigh of someone who knew what they were doing was stupid, she went back under the deck. With mild interest, she watched their approach to the, laughably, small harbour in which only Vishnu could actually land. The lake was far too narrow and shallow for any of the Arcadian warships. She returned to the main deck and decided to take the shortest route to the hangar.

  "Attention!" The officer bellowed as he spotted her approaching. "The Empress on deck!"

  The full company of the elite Mobile Infantry snapped to attention, making her smile with delight. It was something natural and pleasant in comparison to the artificial behaviour of Balantican golems. She smiled and, perfectly, saluted back. She was proud of herself as she had trained a lot to get the salute right.

  "At ease." She commanded, replying like Theon used to say on such occasions. "The city seemed to accept me and we are going to descend to check what new nonsense the golems have concocted for me. We will be supported by the fleet but stick together as we learn more."

  "As you command, my Lady!" Rhys saluted and immediately issued the most needed orders.

  Already in her battle gear, Amber observed the preparation of the Moonshadows company. The large framed warriors checked their weapons and systems but they were far from being nervous. Their morale was high, much higher than hers, and Amber wondered if she should say anything more or simply stay quiet. Fortunately, her Sister Empresses arrived moments later, saving her from any further decision-making.

  "I ordered Janet to spread the fleet so our ships have clean firing lines as we descend," Aoi said as she clenched her left fist and activated the large aegis shield. She nodded and turned it off. "Going down there is so stupid and against everything Theon taught us."

  "I know..." Amber shook her head. "Maybe a year ago I wouldn't have had any reservations about walking into a potential trap if I was in the same situation. But, you know... I still believed in the heroic fairy tales back then. On the other hand, the golems won't allow anyone to do anything before I talk with them."

  "Let's just do it and get it over with." Hestia sighed with Mia and Tia simply nodded.

  "Irene?" Tia asked as she looked at the distracted Elf.

  "I just wonder if this is worth the time." The Saintess sighed.

  They all murmured under their breath and entered the CB-90 followed by Rhys and his best ten soldiers. Dauntless' hangar gates opened, launching four assault crafts, which were quickly surrounded by the support craft from the rest of the fleet. Amber took a moment to observe the city below and there was nothing remarkable about it. Yes, the homes were made of stone and the streets were wide and paved with flat rock slabs. But, the entire thing was plain and kept in a uniform sand colour. It wasn't exactly unpleasant, but further from the city centre, the buildings were gradually more clustered together while the roads got narrower. The next oddity she noticed and discussed with her Sisters was an absolute lack of greenery in the city. Even the most cramped cities of Aderon had some gardens, usually near the wealthy homes or near the city lord's manor, but they existed. In Vanushka, not so much... The homes were also odd in their uniformity. They were blocky and simple, but not in a good way. They were simply crude and, as they lowered their altitude, another strange thing became apparent. The windows were small and only street facing. The city was fairly large, even by Arcadian standards, but the small oddities that were piling up made everyone uneasy.

  "Shields up, everyone." Amber sighed as they were near the ground.

  She took out her staff and looked at the front boarding ramp in defeat. She wanted to walk out first but, before she managed to make even a single step, the pilot stopped their approach while a sudden rush of mana around Amber suggested he was about to accelerate rapidly. The first Empress of Arcadia looked at screens but nothing indicated a threat. In horror, she watched as half of the escorting assault crafts landed, disembarking the Mobile Infantry soldiers. The golems reacted predictably and attacked her people but with very poor results. The fireballs shot by the ancient constructs splashed harmlessly on their shields and one golem that engaged the Arcadians in melee discovered that it was outclassed. Once the Battlemages joined the skirmish, they cast binding spells that finished the bout in an instant.

  "Landing zone secured!" Captain Ren reported through the radio with a focused voice.

  The CB-90 that carried the Empresses executed a perfect follow-up to touch-down but, even as it maneuvered, just a hair width above the ground, its descent ramp was opened, allowing their Moonshadows to rush off the ship. Only Rhys stayed behind waiting for direct orders.

  "I won't comment on it." Amber shook her head. "That was reckless, Major Rhys."

  "Contrary to you, we are expendable, my Empresses. Not a single one of us would hesitate even for a moment to lay down our lives in your defence." The large Wolfkin declared with all seriousness. "Besides, we are not scouts, my Lady. We are the most elite, heavy infantry of Arcadia. If anyone could stop those golems, it would be us."

  "Carry on, Major." She smiled as she shook her head in amusement.

  "Yes, my Lady!" He bowed with his hand on his heart and left the CB-90.

  The fact they managed, so easily, to overpower the ancient golems gave her some much-needed confidence and hope. The Empresses exchanged gazes and followed him out. One of the golems was brought closer. It struggled to free itself but the binding spell was held by four Battlemages, so Amber doubted it would shatter it.

  "Error... Unknown forces... Attempt to remove restraints... Failure... Error..." It repeated as it scanned the soldiers.

  As its red gaze landed on Amber, it quickly turned green and the golem stopped.

  "Royal descendant recognised." It declared. "Are you ready to begin the trial?"

  Amber was standing in a silence that stretched uncomfortably. It was obvious that she was reading the World's Words and her gradually darkening expression indicated that she didn't like what she had seen in the slightest. As the Empress closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the army that waited behind her tensed. The first sign for Mobile Infantry were the Praetorian Guards, who activated their elemental runs and imbued their weapons with deadly auras as they took combat stances. As Sentinel issued them a warning, they were already ready to attack anything identified as enemy. However, Amber was unaware of the fact she put the entire task force on the highest alert possible. She exhaled and slightly raised her staff in the air.

  "Are you ready, golems of the Balantican Empire to serve me?" She asked as the power condensed around her.

  "You will obey-" The golem's eyes shone with a red light that flickered. It was obvious that the golem was acting on whatever order it had received in the past.

  "You are a tool. You were made to serve. A slave ordering its master won’t be unpunished!" Amber unleashed her power that fell on the construct like a mountain.

  The golem started cracking and, through those cracks, an unpleasant red light started seeping away. The remaining golems started futilely trying to free themselves. However, the Battlemages simply put more magic into the binds. A low rumbling horn echoed through the ruined city and the earth shook as something giant started emerging from underground on the furthest edge of the best-preserved buildings in the city. However, the Arcadians were prepared even for something like that. A blaring and furious warhorn drowned out the Balantican one and Avalon's Wrath appeared near Dauntless, crushing the block homes under its massive legs as it walked towards a pitifully looking Balantican counterpart. The ground shook with each step of the war titan of Avalon and Amber straightened proudly.

  "I'm not a powerless inheritor of the Balantican throne that you could intimidate into obedience. I am Empress Amber va'Theon of Arcadia, the First Queen of Avalon, the Elemental Archsorceress, the Merciful Lady, and the Protector of the Helpless. I will not listen to your orders because you were created to serve me." She said with a menacing tone. "I'm not just a possible inheritor that you can test and force to do your bidding. As Til Na'laar created you and Balantica, I am his heir capable of destroying you. You dare to order me and challenge my power?!"

  The red light within the golem dimmed. The ancient construct was silent as it begrudgingly eyed Amber. She tapped her staff on the ground and, for a moment, she flashed with her full might. Her sisters watched her in silence, dragging their vigilant gaze on the ruins around them. After a long silence, the golem's light turned white and its voice became much softer.

  "Emergency protocols terminated. Begin the succession procedures."

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to who edited the chapter!

  The map of Aderon is on the Discord :)

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