Slowly, he extended his hand into the waterfall. Warm. Hot. Inviting. Before he even realized it, his armor was off, his muddy boots discarded somewhere across the spacious room. He couldn’t have cared less.
The water soaked his hair, turning from crystal clear to muddy brown in an instant. It flowed down his back and chest, taking on a reddish tint as it carried away the filth of battle. What reached the drain at his feet bore no resemblance to the clean water falling from above.
This feeling—
It was pure bliss. The most exquisite sensation he had ever known. Joy, unfiltered and overwhelming. There were no words for the relief of seeing his own skin again, of feeling layer after layer of grime, sweat, and blood melt away beneath the steady rush of scalding water.
Leo’s gaze lingered on the full-length mirror positioned just outside the shower. It had been cleverly installed so he could see himself without the glass fogging up. Through it, he watched as the grime and filth of battle washed away, revealing something that resembled a human being again. Only when even the hardest-to-reach spot on his back was clean did he finally step out—though with great reluctance.
He grabbed a towel from the nearby rack. It was warm, dry, and impossibly soft. Wrapping it around his waist, Leo stepped into the adjoining room: his room.
Just as when Zeke had first shown it to him, he froze at the sight before him. The space was large—luxurious, even.
It was easily the most opulent room he had ever set foot in.
The old Alexandria had been comfortable enough, but its constant hum and subtle vibrations had made it impossible to forget he was aboard an airship. Here, on this new vessel, there was none of that.
No sound. No motion.
If he hadn’t seen the flying fortress with his own eyes, he might have believed Zeke had brought him to a noble’s manor or a hidden safehouse.
But there was no denying it—he was aboard an airship.
…One with a library. And a medical deck. And a foyer. And a sparring yard. And a kitchen. Even a pool.
Leo’s smile turned crooked. Was this really right? To wage war like this? If he were honest with himself, seeing this airship made him feel like a fool. For months, he had spent his nights on flea-bitten mattresses, scraping together whatever scraps he could find to feed himself and his people.
Aside from the fighting and dying, it had been the lack of basic necessities that wore them down the most. How hard it had been to keep morale alive in those conditions—to keep himself moving forward through the darkest nights.
And now, he realized that hardship had never been mandatory. It wasn’t an inevitable part of war.
Zeke had joined the front lines, yes—but instead of sharing their straw beds, he had changed the very nature of what it meant to fight a war. He had looked at the suffering and simply rejected it.
That thought made Leo both envious and deeply impressed.
His brother didn’t simply accept reality as it was handed to him, just because it was seen as 'normal.' He questioned everything, refused to bow to convention, and reshaped the world to fit his vision.
To Leo, that was the true mark of a prodigy—not magic, not intellect, not brute force, but the ability to see not just what is, but what could be, and to have the will and resourcefulness to make it real.
That train of thought lasted only a moment, though—until he saw the bed.
All other thoughts vanished. It looked impossibly soft, warm, and inviting. The sight alone reminded him of how bone-deep his exhaustion ran. Not just physical, but mental—the toll of the battle, the acceptance of his own impending death, had hollowed him out completely.
It had been the most exhausting day of his life, and the closest he had ever come to dying.
He dropped the towel without care, not even bothering to hang it. Toes first, he slipped under the blanket and let his head sink into the pillow. Silk? No. This wasn’t silk. He’d slept on silk before. This was softer, richer. Monster silk, maybe...
That was his last coherent thought before sleep claimed him.
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He fell into a deep, blissful slumber—the first in weeks, maybe months. No nightmares. No fears clawing at the edges of his mind. Only warmth, safety, and the comforting knowledge that, for the first time in a long while, the world no longer rested on his shoulders.
[Notice]
He has fallen asleep.
Zeke smiled faintly but didn’t lift his gaze.
He stood at the very heart of the Alexandria—the control nexus of the entire ship. Captains Morris and Linus stood nearby, their eyes also fixed downward. The reason was simple: the command center was designed to display a complete view of the world outside the vessel.
The floor, if it could even be called that, appeared as a vast, endless abyss. When active, the system projected a live view of the surroundings, as if one were standing outside the ship—or seeing through its very walls.
At the moment, the three men watched the events unfolding in the forest below. Normally, Zeke would have relied on his Spatial Awareness, but it wasn’t nearly strong enough to cover such a vast area. That left him with no choice but to rely on sight alone.
To the north, a massive fire raged, punctuated by regular bursts of thunderous explosions. That was where David had intercepted the Feuerkranz Archmage.
To the east, Ash and his Icefang tribesmen were already on their second rescue run, heading toward the next-largest resistance pocket after bringing in the biggest one earlier.
Directly below, Raileh tended to the wounded. They were in bad shape, though Zeke had no doubt the elf would see them all healed before long. Gravitas stood nearby as her personal guard, while Elder Dragon and Tiger secured the area and oversaw the survivors’ organization.
That left the west—the direction Zelkara had taken with the Bloodguard, marching straight into the heart of the enemy formation.
All three men’s gazes lingered there. Contact was imminent, and Zeke found himself silently eager to see how his people would fare against the Empire’s elite.
[Notice]
Hostile aerial entities have registered our presence and are initiating engagement protocols.
Reluctantly, Zeke pulled his gaze from the west and swept it across the rest of the display. Akasha was right: a swarm of Wind Mages circled the Alexandria like vultures. At first, they’d kept their distance, wary of the fortress that had appeared out of nowhere. Now, apparently convinced it was safe, they had drawn closer to investigate.
Fools.
“Are your men on standby, Morris?”
“Yes, young lord. Everyone not maintaining the ship’s systems has been assigned to the offensive arrays.”
Zeke nodded, a faint smile curving his lips.
“Clean them up, Akasha.”
[Affirmative]
A bright flash drew Zelkara’s gaze.
The sky had turned into a storm, with the Alexandria at its center. Dozens of lightning bolts streaked across the heavens. At first glance, it seemed like a natural phenomenon—but it wasn’t.
The strikes were deliberate. Each bolt stopped midair before crashing into tiny silhouettes, sending them tumbling toward the earth. They looked like moths drawn too close to a lantern, their wings scorched before falling to their deaths.
Clearly, this was her lord’s doing. The marvels he could conjure were endless.
Despite the brief distraction, her feet never slowed. She glided through the forest like wind incarnate, her bare steps soundless as she moved with the speed of a loosed arrow.
Behind her, the Blood Legion followed like a tide. They flowed around the trees like water, never breaking formation even on uneven ground. Each soldier carried a thick spear in hand and half a dozen javelins strapped to their back.
The sight made her blood sing.
This was the kind of force she had always dreamed of commanding—the kind her father had never managed to build. Their eyes were sharp, focused, and not a single word passed their lips as they followed her like her own shadow.
Zelkara rounded a tree, kicked off its trunk, and sailed several dozen paces through the air. The motion was effortless—another reminder of how much stronger she had grown since swearing herself to her new Progenitor.
Her progress had already been remarkable under the Bloodboil Technique, but with his miraculous machine, she had shattered every limitation. The time she spent within it had yielded greater results than all her life-and-death battles combined.
And unlike those desperate struggles, she could now sustain that growth for hours at a time.
How strong would she become? Would she one day rival her father’s prodigious might? She hoped so. The stronger she grew, the greater her use would be to her Progenitor. She would be his spear—carving a path ahead of him.
It was her truest, most heartfelt desire.
Zelkara’s gaze drifted to the tip of her new spear. It still felt unfamiliar in her hands, but as the first gift given to her by her Progenitor, she would treasure it always.
And truthfully, it suited her tastes perfectly.
The shaft matched her height, carved from intertwining strands of Voidiron and Adamantine that formed the shape of two coiling serpents. The materials made it both resistant to magic and impossibly durable. Yet the most striking feature was the tip.
Tip...
The word seemed so lacking to describe what it truly was.
It looked as though her lord had broken the blade off a sword and fixed it onto the shaft. Overlord Spear—that was what he had called it. Zelkara had never heard the name before, but from the moment she laid eyes on the weapon, she knew it was meant for her.
Its only drawback was its weight. Forged entirely of solid metal, the weapon was at least twice her own mass. Once, that might have made it unwieldy. Now, it only made her stronger.
She wielded the heavy weapon in one hand, feeling its weight—but never hindered by it.
A flick of her wrist sent the spear spinning across her palm, dancing over her shoulders before she caught it cleanly in her other hand. The motion took less than a heartbeat.
A predatory smile spread across her face. It would do. It would do well.
Her tongue slipped across her upper lip as she tasted the wind. Fire and ash drifted from all around—but straight ahead came the scent of sweat and blood. They were almost there.
She raised her spear, signaling the Bloodguard. Then she slashed it down, cleaving the air in two. The message was clear: there would be no strategy, no formation, no hesitation.
They would strike with full force.
Like their Progenitor, they would be lightning.