Chapter 1629 Presence

After missing the opening engagement with the Confederation, Malina eagerly returned to her post as Commander of the Southern Fleet. She had a considerable amount of stress that needed venting, but, rather than arbitrarily order an assault, her first order of business was convening an emergency war council. She gathered together everyone with the rank of Captain and above aboard the Hellas, a massive vessel that resembled a hammerhead shark with a length of 750m.

The Hellas had been the Flagship of the Hellas Empire for nearly three hundred years. Despite this, it was still one of the most advanced pieces of Magical Technology that existed outside of Ostia. It was the byproduct of innumerable man-hours and several of the most brilliant minds that had been produced between the Empire and Ariadne. Most importantly, it was constructed around an artifact that resembled a small sun contained within an unidentified bronze-like metal.

Though they had never been able to harness the power of the immensely powerful artifact fully, the scholars and engineers of Ariadne had managed to develop a system that provided the Hellas with a functionally infinite supply of magical power. The only limit to its output was the machinery used to siphon the power of the miniature sun, as, after prolonged use, even the most magically resistant materials would begin to melt. If not for this restriction, the Hellas would have been truly invincible, as, with an endless supply of magical power, it's offensive and defensive capabilities greatly dwarfed even Megalomesmbria's most significant innovations.

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With many of the most senior officers of the Southern Fleet gathered around a realistic diorama that displayed the conditions of the battlefield in real-time, Malina turned to a wrinkly man, who, despite his advanced age, still radiated an intimidating aura. His named was Andrzej Kościuszko, and, for nearly two hundred years, he had dutifully served the Empire as Admiral of the Southern Fleet.

Offering a rare smile, Malina gave a respectful nod toward Andrzej before saying, "I have read the reports. Before I make a decision, however, I would like to hear the opinion of my senior officers. It is no secret that this is my first time participating in a war. Though my power is great, I know there is still much I can learn from the Empire's best and brightest. Now, Admiral Kościuszko, please start us off. What is your opinion regarding the Black Demon-God Soldiers and the recent appointment of Dictator Primulus?"

Immediately following Malina's inquiry, Andrzej gave a respectful bow before raising his head, his voice sounding like a rumbling echo from deep within the earth as he said, "Responding to the First Princess' query...I think the fools in the Megalomesembrian Senate have finally lost their minds. It is incomprehensible to me that a man like Legatus Dalmas would rescind his candidacy so easily. He is one of the Confederation's most extreme loyalists, not someone who would step down due to the pressure of a few pencil-pushing politicians. Though this is an opportunity for the Empire, it seems clear to me that there are great changes afoot within the Confederation. As for those Black Demon-God Soldiers...I fear the only effective means to combat them is with overwhelming magical might, high-powered non-magical munitions, or an inverse-sealing formation."

Nodding curtly in response, Malina added, "I also feel there is something very strange taking place in Megalomesembria. We will need to capitalize on this opportunity and strike before they manage to reorganize their troops and sort out their internal affairs..."

As she was speaking, Malina was also performing a few hand gestures, changing the scene within the diorama to replay the previous battle. It wasn't a perfect representation of everything that had transpired, but, so long as it was picked up by their scanners, they could review previous battles to come up with countermeasures to specific military assets or tactics.

After finding one of the Black Demon-God Solider, a relatively simple feat considering their size, Malina brought her index fingers and thumbs together before spreading them apart. This caused the image to zoom in considerably, and, with a simple tap against the air, it allowed everyone in the room to witness the colossal automaton having its arm blown off after a few Anti-Demon Lightning Cannons overlapped fire on a single spot.

Though the ability to absorb magical power was troublesome, it wasn't the first time such weapons had appeared on a battlefield. They were never easy to deal with but, time and again, history had shown that even the most powerful defensive artifacts had weaknesses. So long as you understood the mechanism behind something, it was possible to develop numerous countermeasures. Most of the time, however, simply hitting it 'harder' was enough to destroy even 'indestructible' objects...

With the scene continually replaying the destruction and subsequent regeneration of the Black Demon-God Soldier's arm, Malina adopted a serious expression as she added, "Though developing countermeasures would be prudent, this scene shows they are not as powerful as they seem. It will be troublesome to focus fire on a single point, but, based on these readings, a Superdreadnaught's main battery should be able to overwhelm their defenses. Our priority should be coming up with a way to restrict their movements. So long as we can pin them down, the Hellas or the Averof should be able to eliminate them."

As they had already discussed methods of dealing with the Black Demon-God Soldiers, none of the officers present within the situation room were surprised by the First Princess' words. Despite this, they continued to display deferential respect with one woman, a Vice-Admiral named Maria Wittek, bowing politely as she said, "The First Princess' insight is exceptional. When the opportunity arrives, know the Kadaj is ready and willing to serve as the lure. I have supreme confidence in my crew and my beloved vessel's mobility."

Though it was clear that the Vice-Amidral was fishing for military merit, the same could be said for virtually every member of the Imperial Fleet and Army. One of the only ways to increase your social status was through military merit, and, though she had already reached a coveted position, people like Maria were nothing if not ambitious. She had already obtained the title of Baroness, but, as this was only a single-generation classification, she eagerly sought to prove herself in order to become a landed noble.

Rather than admonish Maria for being over-eager, Malina gave an approving nod before saying, "It seems the Empire is not wanting for brave and bold individuals. Very well. I will entrust the capable crew of the Kadaj with this task. I look forward to-."

Before Malina could finish regurgitating practiced lines, the lighting within the room shifted from a calm and cool blue to a focused and intense red. At the same time, a subtle vibration could be felt by everyone in the room, shaking a nearby porcelain tea set.

Without demonstrating even a semblance of panic, Malina adopted an amused smile as she added, "It seems our foes cannot wait. Admiral Kościuszko, you are with me. Everyone else, return to your posts and prepare for battle."

Following Malina's words, everyone in the room gave a curt salute before blinking out of existence. With the exception of Admiral Kościuszko, everyone else in the room had been a projection, as, no matter how confident she was in the Hellas' superiority, Malina wasn't foolish enough to gather all of her senior officers in one place. That was the same as inviting the enemy to use the Gate spell to assassinate them, a rather common tactic that was used frequently in virtually every war.

Using her own version of the Gate spell, shrouding her body in a pale green light, Malina teleported directly to the Bridge of her ship. Arriving even faster than her, shrouded in a cloak of crackling blue electricity, Admiral Kościuszko was already demanding a situation report. In response, the on-duty Communications Officer, wearing a rather futuristic set of headphones, calmly answered, "Scanners have detected a large, unidentified, object within the Mesosphere. Immediately after it appeared, a pillar of light approximately twenty meters in diameter descended upon Lake Argyre. Updating the image on the main display."

With a soft 'blip' echoing through the bridge, the display previously focused on the distant Svanhvit changed to show a large hole in the center of Lake Argyre. It was a rather peculiar sight to behold, as, rather than rush back to fill in the void, an unseen barrier seemed to repel the tumultuous waves caused by the initial explosion...

After a brief moment of stupefaction, Malina was about to order the man to adjust the display, but, as could be expected from a senior communications officer aboard the Imperial Flagship, the man had already queued up a command to split the display. The left side continued displaying the large hole near the exact center of Lake Argyre, while, high in the sky, far beyond normal sensor range, a glimmering golden dot could be seen slowly descending from the upper atmosphere.

As the corner of the display showed that it was being magnified to the maximum, Malina didn't try and order the man to enhance the image further. Instead, she furrowed her brows for several tense moments before asking, "What is the reaction of the Megalomesembrian Fleet? Are they preparing an attack?"

In response to her inquiry, the display changed to show the enemy encampment once again. The enemy was in a state of high-alert, but, rather than forming up for an offensive, their movements indicated they were preparing their defenses. This sounded alarm bells within Malina's mind, but, as the First Princess of the Empire, she did not allow it to show on her face. Instead, she maintained a perfect mask of calm as she said, "Open the command line."

With a direct link established to all ships within the Southern Fleet, Malina took a slightly deeper breath to calm herself before stating, "Move into a barrier formation and prepare for a defensive engagement. The enemy's capabilities are unknown but there is nothing the Hellas Empire cannot overcome when we stand united. I have high expectations for all of you."

Following their Princess-Commander's orders, the Southern Fleet quickly moved into their assigned positions, forming three concentric circles around the Hellas. This process customarily took several minutes to complete, but, in preparation for Megalomesembria's counterattack, many vessels were already close to their assigned positions. As a result, it only took around 73 seconds before a large magical formation more than 8km in diameter appeared. From the edges, hexagonal panels formed of pure magical energy began to manifest into existence, linking together to gradually form a giant dome around the entire Southern Fleet...

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Seeing the massive barrier take shape, Vahn couldn't help but admire the sight. He found the idea of linking together hundreds of massive ships to form ritual-magic to be rather novel, and, though there were numerous weak points that could be exploited by powerful individuals, it was still very impressive. It showed what people were able to achieve when they joined hands toward a common goal, feats even Gods would not be able to perform without a considerable number of preparations and a concerted effort.

Unfortunately, as his goal was to act as a deterrent, Vahn had little choice but to take the Southern Fleet's efforts and crush them underfoot. Before that, however, he had other problems to deal with, as, hidden beneath the surface of Lake Argyre, a phenomenally powerful foe was laying in wait.

Originally, Argyre was supposed to be the dominion of the Great Spirit of Ice, but, after countless conflicts, it had eventually disappeared. This had left a large temple located at the bottom of Lake Argyre unoccupied, and, without anyone's notice, the Confederation seemed to have converted it into a research facility of sorts. This normally wouldn't have merited such an extreme response, but, when he noticed what they were researching, Vahn couldn't help but feel his anger rising alongside a palpable sense of excitement.

Spreading his glimmering golden wings to their full length, covering nearly 130m from tip to tip, Vahn began to inhale deeply. Threads of elemental energy began to converge from the surrounding void, and, similar to a tailed beast condensing a bijudama, a massive sphere of bluish-white energy began to form above Vahn's maw as he leaned his head back. It wasn't nearly as strong as his actual Dragon's Breath, but, as he didn't want to annihilate the lake entirely, condensing elemental energy into a sphere more than three-hundred meters across allowed him to deal immense damage while also instilling fear and terror into onlookers...

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While Vahn was busy channeling his inner-chuuni high above the clouds, a marginally beaten and bloodied serpentine creature continued to writhe about in the thick layer of frozen mud that had formed on the bottom of Lake Argyre. It had suffered considerable injuries from the pillar of light that smashed into its body, but, as that same attack had liberated it from its prison, the intelligent serpent released a maddening roar after coiling its body and facing the Heavens. It could sense an overwhelmingly powerful foe targetting it, but, rather than run away, it was eager to release the fury it had accumulated over decades of experimentation.

Responding to the serpent's, Leviathan's, roar, the surrounded water began to twist and writhe as it broke free from the energy preventing it from crashing inwards. At the same time, several massive columns of water erupted from the surface of Lake Argyre, extending all the way to the cloud layer and causing a massive storm front to spontaneously form above the thousand-kilometer-wide lake.

With the icy waters crashing in around it, Leviathan's wounds began to heal at a rate visible to the naked eye. What remained of the phosphorescent blue blood on its exterior quickly dispersed into the surrounding waters, and, as if they were excited by its presence, the elemental energy within the water began to surge with even greater intensity. The surface of Lake Argyre began to glow with similar blue light to the Levithan's blood, and, around the same time that Vahn released his attack, the center of the lake began to surge upwards at several hundred meters per second.

Much to Vahn's surprise, the surging pillar of water took on a form similar to the Leviathan itself. It then opened its watery maw to reveal a swirling vortex of glowing blue energy that erupted to form a massive water spout the coiled like a living creature as it slammed into his slowly descending ball of condensed elemental energy. The energies within the water spout caused the darkening clouds to ice over in an instant, but, more surprising, at least for the Levithan, it had absolutely no effect on the dense sphere gradually descending toward the lake's surface.

As the swirling vortex of ice and water was its most powerful attack, the Levithan no longer tried to fight against the unknown dragon floating far outside its effective range. It had always been rather cowardly, and, after decades of imprisonment, it was in no hurry to return to captivity. It had a lot of frustrations it still needed to release, so, rather than fight against an overwhelmingly powerful foe, it would rather return to the open ocean and sink a few unsuspecting fishing vessels...

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Though the watery visage of the Levithan continued to try and contest his faux-bijudama, Vahn was not fooled by its trickery. He had already locked onto the surprisingly small serpent, but, rather than give chase, his second vessel, accompanied by Asuna and Fenrir, moved to cut it off near the mouth of the Argyrian River. There was no reason for him to defeat the legendary creature on his own, so, rather than reduce the impact of his demonstration by chasing after a sneaky serpent, he continued to linger majestically in the sky as the ball of energy, like a small sun, slowly sunk into Lake Argyre...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'So many famous people (OwO)...','Bigger, bigger, bigger...perfect!','*Darude Sandstorm begins playing*')

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