Chapter 256: Minor Occurrence, Major Benefit

Rubedo leaned back against his obsidian throne and watched the secondary monitor. A cluster of faint thermal signatures crept through the ruined streets of the capital, moving steadily toward the eastern courtyard of the newly established base.

The system readouts identified them as surviving Aethelgard knights.

He did not bother warning his commanders. A dozen exhausted stragglers armed with rusted broadswords barely registered as a minor nuisance.

The approaching squad provided a perfect opportunity to test the structural integrity of the recent renovations without risking any actual assets. Rubedo rested his chin on his knuckles and observed the live feed.

Down in the eastern courtyard, the night air remained perfectly still. Torix had spent the afternoon weaving defensive perimeters across every exposed archway. The translucent monomolecular silk hung invisibly between the black glass pillars.

A heavily armored knight sprinted across the plaza. He charged straight through the grand archway, desperate to launch a surprise offensive against the occupied fortress.

The hyper-tensile webbing caught him instantly. The knight’s forward momentum drove the razor-sharp silk straight through his steel breastplate and deep into his flesh.

He collapsed onto the polished obsidian floor, screaming as his armor fell apart in neatly severed segments.

The agonizing cries alerted the rest of the Aethelgard squad. Nine more knights rushed out from the shadows of the adjacent ruins. They raised their weapons and charged toward the courtyard to aid their fallen comrade.

Krax stepped out from the main hall, chewing on a piece of dried meat. He looked at the bleeding man tangled in the webbing, then at the advancing squad. He did not bother reaching for his greataxe.

"Intruders on the eastern flank," Krax called out between bites. "Try not to kill all of them. We need someone to answer questions."

Iron-Scale walked out onto the balcony overlooking the courtyard and casually drew a single dagger. Syra dropped from the vaulted ceiling directly behind the advancing knights, instantly cutting off their escape route.

The desperate soldiers realized they were entirely surrounded. One of them swung his broadsword wildly at Torix’s webbing in a futile attempt to clear a path. The blade snapped in half against the silk.

"Drop the weapons," Iron-Scale commanded, stepping down the obsidian stairs.

The knights hesitated. They glanced between Syra’s drawn shadow blade and Krax’s massive frame. The clatter of steel hitting the glass floor echoed across the courtyard as they surrendered.

Iron-Scale approached the squad leader and grabbed him by the dented collar of his armor. "Where is Voranthar?"

The knight trembled, refusing to meet Iron-Scale’s gaze. "He is gone. He abandoned the capital days before the siege."

Make him talk, Rubedo spoke directly into Iron-Scale’s mind. I want exact coordinates.

Iron-Scale tightened his grip on the metal collar, lifting the man slightly off the floor. "Where did he flee?"

"The border," the knight gasped, his eyes wide with terror. "He took the royal mages and crossed into the neighboring kingdom. He left the rest of us here to die."

Iron-Scale released the knight’s collar and let him drop onto the polished obsidian floor. The man gasped for air, clutching his bruised throat.

Get the geography, Rubedo instructed through the terminal. I want the exact borders and the layout of the neighboring territories.

Syra stepped forward and tossed a blank charting crystal at the trembling man. It clattered against the glass tiles. "Draw the continent," she ordered. "Include every major supply route and capital."

The knight scrambled to grab the crystal. He tapped the surface with a shaking finger, projecting a crude, glowing outline of the Fourth Continent into the air between them. He divided the massive landmass into four distinct quadrants.

"Aethelgard held the northern plains," the knight stammered, tracing a line down the center. "Voranthar crossed the eastern border into Tarnstead. The southern coast belongs to Morval, and Gildreath controls the eastern mountains."

Up in the sanctuary, Rubedo analyzed the glowing projection on his monitor. He already knew the Fourth Continent was divided into four distinct kingdoms, each governed by a rival god.

The geography aligned with the preliminary data he had gathered before launching the invasion.

What troubled him was the absolute silence of the Radiant Monarch.

Rubedo rested his chin on his knuckles. He had completely obliterated Aethelgard’s capital. He had turned the king’s ultimate biological weapon into a feeding trough for mutated ants.

Through it all, the Radiant Monarch had not intervened. The patron god of Aethelgard had simply watched his territory burn.

It defied basic system logic. If a god lost their entire follower base, the system deleted them. The Radiant Monarch should have defended his capital to ensure his own survival.

Instead, he allowed Voranthar to evacuate the core mages and the ten surviving Heralds across the border into Tarnstead.

As long as those core believers drew breath in the neighboring kingdom, the Radiant Monarch remained anchored to the system.

Tarnstead was now sheltering two distinct pantheons. Voranthar had essentially merged his remaining military strength with a rival kingdom.

The ten Heralds possessed enough firepower to level mountains, and now they were entrenched behind foreign walls with fresh supply lines.

"Should we mobilize?" Krax cracked his knuckles, staring at the glowing map. "We can march on Tarnstead before they fortify the border."

"No," Rubedo projected to his commanders. "We do not charge blindly into a fortified bottleneck. Voranthar wants us to overextend our supply lines into unfamiliar terrain." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Iron-Scale kicked the charting crystal out of the knight’s hands. He grabbed the prisoner by the arm and hauled him back to his feet. "What are your orders?"

"Lock the prisoner in the lower vaults," Rubedo commanded. "We consolidate our power. Secure the perimeter, establish the artillery emplacements, and let the Trinity Hive finish processing the ruins. We take our time and break Tarnstead on our own terms."

’I don’t understand. Usually, the gods would interfere and do their usual thing. But why are they so silent? It’s as if they don’t exist at all.’

"Could it be that..." Rubedo suddenly had a realization. "No... that can’t be. I am overthinking now."