Chapter 354 - Outside Context Problem

Note : Chapter 355 has been written and added to the queue !

Apologies for the late upload, got distracted and forgot to set it up.

Also I've wanted to use 'Outside Context Problem' as a chapter title since forever, I just figured The Eternal Seeker Saga to be the first one to have it.

Chapter 354

Red Sands Desert, Archduchy of Rebirth

City of Darthar

Alexandra looked on in amazement, from the Count's palace.

News of the army's upcoming last stand had spread like wildfire. First among the civilians accompanying it, then throughout the loyalist parts of the kingdom. And then beyond.

There was no reason to keep it secret. In fact, doing so would have been outright counterproductive.

She'd expected a fair few reactions...this one wasn't one of them.

The city bazaar had been cleared up, and troops were assembling.

"When I heard what was happening, there wasn't much question of what to do." Said Rice, Count of Darthar, as he leaned against the railing next to her. "Your golem army had allowed most of our people to stay here, to get the city back up. But now it is running, better than ever. Prosperous trade and the eradication of traitors during a siege do wonder to even a troubled place like here." The Count shrugged. "Her Grace the Archduchess did not ask for feudal levies. But they can be voluntary. So here they are. Three full battalions, thirty six hundred men in total. Perhaps not much, in the grand scheme of things, but they have had the time to fully train with your weaponry."

"That's appreciated, Count. Every little bit helps." Alexandra squinted as she studied the troops. "Is that...?"

"The Scarlet Swords. Their commander, Gothram, practically begged for a contract on this." The Count chuckled. "Not that he had much of a choice. Given your gifts to him, only the Archduchy can afford him now."

Alexandra smiled. Faintly, but she smiled.

"Probably. Still, unexpected."

"You may be surprised at how deep the gratitude of some runs. I believe there was a saying of extradimensionals, that even the lowest form of scum will seek to repay debts of gratitude. Those that do not have ceased to be truly human."

"Yakiv Oleksyuk, The Dichtomy of Man." It took her a full second to realize she'd just spoken aloud.

"You are well read, milady."

Alexandra shrugged as she tried not to panic.

"My girlfriend is a scholar. There are some things one cannot escape."

The Count nodded.

"A fair point. Speaking of your family, how is CQ?"

Alexandra grimaced.

"She's...furious. That the people she has gotten to know are going to die. Permanently."

"That is...understandable. I wish there was another way."

"So do I."

"Perhaps, your Old World missiles..."

"Thought about that." Had been thinking about it since she'd gotten them, actually. "But we spent most of them during the ambush of the bridge." A name which had seemed to stick, despite the bridge being nowhere in sight or even relatively close by during the engagement. "I have one volley left, that's it. It'll hurt, but they have over a million soldiers. And they most likely won't make the same mistake of hyper-concentrating their elites again."

"What about the dungeon cores?"

"I haven't used these weapons on them to make a point." One she hoped had gotten across, though of course she had mainly been keeping them as a last resort. No reason not to kill two birds with one stone however. "If they join in this battle however...all bets are off."

"I see. Well then." He held out his hand. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more, milady. I suppose it's time for you to head off?"

"It is." She took the Count's hand. "My troops will be marching out of Rebirth momentarily. And I have to oversee the final defensive preparations for the battle personally."

"Of course. May the Gods be with you. And good hunting."

Alexandra smiled. The last thing she wanted was those damned Gods with her.

"Thank you Count."

She stepped out of her ambassador, setting it to return to her branch office automatically.

*****

"The abatis is complete." Said Colonel Rim as he set down his helmet on a corner of the table. "Three layered. First's cavalry spikes, we used the bone blades of the Jakarl corpses for that, second is a trench, nothing special but it's pretty deep, third is the firing line, with a step for the infantry to hold back anything trying to crawl its way up while still clearing the lines of fire. There's gaps in the abatis to allow them to be reinforced or ferry out wounded, and it should be low enough that nothing can hit them with direct fire from the other side of the spikes."

Alexandra nodded.

"Magnificent work."

"Thanks." The Colonel smiled. "I'm starting to get a liking to this sapper thing." His face went grim. "Guess it's a bit late for that, but hey." He shrugged as he saw the dungeon core's expression. "It's okay milady."

"I-"

"Don't say anything. I figured me and my guys were dead the second we blew that bridge. Didn't expect to make it out of Molro, let alone all the way here and back."

Alexandra nodded. Of the roughly seventy thousand human soldiers left in the army, sixty thousand had stayed. They'd actually had to draw lots to grab volunteers to make them accompany the civilians so they wouldn't be overrun by monsters. It also had the side effect of hiding who had simply refused to fight.

They'd also gotten five thousand cultists who had joined in. They weren't worth a damn combat wise, but they listened to her every word, and when she'd told them that they could serve much better if they served as auxiliaries, moving wounded, ammo or whatever else was needed, as well as handling some of the labor for fortification building, they'd basically pounced on it. The main issue was trying to keep them from overworking themselves. That and falling to their knees whenever her or CQ passed by.

"Alright." Alexandra flicked a glance as Philia walked up to her command post, which like last time was on top of a fortification. A different one, however, the previous had actually been destroyed by the UDC's ships when they had gone feral. "News, Knight-Commander?"

"Our skirmishers report that the enemy has arrived in the area, and is making camp. I don't know if it is a feint."

"It's not." Alexandra smiled as the Knight-Commander's eyebrows just rose silently. "They're not completely stupid either. We're not running anymore. We've thrown down the gauntlet, for anyone to see. They'll take a night to fully rest up, eat, recover from their force march, then they'll attack. They'd probably take more time if they could, but..."

"They're not going to risk it."

"Yeah. They have to know some of the remaining nobles are feeding us information. And with everything we're doing..." Alexandra may have only fifteen thousand of her new infantry ready, but she'd emptied everything she had and sent it forth. She'd only taken the time to arm and armor the basic and martial golems. Most of them were not much better than Sunrise's own troops, but there was no way they'd be able to piece through that in the time window Alexandra needed them to break in. All in all, almost thirty thousand golems had marched out.

Had she not been consuming her stockpiles to fund the fabricators...it would have been much more.

It was also worth noting that Rice hadn't been the only one to offer levies. There wasn't that much military power left in Sarth and Rebirth, but whatever was available was gathering. Their number wasn't actually as important as the fact that they were. It was sending a clear message that they were going to fight. They might lose this battle, but what about the next one? Or the one after that?

The UDC's forces were still separated from Sunrise's own, though they were still following. She wished she knew which way they were going to jump.

She was guessing they wished the same too.

Her interventionist dungeon allies had cranked up the propaganda as well. How effective it was was hard to tell, but the flood of messages to Emilia via other advisors had come to a dead stop. Everyone was just holding their breath, to see what happened.

And just like her fight with the UDC, people were watching. She could almost taste their gaze.

Let them watch. Let them etch every last detail into their memories. She might not be able to save this army but she would make the whole world remember their sacrifice.

*****

"Has there been any changes?" Asked the Custodian, and Jeremiah, commander of the Celestial Watch, the Seraphims who watched over Alcheryos and controlled the weapons and might of the Citadel on a day to day basis, shook his head.

"No my lord. Both forces are settling in for the night, and neither appears to be willing to risk an expedition."

"Very well. Monitor it closely for any anomalies."

"Yes my lord."

The hologram of the Custodian flickered, then vanished, and Jeremiah leaned forward, resting his chin on his joined hands. All around him he saw his people tending to their stations. But there were so few of them.

The Citadel of the Flames could have housed an entire army. It's complement was so pathetic entire habitation sections were mothballed. He didn't even have enough people to provide a full watch, and barely enough to man the entire bridge if everyone was called in for an emergency.

There wasn't even a question of manning the ships docked to the central spire or in the dry docks.

"Sir. We have an anomaly." Called one of the sensor techs.

"Report."

"There are strange energy readings. It looks like some kind of ritual, but it's all...wrong. The computer is only returning errors and-" The sensor tech almost jumped. "Emissions just jumped ten fold! Twenty fold! Holy crap that's enough mana to vaporize a city!"

"I have a mana spike!" Called out another sensor tech.

"Put everything on the main display!" Ordered the commander, and the hologram of the world updated. Two red sigils were there, one brighter than the other. Their placements didn't make any sense, they were in the middle of nowhere. Why-

"Another!" Called out the first sensor tech. "Crap. It's almost the same interval, isn't it? It's a sequence sir. I-oh."

"What is it?" Said the commander, sending protocol to hell as he walked to the technician's station.

"The computer finally figured out why the readings didn't make any sense. The different rituals...sir they're not different, they're all part of one."

"That's insane. You need something to anchor the spell." He was no arcane specialist but even he knew that much. "The air alone couldn't take that kind of energy! They need some kind of focus."

That, or the energy would lose cohesion. The minds of the people casting the ritual and whatever primitive etchings they called runes could only do so much.

"Fourth spike." Said the second tech. "Fifth. Sequence is accelerating."

"I don't know sir!" The first tech gestured at the screen. "But it's the only thing that makes sense! I don't-" The tech froze as the sixth, then seventh points appeared.

"What is it?"

"They're...sir, if they're positioned like that...I can see tendrils of essence, reaching out between the sites. The focus...it's the planet. They're using the entire planet to anchor that spell."

Jeremiah's blood ran cold, as he darted for his chair, and slammed his hand on a button on one of the armrests.

"BATTLE STATIONS! BATTLE STATIONS! ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS!" Screamed the alarms, and he turned towards his crew.

"Load all weapons, and prepare to fire!" Yelled out the commander.

If that ritual was using the planet as a focus...he knew magic couldn't penetrate the inner layers. Not without the pillars of power. But there was no telling what a spell on that scale could do. Especially with so many shattered and damaged pillars still deep into the world's body. Pillars they didn't dare remove because of what slept beneath.

The entire station shuddered as missiles were moved into their launchers, and the planetcracker cannons began to power up. The hyperfold weaponry was more silent, but no less draining, as the light briefly flickered, the fortress' power cores, NLR and conventional, spinning up to compensate.

A hologram almost instantly appeared on the bridge, the Custodian Jeremiah had been talking to but a minute before online once more.

"Commander, report!" Said the Custodian.

"My lord, we have detected seven nodes of what appear to be a planetary scale ritual. The purpose of it is unknown, but the energy levels are off the charts, and-"

"ENERGY SPIKE!" Screamed out both sensor techs at the same time, as rings of runes and power appeared around the world.

And the universe went insane. Seraphims weren't so much molded by magic as, in many ways, they were magic. For a brief instant that none of them would have been able to describe, everything was wrong.

Sensors failed. Weapons simply stopped working.

Then they all heard it. The crystal clear clang of a hammer hitting an anvil, reverberating throughout the aether.

Of a smith reforging a trusted tool.