wardenraime

967 - Approaching Thunderhaven

Silver Spear cut cleanly through the clouds in its path as it led the Tribal arks onward.

A month had passed since Leon received the tau’s request to pause his expedition, and he’d acquiesced to the request. The tau returned a couple times during the month to touch base with Leon, but otherwise, Leon had to rely on his own sources to learn what the tau was doing.

And the signs were good enough that even his more skeptical advisors had to admit that it at least seemed ...

966 - Meeting of Grave Importance

“This is a fucking trap,” Alix stated.

Leon glanced around at his advisors. It was a fairly limited meeting, all things considered, featuring just his retainers, family, and some of his most powerful Tribal allies and army officers.

Judging by the expressions that everyone was making, Alix’s sentiment was shared by most in the room.

“What even is this ‘tau’?” Menander growled, the Lion elder having only arrived in Argos the previous day with many of his Tribe�...

965 - Old Monster

Leon stared at the Sunlit officer who’d come to Argos in shocked disbelief. “Peace?” he said. “You want to discuss peace?”

With a nod, the Sunlit visitor said, “Yes, such is the order I was given. I am to discuss peace.”

Something in the man’s tone stuck out to Leon, some barely concealed relief that engendered quite a bit of suspicion within him, and it seemed like he wasn’t the only one to pick up on it. Marcus pointed out, “You don’t soundlike you...

Knight Academy Arc Chapters Now Out of 'Beta'

Yeah, as I said I'd do 2 weeks ago, the revisions (Chapters 56 - 137) are now out of their 'beta' period on my website, and have now fully replaced the old chapters on my website and Royal Road.  As always, thank you all for your support, your feedback, and most of all, for reading my story!  (I also sneakily posted ...

964 - Next Steps

The Imperial Palace in Thunderhaven was once a place of light and music, the glittering crown of the Sunlit Empire. Its enchantments ensured that it seemed perpetually bathed in sunlight, and its extensive gardens evoked a certain cultivated utopia that had even in millennia past won the admiration of the Sacred Golden Empire, despite Evergold’s preference for wilder aesthetics.

During the past few years, however, it had become a darker and much drearier place, and not just figurative...

963 - Taking Argos

“Commander Apollonios,” Arcaion whispered to Leon after their dramatic entrance and Leon’s offer to parley with the Commander in question. “I sponsored him when he was younger and taught him much about how to be a good leader in my Empire’s army.”

“And what were those lessons?” Leon wryly asked. “Hatred of the ‘Sky Devils’? How to properly flatter your Emperor?”

“You jest, but even those are more entertaining than what it actually entails. The lion’s sh...

962 - Launching the Expedition

In the months since Leon’s ascension as King, the barracks and other associated facilities assigned to the central army had been vastly expanded. Arkpads and mustering grounds large enough for tens of thousands to assemble upon had already been present, but the army needed more with the surge in enlistment following Leon’s coronation and the subsequent campaign on the Sword.

Now, Leon stood upon a massive stone platform built at the top of a shallow hill, his ladies, retainers, and ...

Chapter 961 - Red-Eyed Stranger

Hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war were taken during the campaign on the Sword, but only some of them were taken back to Kataigida. Most of them were left in various places around the Sword, but Leon ensured that the officers were brought back across the Veins of Vigilance. He had some plans for them, and he didn’t want to have to constantly travel back to the island if he wanted a face-to-face meeting.

The Jaguars kept most of them, the martially-inclined Tribe following his o...

960 - Allied Strategy

Leon watched with gleeful, if quiet, fascination as six arks lifted off from the Ravens’ arkyards. These six arks were the largest and finest vessels the Ravens had ever produced, the thunder wood that Leon had given them allowing the Tribe to increase the arks’ size and armor significantly. These new arks had also been provided with storm crystals, but they had already been close to completion by then so the design hadn’t been impacted.

Despite this, these six arks represented th...

959 - Storm Crystal

If you missed the announcement, I finally finished up the revisions for the Knight Academy arc over the weekend. You can check out the announcement here!

=)

---

---

With Iron Pride in his hand, Leon felt invincible. It was a terrible thing to feel—no one was invincible, the fact that he stood upon a place in the Divine Graveyard was more proof than he’d ever need for tha...

Finally Addressing the Revision of the Knight Academy Arc

Link to revisions 

And by 'addressing', I mean 'announcing that it's finished'.  Yes.  I've finally buckled down and did it.  It's over.  Done.

Or, at least, I hope.  And even if it's 'done', it's only the first revision.  Only took me about 3 fucking years, but it's done.  And while we're on that topic, I'd like to apologize for just how damned long this ha...

Chapter 958 - Iron Pride III

If you have a second, please be sure to visit Royal Road and leave a rating or review!  Every one I get helps!

Thanks to all of you for your generous support!

=)

---

---

“It’s so pretty,” Cassandra said in awe as Leon held his new blade up for everyone to see. Of course, it didn’t yet have the guard or handle being not even half a day old, but it was still ...

Chapter 957 - Iron Pride II

Wind howled around him, rain whipped through his clothes and soaked his skin and hair, and lightning flashed and boomed only a few dozen feet away from him.

Leon hovered in the middle of a great storm raging off the coast of Stormhollow, and he felt alive. The energy of the storm was invigorating, filling him not only with power but also confidence and purpose.

He was alone, save for Maia and Anzu flying not too far away, ‘just in case’, or so they said. He didn’t m...

Chapter 956 - Iron Pride I

“Be careful,” Nestor warned as Leon lowered the thin needle he held down toward the target of his latest experiment.

Leon rolled his eyes and kept going. He knew how this might affect him, having already lived through it once before; he didn’t need any reminders to be careful. Instead, he focused on the task at hand and, with extreme care, touched the tip of the needle he held that of the Iron Needle itself.

A mortal could’ve heard a pin drop in the lab from dozens of feet...

Chapter 955 - Chaos

Leon entered his soul realm like a conquering hero, his mood soaring higher than the Thunderbird herself.

Tenth-tier. He stood on the threshold of virtual divinity; how could he not feel the excitement?

When he entered, a smile splitting his face in half, the Thunderbird was in the sky, screeching her delight so loudly that he almost felt like those out in the physical world could hear her. Xaphan, on the other hand, sat in his pavilion, staring at him with far more muted...

Chapter 954 - Cusp of Divinity II

Sunlit sighed in contentment, his day finally over. His palace was dead quiet, the events of the day having quieted all but the softest of murmurs. As he finally got off his feet, his hard work done and satisfied that he now had fewer enemies at home that he had to deal with, a young maid he hadn’t gotten into bed yet came timidly into the room, a washbasin in her arms.

With a smirk pulling at his scarred face, Sunlit beckoned her over, enjoying the power he had over her, reveling in ...

Chapter 953 - Cusp of Divinity I

The staff glowed brightly in his hand, in contrast to the dull color of the lightning that it created. And yet, despite the brightness, Leon was filled with trepidation. Before proceeding, he spared Cassandra one last doubtful look, but his second wife just smiled at him and gestured for him to proceed.

Of course, she was behind a pane of enchanted glass that was several inches thick, so if something went wrong, it wasn’t like she’d be taking it in the face. Leon, on the other hand,...

Chapter 952 - Triumphant Return

Leon returned to Kataigida in triumph. It had been a few weeks since the Sunlit Emperor abandoned the Sword, and in that time, Leon had done his best to consolidate his Kingdom’s hold over the island.

He supervised the construction of new fortifications to protect the island in case the Imperials returned, he consulted with the Jaguar about the assignment of various central army garrisons and their defensive policy, he resolved conflicts between the relatively thin native population o...

Chapter 951 - War on the Sword Finale

As Leon entered his soul realm, he found it calm, peaceful, and quiet. This was hardly out of the norm, but with both Xaphan and the Thunderbird present, and the former not in a healing trance, Leon did find it rather odd. In fact, they were both not fighting but instead were pouring over the staff that Sunlit had used to defeat Iron-Striker.

Rising from his throne, Leon walked over, eliciting a response only from his Ancestor.

“Leon,” she said with warm affection.

“An...

Chapter 950 - War on the Sword XV

When Leon returned to the infirmary, he was met by the lead healer on the team that had been working on Iron-Striker, a seventh-tier Eagle.

“How is he?” Leon asked, wasting no time at all as he strode back to the private room where Iron-Striker had been convalescing.

The Eagle healer—and his team—who’d been in the process of bowing and making his formal greetings, immediately sprang up and fell in at Leon’s side, though remaining a step behind him.

“We’ve sta...

Chapter 949 - War on the Sword XIV

Softness.

Warmth.

Comfort.

It took Leon a good long while to remember why he had better things to do than to enjoy such things, but as he slowly awoke, he found himself in no hurry to remember.

When he could finally deny reality no longer and accepted that he was, in fact, awake again, and not experiencing temporary restlessness that would soon end and allow him to return to the land of dreams, he opened his eyes. He found himself lying in a soft bed practically buried...

Chapter 948 - War on the Sword XIII

Sunlit bobbed and weaved, frustrating Leon to no end. Through countless clouds they flew through, rising higher and higher and moving further and further away from the battle that raged so far below them, now. Leon charged after Sunlit, flapping his wings while lightning streamed off his feathers and into the nearby clouds. The Emperor seemed unwilling to stand and fight—at least, not yet.

That eventually changed as the Emperor slowed and finally turned back to face Leon, brandishing ...

Chapter 947 - War on the Sword XII

It didn’t take Leon much to get together a force to respond to Sunlit’s attack that left thousands of Bear Tribesmen dead, including their most prominent ninth-tier mage, the Beast Lord. To cap it off, Leon had it announced that Iron-Striker’s severed hands were found there as a provocation, and in response, he received no pushback from anyone when he demanded a military response.

What was assembled was essentially every mobile Tribal unit that could reach the site in less than ha...

Chapter 946 - War on the Sword XI

The scars on his face burned like fire, but Sunlit remained in his seat, glowering to the south. He knew what that pain signified: Leon Raime was drawing closer, leaving him in enough pain to be unable to relax, no matter what he did.

His heart blazed with fury and his hands twitched; he wanted to head out and meet the Sky Devils. He wanted to go out and find Leon Raime, lay his hands upon the boy’s neck, and then squeeze until his head popped right off.

But whenever he thought ...

Chapter 945 - War on the Sword X

If you have a second, please be sure to visit Royal Road and leave a rating or review!  Every one helps, and it only takes a moment!

Thanks all of you for your support!  =)

---

---

After Arcaion’s surrender, Leon wasted no time at all in leading his Tempest Knights onward. True to the Commander’s word, every fortified location for dozens of miles gave up without...

Chapter 944 - War on the Sword IX

“This is some foul trick,” the Jaguar growled as he paced back and forth. “Some ruse to fool us into sending someone important away from our defensive lines.”

Leon frowned in thought as he turned the letter over in his hand. It had been quite well-written—polite, even—but it had sparked nothing but disagreement and argument among his advisors and generals. After speaking with the Sunlit messenger, he’d ordered the man given food, water, and some time to rest before being s...

Chapter 943 - War on the Sword VIII

Leon strode into the destroyer he’d liberated from Sunlit’s control followed by a number of his subordinates. The destroyer was large enough to carry a significant number of people, so long as they didn’t care too much about comfort—and given how far they’d be going, comfort wasn’t a large priority. So, Leon’s entire retinue and a company of one hundred Tempest Knights accompanied him on board. The rest of his Tempest Knights were being distributed around other arks or would oth...

Chapter 942 - War on the Sword VII

It was with no small amount of annoyance that Sunlit flew ahead of his arks and ships. His forces were pulling back into a more defensive stance as they prepared for the incoming Sky Devil relief force so that they could protect their most important assets. Sunlit himself didn’t care if his ground forces were maimed, but he certainly did care about his ships and war arks. A new warrior was cheap, but a new ark was not.

They’d done good work so far, sterilizing much of the w...

Chapter 941 - War on the Sword VI

The Thunderbird ark rose into the air, while the Imperial arks tracked it with their hot weapons. They hadn’t yet taken their shot, but they were keeping the Thunderbird destroyer locked in their sights. They could fire at any moment and potentially reduce the Thunderbird ark to little more than scrap if Leon were to try and run away without dealing with them.

The rest of the fortress was a problem, too. While his rampage through its streets had wreaked quite a bit of havoc, most of t...

Chapter 940 - War on the Sword V

For the briefest of moments, Leon wondered at the value of trying to keep quiet. The barracks were stirring, they had perhaps a few seconds to try and silence everyone inside. There were thousands of Sunlit soldiers stationed at the fortress, and seizing the Thunderbird destroyer intact would be nearly impossible if the entire garrison were roused and alerted to their presence.

On the other hand, they’d gotten close, and as far as he knew, there wasn’t a single ninth-tier Sunlit mag...