jackal-among-snakes-16091326
chapter-548

Argrave stood on the deck of the Sea Dragon, trying to dismiss the memories he’d made with Sophia here as a task of equal import demanded his attention. He could see it now, plain as day: the siege engine that had rained hellfire down on Berendar for the better part of a month, utterly defying their expectations of an offensive from the Coalition. And from all the way down here, the situation seemed quite formidable.

The sky tower looked like a great cumulonimbus. It was a dense billowing pillar of clouds positioned high in the sky, with nothing beneath it but an unfathomable stretch of air. The top of it roared with thunder and glowed with lightning, and electricity danced all along its surface. Rings of power swirled around it—divinity manifest as pure energy. These rings of power would begin moving slowly, then accelerate until they moved fast enough they were imperceptible. Then, the top of the sky tower would erupt in power, sending blasts toward Vasquer and making the spinning rings halt. Half a minute this took, blast after blast after blast. Almazora’s feat in defending against this thing was all the more impressive now that Argrave saw its source.

Argrave looked at Raccomen, god of space, standing on the deck with him. The god’s bejeweled hand rested on his chin as he gazed up at this siege weapon. Argrave asked, “You’re the god of space; how big is it?”

Raccomen glanced at Argrave, disturbed from his thoughts, then looked back. “It’s seven miles high precisely.”

“Seven miles off the ground, or seven miles high?” Argrave repeated in disbelief.

“The tower is seven miles. Its peak is about forty-five thousand feet from the ground,” Raccomen clarified.

As Argrave reeled, another deity chimed in. “As fortified positions go, you can’t ask for much better than the sky,” Rook noted, leaning against the deck’s railing. “There’s a reason the heavens are known as the realm of the gods. Largely, only our kind can do battle up there. Your people aren’t well-suited for it. But even among gods, few have mastered the sky as Kirel Qircassia.”

Anneliese leaned against Rowe’s staff as she watched. “It’s a blessing to us, I should think. How can the people of the Great Chu truly believe the gods aren’t interfering if this giant structure persists above them? Ji Meng’s intercession may come easy.”

“I can think of half a dozen different ways the puppeteered imperial court might spin the tales,” Rook mused. “Just make any number of reasons up. They could say that the tower belongs to us, for instance. It’s our nefarious weapon. Simple, effective… and no way of disproving it.”

“Now that we can see our goal, we should discuss our plan,” Argrave reminded them before they veered too far away from the point.

“I can tell you the most important information.” Lira walked to the very front of the deck, then pointed her finger upward. “Erlebnis and Qircassia both reside in the top of the tower. Beneath them, hundreds of thousands of divine servants lie in wait. The entrance to Qircassia’s realm lies at the top of the tower. Fortunately it’s fully melded to this mortal world, meaning that he can be killed there permanently. Nevertheless…”

“He’s as fortified as he could possibly be,” Rook summarized. “The worst thing we could possibly do is allow our foes time to run back into the heart of their territory. I hope Sataistador understands this.”

“Of course he does,” chided Lira. “That bastard knows war better than anyone, that much I’ll concede.”

“We’ll face the harshest opposition on the shores of the Great Chu. The gods of the Qircassian Coalition will come out in force. Should we falter at all, Qircassia or Erlebnis might deign to descend to deliver a decisive blow,” Raccomen summarized.

“…but they’ll never come unless things are truly desperate for us,” Rook said, walking away from the railing.

When silence came for a moment, Argrave interjected. “What I’m going to ask of you is simple. I know that what I’ve built is a match for most in this realm. But my people aren't gods, and I can’t ask them to fight gods. Not here, not now.” He looked up to the sky. “That’s why I’d like to ask you to keep the two battlefields separate. The heavens above, where the gods dwell… and the earth below, where the mortals squabble.”

All of the gods considered this, yet Lira looked at Raccomen.

“With the god of space, that’s not’s merely doable—it would be ideal,” the aged god said. “It would spare your people casualties, and allow a monster like Law to fight freely without fear of collateral damage.”

Rook nodded in agreement. “Raccomen can play support, separating the fields of battle. If Law’s our vanguard… I will say one thing. He’s every bit as terrifying as those two lurking in that tower. Or even Sataistador, lurking… wherever he’s lurking.”

“It’ll be difficult…” Raccomen looked between Lira and Rook, before his gaze settled on Argrave. His eyes seemed infinite, but Argrave didn’t dare peer within. “…but not impossible. If Kirel descends, however, all bets are off.”

“That’s unlikely. The battle isn’t pitched enough in his favor for him to risk his hide—they’ll fight a war of attrition before a straight slugging match any day. And once we stabilize things in the Great Chu, muster whatever forces we can, the sky tower awaits,” Argrave filled out the remainder of the plan.

“Basically so,” Lira agreed. “It’s the crux of their power in this land. There, injured gods might heal, new divine troops are born, and the webs woven into the imperial court remain. So long as it stands, their presence in the Great Chu cannot be fully removed. But… even for us gods, a tower of that height will be difficult to assault. We’d need an excellent point of attack—a mountain, from which magic springs naturally. Not a common phenomenon.”

“We’ll have more time to get the lay of the land once our feet are on it. Our first objective should be to get a foothold, plan our further advancement.” Argrave walked around as he thought through things.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Numerically, we’re still at disadvantage,” Anneliese continued, cautioning. “The Coalition has more gods than our Union. Qualitatively, however, I cannot deem our force inferior. Each and all here have left their name in history before, and I believe will leave it again. I theorize this will ultimately be like fighting up a stairwell, for us—with each step we advance upwards, the Great Chu still stands above. If they succeed once, we fall… but once we reach the top, we will be at an equal level.”

“Well spoken,” Raccomen agreed, and most other gods validated that perspective.

Lira walked back up to their group. “I have some friends in the Great Chu as part of my connections. While they’ll be some help in the battle to come, they’re proving ample help before. We’ll come upon the coastal fortifications of the Great Chu about midday tomorrow. I have some information about the composition of troops there, but the machinations of the gods are beyond these people.”

“Argrave and I have plans to deal with the defense posed by the Great Chu,” Anneliese nodded. “All we need is reprieve from the gods—a battlefield between mortals alone, free of interruptions. If you can display unimaginable power, it will be all the easier for the mortals of the Great Chu to break and rout. We don’t intend to wantonly slaughter the people of this land. They’re needed for the trials ahead.”

All of the gods nodded in quiet agreement. Argrave cast one last glance at the sky tower, then looked back at the assembled deities. “Barring the final details, we agree with the generalities. Morning tomorrow, when information is more available, we can predict what’ll be done specifically. For now… we’re all prepared, aren’t we?”

The gods gave their affirmation, and it was settled. This Blackgard Union, born in the White Planes, was to assault the millennia-old Qircassian Coalition in a bid to destroy two of the oldest gods to walk the earth.