BOOM!

  Vibrations raced through the surface of the metal container Ray sat in. He looked at the nearby soldiers, and their expressions showed unease. They were in the heart of enemy territory with little to no knowledge of what was going on outside. The only source of their information was the narrow slit windows that some men could peer through.

  “Will we make it to the tower?” one man asked.

  Ray listened to the conversations and shut his eyes. The men who had joined them weren’t all from the Thirty-First; some were fresh off the block that Liam and Jones had recommended. Even though they were new, Tucker trusted the judgment of his former comrades and allowed them to take part.

  “Oi, you brats don’t know what you’re talking about,” a member of the Thirty-First said.

  “There’s no reason to doubt our Commander,” another veteran added. “He isn’t the type of man to commit to something he doesn’t believe is possible.”

  “That’s right,” Ray added, opening his eyes. He stared at the nervous men in his compartment and grinned. “You’re fighting alongside the Kingdom’s best. The Commander will execute the plan and get us to the tower, but from here on out, the rest will depend on us. Am I right, lad?!”

  “Sir, yes, sir!” the other men roared.

  Ray grinned, watching as the morale of the soldiers rose. He couldn’t tell what the situation was like in the other iron coffins, but knowing that his remained resolute meant they were ready for the hell that awaited them. The container jolted once more. Ray felt the entire container tremble as a beam of light struck the bottom of the iron floor, rocking the entire container as the men’s bodies staggered. Right now, all he could do was have faith in the Wyvern Knights of the Ardent and his commander.

  “Forward!” Tucker ordered, slashing at the golem rushing toward him. “Remember to aim for the center of their bodies! There’s a crystal that powers these stone monsters!”

  “Yes, sir!” the men standing on the gigantic wyvern’s leather saddle cried out.

  Stone fragments pelted Tucker’s black iron armor as the runic armor flared in response. The defensive properties shimmered with each strike, protecting him from the vicious claws desperately trying to gouge out his flesh. He held onto his lumenite blade with both hands, thrusting its tip deep into the chest of the golem before him. Aura flared along the surface before he twisted the sword.

  Without breaking stride, Tucker planted his foot, letting the momentum take over. The dark metal whistled through the air as he spun in a tight whirlwind, carving a lethal arc around him. The motion carried him straight into the next enemy—his sword flashing again as he came out of the spin, slashing hard and fast before the golem could even raise a guard.

  He kept a firm stance, staring at the golems. One by one, they landed on the saddle. Hundreds of them were raining down from the islands where the Everheart soldiers sought refuge. Threads of essence surged out from where he stood, grabbing hold of the sharp stone fragments on the reinforced leather floor. It was far too difficult for him to aim at the golems on the other saddles. A slight misfire would hit his allies, or even worse, the wyvern carrying his comrades.

  With no other choice, Tucker stared at the dark sky above him, locking onto ten different inhuman figures. The stone shards spun in place as gusts of wind wrapped around them. Before the golems could get any closer, the projectiles shot forth. Each one ripping through the air as they shattered the crystals in the stone creature’s chest, one after another.

  “Commander!” Max shouted while cleaving through five enemy golems at once. Rubble fell to the ground with each step the knight took as he cleared his way to Tucker. “We won’t be able to endure the spells firing at us from below and those stone bastards raining down on us from above!”

  Tucker narrowed his eyes, scanning the surroundings and the ongoing battlefield. Max was right, even with the Wyvern fighters tearing through the golems above them. The constant spells piercing the clouds showed no signs of decreasing.

  His gaze shifted to the watchman, who fell to his knees, clenching tightly at the area over his heart. A clear sign of spirit backlash from the loss of his companion. Gale and the other spirits were fighting on the ground level, taking out whatever mages they could. But that wasn’t enough. Their numbers were dwindling.

  “How much longer until we reach the tower, Yuri?” Tucker asked.

  “Ten—no, five minutes!” Yuri screamed.

  “We have to endure,” Tucker said, staring at Max. “Can you launch one of the golden aura blades at the ground?”

  Max glanced at the hovering sword and the ethereal knight he had manifested before nodding. “I can, but once it reaches a certain range, my aura’s strength will greatly decrease.”

  “Then we just have to increase its speed until that doesn’t matter.”

  The captain of the Twenty-Eighth raised a brow. He gave a firm nod to Stormbearer and turned to his men. “Cover us!”

  The four knights on the carrier wyvern’s back released a deafening battle cry as they formed a crescent formation around the pair. Max carefully aimed the gigantic golden blade made of aura at the area where the concentration of spells was strongest.

  They had only two ethereal blades left. One hovered freely in the wind, and the aura knight wielded another that had manifested into the world. Tucker held out his hand, and the wind answered. Carefully wrapping threads of essence around the sword, enveloping it in a howling torrent that refused to yield.

  Slowly, he gained control of the hovering blade as Max released his hold. The golden sword spun in the air, vanishing as layers of wind compressed around it. Tucker stared at the mages far below them. All they needed was one attack to tilt the odds in their favor, and this was it.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Tucker clenched his outstretched hand into a tight fist and cut downward with his arm. The aura sword shot forth like a falling star wrapped in spiraling gales that tore apart the sky itself. Before the mages below could register what happened, the air screamed, and the light swallowed them whole. Defensive circles flickered before collapsing, ripped apart by the sheer speed and weight of the descending weapon.

  The impact of the attack released a devastating shockwave that shattered the black crystal pillars. A thunderous concussion of wind and aura struck as one, blasting apart the defensive structures the mages took shelter in and leaving a crater where spells, shields, and flesh used to be. Everything in that one patch of land vanished in one terrifying breath.

  Tucker stared at the destruction for a moment before focusing on Max. “That’ll buy us some time. Can you prepare yourself for the next strike against the Emerald Tower?”

  “Leave the opening hit to me,” Max replied. “I’ll make it so that whatever defenses they have left won’t even leave a scratch on our forces.”

  Tucker nodded as the carrier wyvern they rode released a deafening roar that tore through the air. Every soldier on the leather saddle gripped the harness that strapped them to the beast. In less than a second, the gigantic winged creature released a blazing breath toward the island, melting the stone golems that tried to latch onto its scales.

  Flames erupted along the stone surface, leaving black scorch marks as the entire formation soared above the floating landmass. Out of the entire aerial formation, they had somehow protected all the Iron Coffins, with the only losses being the brave wyvern fighters that sacrificed themselves to shield them from the spells.

  It was nothing short of a miracle, but the mission wasn’t done there.

  The winged formation flew in one unified motion. Wings beat against the clouds while the colossal Emerald Tower loomed ahead. The green veins pulsing through the stone caught the silver rays of light as the moon slowly began setting beyond the horizon. Chains holding the iron coffins rattled beneath the riders, each one swaying under their mounts ever so slightly.

  Inside each metal compartment were a hundred men, seated shoulder to shoulder in silence while feeling every tremor, every breath of the beasts carrying them toward impact. Tucker focused his gaze on the top of the tower. From there, he saw the figure of an old man, gaze mixed in astonishment and hatred. Donned in a green robe with golden embroidery, Tucker knew exactly who it was.

  The Elder of the Emerald Tower.

  Pyron Alpin.

  Their eyes met from over a hundred meters away. Tucker’s glare cut through the air with such sharp killing intent that it would seem as if he was seconds away from slitting the mage’s throat. His dark green cloak fluttered over his shoulders, and right before their gaze broke. A sharp horn blast cut through the wind. Its low rumble echoed through the sky for all the riders to hear.

  “Brace for impact!” Yuri screamed as all the riders leaned forward in their saddles.

  Max immediately stood at the front of the saddle, just behind Yuri. His ethereal knight, resembling his armor, rose while lifting its arm. It only manifested from the torso and up, painting a mighty figure of force that was nearly unstoppable. The aura ghost raised its arms above its head, greatsword in hand. With a powerful swing, it brought the full might of a six-star aura user down.

  But right before it could strike the Emerald Tower and carve out a gash of stone, another ethereal knight with a violet aura burst through the brick walls, rushing towards them. Its sword gleamed with a dark aura that ripped through the air. The swords collided in a mighty test of strength, with Max releasing a powerful battle cry as he mustered all the aura deep within his soul.

  A powerful shockwave erupted at the point where the swords met. The wyverns shrieked out in pain, and seeing this, Yuri gritted his teeth. He gazed at the other carriers behind him and immediately pulled out a red tube from his chest pocket.

  “This is as far as we can take you!” Yuri shouted.

  Tucker nodded and gave a firm salute. “Thanks, we’ll take it from here!”

  Yuri aimed it at the sky and pulled the string at the bottom. With a loud bang, a red trail of light shot toward the clouds, followed by a loud bang as a crimson flare broke through the darkness. All the wyvern riders knew what this meant and pulled on the metal release levers carved into their rigs. Locks snapped open with a vicious clang, and gravity took hold.

  The first iron coffin dropped.

  It fell nose-first, stabilizing as its weighted prow bit into the air. Runes along its hull flared to life as faint blue light reinforced the structure. The wind screamed along its armored sides. More iron coffins followed before plummeting in staggered succession.

  The heavy dark caskets streaked down in azure trails. Below, the Emerald Tower erupted into chaos. Mages rushed along its balconies, desperately firing volleys of spells in panic. Fire, lightning, and shards of condensed mana slammed into the descending coffins, only to slide off or detonate harmlessly against the reinforced plating.

  Tucker and the other knights on the leather saddles leaped off, following closely behind the metal structures. As the first coffin struck, it slammed into the tower’s midsection with a deafening crack. The prow punched a clean hole through the emerald stone.

  The entire structure shuddered as the impact tore through its frame, shaking the very foundations as shockwaves rippled through its walls. Before the coffin’s front plate could drop. The knights, Max and Tucker, slid down the metal surface, their boots scraping against the protective runes as sparks flared with their descent.

  Their eyes locked on the mages forming their magic circles from afar, and with one unified effort. The knights all manifested auras onto their blades, shrouding them in their respective colors. The muscles in their arms raged with tension. With one powerful swing, the knights that landed in the breach released a devastating aura slash that rushed forth like an unstoppable wave.

  Aura met magic with the sound of the world tearing.

  A wall of spellcraft surged forward with sigils spinning as outer rings used for repetition fired one after another. Light bent as raw mana was shaped into force, only to slam into a dense pressure of unified aura pushing back against fate. The air between the two forces warped with colors bleeding and twisting as willpower fought against structured sorcery.

  Sparks of light and fragments of energy sheared away on impact, flashing and vanishing before they could touch the ground. For a heartbeat, it seemed like both sides refused to yield. But they had forgotten one key factor in the battle. Before a new line of spells could manifest, arrows made of wind soared through the air. Each one burying itself in the center of the magic circles.

  The spells fractured, unraveling into broken glyphs and fading light, swallowed by the relentless press of aura. All that was left was silence, drifting embers, and the unmistakable feeling that the foundations of the world they knew had just been overpowered.

  As the mages were cut down by the devastating display of force, the coffin’s front plate blew open like a drawbridge, crashing down as iron maws were wheeled to the front and aimed at the various golems rushing to the tower’s defense.

  More impacts followed.

  Stone exploded outward as additional coffins punched into lower levels. The metal structures embedded themselves into the tower’s spine. Smoke and dust billowed into the sky as wyverns circled above, their riders already pulling away.

  Yuri and the other wyvern riders delivered one final sharp salute to their comrades below, watching as the Emerald Tower’s once pristine surface rose in a sea of flames. And hearing the thunder of cannons erupt one after another told them all they needed to know.

  The siege had begun.