Chapter 173 - 173: Battle at the Shipyards
Envoy Cassian stood on the highest stone battlement of the Iron Keep. He pressed a brass spyglass against his right eye and stared out at the burning horizon. Plumes of black smoke had stained the eastern sky for months. Today, vibrant flashes of alchemical fire pierced through that dark curtain.
The distant boom of artillery fire rolled across the ocean and vibrated against the fortress walls.
'They actually came,' Cassian thought. His hands trembled slightly against the brass tube. 'We invited monsters into our home, but they are finally breaking the cage.'
A towering figure stepped onto the battlement beside him. Apostle Lucian wore a massive suit of plate armor forged from deep-earth steel. The emblem of the Iron Arbiter glowed with a pale metallic light on his chest plate. He did not need a spyglass to see the destruction unfolding miles away. His divinely enhanced vision easily pierced the smoke.
"The Fourth Continent's blockade is collapsing," Lucian stated. He rested a gauntleted hand on the stone parapet. "Those black ironclads are tearing Admiral Vaelor's galleons apart with absolute ease."
Cassian lowered his spyglass and looked up at the Apostle. "Supreme Commander Iron-Scale leads that fleet. They possess firepower unlike anything we have seen."
"We cannot just let them fight alone," Lucian decided. He turned away from the railing and looked down into the central courtyard of the Keep.
Thousands of battered but determined soldiers stood in formation below. They had survived months of starvation and constant siege warfare.
"Commander Torin!" Lucian called out. His magically amplified voice echoed across the courtyard. "Gather every soldier who can still swing a sword. Deploy the coastal galleys and row out to the Vanguard's flank. We will crush the surviving Fourth Continent ships between our two forces."
Torin saluted by slamming a fist against his breastplate. The courtyard instantly erupted into a flurry of organized movement as the remaining defenders rushed toward the lower docks to board their ships.
Cassian turned his gaze back to the burning ocean. He watched the massive silhouettes of the Vanguard ironclads pushing violently through the wreckage. He had successfully secured their salvation through that desperate treaty. He just prayed those apex predators would actually leave once the war ended.
A while later, they reached the battle place.
Commander Torin stood at the prow of his galley as his soldiers rowed through the burning wreckage of the Fourth Continent's blockade. They gripped their swords tightly and braced for a fierce battle.
Torin immediately ordered his men to hold their positions upon seeing the carnage unfolding ahead.
The Vanguard required absolutely no assistance.
The Vanguard humans fought with terrifying brutality. They abandoned traditional military formations to tackle Admiral Vaelor's elite guards directly. Men and women clad in dark star-iron plating drove daggers into exposed armor joints and tore at their enemies like starved wolves. They matched the feral intensity of the Beast-Kin fighting beside them, screaming with bloodlust as they threw enemy sailors into the burning water.
General Gulag stood atop the ruined quarterdeck of the Starfall. She swung her massive bone club in wide, devastating arcs. The weapon instantly turned steel shields and the soldiers holding them into unrecognizable paste. Her Troglodyte warriors mirrored her ferocity, completely dismantling the galleon piece by piece while crushing anyone caught in their path.
'They are absolute monsters,' Torin thought, his blood running cold as he watched a human Vanguard soldier rip an enemy's throat out with his bare teeth. 'Every single one of them.'
The naval skirmish ended in a complete massacre within the hour. Vaelor's armada sank into the ocean depths, leaving the coastal waters completely clear for the first time in months. The massive ironclad fleet pushed through the floating debris and sailed toward the liberated capital.
Later that afternoon, the Vanguard flagship dropped its iron ramp onto the charred stones of the eastern docks.
Envoy Cassian stood nervously beside Apostle Lucian on the pier.
The Apostle of the Iron Arbiter kept his hand resting near the hilt of his broadsword. They watched thousands of blood-soaked Vanguard troops organize themselves into flawless ranks on the decks of their ships.
Iron-Scale walked down the ramp with Elder Syra right behind him. The supreme commander flicked the remaining blood off his sleek blade and slid it smoothly into his scabbard. He looked around the ruined shipyards with slitted, predatory eyes.
"The blockade is broken," Iron-Scale announced. His voice carried a sharp edge of absolute authority. "Your eastern ports are open."
"We owe you a great debt, Commander," Cassian replied, bowing his head slightly. "Your forces fought with incredible strength today. Our surviving troops are ready to assist you in securing the city perimeter."
"Keep your troops out of our way," Syra interjected coldly. She stepped forward and tapped her star-iron staff against the stone dock. "We do not require local assistance. Per the terms of our treaty, the Vanguard officially claims seventy-five percent of these shipyards as our primary staging ground. Evacuate your personnel from the designated docks immediately."
Lucian narrowed his eyes at the Grey-Fin elder. 'They just saved our shores, and they are already speaking to us like conquered subjects,' the Apostle thought, his grip tightening on his sword.
"We need time to relocate our wounded and our merchant vessels," Cassian pleaded, feeling the terrifying pressure radiating from the two Vanguard leaders. "The infrastructure is highly damaged from the siege."
"You have until nightfall," Iron-Scale decided. He took a step closer to the Envoy, flashing a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. "If those docks are not clear by the time the moon rises, my Troglodytes will simply throw your ships and your people into the ocean. We have a war to win, Envoy. Do not test my patience on the very first day."
Red watched from his sanctuary.
"Now that my troops are there, the fog blocking my view over area has vanished. Even so, I can only see where my force goes. I can't explore it. However, with the shipyards secured, I will soon set it up as my territory. "
"This is going to be a lot of fun. I can't wait to see what those so-called classmates of mine are doing."