Chapter 409| This Was Planted By People. Right In Our Lane. Drawn Here Just For Us.

Kaelen had been hovering at the edge of the Iron Empire’s airspace for over a week. In that time, he had nearly ordered a retreat on three separate occasions. The King’s directive was absolute: gather intel, but do not provoke a war. Thus, his three Sky-Hunters continued their holding pattern above the cloud layer, strictly outside imperial waters.

?This morning, a steel vessel finally departed the docks. Kaelen recognized its hull before he even had to lower his binoculars. He had been tailing it ever since, cruising high above the clouds, waiting for the ship to clear Iron Empire territory before making an approach. Radios were utterly useless here—the Sea of Mist swallowed all frequencies—leaving signal lamps as their only means of communication.

?Kaelen still remembered the King’s face from that night, standing before the map, his finger repeatedly tapping a single coordinate. Lucian hadn’t voiced his fears, but Kaelen had served long enough to read the unsaid. That was exactly why he chose to bide his time instead of forcing an entry.

?Night fell, and through a break in the mist, he spotted the water violently churning alongside the ship.

?"Commander," his gunner called out, voice tight with tension. "It’s a serpent."

?"I see it."

?Kaelen dropped the Sky-Hunter below the cloud ceiling. At an altitude of fifty meters, the gunship’s searchlights caught the massive monster constricting the NRS Orion’s hull, its wet scales gleaming under the glare. One of its eyes was reduced to a bloody crater, a broken spear shaft still lodged inside. Atop its back, right near the head, stood a colossal human figure, legs planted wide in a defiant stance.

?"There’s a man on its back."

?"That’s General Riven. I’d recognize those shoulders anywhere." Kaelen made a rapid calculation. "Keep clear of the back and the head. Target the tail first, then the coils around the hull."

?On his left wing, Thamrin acknowledged the signal light with a single, short blink. The youngest pilot in the Sky-Slayer Wing was never one for chatter once strapped into a cockpit. The other two Sky-Hunters locked onto their respective targets.

?"Target locked."

?"Fire."

?The first rocket tore through the air leaving a trail of white smoke, detonating against the tail and showering the sea with shredded scales and flesh. The second payload slammed into the coils wrapped tightest around the hull. The serpent’s grip loosened. A third rocket, intentionally fired with a wide berth from Riven, exploded near the creature’s head, forcing the monster to recoil violently. Kaelen maintained his altitude. As long as the ship was afloat, he was much more useful providing overwatch.

?Roland was nearly thrown overboard when the serpent’s grip snapped and the ship’s hull abruptly slammed back down into the water. He barely managed to grab the railing, the impact knocking the wind completely out of his lungs. Behind him, Rianor hit the deck hard. His shattered glasses flew off, and he blindly patted the wet floorboards until he found them. The lenses had gained a brand-new crack.

?"Aft cannons, fire at will!" Elian’s voice barked through the bridge’s speaking tube, harsh and grating. "Bow guns, hold your fire until you have a clear shot at its head! Do not hit the back!"

?"Captain, Riven is still up there!" Roland screamed.

?"I see him, sir! I see him!"

?Four 120-millimeter mana-cannons roared to life in rapid succession. The first two blasts struck the serpent’s body, tearing through flesh and sending geysers of black blood into the air. The aft cannons pounded its already mangled tail. The monster shrieked, yet it continued to writhe, blindly searching for anything left to destroy.

?"Rockets!"

?Two magitech rockets launched from the ship’s flanks, locking dead onto the Sea Serpent’s right eye. Both struck true. The eye ruptured, foul blood cascading from the socket into the churning waters below.

?The armory doors kicked open, and several crew members rushed out hauling Gauss Rifles. Their hands were shaking. The first volley went wide, disappearing into the fog. The second volley found the gaps between the scales on its neck, causing the monster to spasm violently. Infantry units followed up with Sudrath Spear rifles, laying down suppressing fire into the beast’s jaw and the soft tissue beneath its eyes until its thrashing finally slowed.

?On the forecastle deck, nine Imperial Guards remained locked in a tight phalanx around Anastasia, shields raised high despite having absolutely nothing in melee range to hit. Anastasia stood squarely in the center, her fur mantle soaked to the bone, her expression utterly impassive.

?"Is that your brother up there?" she asked without turning her head.

?"Yeah."

?"Is he aware that’s a monster?"

?"I think so. He just doesn’t care."

?Roland held his breath. High up on that colossal back, Riven was still standing, and Roland had no idea if his brother had any strength left in the tank.

?The spear in Riven’s hand snapped as the serpent thrashed. He was left holding a useless splinter of wood, while the steel tip remained firmly lodged deep in the beast’s left eye. Gritting his teeth, Riven wedged his boots between the slick scales for leverage, grabbed the embedded steel tip, and wrenched it free with every ounce of his remaining strength. The serpent unleashed a roar that literally vibrated the air around them.

?Scalding, putrid black blood erupted directly into his face. Riven didn’t even bother wiping it away. The monster’s right eye had already been obliterated by the rockets, leaving a gaping, cavernous pathway straight into its skull.

?He plunged the steel spearhead directly into the hollow socket, driving it so deep his entire wrist vanished into the gore.

?The serpent’s massive body spasmed once. Twice. Then, it went completely limp. Its colossal head crashed into the ocean with a deafening splash. Slowly, the impossibly long body half-sank, leaving the carcass floating dead and motionless on the surface.

?Riven stood atop the unmoving back for a moment, chest heaving. His knees felt like jelly. He vaulted off the beast and landed heavily on the NRS Orion’s deck, nearly collapsing upon impact.

?"Riven!" Roland sprinted toward him.

?"I stink," Riven groaned. "I smell like actual death."

?"Are you okay?"

?"Somebody get me water."

?Roland let out a short, disbelieving laugh and tossed him the canteen from his belt.

?Rianor stood near the mangled railing, staring at the carcass for a long time. Something felt off, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. A Sea Serpent breached from the depths and made a beeline straight for this specific ship, intersecting their exact navigational path. The Sea of Mist was unfathomably vast; monsters were rarely ever this precise.

?"I’m going down to take a look."

?"Huh?" Roland whipped his head around. "With that arm?"

?"With Orva. And a deckhand." Rianor hoisted a small vapor lamp. "The Sky-Hunters are providing overwatch; there’s enough light. Ten minutes."

?"Ten minutes," Elian called out from the bridge, clearly displeased. "A second longer, and I’m winching you back up myself."

?A skiff was lowered. Orva and an aging deckhand took the oars, while Rianor sat at the bow, the lamp resting on his lap. The carcass was monstrously larger up close. The nauseating stench of rotten fish hung heavy, and the surrounding water was still clouded with thick black blood.

?"Over there," Rianor pointed.

?As they approached, Rianor ran the calculations in his head. If someone had planted bait with a seismic emitter, it had to have been dropped hours before their vessel passed through. This meant the culprit knew the exact route and departure time of the NRS Orion. And only a handful of people in the palace and the harbor possessed that information. It was an unsettling equation, but he couldn’t find a single flaw in the logic.

?A small cork buoy floated not far from the monster’s head, tethered by a short chain to a mesh net. Atop the buoy sat a fist-sized metal box, pulsing with a faint rhythm. Entangled within the net were chunks of raw red meat, still fresh and clumped with congealed blood.

?Rianor scooped up the metal box with his right hand and examined it under the lamplight. The seismic crystal inside was crudely cut, the soldering was done by hand, and the wiring was wrapped in black vulcanized rubber. He had seen that exact type of rubber insulation on the steam-trains that carried them out of the Eastern Mountains. The faint scent of coal oil still lingered on it.

?"No insignia," Orva noted.

?"It doesn’t need one." Rianor pocketed the device. "This was planted by people. Right in our lane. Drawn here just for us."

?"I had my suspicions," Orva said flatly. "No serpent is ever that highly motivated."

?Rianor instructed Orva to wrap one chunk of the meat in a canvas cloth, letting the rest wash away. They rowed back to the ship in complete silence.

?Roland was waiting for them on the deck. Rianor didn’t say a word; he merely tapped his pocket. Roland glanced toward the nine Imperial Guards standing a short distance away, then gave a subtle shake of his head.

?"Not here," Roland mouthed, practically soundless. "We play this off as a random monster attack."

?Anastasia remained on the forecastle deck, her fur mantle drenched and heavy. Her gaze dropped to the canvas bag in Orva’s grip, then shifted up to Rianor’s face. Her jaw tightened ever so slightly. She didn’t ask a single question, and it was precisely for that reason Rianor knew she already understood.

?Elian relayed the damage report through the comm-tube: the hull was dented but unbreached, three crewmen were injured, and one Imperial Guard was lost to the sea, his body unrecoverable. One of the surviving guards briefly bowed his head toward the pitch-black water where his comrade had fallen. The gesture was stiff and awkward. Watching him, Roland realized that perhaps not everyone in Anastasia’s entourage was privy to the real plot.

?Roland raised a hand toward the sky, sweeping his hand-lamp in a pre-arranged sequence. All clear. Thank you. From high above, the lead Sky-Hunter replied with a single, long flash. The ship was cleared to move; battered but holding together, Elian cautiously coaxed the mana-engines back to life.

?Then, the Sky-Hunter’s light flickered again—faster, a completely different sequence. Roland mentally deciphered the flashes. Contact. Northwest. Small boat. No lights.

?One of the gunship’s searchlights swept toward the designated coordinates. At the very edge of the beam, cutting through the thinning fog, a small skiff was hastily rowing back toward the harbor. Three men were aboard. One was frantically yanking a tarp over a crate; another was shielding his face with his arm.

?Roland turned his head, catching one of the Imperial Guards staring at the fleeing skiff for a long time. Too long. The guard quickly averted his eyes.

?"Hold your fire," Roland ordered Elian. His voice was dead calm, though he could feel his own jaw clenching tight.

?The signal lights flashed one last time. The Sky-Hunter on the left wing broke formation, cutting its searchlights entirely to shadow the skiff in absolute darkness. Roland watched the tiny black speck disappear into the mist.

?The men in that skiff weren’t the masterminds; they were just the pawns. Someone behind the harbor walls desperately wanted to ensure Anastasia never reached Northreach, and that someone was close enough to the Emperor to know the ship’s exact departure schedule. Roland locked that thought away. For the time being, he wasn’t going to say a word to anyone—not even to Anastasia, who was standing mere feet away from him.