Dungeon Annihilation 2 - 33 (Patreon)

Evening!

Regan/Earle

“Nobles will be nobles. No matter what universe you’re in,” I mumbled to myself as I walked toward the cathedral. Games. We were all playing a game. Whether we knew our opponents, well, that was usually seen at the end. Walking toward the cathedral with the schematics of the airship and the modifications I planned to make to it, I considered whether I was about to enter a new league. It might be prudent to place some safety measures for myself.

Once back at the cathedral, I took in the number of people inside the halls. I was amazed at how fast word had spread after only two days. There had been a few more slaves in the town that had used improperly worded commands to sneak out here after former slaves informed them about the place. I was pleased that the occupancy of the cathedral had already surpassed a hundred people.

One of the original two dozen was standing at the entrance. “Sid. What are you doing out here?”

“Lord Earle. You never know when one seeking aid might come. I am waiting here in case they are in need.”

“That is very… honorable of you.”

Sid tactically checked to make sure we were out of earshot. “I know the ultimate goal of things, but with the knowledge you have gifted me when you created me. I have a hard time seeing this goal being completed in even my life.”

“Well. I’ll give you that. It is not easy to bring about the destruction of the world.” Like he said, he only had the knowledge that I imparted when creating him. He had no way of knowing of the destructive force of the weapons contained in my mind. One such weapon, while the crudest of the arsenal, had just become available to me today.

“Thus, I should do my duty to help lost souls join the cause. Every soul that joins us helps you.”

I clapped a hand on his shoulder deciding not to argue any more. “Fair enough. Keep up the good work then, just don’t forget yourself in the sufferings and anguish of the mortals.”

Moving past him, I made my way to a secluded room and let my avatar dissipate before moving my mind to the top of my tower. I wasn’t where I wanted to be on mana after creating the cathedral, but with the mortals starting to dive more often now that the tournament was over along with the slew of undead that Zombie was bringing into the northern dungeon. I had enough to spare to construct an airship with a few modifications.

With the technology from my time in Earth combined with the new magic tech I learned from the marquis’ ship. I could potentially create a vessel that could reach outer space. That was of course a test for a later day. For now, I just needed something that could get Julie and her band to Jade Wind and deliver a payload for me.

The Gnome city was close to four thousand kilometers from my tower. Roughly the distance between New York and California. With the technology I studied, the airships could make that distance in about two or three months. Unless the wind was with them, they wouldn’t have a very fast overall speed. Compared to land speed, though, it was top of the line.

Adding in some repulsors from Earth, ion-based flight technology that became mainstream roughly a hundred years before my birth. I should be able to cut that time down into a day or two. The biggest concern was the constant ambient mana in the air as well as the monster threat. While I was sure if it moved high and fast enough, anything that could be a threat would be long gone before it was an issue.

“Set.”

My fairy coalesced from the shadows a second later. “Yes, Master?”

“I’m going to start working on a project. Don’t interrupt me unless it is necessary.”

“Understood.” She faded back into the surroundings without another sound.

I mentally clapped my hands and started with the basic frame. The gnomes had used wood, likely for its abundance and lack of weight. The fluid might generate an anti-gravity field, but the more the vessel weight or rather its mass, the more power it took to keep it in the air. I had several ways to play with that.

Playing with the alloys that the Oni had created so far, I found one that suited my needs. It was magnesium carbon alloy, with the lightness to be used in a vessel for air travel, while having considerable strength that will provide decent protection. With the thought of crafting a strike ship, I focused on small and versatile.

The vessel soon took shape in front of me. It was with sharp wings that housed the repulsors, there was enough room for three dozen people if they were all crammed inside. I went with a blade like design. This vessel was going to cut through the gnome airspace. I coated it black and planned to add a few things to further reduce detection from magic and other types of detection.

I didn’t plan on letting the necromancers try and pilot it and would be creating designated pilots. Otherwise, I feared the necromancers would end up on the side of the mountain.

With the hull done, I added a miniature version of the engine from the marquis’s airship. There was just so much… extra. That I couldn’t help feeling that it was created like that to reduce its capabilities. With my comprehensive exam that I was able to do, curtesy of the long chat the two nobles had, I was able to cut some of the fat off.

I kept the weapons to a minimum. Just two chain guns that could unload some punishment to the unaware. Ideally, they will be in and out. Appearing, dropping off the package, then out. Still, I was no stranger to a plan going sideways before it was complete. Better to have something rather than nothing.

With a few adjustments, I allowed the vessel to take form on the roof of the tower. I also materialized my avatar and ran my hand over the hull. Unlike the rocket from before. This was a true piece of art that mixed magic and technology. I had shoved just about everything I could think about into the vessel. Stepping back, I snapped my fingers and moved Julie next to me.

“My lord?” I glanced away from the ship at the woman and found her standing next to me completely in the nude with a complete lack of shame. Her body glistened with water, so she must have been showering.

Waving my hand, I created a set of clothing for her. “Dress.”

“Yes.”

With another thought I summoned Set too. It would be good if she understood the power of this vessel. “You are finished, master?”

“That’s right. Take a look at the Night’s Fury. I still need to make a few pilots, but this will allow me to spread my power wherever I desire to,” I replied opening the hatch. Julie and Set followed me on board as I moved to the pilot’s seat. Pointing, I motioned for them to sit. “Where would you like to go?”

“There is a village about three days’ time to the south of the valley pass on the Lecazar side,” Julie said after Set made no comment.

“Sure. That will make for a good test.” I closed the hatch and activated the vessels engines. It was time for some real fun since I came to this world. With barely a shudder the anti-gravity properties of the fluid kicked in as it circulated through the engine. There was a slight mana generation from it, but it was barely enough to write home about. The Fury had a few internal buffers that stored the mana for a time.

Rough maps of the area that I had assembled from the information gathered during my time displayed on the dashboard. It would be updated as the Fury recorded the data. I planned to create a fleet of these and stretch my hand out across the continent. Once I had cores placed. I would be able to move with complete freedom. It would only be a matter of time before my army followed.

“Happy times!” I murmured. With the repulsors we barely noticed the movement through the air. The storm surrounding the top of the tower easily hid us until we reached a good altitude and I turned on the reflects. If anyone even managed to catch a glimpse of us. All they would see was the sky behind us.

With a loud hum, the thrusters kicked in and we accelerated further into the lower atmosphere. Even with our altitude soon reaching ten then fifteen thousand meters. The tops of the mountains were nowhere in sight. If my calculations were correct, the peaks shouldn’t have breathable atmosphere. Not in the true sense of the world, at least.

In minutes we were outside the valley and well into Lecazar territory. I made sure to check all the systems. I wouldn’t want the vessel to crash on its maiden voyage after all.

“At this speed. You could reach the capital in… hours,” Julie said in awe as she stared out the window.

“Yes. Your airships are good for… transportation, but this. This is good for assaults.”

“You will be unstoppable,” Set chimed in. I could tell she truly believed that.

“My lord truly will be. I cannot think of any method that could be used to hinder a vessel such as this.”

“That we know of. There is always something more dangerous.” Just thinking about the entity known as destruction made me every aware there were powers at work that could crush me instantly. I knew that there must be some sort of cosmic law that governed her, but for her to send me on a ‘mission’ told me something else was at play.

Ten or twenty minutes later, a small village. Just a touch larger than Louella’s had been before my arrival by my estimates, appeared on the screen. A modified version of the surveillance system I use in the dungeon allowed for the occupants to scout out the target from a considerable distance.

“Anything a bit further?” I asked dismissing the village due to the fact it was little more than a mud hole.

“The city of Tearfalls is roughly two weeks to east. It borders the ocean and mountains and used to be a key trading city before the north was lost. It maintains its status mainly from the fact that there is an aged dungeon nearby it.”

“You don’t say.” I started to adjust course than paused. The dungeon to the north was able to communicate with me via some sort of space link. I’d rather not bring my avatar near something that might be able to detect me and gain information on my newest toy before I even got to put it to use. “We’ll check it out later. The test is over for now. Let’s head back.” I adjusted our heading and angled back for the valley.

~~~

Landing the Fury on the roof of the tower, I glanced at the time. It was close to dawn, the construction and sequential maiden voyage having taken most of the night. I considered letting the little countess to simmer for the day before I visited her again but decided one night was probably torture enough… for now.

I shifted to my dragonkin avatar form and moved back to the valley making my way to the countess’s manor. Using the shadow realm, I moved into her room. From the look on the sleeping woman’s face. Her sleep hadn’t been very restful.

I dropped into the bed next to her and placed my hand on her head slowly letting some mana leak into her. It would help her relax and thus get a few minutes of better sleep. Her face greatly slackened as the mana made its way through her. I laid back and stared at the ceiling as I considered what to do today.

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