"I hereby name this camp PORT LEISO!" Leiso shouted mightily. Many soldiers roared in excitement.
We spent several hours fishing soldiers out of the water and recovering as much of the wreckage as we could. Once that had been taken care of, we moved to the former location of Port Davis.
Since there was a massive smoldering crater in the ground that had partially filled with seawater, we decided to camp next to it instead of in it. Leiso spit several times into the hole and stomped the ground next to it at the time.
Luckily, the ether particles had already dispersed. There was no toxicity in the air at all. Perfect.
Although many of the trees and surrounding areas had been decimated by the shockwave from my spell...
Once the base camp was established, Leiso had gathered everyone here to shout about our victory.
She brought Isabella up on the hastily thrown together stage to sing and play the violin for everyone to raise morale.
The men were greatly entranced by her beauty, voice, and skill with the violin.
At the same time, Michael was doing his best to raise the spirits of our female soldiers by telling jokes and the like.
It almost made me forget that we were in an active warzone.
My strength had since recovered and I walked over to Leiso as she stood by the crater away from the camp
"Leiso. Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah...I'll be alright. Why do you ask?" She said.
"You've been standing by that crater for a while."
"It's personal... It has to do with my descendants. Today, you helped me avenge them... For that, I'm eternally grateful. You have my full support, Mizik and I'm proud to call you my friend," She said with a smile as she turned to me.
I could tell she had been crying.
"Thank you...umm... You're not going to come after me, are you?" I said hesitantly.
She chuckled slightly.
"As much as I might enjoy that, I'm not some common girl that will pursue another woman's husband. I have made my feelings somewhat clear to you already though. I admire and respect you, Mizik. You also remind me of my late husband. But I have too much self-respect to throw myself at you. I am content simply calling you my friend," Leiso said with a smile.
Then she did something surprising.
She quickly lunged forward and hugged me.
"Thank you, Mizik. For helping me avenge my loved ones."
She quickly pulled away and saluted me.
I returned it and as I stood there. I had a feeling of familiarity as I looked at Leiso in the moonlight. Amidst the wreckage, ruins, and uprooted trees in this spot...Leiso actually looked beautiful.
It was as if I had been here before in this exact same scenario...
It felt like the day I first met Isabella...
Leiso gave me a slight nod and went on her way.
Then I heard a voice speaking to me.
[Yes...Leiso Akali... Alpha General of the Ignitian Military and Enforcer Seat 2. The Iron Tsunami. In a few failed timelines...she was your beloved.]
It was the Oracle.
What the hell do YOU want!?
[To once again inform you of the error of your ways. This sweet girl would have confessed her love to you here. And you'd have accepted her. Now she will forever be alone...how horrible...]
Until you decided to kill her anyways, right?
[You truly are a rude little bastard, Mizik Iratus...]
And you're a heartless witch.
[I so wish that the Creator could have chosen someone less insufferable. The other versions of you were far nicer to me.]
Maybe because they didn't know how sick and twisted you are. Burn in hell, you damn Oracle. AND STOP CONTACTING ME!
[Fine. Have it your way. Enjoy the remainder of your failed timeline, you fool.]
After that I could no longer sense the presence of her gaze.
I felt like I was boiling on the inside after hearing her wretched voice.
Shortly after, Isabella arrived and ran over. She threw her arms around me and rested her head on my back.
"Mizik! I've been looking all over for you! I just passed by Leiso and she told me you were around here. Can you come back to the camp? Iris wants to have a meeting with us before she leaves."
"Ah...yeah..." I said.
"Is something wrong?" Isabella asked me.
"The Oracle contacted me again."
"That damn old crone! I wish she would just leave you alone... What did she want?"
Should I tell her...? It seems reasonable and we both trust each other... We could probably talk on the way back...
"Let's talk as we go back," I said.
* * *
"Isabella, you trust me to be faithful to you, right?" I asked.
"Why wouldn't I? You've proven yourself time and again that I'm the only girl in your heart. Is this about the Oracle?" She said.
"The Oracle told me that in an alternate timeline where you died...Leiso and I were...you know..." I said.
"Hm...it makes sense. I trust her to not go after you while I'm around, but if I wasn't, I'm sure you two would already be together. As much as it pains me to admit it...I'd be happy to see you moving on even if I was still upset about not being with you myself."
"I'm glad you understand. She was trying to make me feel guilty about it though. Like I had done something terrible to Leiso," I said.
"And do you feel bad about it?"
It didn't bother me that much. Leiso was strong and independent. If she wanted to find a man to love her, she would probably be able to easily.
She had a fairly large fan club, after all...
The fact that she remained by herself was completely voluntary. She didn't need me or anyone else.
"When I think about it, no. Not really."
"Then don't worry about it so much, my love. Leiso has been this way for over a thousand years. If it bothered her, she would have changed it by now."
"I'm glad to hear you say that. It helps me remember that I'm not just being selfish because I wanted you around..." I said.
Isabella stopped and placed her hands on my shoulders.
"You're not selfish, Mizik. Don't forget, you're not the only one that wanted me to live. I wanted to live too. That old hag Can try to guilt-trip you as much as she wants, but I'm here to stay! For better or worse, I'll always be with you. Through the good times and the bad. I love you, Mizik. Never forget that," Isabella said with an adoring smile.
I wrapped my arms around Isabella and kissed her.
That's right. This is who I chose to save. I shouldn't feel guilty about it. Leiso will be just fine without me. Besides, we can still be good friends. And to her, that should be enough.
As we kissed, I heard footsteps behind us
We pulled away and looked over to find Michael.
"Oh my! Don't stop on my account, you two lovebirds! But...isn't it bit dirty to be doing that out here?" Michael said with a wide grin.
"It was just a kiss, dammit! You caught us at the worst possible time!" I said angrily.
"Haha! Yeah right! Well, birthday dance aside, your presence is requested. Follow me," he said as he waved us towards him.
Birthday...dance...? What the hell does that mean?
We followed Michael and eventually came to a large tent with a table and chairs inside.
Rune and two other Attendants guarded the entrance and allowed us to pass.
Once we sat down, Iris cleared her throat and began.
"Congratulations, everyone. The Battle of Port Davis has destroyed the largest military port in Nexus as well as the deaths of two Overlords. Including their High Imperial General. This means that if their command structure is in disarray, our campaign against Nexus should go rather smoothly."
"I am prepared to lead my troops wherever they are needed, Lady Iris," Leiso said.
"Good. But first, I need to speak on something. This status magic that Mizik cast...how has it improved your abilities?" Iris asked.
"We had a short time to discuss it with one another during the landing, but I can safely say that my abilities have drastically increased. When I hit level 150, my stats appeared. Although, I still seem to be unable to use magic. Instead, something called 'SP' appeared in its place. I can weave this power into my attacks to increase their strength and area of effect. We have already begun testing this," Leiso explained.
"This status magic is pretty sweet. But I can't seem to purchase most types of skills, for some reason. They all seem to use magic in some way. We can't use magic," Michael said.
"Indeed...the power you Enforcers wield is not classified as magic. It is a divine power separate from it. Since Ignitus is a world devoid of magic, it makes perfect sense," Iris said.
"Hold on. This...SP? It can boost your abilities?" I asked.
I didn't have anything called SP in my status menu. But that was probably because I had MP.
"Yes. It seems to regenerate over time as well. Although it's regen rate is boosted near Iris, it seems," Carlos said.
"That's weird... I'd like to have a look at this, if you don't mind," I said.
Michael happened to be sitting next to me and turned his body to face mine.
I tapped his chest and looked into it.
There really was a resource called SP.
When I looked at it, it seemed to function identically to MP, with the exception that it couldn't be used to cast spells or abilities. It was used solely to increase the power of Enforcer Aspects.
I tried to apply the same principal to my own, but...
{Error: Cannot use SP due to the existence of MP. MP may enhance Enforcer Aspects instead.}
Interesting...
I decided to modify a few things that would ease the flow of energy. SP was incompatible with normal skills so they couldn't even purchase them. It
Sadly, I couldn't fix this. It would mean weaving the ability to use magic directly into their souls and...
That was impossible to do. I didn't have nearly enough power to modify their souls.
Or experience, for that matter. I could break them by trying something that complicated.
Regardless, it seems there was an great increase in all of their physical and divine abilities as a result of the status magic.
I'd be willing to bet that each of them may have been at least twice...even three times stronger than before.
Coupled with the support magic from Isabella, these Enforcers were likely to be unstoppable.
I decided to walk around the room and used the same modifications to everyone's SP as I did for Michael.
After that, I sat down again.
"You people can't use magic at all. It's impossible. I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. Besides, you're all at least two or three times stronger now, right?" I said.
They all nodded.
"I feel more powerful right now than ever. If we were attacked, we could handle ourselves easily," Dante said.
"Then...how should we proceed from here?" Iris asked.
"Tomorrow, we make preparations to begin the campaign of conquering Nexus. In order to prevent unnecessary casualties, we will all attack each town, city, camp, or military installation as a group. They will not be able to stand against all of us. Conquered regions should be safe as they will likely try to push for defending rather than attacking," Leiso explained.
"And why everyone at once? Isn't that overkill?" Gavin asked.
He had a point...
All of our combined powers were potent enough to reach insane levels of combat ability. Deploying more than one or two of us right now would be pretty unnecessary.
"Because if these are truly the final days of the war, I don't want to lose anyone to an ambush. It's better if we move as a unit. Besides...this way, we can easily take down the remaining Overlords with overwhelming force. Lastly, it paints a target on our heads. They'll focus on the seven of us instead of taking back their territory," Leiso said.
"Your prediction relies heavily on the assumption that they won't resort to nuclear arms. They're not above blasting their own land into oblivion, Leiso," Iris said.
"A nuclear blast might not be a problem anymore. I have the utmost faith in Isabella's barriers and Mizik's magic to stop such a thing. Also, we won't be the only ones with eyes on the skies," Leiso said.
"By that, you mean anti-air support and missile defense squads?" Gavin asked.
"Precisely. We won't be alone on the battlefield and our support troops will handle those sorts of things. The idea is that the Enforcers will take full control over offense and the troops will handle some of the defense. Isabella will also help with defense. Lastly, your Aspect of wind will be key in deflecting any nuclear weapons, Gavin," Leiso said.
"Then we have our battle plan. Do we have a route?" Michael asked.
"As much as I would prefer to coil around them like a snake, I am worried about time. The longer this drags on, the more likely they are to resort to nuclear weapons. We will make a path to the capital while occupying cities and towns along the way. Any military installations in between here and Central will also be taken over or destroyed. We will strike forth like a spear and once the Overlords and Novak have been dealt with, we can fully liberate Nexus. Aside from that...I have a plan to deal with the military..." Leiso said.
"How so?" Dante asked.
"Professor Samuel Krane. If he dies, then the mind control modification will be broken on all of the troops in the country. The military will fall apart. And we know exactly where he is thanks to Jallah...provided his facility hasn't changed, of course."
"Excellent idea, Leiso. But, I hope we can be quick about all of this," Iris said.
After that, Leiso turned to Iris and bowed her head.
"Lady Iris, I apologize. The people of Nexus will be liberated, I promise. But they will have to wait just a little bit longer..." Leiso said.
Iris shook her head sadly.
"My heart weeps for them...but you're right, Leiso. We have to win the war before the people can be saved. I understand. So, I need everyone to give it everything they have," Leiso said.
"Fine then..." Dante began.
He stood up and looked st Michael.
"Get serious, Mike. We need the legendary soldier," he said.
Suddenly Michael's slight grin changed to a neutral expression. He placed his arms neatly on the table and sat up straight.
He narrowed his eyes and looked directly at Dante.
"Consider it done, sir. What are my orders?" Michael said in a low tone.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Even Leiso was smiling proudly.
"Get them from Leiso. She has a plan. If we encounter any enemies, kill without hesitation," Dante said.
Michael turned to Leiso.
"If only you could be this way all the time... Regardless, you'll be scouting sector 7-E and the surrounding area. Kill anything that spots you. Give us info about their fortifications. Got it?" Leiso said.
"Yes, ma'am," Michael said.
He stood up as light and darkness shimmered around him then...
Completely disappeared.
The curtain of the tent moved and I could tell an invisible figure had moved outside.
I couldn't believe what I had seen.
Michael was actually an elite soldier like that? It really was true!?
"It always surprises me how useful he is when he's serious," Gavin said. It
"It never gets old, does it?" Jallah said.
"Well now, since we have a plan, we'll wait for Michael. I'll also stay here with Jallah and Rune until he returns. When he gets back, I'll be taking the two of them to Arcadia to focus on defense. Take it from here, Dante," Iris said.
"Everyone get some sleep. I want you well rested by tomorrow. Leiso and I can take turns keeping watch. Mizik, you especially need to get some rest after today," Dante said.
"Yes sir," I said.
After that, we all got up and moved towards our designated sleeping areas.
The Enforcers had their own tents guarded by elite Attendant soldiers.
Isabella held my hand as she swiftly pulled me to our tent. I saw several soldiers looking at me with envy in their eyes.
Once we were in, I was pulled down onto the futon where we would be sleeping and Isabella held me close to her like a body pillow.
"You don't need to be so forceful..." I said.
It wasn't as if I was going to decline being so close to Isabella.
"I know. I just kind of got used to showing affection this way when I had Bravery. Do you not like it?" Isabella asked.
Did I mind it?
Actually...I didn't think I did. It was nice that someone felt so strongly about me that they would resort to such things. Especially since it was my own wife.
"Actually...no. Not really," I admitted.
Isabella hugged me even tighter at that response.
And eventually as we laid there together, we drifted off into sleep.