***The city of Montserrant…***
At that stage of the conflict, Seirna knew that the Crusade of Montserrant had reached a 'stalemate.'
"…"
While the Cole Miners and their allies were successful in fending off attacks by the Church and their supporters—and even conduct a couple of devastating raids on Hemelin, it was obvious that they would need to launch a 'ground invasion' of the holy city to force the Golden Hammer to the peace table. However, the zealousness of the dwarves for their faith didn't exceed their desire to remain in their home cities, content of watching the spectacular air battles above them.
Likewise, the relative 'silence' of their enemies was taken by Seirna as a sign that her strategy of returning to Hemelin was a success. For her, returning another time in the enemy's lair sent the message of 'we could strike at will,' and that was enough to intimidate them to preserve their forces.
Nevertheless, the Overseer Saint was aware of the power and influence of the Church of the Golden Hammer, which greatly overwhelmed the clout held by the Cole Miners' Guild. And in a war of attrition, the smaller 'side' was always in the danger of succumbing before a more powerful enemy the longer the fight dragged on.
And she doesn't want that to happen…
However, with limited people, she couldn't organize an army formidable enough to march to Hemelin. Transports were of no issue, as she could always teleport those warriors straight into the middle of the dwarf holy city, and Chersea could answer for the dwarves' logistics with their industries. At that moment, Seirna begrudgingly acknowledged the organization skills of the otherworlder; she was witness to the times Kuro built armies from scratch, with effective tactics, and on record time.
"!!!" Seirna noticed that someone was at the door of her room in Montserrant. She waited for the person to knock, before giving them permission to enter. At once, the Queen Paula bowed when she opened the door. The Overseer Saint, though she knew what was in the guild queen's mind, still asked, "Is there anything you need from me?"
"Your Holiness," Paula paused for a moment to collect her thoughts, before continuing. Her face had an anxious expression to it. "I believe you need to see this."
"Is that about the cloud cover that finally dissipated?"
The guild queen was surprised at Seirna's answer. Still, she continued like normal when she remembered that the Saints could read everyone's thoughts. "Yes, and I'll fly with our scouts to see what's going on."
"Why are you scared?" the Overseer Saint pointed to her feelings, hidden deep in her heart. "You really believe in those things about buried dwarves and sleeping giants?"
"I can't help it, Your Holiness," Paula replied. "My people and I committed a grave sin to you and the god you serve. It's only proper that we receive punishment for our transgressions, yet, here we are."
Seirna said nothing to that. With the cloud cover gone, all her memories concerning the acclamation of the Dwarf Saint, the Lady Helgath, returned to her. And she knew the reasons behind those events; the death of the Lady Basuji, and the 'final act' of the Lady Helgath killing her people. It was why she appeared there, just as the latter realized the gravity of what she had done…
"The Seductress…" she muttered under her breath.
"Hm? Your Holiness, did you say something?" the guild queen certainly heard her, but as Paula did not know about the creature from the Void, her words made no sense to her.
Seirna shook her head, and reassured her ally. "Nothing. I just remembered an old acquaintance. As for your transgressions, the Lord Kuro will decide on that. But I know him; he is merciful…even gentle to a fault. I'm sure he will understand your circumstances."
Having received kind words, Queen Paula's fears were allayed. She bowed once more to the holy lady, before informing her that she would scout the 'land at the foot of the mountains.' Seirna replied that she would follow them a bit later, and that she put the entire miners' guild on alert in case something happened.
----------
Once she was alone, however, the Overseer Saint looked at a nearby calendar.
"…"
It had been five days since Kuro's group went to Hemelin, and she received no messages from them, nor from any of Lady Martelle's 'people' in Temun. Still, the dissipation of the fog cover meant that the Dwarf Saint had awakened, and used her god-powers to reveal the land they hid from everyone long in the past. A proof that the otherworlder succeeded in their goals. Seirna could only smile…
With that, only the god-power within her remained, and Kuro will become the god he should be.
"…"
But Seirna knew the otherworlder's acclamation as Chersea's deity after the Lord Gaius was just a start. Kuro had a lot of problems he needs to deal with, especially in this place, where widespread disdain for anything that was related to the heavens was encouraged. In fact, everything in this land was incorrect. For one, the dwarves were the rightful heirs of Cherhom, yet they were fooled and used by the Seductress—as the Lady Arame back then—to sow discord among the dwarves and giants. And the giants…those creatures she 'created' to become her 'followers,' turned out to be the greatest supporters of the Lord Gaius. The result? Their 'sick' relationship where the former became food and pets for the latter.
And it didn't help that it happened in the aftermath of the 11th Human-Demon War, when the Lord Gaius stepped down from his heavenly responsibilities, and Cassandra David declined to be his successor. Everything was so chaotic back then that she was only able to come to Cherhom after the Lady Helgath already destroyed her people, and all worked to the benefit of the Seductress.
Now that she remembers it, that must also be the moment the Seductress got the idea of 'leaving' a 'conduit' to influence events to favor her return. Hence, she 'created' the Lady Madelaine, and 'inserted' her in the timeline of Chersea; the Lady Helgath is a descendant of her original 'conduit,' that guy named Hanno.
"…"
Good thing the Seductress' inexperience caused the giants to become 'imperfect conduits' for her, and they ended up worshipping the Lord Gaius instead of her. She did put her 'improvements' on the Lady Madelaine, however.
"…"
Seirna sighed. With all the events and issues surrounding the Seductress, the Lady Madelaine, and Equality making 'sense' to her, the 'ball' was now in her hands to hammer the final 'nail' in that Void creature's coffin.
----------
***The outskirts of Montserrant…***
With the skies effectively devoid of any clouds, the Cole Miner Guild scout planes went around the lush temperate jungles of Equality. Led by their guild queen, they paid particular attention to the huge stone ruins nearby, for the other miners suspected they would find valuable stuff in those structures.
"…"
As they circled the place, the miners did spot some areas where they think something could be salvaged to sell or use in their war effort. However, as they found no clearing in which to land their planes, they had to content themselves marking those spots on their maps. The skies were clear, anyway; and one could see the other dwarf cities from several kilometers away Montserrant.
Even an armada of airships and fighter planes will not be hidden from their sights.
"…"
Wait, there really is an armada of airship heading to Montserrant!
Alerted by an incoming enemy force, the scouts signaled for their comrades to return to the city. But, while on their way back, they came across another squad of scouts hurrying into the Montserrant.
'Another fleet of airships and planes spotted to the north!' was the message sent by the scout leader of the other group.
At the same time, the air raid sirens began blaring throughout the city. With it, the fighter squadrons scrambled, and from where she was, Queen Paula could see the militia rushing back to their firing positions. This time, however, the civilians followed the city officials' requests for them to head underground. Their experience from prior dogfights made them realize that watching an aerial battle was as dangerous as ground invasions.
While the miner queen was taxiing her plane to rearm (she took off without bullets because it was supposedly a 'scouting' mission), the Overseer Saint—armed and ready for battle—appeared at her hangar.
"Your Holiness!" she exclaimed. "You're joining us again?"
"Yes," the anxious expression on Seirna's face was clear. "We're being attacked from all sides this time. I guess, whoever was giving orders in Hemelin finally realized they have to coordinate their offensives to finish us. But they will not win as long as I and the Lord Kuro are with you."
"Yes! I believe in you and the Lord Kuro, Your Holiness!" Paula reiterated.
"Careful though, miner queen!" the Overseer Saint told her. "While victory for our forces is inevitable, there is still the danger of you getting full of yourself and lowering your guard. Don't die on me; my god will surely reward you for your efforts."