Vol 4.5 Tales from the Magocracy (and Xaela) Chapter 1 — Declaration of War

"This… this can't be… All the Chains are broken… The Seals are undone…"

"Except for mine. Mine is the final one…"

Xaela's body was shaking. A drop of sweat trickled down from her forehead. Her heart was beating rapidly.

In just a single day, two more Chains were broken, leaving only her own. It was only a matter of time until She would try to overload the Observatorium's Godseal. She was pretty sure that was how She freed herself of her Chains. The Chains created a direct connection to Her—a connection she could reverse. With enough mana, she could destroy the device creating the Chain, which would be said Godseal.

This, normally, would not be possible. But, thanks to the draining of the leyline at the Southwest Continent, it was enough to tip the balance in her favor. It broke two Chains in one fell swoop, granting her enough power to start breaking the remaining Chains.

There was still a hole in her theory however. How could she escape the very first Chain? Did she have outside help? Or was it just because of the weakening of the Heavenly Dragon? His existence continued to weaken her severely after all. The weaker He was, the stronger she became.

If only she could know which chain was broken first… Unfortunately, her monitoring device could not give her that information.

Instead, the screens in front of her were beeping her, blaring their alarm into her long ears.

"No! This instability—she's attacking this place too!"

Her hands rapidly flew across the panel in front of her as she desperately tried to maximize the protective wards on her facility. Turn off all monster spawners. Limit dimension number to one. Stop item creation. Turn off all teleporters.

She didn't care it would create chaos amongst the adventurers traversing her dungeon as they were all crammed into one single floor with no monsters and no way out. This was a crisis. The facility needed all the power it could have.

She would not—could not—allow it to fall.

The alarm vanished. All the monitors had returned to their normal state.

Her countermeasures had worked. For now, the attack had stopped.

"It's useless. Give it up."

Xaela gasped. She turned around and saw a figure standing behind her.

"The Chains are lost. There's nothing we can do to stop the Goddess from regaining her full strength."

A figure of a young girl, standing with a staff larger than herself. Her body was made out of bluish, translucent light. A hologram.

Another facility—another World Dungeon—another Administrator—was now contacting her.

"Fauna? You're… you're not—"

"I'm not dead if that's what you're asking." A childlike pitch tinged her youthful voice. "I am just not interested in your messages."

"But why?! It's our duty to—"

"Our duty is to our masters. Our creators. And mine doesn't wish to keep the True Enemy in chains. She only wished to keep the knowledge of the Ancients safe."

"So you released the Chain on your own?!" Xaela yelled, her face filled with fury. "Your facility is still standing, correct? That's why you can speak to me like this!"

"That's true. I did. All to keep my facility safe, as my mistress instructed."

"Even though the True Enemy will come after your knowledge anyway?!"

"...No. My place is a labyrinth of endless depth. Her hands shall never reach its treasure."

"You coward! You just want to hide and—"

"Face the facts! There's no being in this world that can kill the Goddess! Once the Dragon falls, and He will, this world will be ruled by her!"

Xaela roared, her dragon wings and tail bursting out from her robes.

"I suggest you release the Chain. Before this place comes to ruin."

With those words, the girl disappeared.

Xaela panted—sweat covering her entire body.

She fell on her knees—tears brimming in her eyes.

Covering her face with her hands, she began to sob.

What should I do?! Is there—is there really nothing I can do?! Oh, mistress, give me your guidance…

—----

Mira, the capital city of the Magocracy.

A certain air was filling the streets—the air of excitement and fanfare.

For their great leaders, the Council Mages, had an announcement to make.

"Hey, what do you think it's going to be?"

"How should I know?"

"I hope it's something good…"

"Oh, I know! They must be announcing their new member!"

"Damn those Greenwoods! Lady Vera is so cute and adorable! How could they kill her in cold blood?!"

Chatters surrounded the Tower of The Sages. The people had been called there to receive the announcement, right when the sun was straight above their heads.

"There! Look!"

Some of the more eagle-eyed citizens pointed upwards to the tip of the tower.

For there, four figures were sitting, hovering on their flying chairs. They named them the Thrones of The Sages. Really fancy red chairs, decorated quite gaudily with rubies and sapphires. Used exclusively for public appearances such as this, just to awe the populace.

The Four Council Mages. Merlinus Salamander. Selendia Brine. Monas Vehta. Opal Lestat. Fire. Water. Earth. Thunder. There was supposed to be one more, belonging to Ice, but after a certain… tragedy, she could not make it.

They descended from the sky halfway down the tower, allowing their people to see them better, while still looking down at them.

"Greetings, my adorable, loyal citizens!" Selendia waved her hand with a smile. "It’s been a while, hasn’t it, since all of us gathered together like this!”

“Woo! Miss Selendia!”

“Lady Selendia, I love you!”

“Lady Selendia, please marry me!”

It was no secret that Selendia was the most popular amongst the populace. Unlike the others, which were old men and women, she was a beautiful and gorgeous woman. Her flowing blue hair made her look like a goddess and the citizens certainly worshiped her as such, especially those who lived in her territory.

It was all music to her ears. She deserved to be loved and adored without question after all.

“Today, we’re here to announce something big! Something exciting! Something that would change the course of this nation forever!”

"I knew it! They must be announcing their new member!"

"Who is it? Who is it?!"

"It has to be Miss Elun, right? I hear she's been working with the Council right after she graduated from the Academy!'

"I present to you, the Founder of this great nation herself! Our Esteemed and Legendary Archmage, Mira!"

The space above the four chairs distorted, seemingly eating itself in a spiral. Before a loud crack filled the air, followed by light bursting from the center of the spatial distortion.

Revealing a woman in pitch-black dress, floating in mid-air without any chair to lift her up. Her long, luscious silver hair blew on the wind as she looked down at the crowd with a smile on her face.

The crowd burst into confused chatter. Did they hear that right? Did their wise leaders just say that sacred name?

"What? Mira? As in, our Founder and the legendary mage who accompanied the Hero a thousand years ago? But that's a long time ago! There's no way she's still alive!"

"Perhaps you are all confused by my presence." The silver-haired woman spoke. "Rest assured, I am the real Mira, from a thousand years ago. Older, of course, from those adventuring days, but now, here I am! I have returned!"

Once again, the crowd didn't react the way she wanted to. Instead of cheering her, they instead looked at her with suspicion-filled eyes. Some were looking at the Council Mages instead, hoping for their guidance.

"Lady Mira." Merlinus chuckled. "I suggest you show them your magic."

The woman sighed. She didn't want to tire herself out but it seemed she had no other choice.

"Very well! I'll show you all a neat magic trick! Something only the real Mira is capable of!"

She raised both arms up and high and began to chant.

"Oi oi, she's casting a spell? Is she really going to show us an Archmage-level one?"

"N-no way! You know what they say about magic in that level! It can destroy entire continents with a single cast! We'd better run!"

"You idiot! Why should we run? If she's the real Mira, there's no chance she'll destroy her own country!"

"Why wouldn't the Sages say anything?! Why are they just sitting there? Please, Lady Selendia! Say something!"

"There's nothing to be said, you imbecile fools!"

The crowd went silent.

"This is the real Lady Mira! And I will not let you besmirch her name!"

It was Opal Lestat, the Weaver of Thunder. Her voice crackled like the very thunder itself, drowning the noise of the crowd.

"Now stay there and watch her work! And bore her strength into your very own eyes!"

And they did just that. Not wishing to go against her will, all they could do now was watch in silence.

It did not last long.

"That's…"

"That… that can't be real, can it?!"

"Ooh, Lady Mira! Please forgive my ignorance!"

What they saw was the sky slowly turning dark. Not because she took away the sun, but because she had summoned something that completely obscured it from view.

She had called upon an impossibly large rock from outer space. And it was now heading down right at them, burning from its friction with the atmosphere.

“I call this World Extinction Meteor!” Mira declared with a proud, happy smile. “I used this against the Demon Lord’s army one thousand years ago, you know. Left a massive crater on the Demon Continent. Hopefully it’s still around to this day.”

Merlinus burst into a maniacal laugh, his eyes widening in a monstrous, toad-like manner. This was it! This was the magic he yearned for! The supreme, godlike magic that could raze mountains, dry oceans, and change the shape of the world itself!

Selendia, on the other hand, sat with her head resting on her hand, smiling. She was not worried in the slightest. She knew her Lady Mira would not actually let that meteor hit the ground.

As for Monas Vehta, he too was looking up to the sky, admiring the falling rock. Unlike Merlinus, however, the only reaction he had was the small smile in the corner of his lips.

"Y-you're kidding! You-you can't do this!" One of the citizens yelled.

"Oh? You think I can't?" Mira smirked, putting her hands on her waist. "I created this country. I can destroy it if I choose."

"L-Lady Mira! Please, stop! I beg of you!"

"Lady Mira! I'm sorry I've ever doubted you!"

"You're right, Lady Mira! Only the real you can cast magic like this!"

"Then bow!" Merlinus yelled. "Bow and worship her, your new ruler!"

For the citizens, who saw the meteor inching closer and closer, growing larger and larger at every second that passed—there was only one option.

One by one, they knelt down, lowering their heads until they touched the streets they were standing on.

Seeing this, Mira smiled.

She looked upwards towards the meteor and began chanting once more.

Space began to twist once more, only this time, the twist was much larger, and it was centered right at where the meteor was falling.

And then, it opened.

A Black Hole.

It began eating away at the meteor, growing in size as it did. Its pitch black hole swallowed everything, even the air and light surrounding it. The giant rock never stood a chance as it was shredded into infinitesimally small molecules entering its horizon.

When it finished, not a single bit managed to actually land on the city. The mountain-sized bringer of destruction was eaten by the now mountain-sized black hole.

“It’s… it’s gone!”

“Another one of her great magic! I’ve never seen anything like it before!”

“Oh, Lady Mira! Thank you! Thank you for your grace and mercy!”

The black hole, exhausting the mana supply Mira had given to it, promptly disappeared, restoring back the ordinary blue sky the people of the capital were all used to.

Slowly, Mira floated down, stopping just several feet from where the people were supplicating to her.

“As the new ruler of this nation, here is my first decree. Raise your heads and listen well, my dear populace!”

One by one, they began to look up.

Seeing her up close like this, it was like seeing a goddess who had descended from the skies.

“It is time for our wonderful nation to share its prosperity to the rest of the world! Unfortunately, the outside world is not so kind to us mages. They scorn us for our strength! For our power! As such, they must be liberated! Purged from their arrogance and blindness!”

“From this day onward, I declare war on the world itself!”

—-----------

The Magocracy moved swiftly. The night Mira made her declaration, the first regiment of troops entered the territories of its three closest neighbors—The Kingdom of Aresha, The Kingdom of Marchen, and the Land of Hobbiton—Aresha to its northwest, Marchen to its southwest, and Hobbiton to its south.

The troops, however, were not made out of flesh and bone. Instead, they were crystal golems, created by Monas Vehta and his researchers. The special kind—far sturdier than ordinary golems and far more mobile as well. Their speed limit was around the speed of a horse, while their usual brethren, like those forged by Amereria, could only walk at around human speed.

It was the fruit of his years-long research. The golems used to be people before he injected them with a certain type of viral mana, warping their bodies at the very most fundamental level, forcing them to grow crystals after crystals on their skins, until they eventually became fully crystal.

It was indeed the very same plague that murdered a certain redhead’s entire family.

Originally, he created it only to grow mana crystals out of living beings. He first tried it on all sorts of animals, from rats to cats to dogs to horses, but he eventually settled on humans. The mana crystals a human could produce are far better than the crystals from an animal, quality-wise and quantity-wise. Using the knowledge of leylines, he injected the mana the region around his territory with a special “viral” mana. It was created synthetically, using the most top secret alchemical processes no other alchemists could reproduce. And since he was a Grandmaster-level Earth mage, he could easily dig far deep into the earth, injecting said mana, which was first absorbed by his spell since it originally came in liquid form, into the network. It ran in a similar principle to mana potions, which contained raw mana that could invigorate a mage’s reserve much easily once it was absorbed and converted from its liquid form by the stomach.

But now, after around ten more years of research, he could use it to create a golem army instead. The mana crystals the virus produced would be designed for toughness instead of extraction. And it would render the mind of the infected to be stupid and gullible, easily manipulated with just some simple hypnotic magic.

He was proud of his creation. And now, at last, he had a chance to test them out in combat.

To do that, however, he still needed actual flesh and blood humans on the ground—to see how they performed in battle and to take note if anything were to go wrong.

And so, the three generals of the three golem armies that night were of his own blood. The one to the northwest was his first daughter, Celica Vehta. The one to the southwest was his first son, Locht Vehta. And the one to the south was Mimir Vehta, his second daughter. Each of them were golem researchers like him and so they would know what to look out for.

He had great expectations of them. And he was sure they would not disappoint.

—--------

Day 1 Of The Invasion

Kingdom of Marchen

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! The Magocracy—they’re—they’re invading!”

A soldier ran into the throne room, ignoring all rules of decorum and propriety. He was out of breath and his helmet was displaced to the side. He knelt in front of the king and immediately told him everything, before the monarch could say a word.

“The border has been breached! It’s only a matter of time until Aarom falls!”

The king, realizing what this meant, turned extremely pale, making him almost look like a zombie.

He demanded Glinda’s presence at once. She was always gone when he needed her!

His worst fear had come to pass. His only hope now was his court mage. Perhaps, with her magic and cleverness, she could somehow figure out a way out of this?

If not, well, he would just have to surrender. There was no way they could win against the full might of the Magocracy! Better to live in shame than to have one’s head on a pike! That’s his philosophy in life!

And, if he had to guess, the dukes and earls who sucked up to him every day would agree as well.

—----

Day 1 Of The Invasion

Kingdom of Aresha

Located northwest of the Magocracy, the Kingdom of Aresha was a kingdom located in the middle of a thick jungle. An isolationist nation, it didn't have many contacts with the outside world. It prided itself on its self-sufficiency and its freedom, not bound by the machinations of other nations.

Another noteworthy point about the kingdom was that It had its own religion. They worshiped this so-called Divine Beast as their god. Heretical in the eyes of the Church, of course, but luckily for them, they were too far away for the close-minded organization to send their inquisitors to.

It always eyed its neighbors with suspicion. Especially the Magocracy. They had a strong distrust against outsider magic, trusting instead on the local magic of their shamans. Of course, unbeknownst to them, magic is magic, and there really was no significant distinction between their magic and the magic the rest of the world had.

And today, it was proven right to do so.

"You… I knew we couldn't trust you lot…"

The warrior coughed blood. His lungs had been crushed by a golem's clean punch. His ribs were practically decimated as well. Even if he had worn armor to protect his bare chest, it wouldn’t have saved him from the blow.

His kingdom had erected a wooden wall just a few farna from the entrance to the jungle. And said wall was now in ruins, destroyed without mercy by the golem army.

A witch dressed in black stood in front of him, a smile adorning her face.

Celica Vehta. The firstborn daughter of Monas Vehta.

"Trust? We don't need your trust. Why would a human need the trust of an ant?"

The yellow-eyed woman was dressed in a traditional witch outfit, with a black witch hat and black dress. The dress generously exposed her sizable bosom and the fact that she wasn’t wearing any bra underneath. She carried with her a wooden staff as tall as herself and she was sitting on top of the largest, strongest golem she had.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/73/09/d0/7309d0de02554713daabd68eb3f3388a.jpg

"Lord Balgor will get ya'” He wheezed, which was supposed to be a laugh. “He… and the Divine Beast will… Guahhhh!"

Tired of his chatter, the woman pierced his heart with a spear, created by hardening and multiplying the iron in his very own blood.

The Divine Beast, hmm? Would be nice if it's actually a real thing and not just a made-up god these backwards people invented.

Well, enough dallying. Time to go.

When I'm done, these people will bend the knee to me, the Witch of Iron.

—------

Day 1 Of The Invasion

Hobbiton

Unlike the other two armies, Mimir’s army didn’t find any significant resistance when they crossed the border. And that was only to be expected. The hobbits didn’t have a standing army. They didn’t bother to guard their borders either. As such, her father only gave her 100 golems to play with.

Hmph, it’s not fair! Big Brother and Sister always get to have the fun ones! I’m stuck out here in the boonies and I didn’t even get a welcoming party!

The pink-haired girl huffed as she sat on the shoulder of her golem. Like her older sister, she too was dressed in a witch outfit, only, hers was somewhat less traditional.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c8/b0/25/c8b0259ff3d13f6ff87e3d6803942cbd.jpg

Now where in the heck is the nearest hobbit town? It must be around here somewhere…

Her eyes scanned the wasteland around her. Nothing. Not even a sign of greenery.

Oh for the love of… Did I get lost?

—------

Day 1 Of The Invasion

Northeast of the Magocracy, at the port town of Tulpio

“Hey, what’s the meaning of this? What do you mean we can’t cross? We’ve paid for our tickets, you know!”

Inside the city, a commotion was currently ongoing. A massive crowd had gathered in front of the gate to the docks, demanding for the guards there to let them in. Without warning, the docks were closed overnight, forbidding any civilians from entering, let alone taking their ships.

“I’m sorry, but currently, all travels to the Holy Continent are forbidden by the Council. If you wish for refunds, then our office at Maple Street would be able to—”

“My poor melons will rot! Do you think you can compensate me for that?! Huh?!”

The news of the country’s declaration of war had yet to reach the town so none of them knew the reason why they couldn’t embark on their ships. If they had known, well, they would’ve been less angry and more panicked, most likely. Most of them were either adventurers or merchants—types of people who really wouldn’t want to be caught in the middle of a war.

“Alright, you all! Disband! You guys are troubling the poor guards!”

The crowd looked upwards to where the voice was coming from.

And saw a blue-haired girl sitting on top of a giant bubble.

"Shoo! Go away! I don't want to see your faces!"

Yet another wearer of witch attire—a popular fashion amongst the female mages of the Magocracy—the girl sat there with a smile on her face.

She, of course, was none other than Elunmidis Brine, the only daughter of Selendia Brine, a Council member. Only some of the crowds recognized her face however as most were foreigners who were unfamiliar with the Council and their families.

“I’m not going away without a proper compensation!” The melon merchant yelled. “I’m late as it is and if my ship can’t depart today, I won’t reach Frastelleren in time to sell my merchandise! They’ll rot here and I’ll be ruined! Ruined, I tell you!”

“Oh, really?” She smirked. “Well, that’s unfortunate.”

“Unfortunate?! It’s not just ‘unfortunate’, you panty-flashing who—”

The pudgy man never got to finish his sentence.

In a speed that defied belief, she fired a single bubble to his direction. And the moment it made contact, it exploded, destroying his head into bits in an instant.

“Anybody else?” Her expression had turned grave. “I’m fine with you looking up my skirt from down there but calling me a whore—who do you think you’re speaking to?! I can kill you all where you stand without wasting a single breath! And I will if you all don’t disperse right now!”

The crowd screamed, running as fast as their legs could carry away from the scene. Even the battle-hardened adventurers did the same, knowing that whoever she was, she was well out of their league to handle.

Elun’s smirk returned once they were gone.

Finally, some peace and quiet.

Now, to rev up the defenses. I must not fail Mother.

She knew about the war. And she knew what that meant for her family. As water mages, they would be in charge of the Magocracy’s naval defenses. As they had no plans in attacking the Empire now, they would have to make sure their ships couldn’t cross the ocean and land on their shores. No doubt the Empire would try to attack once the news of their war reached their shores. As such, it was also imperative that they delayed the information from reaching them for as long as she could.

At last, she had a chance to redeem herself. For that failure with that brat Hugo.

If she saw him again, she would not lose.

She was far stronger now after all. After her special training with her mother.

And if she would have to fight against one of the Imperial Knights, it would be even better. If she could crush at least one of them then perhaps the Council would consider giving that ice hag territory to her.

Side by side with her mother on the Council, it had been her dream for a long, long time.