Chương 219

The man's wild eyes flicked between Orion's lab coat, Dorian's armor, and Luna's wand, clearly trying to figure out who they might be. When he realized what faction they belonged to, he gave a sobbing breath, and his shoulders slumped against the cold rock.

"The Sanctum..." he rasped, his voice raw and broken.

"Thank you for rescuing me, but you're too late. The forest is lost."

"There is still smoke in the distance," Selene said softly, remaining kneeling beside him to keep her posture non-threatening.

"The druids are probably still fighting, and a vanguard of witches is already on its way. It won't take long before they reach the battle." The Sentinel let out a bitter laugh that quickly turned into a wet cough. He reached out, grabbing the lapel of Orion's coat with unexpected strength.

"They won't be enough," he whispered.

"Whatever you think you'll be fighting against, you couldn't have prepared for what will actually await you there. This is an enemy unlike any Cyril has seen." Orion gently but firmly removed the man's hand from his coat, keeping his voice perfectly steady.

"We know they have advanced alchemical knowledge and anti-magic weapons. The vanguard is prepared for anything they might throw at them, given that we've been fighting their infiltrators for some time." The druid looked surprised, and Orion was reminded that the Sentinels remained the most isolated among the major factions.

As far as he knew, Elder Yue had made efforts to share the knowledge they gathered from fighting the Iron State with the High Council, so everyone would be prepared when the enemy finally revealed itself, but it might not have reached the lower rungs of the druid circles yet. Still, that didn't seem enough to convince him.

"That might be all that reached the Sanctum, but what we faced was much worse," he muttered.

"They have machines the size of castles that they use to drive over the trees. Crawling on iron treads that crush the ancient pines, which have stood for millennia like twigs. And worst of all, they are devouring the forest's ambient mana, turning it into poison so we might not even be able to fight back." That is… I shouldn't be surprised.

The impressive level of technical skill they demonstrated would easily let them build such war engines, especially if they are truly so committed to taking over Cyril and have been planning to invade for as long as I think. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do to inform his mother of this new danger. She was probably already close to the fighting, considering how fast she could fly, and to reach a communication orb capable of connecting over such long distances, he would have to return to the Sanctum.

The time that would take alone would be enough to make that intelligence obsolete, as she would have seen it herself.

"But there is something more urgent," the druid said suddenly, as if recalling something.

"Before the chimera found me and I was forced to flee, I was tracking one of their units. My Circle Master gave me the assignment to do so from afar and reach the closest Sanctum outpost to share my knowledge." Not liking where this was headed, Orion urged him to keep going.

"What did you see?"

"They were heading toward the Beaked Peak, carrying a large amount of equipment," he said.

"I think they might be trying to establish a base, or maybe set a trap for you witches." Orion turned to where Pauline was still lurking in the shadows and asked, "What's the significance of the Beaked Peak?" The druid twitched in surprise when she appeared, but Orion couldn't waste time worrying about the man's comfort.

"Not much. It lacks particularly strong monsters, since the Eagle King that once roosted there died a decade ago, and it's too windswept for natural treasures to form. If anything, it's probably because it overlooks most of the range without being guarded by a powerful monster that they choose it." It didn't take Orion's brilliant mind to see the implications of that.

Any machine this unit planned to set up would probably operate from a distance, and if they managed to catch any retreating witch unaware, or even the reinforcements that were surely being prepared back at the Sanctum, it could lead to a disaster.

"How long ago was this?" Pauline asked the druid directly, and this time, there was no mistaking her for anything but a Magistra. Shadows writhed at her feet, and her expression made it clear this had gone far beyond what any of them should handle on their own. Orion gave her a subtle nod to show he was okay with her taking over from here. He would still participate in whatever operation she decided upon, but even he didn't think a mere student should handle all of this.

"A couple of hours, maybe a few minutes less. I lost consciousness for a while, but based on the sun's position, I can tell the chimera started hunting me around midday." Pauline looked up at the sky, pondering the new information.

"The vanguard has already left, but the reinforcements' flight path will take them directly over Beaked Peak soon. If we go back to the Observatory and try to send word back to the Sanctum, it's likely it will already be too late." Orion wasn't so sure. If they dropped everything and headed straight for the Sanctum, they might be able to intercept the army before it reached the Beaked Peak. The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

But then again, that route would take us over some of the highest peaks, and there is a real chance that the monsters living there would take offense at our passing. The safe route back would take too long, and the shorter route was too risky. With that in mind, he understood what Pauline was aiming for and realized he would have made the same choice. Dorian shifted his weight, clearly uneasy with the direction things were going.

"Elder Asteria ordered us not to engage the army and to stick to the mountains."

"We wouldn't be going into the forest," Orion pointed out, even if he knew his mother wouldn't appreciate her rules being challenged.

"The Beaked Peak is well above the tree line and entirely within Sector West-Four. Technically, it is our jurisdiction." His piece said, he looked back at Pauline. He knew the rules, but he also knew that in the field, a Magistra had the final say on operational parameters. She met his gaze steadily, and for a moment, he couldn't read anything in her expression.

Pauline had grown a lot since that day in Valderun when he had won their spar, and if they fought now, he was pretty sure she would kick his ass if he didn't use [Gamma Ray]. Petty tricks wouldn't work on her anymore, and he found that he didn't mind following her into battle again. Sometimes I think I'm above this world's odd logic, and then things like this happen, and I realize I'm just as susceptible to change as everything else.

"The Veil Priestess ordered me to keep you alive," Pauline eventually said, her eyes softening.

"But letting the reinforcements fly into a trap of this magnitude borders on treason. We will have to engage." Orion gave her a significant look, but she raised a hand to prevent him from speaking.

"This operation will be different from the fights we've faced so far. You will follow my commands as if they came from the High Priestess herself, and if I tell you to retreat, you will do so. We've seen what the Iron State is capable of, and if the knowledge gained is worth leaving me behind, you will do it." Though her words were aimed at all four teenagers, Orion knew they were for him alone.

He might have avoided punishment for his actions in the factory, but he hadn't forgotten what it cost to bring Pauline back, and it seemed like she hadn't either. If the factory had been salvaged, how many witches would possess the knowledge necessary to survive the upcoming fight, which they now lacked? That was a question he was trying his best to avoid, but the world didn't seem willing to let him bury his head in the sand. Eventually, he nodded.

Until that moment arrived, he wouldn't know what he would do, but he was determined to prevent it at all costs. The others also expressed their resolve, fully aware of the threat the Iron State posed. Even a small unit, like the one the druid had been tracking, could cause immense damage with the weapons they had, and apparently, what they had encountered so far wasn't even half of it.

Leaving the Sentinel hidden in the cave with a warming charm and a spare ration, the squad flew up the rocky incline, crossed crevices, and went through a valley until the Beaked Peak was revealed in all its glory before them. The mountain itself wasn't the tallest in the range, or even in the top ten, but the lack of high peaks around it gave it a commanding position. The winds that surrounded it meant most people kept their distance, making it very hard to find any sort of outpost hidden in the snow.

Orion's [Atmospheric Centrifuge] proved extremely useful then, allowing them to push through the howling winds, and once they reached the mountain, it didn't take Selene long to figure out the right path. Unnatural gouges in the pristine snow, left only by treaded boots and a sled, confirmed they were on the right track. Soon they came across a rock formation that provided a perfect hiding spot and touched down, aware that the enemy was likely just on the other side.

Orion peered over the edge of the stone, adjusting his warming charm to stop his breath from fogging in the cold air and revealing his position. He only needed a glance to identify their target. Five humanoids wore heavy armor, with dark-gray trench coats draped over brass-accented plating. Their faces were completely hidden by sealed, angular helmets that hissed softly with filtered air, explaining how they were still alive despite not using any active magic.

Four of the soldiers had formed a defensive perimeter, holding long, metallic crossbows that Orion could tell would fire silence-based bullets. The fifth soldier was making adjustments to a massive construct mounted on a heavy tripod in the center of the ridge, and from his lithe build, he was probably not a combat specialist. The artifact was a cluster of pure quartz crystals suspended within a cage of spinning brass rings, all connected to a pressurized tank of liquid Silence.

The primary emitter was aimed directly at the sky, and Orion could immediately tell that it was of a different quality compared to the animated knights he'd fought in the factory. For a moment, he considered not inspecting them. The possibility of being caught was unlikely, considering that the only people to have ever interfered with that process were tier five, but the Iron State was full of tricks he knew nothing about. However, fighting them without knowing what to expect was much riskier.

Malek — Engineer of the Iron State Class: Arcane Mechanist [C-rank] Level: 69 Mind: 431 Attunement: 214 Body: 21 Traits: Circuit Mana Manipulation [C-rank]; Structural Precision [C-rank]; Forging [C-rank] Tanai — Scout of the Iron State Class: Magitek Scout [C-rank] Level: 74 Mind: 42 Attunement: 288 Body: 293 Traits: Circuit Mana Manipulation [C-rank]; Stealth Armament [C-rank]; Magitek Weapon Arts [C-rank] Kurisna — Scout of the Iron State Class: Magitek Scout [C-rank] Level: 76 Mind: 64 Attunement: 328 Body: 267 Traits: Circuit Mana Manipulation [C-rank]; Stealth Armament [C-rank]; Magitek Weapon Arts [C-rank] Atavis — Scout of the Iron State Class: Magitek Scout [C-rank] Level: 71 Mind: 54 Attunement: 214 Body: 312 Traits: Circuit Mana Manipulation [C-rank]; Stealth Armament [C-rank]; Magitek Weapon Arts [C-rank] Neoas — Scout Leader of the Iron State Class: Magitek Knight [C-rank] Level: 98 Mind: 191 Attunement: 514 Body: 631 Traits: Circuit Mana Manipulation [C-rank]; Stealth Armament [C-rank]; Magitek Weapon Arts [C-rank]; Reactive Adaptation [C-rank] That big guy might be a problem.

"They're still priming the array," he whispered to the team crouched beside him. He looked to his left, but Pauline was already gone, having seamlessly melted into the dark crevices of the rocks.

"Our standard formation should suffice," Orion ordered softly.

"Dorian, you are the breakwater. Luna, take out the engineer as soon as Dorian has their attention, and keep hitting him until you're absolutely sure he's dead. Selene, keep the others busy so they don't overwhelm Dorian. I will handle the tallest guy, and I expect Pauline will interfere on our behalf, but don't underestimate their weapons. Those things can probably fire much faster than you can react."