The fury of steel, its pride broken, pierces the world.
“Damn it, damn it all!!”
Within the fortress of the Metallum Empire, Emperor Oruma roared.
“What in the blazes is going on! Where in the world did a dragon like that come from!!”
His retainers looked at one another, gauging the mood.
Belkar quietly began to speak.
“Judging by its appearance, that dragon undoubtedly came from Silva. Its entire body was covered in wood and leaves.”
“Silva…….”
Oruma’s eyes flashed.
“That dragon—what in the world is its intention in helping Ignis?”
Seated upon his metal throne, he clenched his fist. His forearm pressed down on the iron armrest and crushed it out of shape.
No one could answer him.
On the Silva Empire’s side, they judged that the Azure Dragon Nemorensis had acted to repay a debt it owed Ignis.
Of course, that too was nothing more than their own conjecture, and there was no way Metallum would know of the relationship between Ignis and Silva.
Even the shouts of the soldiers and the vibrations of the machinery could not soothe him now.
Defeat on the battlefield.
The summoning of the White Dragon Aureus, which they had prepared for so long, and the all-out offensive of Metallum’s forces launched alongside it.
They had expected at last to be able to completely occupy the Ignis Empire, but that expectation had gone up in smoke with the sudden appearance of Silva’s Nemorensis.
Oruma spoke again in a low voice.
“No matter how much I think about it, I cannot understand. Silva interfering in a war between us and those Ignis bastards was never in our calculations. Why are they meddling in our affairs?”
The retainers standing around him could not meet his eyes.
Peron answered cautiously.
“But dragons are, by nature…… beings that do not obey anyone’s commands. Likewise, Silva’s dragon likely could not be controlled by Silva either. That is why it is all the more incomprehensible to us as well, but…….”
“Mm…….”
Oruma rose from his throne.
His footsteps rang against the floor made of iron.
Lost in thought, he spoke as if muttering to himself.
“I suppose so. Aureus did not move according to my commands either. But at the very least, we could predict where it would move. Did we not all expect vengeance against Ignis? Yet what purpose did those Silva bastards have in summoning a dragon to begin with? Like those Ignis bastards did last time, were they planning to take advantage of our attack on Ignis and invade us?”
Agnon answered Oruma.
“That is also highly unlikely. For Silva to attack us, they would have to pass through Terra first. And because Terra is fundamentally incompatible with Silva, they would not permit Silva’s approach. In my opinion…… perhaps it is because it is advantageous to them for Ignis to remain alive.”
Belkar and Peron also looked at him.
Oruma said,
“You mean the Silva bastards need Ignis as a force to keep us in check?”
“Th-that is what I think. From Silva’s standpoint, Ignis is akin to a comrade. In fact, they are in a mutually beneficial relationship.”
Belkar asked him,
“But is Silva not allied with Aqua? Even so, they extended a hand to Ignis?”
“As you know, Silva’s dragon helping Ignis was not something they intended. To be precise, it would be more accurate to see it as the will of Silva’s dragon, not Silva’s will. Silva likely summoned the dragon for some other purpose of their own, but there is a possibility that the dragon acted differently from what they had in mind…….”
“Enough. There is no need to say more.”
Oruma spat the words as though in frustration.
“There is surprisingly little to analyze about this battle. An uninvited guest barged in, and we were forced to withdraw in vain. If not for Silva, we would have successfully occupied Ignis…….”
His tone grew somewhat calmer.
“In other words, there was, in truth, nothing wrong with Aureus or with our operation. If there was one problem, it was that we overlooked the possibility of a third force like Silva intervening. We were by no means weak.”
A silence passed once through the interior of the fortress.
After a moment, Agnon spoke.
“It seems that what we must worry about now is Ignis’s counterattack. Ignis will never let this pass. They will prepare vengeance with a force far greater than anything before. From now on, it is our turn to consider defense.”
Oruma silently looked outside the fortress.
The steel zone spread out around the fortress of Oruca, capital of the Metallum Empire.
However, its condition was not perfect.
Due to the Ignis Empire’s repeated invasions, traces of steel plates scorched, melted, and warped remained here and there.
“There is no helping it. We must tighten again. Ourselves…….”
Oruma’s eyes shone once more.
“And…… we must find another way. A way to create an empire of steel that will not budge no matter what those Ignis bastards do.”
The Metallum Empire once again began to move, busy and clamorous.
Defeat in war had shaken the entire empire for a time, but instead, it became Metallum’s most powerful driving force.
“Training of the 1st Steel Knight Order complete!”
“Production of three Siege Colossi complete!”
In the barracks, new metal soldiers were produced to replace those who had been sacrificed.
They, too, could not resummon Aureus immediately.
Time was needed to call Aureus again, and in the meantime, they had to prepare forces to protect the empire.
“Golden core fusion complete. Twenty-five produced so far. Total in possession: forty-seven…….”
At the fusion facilities around the fortress, researchers were also moving busily.
Though the occupation of Ignis had ended in failure, Metallum had acquired a large quantity of fire cores in the process.
As Oruma looked around the interior of the fusion facility, he asked Peron,
“What is the current state of the cores we possess?”
Peron reported beside him.
“First, we have over one hundred metal cores, most of which are currently being consumed in training soldiers and producing Siege Colossi. We have also confirmed sixteen crystal cores, thirty-seven iron ore cores, and thirty-one bronze cores. Lastly, we have forty-seven golden cores, but as you can see, fusion is still ongoing. If we expend all of Ignis’s cores, the number is expected to approach eighty.”
After a moment, Peron added,
“There are also cores from other empires that have not yet been fused, but those amount to only small quantities of fewer than ten each.”
Oruma thought for a short while, then asked,
“Have we ever attempted to fuse cores from other empires with one another?”
Researcher Keldren answered in his stead.
“That has been confirmed to be impossible. Fusion is only possible when our metal core is fused with another core.”
Peron also nodded.
“Even if it were possible, we would not be able to use that core. It would contain no aura of steel.”
Oruma said,
“Then we have no choice but to use all the remaining cores for fusion as well. Thanks to Aureus, we will be able to produce a great deal of gold, but there is no need to immediately produce golden soldiers. We shall go no further than keeping the golden cores in our possession.”
Oruma’s statement likely stemmed from his judgment that golden soldiers did not actually provide much help on the battlefield.
They were golden in name only, and the power of fire contained within them threatened metal instead.
However, gold was also the ultimate metal that Metallum had so long desired to possess.
“Is there perhaps…… a way to use the golden cores for some other purpose?”
Peron asked Oruma carefully.
He answered,
“It is still unclear. But that does not mean we can allow noble gold to go to waste, does it? Since it is the gold we have all wished to possess, we need a way to provide it to us all.”
This was a problem not only Oruma, but Peron and the other retainers as well, had to contemplate.
Metallum, and of course the other empires as well, had only used the two-attribute cores they each possessed to produce new types of troops or construct defensive walls.
But could that truly be the only function of two-attribute cores?
Peron said,
“We will investigate it. First, I would like to increase the quantity of other two-attribute cores as well, but at present, I question whether that will be possible.”
“We will go upstairs and discuss that further.”
When Oruma turned his steps toward the fusion facility’s exit, Peron followed him out.
Oruma and his retainers gathered in the conference room.
Oruma said,
“Although Ignis survived by luck, they will need a considerable amount of time before they can prepare a counterattack against us. In the meantime, I wish to secure more two-attribute cores. Is there any method?”
They were all looking down at the map atop the metal table.
Agnon examined the surroundings and answered,
“It seems to be a difficult situation. Aqua still maintains relations with Silva, and with us having severed ties with Terra first, asking them for an alliance again would hardly preserve our dignity. Silva is far away, and we have no choice but to attack Ignis whenever we are prepared, but the risk would be quite high.”
Oruma spoke firmly.
“That cannot be the only answer. We must find the answer ourselves. To find that answer, we must go outside. To places in this world where no one has yet set foot.”
Belkar then said,
“I agree. Perhaps we may discover the secrets of this world. And if, in the process, we expand our territory, we may be able to produce far more metal cores as well.”
Peron silently nodded.
Agnon added a word as well.
“In that case, I will gather the army and advance in a new direction.”
Oruma rose from his seat.
“Good. Do so. Turn the present situation into an opportunity. For the time being, there will be no invasion from Ignis. In the meantime, we will advance toward the wider world.”
Not long afterward, Agnon and Commander Karden led the Steel Knight Order and two Siege Colossi beyond Metallum’s territory.
The place they were heading was northeast of Metallum’s fortress, in a direction that brought them closer to both the Aqua Empire and the Terra Empire.
Agnon said,
“If my memory serves, when we went to find Aqua in the past, we encountered a volcanic zone. But that place was not Ignis territory. It was a strange region where Ignis did not exist, yet only the aura of fire did.”
Karden asked him,
“Why does such a place exist? Is it a naturally formed region of fire?”
“I do not know. My guess is that even Ignis itself is unaware of that place’s existence. If so, it would mean that such energies existed in this world even before we and the other empires were born.”
Before long, something entered their field of vision.
“Wait. Halt.”
Karden raised his hand and spoke.
Before Agnon and Karden lay a lake.
“Is it Aqua?”
“But I see no sign of them……. Then could it be……?”
They and the army approached the lake.
The lake was not connected to Aqua’s deep sea.
“A lake without an owner.”
“So such places really do exist. A place where only the aura of water exists…….”
Agnon said,
“This may be a meaningful discovery. Let us report it to His Majesty Oruma.”
“Understood.”
Metallum’s army remained near the mysterious lake.
Soon, Oruma was also scheduled to arrive there.