An unexpected current.
Yet that current would soon be led by steel.
Oruka, the capital of the Metalum Empire.
A silence had settled over the cold iron streets, as though even their luster had faded.
“……So in the end, we retreated again.”
“This makes no sense. We even had Aureus on our side. How could we fail to beat them?”
The Metalum army had seized the perfect opportunity to occupy the Ignis Empire, only for the White Dragon Aureus to fall due to the sudden intervention of the Azure Dragon Nemorensis. After that, as if it had all been a lie, they were swept away by flames.
Countless citizens of Metalum, who were usually busy tempering and training without rest, had lately begun standing around blankly more and more often.
Their disappointment was as great as their expectations had been, and after hearing the ill news, they had lost their drive.
“Why did Silva’s dragon have to help those Ignis bastards right then? No, in the first place, why did Silva summon a dragon? Did they summon it for this?”
“Why would Silva do that? It wasn’t even their affair.”
“It’s beyond anything we can understand by our calculations. It’s utterly impossible to predict.”
A small-built steel assembler asked,
“What did His Majesty the Emperor say? What will he do from now on?”
“Well, it’ll take some time to summon Aureus again. Until then, I’d imagine he’ll focus as much as possible on defense.”
One citizen stared into the air for a moment, then said,
“The Ignis bastards were just lucky enough to barely survive when they were on the verge of ruin. That means that even if they do counterattack us, they won’t be able to come right away. Honestly, they probably don’t have a single place intact even now. They’ll be busy enough just rebuilding their own land, won’t they?”
“Really? Then if we invade again now, could we succeed this time?”
“The problem is that our side also suffered heavy losses, so it seems we don’t have enough troops to invade. You think it was easy for us? We launched an all-out offensive, but naturally, the Ignis bastards must have defended desperately too. This wasn’t our loss. It was a draw. A result where no one won and no one lost, and both sides suffered great damage……”
The citizen trailed off and left.
The remaining citizens began murmuring among themselves again.
“Next time, we’ll have to prepare on an even larger scale. But do we have anything stronger than Aureus?”
“Hmm, who knows? Isn’t he the final troop type? And I heard even Aureus wasn’t something we assembled ourselves, but a legendary being summoned into this world.”
One citizen thought for a moment, then said,
“If we summoned the ultimate weapon with crystal cores, what would come out? What about iron ore cores?”
At those words, silence fell among them.
Another citizen picked up the conversation.
“With crystal, there are crystal infantry and crystal archers. With iron ore, armored infantry. We still haven’t produced a fourth-tier troop type from any core. But if we really can summon fifth-tier troop types with those cores too, then what on earth would appear?”
One of them looked toward the northeast, where Aqua was located.
“The crystal core would advance if Aqua’s core fell into our hands again. Unfortunately, Aqua is still maintaining relations with Silva. No matter how much we appeal that we have no interest in the likes of Silva, Aqua won’t accept us as allies.”
“Tch, we don’t need it. We have to proceed in our own way.”
That citizen asked the one who had just spoken,
“I’m just asking, but what way are you talking about? Invading and taking their core?”
“Hmm, I suppose that could be called a way. We have iron ore cores too, don’t we? Aqua is weak against Terra.”
The assembler raised his hand again to stop them.
“Let’s not be too swayed by emotion. Aqua may reject us, but they aren’t attacking us, are they? We need to be wiser.”
The citizens glared at the assembler with narrowed eyes, but they could not really refute him.
One citizen asked him,
“Fine, Mister Assembler. I’m curious what you think.”
The assembler answered,
“We did gain something as well. The cores of Ignis. Through this war, we were able to secure a large quantity of gold cores.”
“Gold cores…… The name itself sounds good. The problem is how we’re supposed to use them, isn’t it? They’re called gold, but they contain the energy of fire, so they aren’t easy to handle.”
The assembler paused for a moment, but soon spoke in a confident tone.
“Until now, we have used dual-attribute cores to produce soldiers. But cores must not have been made solely for attacking. It is something we all need to consider. For now, please trust us. Before long, we will modify them so they can live up to the name of gold.”
The assembler bowed his head once, then left.
The citizens silently watched his back.
Beyond the plaza, from inside the barracks, the mechanical sounds of soldiers training continued without cease.
But the citizens’ steps were heavy, and their speech was cautious.
They knew.
Until the next flame rose, this was a time of pause.
And for that very reason, they had to forget the past and move again.
And behind that stillness, Emperor Oruma was gazing toward a new direction.
Some time later, Belkar approached Oruma, who sat upon the throne.
“Your Majesty, our army reports that they have discovered an ownerless lake to the northeast.”
“A lake?”
Oruma’s eyes flashed briefly.
“If it’s to the northeast, isn’t that where Aqua is? Then wouldn’t that place also be Aqua’s land?”
“They say it does not seem so. The energy of water is condensed there, but no sign of Aqua can be seen. They also reported that it is located quite far from Aqua’s sea.”
Oruma stroked his chin.
“A lake exists in a place Aqua has not yet reached, you say. An interesting discovery.”
He rose from the throne.
“Very well. Guide me to that lake. I will confirm it myself.”
Oruma, Belkar, Peron, and Kraso moved beyond their territory with a small force.
The earth trembled beneath the two massive siege colossi and the Steel Knights.
Belkar asked Oruma,
“Is there perhaps something we can obtain from that lake?”
Oruma answered in a low voice,
“I cannot be certain for now. But if we occupy that region first, it will be useful someday.”
After some time passed, Oruma’s party sensed a damp energy.
Belkar shouted,
“Your Majesty! The density of the energy is increasing. The water-attribute reaction is clear.”
“It seems we have nearly arrived.”
Soon, they spotted the advance party ahead.
Agnon and Karden approached Oruma’s party.
Agnon bowed his head before Oruma.
“Your Majesty, you have arrived safely. This is the lake region we discovered. The energy of water exists here, but no Aqua forces are in sight.”
“Understood.”
Oruma looked at the lake.
It was a wide yet quiet lake, its surface calm.
“This brings back old memories. We have already discovered similar regions several times before. If we walk northwest from this point, there is probably a volcano. We discovered it by chance on the path toward Aqua. Naturally, the Ignis bastards could not have advanced that far, so no sign of them could be seen at that volcano either.”
Oruma then looked east and continued,
“There was also a region we encountered during the war with Silva. It was located between Terra and Silva. At the time, we were defending the center together with Terra, but in certain places, our strength increased and theirs weakened. It was a place called the Rocky Ridge, where the energy of earth was strong. Of course, it was favorable terrain for Terra, but earth also aids steel, so it was advantageous to us as well. Meanwhile, Aqua and Silva, who were incompatible with earth, could not properly exert their strength and had to retreat. That place had never been preemptively occupied by Terra. Since they had no reason to advance eastward, where Silva was located, even they apparently did not know that the Rocky Ridge existed nearby.”
Peron asked him,
“They are indeed mysterious places. Then could this lake also be a place Aqua does not know about?”
“There is a high possibility. Or, going further, it may be a domain that originally existed long before any of us founded our empires.”
The retainers glanced at one another nervously.
Then Oruma ordered his retainers,
“In any case, we will take this region. Build defensive walls around this area. Fortunately, because it is a lake with the energy of water, the Ignis bastards will not be able to approach, but there will be other forces coveting it besides us, so be wary of them as well.”
“We shall obey.”
Kraso moved quickly.
While Kraso and the steel assemblers built the defensive walls, Oruma looked down at the calm surface of the lake.
Below the deep water, there was almost no light, making it appear black, and it was as motionless as a mirror.
“This…… is no ordinary lake.”
Agnon and Belkar silently focused on Oruma’s words.
Oruma continued,
“Of course, in this region, Ignis and Terra will be unable to use their strength, while Aqua and Silva will grow stronger. By contrast, it is a neutral place for us. Our steel creates the flow of water, but water neither aids nor harms us. However, that is not all.”
It seemed Oruma had intuited something from the volcanic region, the Rocky Ridge, and the lake he had encountered thus far.
“Even if we occupy this region, the energy of water will not disappear. That is because this place has existed since before we did. In other words, if we come to possess this region, the energy of water produced by this lake will also become ours.”
At his words, Agnon and Belkar looked at each other in surprise.
“The energy of water will be ours……?”
“Then……”
It was then.
Agnon spotted a silhouette on the opposite side of the lake.
“Your Majesty! Something is coming!”
At Agnon’s shout, Oruma and the other retainers all turned their heads at once.
“Where?”
“Over there, far across the lake, someone has appeared!”
Oruma narrowed his eyes toward the far side of the lake.
Before long, his eyes flashed.
From the east—the opposite direction from the west, where Metalum had set out from—another group was approaching the lake as well.
They were not beings made of water like Aqua.
They were certainly not Ignis either.
Rather, they were beings whose bodies were composed of material no less solid than Metalum’s.
“Hmm.”
Oruma glared at them.
“So they have come as well. They are not exactly welcome opponents.”
Oruma began walking toward them along the edge of the lake.
His retainers followed behind him.
It was the moment when two forces that had not interacted for some time met again in an unexpected place.