Eric watched the horizon. He wore a grim expression as he listened to the radio chatter coming through. At this point, micromanaging the troops would get them killed. After he had released the leaders to their sectors, he stood by with Michael. They waited for if and when something needed their attention.

"We’ve been fighting these assholes for two years, Eric. The guys know what to do. This ain’t the first time we’re killing a super weapon."

Eric facepalmed himself, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, comparing the Brios or anything else they’ve thrown at us so far to the Ark is like comparing a stick of dynamite to a tank round."

Michael laughed, and Eric sighed.

Eric looked over, noticing the captain was shaking. He narrowed his eyes.

"I see. He’s putting up a front."

"Chaos one, this is birdie. Target is four miles out. I repeat, target is four miles out."

Eric swallowed his saliva. His throat felt dry and his chest tightened as he heard the report.

"Four miles is all that seperates us from a city killer." Eric thought as he looked at the map. Michael turned around and leaned over the truck. He frowned while observing the ridge lines the tank were set up at.

"Can tanks even target this thing?"

Eric looked at the Captain, his mouth slightly agape. "Mike. I get that you’re nervous. I am too. But think about it for a second. That thing is flying at maybe twenty, thirty miles an hour tops. It’s a flying fortress that isn’t even one thousand feet above the ground. Everything we have, from the machine guns on the trucks, to the Paladins can target that thing."

Michael was about to argue, but tensed.

Eric did too.

They both turned around, looking over the treeline.

The air was thickening with dense mana, pressing down on them as if the air had become a swimming pool placed on their shoulders. Sweat trickled down Eric’s neck, and Michael trembled again. The night sky was being lit up like the environment of a night club. Purple and green lights shined so bright the two men could see each other’s faces.

"Its here."

Eric saw the top of the Ark emerge for the first time. Ghastly spires jutted into the air like a cursed demon lord castle from anime. At the front of the ship, the woman with wings and a spear carved into the hull looked eerie as part of her face was illuminated in a dark blue light.

He saw the guns, each one thicker than a paladin cannon.

The various guns whirred to life. Deep, mechanical sounds began to reverbrate over the valley as the Ark’s weapon systems began to come to life. Eric held his breath. "Any moment now." He muttered, squinting his eyes up.

As the first few cannons began to light up with their mana projectiles, Eric smirked. He closed his eyes.

"Fuck you assholes."

The entire sky lit up with massive explosions on the Ark. He felt it first, the massive influx of mana being released into the air as a core was destroyed. Then, he saw it.

A gust of blue wind pushed out in all directions. Trees snapped, the ground near the Ark flattened, and the sound of large panes of glass breaking echoed across the valley. Bright flashes of light were followed by large gusts of wind that reached them. The Arks cannons swayed away from the ground forces to point up...

But the Ark pushed onwards.

Erics’ eyes widened. "What the fu-"

The Ark returned fire. One of the cannons successfully tracked one of the aircraft, and a huge fireball exploded over the valley. The Mayday call never came. Eric watched as the jet became nothing more than a steel grave. The pieces of molten metal fell to the ground, landing with a sonic boom that shook the valley.

More cannon shots from the Ark followed in the first shots place. Like a cornered beast, it returned fire with round after round. Even as its flight slowed, and parts of it fell to the ground, it was clear the fight was far from over.

The sky became a battlefield as jets flew around the Ark. An F-35 was shot down, its destroyed remains crashing into the Ark, and Eric heard the radio come to life as the locations of each Ark cannon was called out.

Eric hopped on the radio. "HQ, this is Chaos one. Two cores have been destroyed. Eight remain." His fists clenched as he looked at the burning wreckage of the first jet that had been shot down. Beside him, Michael clenched his jaw. "I knew it wouldn’t be easy." Michael growled before continuing. "But that!" He pointed to the wreckage burning in the valley. "Should not be possible."

Eric clenched his fists. His eyes were laden with sorrow, and mana began leaking from him. "This is not our fight yet, but when it is..."

His eyes darkened with fury.

"They will pay. They couldn’t leave us alone after we took their city. We tried peace. We tried staying back as they threatened to wipe out Austin. No more. They want to show us their world ender? We will show them a grave site in the river."

The battle raged on. No more aircraft were destroyed, but only four of the ten cores had been destroyed. The cannons of the Ark fired round after round, while the jets flew away after landing a shot. Eric watched, feeling helpless as his jaw tightened. Never before had he felt so powerless. Part of him had thought this would be easy. He saw now that had been a childish thought.

The Ark continued it’s trek towards them. Parts of it were falling to the ground. Six cores lay in ruins. Its spires were destroyed, and pieces of the ramparts littered the riverbed. The valley below was decorated with parts of cannons, aircraft, and burning metal that had fallen thousands of feet.

It drew nearer to their kill boxes, and Eric heard the radio call from Milano.

"Chaos one, this is HQ. The Navy is retreating. It’s our turn"

Eric looked up at the Ark with a cold smile. His eyes darkened as he balled his fists. "Roger, HQ."

In the dimly lit atmosphere, Eric was able to make out the figures of the jets retreating. A few final explosions marked the last of their dogfight, and more pieces of the Ark fell...

But it still flew towards the forest.

Eric grabbed the radio. "Fire at will. Kill that thing where it stands. Let us show these Cartharic assholes that bigger is not always better."

Tryasche stood off to the side, his arms crossed as he looked up. The Ark was in shambles. Parts of it’s fortress were now mere rubble, but the structure still stood. His face was grim as he watched the outflow of mana from the superstructure.

"Master Sergeant, we will fly high into the air and join the fight. That behemoth will forever reside in this valley. A trophy for our forces to spit on."

Eric nodded, shaking the Dragon Kings hand.

"Yes, your majesty. Go get your vengeance. Destroy this cursed thing."

Tryasche turned to Felicity and the elders and nodded. Eric watched in fascination as their forms grew taller and longer. It only took a few seconds before huge twenty foot tall creatures stood menacingly in front of him. Their wings spanned twice the length of their height as they took off after ensuring there was enough space.

At the forefront, a massive creature stood nearly one hundred feet tall. It’s head was taller than the tallest tree. Mana rippled off the creature, with black and red spikes jutting off of its back. Each spike was taller than Eric.

For the first time since coming to this world, Eric felt like bowing.

Next to Tryasche, another monstrous Dragon stood. It was a turquoise Dragon instead of black. Its eyes shone with anger as mana rippled around it. Even though it was smaller than the Dragon king, it still stood at least fourty feet tall. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Both Dragons roared. Eric held his hands over his ears as he craned his head to look up at the dragons. The wind from their roar flattened nearby trees that had remained untouched from the initial blasts of mana.

"Go kill that thing, Tryasche." Eric muttered. "For both our people and yours."

The forest became a litany of fire, explosions, and rockets. Eric could barely hear himself think as he took aim with his AT-4. There were still two mana cores left, but he had recieved reports they showed signs of cracking.

He took aim, lining up the sites...

But stopped.

He felt it before he saw it.

The entire sky seemed to light up in a flash that caused Eric to close his eyes. Even through his closed eyes, he could still feel the intense heat and power of the fireball. Orange and blue flames left afterimages imprinted in his retinas as a fireball burned on the Ark. A towering pillar of fire reached high into the sky as Eric opened his eyes, staring in shock.

The last two mana cores had broken.