(Onboard The Destroyer Battleship, Raymondâs POV)
"Expected arrival time outside the skies of Juxta is 29 minutes 40 seconds, Lord Raymond," the Lieutenant reported, his voice taut with duty.
Raymond gave a slow nod, his fingers drumming lightly against the armrest of his command chair as he stared out into the endless sweep of space.
In his mind, he was marching toward a grave already dug, the kind of death he had quietly accepted the moment this campaign began.
Yet, for the sake of his familyâs honor, he kept a calm face and led his men with a charm befitting the son of the Eternal Sovereign.
Slowly, as the minutes passed, the pink arc of Juxtaâs planetary barrier kept growing larger and larger on the viewing pane, until the entire planet filled the battleshipâs front window.
âAnytime now.... Soron should appear anytime now...â
Raymond thought, as his pulse quickened despite himself.
At this moment, he expected light to flash, runes to bloom, a divine hand to strike the entire fleet from the stars.
Yet nothing happened.
The fleet kept inching closer to Juxta.... And closer still, until the fleet was practically kissing the planetâs mana barrier, and yet no response came.
There was no sign of Soron.
No devastating counterstrike.
No god descending from the fourth dimension to swat them from the heavens.
"Your orders, Lord Raymond?" the Lieutenant asked, unable to keep the tremor out of his voice, as Raymondâs eyes narrowed, the weight of his own disbelief hidden beneath a mask of command.
"Deploy the shield breakers," he said flatly, as the Lieutenant relayed the orders immediately.
Within seconds, from within the forest of ships, three colossal drills unfolded like the claws of some deep-sea beast, their runed spires glowing with unstable light as they aligned themselves before the shimmering barrier.
Each device spat a lance of mana, their frequency shifting with every heartbeat, as they scraped and probed, searching for the resonant note that would make the entire shield sing and split.
*BRRRRâ*
Seconds stretched into minutes, the entire fleet holding its breath as the beams flickered through thousands of tones untilâ
*CRRRRRRAAAACK*
The soundless crack rolled through the void as the barrierâs lattice shuddered, its glow splintering like a spiderâs web under a hammer blow.
Juxtaâs planetary barrier faltered, flared once in protest, then shattered, dissolving into streaks of dying light that rained harmlessly into the planetâs atmosphere.
âSurely, he will come now.... But from where?â
Raymond thought, as his hand tightened on the armrest.
By all logic, this should have been the moment Soron appeared, but surprisingly the heavens remained empty even as the broken barrierâs fragments faded.
âThe fuck is going on here?â
Raymond wondered, as the men turned toward him again, faces pale and expectant.
"Enter the planet," Raymond said at last, his voice iron-hard.
"Destroy the heretics." He commanded, as the destroyer engines roared in answer, the fleet surging forward like a tide of steel and fire spilling through the gap where Juxtaâs shield had been and descending upon the Cultâs world like a storm long promised.
â----------
(Meanwhile, back on Granada, Maurissâs POV)
Raymond wasnât the only one surprised to not see Soron in action, for if there was one man who was even more impatient to see the great God arrive, it was Mauriss.
Like a child waiting for Christmas, Mauriss watched Raymondâs fleet crawl closer and closer to Juxta, his entire body twitching with anticipation, lips splitting into a grin too wide to belong to someone sane.
"Come on, old man," he crooned, tilting his head at a sharp angle, as though speaking directly into the void between them. "Donât leave me waiting. Donât tell me the great Soron has grown too tired, too broken, tooâ feeble."
His tongue darted out, wetting his lips as though the very thought of seeing Soron fight again was a delicacy.
"Come and show me that legendary power of yours... Come show me the Timeless Assassinâs techniques one more time."
He muttered, as he dragged two fingers down his cheek and licked them clean, tasting nothing, savoring everything, as his eyes rolled with pleasure at the storm of his own imagination.
Before him, Raymondâs fleet advanced, closer and closer until it came within striking distance of Juxtaâs planetary barrier.
"Come on out, Soron! Come to papaâ"
Mauriss muttered now, as he tilted his head to face the rain, before hanging his mouth open to take in the rainwater, only to then gargle and spit it back out.
*PTUI*
"Break it Raymond! Break the planetary shield and drag Soron out. I want to see how deep the wound went when Kaelith carved him with origin metal blades.
Does he limp? Does he falter? Or has he truly rotted to his core?"
Mauriss encouraged, as Raymond deployed the shield breakers right on cue.
"Yes, yes, find the note, sing it to pieces. Heâll come anytime nowâ oh, he has to come now."
Mauriss felt his blood pressure rise, as he could almost not contain his excitement anymore.
*CRRRRRAAACK*
The barrier splintered. Its glow shattering like brittle glass that rained into Juxtaâs skies. And still, Soron did not come.
Mauriss froze, his grin faltering for the briefest heartbeat. Then he began to clapâ slow at first, then faster, harder, until his palms cracked with the force. "Bravo, Soron. Bravo! Too proud to defend your wretched pets? Or too weak to lift your arms? Which is it?"
He slammed his hands against the wet rock beneath him, laughing so hard his shoulders shook, saliva threading from his lips as he rocked back and forth.
"How long do you plan to hide like a rat? How long do you plan to make me wait?"
He asked, as his eyes flicked wildly between Juxta and Ixtal, pupils blown wide with mania.
He licked his rain-soaked fingers again, shuddering with a grotesque pleasure, as he kept muttering to himself like a prayer twisted inside out.
"Show me your scars, Soron. Show me how broken you really are. Or billions of your Cult followers will pay the cost in your steadâ"