It was a warm sunny day in the capital as Hope, William and Richard marched towards a now familiar place of worship.

"Ye gods, that "elf" advisor of yours won't stop hounding me Lucrezia, every godsdamned day she's demanding more and more of my time," Richard said with a sigh "I feel bone tired and sleep is barely keeping me sane"

"So, what are we doing here?" Richard asked as William looked up to Saal'Xhir's cathedral.

"Hope will learn a very special benediction from our divine sponsor," William said with a wry smile, he was still annoyed he had to make an appointment to get this spell, given how much he had done for the Goddess and her church.

"She's a Goddess William, you can't expect her to just drop what she was doing to please you, as powerful as you are you still just a single human..." Lucrezia said "And it didn't even take that long! you wanted this done yesterday remember? that she got time for you in such short notice is telling enough "

Yeah right.

The cathedral was already buzzing with people coming and going, William recognized a few students from the academy and important nobles he knew from the game's lore, they were ushered into a waiting room and sat down on expensive seats.

"Manticore Leather, done by an infernal leatherworker no less, Gods this would..." Richard couldn't find the words so William helped the young man.

"Be worth half a city, Saal'Xhir is one of the few diplomats with the Infernal legions, it stands to reason she would have access to their goods, it's a major source of revenue for her church in fact" William explained church secrets like he had read in a book somewhere.

Both Hope and Richard locked eyes and shook their heads, used to him loredumping by now.

"It would be wise to keep such information to yourself my dear" one of the High Priestess came into the run, her pale face red to the ears "I won't even ask how do you know such things, had it been anyone else we would have to kill you, alas our Lady likes you a tad too much"

She pointed to another door down in the corridor "Come with me"

For a split second William saw Richard's hand move to the hidden dagger he kept on his person, another part of Veronica's training he told him earlier, the man was becoming a fine warrior and even finer leader, who would've thunk the merchant NPC had it in him?

"We all have the potential for it William, it is in our very essence as the People of Vermillion" A hint of pride escaped her lips, Lucrezia really did love her country didn't she?

Breaching the inner sanctum of the Cathedral. William came face to face with a veritable battalion of Priests and Priestesses, all at the ready, in the corner of the room stood the Paladin Commander who gave him a nod.

"As asked by our Ally Lady Lucrezia Sommer Wulfgrem, Heir and Duchess to the Wulfgrem lands, we will now begin the proper rituals to summon a Divine Avatar" the High Priestess spoke with a commanding tone "Make sure your mana reserves are at maximum and do not mess up the incantations!"

Silent nods all over, the men and women of Saal'Xhir's cloth were ready!

"Lady Hope, please stand by my side, repeat the incantations as I speak them, and channel as much Ki and Mana as you can while doing so, our rituals have been made with both sources in mind, your blessing will do the heavy lifting as long as you have the mana to spare" the High Priestess explained.

Hope gave the woman a silent nod.

"Use the rage at stage two should the mana drain become too steep" William spoke with a smile, the High Priestess's eyes widening as result.

"Goddess, Lady Lucrezia you will turn this young lady into a monster at this rate" she gave William a piece of her mind "Why?"

Hope spoke, her voice cold as ice "Because we have a monster to fight"

"So be it then, with Lady Lucrezia and Mister Richard as witnesses you have stated your reasons and I find them worthy," the woman said her tone dead serious "We begin"

William stood at the entrance, his eyes enthralled by the light show and magical elements, the ritual proceeded at a brisk pace until the funneling started.

William's mind's eye caught two women among the ranks nearly falling over, with a leap aided by magic he soared above the ritual and landed with a solid thud near her, he felt someone warp to his side, Richard's form materializing.

The High Priestess didn't even move, she was fully committed now and William could already see the ritual backfiring if he didn't do something he turned to Richard and said "Remove both, we are going in"

He gave him a nod, fully trusting as always.

A noble quality.

The bodies removed William felt the gaze of the Paladin Commander on his back, the woman doing nothing creeped him out but he was out of time, stepping into the formation he began funneling every single iota of mana to the incantation.

Richard did the same, but he took a knee shortly after it, his mana reserves weren't small but not big either, he was about to pass out when the Paladin took him by the neck and stepped into his place.

"I hate the funneling, gives you a nasty headache" the woman spoke with a neutral tone as the ritual came to a climax.

The world shifted, the High Priestess's body morphing into the most beautiful woman William had ever seen in his life. Saal'Xhir had descended into the mortal realm.

"Well well well, it seems our little darling can master a potent spell as soon as she sees it, what are the odds?" Saal'Xhir smiled and that clouded William's mind.

"Stupid pretty woman..." Lucrezia complained in his ear.

Hope was staring at the Goddess, divine energies meshing with the ambient mana and prayer forming the outer layer of the avatar, with but a few seconds she began repeating the chanting, and with a smile on the High Priestess's face, the divine avatar spell clicked again, a shift in the air had Saal'Xhir appear directly behind Hope, hugging her from the back with both arms.

A gesture of deference to the blessing of the All-Father, showing total willingness to aid the caster, it would be the same with virtually every god and goddess alive sans the All-Mother herself, who would take more than a blessing from her husband to come down to the mortal coil.

William was already working on that.

"Ah! it does feel good knowing we will finally get the chance to fight together! It's been a long while since my days as a proper warrior in the frontlines, fighting to expand our lord's sphere of influence, the good old days hehe" Saal'Xhir spoke with mirth in her voice, her faithful bowing in reverence once but getting up as soon as she made a gesture.

"Marshall your forces at once my faithful, for you too will step into this field of glory and carnage, worry not little Lucrezia, my flock will be at the ready be it with steel and fire or with healing and care" 

Hope smiled "Thank you Lady Saal'Xhir"

The Goddess nodded "You are too kind dear, thank the All-Father and your friend there for giving me this golden opportunity!"

After a round of farewells they left the main temple and were on the streets again, Richard took the party to a hole in the wall that had great deep-fried dishes made via some sort of ancient dwarven machinery, sparking the idea of air fryers in Williams's mind. another small time Magi-Tech gold mine for his pockets.

He was going through a monumental amount of gold of late, and every other precious metal known to mankind, thanks to his infinite mine which according to the latest report had started wielding quadruple the ore thanks to the sheer amount of magic being poured into the underground of the city.

How that was even possible he and the people he had put in place to study the place had no bloody idea, the game also didn't have such a mechanic so he was essentially in the dark there.

"Lucrezia!" Richard snapped his fingers in front of Williams's face, taking him out of his thoughts "I asked when you will finish the third book?"

"Ah, soon soon, the editing is being done and soon we will start printing it with the new Magi-Tech printers that can show images and sounds, it's going to be a good ending don't you worry, my dear," William said with a smile.

"How come you haven't got a blessing for the arts Lucrezia? you can sing, play multiple instruments and even write some of the best fiction to grace the world! the Gods in charge of those spheres ought to line themselves for you you know?" Hope said as she devoured deep-fried chicken breast "I can barely get one to help me with the songs we gotta sing at the camp..."

"I am afraid I lack the blessing my friend, I am at my spiritual limit so to say" William laughed as he began to dig into his food, idle chatter filled their little table as the worries of the here and now faded away, it felt good for a while but all of them knew they had things to do and so with a sad smile William got up, Hope and Richard following suit.

"Onwards my friends, Onwards as always" Richard spoke in reverence, an old motto of the Royal Knights.

---

Castra-Cam stood tall in a random training field of Lucrezia's war camp, around her were 2 vampires and a shifty-looking Wolfkin, she sighed as the poor feller jumped in fright.

"This is highly irregular isn't dear cousin?" Vampire number one, a sharp-looking human woman said with a smile "that we would be allowed to be trained under the auspices of the famous Castra-Cam"

"Indeed, this is a rare honor, and one that takes centuries to be given, my I wonder how this happened so fast" the elven vampire laughed a shrill laugh, which made the Wolfkin jump again.

"Gods above you vampires are spooky as the tales of the forefathers," he said with a cough "Good afternoon Lady Castra, I am Muv, Necromancer in training for the tribe" he extended his hand, which Castra took for the shake.

Strong, warm, firm, Castra knew Muv's tribe, the Skeletal Wolves were an ancient family that had once about 500 years ago helped Vermilion royalty with an undead issue they were having, this granted them land, a noble title, and the rights to perform their flavor of necromancy, which relied heavily on rituals rather than common spell craft.

"I must agree with my...Peers, this is highly irregular, I thought it would take me becoming a Lich to start the life as a Scythe of the Undying..." Muv left the words hanging as Castra sighed again.

"Lucrezia pulled strings no mortal but her can pull, and that's as much as I was let to know" the human vampire spoke with a cold smile "It's that blessed of the All-Father, my dear, she can do things must of us even dream off"

"Indeed my love, Indeed," the elven one said with a flair "Oh but where are our manners! I am Edyrm of the White and this is Haryk Virbalar, my eternal beloved!"  If vampires could blush, Haryk would've done so Castra thought to herself.

"Ok,  you two have the basics down for hand-to-hand combat right?" Castra was holding her figurative breath, Muv stalked forward with a curious look in his eyes.

"Only the basics I am afraid, after we left the principality they made sure we wouldn't spread their "secret" arts with the rest of the world," Edrym said with a shrug "I thought we would be a magic-focused unit?"

"Just so, but I operate on a better safe than sorry approach to combat encounters, and that means having a solid foundation of hand-to-hand combat, Muv how about you?" Castra turned to the Wolfkin.

"Aye, trained in the ways of the spear as my forefathers" he smiled, ahh Castra thought with a grin, Vermilion and her love for the spear.

"Country of Knights," Castra said with a whisper and he nodded.

It was a tiresome afternoon into night, if she could get tired, poor Muv was gasping for breath, the vampire couple had already left, laughing as they changed their form to mist.

Giving her farewells to the Wolfkin, Castra decided to clear her head with a walk around the campus, all around her voice perked up talking about the daily happenings, and Lucrezia's army.

With Hope as an endless bargain bin with any god that wasn't the All-Father Lucrezia had in weeks done more than entire dynasties of Vermilion had done in years, favors on top of favors, even the professors spoke highly about her, how classes had improved all around thanks to her giving those under her command discipline and such.

Strange, very strange, it was like she could see the future, and according to Kaine, his Goddess was very selective when it came to showing others the many many branches of the river of time.

"Very old, ancient motherfuckers like to do this, roleplay as a kid and live up these sorts of fantasies, yet her soul is as right as they come, otherwise she wouldn't learn Necromancy the way she did..."

Castra could only sigh, she had fought with the woman, saw her at the height of combat, and yet there was something there, something that made her doubtful, and unable to fully trust Lucrezia as the others did.

"Paranoid wreck as always" Castra whispered to herself under the moonlight, hoping no one had heard it.

---

Idun shivered in the depth of his new improved workshop turned church, Lucrezia had given him an impossible mission and Ra'Tyrius himself had come to aid him with it, it was in all levels but theoretical High Heresy against the All-Father and his front line troops.

A dragon killer.

Using the schematics of the Zenos line, together with Razgriz's high mobility and explosive force and a fair bit of guesswork that was essentially throwing ideas to the wall and seeing what sticks

Lucrezia herself was jumping with joy via the illusion spell, when they learned this unit could break the sound barrier they were over the moon! the power of Magi-Tech was such a wonderful thing. Yet even when elated Lucrezia didn't lose sight of the human element so to say, as she began drafting schematics herself for a special suit for the pilot to be able to sustain the gravitational force such a machine would no doubt put its pilot under.

Where even the most Agile of skirmish-focused Zeno's units were bulky, the new prototype unit was sleek and slim, made for speed, and armed with phase-spears, Magi-Tech's answer to teleportation magic turned to combat, these spears would be fired in between the material and immaterial, and connect in the blink of an eye to their targets.

And for the death blow, a concussion device that would rattle the Dragon's brain cage, displacing the vital organ from its place and instantly killing the beast, Lucrezia said the idea came from a far-flung empire from a different universe that managed to fight the dragons.

Until All-Father himself took to the fields of battle.

Idun wanted to question how she was privy to such knowledge but didn't these nobles receive special training and education for this? he recalled many a tale about dwarven scions going to fight the good fight in the cosmos, it made sense to him she would know.

It didn't make sense when she turned that knowledge into something to be used against the dragons, but then again he had just finished a ship that could fly, not those fancy bird-like airships, no Lucrezia wanted a ship that could fly, and Gods above Idun and his lads delivered!

"Knightmare," Lucrezia said in a low whisper "Idun, see who's best for the new model and have them train against the large beasts from the wastes" and then she was off, Idun looked to the new creation he had birthed into the world "Knightmare" the play in words was not lost on him, with small divination aided by his patron God he saw 3 girls, bored out of their mind in a yard practicing swings with swords and axes.

Their names were burned into his mind, ever since Lucrezia ordered the mandatory worship of Ra'Tyrius for the war effort against Queen Malphas Idun was coming to terms with being the leader of what was one of the larger religions of the country, thankfully Ra'Tyrius himself was always there to aid him, Lucrezia too which he found oddly comforting, she was so busy with the army in the Academy and yet found time to talk with Idun nearly every day.

It even became a joke among his peers, she was the daughter he never had, away but still worried sick for her old man, he smiled at the thought as he got to work, finishing the final touches on the prototype unit.

Finishing his work and sending a runner to the girls to see if they wanted to join the Knightmare program (Lucrezia's own terminology that was now standard among the populace) Idun went down to the giant mess hall the Magi-Tech workers, city workers and general populace of the underground city would dine together, the warm air with a touch of sulfur greeted him as he saw friends and followers alike going on about their lives.

Idun sat together with a few novices, giving them tips and tricks of the trade, it never ceased to amaze him how every race and every walk of life could join in what was just a year ago a failed ambition, destined to die a cold death in the wastes.

It didn't matter where what or who you were, Magi-Tech was the great equalizer, the great redeemer, it was no wonder the priests back in Steinheim would get caught up in the religious fervor, to see this raw power being refined into action was intoxicating.

Still, a part of him yearned to explore the stars, to move away from war and warfare, and safe travel across the great cosmos on enormous ships the size of countries, these capital ships, as Lucrezia called when he explained to her in one of their many talks, would take years to build and need express permission from the big man upstairs, as he was the one in control of interstellar, intergalactic and interdimensional travel.

Lucrezia often got sad when he mentioned space as if she had great nostalgia for it, she had shown him schematics for a space station the size of the capital, where such missions deep into their solar system could be launched.

Idun didn't fail to notice the weapons platforms in it, from theoretical kinetic bombardments capable of leveling entire cities with raw gravity alone to high output beams, spells powered by crystals, and even a mirror-like weapon that would focus the sun rays into a wave of death.

"Once this is all over my friend, I will make sure we can visit the moons or the other countries," she said "I really want to meet the elven civilization that lives on those moons, it said they are there in case anything sneaks up from space you know? All-Father always has backup plans for his backup plans.

"Idun!" the dwarf master heard a shrill voice call from the distance, the merwoman Hraax of the Diamond Reefs standing with a smile on her face "It worked! by gods her mad design worked!"

He was fast to get close to her "Gods above! It can fly and stay underwater now! and the weapons?"

Hraax trembled slightly "All the krakens of the northern seas came with offerings thinking we would invade them, the beam spells alone were enough to put the fear of the All-Father on those old barnacles..."

"But?" Idun waited.

"It is the main cannon, I know artillery Master Idun, Lucrezia made sure my people understood its power and that thing is anything but, it makes no sound, gives no heat, the projectile is a steel slug barely the size of a hand! and yet it tore into an undersea mountainside like the hot knife through butter!" Hraax shared a look with Idun and took a deep breath "That woman... Gods preserve us if she ever turns against us"

"She won't" Idun said, his voice brimming with conviction "And how many shots you people got before the cannon began showing signs of defects?"

Hraax shook her head "It didn't, we ran out of ammo"

Idun smiled "Then we have our fleet and air force ready for deployment, the Imperium, and Grannarius forces are ready, and our other allies are also ready for the call, how about your people Lady Hraax? are  you ready for the fight?"

The merwoman gave him a predator grin, like a shark ready to devour its prey "Aye Master Idun, we are ready and willing to show the southerners why their ancestors feared the northern seas once again"

---

William stood among the choir of the Academy band, it was quite the ordeal convincing the crew to let him sing, but after some finessing, and an actual bribe which made Lucrezia snide in smugness calling William a true noble he got the band to play the song.

His ears picked up as the many instruments were tuned, especially the new one he had just birthed into the world, complete with pedals, amps, and a nicely done crystal finish.

"Out of all the instruments, the electric guitar is my favorite" Lucrezia said as William nodded to the young man holding the guitar, according to the professor he had a greater blessing for a musical god that specialized in niche and new instruments, and within minutes had achieved near mastery of the damn thing, William was green with envy, wishing a musical blessing of that caliber.

"Lady Lucrezia? are you ready?" the conductor asked, and William nodded. The instruments and musicians exploded into action as the band played with full force, many already gathering around to hear the new song.

When the drums and electric guitar kicked in, blending perfectly with the song cheers exploded from the crowd, it was pure energy down there William noticed with a smile on his face.

Victory
over this land, we will fight for our liberty
Armed with the greatest of men and machinery
This is the fight for our truth and our destiny

as one
into the skies, under the sea, over the land, we will remain free.

Victory
over this land, we will fight for our liberty
Armed with the greatest of men and machinery
This is the fight for our truth and our destiny

To the fight, we will take
stealth in the air, jet fighters flare
take them apart, all-out attack,
strength on the ground, tanks will abound
nowhere to run from our guns
the cunning of the sea, in submarines
silently run then we strike
we will be mastered by no one
we fly the flag of the triumphant

Victory!

William's voice felt horse at the end, his entire body shook with the raw power of the song, he saw the guitarist glowing as his blessing took over thanks to the first proper usage of a brand new instrument ever!

It was a song of war and battle, perfect for his army as they stormed those fields and put that scum to the sword.