“Three?!” Aria asked incredulously.

“Three.” Eli confirmed.

“How? I thought the carrier group only had 1! Where did they get the other two nukes from?” She pressed.

“Apparently there were two other nuclear submarines that survived the initial attacks.” Zee explained. “They joined the carrier group, even though they weren’t technically supposed to.”

Aria, Isla, Nyxie, Lilly, Eli, and Zee sat around the kitchen table back in Irandell. They’d just finished recounting their adventure to meet the admiral with grins plastered across their faces. The look seemed to be infectious – as they described their resounding success, the rest of the group couldn’t help but start to grin back.

The only exceptions to the rule were Nyxie and Isla, the former of whom put up her hand before speaking. “I’m missing something. What is a nuke?”

“A bomb.” Eli answered instantly. “A really, really big one.”

“How big? Big enough to destroy a city?”

“Absolutely.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because we humans did it to ourselves.” Eli said grimly. “Twice.”

“We’ve managed to secure three 1-megaton high-yield nuclear weapons.” Zee clarified, holding her hands a few inches apart. “Anything within a two mile radius gets vaporized almost instantly.” She extended her hands outwards.

“And beyond that?”

“If it’s between 5 and 10 miles it’s theoretically survivable. You might go blind if you happen to see the flash though. And even if you don’t, you’ll be heavily irradiated so you might be dead in a few days, weeks, or even months.”

An intense look crossed Nyxie’s face. “I want the other two bombs.”

Eli blinked in surprise. “Sorry, what?”

“You said you only needed one bomb. I want the other two.”

“I’m not saying ‘no’, but…why do you suddenly need two nukes?” Eli questioned slowly.

“I want to bomb the academy the Titans use to train their spellcasters, and the largest city in the Orryx’s home realm.”

“That was… a surprisingly quick answer.” Zee noted.

“They’re two of the highest priority targets for the resistance.” Nyxie explained. “The rank-and-file ratkin are effectively numberless, but their spellcasters and commanders are less so. They’re each heavily fortified – far too much so for us to even try to infiltrate and destroy. But if we can just get within a mile of each of them, then set off the bomb…” She trailed off.

“Wouldn’t that mean we have to go through the Underpath again though?” Eli asked. “It’s not like we know the portal coordinates of those worlds.”

“You might not.” Nyxie grinned. “But the Titan you killed had a few spellcasters in its retinue, and one of them just happened to bring along a book of portal coordinates to tends of thousands of realms.”

The table went silent for a moment before Eli spoke. “Holy shit.”

“You’re not wrong.” Aria added. “Why would they be bringing such a valuable item with them?”

“They thought they were behind their front line, and that there would be no safer place than with a Titan.” Nyxie explained.

“And they were also probably still trying to figure out how to reestablish their supply lines now that the Underpath isn’t a viable option.” Zee added, nodding. “Operational security tends to get sloppy when you have to adjust your entire process on the fly.”

“Even so, that’s an incredibly lucky find.” Eli replied.

“All the more reason we should take advantage of it.” Nyxie pressed. “Will you give me the bombs?”

He met Nyxie’s gaze, then across at the other women at the table. “What do you think?”

“It’s your call.” Zee insisted. “It sounds like a worthwhile mission though, and I’m sure I can convince the admiral to back us. He’ll want his own forces to pull the trigger, but we can bring them through the portal with us.”

“I think we should do it.” Aria added. “Anything we can do to help our final battle at this point would be a good idea.”

“It’d be more satisfying if we destroyed the city from above as dragons, but… I understand the need to use other tools sometimes.” Isla admitted.

“As a general rule I’m not a fan of weapons of mass destruction.” Lilly said, finally speaking up. “You’d be killing civilians.”

“There are no civilians in this war.” Nyxie shot back.

The two women glared at each other for a moment before Eli stepped in. “We’re not going to kill a bunch of civilians to win the war. If we do, we’re no better than the Titans. I’m pretty sure rule one of fighting evil is to not become evil yourself.”

Nyxie turned on him. “This war has no rules.”

“Maybe not, but I have rules. And I’d really rather not find out who I’d be if I didn’t have them.” He shot back before shaking his head. “That being said, we’re also not going to pass an opportunity like this up.”

Lilly blinked in confusion. “What does that mean? How are you going to bomb a city without killing any civilians?”

“Pamphlets.” Eli answered.

Zee’s eyes lit up. “Clever.”

“What?” Nyxie and Lilly asked, both thoroughly confused.

“We’re going to write some pamphlets warning them of what’s about to come. Thousands of them. Then, the mousekin are going to distribute them amongst the city. The true believers will think we’re bluffing and they’ll stay in the city. The civilians will have a chance to leave.” He explained.

“What if they don’t leave?” Lilly challenged.

“Then we’ll have done all we can for them, and be satisfied with the fact that we tried. I know it’s not enough, but as Nyxie said – this is war.”

“What if everyone leaves?” Nyxie added.

“Then they can live to tell all their friends about the terrifyingly powerful weapon the humans have.” Eli replied. “We don’t need to advertise the fact that we have only 3 of them. In fact, maybe we should imply in the pamphlets that we have a lot more just waiting to be used.”

“Sometimes the fear of the bomb is a more powerful weapon than the bomb itself.” Zee agreed.

“I…accept your terms.” Nyxie said finally.

“Me too.” Lilly said.

“Great. Nyxie, I’ll need your help to-” Eli started.

“Not so fast.” Aria interrupted him. “Eli, let us handle this for you. You’ve got other issues that need your attention.”

“I do?”

“Yes. While you were gone, Minerva and Vespera had a breakthrough.” She replied. “Oh! And the blacksmiths wanted to see you too.”

“We can handle tossing a few bombs through portals.” Zee assured Eli, seeing the look on his face. “Go deal with the other stuff.”

“I guess I’d better go then.” Eli said before standing and walking around the table, kissing each woman save for Nyxie.

As he moved to the door and put his shoes on, the women naturally fell into a conversation about the details of the plan. He smiled at them fondly one more time before smoothing out his white dress shirt and blue linen pants, grateful to be wearing something other than his armour for a few minutes. It wasn’t that the armour itself was uncomfortable of course – he just found it to be yet another reminder of the danger they faced.

Unfortunately for him, when he opened the door he found his retainers in full armour waiting patiently for him, reminding him that he couldn’t truly escape the effects of the war. He tried not to take his feelings out on them, supressing a scowl and nodding respectfully to them as he started to walk down the hall. They quickly fell into step behind him while he navigated the castle corridors, taking them to where he suspected he’d be able to find his angel and demon.

“There you are!” Vespera shouted and stood as he entered the library.

“Vessy, shh. This is a library!” Minerva admonished her.

The succubus ignored her and raced towards Eli, wrapping him in her warm embrace and covering his face in kisses. He couldn’t help but laugh as he scooped her up in his arms, causing her ankles to lock around his back. His hands ran up her red-skinned legs to her black booty-short covered ass, squeezing it and causing her to yelp.

“Careful mister.” She warned him with a grin. “You keep teasing me like that and I’m definitely not going to be able to keep quiet.”

He moved slightly backwards to see her hard nipples were already showing through the white crop top she chose. “As much as that sounds fun - and trust me, it does – I heard you guys found something.”

“We did.” Vespera confirmed.

Showing a great deal of self control, she unhooked her legs and let herself down before dragging Eli over to the table they were working at. Before he got to work though he took a moment to place a heated kiss on Minerva’s lips, causing her to melt into his arms. Despite her angelic nature their kiss seemed to bring out something inside her, the passion between them rivalling that of the succubus.

“Mmm. That’s hot.” Vespera commented as she watched them kiss.

The comment caused Minerva to break the lip lock and blush slightly. “Another time. We have work to do.”

“Right.” Eli nodded, finally turning to the maps on the table. “What am I looking at?”

“The fortress of the first ones.” Minerva answered. “Or at least that’s what we’re calling it. The true name has been lost to time.”

“You found it?” He asked, excitedly.

“Sort of.” Vespera answered. “Aratessa’s scouting parties found something here.” She pointed to a red circle on the map.

“I don’t get it. They found something, but they don’t know if it’s a fortress?” Eli asked.

“In the time since its construction and abandonment, it’s been covered by a glacier.” Minerva explained. “Aratessa’s driders were able to dig through some of it, but there’s some sort of powerful ice magic enchantment that’s preventing them from proceeding.”

“They can’t use a silence spell to disable it?”

“Apparently not.”

“So they need a different approach.” Eli nodded. “If we could find enough fire magic users, they could probably melt the ice fast enough to overwhelm or drain the enchantment.”

“Our thoughts exactly.” Minerva agreed. “Vespera managed to gather a raiding party of a few dozen demons, but I doubt that the ice is the only impediment.”

“We could also use a strong hand to keep the demons in line.” Vespera added. “You know how unruly they can sometimes be.”

Eli grinned, seeing where they were going. “I’ll do it. How quickly can we be ready to move?”

“Within the hour. I’ll arrange for your weapons and armour to be sent to the portal room.” Minerva replied before hesitating. “I’d…also like to come with you. I’m aware of the danger, but this is an important cultural moment for my people, and I-”

“Minerva, of course you’re coming.” Eli nodded. “You don’t have to justify it. I’ll keep you safe.”

“Good. Thank you.” She smiled.

“Before you leave to get us ready though, I’ve got a question for both of you.” Eli said. “My Nephilim form seems to have a strange impact on other people.”

“Oh?” Minerva furrowed her brow.

“It’s happened twice now – once on Earth, and once with the mousekin in Nyxie’s home realm. It makes people…I don’t know, subservient? Compliant? Eager to please? It doesn’t give me outright control over them, it just kinda…makes them do what I want them to do. Or at least, makes them do what they think I want them to do.”

“I didn’t feel that way when you first transformed.” Minerva said.

“I did, but it could have been for…other…reasons.” Vespera replied, winking at him. “After all, you were shirtless at the time.”

Chuckling, Eli shrugged. “It happens inconsistently. I don’t have conscious control over it, and I don’t think it’s magical in nature because I don’t feel a draw on my mana reserves.”

“I see. How can we help though?” Minerva asked.

“The grey people are the closest comparable I have to that form. In all your research on them, have you found any evidence that they have a similar ability?”

She furrowed her brow then shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. You, Vessy?”

“No. But what you’re describing sounds like a less powerful, non-magical version of the demonic influence spell, so it's not outside the realm of possibility.” Vespera answered.

“One of them also literally founded a religion with beliefs so strong that a magical culture split into two.” Eli reminded them. “Maybe that one had some special influential powers to help them along the way?”

“Maybe.” Minerva nodded. “If such an ability was ever documented though, the best place to look for records on it would be in this fortress.”

“Then it’s a good thing we’re going there next.” Eli replied. “Now, both of you: get going. I’ll meet you by the portal.”

He kissed them both on the way out, their paths diverging once they left the library. Sira and Ziran fell into step behind him as he moved through the castle corridors once more on his way to the main entrance. Thankfully for him, someone had the forethought to call the blacksmiths in advance, allowing them to meet him at the main gates and saving him the trip into the city proper.

“Eli!” Ashni wrapped him in a crushing hug as he let them in.

He returned her embrace, shaking Gradumir’s proffered hand as they moved apart. “Aria told me you have news.”
“Aye, lad. Tha’ we do.” The dwarf said, turning to the 7-foot metal statue behind him.

The figure looked eerily similar to a Titan – covered in armour from head to toe, with only small cracks showing between the joints. The major differences in the thick metal plate were that it lacked any sort of head or helmet, had a hammer and a shield welded directly onto the arms in place of hands, and had more of a golden sheen to it rather than the all-black ensemble that the godlike beings preferred. It stayed motionless as Eli slowly walked around it, inspecting their handiwork.

“How do you turn it on?”

“There’s a button hidden on the back, underneath the armour.” Ashni explained as she moved forward to demonstrate. “If I just press here…” She trailed off.

When she hit the switch, the back opened to reveal a complex-looking nest of wires. With a flourish she produced a mana crystal and slotted it into the center, causing the creature’s shoulders to move up and down. She then closed the back of the creature once more, waiting with baited breath for something to happen.

A moment later, the creature’s torso spun in a circle and emitted a hiss of steam. It then brought the shield in front of it and its sword to a ready position, causing the nearby Hightower family guards to reach for their weapons. Eli waved them off as he moved in front of the creature again, staring it down.

“Is it safe?”

“Aye.” Gradumir nodded. “Tested it maself.”

“It will ignore most magical creatures.” Ashni added. “We’ve programmed it to target Titan aligned races – namely ratkin and Orryx – to the exclusion of all else.”

“And it can fight?”

“We haven’t had a chance to field-test it, but… yes. It will fight to the death, showing all the skill and fearlessness of a true warrior.”

“You’ve outdone yourselves.” Eli praised them.

“The durosine you sent was perfect for this sort of a job.” Ashni replied. “It made things easy for us.”

“How many have you produced?”

“Several hundred so far, but there’s a catch.” Ashni cautioned.

“There always is.”

“It’s thae bloody mana crystals. They burn oot too quick, meanin’ we’re only gettin’ twenty tae thirty minutes o’ power afore they need replaced.” Gradumir explained.

“That’s…not enough time to do much.” Eli nodded. “Even if we could raise that to an hour or two, that’d be perfect.”

“We’ll see what we can do. If you happen upon a better, more efficient magical power source during your travels, we might be able to retrofit something.” Ashni nodded. “In the mean time, there’s one more thing we need from you: a name.”

“It’s only fittin’ ye get tae name ’em. This is yer own creation, after all.” Gradumir urged Eli.

Chuckling at the fact that he was literally creating a creature pulled from the pages of a fantasy novel, Eli decided not to overthink naming it.

“Golems. They’re going to be called golems.”