The Green Alliance and the combined Elysian forces were at a standoff .

That didn’t mean they were on the same level . Wastelanders had a tenth of the forces of their Elysian counterparts . Nor was it just quant.i.ty that was an issue . The warriors and equipment sent to Sky Fortress were the very best the Elysian lands could muster . By comparison, the Green Alliance looked like a rag-tag mob .

Wolfblade sat in the command deck of the armada’s flags.h.i.+p, sipping a cup of tea . He was looking out over the hovering vessels when suddenly his eyes narrowed . Behind the sprawling enemy forces, Sky Fortress erupted into a ball of light and fire like a star had been born .  

A few moments later the roaring blast and the shock waves. .h.i.t . A storm of debris was sent streaking through s.p.a.ce .

Unable to hold together any longer, Sky Fortresses oxygen detonated and caught fire . It was like a giant balloon filled with helium and a firecracker inside . Everything was jettisoned into the dark expanse when the bomb went off .

All the painstakingly erected facilities – the defenses, the structures, the barracks, the airports – everything was completely destroyed . Thousands of Elysian s.h.i.+ps had also been caught in the blast . IT was like being caught off guard by a deadly avalanche . After months of effort and construction, everything fell apart .

Gravity and air pressure vanished like someone had hit a switch . Sky Fortress was no more .

Wolfblade’s eyes gradually adjusted to the harsh light . He rubbed his chin and muttered, “Quite the fireball . ”

“That’s what it can do?” It was the first time Frost had seen a nuclear bomb detonate . “This is the weapon created by the ancient humans? With a bomb like that how had they been defeated?”

There were several on board the s.h.i.+p with Wolfblade . Frost, Selene, Abaddon and others . They had all come prepared to do battle and were waiting for an enemy to show themselves .

“This was the pinnacle of human weaponry at the time . The product of a dying age . Generations of improvements over earlier ordinance of the same cla.s.s, so it cannot be compared to what it was . As you can see, though, it has the capability of destroying an entire city .

In the face of such destruction, a single Temple meant nothing . Hardly anything bigger than a fist remained of the structure, and once it was gone Sky Fortress could not sustain itself . The four Elysian lands no longer had a base from which to stage their invasion .

Wolfblade went on .

“Of course, what humans knew to be the most devastating weapon ever made was but a toy to the other races out among the stars . Out in the Milky Way there exists beings of unfathomable power . In relations, humans have hardly learned how to use bows and arrows . Naked apes howling, banging sticks and stones . ”

Frost looked up at the starry blanket overhead . He couldn’t help but scowl . He’d grown up in an Elysian lands and benefited from what he thought was a high-grade education . But he didn’t know much of anything about s.p.a.ce and the stars so the demon’s words were hard to understand . As he was mulling it over ripples moved through the air before them . A figure stepped into view .

“Cloudhawk!”

Selene took a step forward .  

“Don’t worry, I’m fine . Everything went really well if I do say so myself[1] . ” Once Cloudhawk got his footing, he turned his attention to Wolfblade . “The Temple is destroyed and the Elysian army is routed . Remember that our aim is to persuade them to our cause, not destroy them . Keeping these people and their equipment in working order is important to me . ”

“Yes, yes . I understand . ” Wolfblade inclined his head toward Frost . “What are you standing around for? Didn’t you hear our king? Off you go . ”

It was time . The Elysian army was a powerful tool in the coming war .

The four Supremes were lost . The Temple was destroyed . Their fortress was in ruins . All of their strongest warriors and leaders had vanished, and as far as the people knew were dead . Cut off the head of a snake and its body did not continue to fight . Cloudhawk saw this opportunity as imperative – not just to eliminate the influence of the G.o.ds on his planet, but to take control of the Elysian realms they left behind .

His hope was to have them join Skycloud in pledging to his Alliance . Combined with Cloudhawk’s influence throughout the wastelands humanity would be united . From this moment on Cloudhawk wasn’t some wasteland warlord . He was leader of his species .

Five Elysian lands . The total population had to number over a hundred million . Adding in the territory he already controlled . Cloudhawk was master of two hundred million or more . Enough to form a global human empire . Each of these areas had their own technology and resources which, when pooled together, could be used to defeat the G.o.ds once and for all .

It was precisely what Wolfblade had been planning for .  

Cloudhawk’s journey had taken him across vast differences, facing countless challenges . All of it was structured to forge the greatest leader in humanity’s history . It was the only way to convince the demons to help . Only once there was a clear chance of defeating the G.o.ds would those elusive creatures lend their aid . Everything up to this moment had only been preparation .

The real conflict was yet to come .

Cloudhawk brought Selene, Frost, Wolfblade, Abaddon and the other high ranking members of his Alliance through the chaos to its ravaged center . No trace of the Temple remained, but Cloudhawk was surprised to discover that the two G.o.d generals had not been killed .

He sensed them, or rather the resonance they produced . It helped him track their location to a spot several kilometers away from the blast radius . They’d only been a thousand or so meters from the epicenter when the bomb went off, yet had still managed to survive .

Harder to kill than c.o.c.kroaches, Cloudhawk thought .

While they still drew breath, it was only barely . All their armor was in ruins from head to toe . The light that had clung to them was all gone . If not for his ability to sense relics, they probably would have discovered them days later and two withered husks .

“Let’s end them . ”

Cloudhawk drew G.o.dslayer . He’d killed one of their lot already, he had no qualms continuing the practice . Keeping them alive seemed far more dangerous .

“Wait a moment . ” Wolfblade leered at the G.o.ds, unconscious from their injuries . “They are Supremes, remember . Capturing such creatures alive is no easy feat . They may yet have some use . ”

Cloudhawk was unconvinced . “What use? Are you talking about removing the seal and trying to recruit them?”

“No . The seal is not so easily overcome . The Cloud G.o.d’s condition was the result of planning and being at the right place at the right time . We don’t have the time to reproduce those results . But that does not mean these G.o.ds are useless . There are ways to extract the power they bear . ”

“You can do that?”

“I cannot . But Belial can . ”

The old artisan’s face swam up in Cloudhawk’s memory . He’d helped Cloudhawk craft the disguise that got him into Sky Fortress, so his abilities were not in question . There were likely far more secrets he kept that would be of aid to them .

Belial had fled after Cloudhawk tracked him down, but that hardly mattered . Between Cloudhawk and Wolfblade, there was nowhere to run . It was Belial’s misfortune to be born a demon . He couldn’t avoid what was to come .

“Let’s clean up the battlefield . ”

Sky Fortress’ forces were a relatively small but elite force . However, after two devastating explosions and an attack from the Green Alliance, they were defeated . It wouldn’t take much to capture them .

1 . Showing off for the lady friend . Typical .

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