In an age where the sea covered the world, what was the power that guaranteed victory?

Was it an unbeatable land army? The largest fleet of ships? The power to raise the waves and sink islands below the waves? All of these options were wrong.

It was mastery of the skies that determined the victor.

“Keep your Thalassocrator, Mithridates,” Kairos muttered as he and Rook flew above Boeotia. “I would rather be the Stratocrator.”

After having destroyed the forts along the coast, the Griffin Corp had moved to the city to support the approaching fleet. By the time he arrived, his flying monsters had already bombarded the whole place with fire and poison.

It was an apocalyptic sight, a vision of Tartarus brought to life. Flames had spread through the southwest part of the city, consuming wood and stones alike. Soldiers on the ground choked on poisonous clouds while smoke obscured the morning sun. The skies had turned red and orange, with the [Heat Wave] Kairos had summoned blowing a hot wind over the coast. The flying Foresight floated in the middle of Boeotia like a divine harbinger of death, flying monsters returning to the deck to resupply with bombs and projectiles.

And yet, the city still resisted. Defender holdouts used ballistae and spells to snipe down the flying attackers. Harbor chains were still in place, preventing the fleet from entering the port for a land assault. Monster ships were rising up the slope holding the city and battering its outer walls in an attempt to force a way in for the other vessels. As a result of the delays, a smaller part of the fleet under the command of Sertorius’ Tribunal had splintered from the rest of the fleet to secure the forts along the coast as an alternative landing point.

Boeotia’s resistance was focused on a tall fortress built on a crimson rock overseeing the city. A palace of pale red stones protected by bronze gates and strong walls.

The sight of this place brought memories flooding back to Kairos’ mind. I abducted a queen here once, he thought as he gazed at the archers on the walls and spellcasters on the roof. The latter bombarded the Foresight with lightning magic, only for Andromache to raise up protective barriers around the flying ship. And brought ruin upon her house.

Both that queen, her husband, and their princeling of a son had perished. King Lysander had callously murdered his wife in a failed attempt to take Kairos’ [Legend], and Prince Critias had died poisoned. Their throne had been taken over by an ambitious toadie who then offered the country to Mithridates on a silver platter. Their old palace now only stood as a memory of a past long gone; a ruin built on treacherous foundations.

It was better off destroyed.

“Bring down this place, but avoid the central temple if possible!” Kairos shouted to his allies. The rulers of Boeotia had built their palace around a Temple to the Moirae. “It has survived the Anthropomachia and Titanomachia, but there's no reason to commit sacrilege either!”

He let out a roar that shook the heavens and spread [Terror] across the land.

The archers on the palace’s walls faltered and the mages abandoned their assault at the very sight of his arrival. Raising his spear as he approached, Kairos unleashed a stream of burning wind at the defenders. His allies assisted with a rain of arrows while Stymphalian birds tossed archers off the walls and manticores snatched mages to drag them off to their death.

One aerial run was enough.

Kairos came, he saw, and he conquered. When he finished torching the palace’s roof, the defenders had fled or perished. Rooms collapsed under the strain as the flames devoured their foundations. Only the Moirae’s temple in the structure’s center withstood the destruction taking place around it.

No wonder the old gods had lost their heads. The thrill of absolute power coursed through Kairos’ veins, followed by the exhilaration of complete domination. When you soared so high in the skies, it was easy to lose sight of the situation on the ground.

Kairos resolved never to follow that path and took a moment to review the battlefield. Agron’s Bridgeburner had finally destroyed the last harbor chain and forced his way inside, with the first galleys making landfall in the port. With resistance in the city collapsing and the successful bombardments clearing the path, Boeotia would fully fall under their control within the hour.

So far so good, but Kairos didn’t doubt for a second that the Orthians hadn’t noticed the invasion. The smoke could be seen for miles.

“So much smoked meat,” Rook said while salivating at the fires below. “It’s truly torture, Kairos.”

“It’s not over yet,” Kairos replied as he noticed the flock of Stymphalian Birds he had sent as recon returning to Boeotia.

“King Kairos!” Horace arrived from the east, flapping his wings as fast as he could. “Twoleg!”

“Report!” The Travian King ordered. From the bird’s expression, their troubles were only beginning.

“An army coming from the east!” Horace warned, scoffing as he inhaled the smoke in the air. “They’re rushing at full speed towards us! Dozens of thousands!”

What?

“Impossible,” Kairos replied with a frown. “Such a force would have to be Orthia’s main army and the Shield-City is a day’s march away.”

“Their spellcasters buff the warriors constantly and their healers keep them running!” Horace insisted. “It’s hoplite twolegs and charioteers, Kairos! And they have pegasi riders coming this way too!”

Hoplites, charioteers, pegasi riders… the standard composition of the Orthian army.

How did they respond so quickly? Kairos guessed they had anticipated an invasion would happen any day but couldn’t detect where the Travian-Lycean fleet would land. Hence they had kept their forces ready to march at the first sign of trouble, using spells to reduce the army’s exhaustion.

They learned their lesson from last time, Kairos realized. His raid last year had been utterly devastating because Orthia couldn’t send a force to rescue Boeotia quickly enough. “How long do we have until they reach the city?”

“Less than six hours, I think,” Horace replied grimly, “but the pegasi will arrive sometime sooner.”

The Orthians would arrive before Kairos’ fleet could fully unload its troops on land.

No time to waste then.

“Horace, go to Agron and inform him of the attack!” Kairos started barking orders. “Tell him to rush to the outer walls and reinforce them! We need to fortify the city before the enemy arrives!”

Facing the Orthian army in the field while the bulk of their forces hadn’t gotten off the ships was a foolish endeavor, but as long as they secured Boeotia and kept the fleet secure, the invasion force could get reinforcements and supplies from the sea.

“You,” Kairos said as he turned to two fellow griffin riders. “One goes to Sertorius and tells him to reinforce the forts along the shore and establish a defensive perimeter. The other goes to Andromache and asks her to have the Foresight protect the ships as they’re landing. It’s possible a naval force will attack us anytime soon.”

Even with the best spells, the Thalassocrator would never turn around the island quickly enough; but smaller, nimbler ships might reach Boeotia before nightfall.

“The rest of you, come with me!” Kairos ordered as he raised his spear, the sunlight illuminating its tip. “We’ll ambush the pegasi before they arrive and slow down the land army!”

His troops roared in response.

Without further warning, Kairos and the bulk of his air force moved east. The great flock flew over above the walls of Boeotia and the lush, verdant region surrounding it. Orthia’s dominions were mostly made of farmlands tended by helot slaves magically bound to serve the privileged elite.

But these lands would soon belong to Travia, and once they did, Kairos would change things. He would abolish slavery, raise the helots as citizens of his federation, and drag down the so-called elites of this land from their thrones.

And some of his future victims showed up on the horizon on the back of flying horses.

Though he had seen pegasi riders in the past, it was the first time Kairos saw a full brigade of them. He would estimate their numbers as five thousand, most of them human women. The sight of this herd of beautiful winged white and black horses, their feathers glittering in the sunlight, almost made Kairos’ heart falter. The flock looked as beautiful as it was terrible.

And a queen led the vanguard on a pale pegasus.

Kairos had only ever seen her in a dress, but now in golden armor covering her perfect porcelain skin, she appeared like Athena reborn. She wielded a magical orichalcos spear in her right hand and an eye-shaped shield in the left. Her golden hair flowed out of her helmet while a golden mask protected her face, while only her cold blue eyes pierced through the visor.

Queen Euthenia Atreides-Lelegides

Legend: Queen of Beauty (Hero)

Pantheon: none.

Race: Human (Museblood)

Class: Fighter (Charioteer, Athlete, General, Cavalier, Pegasus Rider, Bard)

Level: 60

One of Orthia’s three rulers had come to defend her home.

Though they had been enemies, Queen Euthenia had lost her nephew Critias to Mithridates’ machinations. If she fought on his side today, it was only because she was forced to; or so Julia believed. The mere fact that she hadn’t yet joined Mithridates’ [Diadochai] [Pantheon] was telling.

His wife believed that Euthenia was the key to subjugating Orthia and fracturing the enemy alliance, and Kairos would dutifully exploit the opportunity.

“Capture Queen Euthenia alive!” the Travian King shouted to his troops before preparing to cast [Invisibility]. “I repeat, I want her alive! Isolate her from the rest!”

Kairos’ Griffin Corp and monsters held a large numerical advantage over the enemy brigade, but a mere look at the pegasi riders showcased their wealth in magical items. Helmets protecting them from mental effects, golden armor resisting [Fire] and [Physical] attacks, thick mirror shields and powerful spears… Kairos’ [Observer] Skill also detected [Spellcasters] among them. One third of the riders was made of [Elites], a considerable amount.

Their leader was also a [Hero] to Kairos’ [Demigod], but Helios probably thought something similar before his slayer drove his spear through his head. Overconfidence was a slow and insidious killer, so the Travian King wouldn’t lower his guard.

The two forces sighted each other, and to Kairos’ surprise, the pegasi brigade didn’t scatter at his approach. Either their helmets protected them from his [Terror] effect, or Euthenia’s leadership Skills mitigated the effect.

“Here we go!” Rook shrieked as he raised his claws for the kill and prepared himself for impact. Queen Euthenia had raised her own spear and her allies did the same. Pegasi archers fired the first arrows and mounted mages assisted them with lightning.

“[Invisibility]!” Kairos shouted as his magic shrouded him and his closest allies under an illusory veil. “Target the mages!”

The tactic surprised the pegasi riders, their projectiles going through empty air rather than live targets. Mounted mages and archers were torn apart alongside their winged horses, as invisible giffin riders and manticores assaulted them with spears and claws.

However, Kairos’ spell couldn’t cover the entire battlefield and most of his flock remained exposed, blasted away by enemy spells. Nor did the pegasi brigade falter, its experienced warriors maintaining ranks.

“Dispel them!” Euthenia ordered, her beautiful voice cutting through the noise and covering the battlefield. “Do not let them isolate you! Target the Sunslayer King and they will collapse!”

Her mages instantly switched from offensive spells to using [Dispel Magic], removing the invisibility effect across the enemy army.

And Queen Euthenia blinked as a griffin-riding king appeared right in front of her.

She immediately raised her shield to protect herself, the eye-symbol on its surface shining brightly. A storm of icicles erupted from its iris, but the heat of Kairos’ fiery Dawnspear turned them all to harmless water before they even reached him. The Travian King’s weapon tore through Euthenia’s shield as if it were made of paper, but he remained careful not to harm the person hiding behind. The Orthian Queen retaliated with her own spear, forcing him back for a brief instant.

Attempting to isolate her, Kairos immediately continued his offensive. Tossing her destroyed shield into the void, Euthenia answered with a thrust of her weapon.

“You are fighting the wrong side!” Kairos shouted over the sound of their spears clashing in the skies. “I know you plotted with my wife against Mithridates, so why are you attacking me?”

“Do you think I have a choice?” the queen spat in response. “As far as I am concerned, you and Mithridates are no different, but he is the one with a weapon of mass destruction pointed at my country!”

Euthenia attempted to push him back, but Kairos relentlessly pursued her. The clash quickly turned into a duel as the Travian soldiers formed a defensive perimeter around the two and forced Euthenia’s allies back.

Letting out a snarl of frustration, the Orthian queen had her pegasus fly higher towards the clouds. Kairos bent the winds to prevent her from going too far. Should he use [Warg] to possess her pegasus, at the risk of the beast throwing her off its back? Or should he affect the queen herself?

“Enough!” Kairos shouted. Smoke from the city had spread all across the skies, forming clouds in the heavens. “Don’t you see that we can talk it out?! We share the same enemy!”

Your [Speech] made Euthenia vulnerable to [Mind]-affecting effects.

“At least I will get to avenge Lysander and his wife,” Euthenia said as she grabbed her helmet’s visor. “Mithridates planned their deaths, but it was you who carried out the deed.”

Euthenia tossed her mask aside, revealing her face to the world.

A flash of light almost blinded Kairos as he gazed upon the queen’s visage; the perfect face of all the women he had loved in his life. She had Julia’s keen, ambitious eyes; the perfect, loving face of Andromache; the cheerful, comforting smile of Cassandra. She even had a little of his first crush, a dryad he had serenaded in his boyhood. Queen Euthenia was all of them at once and more, with unblemished skin and a chiseled face without imperfection.

She was a mirror reflecting his inner desires, her features adjusting themselves slightly to match his heart’s ideal.

Beauty was in the eyes of the beholder.

[Blinding Beauty] negated by [Leadership]. [Charisma] check successful. You resisted becoming [Blind] and [Charmed].

Kairos was safe from her charms, but he couldn’t say the same for his army.

His [Leadership] Skill protected his men from mind-control so long as they fought under his lead, but not from the [Blind] status. The very sight of Euthenia’s face caused an uproar among a hundred or so of his winged beasts, causing griffins to toss riders off their backs and monsters to cover their eyes. The Orthian pegasi riders immediately answered this confusion with steel and spells.

But if Kairos had succeeded on the [Charisma] check… then his own was higher.

“Submit to me,” he said as his harsh eyes turned red and he met the queen’s gaze. “[Telchine Sorcery: Charm].”

Empowered by the evil eye of the Telchine race, his gaze crushed Euthenia’s will. Weakened by his [Speech], her mind faltered and she lowered her spear.

“Tell your men to surrender,” Kairos ordered, his very voice carrying power. “Come with me. Let us talk this out—”

“Kairos, look!” Rook shouted a warning. “The clouds!”

Kairos sensed it long before he heard the roar. His mastery of the winds allowed him to detect an enormous shape emerging from the clouds above, and though the beast hid itself under a veil of invisibility, his [Sun of War] Skill allowed him to see through the illusion.

But the beast moved so swiftly for its size that Rook had no choice but to fly back. Good thing he did too, for the dragon opened its mouth to rain death upon the land.

No flames came out of its maw. Instead, the creature unleashed a jet stream of purple acid and poison, barely missing Kairos, but still hitting a dozen soldiers taken by surprise. Whether they were Orthian pegasi riders or Travian monsters, the acid consumed them all and melted the flesh off their bones.

The silver dragon emerged from the clouds of smoke and dispelled the invisibility effect hiding it, revealing itself in all of its glory. Its great wings darkened the land underneath, and even brave Rook looked no bigger than a chick in comparison. “[Dispel],” the dragon’s rider cast with a familiar voice, breaking the curse controlling Euthenia’s mind.

“Kairos…” Rook whispered with a determined look as he circled the dragon, looking for an opening.

“Yes,” the Travian King said as he squinted and addressed his rival. “I thought you would guard your flagship.”

“The possibility of killing you is something you change your plans for,” a mocking voice answered as the dragon hovered a few meters above Kairos. The beast’s mighty wings blew smoke in all directions, pushing back the few Travian soldiers brave enough to try to approach it. “Still, I’m surprised you could see me coming in spite of my [Invisibility] spell. And here I hoped to end this war cleanly.”

He must have followed the pegasi brigade under the cover of invisibility. No doubt he had unlocked a subclass similar to Kairos’ [Beastmaster], granting his dragon the same protection and shrouding his approach from Horace’s sight. He had then camouflaged himself among the clouds, waiting in ambush to attack the Travian King when he least expected it.

“I knew you would be a problem the moment we met, Kairos. I saw the greed burning in your eyes for my country’s wealth and glory. I knew that one day you would raid my lands with zeal.”

He had changed since the last time Kairos met him. Instead of kingly clothes, his nemesis now wore armor of silver and adamantine scales stronger than any fortress’ wall. A curved blade coursed with lightning in his right hand, while his left wielded a crow-shaped magical scepter.

“But I never imagined, forgive me the uncouth expression,” Mithridates IV Pergamon said as he glared at Kairos, “that you would be such a pain in my ass.”

“I live to disappoint,” Kairos replied as he raised his spear. The battle had collapsed into a chaotic melee below them, flyers clashing in a deadly dance of feathers and claws.

Though he didn’t expect this duel so soon, Kairos was ready for it all the same.

“Not for long, Kairos. I should have killed you long ago, and I will correct that mistake today.” The Poison Emperor’s sword shone with an aura of lightning, while Queen Euthenia retreated behind the dragon’s right wing. “Shall we begin?”

The dragon roared and Kairos set the skies ablaze.