Washington D.C.

President Lee and his advisors, along with military attachés, analyzed real-time satellite data as they tracked the Parpaldian fleet. Hundreds of miles to the west, the Altaran fleet deployed from their home port, establishing a defensive perimeter along their shores. President Lee sat in silence, listening to his subordinates’ discussions when something caught his attention. Someone mentioned a submarine, the USS Texas.

President Lee held up his right hand, causing the room to go quiet. “Where’s the Texas now?”

A naval officer replied, “Sir, the USS Texas is en route to intercept, ETA 16 hours.”

President Lee saw an opportunity. “Good. The Parpaldians don’t have sonar or anything, I assume. No magic wizardry that can help them detect our subs either, Dr. Holden?”

A man in a lab coat nodded his head, a tag identifying him as the Director of Magical Research. “That’s correct, Mister President,” he said as he adjusted his glasses.

“Excellent.” He crossed his arms. “Let’s help out the Altarans and take out those wyvern carriers.”

A foreign affairs official protested, “But sir, would it be wise to demonstrate our capabilities this early?”

President Lee raised his eyebrow slightly, preparing a reply. However, the Secretary of the Navy got there first, elaborating for him. “No, I think the President has a sound idea here. Rumors and tall tales are rampant in this part of the world, and so are ‘sea monsters’. Torpedoes slamming into those carriers certainly won’t look like a sea monster attack, but what else could these primitives attribute the destruction to?”

Nods of agreement affirmed the reasonability of this strategy.

“Well, alright then. Steven, let me know if there are any updates. I’ve got to get started on some speeches and denouncements against the Parpaldian Empire.”

——

Le Brias, Kingdom of Altaras

King Taara listened to the American manacomm with his military’s leaders. They collectively felt the stinging blade of anxiety on their necks as the Parpaldian fleet approached.

The device crackled to life as another update came through. “Current trajectory is the Altaran capital city of Le Brias, projected time of arrival is 24 hours. Cloud cover is beginning to clear; estimated ship count is at 324. 211 ships of the line, 12 wyvern carriers, 101 transports and supply ships.”

Hearing that number was like an arrow through the heart; despite Altaras’ immense wealth, they still could not match up to the might of the Parpaldian Empire. As the Americans had warned, they will likely be crushed in the open sea, which is why ambushes and unconventional tactics were recommended. Wooden spikes and other obstacles were placed throughout the most probable landing zones. Mines and pitfall traps reminiscent of Vietnam-era contraptions were placed randomly in the forest separating Le Brias from the northern beaches.

The angered Altarans cared not about playing dirty; they only cared about vengeance against the humiliation and oppression that they suffered under Parpaldian rule. Although the Altarans were well-versed in the concept of honor, they eagerly threw it aside for a chance at punishing their arrogant overlords. They enthusiastically invested a significant portion of their magic gems to decimate the invading army, realizing that if the Parpaldians succeeded, they would lose everything and not just gems.

Meanwhile, the navy stayed close to the shoreline, hoping to fight the Parpaldian fleet with wyvern support from the mainland. Thanks to King Taara’s paranoia about a Parpaldian invasion and the information provided by the Americans, most of the Altaran military’s wyverns and mages were ready to defend the capital. Ground-based ballistae overlooked several cliffs, armed with enchanted bolts infused with the fiery power of red magic gems.

King Taara surveyed his city, seeing the dramatic increase in activity as workers established defenses and carried supplies. Without turning away from the window, he spoke, “General Tellsa, are all the wyverns here yet?”

General Tellsa saluted behind him. “Your Highness, we have 180 wyverns accounted for. Five more squadrons are en route, which should give us a total of 240 wyverns by evening.”

“Have them ready to deploy by tomorrow morning. Give them good meals and a good night’s rest; the upcoming battle will determine the very fate of this kingdom.”

——

Strait of Altaras, Northern Sea

The setting sun slowly shrunk below the horizon, bathing the clouds above in an orange glow. General Cius smiled at the sight. “Tomorrow, we will be seeing this same beautiful scenery. There will be only one difference: the golden glow will be not from the sun, but rather from the fires of Le Brias!”

His officers cheered in agreement, relishing the fact that they would be able to plunder the dying kingdom without consequence. Their cheers were drowned out by the sound of a large explosion to their immediate left. Sailors working on the decks were impaled and scorched by debris from the destroyed wyvern carrier that was sailing next to them. Some were lucky enough to duck down and avoid the shrapnel, but the rest were skewered by pieces of wood and anti-magic plating. Before General Cius could react, another wyvern carrier spontaneously exploded to their right, followed by several more.

“What madness is this?!” He bellowed, shielding his eyes from the blinding fireballs.

Within seconds, he and the rest of his fleet witnessed the destruction of eight of their prized wyvern carriers, leaving only two left. His mind, unable to process the sheer destruction before him, wondered if this was a god’s doing. Had he somehow angered one of the ocean deities? His mouth hung open as he watched the smoke rise from the burning ships.

He snapped out of his shock and issued orders. “All surviving wyvern carriers, deploy your wyvern lords NOW! All vessels, disperse and maintain course for Le Brias!”

The night sky was lit up by a dimming orange glow as the fleet abandoned the sinking, burning vessels. Most of the carriers were destroyed so thoroughly that General Cius deemed it an unnecessary risk to search for survivors. No one wanted to remain in these treacherous waters, and no one thought that there were any sailors left to save.

They continued on in dreadful silence, wondering if another such attack would occur. Minutes passed, then hours, but nothing ever happened. Despite a growing sense of security, many of the Parpaldians still felt tense, as if death could strike at any moment. While the sailors kept a lookout for anything suspicious, Cius pondered the nature of the attack itself. Who could have done this, and why?

Could it possibly have been a sea monster? The explosions that occurred on the carriers — which don’t carry any significant amount of flammable or otherwise explosive material — were too artificial. A sea monster couldn't have cast explosion magic like that. The blasts threw large columns of water into the air, so the explosion must have happened somewhere close to the water line, perhaps even below. The only nations he knew were capable of using explosive weaponry in such a manner were Mu and the United States, but both countries generally attacked via cannons. In the case of the United States, Cius did hear about the explosive light arrows, but these struck from the skies, not below the seas.

After ruling out all other options, he was left with one: sabotage. Someone — likely the Altarans — must have planted bombs on the wyvern carriers, then detonated them in a coordinated attack. Fearing the presence of more of these hypothetical saboteurs, he informed his officers of the situation.

With the issue of spies now under investigation, Cius returned to strategizing. The destruction of 8 carriers meant that they were left with only 80 wyvern lords, split between 4 carriers. This force of 80 wyvern lords could easily take on a force twice, even three times its size. However, the casualties experienced from such an engagement would hinder Parpaldian aerial capabilities — so much so that air support would be almost impossible save for the largest of operations. Thankfully, he still had the option of naval bombardment. Although the landing zone was far away from the capital itself, he could take Le Brias’ port and assign the fleet to provide support once the main army reached the capital.

Looking up at the starry night sky, he closed his eyes, releasing the pent up anxiety and tension from the mysterious attack. Realizing that he should get some rest before the invasion, he went to his quarters and collapsed onto his bed. Eventually, the fear of an attack subsided; if there was another attack, there would be nothing he could do about it.

——

The next morning, he awoke to the sound of seagulls in the air and sailors bustling about, preparing their gear and equipment. Emerging from his quarters, he immediately dived into his work and issued orders. Satisfied with the fleet’s formation and battle readiness, he checked the magic detector for signs of Altaran deployment.

“You there,” he pointed at a magician operating the detector. “Have the Altarans sent out their wyverns yet?”

“No, sir. Their wyverns are still yet to be seen.”

Curious, Cius thought. “And their ships?”

“Their ships are maintaining a defensive formation, hugging the coastline. I see no more than a hundred vessels.”

Cius smiled. “Easy targets for our cannons. All vessels, maintain arrowhead formation. The defending ships will attempt to flank us. Carriers, deploy the wyvern lords and have them target the group of ships along the designated landing zone.”

Soon after the wyvern lords were sent out, the magic detector displayed hostile contacts emerging from within the city. “Sir,” the magician said, “I see at least 200 contacts on the detector, coming from Le Brias!”

Although the Altarans had quantity, the Parpaldians had quality. However, the overwhelming numerical advantage of the Altarans represented a significant threat to the Parpaldian wyvern lords. Cius wanted to eliminate the enemy wyverns as effectively as possible. “Split our forces in half. Two squads will attack the defending fleet while the other two will pinch the Altaran wyverns!”

His orders were carried out. Two groups of wyvern lords maintained their trajectory while the other two groups ascended, hiding in the clouds and waiting for their chance to swoop down.

——

Altaran Royal Navy

Admiral Bordo stared at the modified ballista bolts with curiosity and slight doubt. “Are you sure this will work?” He asked a bearded magician next to him.

The magician replied with a hoarse voice. “Yes, yes. I’ve tested it numerous times myself; these Americans are truly intelligent in devising this modification.”

Bordo tapped the bolt. “What modification is this, again?”

The magician’s eyes glimmered, eager to lecture. “Ah! I’m glad you asked. Our standard application of magic gems in warfare primarily involves wind magic, particularly Tears of the Wind God applied to ballista bolts. By simply adjusting the design of the bolts’ fletchings, we can make them more efficient and increase their range. We can also use Tears for compressed air, which can help propel our bolts even further. These modifications were very easy to make, so all of our bolts are capable of hitting targets 3 kilometers away — about the same as Parpaldian cannons. Our bolts however have more accuracy than their cannonballs.”

Now Bordo was interested; he was fascinated by how such small microadjustments could drastically improve the firepower of his navy. “And the bolt, why does the tip look different?”

The magician smiled, “It is our secret weapon against the Parpaldians. Admiral, what are these bolts usually made of?”

Bordo scratched his head, uncertain where the magician was going with this. “Well, the bolts are usually made of solid iron. Sometimes they’re made of steel or even enchanted, if the budget allows for it.”

“Due to the budget increase, we’ve been able to deploy a new line of bolts: these are made of steel, but are also hollow.”

“Hollow?”

“Yes. Inside, there is a compartment filled with volatile magic gems. By activating the red magic gems inside before the weapon is fired, we can time the bolt to explode when it reaches a target. The heat builds up until a few seconds have passed, then it explodes, sending steel shrapnel in all directions. Without a weapon like this, I doubt we would be able to penetrate the heavy anti-magic plating of the Parpaldian Empire.”

Bordo looked at the ballista with wonder. “And this… this is knowledge given to us by the Americans?”

“Indeed. I myself am quite surprised at the simplicity of this improvement; we could have thought of it ourselves… I’m also surprised that they still claim to be a magicless nation. But then again, they did reiterate that this design was derived from scientific principles.”

“Huh,” Bordo nodded in agreement. “Well then, thank you for your time, Magician. I’ll revise my defensive plan accordingly.” He chuckled a bit, feeling grateful for the new upgrades. “This is truly a blessing! Now I don’t have to worry about closing the gap between our ships and the Parpaldians’!”

“Unfortunately,” the magician said, “They have been unable to upgrade the speed of our ships, so we will eventually come under fire from the Parpaldian fleet.”

“I understand. Here, relay this message to all mages on our fleets. I want as many mages as possible to evacuate. If we are to prevail against the Parpaldian Empire, we need to maintain our magical prowess.”

“But Admiral, what about you? We will be lacking in talented officers…”

Admiral Bordo waved his concern away. “Worry not. Talented officers will rise to prominence, forged by combat. There shall be plenty more like myself and those under my command.”

The magician nodded. “Very well then. May victory be blessed upon you.”

“The chances of victory are slim. I would rather be blessed with the most Parpaldian kills,” Bordo said with a grin.

The magician chuckled. “Then may you be blessed with the most Parpaldian kills.”