Chapter 166 – Confronting the Elder Titan

As a scarlet dawn broke on the 28th, Mirian surveyed her arrayed forces one last time.

From her vantage on her command ship, Mirian could distinguish Annita even at a distance from her distinctive eyepatch. Her hunters were spread out in an arc in the forest, with stone walls woven through the trees. With them, she could make out the drab robes of the Cult of Zomalator, ready to act as healers. Lecne looked up at her as her airship circled. The cult wasn’t exactly trained in battle, but life had hardened them in other ways. Plus, of all the allies she’d gathered, they knew what was at stake.

The five skiffs all had been retrofitted by Torres with enhanced artillery. Commander Hirte would be leading the airships in maneuver and attack patterns. For now, at least, he looked focused, rather than wistful. On another skiff, she saw Respected Jei, back straight, projecting confidence, even though Mirian knew she was terrified.

More myrvite hunters, armed with armor piercing guns and spell mortars, camped out on the hillside that overlooked the emergence spot. Voran, Trinea, and the other Praetorians stood by them, though when the battle came, they’d be using levitation sprints to quickly move around the battlefield. Mirian had warned them about the myrvite titan’s anti-magic.

Finally, Mirian had her surprise. The workshops in Alkazaria had completed their orders, and the devices had been unloaded and readied. Torres was overseeing that from a hill to the east, with Nicolus’s assistance. The boy had insisted on helping, while Nurea had petitioned for the safest possible role.

Back in Alkazaria, there was an investigation into bank transfer fraud, counterfeiting, illegal impersonation, and forbidden magic use. She’d already left, though. They’d be chasing a ghost.

In Normag, the last piece of her plan was falling into place; a workshop and materials were being set up for her; the last of her special orders.

Now, she just actually had to defeat a titan.

Sleep deprivation and exhaustion clawed at her, but she suppressed them, burning another thimble of soul energy from the repositories at her belt. Every waking hour of the past month had been directed towards preparations. This is it.

“Send in the bait,” she ordered. One of the soldiers on the airship sent out a flare, and the men below started driving the oxen forward. Several times now, she’d sent them to Apophagorga who had devoured them eagerly. This had trained it to expect the gift. The beast had never experienced the assault afterward. With any luck, the titan would emerge in the center of the formation, distracted by the animals.

If not, she had contingencies.

The oxen reached the center, where a prepared pile of oats kept them busy. While the animals grunted and chewed, the assault force waited.

And waited.

The chill of the air had long since settled into them, and she could feel the tension in the air. Mirian checked and rechecked her wands, spellbook, soul repositories and devices. The sun slowly crawled above the horizon. There was anticipation in the cloud of every breath.

The divination device chimed.

“It’s coming,” Mirian said, heart pounding. “Airships, ascend,” she called out, echoing the command with a series of flares. The violet dot representing Apophagorga was rapidly tunneling through the earth. The mushroom trees by the oxen pulsed with light, and the ground began to rumble. The oxen looked around, oats forgotten.

A violet flare shot out of the airship, followed by a yellow. Beast approaching. Mirian estimated the trajectory. Her heart leapt. Yes! It had taken the bait. A green flare followed. Target area.

With an eruption of soil, Apophagorga emerged, nearly on top of the oxen. It gluttonously seized the now panicked oxen with its tendrils and began stuffing them into its maw, the large beasts blackening as their souls were crushed before their bodies even made into that darkened pit of churning teeth.

“First strike!” she called. A red flare rose high above the battlefield.

The artillery spoke with a thunderous roar, and the black shell of the beast exploded. Below, high powered rifles erupted in volley, while Annita’s team sent cascades of fire toward it.

Apophagorga bellowed.

Mirian felt it in her bones. Reflexively, she stabilized her own aura.

The titan began to look around wildly. “Second strike. Be ready for it to phase,” Mirian said using a remote speech spell to Voran. Sure enough, it appeared to vanish, and the Praetorians began their assault. Their spells appeared to do little, but Mirian knew they were detonating deep in the fourth spatial dimension.

Three red flares went up next. If it couldn’t phase, Mirian knew what it would do next. It was a terrifying predator, but it was also a creature of instinct. The cunning beast knew when to hide.

The artillery officers had already loaded the earthburrow shells into their guns. As the third flare shimmered in the morning air, the guns fired. Mirian looked at the detector. Sure enough, Apophagorga was attempting to burrow.

With a rumble, the specially modified shells exploded deep beneath the earth, sending up eruptions of dirt while the ground below trembled.

Apophagorga phased back into visibility in front of them, nacreous ichor leaking from dozens of gaping wounds. It roared again, elephantine feet stomping, spined tendrils flailing.

“Fourth strike!” Mirian called. As the flares went up, all teams commenced their assault. From her vantage, she could see hundreds of spells and rifles bombarding the beast.

The titan charged, heading for the treeline. The grievous wounds hadn’t slowed it. If anything, it seemed to be moving faster.

“West group, immediate retreat. Hunter group south, cease mortar fire.” Mirian said. To Voran, she said, “Praetorians, engage,” Several colored flares went up, and Annita’s hunters began running. Apophagorga hit the treeline like a hurricane, body smashing into three pines, sending them toppling as its tendrils scythed through the underbrush and stone. The walls fell before it like playing cards.

From the hill, the Praetorians took off, spreading out as they used brief levitation spells to ‘hop’ towards the beast, staying close enough to the ground that they’d be fine if they were targeted with the titan’s nullifying magic. They began peppering it with spells, targeting the rear legs.

Apophagorga ignored the gnat-like assault to chase the hunters. They’d scattered like they were supposed to, but it still caught three of them as it stampeded forward, consuming them in an instant.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Hunter group east, advance. Drivers, wagons into position.”

The titan continued its rampage through the forest, running down two more hunters and Pelnu. As Mirian watched with her focus, the soul energy in Apophagorga surged. Pulses of it ran through the beast, sealing off the gaping wounds. Its aura was still billowing about it like a cloud, suppressing almost all the spells.

Mirian grimaced. They needed to hit it harder. “Armor piercing rounds on three of the skiffs. Two keep earthburrow shells ready. Keep our altitude.” Either the titan was still reluctant to use its nullifying ability because of the high cost of soul energy, or the airships were out of range. Either way, she wanted the artillery hitting it as long as possible. With practiced hands, the gunners reloaded the guns while the pilots brought them into position. The nice thing about Apophagorga smashing up the forest was it destroyed any possible cover.