Chapter 114

Left Hand of God 6

-:-

5 days later

On the bridge of a cargo ship

An unknown location in the middle of the ocean

Lightning streaked through the dark skies

Howling gales caused the metal of the cargo ships to creak

Waves as tall as building hammered the ship with the ferocity of an avalanche

The rain of cats and dogs has been going on for hours on end.

“U-um… Princess. A word please?” asked the captain of the cargo ship

FYI: Princess was the nickname given to Juno by her troops/slaves.

Juno disliked this nickname because it didn't represent who she was.

High Priestess, Empress, Queen or Your Majesty was a better fit for her than Princess.

However, given her current state of powerlessness and the lack of an actual emperor to serve under, Juno decided to stick with the Princess nickname for now.

“What?” replied Juno while staring at the storm outside the window

“I know I might die from saying this, but going through this storm is suicide. I suggest we go back and avoid it.”

“Why? I thought the ships were modified specifically for storms like this” replied Juno

By ‘modify’, Juno meant that the ships were enchanted by Shale with runic sigils that made them extremely durable and allowed them to move faster on water.

It wasn't much, but these were the only things they could do in such a short notice

These runes were the main reasons why it only took 12 days for the 5 cargo ships to reach the middle of the ocean called ‘The Ring Of Fire’ so quickly.

Naturally, they slowed down 1 day ago in order to make it look like they were normal cargo ships.

“IT DOESNT MATTER! NO MATTER HOW REINFO-” roared the captain before an invisible hand grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up

“No need to shout captain. I can hear you just fine” said Juno while using Force Choke on the captain. “I don't doubt your skill as a seaman or disregard your opinion. However, your panic, while understandable, has blinded you greatly”

Juno threw the captain on the floor in front of the meteorological equipment

“Look at your equipment and tell me what you see.” said Juno who didn't even spare the captain a glance as she continued to survey the violent seas

The captain looked at the screens and sigh in annoyance.

“It’s the same bug we have for the past few hours now. No way this is accurate!”

The screens in front of him was telling him that the area they were passing through was a high pressure area.

High pressure areas were commonly characterized by stable air, decently clear skies, not so good visuals if you’re flying and the general characteristics of a good day.

It was natural that the captain instantly thought that their equipment was malfunctioning. He only needed to look at the massive waves that smashed ever so often into the ship’s hull for proof.

“Like I said earlier, your knowledge of the seas without question…. However, I’m sure that your knowledge of magic is woefully lacking. Am I correct?” asked Juno

“Huh? What in god's name are you talking about?” asked the confused Captain with his crew sharing his confusion

“Though I’m no meteorologist, I do know that most storms start off as low pressure areas. And low pressure areas often have generally cloudy skies, rough winds and a bit of rain. But more importantly, it has high temperature. Tell me captain, what is the temperature outside?”

Though annoyed, the captain did as Juno asked and checked on the outside temperature.

What he saw confused him greatly

“This has to be a malfunction…. This just has to be.” said Captain

“Captain? The temperature please.” said Juno with a bit of force

The captain paused for a bit before answering

“50 degrees celsius or 122 degrees fahrenheit.”

The crewmen gasp upon hearing this

As skilled seamen who had gone through their fair share of storms, the crew knew damn well that there was no way that a low pressure area could generate so much heat.

“That temperature is greater than a particularly hot day in the dessert. I understand if you immediately dismissed it as a malfunction, but that does fly for us who knows magic quite a bit.” said Juno

“T-then… what does this mean?”

“This particular storm is part of a large scale magic barrier. The area is so massive that the ones using it cant completely contain the heat being generated by the ritual. While the temperature cant be detected via satellite, local measuring equipment can detect traces of it.”

“But what does this mean?” asked the captain

“You know that you just repeated that question, right?” said Juno with a giggle. “Whatever. The point is this: We have found our target area.”

Juno faced the captain with sharp eyes and a vicious grin

“Seeing how violent the storm has become and how high the temperature is, I assume we’re getting very close. Captain, tell Shale to come to the bridge. Contact the other ships and tell them to proceed with the plan. Have all our troops arm themselves, because once we land, I doubt we’ll have enough time to do anything else but fight.”

-:-

1 hour later

In midst of an excessively violent storm were 5 cargo ships that bravely went against the seas.

They were in a simple diagonal formation with 10 kilometers of space between each of them.

Juno was on the ship at the tail end of the formation.

Sitting on the floor in the corner of the bridge was the terrified fully armored Shale

“Aww~ What’s a matter Shale? Scared of a little water?” teased Juno who also donned her armor.

“S-shut up you crazy bitch! This is why I hate humans! Why in the ancestor’s name would you travel over something so unstable as water! You beardless nutjobs are insane!” Shale replied while clutching to a nearby table to stabilize himself

“And how are we suppose to travel great distances then?”

“Stupid question! Underground! Only a race of mentally retarded fools would use the sea and the sky to actually travel!”

“Yes yes. Whatever you say my little midget friend” replied Juno as she patted Shale on the head

“You bitch! If I get out of this alive, I’ll cleSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT!”

Shale screamed at the top of his lungs as the ship went over a wave and powered through the other side

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That squeal was so pathetic!” Juno couldn't help but laugh her ass out loud

Though the crew in charge of the bridge were silent, all of them were desperately trying to hide their laughter.

“I’ll kill you! I swear on my ancestoSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTT!”

For the next 5 minutes, light hearted laughter echoed through the bridge at Shale’s expense.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

One of the stones hanging on Shales neck began to shine before turning into charcoal black.

“Juno! Boat 4 is in!” screamed Shale over the sound of the violent sea.

“Boat 4 just disappeared from our sensors!” added the captain before Juno could ask

Juno rushed to the windows and tried to spot anything.

Naturally, this was a futile effort given the bombardment of rain on the windshields and the general madness outside the ship.

However, this was due to the earth’s curvature. The approximate distance of the horizon was between 5-6 kilometers depending on the area. Since the cargo ships were 10 kilometers away from each other, it was given that Juno couldnt spot the ship in front of them AKA ship 4.

“Send the signal to ships 1, 2 and 3 to head for our last coordinates! After that, Brace for impact!” commanded Juno.

The crew did as they were told, but barely 30 seconds later, everything changed.

From the dark skies, violent storm and waves the size of buildings to a calm and peaceful sea with clear skies.

And in the middle of this seemingly unnatural break from the sea of chaos was a beautiful island filled with the green of the forest and some curious looking scifi-ish magical-ish buildings. It was a confusing mix of both.

“What the-” said one of the crew

“We’re going to fast! Brace for impact!” roared the captain

Fun fact: Cargo Ships have pathetic maneuverability.

In order to dock, they often need the assistance of smaller ships to move into position.

Now, what would happen if a cargo ship was traveling at the speed similar to a drag racer?

The answer was obvious.

It would crash…. Spectacularly.

It took about 20 seconds for the cargo ship to hit the shore and cleave through the trees of a nearby forest.

The ship eventually stopped when it plowed into a decently sized building.

Screams, sirens and running could be heard throughout the streets as the sudden appearance of the cargo ship

And then, there was silence.

Naturally, the island inhabitants were no fools.

The very idea that 5 cargo ships braved the storm that normally would have scared of most sane sailors was a cause for alarm.

Then, there was the fact that 2 ships of said caravan was able to make landfall in rapid succession.

How can that be not suspicious?

Plus, there was 3 more ships just outside the barrier that was clearly performing maneuvers to follow the first 2 ships in.

Only a fool would think that this was mere set of coincidences.

As such, the islanders began deploying their military to intercept these potential invaders.

However, this was the part where Juno couldn't help but thank the machine god that she was convinced by Miguel Baroque to use cargo ships.

If she went ahead and used the aircraft carrier, the islanders would have been more prepared to meet them.

Instead, their welcoming committee was akin to the police.

A group of 10 spear wielding individuals clad in bronze armor with a shark motif began approaching the ship.

Based on the way they moved, they were far from the cream of the crop, and this was perfect

A figure jumped from the ship and landed violently into the fish-police, crushing one underneath her heel and bashing another’s brains in with a scary looking 2 handed spiked mace.

“Guten Tag!” said Juno before swinging her mace at full force, cleaving through 2 fish-police in one go.

The fish-police scattered in an attempt to gain distance, but this was a futile move.

The 3 that moved towards the ship was flattened by Juno’s troll pet, Bob. Using a thick piece of steel, Bob crushed them in one go.

The remaining 3 that went towards the city was gunned down by gunfire from the Duergar gunners that were on the ship.

And so the battle began as fish-police began pouring into the area where the ship landed.

They were met with a terrifying force.

Before the fish-police could set up a perimeter, 20 duergars that rode flaming iron bulls smashed through them like a battering ram.

Then, there were the trolls that rushed through the opening made by the duergar cavalry. Wielding whatever solid object they could find as bats, the trolls began playing whack a mole with anything that wasnt in Juno’s group.

And finally, there were the foot soldiers comprising of humans and duergars. Some with magical melee weapons, others with guns and others still with cybernetics.

They surged forward, taking out anyone the first 2 waves might have missed.

Juno’s forces quickly spread out through the city in a whirlwind of violence and death

“Remember. Do not harm the civilians. We will be needing them later on. Anyone stupid enough to ignore this command…. Well, you already know what will happen to you. Is that understood?” said Juno via her coms

With a chorus of ‘Yes maam’ resonating from her coms, Juno nodded in satisfaction.

“Hey Juno, can I ask you something?” asked Shale as he was finally able to descend from the ship.

This was a particularly taxing endeavor because, unlike the other duergar cavalry, Shale was riding a chariot that was being pulled by 4 armored flaming bulls.

This was called ‘The Chariot of the Damned’ and it was a powerful magic item with some awesome abilities that would be explained in a later date.

“What’s up Shale?” replied Juno

“Where the hell are we?”

“Huh? I never told you?”

“No. The only thing you told all of us is that we’re going to attack a magic based city state.”

“Oh… I see… My bad.”

Juno took a few steps forward, turned to face Shale and performed a graceful curtsy before saying…

“Welcome to the City of Atlantis”