Chapter 4

Sapphire skies and emerald seas. The same chaotic currents and blustery winds that had kept the Shogunate navy landlocked for the past few months and postponed the war had also scoured the Bay of Kings clean. Looking at the vast expanses of sparkling water and cloudless sky, I couldn't help but feel that it would be a shame that we'd soon be smearing it with blood and death.

My soul senses active, I lightly punched the stone of the crenelated rampart I was leaning against, watching as the closely intertwined mix of water and earth mana in the dark teal stone rippled outwards, carrying the force of my blow away and spreading it out harmlessly.

Hard to believe as it was, I was on a castle at sea. A floating fortress. Known simply as the Marine Palace, it was one of the hidden treasures of Regiis. What the Cloud Whale was for the sky, the Marine Palace was for the sea. It was made of a special material called seastone – a composite material born of the intermingling of both earth and water.

Seastone could only be found at the intersection between land and sea – buried under the silt of river deltas. When immersed, it could redirect any sort of physical impact it suffered into the water surrounding it. This made the Marine Palace nigh indestructible in the sea.

Other than that, seastone was porous. Once the pores were filled with water, it was just slightly heavier than water, but if they were filled with air, it could float easily. This property allowed the gigantic construct – nearly the size of the entire Felidae Estate – to float on the sea, acting as a vessel for our entire army.

Like an iceberg, the part of the mobile castle visible above the water was just a fraction of its true extent. Another half of it was submerged underwater. If the commanders so wished, the air saturating the seastone pores could be driven out and water allowed to fill the void, making the entire castle sink below the surface. Combined with the water repelling topology it was equipped with, it could become a submarine. A submarine of inconceivable proportions.

Accompanying the Marine Palace like the retinue of an Emperor was the regular naval forces. Streamlined submarines swarmed under the surface, sleek warships with taut sails cut through the water above it, and airships blotted out the sky.

And this was just the Eastern Armada.

Although there was only one Marine Palace, the Western Armada, I had been told, was no less impressive by dint of their population outnumbering us three to one – both in terms of manpower and warships. I could just imagine the magnificence of the sight once we converged.

And the terror of the scene when two armies of such scale finally clashed against each other.

Standing upon the twenty-metre-tall walls surrounding the Palace and looking straight down, I could see the white foam where the waves crashed against the dark teal stone. The water swirled around the entire castle, forming a strong current that towed us forward towards our destination. From the unnaturally orderly flow of water mana I could guess that it was Isabella's doing. While the Wind Wolf was the Supreme Commander of the Western Armada, she was ours.

Once again, I was struck by the sheer power possessed by a Demigod. A Tier 5 water mage would burn himself out within an hour if he tried to manipulate a current of this scale. Isabella had been keeping this current up for nearly a week now, seemingly without much effort.

Truly, Demigods weren't within the mortal scope any longer. They were forces of nature.

The entire fleet was bustling with activity. Warships docked and others set out from the Palace to take their place at the perimeter. Pluma winged their way from one ship to another and to and from the Palace, bearing orders and conveying messages.

The airships were no exception. Squinting against the sun, I saw a flash of silver as Artemis flew from one to another, doing her part for the war effort. From time to time, an airship would fly down from the sky and hover above the hangar. A rope would be thrown down and the crew would rappel down for some much-needed rest as others replaced them onboard the craft.

I too was on a break, having just completed a round of drilling with the artillery squad, perfecting my timing for casting my unique brand of magic to amplify their spells. With war looming on the horizon, each moment of leisure was precious and I liked to spend mine lounging on the rampart, soaking in the sun and the scenery.

A shadow covered me as an airship passed overhead on its way to the hangar.

"Master!"

My eyes widened and my head whipped up as I heard the oh so familiar call.

Just in time. I caught sight of a lithe figure leaping off the airship and free-falling towards me. Jerking upright, head raised to keep sight of her, I held out my hands and hastily channelled Vita's Divine Power into them as I tried to position myself in order to catch her and break her fall.

Yet, at the very last moment, her accelerating figure suddenly stagnated, then began to drift gently downwards like a feather, the sea breeze blowing her incomparably accurately into my outstretched arms. From where she grinned up at me mischievously.

Snorting discontentedly, I dumped her onto the ground. Or, at least, tried to. But true to her feline heritage, she managed to land on her feet, skipping backwards away from me with her hands behind her back and that silly grin still on her face.

"Gotcha," she giggled. "Master, you should have seen the look on your face. It was priceless."

"What would you do if your dress suddenly failed? Or if you lost control?" I scolded with a frown.

"Master, don't be a worrywart, ya."

Spinning on the tip of her toe, she let her skirt flare out. It was a beautiful powder blue with fluffy white patterns resembling clouds… Like someone had cut out a piece of the very sky with a tailor's shears and sewn it into a garment solely for her.

"I've been practicing with it for months now. I know how much I can handle. Let alone, even if I didn't have it, I could have lightened myself enough that it wouldn't hurt," said Deimos. "Not from that height."

My gaze went again to the clearly magical garment she was wearing.

It was the result of the collaboration between the Iron Bear and the crotchety old seamstress who had dressed me for my wedding. The two grumpiest people in the Capital had collaborated to turn the Cloudsilk yarn gifted to us by the Wind Wolf into what could only be called a masterpiece.

The Raiment of the Sky.