Chapter 107: The Great Undertaking

"This is it."

Princess Donorea led me and a small retinue of my men into the factory that was buried in the mountain where our outpost was garrisoned.

"Whoa…this is amazing!"

Corporal Geoffrey Gunnery was gazing around in wonder, his jaw dropping as he feasted his eyes on the endless conveyor belts, neatly arranged rows of machinery and automated mechanical arms and drills assembling and disassembling vehicle parts.

"As expected of Moria," Sergeant Jason Jurgen agreed, similarly impressed. I had brought my aide along with my tank crew, Lieutenant Gio Vanni and a small squad of riflemen to act as my escorts in our trip to the secret factory.

"My brother has ordered the staff here to undertake a secret project," Donorea explained gently, gesturing with a slender hand. Upon seeing her, the dwarf workers immediately dropped to their knees and bowed their heads deferentially.

"Your highness!"

"At ease, please don't mind me. I'm just showing our guests around."

"But your highness…"

One of the lead dwarfs, who was smoking a cigar and wearing goggles beneath his sombrero, swaddled up. Damn, but was that a Mexican mustache, complete with the swirl, the curl and the swagger? Amazing!

"This is supposed to be a top secret facility. Never mind outsiders, even the majority of Morians are not allowed in here."

"I have granted them special permission," Donorea explained. The dwarf, who appeared to be the lead supervisor of the workers in the factory, looked as if he wanted to protest but thought the better of it and merely kept his head lowered.

"I understand."

Like hell he did. I could clearly detect the hostility and distrust emanating from him. Not that I blamed him, though.

"No wonder this place is located so far away from the cities," Gio remarked as he glanced around. "Top secret project, huh?"

"What exactly are they building?" one of the men, Kyle, asked.

"It looks like a tank," Gunnery observed as he watched the individual components being assembled and pieced together. Then he frowned. "No…it's too big to be a tank."

"We're still in the experimental phases," the dwarf supervisor replied gruffly, chewing on his cigar bitterly. "All work but nothing to show for."

"Ledrey, if you would show our guests the prototype…"

The dwarf supervisor raised an eyebrow at the princess's request.

"Are you really sure about this, your highness? His majesty is not going to be pleased if he finds out about this."

"I'll take responsibility," Donorea assured him. "I'll talk to my brother and convince him. He might be a stubborn fellow, but he's not unreasonable."

If King Hedol was anywhere near the personality of that dwarf king from Shinju no Nectar, I highly doubted Donorea was right. Then again, she was his sister, so she would obviously be favorably biased toward him.

Despite Donorea's assurances that she would take responsibility, this was not boding well for me or my men at all…

"…I understand, your highness."

Whatever grievances he had against us, Ledrey did not have the will to defy his princess, so he quietly turned around and bade us to follow him.

We passed through massive conveyor belts and components that were as big as the Malthas tanks themselves. The scale of the industrial production of war machines in this particular manufactorium was nothing short of breathtaking.

It looked as if they were preparing an entire continent…no, planet for war. Mass producing millions of tanks, armaments and weapons to be shipped off to the wider galaxy-spanning Imperium to fend off the myriad of enemies that attacked humanity.

Wait, we weren't humans. We were supposed to be demons. And besides, even if we were on the verge of industrial revolution, we hadn't reached the age of space travel yet…never mind faster than light spact travel.

I bet we can circumvent that somewhat by creating ships that can fly through the Warp. Just need to find a way to invent Gellar Fields or something.

"Here it is."

Ledrey suddenly stopped in front of an armored behemoth. It was so huge that I didn't even know what I was looking at initially until I took a step back to appreciate the full view. My men looked puzzled, but when they followed my lead and took in the whole picture, they became dumbfounded by the sheer immensity of the monstrosity before them.

"That…that's…"

"It looks like a tank…"

"Impossible! No tank is that big!"

"It's a mobile fortress, that's what it is!"

While my men argued amongst themselves…

"It's a Baneblade!"

"…huh?!"

Everyone turned to gawk at me after I inadvertently blurted that out. I flushed, and then sought to explain.

"A super-heavy tank. An armored behemoth…a Lord of War that is packed with apocalyptic weapons and bristling with countless armaments, is nearly impossible to destroy and has enough firepower to level a city by itself."

The "Baneblade" was the size of five to six Malthas tanks, wider than a house and probably several times heavier. A massive cannon stretched from the turret, almost ten meters long. Buried in the hull was a demolisher cannon, which had shorter range but was no less deadly than the primary weapon. Accompanying it was an autocannon and a twin heavy bolter, spaced relatively far apart amidst the thick adamantium armor. At the each side was a gigantic sponson three times as big as the normal one mounted on Malthas tanks, for they contained a lascannon and twin heavy bolters. Massive adamantium treads lay still, but I had no doubt it would crush any poor fool who attempted to boldly charge the titanic, armored behemoth.

"Awesome! I don't believe it! I never thought I would ever see a Baneblade in Restia!"

While I was getting all excited and whooping with boyish joy, Ledrey glared at me.

"It's not a Baneblade."

"…eh? Then what is it?"

Ledrey shrugged, then grudgingly lowered his head.

"You're close though. It's a Hellblade."

I almost fell over. Okay, I knew it was to avoid copyright infringements or whatever, but you might as well not change the name at all…

"And this is just the prototype?" Jurgen asked, his tone disbelieving. Ledrey looked sour as he turned toward my aide and driver.

"…yeah."

"Awesome. I wonder what the finished product will look like." He grinned as he pumped his fist into the air. "With entire regiments of this tanks, we'll be able to crush the enemies of Morten and defeat the human kingdoms once and for all!"

"…actually, that's the problem."

"…huh?"

We all turned to Ledrey, who looked pretty bitter as he walked over and kicked the thick, armored hull of the Hellblade.

"The Hellblade is a failure."

"What do you mean it's a failure?" Gio demanded, scarcely able to believe what he was hearing. Ledrey glared at him.

"Exactly what I said. It's a failure. As your leader says, it does pack enough firepower to level a city. Unfortunately, it won't be able to pull it off if it can't get to the place where it's supposed to bombard. You get what I'm saying?"

"…no, not really."

While my men looked puzzled, I suddenly understood.

"Ledrey-san means that the tank can't move."

"…huh?"

Ledrey looked at me, impressed.

"Oh, so we have a smart one among you muscleheads after all."

While my men bristled at the slight, I calmly pressed him for details.

"Why isn't it able to move?"

"The engine." Ledrey cursed, leaning over to spit his cigar. Stomping his boot on the extinguishing cigarette, he flattened it to the ground before fishing out a box. He offered me one, but I declined. I wasn't old enough to smoke and I had no intention of starting when I became of age either. I valued my lungs.

"What about the engine? Does it…lack power to move the Hellblade? Hmm…makes sense. The tank looks a little too heavy."

"That's right." Ledrey flipped the lid of his lighter open before he lit up his cigarette. The smoke billowed up in his face, slightly impeded by the wide rim of his sombrero. "The engine is too weak. We've tried to strengthen it, but the tank is too heavy. The amount of mana crystals we need to power the tank to move it and allow it to fire its weapon when it reaches its destination is exorbitant. In fact, we can't fit the necessary amount of mana crystals into the Hellblade itself – it's about two or three times the entire mass of the freaking tank!"

"…so it sits there powerless, unable to move or fire." Gio finally nodded in understanding. "That's why you call it a failure."

"Nonetheless, the Major requested that I show this to him anyway." Donorea, who had been quiet the entire time, finally spoke up. She looked at me seriously before she lowered her head in shame. "This is why I said you'll be disappointed."

"No, I'm not disappointed at all," I assured her excitedly. "On the contrary, I'm impressed. This opens up new possibilities for tank warfare. If we can just…"

"DONOREA!"

An earth-shaking voice thundered throughout the factory, cutting me off. Ledrey paled and buried his face in his palm.

"This is what I was worried about," he whimpered under his breath.

Crashing footfalls echoed before King Hedol burst into the chamber where the Hellblade prototype lay, his hammer smashing a hole through the thick, reinforced walls.

"Has he hurt you!?"

"Brother…!"

Donorea looked stunned at his sudden intrusion. The king glanced at her, then bore down on me murderously.

"You…you lying, thieving…fraud…!"

"…huh?"

"You dare drag my sister around and involve her in your schemes?!"

"…what schemes?"

"SILENCE!"

Roaring, Hedol smashed the ground with his Thunder Hammer to vent his fury.

"You blackmailed her and forced her to bring you to this place…how dare you…"

"No, brother! Listen! I'm the one who permitted them to visit this factory! They are my guests! I invited them here! I'll take responsibility, so…"

"I understand," Hedol interrupted, his voice gentle and understanding as he turned to his sister. "Don't worry. Now that I'm here, I won't let these sneaky, dishonorable, lying Helsfortians deceive you any further…"

"Listen to me!" Donorea yelled. "They didn't deceive me! I was the one who told them about the factory and showed them the prototype!"

"Do you not know what this implies, Donora?" Hedol asked quietly. "You're betraying Moria. Morian law dictates that we do not show outsiders our secrets. These sneaky spies will be executed for the crime of stealing our secrets. I care not if this man is Gremory's favorite. Even he will have to respect Morian custom and laws on dwarven land!"

"…"

I merely stared at Hedol calmly. My men were already drawing their weapons in response to this threat, but I threw out a hand to stop them.

"Stand down."

"But Major…" Gio protested.

"I said stand down, Lieutenant."

Gio's shoulders drooped and he reluctantly released his grip on his carbine. The rest of the retinue did the same.

"Wise choice. If you do not resist, I may show mercy to the rest of your battalion."

"…the rest of our battalion?" Gunnery muttered. "What does that mean?"

"I'm afraid that all of you who have borne witness to the secrets of my Hellblade production facility must be executed. I cannot afford to allow outsiders to leave with the knowledge and sight of our biggest project."

"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to execute any of my men." I stood firmly between my retinue and Hedol. "Take my life, if you must, but you are not to lay a hand on any of my battalion…including the soldiers who accompanied me here."

"I'm afraid I cannot comply with that." Hedol glowered at me. "I'm already being reasonable by showing mercy to the rest of your battalion. Do not push your luck with me further."

"Brother! If anyone should be punished, it's me! You cannot do this! You're breaking the promise I made to these men!"

"Stand down, Donorea."

"But…"

"I said stand down."

There was an icy quality in Hedol's voice that made Donorea falter for a moment. Even then, the dwarven king kept his murderous gaze on me the entire time. I met his eyes squarely, then cocked my head to the side.

Pushing my glasses up my nose, I smirked.

"Are you sure you want to do this, your majesty? I mean no disrespect, but you might be the one pushing your luck."

"Are you insane, Major Tomoyuki Tanaka?" Hedol continued glowering at me, his expression incredulous. "You're audacious enough to attempt to steal secrets from my kingdom, and now you presume to threaten me?!"

"I'm not threatening you," I replied with a shrug. "Merely pointing out the fact that you don't have the ability to kill me. I apologize if I have broken the rules, but I will not stand by idly and let my soldiers die uselessly. I will fight for them…using force if necessary. Their lives are not something I will expend carelessly or waste on nonsenesical rulings."

"Nonsensical rulings?!" Hedol bellowed as he raised his Thunder Hammer. "Utter rubbish! Do you really think I can't kill you?!"

I smiled and beckoned for him to hit me with everything he had.

"You're welcome to try if you don't believe me."

"You'll regret this after being smashed into a bloody pulp! I shall execute you here for your insolence, you impertinent pup!"

Lifting his Thunder Hammer high up, Hedol smashed me with everything he had. Blue lightning crackled and danced about the glinting power field that encased his hammer before unleashing their fury on me. I merely raised a hand and grabbed the hammer the moment it struck, stopping it centimeters away from my face.

The tremendous impact behind the blow shattered the reinforced ferrocrete of the manufactorum and sent violent tremors throughout the factory. My soldiers stumbled and crashed about, and even Donorea was forced to reach out and grab hold of something to prevent herself from falling. Ledrey was already sprawled on the ground, though whether he had fainted from fear earlier or had lost his balance, I didn't know.

"…nnh!"

I couldn't help but grunt, my breath leaking involuntarily from my lips. My right arm strained under the immense pressure that threaten to crush me, but the defensive layers of my Redwood jacket held strong. I had slightly underestimated the dawrven king – to think he smashed through ten barriers of my revered Redwood Robe in just one blow!

Fortunately, the last two layers held strong, firmly deflecting the majority of the power behind Hedol's devastating blow and dissipating the worst of the impact. I couldn't help but marvel at his sheer strength. The guy could smash a hole through the Hellblade behind me with a single strike of his hammer!

"You're strong," I muttered grudgingly.

"…"

The powerfield crackled and fizzled out, the blue lightning disappearing as the Thunder Hammer's power core was spent. Heaving, Hedol retreated, his face flushed and perspiring after putting everything he had behind that blow.

"I…impossible."

He was staring at me in disbelief, his eyes wide. I shook my right hand a little, trying to get rid of the last remains of the blue lightning and also to relax the bunched up, tense muscles in my arm. Boy, but I could still feel the powerful reverberations even after the strike.

"How is this possible?!"

"If you still aren't convinced, you're allowed to try again."

The power core of Hedol's Thunder Hammer was rapidly recharging, and at the same time the shattered barriers of my Redwood jacket was instantly regenerating. However, despite my repairing defenses, I was putting on a bluff. Even if my Redwood jacket could withstand the blow, I wasn't sure if my body itself was durable to endure the violent impact. Sure, Regeneration would heal my wounds, but I would prefer to avoid getting hurt if I didn't have to.

"…no…troops!"

"If you want to have a minor civil war just before the clash against the human kingdoms, you're welcome to go ahead and set your army on me. Just know that it'll be a costly battle for you. And besides, it's your domain of Moria that will be at risk if you pull this stunt. Not Helsfort, not my territory, not anyone else's."

Hedol gritted his teeth as he glared at me. "Mark my words, I'll remember this! After the war with the humans, I'll make sure none of you will be leaving Moria alive!"

I pushed my glasses up my nose with my left hand – my right arm was still trembling and I concealed that with a brave front.

"Rather than that…your majesty…why not we resolve this peacefully? I have an idea."

"…huh?"

"Your majesty. Allow me to make a deal with you." I jerked my hand at the Hellblade behind me. "I might have a way of improving and perfecting your Hellblade and making the idea of a mobile, indestructible fortress a reality. If I fail, you can take my life…and the lives of my men here. But if I succeed…"

I grinned, savoring Hedol's impatience. It was so fun to be dramatic and toy with his anticipation like this.

"…not only will you pardon me and my men and allow us to all go free, you will give my battalion one of the Hellblades that you will no doubt be mass-producing in the future."