Moth Pole Pit
Cinderclaws urged his giant red armor closer to the battered dwarf.
"Grand Marshal, is that you? Are you alright?" Cinderclaws called out.
"Huh, red? Oh, is that you, Cinderclaws?" Dwordoug replied.
Dwordoug Axebreaker tried to brush the dirt off his bare chest, as if that would magically restore his dignified look.
It did not work.
"I'm sorry for the state I'm in, but… ehm… what's the situation?" Dwordoug said, straightening himself as best as he could. His eyes then drifted upward toward the enormous red armor towering over him. "…And what in Talvaris are you riding?"
"Oh, this?" Cinderclaws hopped down from Rudolph and patted the massive machine with clear affection. "Just a little hobby project. Toys made out of old mining equipment."
The giant red armor stood proudly behind him, its metal plates scratched but intact.
"Anyway," Cinderclaws continued, his tone returning to business, "about the situation. We've got uninvited guests, sir. But we're holding for now."
Together they looked out across the battlefield.
The Moth Pole structures had been turned into ruins. Broken towers leaned at awkward angles, smoke rose from shattered stone platforms, and fighting still raged across the wreckage.
"Do you know which unit these attackers belong to?" Dwordoug asked, irritation already creeping into his voice.
"No insignia or anything," Cinderclaws replied. "But highly trained."
Dwordoug's face darkened.
"Grr… Goldenclaws?" he spat.
"Most likely, sir," Cinderclaws answered.
At that moment Levi and Mara approached, both calmly surveying the devastation around them.
"Oh my…" Levi said softly while glancing at the collapsed tower nearby. "They made quite a mess, didn't they?"
Cinderclaws's eyes narrowed immediately.
"Demons…" he muttered.
His gaze shifted toward Dwordoug.
"…are they with you, sir?"
The question was polite. The suspicion behind it was not subtle.
Why were demons casually standing next to the Grand Marshal?
"Yes, they're with me," Dwordoug replied without hesitation. "They're my guests now."
That explanation raised more questions than it answered.
But there were bigger problems.
"Director," Dwordoug continued, turning back to Cinderclaws, "any chance we can handle the rest of the uninvited guests?"
"Their ground troops?" Cinderclaws said. "Yes, I think so."
He then slowly raised one finger toward the sky.
"The problem…"
"…is up there."
Everyone followed his gesture.
Above them, several black airships hovered in the sky.
Silent.
Waiting.
Like patient predators circling a wounded battlefield.
---
Above the Moth Pole
Inside the lead airship, the commander stood calmly while watching the battle unfold below through a large viewing window.
Smoke, fire, scattered troops, shattered structures.
A battlefield in progress.
"Sir, our men report visual confirmation of the Grand Marshal," one officer reported.
"So he survived," the commander replied.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"And the demons?"
"With him."
The commander's lips curled into a small, satisfied smirk.
"Good."
He turned slightly.
"Tell Kirof to bury the pit."
The officer hesitated.
"…Sir, what about our men down there?"
The commander slowly looked at him.
"What about them?"
The officer swallowed hard.
The answer had already been given.
"…Understood."
---
Moth Pole Pit
Back on the ground, Dwordoug continued staring up at the airships.
"So," he said slowly, "any chance you have flying toys to deal with those?"
"Unfortunately, no," Cinderclaws replied while shaking his head. "Too expensive to build."
"Right…" Dwordoug muttered.
Then his eyes drifted back to the giant red armor standing behind Cinderclaws.
"…but how did a prison even afford that thing?"
His eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Is that why your tribute only comes once a year?"
Cinderclaws suddenly found the ground very interesting.
"Uh… well…"
Eye contact was avoided.
Very deliberately avoided.
Mara stepped forward before the conversation could go any further.
"I'm sorry to cut off your budget inquiry, council member," she said calmly.
Her eyes were already fixed on the sky.
"But it looks like our friends above have decided to join the fun."
Everyone looked up again.
Three airship bombers were descending.
Low.
Slow.
Their bomb bays were already open.
Below them, the remaining invading black armors and spider tanks suddenly broke formation.
They scattered.
Panicked.
They knew exactly what was about to happen.
The airships did not care.
They positioned themselves perfectly above the cliff edge overlooking the pit.
Bombs dropped.
One after another.
Perfectly aligned along the cliff's edge.
Then—
KABOOOM!
KABOOOM!
KABOOOM!
KABOOOM!
KABOOOM!
KABOOOM!
The explosions tore through the cliffside with brutal force.
Massive sections of rock cracked apart.
Entire slabs of earth broke loose.
And then gravity took over.
The cliff collapsed.
And becoming a landslide.
A massive one.
Stone, dirt, and shattered rock thundered downward in a roaring avalanche.
The black armors and spider tanks that had been retreating were swallowed instantly, crushed and buried as the collapsing mountainside surged toward the pit.
"Damn…" Cinderclaws muttered quietly.
"That's bad. Real bad."
The rumbling grew louder.
And louder.
Until the entire world seemed to shake.
Dwordoug, Cinderclaws, the guards, and the prisoners all stared upward.
Their faces darkened.
There was no escape from what was coming.
Levi looked up at the approaching wall of stone.
A tidal wave of collapsing earth.
He sighed.
"Sigh… I'm sorry… Solo, my friend…"
A violent whooosh swept through the pit as the avalanche rushed toward them.
And then—
The sky vanished.
The world above collapsed.
Rock, soil, and dust swallowed everything.
And the Moth Pole Pit disappeared beneath the falling mountain.
---
Above the Moth Pole
In one colossal sweep, the landslide buried the entire Moth Pole beneath thousands of tons of rock.
Stone crashed down the cliffs, dust erupted into the air, and the pit disappeared under an unstoppable cascade of earth.
When the avalanche finally settled, nothing remained.
No towers.
No structures.
No movement.
Just a vast mound of broken stone where the prison once stood.
Silence returned to the mountains.
Inside the lead airship, the commander calmly watched the dust cloud settle.
"Bombing run completed, sir," one of the officers reported.
"Good," the commander replied without emotion. "No one survives something like that."
He turned away from the viewing window.
"Mission accomplished. Return to base."
"Aye, sir."
The airships slowly banked away from the mountain range, leaving the buried prison behind.
---
Bashington DC, The Black House
CRACK.
A ceramic mug shattered loudly as it hit the floor.
"Oh—babe, I'm sorry, I didn't see it there," Lilith said.
"Don't worry," Solo replied casually. "Just an ugly mug Levi gave me as his trip's souvenir."
He reached forward and pulled her closer.
"Come back here."
Lilith smiled as Solo kissed her, the two of them quickly becoming… busy atop his office desk.
Meanwhile, outside that office, Murican officials were dealing with a slightly less romantic situation.
Multiple attempts were made to contact the Dwargonian government regarding the destruction of the Moth Pole prison.
Every reply was identical.
"We will verified it ourselves."
And whenever asked about the whereabouts of the Foreign Minister or the Ambassador—
Complete denial.
By the end of the day, the Moth Pole prison had effectively vanished from the face of Talvaris.
Officially, only the Muricans knew it had happened.
Unofficially… Dwargonia seemed suspiciously aware something had gone very wrong.
---
Vandoria, 10,000 Meters Above Ground
High above the war-torn lands of Vandoria, a lone C-130 Hercules drifted silently through the night sky.
Below, the Vandorian civil war raged on.
Wyvern patrols constantly guarded the skies.
But none of them could reach ten thousand meters.
At that altitude, both wyvern and rider would run out of breath long before getting close.
Inside the cargo bay, Megan adjusted her HALO jumpsuit while speaking into a satellite phone.
"Yes, Luxius, I'm working."
A pause.
"I'll be unreachable for a few weeks—yes—no—don't you have border problems of your own?"
Another pause.
"Five minutes," the plane speakers announced.
Megan sighed.
"Alright, I need to go. Take care."
She shut off the phone and rubbed her forehead.
"Why is this getting more troublesome every day…?"
Across from her, a young man wearing the same jumpsuit gave her a knowing smirk.
"Seems you and the Ravendawn King are getting close."
"Not that close!" Megan shot back quickly. "He's just… persistent."
The young man chuckled.
"Never thought our top of the charm class would be getting charmed instead."
He leaned back slightly.
"Though honestly, landing a handsome prince with a castle does sound like a good retirement plan."
"Oh stop it, boss," Megan hissed.
"Two minutes," the speakers called again.
Megan stood up, grabbed her oxygen mask, and walked toward the jumpmaster near the open bay.
The young man followed her.
"Our bureau never stops employees from dating, you know," he continued teasing.
"I'm not dating anyone!" Megan snapped. "And this younger version of you is annoyingly nosy!"
"It helps me blend in with targets," the young man replied proudly.
The cargo bay lights suddenly turned red.
A powerful wind roared through the aircraft as the rear doors opened.
Cold air rushed in.
Everyone waited.
Then the light turned green.
"GO!" the jumpmaster shouted.
Both of them sprinted forward and leapt into the open sky.
The night swallowed them instantly.
Wind screamed past their suits as they free-fell through the darkness.
Then—
"So…" the young man's voice came through the comm.
"Have you two slept together yet?"
"Boss! Not appropriate question at ten thousand meters!" Megan shouted into her comm.
"Okay…" the young man replied.
Silence returned for a few seconds.
Then—
"I'll ask again at four thousand."
"BOSS!!" Megan roared.
"What?" the young man defended himself calmly. "Even the old me back in Langley is curious."
"Oh god…" Megan groaned.
"I should've gone solo…"
The two demons continued plunging toward Vandoria.
Fast.
Very fast.