The sound of the engines huffed and puffed like iron beasts breathing in unison. The sky—once clear, once sovereign—was now cluttered with balloon-like skycrafts, vessels bloated with alchemy, wind crystals, and raw mana, slicing through the heavens with eerie grace. They coughed clouds of steam and magic into the air, painting long contrails that stank faintly of sulfur and lavender. This was not just war—it was spectacle. A new era of dominion.
It had taken centuries to dream it, decades to build it, and one woman's madness to make it real. For no one in their right mind had believed humans could truly claim the sky—not in a world where dragons ruled the air like gods, where phoenixes burned holes through the clouds, and the phimosis circled high, winged serpents tasting the mana currents for prey. But that faithless assumption had died the moment she rose.
Eli—the Empress of Ash and Engine.
