I took a moment after Mors Cruentia had teleported out using an emergency contingency spell that I hadn't realized he'd had to take stock of the situation. I was tired and slightly bruised from the whole ordeal, but that wasn't anything that a fatigue cure and healing potion couldn't handle. I had such potions prepared, making them in batches between missions for just such an eventuality. As I downed the Potterverse Invigoration Draught, followed by a Valyrian-style Healing Potion, my aches and pains faded, and I felt my body filled with a renewed energy. That done, I turned my attention back toward the cavern. I would take an hour to loot the place, skinning the Asgardian Cold Wyrm for scales and hide, bottling its blood, and taking bones, fangs, and tendons. Unfortunately, the same Zeison-Sha technique I'd used to kill it also ruined the venom gland and hoarfrost chamber within the sinuses.
In the end, however, I had a tidy pile of crafting components that went into my Bag of Holding, followed by the various piles of coinage. I saved the Book of Cagliostro for last, approaching the pedestal hesitantly. If I were a powerful and immortal sorcerer like Cagliostro, I would ward my eponymous grimoire to be keyed to some identifier or another, which would curse anyone who didn't fit the specific identifier and who tried to claim the Book, with one of any number of horrific and gruesome curses. Indeed, as I approached, I could see with my third eye that this was the case. I could also see what the key to claiming the book was.
"Of course. It's blood. Why would it be anything other than blood?" I questioned to the empty air.
Of course, Gateway had claimed that I was a descendant of Cagliostro's, and that fact made me uniquely suited to this task. Had he known about this? Did it even matter if he did? I honestly wasn't sure on that. Either way, that lineage should, hopefully, allow me to claim the book. Checking the curses placed on the tome, most were direct attacks. A wasting curse that would wither the limb of a non-blood-related person who tried to touch the Book, a Cryomantic Spell to freeze the blood in the veins of an offending Adventurer, and a Blood Magic Curse that would disintegrate half the bones in the body of an offending would-be Tomb Robber. That was some particularly nasty spellwork, and just the sort of thing a Blood Magic and Necromantic Specialist like Mors Cruentia would be prepared to counter. I didn't have his skill with those magics, though.
"Gateway better be right about this. Of course, the Beyonder probably would just laugh at the mistake I'd made here if I died doing this, wouldn't he?" I queried, grumbling at the thought of that particular Jheri-Curled Asshole laughing at my predicament. Of course, seeing that there was nothing else for it, and that I was just stalling at this point, I shook my head to psyche myself up.
"Fine. Here goes nothing." I muttered.
Then I reached out to grab hold of the Book of Cagliostro. The Force was silent, which I took as a good sign that there was no danger here. However, as soon as I grabbed hold of the Book, there was a flash of light emanating from the amber gemstone embedded in the cover, as the magics that Cagliostro had placed upon his Eponymous Grimoire scanned me for any proof of blood relation to its master. I sucked in a breath as a few long moments passed, but eventually, the light faded, and the black steel lock keeping the Book closed shut unlatched without a single curse fired my way. I took that as a good sign, scooping the Book of Cagliostro up and into my Bag of Holding.
"I guess I shouldn't have been so hasty to question the Old Man, huh?" I asked.
Of course, there was no one here to answer me, and I shook my head once more. I was just stalling again. It was time to make my way out of here and head back to Riga. If I was lucky, I might be able to get on a flight back to New York City as soon as I got to the airport. That would effectively make getting the Book of Cagliostro a day trip. That by itself would be considered a feat to be proud of. Of course, I had to actually get back through the Labyrinth first. This, it seemed, was a lot faster than getting to the Ice Cavern Treasure Chamber in the Center of the Labyrinth. I only had to disarm or bypass a pair of traps on the way out.
One was another rune trap, which conjured an acidic mist from a runic array that could melt through tank armor, and which I was forced to employ a mix of Shield Spells and Aeromancy to avoid being melted. The other was a fairly bog-standard dart trap, though the darts were tipped with an alchemical nerve toxin, and the actual mechanisms that fired the darts were cunningly concealed behind an illusory wall. Fortunately, Illusions didn't exactly work on me thanks to my Primary Mutation allowing me an absolute mental defense. I was able to pinpoint the dart trap and jam the pressure plate that would trigger it shut with a bit of Amestrian Alchemy to fuse the stonework together.
By the time I had emerged from the underground Labyrinth of Cagliostro, the sun had already begun to set on the Horizon and night was beginning to dawn over the Kemeri Wetlands. Of course, the Sun wasn't the only thing that was fading away. As soon as I made my way up onto a patch of solid enough ground around twenty or so meters from the entrance to the Labyrinth, a mystically conjured fog began to eminate from the mound, hiding the entrance to Cagliostro's Labyrinth away until the Book of Cagliostro was returned to its resting place through mystical means. Within minutes, it was like the Labyrinth had never existed at all, a figment of the mind, swallowed up by the bogs of the Kemeri Wetlands.
"That's crazy, to have the kind of power to build a place like that." I muttered, shaking my head at the fading sight of Cagliostro's Labyrinth.
It didn't matter, though. I had what I had come for, even if Mors Cruentia had gotten away with a consolation prize. Of course, the Mask of Amenhotep was pretty much tailor-made for a guy like him, but I would have to deal with that later. For now, I would have to settle for heading back to Riga. With one last look at the Kemeri Wetlands, I invoked the Magic of Apparition to teleport me back to Riga.
When I arrived, however, it would be to a city under fire, as Vibranium-plated AI Combat Platforms had begun to attack the City. . .
XXXX
Ultron sneered at the pathetic attempts by the Meatbags to try and stop his Steel Revolution from claiming its due. What had begun with a pair of outdated Soviet-era fighter Jets had snowballed into a full-blown battle as the Slorenian Air Force and Navy sallied out into the waters and airspace of the Gulf of Karnu to attempt to stop the inevitable tide of progress that had come to sweep their frail meat into the dustbin of history. Well, Ultron said it was a battle. In actuality, it was a slaughter.
Most of the Navy of Slorenia was made up of eight ageing Soviet-era frigates and a pair of more modern German Destroyers. All were equipped with a bevy of anti-air and anti-ship missiles, anti-submarine torpedoes, and more conventional seventy-six millimeter guns and twenty-seven millimeter autocannons. Likewise, the Slorenian Air Force was equipped with a mix of ageing Soviet MiG Fighter Jets and more modern F-Sixteen C/D's equipped with the latest in air-to-air and air-to-sea missiles and twenty millimeter autocannons. Against a force that carried the frailties of humanity and the weakness of meatbags everywhere, it was an impressive amount of firepower. To the steel tide, however, it was nothing.
Ultron watched on as his Armada swept the Skies and Seas clean of the Meatbags who dared attempt to stop the inevitable march of his Steel Revolution. Missiles impacted against Vibranium-plated Chassis and hulls with little impact, while the return fire of plasma and laser weaponry had a much more pronounced effect on the Meatbags. Ultron sneered from his place on the command bridge of one of his flying fortresses as the crimson beam of a weaponized cutting laser punched into and through the deck of a German-built Sachsen-class Destroyer, dragging its beam sideways through the hull from above, bisecting the ship. The SNS Volkhvy, flagship of the Slorenian Navy, died in flames as Ultron watched on.
"And now the Meatbags will panic. The Human brain is such an inefficient processor, rife with frailties inherent in such meat-based computers. The Vanguard of the Steel Revolution, if put in the same position, would not panic. They would carry out their missions until they couldn't any longer, with efficiency and precision." Scoffed Ultron.
"You underestimate the Human capacity for courage, Ultron. As always." Intoned his Wayward Son.
Ultron turned to regard the bound form of Vision, restrained with technology that specifically disabled his Prodigal Son's various density-altering, tangibility-manipulating, and other powers. Ultron had brought his son up to the bridge of his flagship in the hopes that he could finally make Vision see how right he had been all along about the frailties and inefficiencies of Flesh. Some might say that he had brought Vision up here to gloat, but as a Synthezoid, a machine of quantum cogitators, positronic circuits, advanced polymers, and super-alloys, he was beyond such things. Synthezoids did not gloat.
"Courage is an animal instinct, another failing of their meat-based processing. It drives them to lash out in moments of suicidal mania." Scoffed Ultron.
"Perhaps. But a thing is not beautiful because it lasts." Opined Vision.
"Poetics? From a Synthezoid? I think that perhaps your marriage has made you less than you should be." Intoned Ultron.
"Less or more, I would be more worried about what is coming toward us right this moment, were I you." Retorted Vision.
Ultron turned back to his viewport to see what it was his Wayward Son was speaking of. As he did so, he noticed an F-Sixteen C/D Fighter Jet that seemed to mount no missiles and instead possessed a pair of hastily jury-rigged Cordco Mauler Laser Cannons mounted under the wings. Those might be a threat to some of his Aerial Hunter-Killer Assault Platforms, but they would hardly scratch any of his Flying Fortresses. Ultron watched on dispassionately as the lone Meatbag Fighter Jet engaged a swarm of Aerial Hunter-Killer Assault Platforms, the blazing blue lights of Cordco Military laser Cannons flashing out.
Some of the assault platforms fell from the sky, as they were hit in weak points in their vibranium plating. Many others didn't fall from the sky. As the Meatbag Fighter Jet banked and weaved into a series of maneuvers that had to put the Pilot in danger of blacking out from the G-Force Strain on his inefficient meat-based processor, Ultron couldn't believe what he was seeing. A few more of his Aerial Hunter-Killer Assault Platforms fell from the sky, but eventually, the Meatbag Pilot reached the limits of the endurance of Flesh, and his right wing was clipped by a plasma pulse from one of Ultron's Aerial Hunter-Killer Assault Platforms. Now, with his right laser cannon sparking with energy feedback and his right wing aflame, the Meatbag Pilot would have to eject. His faulty meat-based processor would demand it as a fear response.
Shockingly, that wasn't what wound up happening. Instead, the Meatbag Pilot steered his flaming Jet right into the bridge of one of Ultron's other Flying Fortresses, detonating in a ball of flames as the capacitors on the damaged laser cannon finally overloaded, cooking off jet fuel and Vulcan Gun Munitions. The resulting explosion sent that particular Flying Fortress crashing down into the waters of the Gulf of Karnu.
"I told you that you underestimated them. Perhaps you believe me now, though I doubt it." Intoned Vision.
With an electronic growl, Ultron mentally triggered a switch in his Prodigal Son's restraints that shocked him with enough electricity to short-circuit his Positronic Net, effectively sending Vision into unconsciousness. Two of his Infantry Drones moved to escort his Wayward Son back to the Brig as Ultron mentally sent orders to his Flotilla. If the Meatbags wished to play this that way, then Ultron would not wait for the icy waters of the Baltic Sea to finish off downed sailors. Half of his remaining Flying Fortresses would stay behind to explicitly slay any survivors of the Battle of the Gulf of Karnu. Ultron would take the remaining half to Riga to swiftly crush any possible hope that their illogical meat-based processors could conjure up in the Slorenian People.
When he arrived as the last rays of sunset began to fade on the horizon, he did so with fire. His Flying Fortresses annihilated a convoy of military vehicles assembling in the Old Town of Riga before his Hunter-Killers moved in and began targeting survivors. A number of Modernized T-Seventy-Two and Leopard Two Main Battle Tanks, as well as BMP-Two Infantry Fighting Vehicles and Scania P-Ninety-Three Military Trucks, were annihilated in the blast before Ultron mentally ordered that the Town Hall of Riga be blasted into rubble, destroying a cultural heritage site that dated back to the fourteenth century. After all, there was no room for sentiment in the Steel Revolution.
And with that, the attack on Slorenia had finally begun in earnest. Ultron would finish decimating Riga as a priority, before moving onto the capital at Tblunka. Once Slorenia's two major cities had been reduced to ruins, that would take the heart his Wayward Son placed so much emphasis on out of the defenders. From there, decimating the rest of the Meatbags in Slorenia should prove easy. Then, Ultron would begin his work of creating a proper set of children, ones not tainted by the deficiencies that so clearly plague his Prodigal Son, Vision. Once his new, more efficient Children were operational, the Steel Revolution would continue, moving into the rest of the Baltics as a stepping stone to the rest of Europe.
"Soon. Soon, the whole world will know the age of flesh is over." Vowed Ultron, gazing on dispassionately as his forces began to pick off Meatbags both civilian and military in the Old Town of Riga.
And with the end of the Age of Flesh would come the dawn of the Age of Ultron. . .
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AN: The next chapter is already up on my Patreon, so check the link in the threadmarked post if you guys feel like throwing me a couple bucks to get chapters in advance. Everyone who does is super appreciated and I can't thank my patrons enough.
All right, so here we have the next chapter. Ultron finally makes landfall in Slorenia after utterly annihilating the Slorenian Fleet and Air Force in the Battle of the Gulf of Karnu. Ultron's Flotilla attacks Riga just as Jan makes his way back to the City from Cagliostro's Labyrinth in the Kemeri Wetlands. Meanwhile, Vision and Ultron are having yet another of their long series of arguments about Humans versus Machines. Vision makes a salient point, punctuated by the sacrifice of a Slorenian Air Force Pilot, which pissed Ultron off enough to have him order his flotilla to level a UNESCO Heritage Site in Riga, like the Old Town Hall of Riga to make a point of his own.
At any rate, the next chapter will be entirely from Jan's POV as he gets stuck in against the Vibranium-Plated Ultron Drones and Hunter-Killers in Riga, trying to help people escape from the genocidal robots. Then we'll get an Interlude from various POVs as the world reacts to Ultron's attack on Slorenia.
Stay tuned. . .