Chapter 368: Glimthain (1/2)

Joanna initially wanted Zac to hold a rousing speech as well, but he staunchly refused. Instead, a few Valkyries walked alongside the army and told the news about how only one incursion remained, and that they were heading to war against the Fire Golems.

The procession only stopped when they reached the teleportation station, where the back-up from the surface already stood.

”You set things up at Rennbach while I visit the Council,” Zac to Verana as he jumped down from Grub’s head.

Glimthain was quite far from the Fire Golem Incursion, so teleporting the whole army there would be a pretty huge waste of resources. Teleportation costs were already by far the largest drain on Port Atwood's resources, so he decided to send the army directly to the frontier town to prepare. He also didn't want to cause some misunderstanding by bringing an army on his first visit to the Underworld Council.

Verana quickly agreed, and Zac indicated for the young woman that worked for the Underworld Council to open the array. Her name was Linn, and she had arrived together with the Councillors back when they visited New London after the Union takeover. Linn immediately complied and entered the array along with Zac and Joanna, while the rest waited for the array close down.

Soon enough the trio reappeared in another grand hall, but Zac's eyes widened in alarm when he saw four enormous cannons trained on the platform he stood on. They were even larger than the monstrosities the Ishiate tinkerers on Port Atwood had created, with their barrels having a diameter of almost two meters.

Zac's first instinct was to take out his axe and quickly destroy them, but he realized that no one was preparing to fire them. It looked like a defensive measure in case enemies stepped through the array. Luckily they had the ambassador with them, otherwise the welcome might have been quite different.

”This way, sir,” Linn said as she led them past the cannons and defensive line of soldiers who curiously looked at him.

”Can you take us to the council immediately?” Zac said. ”I don't have much time to spare.”

”Certainly, they await your arrival,” the ambassador answered without hesitation and the group exited the fortified structure.

Zac and Joanna curiously looked around when they stepped outside of the building, and Zac whistled with surprise when he saw what Glimthain looked like. He had always considered the modern faction of the Ishiate to be somewhat steampunk, and this town truly made that impression stronger. Cramped structures fought for space within massive brass walls that were lined with all kinds of brass weaponry.

A glance at the wall told him that at least a hundred cannons were fastened to the wall walk, and even some rooftops were equipped with ranged siege weaponry. He saw multiple ballistae that appeared to be relying on steam pressure for example. The houses themselves were covered in tubes, and no matter where he looked it seemed to be one pipe or another leaking gas or water vapors.

The town was well illuminated by a mix of Day crystals and gaslights lining the streets, and it seemed to be rush-hour since the streets were filled with people. It was a truly chaotic scene as there were not only pedestrians, but a mix of modern cars and other odd machines that forced their way through the jumble. The chaos wasn't helped by the constant eruption of steam whistles and honks from the cars.

”Oh wow,” Joanna said. ”How do people live like this?”

”It took some getting used to,” Linn said with some embarrassment. ”Too many have lost their homes, and the town has become completely overcrowded by now. A new town has even started to grow outside of the walls since there simply is no room left within. Those buildings regularly get destroyed during the attacks of beasts in the area, but the inner town is one of the safest places in the Underworld due to all the weaponry.”

Zac understood as well that people normally wouldn't live in such an environment, but the dangers lurking in the dark were just too abundant, and it was better to live in squalor than getting eaten by a bat or killed by the Flame Golems. The group immediately entered a jeep that waited for them, and it thankfully only needed to drive a short distance to a grand castle in the center of the town.

The castle itself reminded Zac of a larger version of the main hall of the Cogstown, the Ishiate settlement under his control. But this castle was far larger, and it was not only equipped by a huge number of weapons pointing at the sky, but there were even three zeppelins slowly floating around it.

”This way, sir,” a guard said as Zac stepped out of the car.

”Zac!” a familiar shout could be heard from the distance just as Zac was about to enter the palace, and he looked over with a smile.

It was Emily who was running over, dragging along a slightly embarrassed woman in her early twenties. It was no doubt Emily’s sister as she was essentially an adult version of the brat. Zac glanced at her to approximate her strength, and he was surprised to see that there was a faint aura around her.

It meant that even if she wasn’t a Ranker she wouldn’t be too far off, and she had likely gained a Dao seed judging by the spirituality around her. It looked like not only Emily was a talent when it came to cultivation, but her sister was as well. Then again, it shouldn’t be too surprising that they had good genes since all three siblings turned out to be cultivators.

“She's pretty, right?” Emily grinned when she noticed that Zac looked at her sister curiously. “She’s very single as well.”

“Idiot, what do you mean by very single?” Johanna said with some embarrassment as she gently slapped the back of Emily’s head. She then turned back to Zac who looked at the two with some amusement. “I am Johanna Larkin. I owe you a great debt of gratitude. If it wasn’t for your intervention I would be without any family.”

“It was no problem,” Zac said with a sigh, giving Emily a consoling look.

It seemed like the brother had truly fallen back then after all. Emily looked downcast for a second before she looked up again with an intense stare.

“Are you here to destroy the Flame Golems?”

“Yeah,” Zac said without any preamble.

“Great!” Emily said with burning eyes. “We will help you kill those guys!”

“You can come, but be careful. We don’t have a lot of ways to deal with a room flooding with lava,” Zac said as he handed over two large balls. “Use this in case you run out of options.”