Five great pillars held the heavens, the sky a vast and empty jade.
From the airship's viewport, the scene below was starkly clear. The shattered ruins of the fortress, its ramparts scaled by giant trees and tentacles—the monsters—were all laid bare. As the black, viscous fluid receded, it revealed people, barely breathing, and remains that had merged with the mud, a tangled, piecemeal mess of flesh and bone.
The Empire had deployed all its frontline devices, and the bomber craft escorting the five airships that carried them formed an imposing fleet. If Valois had possessed an air force, the Empire would have suffered catastrophic losses. Conversely, if the Empire had been willing to bomb, Moncado Fortress, already twice-devastated, could have been wiped from the face of the earth.
Yet, neither side made a move.
