Hearthguard Cairn, Murica Embassy
Inside the four-storey building the Muricans had converted into their embassy, Levi and Mara lounged in the study, sharing a bottle of dwarven wine.
"So the Silverfist Clan handles heavy industry, Oakenbrew controls food production, and Axebreaker oversees the military?" Levi summarized.
"And Sandbeard manages mining and finance," Mara added. "Bluespire runs science and research."
"And each of these clans has dozens of sub-clans beneath them…" Levi swirled his glass. "Huh, so basically… the entire country is run by five megacorporations wearing beards."
"That's one way to put it, sir."
"Fascinating…" Levi took another sip.
With no access to a satellite phone underground and no chance of strolling around the city as a demon tourist, he had nothing to do except drink, read, and drink some more.
"Other than learning about the dwarves," he asked, "is there anything fun to do here?"
"Just drinking and partying. That's the dwarven culture in a nutshell." Mara sighed. "Under normal circumstances, I'd drag you out to see the city… but given the current political climate, a demon doing sightseeing would cause a minor riot."
"Heh. Shame. I really wanted to try driving one of their steam cars."
THUD.
The study door burst open as three MSG operatives stormed in. Two took firing positions beside the windows, weapons raised. Their detachment commander rushed toward Levi and Mara.
"Excuse me, sirs," said the detachment commander. "We've got a situation. We're surrounded by the Dwargonian military."
"Huh? Has it been two weeks already? Hard to tell underground."
"No, sir," Mara replied. "You've only been here four days."
---
Embassy Entrance
The Marine Security Guard had taken what little defensive footing they could. The embassy had no perimeter walls—just a reinforced door that opened straight to the street. Three MSG operatives stood outside, facing down dozens of dwarven troops encased in hulking steam-armor exosuits. The dwarves looked twice the demons' height, their brass-plated armor hissing with steam and enhanced coal-powered hydraulics.
"This is a sovereign territory of the United Demon Kingdom of Murica," the MSG lead announced. "Please pull your forces back."
"I have orders from Grand Marshal Dwordoug Axebreaker," the dwarven commander rumbled from inside his armor. "Minister Leviathan and Ambassador Mara are to be taken into custody on suspicion of planning aggression against Dwargonia."
"I cannot allow that," the MSG lead replied calmly. "Both officials have diplomatic immunity under the Murica–Dwargonia Agreement. If you have concerns, send investigators here and we will cooperate. We want this handled peacefully. Nobody wants anyone to get hurt."
The dwarven commander squinted. "…If this is peaceful, why do you and your men look so excited?"
"Ah? No, no—this is just our face. We're extremely anxious right now, haha…"
(He absolutely could not admit they were thrilled for a chance to kill dwarves.)
"Regardless," the commander grunted, "my orders stand. My men will not move until your minister and ambassador come with us."
"And my orders are to not hand them over."
High above, steam-armor units climbed onto rooftops overlooking the embassy—securing the high ground.
"So," the MSG lead asked with a smirk, "what's it going to be?"
---
200 Nautical Miles East of Ravendawn
A Ravendawn 64-gun patrol ship cut across the waves. Once a Vandorian vessel, it had been captured by Murica, then sold to Ravendawn—crew included. Many former Vandorians had defected, disgusted by the civil war caused by two arrogant princes tearing their homeland apart. Their leader, Admiral Lorenzo, had been the first.
Their job was to protect the international merchants who wanted to pass the canal from pirates or sea monsters. Even after being allied with Murica, there had been a significant decline in pirate attacks. But it was a different story with the monster attacks, with many demonic sea monsters straying outside their habitat after the goddess barrier was gone.
On deck, ex-Vandorian and Ravendawn beastmen sailors watched a gleaming dwarven merchant ship on the horizon.
"Damn, that thing looks like it's made of gold," said the wolf-beastman.
"It's brass," the ex-Vandorian replied. "The dwarves are rich, but not insane."
"I wonder which one is stronger, the Dwargonian ship or the Murican."
"Brr…" the ex-Vandorian trembled. "I'm still shivering if I remember fighting those demons… those songs."
"Oops, sorry. Didn't mean to make your PTSD relapse."
"Nah… it's okay. At least I'm still alive now." He raised his fist up. "Alive and about to marry the cutest bunny girl on Talvaris! WOOOOO"
"HAHAH, never thought I would see a Vandorian marrying a beastman."
"Ex-Vandorian, mind you. How about you?" He squinted his eye. "When are you planning to stop being a horny dog?"
"Can't hold it, it's genetic, bro," said the beastman while eyeing the ship mage.
"Are you still eyeing the new ship mage?"
"She's a beauty, bro! Look at that ass!"
They both watched as the ship mage went down below the deck.
"You dirty, horny dog."
"I've told you—it's genetic."
---
The ship mage secretly drew a magic circle across the floorboards, gulped a mana potion, and stepped into the center.
"…Alright…" She breathed slowly, trying to steady herself. Then she raised her hands:
"Odea ospiritus, mihi potestatem da ut inimicos meos decipiam—potenti illusione!"
The circle flared to life, flooding the cargo hold with light.
---
The whole crew swayed, making them freeze for a few seconds.
"Ugh… Kinda dizzy," said the beastman.
"Yeah… me too," the ex-Vandorian replied. "Hey, hey! Look at that!"
"What the…"
A Dwargonian destroyer, closing fast, cannons aimed directly at them.
TING TING TING TING—
"DWARGONIAN DESTROYER! STARBOARD! CRUISING IN FAST!" the lookout screamed.
"MAN YOUR BATTLE STATION! MAN YOUR BATTLE STATION!" roared the captain. "Comm, try to reach the Dwargonian ship."
"Aye, sir."
"What the hell are they doing…" the captain whispered.
---
Hearthguard Cairn, Murica Embassy
The standoff remained frozen.
"Bring them to our base to clear the allegations," the dwarven commander insisted.
"And let you lock them up? No. Send investigators here."
Above them, Levi peeked from the study window.
"Well, this is interesting," he murmured. "Have we contacted anyone outside?"
"No sir. Our mana comms are jammed," the MSG commander said. "We can't reach the fleet or even the dwarves for an explanation."
Levi returned to his chair and held out his empty glass. Mara refilled it.
"Well, what do you think, Mara?"
"Whoever's behind this has been planning it for a long time," she said.
"Mhm. They're more entertaining than the Vandorians, I'll give them that."
"What do you think their next step is?"
"What else? After this, they'll manufacture a—"
BOOOOOOM
The blast shook the windows and rattled their glasses.
"—firefight," Levi finished with a smile.
---
"One of our men is down!" a dwarven soldier shouted.
A steam-armor unit on a rooftop burned with fire and smoke.
Both sides reacted instantly.
"Control, was that us?" an MSG asked over comms.
"Negative, no shots fired."
"THAT WASN'T US!" the MSG shouted to the dwarves.
He signaled his men to retreat toward the door—slowly, weapons raised.
"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" the dwarven commander ordered, though he kept his hand-cannon trained on the demons.
The MSG team inched backward.
BOOM BOOM
Shots struck the reinforced door behind them.
"WHAT!? WHO'S FIRING!?" the dwarven commander shouted.
The MSGs didn't wait.
RATATATATATA!
They returned fire. The dwarven commander raised his shield as steam-armor units opened fire in response.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM
RATATATATATA!
Windows shattered. Brass-plated dwarven suits fired from rooftops. MSG riflemen fired from embassy windows.
The three operatives outside dove inside and slammed the door shut as bullets hammered against it.
In the study, Levi and Mara continued sipping wine.
RATATATATATAT!
"So," Levi asked, "we're trapped? No secret tunnels?"
"No, sir. The dwarves chose this building because it has no escape routes, and it is impossible to dig a tunnel without them noticing."
"Since they're master diggers, hm?"
"That's right, sir…"
---
200 Nautical Miles East of Ravendawn
An explosion geysered seawater onto the deck.
"MAGES! SHIELDS TO MAXIMUM!"
BOOM
Another shell hit the barrier, flaring into fire mid-air.
"WE'RE IN RANGE!"
"HELMSMAN—HARD STARBOARD!"
The ship turned, exposing its upgraded broadside—thirty-two of Earth's WWII M3 37mm anti-tank guns.
"FIRE!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—
Thirty-two shells blasted toward the dwarven destroyer.
---
20 km Away, Dwargonian Airship
A brass-plated medium cruiser airship soared 1,000 meters above, steam chimneys belching black smoke.
"Captain! Emergency mana-broadcast from a merchant ship—they're under attack by a Ravendawn vessel!"
"Location?"
"Twenty kilometers southeast!"
"Full speed! Bring us in!"
The airship turned sharply, chimney smoke thickening as it burned enhanced coal. Armored, magically reinforced, and capable of 625 km/h—it was the pride of Dwargonian engineering.
"What is the Ravendawn thinking…" the Dwarven captain muttered.
---
Pentagon, National Military Command Center (NMCC)
The command center was chaos. Satellite feeds showed the Ravendawn–Dwargonia firefight. Officers scrambled between screens and phones.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T REACH THEM!? WE GAVE YOU RADIOS FOR THIS!" one officer barked before slamming a phone down.
He hurried to Stan, who watched grimly.
"Sir—the Ravendawn Navy says their patrol ship isn't responding. Their last message was… uh… they said they were being attacked by the dwarves and requested backup."
"What? THEY were attacked?" Stan stared at the satellite feed showing a Ravendawn patrol pounding a dwarven civilian ship.
"SIR! A Dwargonian aircraft is approaching the Ravendawn ship!"
The screen zoomed out—revealing the massive brass airship closing in.
Another officer shouted, "Admiral Rusalka's fleet is in range. They can scramble two F-16s within ten minutes."
Stan growled at the laptop showing Lilith and Mo.
"Did you see this? And where the hell is Levi? This is the worst possible time for him to be offline!"
"Sir!" another officer yelled.
"WHAT NOW!?"
"W-we've lost contact with Hearthguard Cairn…"
Stan froze.
"What… the hell is happening…?" he whispered.
"Stan…" Lilith's voice came through the laptop. "We cannot attack the dwarves first."
"…fuck."
---
Langley
Far from the chaos, Mo watched the satellite feed from his quiet office. With nothing he could do, he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his drawer, walked to the window, and pushed it open.
He lit one, exhaling into the calm blue sky.
"…Looks like I lost the first round."
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