Mad scientist in a magic world. prologue: Unfair warfare (rewrite)

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Etrish, eastern coast the Demon Empires Capital, 06:41 AM local time.

Demon Lord Graksha.

I, the great Lord Graksha, born of war and violence, slayer of the dragonkin, head of the greatest demon empire the world had seen since the fall of the guardian pillars and now sitting on a throne made from the bones of those who defied me in a grand obsidian castle that cost more lives to build then most battles in my campaigns.....

Was dying of boredom.

No amount of obsidian castles and enemy skulls can really compare to the thrill of challenge. It has been quite some time since i got a chance to wet my blade with the blood of a worthy opponent, yet now the only real threat my empire is facing is the rot from within. Such is the cost of building a nation on a foundation of evil.

To be frank, I already knew that administering an empire would be boring, outside of the cut throat politics of the court that is. I would have stayed in limbo for a few more centuries if it wasn't for a certain Ferryman offering me a once in a life time chance to put my name in the history books. Yet now, less then two decades into my reign and I am starting to regret taking that deal.

Kneeling before me was the Chief Runner Blackwood, a very loyal but not particularly clever servant. Officially he responsible for relaying information to and from the army to the capitol, practically he was just a canary in the collapsing snake filled coal mine I dare call a chain of command. He was relaying a long boring report likely full of half truths omissions about the demon armies latest 'achievement'. Of course I had my on independent channels but I am not telling my potentially treacherous commanders that I had competent eyes on them.

"We have conquered half of the Faewood" said Blackwood with the excited tone "a fresh wave of loot and elven slaves would be arriving soon, this should be a boon for our troops moral!!" the vampire said excitedly while pulling out the skull of a freshly slain elf.

"The skull of Hynuor, one of the five elders of the Fae Republic, I believe it would be a fine addition to your throne my lord"

I however did not share his excitement.

Under most circumstances this would have been great news but the army was hardly low on supplies and any valuable loot they get from the Faewood was nigh useless as nobody would want to trade with us thanks to the elves reputation and the fact that almost everyone hates us. The slaves themselves were hardly any better, they were physically weak and reproduced slowly making them practically useless for labor work.

I couldn't sell them either, not even the females, the sudden rise of abolitionist rebel movements made it all but impossible to trade slaves in the region. What the hell was he supposed to do with them? feed them to the ogres? use them for target practice?

But that what really pissed me off is the fact that this vampire not only dared to waste my time with pointless fluff but also dared to pass on such a small victory as if they were anything of note and considering the reports I have received from my own sources he was probably saving the bad news, which is to say the interesting stuff for the end.

I considered giving the damn blood sucker a tongue lashing, or a real lashing for that matter but thought better of it, we were already blitzing through the continent as is and the risk of my subordinates becoming too competent to control, or worst winning too quickly is not worth it, not while their enemies were about as competent as a drunken dwarf.

Except the abolitionist rebels, they seems to be the only ones competently opposing us but it is still too early for me to raise the stakes and potentially miss on a fun challenge.

I was frankly appalled at the fact that I was able to do this much damage in less then 20 years. I hope the "heroes" would arrive soon to put me out of my misery. The church promised me a good fight once the heroes are ready yet it seems like they are dragging their feet almost as hard as I was.

Not wanting to waste any more of my time I used magic to pull the skull from the vampires hand before adding it to my incredibly uncomfortable throne without even bothering to examine it then I then glared at the vampire with my flaming, horizontally slitted eyes.

"Enough with the small talk, I believe you have some bad news for me" I said in my most intimidating voice

The vampire spoke with a trembling voice "Indeed sir I bare some unfortunate news though not nearly enough to outweigh our victo..."

"ENOUGH!!! you have wasted enough of my time already, speak now or leave my sight!!"

"Yes my lord. As you may have heard the Sultanate had declared war on us and began mobilizing their troops. We have had our first direct encounter with them two weeks ago, force 25,000 strong with 80 vampires, 40 witches on broomsticks and a squadron of wyverns were sent to take over one of the orc tribes at midnight and... we were forced to retreat"

An uncomfortable silence stretched between us for a few seconds. That last statement had effected me more then I wished to admit, not at the fact that they lost the fight but at the fact that the vampire was still wasting my time. At least he noticed and quickly continued.

"They used some kind of strange weaponry that produced a loud thunder sound and killed at a distance through a mix of blunt force and explosions. We believe it was some kind of ranged fire and earth spells though we couldn't sense it's mana signature. They also had strange violet light lamps that repelled our vampires, They reported that it felt like sunlight, and there were also reports of giant metal elephants and metal wyverns but we couldn't conform those sightings"

My arm rose to my beard in contemplation, a gesture from a life I never lived. Up until 6 years ago the Leathian Sultanate was an isolated neutral region at the far west side of the continent notorious for banning all forms of magic outside of their governments direct control, having and economy that basically ran on slaves and being an overall backwards region run by a tyrant.

Aside form the occasional trade they didn't bother the demon army much. Until a recent slave revolt followed by death of the Sultan where his youngest son, backed by the Ahrar abolitionist took over the throne to the dismay of his brothers.

That was pretty much all we know thanks to the sultanates competent counter espionage agency. Recently when the sultanate began making moves, establishing alliances and supporting the Faewoods elves and the Orc Chiefdoms Against us and making slave trade all but obsolete in their sphere of influence.

Realizing they might become an issue, I decided to send a fleets to attack the Sultanate from the sea hoping to catch them off guard though the fleet has fail to report back for over a week. Now it seems that they have been embolden by their recent victory to declare war on my nation, despite being on the other side of the continent. And they seem to have some form magic weaponry that can repel the demon army without leaving a trace of mana.

"How many manged to retreat?"

The vampire took a deep breath, not that he needed to, before answering.

"Around half of our main force my lord"

That reveal nearly caused me to jump from my seat. If I had a working heart this would be the moment it starts hammering.

"Tell me, have they killed any vampires or wyverns?" I demanded.

At this point the vampire did not bother hiding the fear in his answer "Yes my lord. we lost seven wyverns, fourteen witches and all but twenty one vampires"

"Rise" I commanded

Blackwood stood up trembling, likely expecting to meet the full might of the Demon Lords wrath.

Only to see me smiling. for the first time since the his campaign against the dragonkin, I finally had a excuse to stop holding back. Even if it meant losing my throne to the schemes of my backstabbing subordinates, if I can meet this mighty foe in battle it will all be worth it.

"I want a detailed report of the enemies capabilities sent to me as soon as possible and on your way out tell the Warden Grimnar to come to the throne room as quickly as possible. You are now dismissed"

"Yes my lord" the vampire took the opportunity to escape the demon lords gaze as fast as he can.

I looked back at the my two trusted Generals, an ear to ear grin plastered on my face against my own will as I spoke

"So lady Yumnae, lord smith what do you think?"

Lady Yumnae, a dark elf sitting on a gray throne and carrying a gray staff spoke first. Her signature, perpetually bored face completely gone and replaced with confusion and curiosity.

"I don't have enough information to make a definitive answer or any good answer for that matter, but I know for a fact that it should be impossible to use mana based weapons capable of repelling a demon army detachment this big without leaving a trace of mana, and yes I did read his mind and from what I saw he wasn't lying"

"But it happened anyway didn't it?, almost as if our opponent was not using mana at all" I replied, my smile only growing wider with my excitement to which she simply nodded.

I turned to my second general and spy master. Lord Smith was a human Otherworlder wearing a strange coat didn't look like something you could buy even from a royal tailor. He sat on a strange mechanical chair that seemed to mock my throne with how comfortable it looked.

"Lord Smith, seeing that you have returned from the Orc Chiefdoms, can you give us more information?"

Lord Smith stood from his chair, causing it to vanish from existence then produced pull an impossible large black mirror from his coat. He tapped alien mirror causing it to light up, revealing what can be best described as a living painting of a battle with sound included.

The scene showed the demon army fighting mechanical horrors the would make even the outer gods jealous. Iron elephants that spewed fire from their snouts with enough force to slay lesser demons in one strike, metal wyverns that dropped explosive eggs decimating entire platoons, soldiers on mechanical steeds with metal staves that spit fire and death at anything in their path, horseless wagons that carried violet lanterns that turned any vampire approching it into a lump of cancerous flesh. It wasn't a battle, it was a harvest.

"As you can see, Lord Graksha, the reports are true though he omitted the fact that most of the survivors were not fit for combat. The enemy posses manaless weapons that far surpass anything your army have seen before"

Yumnae was in complete shock at this point, but she wasn't entirely convinced yet.

"Have you recovered any of those weapons?" she asked.

Smith tapped the alien mirror once more, now it showed several images of said weapons and even some of those mechanical animals.

"I have recovered some of those weapons, most are inoperable but few of the smaller ones are fully functional. They are currently in the imperial forge being studied by your finest blacksmiths, though I don't expect them to successfully replicate these weapons anytime soon"

"Have you managed to capture any of their weapon smiths?" I asked.

Smith shook his head, leaving me with only one last question to ask.

"Was this perhaps the work of a fellow Outworlder of yours?"

He smiled back and replied in a deliberately mono tone voice "Due to my contract, I can not confirm nor deny this"

This was all I needed to hear. His refusal to answer was in of itself an answer. Whoever was responsible for this sudden technological leap must be a worthy opponent. With an act of will I summoned my trusty black steel armor and claymore. The pitch black blade standing in contrast to the glowing obsidian walls.

"It seems like I have the perfect excuse to enter the battle field once again. Now does either of you wish to accompany me?"

Before either General could answer, the sound of the emergency bell range through the throne room followed by the head of security Grimnar, a walking talking skeleton bursting into the room before promptly kneeling before the throne.

"You have arrived sooner then expected, It seems you were on your way here when Blackwood delivered my message" I said, lamenting the fact that we were not able to spare any more scrying Items for the Castle security.

"Indeed my Lord, I was on my way here to inform you of an armada is heading towards us from the east. We are moving forces to intercept them as we speak, while the enemy ships seem unusually large I have no doubts we will repel their attack"

"Then why did you want to tell me about this?"

"Because I believe you wouldn't want to miss the engagement"

I laughed, a genuine laugh of pure glee. I now had no doubt about the fate of the fleet I sent. It seems the battle I so dearly wished for has come for me.

"Prepare my wyvern Grimnar, I shall join our forces in battle. I have the feeling those opponents would be different from our usual prey. you are dismissed"

"Yes my Lord" the skeleton replied before running out of the throne room at super human speed.

"Shall I handle the castles defenses?" Yumnae asked with more then a little reluctance.

"For now, but you can join in once the defenses are ready" I answer, garnering a smile from the witch.

The elven witch then turned herself into a black mist and flew up the castles main tower. Lord smith on the other hand simply stood up and walked towards me.

"Would you be joining me today lord smith?"

"I would love to my lord but I am afraid I can not fulfill a demand that would result in my near guaranteed demise" Lord Smith answer in that same inhuman monotone, leaving me more then a little confused

Before I could reply smith continued quickly "In 7 seconds from now the castles wards would be broken and in 4 seconds from that a powerful weapon strong enough to destroy your vessel would strike your position, good luck" Smith then walked in a direction that no one can point to and disappeared from the room.

The shock quickly wore off as my battle reflexes took hold. I quickly weighed my options before settling on a course of action in less then a second thanks to my enhanced cognition and spent the remaining time enacting that plan.

Less then 11 seconds after smith's warning began the dark throne room suddenly lit up with sunlight a large metallic tower unceremoniously punched it's way into the throne room from the east. The last thing I saw was the towers tip exploding into millions of metallic fragments moving faster then any arrow and turning my vessel into mist.

----

The observation deck of the Hoot class battle ship "Blinding Furry" of the Sultanate's fleet. 53km east of the Etrish capital, 06:46 AM local time T-240 seconds to the start of the attack.

Vice Admiral Qaes bin Qasim.

We finally arrived. after 2 months of sailing and having to fight our way through the demon empires fleet we finally reached the enemies home base.

Outside the observation deck the mood was jovial, almost celebratory. Still drunk on their victory in the last battle the sailors spoke as if the upcoming battle was already won. The mood inside however was different, it was the quite before the storm interrupted only by the sounds of pens scribbling on paper.

Sitting next to me in a comfortable tailor made chair in the center of the observation tower, former head of the Ahrar abolitionist movement, current Grand Marshal of the Sultanate Armed Forces and temporary Fleet Admiral Haithem was examining the black and white images provided to us by the aerial and submarine scouts.

Behind us sat the scholars of the Khwarizmian order in their signature white robes, slitted masks and earplugs. Their presence, initially met with skepticism was now treated with out most respect. Thanks to their firing solutions, not a single shot missed it's target in our last engagement. The calculations they performed were vital for the fleets logistics and now they would determine the outcome of this battle.

In front of us was the ships captain and the various officers sitting in their own terminals, each handling a vital part of the fleets workings.

I myself did not stay idle. With pen and paper I recorded anything that seemed even vaguely relevant for the inevitable future review, and for the future historians to have an accurate account of what happens here.

Suddenly the room went quite. The Khwarizmian have abruptly finished their calculations and began passing around the results to everyone in the room. The results were meticulous, taking into account everything from wind speed, atmospheric conditions, angle of the sun, the relative speed of the fleets element and the precise location of enemy assets and the firing solution for our weapons.

Their were no orders shouted, no commands given. The entire battle has been planned out in detail long before a single shot was fired. Every ship has in the fleet has already received their orders in a sealed envelope and are just waiting for the numbers to arrive and for the Admiral to give the signal.

After we read the result the admiral and I exchanged a nod of agreement. He stood up and without delay held the microphone to his lips and gave the signal to the entire fleet.

"Operation 'unfair warfare' is a go. I repeat, operation 'unfair warfare' is a go"

With that one command the entire fleet sprang into action. Two large bay doors in the battleship's deck opened revealing two large ballistic missiles, The Romah and The musta'er. The missiles launched, their solid rocket motors shaking the entire ship as they ascended high into the sky. At the tip of their ballistic arc they released their solid motors and unfurled their wings, switching into their stealth cruising mode and following the Khwarizmian's computed flight path.

The Three Jazeera class carriers began launching their fighter plane while our battleship moved forwards and alone with the sun behind it to reduce the chance of the enemy spot us.

I and the admiral raised our binoculars to watch the scene unfold. The main castles ward tower rose from the horizon, it's transparent aegis dome visible as a distortion in the air around the castle. A massive building sized mana crystal glowing at at the towers tip, powering the entire aegis. south of it the cliff housing the wyvern base followed, with few wyvern scouts flying over it. To the north was the Siren Corp base with their ghostly green ships patrolling the region.

The battleship halted in response and began dropping anchors into the sea. When the anchors hit the sea floor the ship froze as if it sudden hit solid ground. Given the ship the stability it needs to fire it's most powerful weapon. The only thing left now is to wait.

Fifty two seconds before first strike the enemy spotted us and began launching ships and wyverns to intercept, but it was far too late now.

At a distance of 5 km from their target the two cruise missiles dropped their sound suppressing spells, lowering their mana signature making them harder to intercept with magic and allowing the roar of their engines to strike fear in the enemies hearts. They dived down like falcons towards their target breaking the sound barrier in the process. Musta'er turned south aiming for the wyvern base while Romah headed directly towards the castle.

Fourteen seconds before first strike the Jabaroot weapon system began it's firing sequence. Inside a large water cooled silver coated cylinder in the bow of the ship a series of quartz rune stone inscribed with a simple lantern spells began shining flashes of light on a large synthetic ruby rod at it's center.

The rod, using physical principals very few in the sultanate even vaguely understood began focusing the energy of the lights into a single coherent stream of brilliant red light aimed and directed by the mirror turret at the ships bridge..

The Jabaroot fired. The ship's hall began humming with the thermal expansion resulting from each pulse. A brilliant beam of red light visible even in the morning light struck the mana crystal, completely ignoring the transparent force field protecting the castle. Each pulse barely carrying enough energy to burn off skin but repeating faster then the eye can track, firing hundreds of pulses within it's 10 seconds of operation.

Four seconds before impact the crystal shattered and with it the wards fell, allowing Romah's on board mana seeking system to finally lock on the Demon Lords absurdly large mana signature

Four seconds later, the Romah disappeared below the horizon. The only thing confirming it's successful impact is a relayed report by the submarine and aerial scouts.

Musta'er on the other hand wasn't so quiet. 2 seconds after Romah struck, Musta'er's Thermobaric warhead exploded over the wyvern base releasing its payload of highly combustible aerosols into the air allowing them to mix with the ambient oxygen.

A massive fireball over 80 meter in diameter rose from the bases location, destroying the buildings surrounding it and nearly collapse the cliff it was standing on, eliciting an ear to ear grin and a barely contained chuckle from the otherwise stoic admiral. Shortly after words one of the comms officers reported that of the 200 confirmed wyverns in the base, only 60 were left in a combat ready condition.

The enemy units trying to intercept us stopped and turned around to see what was source of the ear bursting noise. Only to be greeted with a moral shattering sight. Not wanting to give our enemies any chance to recover, the Jabaroot switched it's attention to the incoming enemy ship sails and halls.

The sails where unharmed even by a direct strike, they seem to have been enchanted against that one specific tactic. Their halls on the other hand where easily punctured by the laser weapon and as an added bonus the flashes blinded anyone with eyes dumb enough to look in the targets direction.

Once he was satisfied with the weapons performance, Admiral Haithem called off the attack to conserve energy and bait them into their main weapons firing range. The fleet them moved to the next phase. The battleship pulled back it's anchors and rushed forward with the rest of the fleet in a column with the battle ship and the cruisers spear heading the formation, the destroyers in the flanks, the auxiliaries in the center and the carriers at the rear.

forty eight seconds after the first strike the 18 fighter planes successfully launched from the three aircraft carriers clashed with the 60 wyverns that managed to escape the initial attack. The wyverns scales where tough enough stop unenchanted arrows and blades, their claws could puncture dwarven steel armor and their fire breath can burn a man to a crisp in less then 3 seconds.

Yet non of that mattered against our the flying death machines.

The fighter planes began their attacks by firing the sultanates latest super weapon, the Sahem mana seekers. A pair of air to air humming missiles where fired from each plane, using a guidance system inspired by the high elves enchanted arrows the missiles adjusted their course as their targets desperately tried to evade to no avail, the missiles were fast enough and the initial engagement was close enough that the missiles barely needed to adjust their course.

More then half of the surviving wyverns were killed in the initial engagement with the survivors being picked off in one sided dog fights. The steel tipped machine gun rounds of the sultnate's fighter planes were more then enough to puncture the wyvern wings, turn the rider into bloody chunks and even outright killing a few of the wyverns.

Surprisingly the wyverns scales were able to shrug off some of the rounds as long as they didn't strike head on, evident by the fact that some of the tracer shots bouncing off the wyverns scales. Slightly less surprisingly they were able to maintain some lift despite having their wings punctured. This was expected as the wings on their own were clearly not enough to keep the wyverns in the air, the laws of aerodynamics simply didn't allow it.

With aerial superiority established an elven scout mage on the main battleship released a flock of pigeon familiars towards the demon castle to check for any traces of the Demon Lord while the fighters returned to the carriers to resupply. Once a dozen fully resupplied fighter planes where in the air the three carriers launched three troop carriers each carrying 8 elite paratroopers from the the Sejeel tactical mage platoon. Together they formed a squadren and headed towards the ultimate goal of the operation, to liberate the slave camps on the other side of the capital.

AN: FINALLY I fixed that godawful prologue chapter. Thank to you feed back I was able to write a much better version with better editing, pacing and more realistic naval combat.

Also added links to the next chapter to make navigation easier. The only problem now is the minor typos in the title of the previous chapters.........