First Light of a New Age

Chapter 176: From Forbidden Love To The Stars Beyond

A/n: This chapter has over 16,000 words. If you feel tired of paying attention to details or commenting on anything, don't read it yet until you have the time and energy to read the whole thing for hours. You can also rest for a while for every scene you finish reading.

And importantly, this is the last chapter of Volume 4. So make sure to pay attention to details that there might be something important.

Okay, enjoy :]

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Third Civilization Zone, Austronesia People’s Empire, Imperial Maharlika, Manila, Malacanang Palace, Conference Room.

4th Year of the New Age, Thursday, 4th Week, 9th Month of John.

There were still signs of the long night that had passed in the grand conference room of Malacañang Palace when the meeting was finally called at dawn. 

"Report!"

Emperor Juan Delroy Maximo sat at the head of the long mahogany table, flanked by his ministers, generals, and intelligence directors with their uniforms rumpled from sleepless hours. 

Accompanying them were guards in mithril-exosuit armor and magic rifles resting in their gauntleted hands standing behind them at rigid attention, though even their stern expressions betrayed unease.

The war against the Deutsches Reich had ended, but its aftermath had left more questions than answers, and the victory felt hollow.

It was one of the Liberation Army’s ground force generals who finally broke the silence. “Your Majesty, the final casualty report has finally arrived with around 397 Liberation troops confirmed dead, more than half of them during the storming of Berlin. The Reich’s robot legions fought to the last, and the unexpected arrival of the Skaven only multiplied the slaughter.”

Maximo leaned back slowly in his chair and curled his hand into a fist on the polished wood. He said nothing, but the strain in his jawline was plain for all to see.

“Every one of them knew the risks, sire,” the general added, softer this time. “But their sacrifice bought us victory.”

“Victory,” muttered one of the Admirals of the Liberation navy bitterly. “At what cost? The Reich is gone for sure, but the battlefield left behind feels less like triumph and more like a warning.”

Several heads nodded in agreement.

Then Director Amelia, the sharp-eyed blonde woman who led the Intelligence Division, tapped the folder before her. 

“We must also speak of the Reich’s ice bombs.”

The room shifted uneasily. All had seen the devastation that entire squads of Men of Stone flash-frozen, tanks immobilized under layers of supernatural ice that ordinary weapons could not pierce.

A general of the Air Force leaned forward. “Riley’s report indicated the bombs weren’t merely weapons, but they were powered by a goddess.”

This surprised several politicians and commanders as they exchanged startled looks.

“Excuse me?” one of them blurted. “A goddess? What do you mean by that?”

Amelia’s expression hardened. “According to Riley and the Archangel unit, the Reich had her imprisoned and enslaved and used her as a living battery. Each warhead carried a fraction of her divinity.”