Lukeisthebomb
For years, the world was tearing itself apart.
The nations of men were locked in a brutal civil war, fought with black powder, steel, and attrition. No side was winning-but none were willing to stop.
Then the Arc Empire attacked.
The civil war ended almost overnight. Former enemies were forced into an uneasy peace, not out of unity, but survival. Against magic, lightning, and shields, their old wars no longer mattered. They now faced something far worse.
The Arc Empire is ruled by magic and faith. Technology is heresy. Those without magic are lesser by birth. Under the rule of a new emperor-one who seized power after his brother's death-the Empire wages a war of domination, not conquest.
Fifteen years later, the world is still losing.
Muskets stand against lightning. Discipline stands against divine power. Victory is no longer measured in territory, but in knowledge gained before the next retreat.
Caine leads a small squad fighting battles they cannot win-only survive. Alongside him are soldiers hardened by war, and Lysa, a young engineer whose experimental inventions were never meant to decide the fate of nations.
But in a war where magic reigns supreme, innovation may be the one thing the Empire cannot control.
And whether she wants that responsibility or not, it may fall to Lysa to change the course of the war-or doom what remains of the world.