Ruler Of Iron And Flesh

"Where the hell is our suit?" Asked Janae as she was sitting at a dinner table across from Inian. General Reark was seated next to her, glaring at Inian. Inian was sweating profusely and took a big swig of some wine that was in front of him.

Kraque and Reclusa were both outside the Fort, hidden away. It wouldn't do any good for either of them to be inside right now.

Inian clasped both his hands together, "I'm sorry!! I know how much it meant to you, and during my time out in the woods, I forgot it! I am so so sorry."

"Inian, I know I gave you that exosuit as thanks, but it was also meant to be used for our cause. It has great power and meaning to our people in the Trostan Kingdom." General Reark explained.

"I can't believe you went and just lost it out in the woods. So stupid!" Janae banged her hands on the table. She took a few deep breaths and sighed, "what did you learn out there anyway? Did you get what you needed to get?"

Inian jumped at the opportunity to change the topic, "yes, in fact. But it is something that I would like to keep between just the three of us for now."

Janae and the General leaned in close as Inian explained to them the history of the king and how he has been given the king's heart. In the end, Janae and the General were drooling from having their mouths agape for so long. They jumped and wiped off once they realized they were gaping so much.

"So you are the current king, and the dreams you've had were to help you find a teacher to explain that role to you?" Asked the General. Inian nodded, "not only that, but it also helped show me the amount of power I can have if I get myself up to that point."

Janae leaned back in her chair, "that...is incredible! We can turn this whole war around with you commanding all the monsters to attack the Empire. We can completely wipe them out if we combine our strengths."

Inian shook his head, "I don't want to attack the Empire indiscriminately. I only want to attack the soldiers and not the citizens. I don't believe low-tier monsters would be able to differentiate between the two."

The General locked his fingers together and sat in contemplation. "How long do you think it will take to command higher-tier intelligent monsters?"

Inian responded, "I honestly have no idea. I've had the heart in me all my life and have reached mid-tier just now. It could take me a couple of weeks or several years to reach high-tier."

"See if you can do it in a month," said General Reark. "I think we can prolong this war for at least that long, because if you can't, then we are all doomed anyway. So get some rest for tonight Inian, and I'll see you in the morning." With that, the General got up and left.

Janae went and touched Inian's shoulder, "you are the hope of the Trostan Kingdom now. I know you never had to help us, but you choose to. Thank you, Inian." She then left, as well.

Inian was left wondering how he could possibly save an entire nation from the Empire, all within a single month.

........................

After several days of scouting and moving the ship, the Empire has finally reached the outskirts of Trok City. Marc had been keeping the suit hidden by moving it past the scouting lines so that when they moved again, he could pick it up on the next scouting trip and repeat the process.

Luckily nobody has caught on, and Marc intended to use that to his full advantage when the time came. But he needed to keep it a secret and maintain the element of surprise.

Currently, Marc was staring at the lights coming out of the city. He was now alone, with a cheap stealth suit that his command had given him.

He could hear the laughter and chatter coming from the city, even while standing a full kilometer out. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the battle that was about to begin.

He equipped his stealth suit and ran at the cities iron walls. He didn't have a gun on him, only a knife to maintain his stealth.

Running at the walls, he pulled out a couple of hooks that he had on his back. They were specialized for climbing Iron or steel walls without making noise.

He climbed up, looking up to make sure there were no guards at the next part of the wall he was at. Once he reached the top, he peaked over, making sure no guards were coming his way.

Marc could see that the guards were severely understaffed, as there were very few guards on duty, and they looked drained. It helped Marc stay undercover in his stealth suit, and he continued creeping while staying out of any light.

His suit was a poor one, and only helped him blend in his background, but the light would easily expose him.

He moved to a staircase that led to the ground, finding it easy to avoid any guards.

Soon he reached the main gate, where only a few guards are posted. They held onto their rifles but were all falling asleep.

This was the dangerous part because Marc needed to eliminate these guards before he could open the gate.

He snuck up behind one and slashed his throat while covering his mouth. The other three guards hadn't noticed yet, and Marc slid behind another to do the same.

One guard happened to look up and see the blood coming from the two necks of the guards next to him, and he panicked. The guard yelled and looked around him. He saw the background moving a bit behind him, and he slashed in that direction.

"AAHH!" Marc yelled as the guard's bayonet slashed across his torso, leaving a deep gash. Marc then removed the suit's mask so he could see better and held his knife at the ready.

The other guard had become alert and joined the first, both of them pointing their bayonets at Marc.

Marc lunged towards the guard on his right, knocking the bayonet aside and sweeping the knife with his other hand at the guard's neck.

He quickly downed the guard and stood to face the other one. The remaining guard was sweating and stabbed towards Marc.

Marc deflected each blow, and as soon as he saw an opening, he took it. He knocked the rifle away and stabbed the guard.

This entire exchange was over in 10 seconds, but it felt like forever to Marc. 'Gotta keep moving, someone was bound to have heard the yelling.' He thought.

Marc dashed to the gate lever and pulled it while also firing a flare into the sky. The gate was wide open, and Marc decided to brake the mechanism so it couldn't be used again. He heard guards yelling and coming towards the gate from behind him, so he ran outside the city where all the ground forces of the behemoth level ship were waiting.

The Empire's forces shouted a warcry and charged inside. They quickly overran the Kingdom's forces who went to aid the gate and continued into the city. Marc joined them, cutting down any Kingdom forces that he saw.

He soon came upon the city square and was shaken up. The Empire's forces were indiscriminately killing women, children, regular citizens, and guards. Nobody was spared.

"Wait..." Marc began running towards the Empire's forces, "we did this so we wouldn't have to kill the citizens!"

Suddenly, a blow on the back of his skull caused him to fade into darkness.