Ruler Of Iron And Flesh

Marc sat on his throne, staring at the massive door before him. Dark circles wrapped beneath his eyes as he was lost in his thoughts.

'When will they come? Are we going to be ready?' He kept repeating these kinds of questions in his mind.

He tapped the armrest of his throne. The Empire had gotten much stronger militarily than it was before, and that was saying a lot.

The behemoth level mecha had been completed, so now the Empire had a behemoth level airship and a behemoth level mecha.

They had been doing rapid recruitment for the military and conscripted many citizens. The population within the Empire was slowly growing restless as their families were taken, and taxes have increased.

Everybody was feeling the tension in the air as the fight came closer and closer.

'I am sorry people of mine, but this fight needs to happen,' Marc thought.

Soon after his thought, the door to the throne room opened, and Marc sat up straight.

"Your majesty, I bring great news!" It was the head of the research department.

"What is it?" Marc asked half-heartedly.

"The version four exosuit is finally completed!"

Marc's eyes widened, and he got up speedily. "Show me the suit immediately!"

Marc followed the head down corridors and other passageways until they made it outside. The primary research department was just outside the keep.

They walked up to the main door where Marc had posted several guards in version three exosuits. He believed that this research might make the difference between defeat and success, so he kept it under heavy guard.

They walked inside to a door. This door had numerous locks and passcodes on it. The head went through each one; then the door slowly opened to reveal what was inside.

Marc's eyes opened wide as he saw the exosuit.

It looked very similar to Inian's old suit, except for the helmet. The mask was in the shape of a dragon rather than a wolf.

"This is one of my proudest creations," said the head. "By using the designs of that armor you gave us, and combining with our own technology, plus a few tweaks, we have successfully created a version 4 exosuit."

Marc went up to admire the suit. It was sleek and was slim fitting.

"Swords and guns can be interchangeable from the forearms on the exosuit. The suits durability is higher than we've ever known before. You could probably take on a titan level monster all by yourself if you're in this suit."

Marc looked at him in surprise, "Really?! What's the core?"

The excitedly explained, "the core is a unique titan-level one. It gives you unlimited power, plus it increases the strength of the suit 25% more than a regular titan-level core would give you. This suit truly is the epitome of human technology."

Marc smiled a crooked smile, "Excellent! Get this to the throne room for me. I want it to be prepped and ready to use in a moment's notice."

"Yes, your majesty."

Marc left and went back outside with a little skip in his step. 'This will give me the chance to fight against Inian and win!'

He decided to go look at the specifics of the new ground mecha.

He traveled with a few guards outside the city to the new mecha.

The mecha was massive, standing on eight long legs that could move it across any terrain. It was currently inactive, so Marc went inside to meet with the Captain.

Men and women were scurrying across the ship, prepping it for battle. Marc went through many rooms and passed several engines and locations that he didn't know about to reach the piloting deck where the Captain was.

Several men and women were sitting in chairs staring at buttons and panels while the Captain was standing back, observing them on the piloting deck. He saw Marc come in and bowed, "your majesty, what can I do for you?"

"I'd like to know the specifics about this mecha."

"Yes, sir. This mecha currently has a crew of 489 onboard. It moves slowly, but the firepower is not to be messed with. It has 12 Hiro cannons on board, 50 Caro cannons, and 120 Glastro cannons. The armor can withstand hits from Hiro cannons. The fire-rate is halved due to new technology, so our cannons can fire much more quickly and effectively than they used to."

Marc smiled, "that's all excellent news! What do you think of the upcoming battle?"

The Captain then looked down before looking back up at Marc, "Sir, I feel like this is a pointless battle if I'm honest. I don't believe that we need to fight against the remaining nations at all."

Marc scrunched his forehead, "this battle is necessary... Captain. The world's fate depends on us winning this battle."

The Captain saluted, "Yes, sir!"

Marc left a little frustrated. 'Don't these people get that this battle is vital?'

The night was falling upon the city, so Marc decided to head back to the keep. He was walking on the road with his guards when a man came around the corner. He had a hood over his head and walked on the opposite side of the street.

The guards tensed up as the man got closer, their instincts warning them, and then the man bolted straight towards Marc.

The guards were a bit slow, but Marc was not. The hooded man lunged out with a knife, hoping to strike Marc's vital points. Marc was strong and grabbed and twisted the man's wrist. He dropped the knife, grunting in pain.

His hood fell back to reveal a slightly older man, maybe around 40 to 50 years of age.

"You understand that attempting an assassination on the Emporer is punishable by death?" Marc said through gritted teeth.

The man looked at him with anger, "you took my daughter away from me! She's not a fighter; she's too young!"

Marc pulled his knife out of his sheath, "It's all for noble sacrifice. Can't you see that I'm trying to protect you all?" He then plunged the knife deep into the man's c.h.e.s.t.

The man grunted then his eyes glazed over as death overtook him.

"Have someone clean up his body, use him as an example for any other assassination attempts," Marc said to the stunned guards.

Marc walked on, uncaring, and determined.