Chapter 152 - Conclave

"So I am assuming that most of the other Universe Empires have huge mecha armies?" Alexander asked.

"Yes. Among other things, their main armies are usually mecha." Blackfire nodded.

"Right. In that case, we would need to build an anti-mecha army so that the girls will have an edge when they fight against those armies. I don't want to give them too much of an edge, that would be defeating the purpose of training them. But I also don't want them to be mired in an endless war with the other Universe Empires." Alexander said.

"I understand, your majesty. In battle, mechas are almost supreme. But as I said, their weakness is that they require a lot of support. Strategically, we could aim for their supporting industries, and once they are taken out, it would only be a matter of time until the mechas fall. I believe we can do that." 

"That is a strategic move, Blackfire. It is great. But I also want to train the girls in tactics. I want them to be able to think of battlefield tactics that could defeat the enemy in a frontal collision. And I want to give them the right tools to utilize." Alexander explained.

"I see. In that case, then we should work more on our magic enhancement technology. Symphonia has a little bit of that, but I believe that these magic enhancement technology had not matured yet, and there are still a lot that could be done to improve their efficiency and capacity. I suggest we immediately assign our researchers and engineers to this task." Blackfire commented sagely.

"Hmmm. Countering machines with magic. That could work. Plus, these girls are already powerful archmages to begin with. It would be great if they could be further strengthened by these magic enhancement technology."

"Hey, are you both forgetting me?" Aleyria chided them gently.

"Hmmm? Of course not, Aleyria. What do you have in mind?" Alexander smiled at her.

"Magical enhancement is not limited to only technology. Magic can enhance magic too." Aleyria said with a mysterious smile.

"Really?" Alexander frowned as he tried to think of ways that could happen. "How?"

"Absolutely. We can do that through the use of magical enhancement runes. Magical enhancement runes are basically runes that can absorb magic, draw energy from its surroundings and duplicate it to mimic the magical input, and then release it. It would not last forever, but for as long as it is still active, magical enhancement runes would be able to amplify a mage's power output, as well as preserving his magical energy." Aleyria explained.

"Does that work for all types of magical input?" Alexander frowned.

"Of course not silly." Aleyria laughed. "It would only work for the type of magical rune drawn! If you draw a fire enhancement rune, then it would only be able to release fire attacks."

"Does it stack with each other? Can we place three fire enhancement runes one after the other and then fire off an unimaginably powerful attack?" Alexander's eyes gleamed in excitement as he thought of several 'cheats' to achieve the impossible.

"Technically, yes that would be possible. But practically, no. You're maximum output would be the amount of energy the runes could absorb and release. In fact, if you're strong enough, the magical power you're able to release on your own would probably be stronger than the maximum power the rune can release. And so it would be useless for the more powerful members of our army. For you and for me, they're absolutely worthless. But for our black, grey and blue robes though, these magical enhancement runes would be extremely useful. If used correctly, then they would be able to exhibit the power of a white robe!"

"Excellent! In that case, let's marry the two technologies. We'll put a magical enhancement rune into a magic enhancement cannon, and we will be able to create a hyper-deadly cannoneer army!" Alexander exclaimed. 

"That might work." Aleyria conceded.

"I'll be sure to remind our researchers to look into it." Blackfire agreed. 

"Hmmmm. Anyway, you've told us about how battles are fought in the main universe, as well as the five highest paid dragon mercenaries. How about the three strongest types that are so powerful that they get to choose the missions that were collected and compiled for them?" Alexander reminded Blackfire.

"Ah yes. The three strongest types of dragons."

*-*-*-*-*-*

The three strongest dragon types in all of Symphonia are actually combinations of the previous five. These are the dragons that have mastered the various mysteries of the universe. The first type is the Royal Space Time Dragon.

You might think that it's just a combination of Zas and Rona, but you couldn't be more wrong. Zas and Rona have each mastered Space and Time. They were able to time and sequence their attacks together to create a powerful combo.

A Royal Space Time Dragon is able to do much more than that. They are able to not just sequence and chain their attacks together, they are able to COMBINE them! This is qualitatively much, much more powerful than A Royal Space Dragon and A Royal Time Dragon separately. 

If you task ten Zas and ten Ronas to fight a Royal Space Time Dragon, they would probably reject you outright.

In the story which I told you earlier, Rona was able to speed time up for us while at the same time, slowing time for the enemy. Zas was able to open up massive portals for soldiers to move through quickly as well as lock down vast swathes of space. Additionally, he is able to freely travel through the realms. 

A Royal Space Time Dragon can do all of the above, as well as an extremely deadly spell. 

Time Travel. 

The combination of Space and Time somehow unlocks the mystery of time completely, and allows the Space Time Dragon to step into the past or peer into the future. I do not know the full details of the range of actions that they can do with such a spell, all I know is that they are able to go into the past and take out a certain type target, one that had not accumulated too many 'Destiny Points".

I understand that as someone who would not affect the future too much if they are taken out from the past. The further back you go in time, the more stringent the requirements are for the Destiny Points. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that the further back you go, the more Destiny Points a person would have. 

Afterall, if you go back far enough in time, even taking out a random poor villager would have massive ramifications in the future.

There are only two Royal Space Time Dragons, and they are both in the service of Magius. In fact, almost all the triple titled dragons are all in the service of Magius at the moment. They are all powerful generals commanding vast numbers of soldiers. 

Nobody really know where they are located, but the few times they have allowed the general populace of the universe to glimpse their existence have always resulted in massive waves of shock and awe spreading out throughout the entire realm.

Shock and awe at their absolute power and their incredibly huge numbers. The last rumour I heard placed one of their armies at a staggering five hundred billion! And that's just one army!

Why don't he just take control of the entire realm? Great question. I believe that the constant conflict that happens between the Universe Empire would serve as crucial training opportunities for them. In fact, I even suspect that he had a hand in inciting several of the larger wars that had happened in the past few hundred years.

Didn't you get a mission to put Anastasia on the Throne of Symphonia? Anastasia is the weakest princess. He probably wanted you to trigger a massive internal war that would sharpen Symphonia's forces, and thus allowing them to finally participate in the larger wars between the Universe Empires. 

If Symphonia can finally take on the Haran Empire in open battles, Magius would probably be ecstatic!

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

In the fringes of the Symphonian Empire.

"Prince Marius. Welcome to our little gathering." A disembodied voice rang out from nowhere.

Prince Marius turned his head slightly and glared at a specific spot in the little auditorium.

"Hoo. You're actually able to sense my spiritual body. Prince Marius, you truly are full of secrets. A true gem… Ha ha ha ha!" The disembodied voice cackled loudly.

"Shut up and stop teasing him. He's still a little boy." A beautiful female elf snapped at the disembodied voice in irritation before turning to smile at Prince Marius.

"Welcome, Prince Marius. You're officially the seventh and youngest member of our Conclave." She purred. 

"Where are the other two members?" Prince Marius asked as he looked around the near empty auditorium which only had the beautiful female elf and himself visible.

"Hooooo!! He could also sense Timo and Haro! Excellent! Excellent indeed!!" The disembodied voice cried out.