Chapter 1293: An Uncertain Future

At the airport of the Aerial Knight Academy, morning arrived in engine-roar.

Ten biplanes slid from the hangar one after another, sun gilding their fuselages as they rolled into position. Roland stood before the Seagull and watched them come.

“You’re planning to bring the trainees to the battlefield?”

Tilly nodded. “If everything goes well, I can finish the last section of the Flight Manual within a month — but I don’t want my students wasting that month standing still. Theory can be taught anywhere. They could be flying at the front. The airport is far behind the First Army’s line; they’ll be safe enough.”

She was right, and he knew it. She hadn’t forgotten that she was headmistress. “Give the students more flight time,” he said. “Don’t keep the plane to yourself. The goal is to produce pilots.”

What he actually meant was: don’t act recklessly. There would be no shortage of chances for Tilly to fight. She didn’t have to take the first one.

“I will,” Tilly said, casting him a sideways look, “provided you hand over my plane as promised. I’ll leave the Fire of Heaven entirely to the students.”

Roland had no answer to that.

Tilly laughed at his expression — a short, bright sound — and pushed a strand of hair from her face. “Don’t worry, I know exactly what you’re thinking. Here’s the deal: give me a month and I’ll give you real aerial knights. Before that, I won’t provoke anyone. How does that sound?”

What he truly wanted was for Tilly not to throw herself into any bitter fight at all. But war had no safe corners, and an army untested in battle was no army. He nodded. “Stay safe.”

“Of course.” Her face split into a smile — easy, genuine, the kind that arrived without effort. “I’m waiting for you to bring Ashes back, brother.”

For a fraction of a second the morning opened around her smile and closed again. Roland filed the image somewhere permanent.

“Your Majesty, it’s time,” the guard said.

“Then I’ll be off.” Tilly turned, climbed the stairway, and was gone behind the cabin door.

Roland stepped back from the runway, turning away — though he kept looking back. The farewell party last night had not been sufficient. Nothing was ever sufficient for this. Through the cabin window, witches waved at him: Wendy, Andrea, Sylvie, Echo, Leaf, the others. Like the expedition to Taquila, they were going to war again, only this time the war would be longer and harder than anything before.

“Everyone will come back safe and sound,” Nightingale said, quiet beside him. “I have a feeling.”

He nodded but said nothing.

“All clear. Ready to take off.”

“Green flag for all!”

“Go!”

The ground supervisor’s arm swept down. Lightning rose immediately — a flicker of motion, then gone — with Maggie transforming into a Devilbeast shape behind her. No GPS in this era, no coordinates for foreign territory: Lightning and Maggie led the fleet as they had always led everything, at the front, first.

Roland noticed Thunder at the edge of the crowd, smoking his pipe, waving at his daughter with the private satisfaction of a man watching something he made become something he couldn’t have imagined. Behind Tilly came the Seagull — quiet and swift where the biplanes were loud, moving with a precision that made the noise behind it seem crude.

The crowd around him stirred. People waved at friends, at family, at faces they wouldn’t see for no one knew how long.

The Witch Union and the Sleeping Spell both had their eyes on that single plane.

In the breezes its wings generated, the Seagull lifted after a short run down the strip. Then the Aerial Knights, ten biplanes in formation — six of them trainer aircraft, unarmed — streaking down the runway one after another, rising at the wall’s edge, spreading into a line, swallowed by the horizon.

Roland had already arranged for four airports to be built while the road crews were working: at Redwater City, the City of Evernight, the City of Glow in the Kingdom of Dawn, and Thorn Town. Fuel stops, relay points. A biplane under a thousand kilograms could land on any flat surface. When the pilots grew into their skills, they would be able to cross Graycastle and the Kingdom of Dawn and reach the Kingdom of Wolfheart by sunset from an early morning start — a thing that would have seemed impossible to anyone in this era. That was the meaning of an air force. Not just speed. A new geometry of power.

Tilly’s schedule built in room for emergency: one night in the City of Evernight, then west to Cage Mountain by morning, flying only in daylight. They would arrive.

Roland held his eyes on the north sky long after the fleet disappeared.

They were really — flying.

Manfeld stood at the edge of the crowd with his mouth open and watched the iron birds vanish into the cloud-slope, their roar fading to nothing.

“Hey — we’re boarding the ship. Move!”

“Coming.” He shook his head and jogged back to the line, though the engine-sound kept ringing in his ears.

He had seen extraordinary things in his month in Neverwinter. But watching the Fires of Heaven take off at this range was different from anything. The thrill of it was clean and total; he had fallen in love with the fact of them in the span of a second.

And there was something else underneath the thrill. Something he recognized, after a moment, as happiness.

He had passed the Administrative Office’s screening. Had his resident identity card, his property, his foothold in this city. He could have chosen a clerk’s post, or joined the police alongside Sharon. He’d hesitated, then submitted his application to the Aerial Knight Academy instead.

He knew what the Academy meant: the front, eventually. Strict screening. The possibility of dying in action. He chose it anyway.

There was nothing more honorable than this — warriors sworn to the king, fighting tyrants, protecting the weak. He couldn’t wait to become one.

And so, by different roads, they all went north.

Farrina and Joe with the supply convoys. Manfeld with the new recruits. Dozens of others, hundreds, thousands — from Graycastle, from the Kingdom of Dawn, from places without names on any map. Different kingdoms, different histories, different reasons for being here.

But the Bloody Moon was the same moon above all of them.

Compared to the first and second Battles of Divine Will, the human race had never been so united. Every life now ran on the same rail: the Battle of Divine Will. The same enemy. The same stakes. And for the first time in all these centuries of fighting and losing, they were fighting it together.

Chapter 1293 - An Uncertain

Future Translator: Transn Editor: Transn At the airport in the Aerial Knight Academy. The morning dawned with the roar of engines, and 10 biplanes slid out of the hangar one after another in the morning light. Sun rays gilded their sleek bodies. “Are you planning to bring the trainees to the battlefield?” Roland asked Tilly as he stood before the “Seagull”. Tilly nodded and replied, “If everything goes well, I can finish the last part of the Flight Manual within a month, but I don’t want my students to waste their time waiting for me in that one month. I can teach them theories everywhere, and they could probably fly at the front. After all, the airport was at the very rear compared to the battlement of the First Army.” It was true. Apparently, Tilly had not forgotten her role as the headmistress of the Academy. Feeling a little more self-assured, Roland said, “Give more flying opportunities to the students. Don’t keep the plane just to yourself. The goal is to teach the others how to fly.” What Roland truly wanted to say was “don’t act recklessly”. There were a lot of opportunities for Tilly to avenge. She did not have to do so immediately. “Hmm,” Tilly said while casting Roland a glance. “I will, if you hand me my plane as promised. I promise that I won’t fight for the ‘Fire of Heaven’ with the students.” Roland was speechless. Tilly giggled as she saw Roland at a loss for words. She moved her hair out of her face and said, “Don’t worry. I know what you’re thinking. Let’s make a deal. In a month, I’ll give you a group of real aerial knights, and you give me my plane. Before that, I assure you that I won’t provoke the enemies. How does that sound?” Roland rather hoped that Tilly did not throw herself into a bitter battle at all, but he knew that there was no guarantee that one could stay safe all the time during a war. Only an army that had gone through the pain of battle could win. Therefore, he simply nodded and said, “Stay safe.” “Of course, I’m waiting for you to bring Ashes back, brother,” Tilly said, her face splitting into a lovely smile. For a split second, Tilly’s smile melted into the cool morning air of the Kingdom of Dawn and was engraved upon Roland’s heart. “Your Majesty, it’s time to take off,” the guard reminded him. “Then I’ll be off,” Tilly said as she turned round, climbed up the stairwell and disappeared behind the cabin. “OK…” Roland mumbled as he turned away from the runway while constantly looking backward. Although they had held a farewell party last night, he still felt sorry to see them leave. Through the window, he could see many witches wave at him. Like the expedition to Taquila last time, Wendy, Andrea, Sylvie, Echo, Leaf and the other witches were now heading to another war, only that this time, it would be a more difficult and time-consuming one. “Everyone will come back safe and sound,” Nightingale said quietly. “I have a feeling.” Roland nodded but remained silent. “All clear. We can take off anytime.” “Green flag for all!” “Go!” As the supervisor of the ground staff swung his arms, Lightning rose into the air followed by Maggie who had transformed into a Devilbeast. As there were no GPS coordinates in this era, and they were traveling to a foreign country, Lightning and Maggie served as the guide for the fleet. Roland noticed that Thunder was smoking his pipe while waving at his daughter, looking proud and self-complacent.” Behind Tilly was the “Seagull”. Compared to the noisy biplanes, the “Seagull” was graceful and swift in the air. Everyone in the crowd, at this point, started to bid farewell to their friends and families. Both the Witch Union and the Sleeping Spell were concerned about this particular plane. In the breezes created by magic power, the “Seagull” soon rose after sliding on the runaway for a short distance. The last that took off was the Aerial Knights. The 10 biplanes were the main air force of Neverwinter, out of which six were “trainer aircrafts” without any weapons, but Roland understood that the plant was assembling the new planes strenuously. Soon, these man-made iron birds would give the demons a heavy blow and defend the area above for the First Army. The “Fires of Heaven” flitted across the runway one by one and rose at the edge of the wall before they spread out in a line and disappeared from the end of the horizon. To help the Aerial Knights quickly get used to the pace of the battle, Roland had asked the construction team to also build four airports in the Redwater City, the City of Evernight, the City of Glow in the neighboring country, and Thorn Town while they were paving the road. These airports could facilitate the transportation across the south and the north and provide fuels for the planes. Since the biplane weighed less than 1,000 kilograms, it could land on any smooth-surfaced areas. When the pilots became proficient in operating the plane, they could travel across Graycastle and the Kingdom of Dawn, and reach the Kingdom of Wolfheart by the sunset, provided that they commenced their journey early in the morning. This was definitely a tremendous speed by the standards of this era. That was also the reason that Roland paid special attention to the air force. Once a mature air force was built, human beings would enter a new phase of warfare. Of course, as this was going to be the longest trip they would ever make in this history of time, Tilly created a pretty flexible schedule in case an emergency occurred. The army, according to her plan, would stay one night in the City of Evernight and then head to the Cage Mountain the next morning. In that case, they would be able to fly during the day. The crowd looked on at the sky in the north after the fleet slid out of their sight. So did Roland. He hoped that the new air force could help the First Army get out of their dilemma. They were really… flying! Manfeld goggled at the giant birds that disappeared behind the slope of clouds, feeling excited. “Hey, what are you doing there? We’re boarding the ship,” someone called at him from behind. “I, I’m coming,” Manfeld said while shaking his head, trying to come back to the present. He trotted back to the team but could still, somehow, hear the ringing roar of the iron birds. Although Manfeld had witnessed a lot of incredible things in Neverwinter in the past one month, it was his first time seeing the “Fires of Heaven” take off at such a close range. He felt exhilarated at the scene that he beheld. He was again shocked, but he also felt something else this time. For example, happiness. Within a second, he had fallen in love with this job. Just as the settlement clerk Matt had said, Manfeld successfully passed the screening process conducted by the human resource department of the Administrative Office and obtained a Neverwinter resident identity card. He had also received a property and quickly got used to the life here. It took him not long to find a foothold in this new city. Now, he could either choose to become a clerk in the Administrative Office or a policeman like Sharon who helped maintain public order. He hesitated for a while and submitted his application to the Aerial Knight Academy. Manfeld knew that official Aerial Knights would, in the end, join the army. They would be subject to a strict screening process and might also be killed in action. However, he was determined. He was glad that he made the right decision. Nothing could be more honorous than becoming an Aerial Knight, for they were the warriors who pledged fealty to the king, who fought against the tyrants and protected the weak. He could not wait for this day to come. Therefore, Farrina, Joe and Manfeld, as well as numerous other people all headed to the war in the north. They were from different kingdoms, different regions, but they were now acting for a common cause. Compared to the first and second Battles of Divine Will, mankind had never been so united. Their fate had been tied to the Battle of Divine Will. And they were all fighting for the human race.