Reborn General: My Interstellar Arsenal Slays Magic

Chapter 3: The Price of Arrogance

The golden carriage hovered three feet above the crimson-stained snow, its four mana-infused steeds snorting plumes of glowing blue mist. A dozen Imperial Mage-Knights in gleaming silver armor formed a protective perimeter, their staffs already humming with defensive barrier spells.

Prince Valen Solaria stepped down onto the stone paving of the outer courtyard. He adjusted the pristine velvet collar of his cloak, his eyes sweeping across the carnage with a mixture of disgust and utter disbelief. Hundreds of dead Frost Orcs lay piled near the gate, yet the air contained no trace of residual mana. No scorched earth from fireballs, no severed limbs from wind blades.

Just the metallic smell of blood and a bizarre, pungent odor of burnt powder.

"Cadet Vance," Valen called out, his voice laced with effortless superiority as he looked up at the battlements. "Explain this monstrosity. Where is Captain Vance?"

Leonidas walked slowly down the stone steps, flanked by Kael and four conscripts holding their MP5s low at their sides. The three Imperial guards who had survived the siege fell in behind Leonidas, their heads bowed.

"Captain Vance fell in combat during the breach, Your Highness," Leonidas said smoothly, stopping ten paces from the prince.

"Fell?" Valen’s lips curled into a sneer. "A Rank-3 Mana Swordsman died, yet a group of useless, mana-less commoners survived a Rank-4 horde? Do not play word games with me, trash. You used an illegal dark artifact to slaughter these beasts, didn't you?"

Valen snapped his fingers. Two Mage-Knights stepped forward, their staffs glowing with restrictive binding magic. "Seize him. We will strip his soul in the capital to find whatever taboo relic he is hiding."

Kael and the conscripts instantly raised their submachine guns, aiming them straight at the mages.

"Hold!" the lead Mage-Knight yelled, startled by the aggressive stance of common soldiers who usually cowered before a mage. "You dare point iron at Imperial nobility?!"

"Lower your weapons," Leonidas commanded his men quietly. Kael hesitated, then slowly lowered his barrel, though his knuckle stayed pressed against the guard.

Leonidas stepped directly into Valen’s line of sight, meeting the prince's cold gaze without dropping his eyes.

"Under Imperial Military Law, Article 4," Leonidas said, his voice ringing with absolute clarity, "a commander who successfully defends an Imperial border fortress during an unannounced surge assumes temporary field command until official audit. Furthermore, any officer who accuses a commander of treason during active garrison defense must produce physical proof—or face a duel of honor."

Valen burst into laughter, a sharp, mocking sound that made the Mage-Knights smirk.

"A duel of honor?" Valen stepped closer, his aura flaring. The pressure of a high-tier spellcaster pressed down on the courtyard, forcing the commoners to gasp for breath. "You are a mana-less outcast, Leonidas. A bug I spared out of pity. You have no right to demand anything."

"I have the right of blood and steel," Leonidas replied calmly, resting his hand on the tactical pistol holstered at his hip. "Unless the Crown Prince of Solaria is afraid to accept a challenge from a 'bug'?"

Valen’s smile vanished. His eyes turned deadly narrow. Being challenged by a commoner was an insult; being accused of cowardice in front of his royal guard was unacceptable.

"Very well," Valen hissed, raising his hand. A circle of complex golden runes materialized around his palm, crackling with high-density lightning magic. "I will incinerate you where you stand, and then I will take whatever relic you used to murder Captain Vance."

"Ten paces," Leonidas said, stepping back into the open courtyard. "Standard dueling distance."

The Mage-Knights formed a loose circle, chuckling among themselves. To them, this wasn't a fight; it was an execution. A high mage’s barrier could withstand a direct blow from a siege ram. A mana-less cadet stood no chance.

Valen raised his glowing hand. "On my count. One... two—"

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Leonidas didn't wait for three. He drew his suppressed sidearm in a blur of muscle memory forged across a lifetime of war, firing a single armor-piercing round straight into the center of Valen’s golden spell circle.

CRACK!

The high-density round hit the condensed lightning spell before it could launch. The sudden physical impact disrupted the mana flow, causing the spell circle to collapse inward.

BOOM!

A shockwave of backfired lightning exploded in Valen’s face. The prince shrieked in agony as his own magic detonated, shattering his defensive barrier and blasting him backward onto the frozen cobblestones. His pristine velvet cloak burned with acrid black smoke, and blood trickled from his ears and nose.

"PRINCE VALEN!" the Mage-Knights screamed in horror, breaking formation to rush to their fallen royal.

Leonidas didn't move. He stood over the groaning prince, the smoking barrel of his pistol pointed directly between Valen’s eyes.

The entire courtyard went dead silent. The royal escort stared at Leonidas in absolute terror. He had just brought the heir to the empire to his knees in less than two seconds, without using a single drop of mana.

[DRAMATIC IMPACT ACHIEVED.]

[HOSTILITY DETECTED FROM ROYAL HOUSE SOLARIA.]

[SYSTEM MISSION UNLOCKED: THE NORTHERN REBELLION.]

[REWARD FOR SECURING FROSTPEAK: TIER 3 ARSENAL (MAIN BATTLE TANKS & DRONE STRIKE SYSTEMS).]

Valen looked up through blurred vision, coughing blood, his face pale with utter shock and hatred. "You... you dared..."

"I spared your life because your death today would bring the Imperial Fleet before my garrison is ready," Leonidas whispered, bending down so only Valen could hear him. "Go back to the capital, Valen. Tell the Emperor that the North is no longer his playground. If he wants Frostpeak back, tell him to send an army."

Leonidas straightened up and looked at the terrified Mage-Knights. "Take your prince and get out of my fortress."

As the golden carriage frantically sped away into the blizzard, carrying a humiliated and wounded prince back to the capital, Kael stepped up beside Leonidas, staring down the canyon road.

"Commander..." Kael murmured, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and wild excitement. "You just declared war on the entire Solaria Empire."

Leonidas glanced at his system interface, watching his credit total tick upward as the remaining Frost Orc biomass was processed.

"No, Kael," Leonidas said, his eyes glowing with ruthless determination. "I just started the conquest."