In the World of Sword and Magic as Space Marine

Chapter 26: Feast and Formal Clothes

It only took half a day to secure Fort Stormfist and leave the fortress as half of the prince's military force was left behind to protect the fort. As Fort Stormfist is a barrier between humans and vampire factions, the fort has two parallel walls defended from any invaders. This means that while half of the army was repairing the breached walls that William created during his fight against the Blood Duke, the other half of the army was on the opposite side of the fort patrolling and securing the second walls.

Before leaving the fort, William leaves behind the Dreadnought to aid and give additional fighting force just in case another vampire faction decides to invade the fort. William learned the Dreadnought's name which is Veteran Battle-Brother Raduriel who participated in the many crusades such as The Fall of Agrella and Third War for Armageddon. It was during the Third War for Armageddon where Raduriel fell in battle and was reborn as Dreadnought to continue his duty.

During wall repair and securing the fort, William checks the Dreadnought's weapon system and the condition of the machine. To his surprise, William learned that Dreadnought has a similar loot function just like him, able to collect additional ammunition, repair drones and new weapons or parts after defeating the enemy. For some reason, Battle-Brother Raduriel wasn't bothered by the loot system or ability to gain weapons as if it was a normal thing. He was even able to quickly switch weapon systems just like how William does with his collection of an arsenal.

As for the loot, it was different from Williams's and it seems individuals get their own loot which was good news for William. One key thing Raduriel got was Leviathan Storm Cannon which is a heavy-duty four autocannon that could rapidly fire and destroy anything on its path. With this new weapon, Dreadnought can defend the fort all by himself without any help.

Following William's order, Raduriel stays behind to defend the future base of operation of Adeptus Astartes while William returns to Deron with Prince Benton and Duchess Argus. The return trip wasn't boring since William was riding his assault bike which many of the knights including two leaders of the armies envied him. By the time two forces returned back to Deron, the Duchess was riding behind William. This scene wasn't hard to miss by Sir Dolven which he chuckled the moment he saw William's arrival.

"I received the news from your messenger, your highness. If I knew there would be such hardship, I would have gone with you." Sir Dolven said to Prince Benton who arrived right behind William's bike. The entire city of Deron was in cheer as soldiers welcomed the returning troops and horns were blown to signal the success of the campaign.

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"Thank you, Sir Dolven, it was a hard fight but thanks to the effort from William and Duchess, we successfully captured the Fort Stormfist and left forces to hold it. Send the message to my father of this good news and tell him that we will be there within 9 days from now." Prince Benton instructed Sir Dolven after he got off from his horse. Meanwhile, William helped now recovered Duchess get off his bike since it was twice bigger than a regular motorcycle. Seeing this, Sir Dolven whispers to the prince as if he won the bet on the gamble.

"I see that the Duchess got close to William during the second campaign. You owe me 10 gold coins." Sir Dolven said to the prince and signed him to hand over his reward which the prince did as he gave a sour expression.

"I knew I bet on the wrong side. How did you know they would get close like that?" Prince asked which old knight just shrugged and put away coins into his pouch.

"It's an insight you will gain when you're my age. William and Duchess have personalities that clash against each other but eventually, they would bond, especially during battle. That is if they didn't kill each other during the clash." Sir Dolven silently laughs as William and Duchess approach two gamblers.

"When are we leaving for the capital? I assume there will be a minimum number of troops between Deron and Fort Stormfist." William asked the old knight as he removed his helmet and held it on his left arm.

"My army will leave the city and escort Prince to the capital while the Duchess's army will remain in Deron and wait for a new order from the king. When we arrive in the capital, I will send my troops back home while I will remain with you all. William, don't worry about housing since you can stay in my mansion as my guest. Also, nice armor, much more stylish than your old one, I guess being a paladin comes with some perks, I see." Sir Dolven said to William as he examines the Armour of Faith and Black Sword. William smiles with embarrassment while Duchess clears her throat to get the three men's attention.

"If you two are done giggling like kids with new toys, I would like to prepare our return trip. We will be heading to the capital two days from now. Before then, I would like to make sure my subordinates are briefed and coordinated on the supply line between Deron and Fort Stormfist." Duchess Beckett said in a strict way that almost killed the joyful vibe.

"As strict as your fury, cousin. Enjoy the day and relax will ya? Troops need time to recover from the fatigue and we do have a feast tonight. Sir Dolven will take care of those, so don't go ruin everyone's mood." Prince said to the Duchess that she did some help as she thought for a second and agreed with the prince's logic. In the end, everyone decided to reorganize the troops and equipment while Prince's chefs work on tonight's feast.

For William, he decided to reorganize his war gears and sort what he had left. With so much reward he received from the previous battle, there were few concerns that came.

First was the gene-seed of the Grey Knight and Aegis Terminator armor, they are indeed powerful weapons against daemons but to use it means he has to surrender his Black Templar gene-seed in exchange. This also means he will lose the command since he will no longer be Black Templar, the only way William will use these items is if another Greater Daemon appears in this world. Until then these two items are not useful to William right now.

The second concern is the biggest of all, which is the Fragment of the Emperor's psychic light, the Spark of Astronomican. According to the description, this item will purify the chaos corruption but will summon random allies or something from the 40K universe. The last part really concerns William as this could summon nightmare things imaginable from 40K such as T'au (Just kidding). The nightmare things such as Tyranids, Necrons or Green tide itself, the Orks.

Orks of the 40K are so different from standard orcs of the fantasy D&D world. There is a reason why Orks are called Green Tide as they are unstoppable war factions that will fight anyone or anything as long as they can achieve the war or in their language, 'WAAAGH!'

Not to mention their ways of reproducing their numbers are by fungus spores. This means Orks can increase their number within days or weeks without using additional resources to nurse them to maturity. Also, their technology literally breaks the natural law of physics thanks to their power of imagination because their weapons and vehicles are nothing but made out of scraps of metals and completely random unlike humans or any other factions' technology.

So, the Spark of Astronomican is beyond dangerous if William isn't prepared to fight nonfriendly without heavy backup. The only way he will use this item is only if chaos brings their full force on to this world and William has no other options in his hands. Until then, this item will stay in his inventory and safe.

For the summon order and drop pods, William will keep them equipped as long as possible until he gets the permanent settlement. Without a stable line of incomes and a place to put a roof over their head, William can't just summon an army of soldiers and Space Marines. Unless William receives the City of Deron and fort from the king officially, there aren't suitable places he could organize his army.

After finishing organizing his war gears, William decided to look around the city castle since he will be gone for a while. With his new power armor and black sword in his hip, William went to various locations within the city castle such as a library, main hall, etc as he recalls the old D&D campaign from his old world. Just as William was about to finish his walk, William met the Duchess and her entourage in the hallway.

"William, why are you still in your armor? Why aren't you wearing something more comfortable? We are not on the battlefield you know," The Duchess said to William as her entourage who were all women giggled in the back. William, seeing he is out number decided to explain his situation as he doesn't have formal clothing.

"Well, I don't actually have fancy clothing for the feast, so I usually wear my armor," William explains to the Duchess who isn't surprised or amused by his excuse.

"If that is the case, you should talk to the prince and get his tailors to make you something presentable. I'm sure he won't mind since you did save mine and his skin on the battlefield after all. I will see you tonight and you better not be in your armor, my dear." The Duchess then left with her followers, leaving William confused by what the Duchess just said to him. Afterward, William decided to visit Prince Benton and see if he could get something to wear for tonight's feast.