Chapter 336: It Isn’t Just Camouflage
At first, Lancet saw only gold. A vast fog surrounded the region below, thick enough to hide the land beneath it and bright enough to rival the sun.
The ship entered the outer edge of it slowly, and the fog moved away from the hull in smooth waves rather than being disturbed by the engines. From the movements, the fog looked almost... alive.
Lancet leaned closer to the window, and then he saw what was inside it. Tiny red lights moved through the gold haze, smaller than birds and most insects, but bigger and more conscious than dust.
He focused harder and caught the shape of one as it crossed close to the glass. It was a machine, almost microscopic. Hundreds of thousands of them drifted through the fog, each one flashing red as the ship passed.
Lancet’s eyes widened. "So that’s how they do it."
Renan looked at him. "Do what?"
Lancet pointed outside as the fog around the ship started separating in layers. Thin openings formed ahead of them while the red lights inside moved over the hull, scanning every section before allowing the mist to part. "It isn’t just camouflage."
Renan followed his gaze as Lancet watched the machines continue their work, remembering the descriptions from the novel.
He had imagined this place so many times that seeing the real thing made the memory feel strange. The fog hid the Barracks from ordinary sight, yes, but that was only the beginning.
As he remembered from the light novel, it also interfered with long-range magical detection, scattered signatures, and confused Demon reconnaissance to make the entire region difficult to mark from the outside.
More importantly, the field surrounding the Golden Barracks disrupted the spatial conditions needed for Demon or Dungeon Gates to form inside or around the encampment.
The Barracks was completely off the reach of the Second World.
The ship continued downward, and the mist finally opened beneath them to reveal the Golden Barracks.
Lancet looked out the window and almost forgot how to breathe. This place was not an encampment; it was a damn city!
A metropolis built by people who expected war every morning.
He saw massive black structures spread across the land in organized districts, their walls reinforced with dark metal ribs and gold-edged armor plating.
The towers were behemoths of metal, like gothic fortresses, but golden energy lines ran along their faces and disappeared beneath rows of narrow windows. Bridges connected upper levels between buildings, some made from stone and steel, others from transparent magical panels strong enough to support entire convoys.
Training grounds filled the spaces between them. Lancet saw soldiers moving through obstacle fields, Awakeners casting spells against reinforced walls, aerial units crossing between high platforms, and armored vehicles rolling along broad roads below.
Farther away, enormous hangars opened directly into the sides of several buildings. Ships entered and left under glowing runes while cranes moved weapon platforms from one tower to another.
The Golden Barracks kept unfolding the lower they went, boasting hospitals, factories, dormitories, command towers, training arenas, and enough defensive walls to make a bastion city jealous.
Valeria looked out the window near her, resting one hand against the glass. "That is enormous."
Vernon remained seated, but even he had stopped pretending the view did not impress him. Nereus leaned forward from his chair, his dark eyes moving across the districts, while Espel looked out without changing expression, though her gaze followed the streams of soldiers below for longer than usual.
Estelle Nightingale stood quietly beside one of the inner railings, unimpressed.
Lancet smiled at the sight, admiring how everything matched with the light novel.
Not exactly, of course, since reading about a place did not prepare anyone for scale, but the structure, the golden fog, the black military towers, and the unbelievable amount of motion below were all exactly where he remembered them.
He had read these Chapters from his bed in another life. Now he was inside them.
The ship crossed above a large central district and lowered toward an elevated deck built into one of the largest towers. The landing platform stretched far enough to hold several royal transports at once, with armored barriers rising along the sides and control lights embedded directly into the floor.
The engines softened as the ship touched down, sending a low vibration through the cabin before everything went still.
The boarding doors opened, and cold air entered first, quickly followed by the noise of the Barracks.
Lancet heard metal striking metal, far way orders shouted across training grounds, engines humming below, and distant magic exploding somewhere behind the towers flooded the cabin.
Lancet stood with the others and followed King Romsgard toward the ramp, spotting the welcoming party the moment he stepped outside.
A line of men and women waited near the far end of the deck, all dressed in different variations of military coats and battle gear.
Some carried weapons openly, while others wore command insignia along their shoulders and collars. Normal guards stood behind them in formation, ensuring the important people stayed in front.
King Romsgard descended first with Exela close behind him, followed by President Alistair Bane, Danistasia, and Ordenance. Lancet walked down with Vernon, Valeria, Nereus, Renan, Espel, and Estelle.
The man standing at the center of the welcoming line stepped forward. He was broad-shouldered, older than Bane but still built like someone who spent more time training than sitting behind a desk.
A dark scar ran from the edge of his jaw toward one ear, and four gold bars marked the collar of his black military coat.
Bane greeted him with a firm clasp of the forearm. "Marshal Darius Keene."
The man nodded. "President."
Alistair turned toward the group behind him. "Marshal Keene is the Commandant of the Golden Barracks. Every standing force stationed here answers through his command structure." That easily explained the way even the senior officers nearby watched him.
Bane then gestured toward the woman beside Keene. She was tall, dark-haired, and sharply dressed in a fitted grey military coat with a silver chain crossing one shoulder, keeping a narrow crystal tablet beneath one arm.
"This is Director Selene Marr. Personnel and Operations. She oversees recruitment assignments, training placements, and active deployment inside the Barracks."
Selene gave the group a brief nod.
Next came a heavyset man with both sleeves rolled above thick forearms and burn marks covering one hand. "Master Armorer Rulf Denning. Head of Equipment and Combat Supply."
Rulf grunted, a greeting that made Lancet like him immediately.
Bane moved on to a lean woman in white-and-black healer robes, who kept her hair pinned away from her face with silver clips. "Chief Healer Mai Rah Vekara. She controls the medical district and all battlefield recovery units stationed here."
Mai Rah looked over the students in one sweeping glance that somehow felt like a medical examination.
The final officer was a narrow-faced man wearing a dark blue coat covered in small glowing seals. "Commander Eliant Trugardt. Head of the Communications and Preparations Unit."