Inside the Smelting Plant, the temperature was now nothing like it had been before.
The enormous creation had begun breathing again, turning an endless supply of ore and raw materials into finely crafted equipment with every breath.
The spinning waterwheel had also been inscribed anew with the Flame Capital's runes. Lifeblood could no longer touch it.
As the heart of the entire factory, the great boiler had resumed operation, continuously melting iron and sending it through the pipes to the other end.
Picking up their tools for the first time in ages, the artisans began tracing the forms of brand-new machines into their molds, bit by bit.
The plans and drawings they had worked on throughout the humiliation of the prolonged siege finally had a use.
With reverence for the Sunfire God mingling with hatred for Lifeblood, every blow the artisans struck against the metal carried exceptional weight.
Metal, gears, cables, masterful craftsmanship, Soulfire-the so-called universal energy source-and a few clever touches: countless weapons for killing bugs were about to be born here.
Fabricate the parts, assemble them, fit them together, inscribe the runes, recite the prayers.
The artistry of the battlefield was about to unfold, a spectacle Gron, a bug accustomed to close combat, could never have imagined.
Amelia began fulfilling her duties as Chief Mechanical Archsage.
She directed the work in the workshop, her earnest attitude leaving the bugs in no doubt about the impression that earlier incident had made on her.
"This mark is far more powerful than I thought. Now, whenever I see Him, I can't think rationally."
Feeling the Soulfire flowing inside her, Amelia sighed deeply. At least things weren't too bad, were they?
At the very least, she had earned respect instead of being treated as a tool to order around.
As for freedom...