Chapter 246 : Chapter 246
Chapter 246
Deballo Debius stood at the vanguard of the army, wearing the armor ‘The Steel Nest’.
The armor was so heavy he could not ride a horse, yet his steps were faster than the cavalry's.
He was an eighty-year-old man, yet no one found this fact strange.
Because he was the Cordis Empire's foremost general, Deballo Debius.
“Hmm.”
He let out a groan, gazing at the western stone wall.
To his right was Secundus, and to his left was Marina.
Marina was Deballo's daughter, and Secundus was Marina's son.
Meaning they were three generations.
At the dignified backs of the three generations of the Debius family, the Imperial Army felt an indescribable sense of reassurance.
Some of the younger soldiers were gripped by an emotion close to fervor.
But regardless of what feelings the soldiers felt, the three generals were engrossed only in the thought of breaking through the western stone wall.
“They’ve done a fine job building such a stone wall in so little time.”
Deballo spoke respectfully to Secundus.
Even though he was his maternal grandson, it was to show respect for his status as the 3rd seat of the Ten Great Generals, the Three-Mi Grand General.
Secundus felt grateful, but the awkwardness was even greater.
“I thought they would, at most, weave logs to build a palisade…. The stone wall looks truly sturdy. Don’t you think so, General Secundus?”
“…Yes. It appears so.”
“Then, in General Secundus’s opinion, how should we… hmm. This is quite uncomfortable.”
“…Please speak comfortably, Grandfather.”
“I shall.”
Deballo Debius quickly dropped the respectful speech.
He had tried to respect the other's position, but it was just too uncomfortable to keep using honorifics with his own grandson.
“Anyway.”
He raised his sharp, glaring eyes.
“It seems there’s a very troublesome strategist in the West.”
Secundus Debius couldn't help but think of Shion's face.
His half-brother reunited after seven years.
Yet, he was even more impossible to fathom.
He didn't know what abilities he had, either.
There was only a strange conviction that whatever he imagined, Shion would be more than that.
“He’s used the terrain astonishingly well. Either he’s fought battles here many times before, or he’s a genius who can perfectly implement an impromptu idea….”
“It might be both, Dad.”
“I think it’s both too, Marina.”
Deballo's glaring eyes resembled those of a beast of prey, particularly a lion.
Those eyes rolled, scanning the high western stone wall here and there.
There wasn't a single gap.
One could attack from within, but not approach from without.
Even though it showed signs of conserving resources to the utmost, the way the structure was woven together had instead made it more complex to attack.
It had a solidity one could only feel from a natural fortress that had been impregnable for hundreds of years.
Considering this stone wall had been hastily built in just over ten days, it was close to a miracle.
“If it came down to it, I thought about shattering the castle gate myself, but….”
“That’s a lie, Secundus.”
Deballo’s eyes flashed.
“You didn’t have that much resolve, did you.”
“…Hmm.”
“And this stone wall was built so you couldn't do that, either.”
The old man chuckled softly.
He felt curious.
“I really want to see the face of whatever bastard designed this stone wall.”
“……”
“Secundus.”
Deballo spoke to his grandson in a kindly voice. Secundus immediately lowered his head.
“Yes, Grandfather.”
“What do you think is the biggest difference between one of the Ten Great Generals and a Legion Commander?”
“…Hmm. There are many differences, but….”
Secundus scratched his chin.
There were only 10 Ten Great Generals in Cordis.
But there was one Legion Commander for each legion, so their number was close to 50.
Naturally, the Ten Great Generals were superior to Legion Commanders in every aspect.
Not to mention military might and authority, even their perspective on the army was different.
He had many thoughts, but a clear answer didn't come.
All those differences were trivial.
They wouldn't fit Deballo's intention.
But since a suitable answer didn't come to mind, the time spent scratching his chin only grew longer.
“What are you agonizing over so much? Just answer. It’s fine if you’re wrong. Do you think I don’t know what kind of man you are?”
“…The Ten Great Generals are superior to Legion Commanders.”
“In what respect?”
“Their individual military might is superior. They must handle even more soldiers, and their military achievements are incomparable.”
“Continue.”
“But… there is some hard-to-explain difference. Hmm. What should I call it. It’s difficult, as I’m not skilled with words.”
“Don’t think too hard about it.”
“Isn’t it a difficult question?”
“I’ll give you a hint.”
Deballo tossed out.
“You know Niko, I assume.”
“If you’re referring to the Whale of Hobel Bay, then of course.”
“He was the 11th Legion Commander. But did he feel equal to the other Legion Commanders?”
“…Hmm.”
Secundus felt like he was starting to understand something. He slowly began to spit out the words.
“…No. Niko is Niko. Niko Nereyades was just Niko Nereyades, no matter where he was… Ah?”
“Got the gist of it?”
“I see, Grandfather. I believe so.”
Watching his grandson learn, Deballo held a kindly smile.
“A Legion Commander is… part of the legion. They are outstanding commanders, but without their legion, they are merely one strong individual.”
“Continue.”
“But one of the Ten Great Generals is one of the Ten Great Generals even alone. Whether they lead a legion or not, whether they set down their official title and are no longer called by that name… their presence never disappears.”
“You’ve seen correctly, Secundus. I want to praise you.”
The old general laughed heartily.
“A true member of the Ten Great Generals, a commander who represents a nation, must be such a person.”
Deballo Debius was the general who represented the Cordis Empire.
It wouldn't be different to call him the greatest on the continent.
As he had lived shouldering an unimaginable weight, the weight of his words was also bound to be extraordinary.
“Even a battlefield has its principles. They are just not easily seen and reek of blood, but there are clear rules and common sense. Planning the best victory within those is the job of a strategist, and bringing that plan to reality is the job of a commander.”
Secundus listened intently.
Marina did as well.
It was because they knew the words of an old general who had lived on the battlefield for a long time held a value that could not be bought even with a thousand gold pieces.
“In that case, what is the job of the Ten Great Generals?”
“…To break the principles.”
“Correct, Secundus. It is the duty of those who stand at our eye level. We must bend situations that seem impossible for humans to change.”
Deballo raised his index finger.
He pointed to the West.
“Do you know what it means that there is a very troublesome strategist in the West? Those at the eye level of the Ten Great Generals exist outside the battlefield's common sense. But they are also human, so they cannot escape all common sense. In the West, there is someone who knows this precisely.”
“……”
“That swordsman who defeated Obro Denoebang and Marina. He knows how to use those who are clearly outside common sense in the most efficient way. He knows exactly which parts are outside common sense and how. This stone wall, too, looks. It was built considering that if it were built just ordinarily sturdy, it could be destroyed by someone like me who is just strong.”
Deballo Debius’s smile only deepened.
“Ah, I’m curious, so curious. To pull off something like this, the strategist himself must be at the same eye level as us. But at the same time, he must have the vision to look down on the grand battlefield.”
“…Is that a difficult thing?”
“It is difficult. It has to be!”
The old general twisted the corner of his mouth.
“It is not difficult to look up at the sky and admire its vastness. It is also not difficult to look down at one's feet and discover a small sprout one hadn't seen before. But if one is a man who always sees both together, he is a man who is coming to realize how that vast sky and that small sprout are one.”
“…Hmm, that is difficult.”
“It is a difficult thing. Even after jumping higher than anyone, one must realize the sky is still an unreachable sky. At the same time, one must grieve over how many sprouts one has trampled underfoot until now. Both are tasks of carving out one's own heart with one's own hands. It is like leaping naked into a fiercely spinning cogwheel set against a single needle-hole. Like that, killing oneself to be smaller than the needle-hole. Only after becoming like that does one finally find one's true self, which even this Deballo, even after all this long time, still… Hmm, I’ve talked too much….”
Deballo, who had been chattering away, even harboring a strange anticipation, suddenly shut his mouth.
He couldn't say more.
He looked at the West, and his beast-like eyes held a clear amusement.
He soon opened his mouth.
“It’s such an outstanding defense… but if I must find fault, it lacks experience. There’s an impatience to it.”
He spoke very joyfully.
“They used too much magic. The fact that it was built in such a short time means it cannot be maintained even now without mages.”
“Is that so? It doesn’t look that way….”
“It’s their biggest weakness, so they must have hidden it desperately. From what I see, there are mages hidden in that watchtower, this watchtower, and this thick section.”
Deballo Debius turned his head.
“The scale of our magi-soldiers?”
“We have three Magi-Soldier Corps. Two Four-Star Mages, thirteen Three-Star Mages. The rest are all Two-Star Mages, numbering just over a hundred.”
“A suitable number.”
The Grand General had been through too many battlefields. There was no way he didn't also know how to handle magi-soldiers.
“Call them and have them prepare for ‘Blanking’.”
“…We are already operating a magic interference field.”
“We just need to deactivate it for a moment. A simple interference field won't reach inside that fortress wall. It only blocks the enemy's magic attacks.”
“…But….”
Secundus bowed his large frame and asked.
“The only thing the West has over us is their magi-forces, Grandfather. The master of Hohopran Magul, the Five-Star Mage Heindel, is on the fortress wall….”
“Speak specifically. So what’s the problem?”
“Hmm. Great magic will pour down from the fortress wall.”
Kerenneus Cansella Caseptus, who was famous as the Empire's greatest administrator and strategist, said there were several principles on the battlefield. One of them was as follows.
‘A castle protected by magi-soldiers can only be breached in two ways.’
‘Either possess mages who are one star higher than the opponent, or prevent the opponent from using magic at all.’
‘If neither is feasible, it is a wise strategist who gives up on that castle.’
Realizing Secundus was recalling this principle, Deballo chuckled. It was amusing how he seemed to have forgotten what he had just said.
“I believe I said the Ten Great Generals are meant to break common sense.”
“But there’s common sense and then there’s common sense. Wide-range high-power magic will pour down. It’s not often used on the battlefield because it can’t distinguish friend from foe, but….”
Secundus wondered if he had always been this talkative. He had learned much today, but he also had many questions.
“They are all beyond the wall, and only we are on this side, so the enemy will have no reason to hold back.”
“That’s the point, Secundus.”
Deballo strode forward. Even wearing ‘The Steel Nest’, his steps were light. But the weight did not disappear, and the ground rumbled.
“Therefore, the enemy won't imagine that we would go so far as to deactivate the magic interference field to prepare for ‘Blanking’.”
“In that case… What will you do about the magic attack?”“What exactly is the problem.”
The old general moved with long, steady strides.
He broke away from the crowd of soldiers and approached the stone wall alone.
Over a hundred thousand gazes fixed on him.
Deballo, clad in ‘The Steel Nest’, resembled a majestic steel lion.
He was a terrifying figure that made knees tremble, regardless of friend or foe.
He, like that,
stood alone before the fangs of the West.
“It’s just a matter of this old man raising a fuss by himself.”