Chapter 176 : Chapter 176
Chapter 176. The East Wind (2)
If you ask me what the strongest fortress is after the paradise of the elves, I will answer without hesitation that it is a dwarven hold.
Although it fell into the hands of the Orc Great Chieftain with disappointing ease once, that should be considered an exception because the Steamforge was occupied by the Ratmen Technopriest Council at the time.
The story is different if the Steamforge, which serves as the heart of the hold, is intact.
Thousands of cannons of all shapes and sizes adorning the entire fortress.
Automatically opening and closing gates of the outer and inner castles and barriers at key passages.
And sturdy walls that can't even be scratched by ordinary spells or bombardments.
That's right.
A dwarven hold is an impregnable fortress.
If I were to pick the sturdiest among them, it would be the Everlasting Mountains Hold where the King of Kings resides.
The defense of the surface is one thing, but the core of the Everlasting Mountains Hold is the underground part that connects from inside the palace.
You can tell just by looking at the fact that even the orcs who had once taken over the surface couldn't break through.
An ant-hill-like network of tunnels throughout the entire mountain.
Emergency power systems distributed to be able to run even if the Steamforge is paralyzed.
Magic stone veins that produce and supply power in real time, and forges that manufacture weapons.
Earth-wheat—the raw material for stone-bread, modified to grow underground—cultivation sites and mushroom farms responsible for food production.
And retractable bulkheads made of mithril alloy built in various passages.
To exaggerate a little, it would be no overstatement to say that the entire mountain has been fortified.
If prepared, they could hold out indefinitely against the elves' green crusade, the Ratmen's invasion, and even the full-scale offensive of the Eastern Empire, which had fallen into the hands of the church.
And yet that hold had fallen.
“Four of the nine holds have been destroyed. The King of Kings, Ungol, is personally leading the refugees to the viscounty. They still have three days to reach Kalisto, and they are requesting support in advance…”
I cut in before William's report was finished.
“Mobilize all available resources to support them. Also, raise the defenses of Wolfskrig and Kalisto to the maximum.”
“Yes, yes…! Understood.”
“Issue a conscription order and put the factories on an emergency footing. Relay my words to Olif and the other key personnel. If anyone has any objections, connect them back to me immediately.”
A crisis.
An instinctive sensation sent a shiver down my spine.
A sense of crisis that I hadn't felt even when I saw the ruined paradise with my own eyes.
And for good reason. The paradise of the elves was in a remote area to the northeast.
It was a key location in that it was the stronghold of the boss-level faction, the Paradise Elves, but geopolitically, it wasn't a particularly important location.
The dwarven holds were different.
The nine holds built in the nine mountain ranges of the wasteland were arranged almost parallel to each other from north to south.
Although it wasn't their intention, these holds served as a kind of defensive line.
A defensive line that prevented the eastern forces from crossing to the west, and the western forces from crossing to the east.
‘…Master.’
“Yes. I know.”
‘I'm sorry. If I had known, I would have given you a hint in some form. I've never seen this before either.’
I know what Kkumteuli wants to say.
Having come this far, it's not difficult to guess the culprit.
The Eastern Empire.
With the emperor's seal broken, and completely fallen into the hands of the church.
‘It took at least ten years for the Eastern Emperor to recover his strength. In all the worlds I've seen… it was like that.’
Honestly, I had the same thought.
I had judged that there was still time.
Although I was aware that it was an inevitable crisis, the reason I had prepared with a little leisure was for that reason.
No matter which playthrough I looked back on, there was no case where the empire's national power had recovered so quickly after the emperor's revival, to the point of crossing the world's barrier mountains.
Even considering it was Inferno difficulty, and even considering the 4.0 update, it was an absurd story.
The reason Kkumteuli apologized must be the same.
Even he, who had destroyed countless worlds, didn't know.
In other words, it meant that a variable of that magnitude had intervened.
‘…I'm sorry.’
“It doesn't matter.”
I'm serious.
Having come this far, the basis of past judgments is just an excuse.
Me, and everyone else, are no exception.
All we can do is respond.
I dressed in the Emperor's attire and teleported to the Imperial Army camp that was following the refugee procession.
“Gabir, convene an emergency meeting. Those in other refugee processions will be summoned remotely or informed later.”
Inside a barracks where a large round table was placed.
Key officials, commanders, and key figures began to gather, either in person or through crystal spheres.
Archduke Gabir looked this way.
His expression was as calm as usual, but his eyes held a faint hint of concern.
“Your Majesty, are you alright?”
The voice of the Imperial Secret Knight Order member, Yula Katran, who stood by my side as an escort, was also similar.
There was worry in it.
I patted her shoulder and sat down.
[Deploying [Lord's Unyielding Mind].]
Now, let's think.
First, I need to readjust my goals.
For now, there are three.
First is the protection of Wolfskrig, which has become the imperial capital.
Second is to support the dwarves.
Third is the fortification of the viscounty.
‘Protecting Wolfskrig is not difficult.’
The fall of the holds one after another was indeed a crisis.
However, the pursuit force of the Eastern Empire that was currently chasing the dwarves would at most be a detachment.
There were two grounds for this.
First, there were still holds that had not been destroyed.
If I were the Eastern Emperor, I would have dealt with them in advance to reduce the risk of being attacked from behind.
Furthermore, the very fact that the ‘dwarves who had lost their fortress’ were attempting to ‘flee’ gave a hint as to the strength of the pursuit force.
It was no racial slur, but the dwarves' running speed was by no means fast.
How fast could they be with those short legs?
Even if their stamina allowed them to travel a similar distance to humans in a day, the inability to speed up at a crucial moment was fatal for a fugitive.
In such circumstances, they had led a large group of refugees, crossed the red wasteland, and reached the vicinity of the viscounty.
An unimaginable feat if they had been pursued directly by the main force of the enemy that had destroyed the holds.
‘Since they're slow, they must have fought with the pursuit force from time to time.’
‘Yes. It must not have been easy. Dwarves who have lost their base are no different from an artillery unit that has lost all its cannons.’
The combat power of dwarves who have lost their base plummets.
This was the reason for the second goal, supporting the dwarves.
It wasn't a cheap favor.
An enemy of unknown strength was at hand.
Alliances be damned, if they weren't helpful, they had to be cut off.
The dwarves were not like that.
As long as they had a base, they would be the strongest fighting force.
Now, I could not only win them over, but also use them on terms favorable to me.
If the dwarven artisans came to the domain in large numbers, the third goal, fortification, would become much easier.
Magic stones were still being produced infinitely in the subspace, and Wolfskrig also had vast reserves of iron ore.
Then, what's important is the method of support.
I need a force that combines mobility and combat power.
Let's think about the forces available in the domain right now.
Someone approached.
It was the Archduke.
“Your Majesty, everyone has gathered.”
“…Yes.”
I lifted my head.
The barracks was already half full.
I scanned the faces.
About half were the people the Emperor had personally evacuated to Wolfskrig.
The rest were people of power from all walks of life, such as magic tower masters, knight commanders, high-ranking Imperial Army commanders, and clergymen.
The hundred or so glowing crystal spheres on the round table represented the absent personnel.
“I will explain briefly.”
I told them as it was.
About the collapse of the dwarven holds, the refugee procession formed by four holds, the response of the Wolfskrig viscounty, and the Eastern Empire, which was presumed to be behind the invasion.
The reaction was lukewarm.
“Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, there is a possibility that Viscount Ash's subordinate has made a false report.”
Some even doubted the report itself.
“Even if it is true, a rash response could actually weaken Wolfskrig's defenses.”
“Although the alliance with the dwarves is important, it has not yet been a month since Your Majesty designated Wolfskrig as the imperial capital.”
Some were concerned about Wolfskrig, which had been newly designated as the imperial capital.
“Viscount Taven is right, Your Majesty.”
“Please remember the subjects of the capital who are on the refugee trail.”
Voices of dissuasion were heard from all over.
As expected.
And they were mostly right.
However, there was a fact they didn't know.
That the paradise of the elves had already fallen.
They didn't know that to counter the enemy that had torn apart even the powerful barrier created by an archmage and turned paradise into ruins, they had to gather not only the dwarves but all possible forces.
“I have heard your opinions well.”
I deliberately did not disclose it.
There could be a spy.
No, I had to assume there was.
If the Eastern Empire had fully spread its wings.
If it had completely accepted the power of the church and the sealed emperor had regained his former capabilities.
Then their minions within the empire would have also begun to act.
Until I weeded them out, it would be difficult to share what I knew and what I didn't.
Therefore.
“The Imperial Army will not move. They will continue to escort the refugees as they have been. The Imperial Army in Wolfskrig will also protect Wolfskrig.”
“Then…?”
“Viscount Ash and I will go to Wolfskrig first. I entrust the refugees to you. Full authority over the evacuation is delegated to Archduke Gabir and Count Pewin.”
Several more remarks were heard, but I ignored them and left the barracks.
I followed the main body, the Emperor, with a doppelgänger in the form of Viscount Ash.
On the way out, my eyes met Gabir's.
He shook his head but shrugged his shoulders.
I left the camp with the doppelgänger.
The method to make it look like we were teleporting together was simple.
‘Eyeball, Kkumteuli.’
As soon as I teleported, I would dispel the doppelgänger.
And set the destination to a secluded place.
On the surface, it would look like we had both disappeared together.
Everyone already knew that the Emperor possessed an ability related to spatial teleportation.
He had a history of moving a hundred people from the Ratmen's underground city, where the plague bomb had exploded, to Wolfskrig.
Just as I had done in the northern part of the empire, I headed to Wolfskrig with a series of spatial teleports.
I had left around noon and arrived when it was close to dusk.
I went straight to the lord's castle.
Since I had contacted him in advance, Olif came out to greet me.
“My lord Viscou—no, Your Majesty.”
“Report.”
“As you commanded, the alert level has been raised to the maximum. And…”
“And?”
“About an hour ago, the aerial battleship took off from the eastern forest. It is flying towards the eastern wasteland.”
…That thing.
It would be a problem if the dwarves found out about it.
***
There was a time when the word ‘talent-freak’ was in vogue.
Although it was a word used as a joke, its conditions were surprisingly strict.
Because the friend who was a self-proclaimed and publicly acknowledged study ‘talent-freak’ in school was good at math, good at Korean, good at English, and anyway, a guy who got all the good scores.
Perhaps innate talent itself refers to a multifaceted aptitude in one field.
A person with a talent for musical instruments, even if they are particularly good at the piano, can also play the violin or oboe at a professional level.
A person with a talent for art, even if they mainly paint with oil, often has mastered techniques from simple sketching and watercolor to pointillism and abstract art.
It seemed William was like that too.
“Suddenly, a shadow fell over my head! I thought it was a cloud and looked up, and a huge chunk of steel was flying around! It was this friend, William, uhahaha!”
The genius artisan, who had mastered metallurgy, engine design and modification, gunpowder manufacturing, personnel management, and even simple construction work, also had a talent for piloting an aerial battleship.
With only a small number of support personnel, he had piloted the aerial battleship to near perfection on its first combat deployment.
He had annihilated the pursuing detachment of the Eastern Empire and opened a path for the dwarven refugees.
And for the next three days, he had periodically sortied to secure the refugee route safely.
Now, three days later, the dwarven refugees had safely settled in Kalisto, the eastern city of the viscounty.
I greeted the King of Kings, Ungol, with the familiar face of Viscount Ash.
After a little chat, it was time to get to the main point.
“I have something to ask.”
“Hmm? What is it? Just say whatever it is! Thanks to you, my artisans and I have been saved.”
“What was it that conquered the holds?”