Chapter 326 : Chapter 326
Chapter 326. These Young Kids These Days Are Scary (1)
“A monster.”
“Hmm, indeed….”
While the clash between April and the Hegemon King was in full swing.
There were those watching the scene from a great distance.
They were Jonsa's direct disciples: Greed, Envy, and Las.
Following Jonsa's instructions, these three were controlling the Hegemon King from behind and conducting this war.
From their perspective, April's existence was outside their calculations.
“To think there is someone who can compete with the current Hegemon King.”
“I know, right. I thought the current Hegemon King could easily take the Double Dragon's head.”
If Patrick had heard that, he would have grabbed his twin swords and gone on a rampage, shouting, 'Just try it.'
But it was clear that April's performance had left a bad impression on them.
“What should we do? Should we use a trick from behind to eliminate her?”
“Is that possible? Her skills are no less than the Imperial Sword Saint's.”
“Huhu, why do you think it can’t be done?”
The one burning with a competitive spirit towards April was Las.
Among Jonsa's direct disciples, he was the most outstanding in terms of pure combat power.
Seeing April's performance, it seemed a desire to compete had sparked within him.
However….
“Is there really a need to do that?”
Greed did not seem to agree.
He spoke to his comrades.
“Our purpose is not to win this war. It is enough just to make them shed as much blood as possible.”
“That's true.”
“If the balance of power is tight, it's even better. It wouldn't be strange for the war to drag on for a long time.”
As it was, he was worried that the Empire or the Holy Theocracy might make a move due to the overly one-sided slaughter.
“Everything is for the day of the Falling Sun. Do not forget our purpose.”
The other two nodded their heads as if in agreement with Greed's words.
Certainly, what was important to them was not the victory or defeat of this war.
It was the process.
Then Envy, who was listening, spoke.
“Wait, in that case, I have a better idea.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Don't we need to shed more blood for the Falling Sun? If that's the case, then rather….”
Greed and Las wore dumbfounded expressions for a moment upon hearing Envy's plan.
“Are you serious?”
“The most important thing is the Falling Sun. Isn't that right?”
“……”
“This is an opportunity to finish it quickly without dragging it out. If we report it, Jonsa will also approve.”
“……”
It was reckless and absurd.
But upon listening carefully, it also made some sense.
After all, the important thing was the Falling Sun itself.
Finally, Greed made a decision.
“Alright. I will report to Jonsa and try to get his permission.”
And a few days later.
The Hegemon King officially announced the existence of the black mages and declared his intention to acknowledge their presence.
Naturally, this brought about enormous repercussions throughout the entire continent.
* * *
Year 1531. June 5th.
Every nation on the continent decided to dispatch troops to the Magellan Kingdom.
The same was true for the Empire and the Holy Theocracy, which had been watching the situation until now.
The two nations had their Imperial Sword Saint and Paladins directly lead troops to join the war, and besides them, the Kingdom of Atronia, the Harbor Duchy, and even the Tower of Truth….
Every nation on the continent dispatched troops.
The Tower of Truth went so far as to mobilize its ultimate hidden power, the Guardians, which they had kept under wraps until now.
Even the Schneider Duchy had Grand Duke Schneider personally lead reinforcements into the war.
That was how much of an impact the Yusef Kingdom's declaration of the black mages' existence had on the entire continent.
Now, the survival of the Magellan Kingdom was no longer the issue.
From the moment they officially acknowledged the black mages and decided to accept them, the Yusef Kingdom became the enemy of the entire continent.
As a result, a truly massive allied army was born.
And this allied army would never retreat until they witnessed the fall of the Hegemon King.
* * *
A massive round table, likely over five meters in diameter.
The lineup surrounding the table was quite splendid.
Duke Carlos Dante Reynardo, the Imperial Sword Saint of the Venator Empire.
Tanius Owen, the head of the Paladins of the Saint Louis Holy Theocracy.
Prince Gadius Gerard Magellan, prince of the Magellan Kingdom and acting king.
The 1st Sage, present as the representative of the Sages of the Tower of Truth.
Duke Mateus Edwards, originally from the Kaisar Kingdom but now the sole 7-Star knight of the Harbor Kingdom.
Duke Derek Nicola, the king's right-hand man, participating as the representative of the Kingdom of Atronia.
And Grand Duke Jaycall Paulo Schneider of the Schneider Duchy, more famous as the father of the Double Dragon….
All of them were representatives who had joined this allied army.
Naturally, having gathered to form an allied army, they were about to hold a meeting.
The first to speak here was….
“First, as the representative of His Holiness the Pontiff, I express my deepest gratitude to the many of you who have gathered your strength to punish the evil of the continent.”
It was Tanius Owen, the Paladin representing the Holy Theocracy.
He rose with a courteous attitude and bowed his head deeply to the assembly.
At a glance, it seemed like a polite and courteous gesture, but at that moment, the Imperial Sword Saint of the Empire spoke.
“Sir Owen, it is true that we have gathered to punish the Hegemon King of the Yusef Kingdom for punishing the black mages. However….”
The Imperial Sword Saint narrowed his eyes slightly and continued.
“We did not come specifically to help the Holy Theocracy. Let's be clear on that point.”
At that, Tanius Owen maintained a calm poker face and said.
“Your Grace, the Sword Saint. I was merely expressing my gratitude. I do not believe there was any room for misunderstanding.”
“Is that so? I thought you were subtly stepping forward to try and take the initiative in this situation.”
“Hahaha, it is a misunderstanding, ‘former’ strongest on the continent.”
“Is that so? I must have misunderstood. I thought you might be overreaching to restore the prestige you lost after getting your ass handed to you 3-on-1 in your own home.”
“Hahahaha.”
“Hohohohoho.”
From the moment the representatives of the Empire and the Holy Theocracy were in the same place, this kind of atmosphere was all but guaranteed.
‘I’m sorry.’
Ironically, it was the poor Grand Duke Schneider who was the most uncomfortable.
“That’s enough.”
There were not many who could intervene in a power struggle between the Empire and the Holy Theocracy.
But the person who spoke now was definitely one of those few.
The 1st Sage, attending as the representative of the Tower of Truth.
He stepped between the Imperial Sword Saint and the Paladin and continued to speak calmly.
“I do not care how the Empire and the Holy Theocracy usually get along. But it is troublesome if you are at odds even at a moment like this when we are forming an alliance.”
At the 1st Sage's words, both the Imperial Sword Saint and Tanius Owen took a step back.
Although they were grouped together as the three great powers, the Tower of Truth was originally evaluated as having the lowest prestige among them.
But that was because of the Tower of Truth's characteristic of not being a nation and its small population, not because the Tower of Truth's power itself was inferior to the Empire or the Holy Theocracy.
In particular, the Tower of Truth had mobilized the Guardians for this war.
Unlike the 7-Star knights or Paladins belonging to a nation, the Guardians of the Tower of Truth move in only one case.
To completely annihilate a being designated as an enemy by the Tower of Truth.
In other words, the Tower of Truth had now decided to see things through with the Hegemon King and had mobilized its forces.
Neither the Empire nor the Holy Theocracy had any grasp of what kind of monsters might be among the Guardians, the greatest power of the Tower of Truth.
“The important thing is how to win this war well. So let's get to the main point.”
And the 1st Sage looked around the assembly and said.
“If there is anyone with a good idea on how to conduct this war, please, whoever it is, speak up.”
The 1st Sage had set the stage.
However, no one stepped forward readily, and after they exchanged glances, the first to speak was….
“I would like to say a word.”
It was Prince Gadius of the Magellan Kingdom.
He rose from his seat and spoke to those around him.
“To be frank, with this much military power gathered, what need is there for a strategy?”
At those words, some nodded their heads.
In fact, to punish the Yusef Kingdom, which had declared the existence of black mages, the nations of the entire continent had mobilized their national power to join this war.
As a result….
120,000 from the Empire's army.
190,000 from the Holy Theocracy's army.
50,000 from the Magellan Kingdom's army.
20,000 from the Harbor Duchy.
90,000 from the Kingdom of Atronia.
20,000 humans, 1,000 Elves, and 50,000 Orcs from the Schneider Duchy.
And although the Tower of Truth did not announce an exact number, for them, quality was more important than quantity, so the number was not very meaningful.
In the end, even just mobilizing the armies composed purely of humans amounted to a grand army of 490,000.
With this much, it would be more than easy to wipe out the Yusef Kingdom; it would be fair to say it was overkill.
In Prince Gadius' view, this war was now a guaranteed victory.
There was a time when the very existence of his nation was in jeopardy, but now that the situation had changed, the first thing he had to do was….
“Just leave it to us, and our Magellan Kingdom will stand at the vanguard and defeat the Yusef Kingdom.”
This was it.
He had to volunteer for the vanguard and gain as many merits as possible in this war.
Only then could he obtain the most spoils when the Yusef Kingdom fell and make up for the losses so far.
But, of course.
Prince Gadius was not the only one thinking that.
“Considering the damage the Magellan Kingdom has suffered so far, it would be better to be cautious. Leave this to me, Mateus Edward, the dashing man of the Harbor Duchy. Ah, by the way, I'm a Duke now too.”
The person who playfully interjected was Mateus Edwards.
He was once from the Kaisar Kingdom, but after his country was destroyed by the Hegemon King, he had defected to the Holy Theocracy.
However, due to his free-spirited nature, he didn't fit in with the Holy Theocracy and left.
After wandering for a while, the place he settled in was the Harbor Duchy, which was in desperate need of talent as its national power had weakened.
The Harbor Duchy treated him with the utmost respect and made him the only Duke in the country.
However, for him, who was still a young man in his 20s, to be properly recognized for his dukedom by the country, he also needed achievements.
In other words, he was just as thirsty for victory in this war.
“Please leave it to me. I personally have a debt to repay to the Hegemon King.”
“If we're talking about debts, can you compare to our Magellan Kingdom, which has been ravaged by the Hegemon King all this time?”
“Have you forgotten? My homeland, the Kaisar Kingdom, was completely wiped out.”
“For a knight of a fallen kingdom, you don't seem very sad….”
“Hoh, what do you mean by that?”
Prince Gadius and Duke Edwards subtly confronted each other, their tempers flaring.
At that, the Imperial Sword Saint spoke a single word in a heavy voice.
“Enough.”
He did not emanate his aura to intimidate them.
There was no need.
The words coming from the Imperial Sword Saint's mouth carried a special weight in themselves.
After silencing the two, the Imperial Sword Saint paused, touching his forehead in thought, then spoke.
“If you insist, then the two nations can stand at the vanguard.”
“You mean stand together?”
“With this br… prince?”
The emotion of 'I don't want to' was openly displayed on both their faces, but the Imperial Sword Saint did not bat an eye.
“Even if you combine the military power of both your nations, it will barely be enough to serve as the vanguard. Am I not right?”
“Mmmph….”
“Ahem….”
The two could not bring themselves to say no.
Even if they combined the military forces of their two nations, the number was 70,000.
The number of 7-Star knights included in the army was two from both sides combined.
In reality, that was just about the right amount of troops to stand at the forefront.
“I understand.”
“If the others do not object, let's do that.”
And so, the meeting decided to place the Harbor Duchy and the Magellan Kingdom as the vanguard.
For having gathered people with such fanfare, it was a decision with little substance.
‘Is this really alright?’
Grand Duke Schneider could not shake off the concern that the result of the meeting was too negligent and crude.
However, in a meeting room where such prominent people were gathered, Grand Duke Schneider was too much of a good person to take on the role of scolding people.
Still, thinking that he had to fulfill his duty as he was attending as the representative of a nation, Grand Duke Schneider opened his mouth with difficulty.
“Excuse me, representatives of each nation, would it be alright if I said a word?”
If Patrick had been in this place, he would have poked his father in the side and pointed out how unnecessarily and excessively polite he was being.
But rather, the others on the continent found this side of Grand Duke Schneider refreshing.
‘Is that person the Grand Duke Schneider?’
‘The father of the Double Dragon?’
Everyone who knew Patrick, including the Imperial Sword Saint and the Paladin, thought the same thing.
‘No way.’
‘No way.’
Their impressions were so different that it was hard to believe they were father and son.
But apart from that, there was no one who would stop Grand Duke Schneider from speaking.
Even if Patrick wasn't here.
“Please speak.”
When Tanius Owen of the Holy Theocracy spoke, Grand Duke Schneider carefully opened his mouth.
“According to the reports of my vassals, the power of the Hegemon King and the knights who follow him is no ordinary thing.”
“That's something everyone knows.”
Duke Edwards said as if asking why he was stating the obvious.
Grand Duke Schneider did not show any sign of displeasure at the blunt reply and steadfastly expressed his opinion.
“According to the report, the other 7-Star knights use a jet-black Aura Blade, the same as the one the former Black Knight used. Also, the Hegemon King's realm is estimated to have reached the 8th Star.”
“Mmmph….”
“If the black mages are added to this, we must consider the current military strength of our enemy to be truly formidable.”
“So what is it that you wish to say?”
“Instead of sending a part of the army ahead, I believe we must lead the entire army and advance all together. We must concentrate our forces and defeat the enemy with minimal casualties.”
Grand Duke Schneider closed his eyes tightly and said everything he had to say.
It wasn't a particularly special strategy.
If one is confident in their military strength, concentrating that strength without dispersing it to destroy the enemy's core is one of the most basic principles of military strategy.
However, if they were to operate faithfully to this basic principle….
‘There will be no chance for our country to achieve merits, will there?’
‘Troublesome. Very troublesome.’
From the perspective of the Harbor Duchy and the Magellan Kingdom, who had already reserved the vanguard position, it was absolutely unwelcome.
If this war ended with the Empire, the Holy Theocracy, and the Tower of Truth fighting at the front and them supporting from behind, there would be too little to gain even if they won.
Therefore….
“Ahem….”
“Mmm, what do you all think?”
Prince Gadius and Duke Edwards sought the opinions of their staff who were standing by behind them.
And their staff….
“That is not good. Operating a large army could instead create openings. That could give the enemy an opportunity.”
“That's right. I believe it is better to first poke the enemy with elite troops to gauge their reaction and seize the momentum for victory.”
They barked out splendid nonsense.