Chapter 266: |
If there was someone who was in a difficult situation in this war besides King Falx, it would be Camilla.
She was a servant of the Zaium Empire and a close aide of Prince Barak.
She was not very close to Duke Pangral, who orchestrated the war behind the scenes, but she was not completely unrelated to him as a noble of the empire.
That’s why her presence in Bagran could be seen as an act of betrayal.
Prince Barak did not take the lead, and Leobold did not rebel against the empire, but if someone asked, it could be seen that way.
That’s why Camilla, who was staying at the royal palace of Rozelon, had no peace on her face.
She had her territory, family, and property in Zaium.
She didn’t have much family, but she had children and maids who trusted and followed her. She had to save them.
“Camilla, you sound very worried. Come in.”
“…So I couldn’t even attend the coronation ceremony of His Highness. When he becomes emperor, he will notice that. What should I do?”
“That’s a problem indeed. He doesn’t seem like someone who would let it go easily.”
“I have hundreds of family members and property in my territory. I have children and maids who trust and follow me. I have to save them.”
“You’re so anxious that anyone can see you’re a good bait.”
“You…”
“Just kidding. But it’s obvious that Duke Pangral, who is restless, will think of you as prey. If he raids and conquers your territory as a countess and a commander of the 7th Legion, it will be a sure merit for him. Then he can slander you as a traitor and get the emperor’s approval.”
Camilla nodded unconsciously at his detailed explanation.
He knew it as expected.
Then he must have an answer already…
Leobold took out his walker and displayed a hologram.
“This is my territory in Zaium. It looks like there’s nothing there, but there’s a small facility underground.”
It was small, but it could accommodate hundreds of people.
“Why did you make this?”
“To excavate someone’s bones.”
The next screen showed a huge bone.
It was not an ordinary monster’s at a glance.
Probably a dragon.
Leobold seemed to care a lot about it.
“It’s the bone of Gold Dragon Altima. I don’t know if his soul is still there, but I have to approach it carefully. The underground facility is a research lab for that bone and the artifact buried near it.”
“I see… But what does that lab have to do with my territory?”
“Before Duke Pangral’s attack begins, I’ll use airships to move people there. It would be nice if you could join us since you have your troops nearby. It’s a bit cramped, but it’s enough to live comfortably.”
“Then what about my territory?”
“Give it up. That way we can attack Duke Pangral later.”
He seemed to use her territory as bait to lure him out.
It was a familiar method by now, and it would be effective, but she wondered if he had to do that.
“Why don’t you just push him away? With your power and Arma’s, even the emperor of the empire would be powerless.”
“Not yet. It would be too much damage if I antagonize the emperor now. Not for me, but for them.”
The population of Zaium was over 100 million.
The aftermath would be hard to ignore if the empire with the largest population in Astera shook.
Of course, Arma had the ability to cover even that situation.
But Leobold judged that there was no need to do that.
“Didn’t I tell you? My goal is continental unification. To achieve true unification, I can’t just rely on physical force. I have to make people recognize me as someone who has the qualifications to challenge the emperor.”
“The emperor of humanity…”
Camilla approached him as if drawn by him sitting on the chair and climbed onto his lap.
She wrapped her arms around Leobold’s neck and looked straight at him.
“Did you make that halo for that reason? You can’t even claim to be human anymore.”
“I need people to mistake me for having divinity for now.”
Branding is something that makes Leobold, a human being, into a transcendent who has enough status to challenge the emperor.
Arma was putting a lot of effort into this part.
He spread rumors about his halo and that he obtained an amazing divinity, making his future enemies disappear and his current enemies lose their hostility.
It didn’t work much during the war, but it would be different after some time passed.
Camilla touched his halo and felt a warm energy.
“What will happen after that? After you unify the continent and meet that being called the prophet.”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“That’s surprising. I thought you would have scheduled everything until you got into the coffin.”
Leobold gave a bitter smile.
“The prophet is an unpredictable being, so I don’t bother to predict. And when that time comes, my job will be over.”
“I heard from Arma. Your dream is to retire.”
“I thought you didn’t get along well, but I guess not.”
“Still, she’s your aide, so I can’t keep my distance forever. When I went to her with a drink, she said that. She said she doesn’t need to be jealous because she’s not human.”
“Arma is… just a fairy-like being. She’s been by my side for more than 100 years and she will be in the future, so don’t worry about her.”
Now Camilla hugged him tightly and kissed him lightly.
“Can I be with you too?”
“Of course. But weren’t you a bit ambitious? I thought you would ask for the empire.”
“I felt it was pointless as I stayed with you. What’s the point of having a little power when I’m next to a human who can burn the whole continent and approach the gods…”
“Don’t lose your motivation yet. I’m going to use you when I attack Duke Pangral.”
“You’re probably going to push him away and put me in his place.”
“He’s a noble of the empire, so there will be less resistance.”
The emperor would oppose it, but he would have no choice if he faced impeachment.
Leobold hugged her waist and kissed her deeply, then let her go.
“You’ll be able to handle Duke Pangral without any trouble if you get the ether heart surgery.”
“Okay. I’ll do whatever you say.”
She walked toward the door and suddenly turned around and warned him.
“I heard from Arma that you slept with more than a thousand women. It’s hard to say that you should be satisfied with me. But promise me one thing. Don’t bring in any other women without my consent.”
“I don’t care about anyone else.”
“Do you think the princess feels the same way?”
She must have seen Margareta visiting his office frequently.
Leopold sneered.
“All we do is talk about history or debate on notes.”
“That’s how you close the gap. You’ve been having meals together for a while, and soon you’ll be sharing a bed.”
“She has Tirendell, you know.”
“From what I see, that half-elf is nothing more than a servant. He doesn’t seem to have any special feelings for her, and there’s a huge gap in their status. She’s a high elf and a royal, after all.”
“Anyway, I’m not interested right now.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
Camilla winked at him and disappeared.
***
“Shadow elf Delfina has received a mission from Drizden.”
“I expected something like this, but she’s doing better than I thought.”
Leopold and Arma eavesdropped on the conversation through the biochip they implanted in Delfina.
The mission to assassinate Margareta was as expected.
She must be confident after receiving the divine power of Terahawk, but the palace where she was staying was the safest place in the world.
Unless Rasa intervened directly, it was almost impossible to assassinate anyone there.
And the other mission was quite shocking.
It turned out that it was possible to send a person’s soul to the past.
“How is that possible when time and dimension are different?”
“It depends on how far Terahawk’s power can go, but according to my calculations, it is possible to break through two walls and send it. However, there is a clear limit.”
Arma showed the calculated results on a hologram.
Delfina’s soul, which was sent to the past by Terahawk, broke through the wall of the ether universe, but stopped there.
If they guessed the time correctly, it was when Yu Ji-ha led the legion strike fleet to the vicinity of Pluto.
It didn’t matter if a single soul entered there.
“She might be able to control a few people with her ability, but it won’t make much difference. And she can’t solve the time paradox either. The past is just the past.”
Even if she went back in time and assassinated pilot Yujiha, it wouldn’t make Leopold disappear in the present.
If time worked that way, then the future would have changed when Yujiha arrived on Earth in the 21st century.
“Why go there when nothing changes?”
“I don’t know. They believe that Master is a hero from another world, but they don’t know how old he is. They don’t know anything about his abilities, his past, or even that this ether universe is closed.”
According to Arma’s calculations, it would take a tremendous amount of energy to physically break through the ether universe without a warp gate.
It wouldn’t be enough with just one fusion reactor, and at least three synchronizations were needed.
That’s why they were making ether origin.
In fact, it was uncertain whether Terahawk’s divine power could break through that wall.
Even Plague Queen couldn’t do it.
“Maybe it’s hard to get in from outside, but not so hard to get out from inside. Like Master opened a warp gate for a moment.”
“That’s a possibility.”
Anyway, it was easy to interfere with Delfina’s mission, but they had to leave her alone.
“I need data on how she breaks through the walls of time and space, Master.”
Arma had a tremendous knowledge of ether, but she was weak on those two elements because she lacked data.
Now she might get some valuable data, so it didn’t seem right to just stop her.
“Let’s not worry about the princess assassination thing and help her steal Terahawk’s artifact.”
“Actually, she shouldn’t have much trouble with her ability. She can even disappear in front of your eyes.”
But gravity couldn’t be hidden.
“I wonder how she knew about Terahawk’s artifact.”
“The first pope told Emperor Barak, and he seems to have contacted Elvrande. It leaked from there.”
“Emperor Zaium contacted Elvrande… He pretended to hate elves so much.”
“I guess he hates enemies who pretend to be allies nearby more than distant enemies.”
“He can’t show his teeth right away, so let’s leave him alone for now.”
He was an emperor with weak support base, but he would be helpful in restoring order in Zaium.
Arma reported that the production method of ether bomb had been leaked from Elvrande.
“Actually, I should say they leaked it on purpose. Currently Zaium and Galisto are acquiring and analyzing the production method.”
“Drizden’s intention is really wicked. He must have thought that since it was leaked anyway, he wouldn’t let us have all the honey. By the way, it will take some time to make it even if they start now, right?”
“There’s not much technology involved in the ether bomb itself, so they should be able to mass-produce it in a month or two. The problem is stability.”
Arma showed a screen where engineers were killed by the explosion of ether stone.
“They’re going to kill all the precious talents in a hurry.”
“They can’t help it. They’re in a hurry. Falx II is going crazy after finding out the production method of the ether bomb.”
“It’s useless anyway…”
To train a shock trooper, a sophisticated training curriculum was needed, but Galisto couldn’t make it.
They wouldn’t use soldiers, and the knights would step up, but they didn’t seem to have much motivation.
They considered it a disgrace to run around without riding Goliath.
Still, it was obvious that they would become a threatening enemy if they were deployed.
If they were accompanied by knights on horned birds and magicians, they would have a formidable force that a single shock trooper couldn’t match.
But Arma had prepared the roadmap for the future as well.
No matter what they did or what tactics they came up with, they were playing in her palm.
Leopold clicked his tongue as he saw more Goliaths added to Galisto on the operational map.
“They smashed 100 of them, but they brought in 150 more. Where did they get the money?”
“Grand Duke Pangral supported them. He’s in trouble if Galisto falls behind.”
“Then we have to push harder. Delfina will steal the artifact, so be prepared for that. Send a vanguard to Heston. It’s time for him to debut.”
It would be difficult to debut in the social world, but it was a good place to make his name known.
“Yes, sir.”
***
The situation of the battle last night was reported to each country.
Bagran was quiet, but Falx II spread the word and reached out everywhere, so most of the powerful people knew about the existence of shock troopers.
They were trembling at the power that destroyed Goliath in one blow.
—How dare you challenge knights with peasant soldiers? How much more do you want to insult us?
—I heard that King Bandas abolished all noble titles in Bagran. The fact that all shock troopers are peasants is based on his ideology.
-Is that why the refugees in our country are flowing into Bagran…
They were annoyed by the rumor that there were many jobs and good treatment there.
They felt that Bagran was shaking the foundation of Astrea.
It was the order maintained by the ether bloodline.
Peasants provided labor, knights fought, and nobles ruled fairly.
That order was now being shaken.
Even the pope of the Holy Church made a statement that seemed to support Galisto.
He didn’t name any place, but he subtly criticized Bagran, saying that there was an order in the world that should never be shaken.
Of course, such passive pressure and criticism had no effect on Bagran.
Bagran had already established its foundation as an independent economic entity by Arma.
Most of the raw materials could be obtained domestically, and so were the necessities and weapons.
If there was anything lacking, they could just produce it from the smart factory located on the floating continent and smuggle it, so there was no problem at all.
On the other hand, Galisto’s situation did not improve at all despite Falx II’s efforts.
To make matters worse, Bagran’s army, which had won the battle, began to build forward bases and anchorages on five axes.
This proved that Leopold’s goal was not to win the war, but to swallow Galisto.
Falx II ordered them to crush that nonsense at any cost, no matter what happened.
The commander-in-chief, Duke Ernst, sent the reinforced Goliath unit southward to deter the construction site, while discussing countermeasures against the shock trooper unit.
The frontline commanders argued that they should deploy a large number of airships for reconnaissance.
“They use airships to transport shock troopers at night. We can find them if we bring magicians and use dark magic.”
“Bagran’s airship power has been greatly expanded recently, but it is still behind us. We have to take advantage of that point.”
There was one fatal drawback to that.
It cost too much money.
Most of the budget was invested in war expenses, and they also owed a huge debt to Grand Duke Pangral for getting Goliath.
If they also operated a large number of airships, it would not be enough to bend their backs, but break them.
Nevertheless, winning the war was urgent.
“We have no chance unless we deal with those bastards. I allow a large-scale reconnaissance using airships.”
What Galisto’s commanders didn’t know was that the shock troopers had also received training for long-range infiltration.
Airships were just a means of transportation, and they could march if necessary.
The shock trooper unit led by Elwin and Catina carried loads on horned birds and ran through the night across Galisto’s territory.
They hid in nearby mountains or valleys during the day when there were many eyes, and as they moved northward, Galisto’s army failed to detect their presence.
And the result of missing them came as a fatal consequence.
Elwin and Catina arrived at the Fermil baron’s territory in the south and launched an attack on Goliath and the baron’s mansion using the night.
Dozens of ether bombs exploded, and Goliath fell like straw piles.
The mansion was brutally destroyed.
It was like being struck by lightning out of a clear sky for the baron of Fermil.
One of the southern strongholds was smashed like that, and Duke Ernst groaned and held his back head with his hand.
He never thought they would infiltrate like this.
“I’m going crazy.”
“Commander-in-chief, His Majesty has requested an offensive on Heston contact point!”
“We can’t do that. We don’t know how many troops are there.”
Bagran’s fleet was always guarding there, making it hard to approach.
“Please listen to His Majesty first.”
He hesitated and put his hand on the communicator that the lieutenant brought.
“Yes, yes… But Your Majesty, how can we attack there without the artifact… Yes.”
Duke Ernst sighed and ended the communication.
The king seemed to want some results to boast to Grand Duke Pangral.
He understood his urgency, but Heston Gorge was not a wide place where a large-scale Goliath unit could move around.
“It’s a natural fortress. How can we attack there without knowing what’s there…”
The only consolation was that Terahawk’s artifact had been moved to Galisto.
If it was that artifact that could cast a wide-area curse, even Black Knight would have a hard time showing its power.
If they ambushed shock troopers in the mountains and quickly penetrated them, they might be able to do something.
Duke Ernst put all his hopes on that and gathered troops in the south.
It was over 100 units in size, and there were even Bephar-class from Zaium.
It showed how much Falx II expected from this offensive.
But his expectations were ruined by one person.
The transport unit that carried Terahawk’s artifact arrived at the capital and tried to offer it to Falx II, but they panicked when they realized that it was gone.
“Where did it go?”
“The vault is fine…”
The artifact was a palm-sized clock made with precision and stored in a vault under strict surveillance.
It was impossible to steal the artifact without touching the vault and bypassing the numerous eyes of the transport unit and the magicians.
The person in charge tried to explain that, but it was not enough to stop Falx II’s rage.
“You bastards stole the artifact and plotted against me!”
“No, no, Your Majesty!”
“Shut up! Take them away!”
As the poor knights and magicians were dragged away, Duke Ernst received an order to carry out an offensive on Heston contact point.
“Your Majesty, how can you ask me to attack there without the artifact?”
“Be quiet and follow my orders or I’ll strip you of your rank! Find a way to recapture that place!”
It was a ridiculous order that hurt his pride, but the duke decided to endure it for now.
He felt pressured not to tease the high knights from Zaium any longer.
He would rather do something than be ridiculed as a coward.
So over 100 Goliaths rushed into the axis that connected Bagran.
Contrary to many worries, the workers in Heston Gorge had all fled and there was only one Goliath left.
But the appearance of Goliath was a bit strange.
It looked like a dragon somehow, and its identity was Albion.
Balgard saw the incoming Goliath unit and smiled slyly.
“Guests have arrived. I don’t have much to offer, but I’ll welcome them warmly.”
Aether shaped like wings spewed out from Albion’s back.
