Chapter 269: |
In Astera, wars usually began and ended with the battle of Goliath.
It was rare for anyone to march on the enemy’s capital after achieving an overwhelming victory, and it was more common to end the war through negotiations.
This was because the warring parties had a sense of homogeneity as Aether-blooded.
Most of the countries had split from the Gram Empire in the past, so if they traced their roots, they often found that they had the same ancestors.
Thanks to that, even if a war broke out, it usually ended with paying compensation.
That was the case if it was a war between human kingdoms.
Elvrande sincerely tried to kill humans and gradually absorbed their lands.
They had slowed down recently, but that was due to a policy change and internal turmoil, not a change in their contempt for humans.
Anyway, in that respect, the leaders of each country who watched this war expected that Bagran would stop at this point.
—Even if he has military strength, the size difference is too big. It’s impossible for a country with 3 million people to rule over 7 million.
—It’s doubtful how they will distribute food if the capital is swept up in war. In Galisto’s case, most of the food passes through the capital, so unless they intend to starve all the citizens…
—Galisto is the only country besides Zaium that has installed Aether cannons for intercepting airships. The accuracy is low, but they can’t miss hitting a large airship.
In this way, dozens of reasons why Bagran could not capture Galisto’s capital were listed.
It didn’t make sense logically, so many people agreed with the optimists’ claims.
But common sense was bound to break someday, and Leobold was an expert in that field.
At the anchorage located in Bagran’s direct territory, sailors began to run around busily.
“Departure! Prepare for departure!”
“Close the hatch and report if you’ve loaded all the cargo!”
“Ready to release mooring!”
The sailors here showed a different level of movement from those of other countries.
They only ate and practiced sailing, so they couldn’t be slow.
They were also experts in handling the ship’s maneuvers or dealing with damage when hit in battle.
Leobold ordered them to pay generously but work hard, and Admiral Hampton followed suit.
Thanks to that, the Galisto expedition fleet was able to completely release the mooring within 30 minutes of receiving the departure order.
If it had been another country, it would have taken at least a few hours.
“Departure!”
As Admiral Hampton’s order came down, more than 20 airships rose into the air.
All the sailors were experienced in sailing, so it was quite fast to match the speed and form a line.
“Fix the route! Run Aether engines at 50%! Go straight to Presto like this!”
The purpose of the attack fleet was to enter Galisto’s capital and drop off Goliath and troops.
It wouldn’t be easy since it was the capital, but they weren’t too worried.
The gunners had already experienced victory, so they had confident faces, and above all, Valgard was on board.
The champion of Altema who slaughtered 100 elite knights of Galisto.
It was impossible to lose as long as he was there.
As soon as the fleet crossed the border line, Galisto’s airships that were wandering nearby entered a defensive stance.
They originally intended to keep a distance and observe their movements, but the vanguard did not leave them alone.
They increased the output of Aether engines and quickly surrounded two scout airships.
Galisto’s sailors were surprised by their tremendous speed.
“What, what’s so fast?”
“There’s no use running away! Let’s slow down!”
But what did Galisto’s captain think? He made an unfortunate choice.
He ignored the signal of Jeongseonhara (a glowing stone) and slowly increased his engine output and started running away recklessly.
Admiral Hampton decided that he needed to set an example.
“We are in Galisto’s territory, but we don’t have to be weak! Prepare to fire Aether cannons! Aim at the fleeing airship!”
“Aiming done! Ready to fire!”
“Fire!”
A beam of light that couldn’t be compared with Galisto’s stretched out toward the fleeing airship.
The lump of Aether that hit its tail instantly smashed its engine and destroyed its hull balance.
The airship tilted and began to spill out its crew members on deck.
“Ahhhh!”
“Save me!”
Those who saw it quickly surrendered.
It might be different on the sea, but in the sky there was no hope of survival when hit by an Aether cannon.
There was no possibility of the enemy rescuing them, so it was realistic to raise their hands as soon as they had a chance.
But one captain refused to surrender.
“This is Galisto’s sky! We have no reason to surrender to Bagran bastards! We will retreat to Presto as we are!”
He tried to disguise his escape as a retreat, but the sailors didn’t care.
Dozens of them drew their swords and surrounded the captain and his officers.
“You, you traitors?”
“Don’t you have to be alive to be a traitor? Choose! Do you want to fall to the ground or surrender?”
The captain held his head high even though the sailors threatened him.
He had a title of baron, so it must have been hard for him to accept the intimidation of commoners.
“I refuse! You bastards will be executed as soon as you return to the capital!”
What a ridiculous thing to say.
Two big sailors stepped forward and grabbed him firmly.
“Wha, what, are you trying to throw me? Don’t you think about the reward?”
“What reward, Bagran will take over anyway. Hey, take him to the ground!”
“Let me go! Let me go!”
He struggled, but he didn’t say he would surrender because of his pride as a nobleman.
Thanks to that, he was thrown over the deck with a single scream.
“Ah!”
Of course, there was nothing there.
As soon as the troublemaker was removed, most of the officers raised their arms and the airship slowed down and hoisted a white flag.
It happened just before the vanguard fired Aether cannons.
They couldn’t drag the surrendered airship and advance to the capital, so one of the ships in the rear guard transported them to the rear.
The Galisto attack fleet captured five airships in this way and moved them to their home country.
Now all that was left was the final battle with the defense fleet and the capture of the capital.
And at that time, a special envoy from Palcus II visited Rozelon.
***
“Let’s end it here?”
Leobold shook a white letter in front of the envoy.
If he removed all the courtesies from the content, what Palcus II wanted was one thing.
Truce.
He couldn’t surrender because of his pride, and he didn’t think negotiations would work, so he wanted to stop fighting for a while.
The letter was thrown in front of the envoy.
“That’s absurd. We’re about to capture the capital, why should we stop at someone else’s whim?”
“There has been no case of a kingdom being conquered in over 200 years since the Great War, Your Majesty.”
“Then this will be the first case.”
“Your Majesty, Galisto is a large country and there are people who are unhappy with this war. Can you handle it?”
Normally, he would have said something like, if you make a big deal without thinking about the consequences, you’ll regret it.
But after one diplomat’s arm was cut off and returned, every word was careful.
Leobold smiled and threw him a note.
The envoy’s face turned pale as he skimmed through the contents.
“The emperor you believe in has decided to back off from this war. He’ll probably admit Galisto.”
“His Majesty the Archduke will not stay still!”
“So what, are you going to activate Meteor Strike and attack me? Then I’ll send Valgard and Zigaleon.”
It meant that he had no choice but to retreat at this point, since he didn’t want to annihilate Galisto anyway.
The envoy realized that he could no longer hope for help in this war.
Leobold told him what he wanted was complete surrender.
“No negotiation, no conditional truce, nothing. Tell Palcus II to raise a white flag.”
“That will only prolong the battle if you give them a sense of doom!”
“Just crush them thoroughly. I’ll have to deal with the nobles anyway after I take over, so it’s not bad. It’s not bad to show them an example this time.”
Apparently, the Vandus king wanted to merge Galisto as well as subjugate it.
It would never have happened if the empire was intact, but for some reason, the current empire did not intervene actively.
The envoy contacted his home country with Leobold’s permission.
When he conveyed his intention to surrender unconditionally, Palcus II smashed all the furniture in his office and raged.
“This can’t be! How dare that usurper who has no roots! Fine! I don’t want a truce anymore either! I’ll mobilize all my forces and join the fleet battle!”
Galisto’s airship fleet was numerically equal to Bagran’s, but it was a result of scraping together from everywhere with a huge debt.
They paid a lot of money and borrowed a few ships from Zaium and Denova, so they weren’t well trained and their weapons were mixed.
But Palcus II trusted the defense system installed in the capital.
“It’s impossible to withstand the concentrated fire of numerous batteries with that size! They won’t be able to set foot in the capital!”
It wasn’t comparable to Zaium’s battery in terms of power and size, but it could be said that it was the same in that it was fatal if hit by one.
Palcus II focused on defending the capital and waited for Zaium’s rescue troops to come.
Whether it was the emperor or the Archduke of Pangral, he thought they would save him if he held on.
But there was no contact from Zaium until Bagran’s attack fleet appeared over Presto.
The citizens watched with fearful faces as 20 airship fleets entered from the outskirts.
“Bagran’s airships have something sticky on them…”
“They look big and heavy… Can we win?”
“But we have Aether cannons!”
The Aether cannon defense system of Presto was raised as the hope of all Galisto.
But Gram Duke, who was responsible for it, just watched through the window as both fleets encountered each other.
“Your Grace, His Majesty ordered you to attack quickly.”
“The distance between the fleets will be too narrow for a volley. We have to fire now.”
The vassals urged him, but he asked something irrelevant instead of giving orders.
“Do you think our fleet will win?”
“If we only look at the airships, it might be difficult, but don’t we have a defense system?”
“The Aether cannons on the ground are powerful and have a long range. We also corrected the accuracy recently, so we should be able to stop that fleet.”
“We don’t have time, Your Grace.”
The repeated requests did not work, and he seemed to have given up.
“I’ve heard a bit about Bagran’s airships. They adopted living metal armor plates and are very sturdy. There are research results that say they can withstand some volleys.”
Galisto’s Aether engineers were not fools.
They knew long ago that Bagran’s airships had fully adopted living metal.
This strange metal was not only incredibly hard but also light, making it ideal for defense.
Some engineers even claimed that there was no fleet that could beat Bagran’s fleet of equal numbers.
“Zaium or Elvrande airships may be bigger, but the difference in defense is significant. If they actually fight, they will be crushed one-sidedly.”
In addition, Bagran’s airships looked strangely fast.
Was it just an illusion?
Gram Duke muttered as he watched the two fleets form a line.
“Bagran has improved both defense and mobility. There’s no way they didn’t touch the firepower. Something terrible will happen soon.”
What terrible thing was going to happen?
The vassals could no longer demand system activation and just watched.
Both fleets opened their ports and started firing almost at the same time.
Light beams crossed in the air over Presto, creating dizzying explosions.
“Ahh!”
What was going on? The citizens who were watching from below wrapped their heads and ran away.
The airship fleet battle they had only heard of was certainly amazing, but the aftermath was no joke.
Some of Galisto’s airships, due to lack of training, fired at innocent buildings and broke them.
It wasn’t easy to fire while maneuvering.
Anyway, the volley of both fleets caught the eyes of the citizens of Presto.
It would have been nice if they had watched it from a third party’s perspective, but unfortunately it was their war.
If the defense fleet failed, Goliath’s troops would step in, but the chances were slim.
Who could stop the monster that smashed 100 Goliaths in a short time?
The citizens clenched their hands and watched the battle.
Both fleets exchanged only one volley, but the outcome was clear soon.
Bagran’s airships were fine, but smoke rose from Galisto’s airships.
Some even dropped their buoyant stones and cargo and crashed.
When hundreds of tons of airships spilled all kinds of debris and fell, the citizens were terrified.
“The airship is crashing!”
“Debris is flying! Run!”
It seemed like the whole capital was in a panic.
Meanwhile, Palcus II watched Galisto’s airships being shot down one by one and was furious.
“How can this be! What the hell is the Aether cannon on the ground doing? Can’t you contact Gram Duke?”
“The communication is not connected, Your Majesty!”
“This is treason!”
He bit his lips until blood came out, but that didn’t change the situation.
Bagran’s fleet annihilated Galisto’s fleet of equal numbers without a single damage.
Now all that was left was to fight Goliath with interception.
Could he do it?
Could he stop the Gold Dragon’s champion, that monster?
‘Only Meteor Strike can do it…’
There was no hope for Galisto unless that happened.
Palcus II staggered into his private room and put his hand on the communication device that connected to the Duchy of Tassos.
But the communication did not work.
“Archduke! Your Majesty! Archduke Pangral! Hey, you bastard!”
His title became more rude in real time, but there was still no answer from the communication device.
“Ugh! This can’t be happening!”
Palcus II threw the communication device in a fit of excitement and collapsed on the spot.
Far away, a Goliath in the shape of a dragon jumped out of Bagran’s fleet.
***
Zaium’s actions became restless as Galisto’s fate hung in the balance.
Emperor Barak received a report that Bagran’s Goliath troops were sweeping Presto and made up his mind.
“It would be an insult to tell them to back off. I guess I’ll have to admit Galisto.”
In other words, he wouldn’t admit the rest.
It wasn’t a big problem for him if the two kingdoms merged.
But he doubted if Leobold would be satisfied with that.
Emperor Barak was not a fool and he looked at Bagran’s power revealed by this war with concern.
“They have dozens of Black Knights, Zigaleon, 20 fleets, and Altema’s champion. Will they be satisfied with Galisto?”
He wondered if he could restrain him with Meteor Strike at this point.
Anyway, Emperor Barak conveyed his intention through the communication device that the envoy brought.
“Did you enjoy Galisto?”
“I’m digesting it. They’re quite resistant.”
“Resistance is nothing… Anyway, listen well. Be satisfied with Galisto. I won’t allow anything else.”
In other words, he admitted Galisto and told him to bow his head as a vassal at this point.
But unfortunately, Emperor Barak didn’t know something.
“Do you know where Archduke Pangral attacked, Your Majesty?”
“What? Where did he attack? Don’t tell me Rozelon…”
“No. He attacked my wife’s territory.”
“Countess Croitz’s…? Why there all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know why. Maybe he thought of his original plan after being robbed while supporting Galisto? My wife’s territory is being ravaged by Goliath troops from Tassos Duchy. They’re smashing the mansion.”
Emperor Barak was shocked and speechless for a while.
He never thought that the sparks from the two kingdoms’ fight would spread to his own country.
“I can’t stand by and watch his atrocities as the spouse of Countess Camilla Croitz. Archduke Pangral must pay for attacking her territory.”
“That won’t do. I can’t allow a civil war.”
“Is it not a civil war when Archduke attacks my wife’s territory? Dozens of people have died and there is a huge property damage. How do you want me to deal with this?”
“First, withdraw your troops and I’ll send Duke Prozan to mediate. I’ll say it again, I won’t allow any attack on Archduke Pangral.”
“He doesn’t seem to have any intention of backing off.”
Could it be…?
Emperor Barak was seized by doubt that Leobold had orchestrated everything behind the scenes.
How else could he be so calm and know the situation on the ground so well?
But he didn’t have time to question him.
“Stay still. Don’t try to fight Archduke Pangral and invade Tassos Duchy or anything like that, do you understand?”
“I didn’t have that in mind originally, but since Archduke came out like this, I have to change my judgment.”
“If you try any more nonsense, I’ll treat you as a traitor!”
He went as far as to say extreme words, but Leobold was relaxed.
“There’s a saying that it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. I’ll see you on the spot.”
The communication was cut off and Emperor Barak remembered what he had given him.
“That amnesty…”
Did he intend to kill Archduke and present that?
He quickly called his royal guard.
