Part 14. Independence of Caron: Prelude to Liberation (3)
Nation-scale wars are largely divided into three categories.
1. Repetitive territorial warfare.
2. Localized battles occurring in plains or mountains.
3. Special warfare waged under special conditions or by special personnel.
Of these, localized battles and special warfare have a great many variables. Location, climate, commanders, soldiers, supply, strategy—all sorts of variables interact in complex ways.
In contrast, territorial warfare has fewer variables. Generally, the stronger side simply wins.
That was why Ted had recommended himself for territorial warfare.
"Wouldn't special warfare be better? With your skills, you'd probably get much better efficiency in special warfare or localized battles rather than territorial warfare."
It was a remark from Sion, who had yet to properly understand Ted's power.
Many people, including Sion, harbored doubts about Ted's current power.
The extent of Ted's publicly displayed strength, however, was merely breaking through several defensive barriers and putting a bullet in Tenno's head.
Afterward, the
That is… Ted's power was something that stimulated their imaginations, a force open to much speculation.
Sion had also harbored doubts about Ted's power. But Ted refused to answer. There was no reason he had to reveal it.
"Well, even if you say that, I can obviously assign you about two hundred spellcasters. Still, I'm curious about the reason; can't you tell me?"
"Cut me some slack. It's not like I'm hiding it because I'm special or anything; it's just a bit awkward to say."
"Mm, okay. Got it. It's a shame, but what can you do. Our little brother has had many secrets since he was young."
Sion laughed it off casually.
* * *
The next day.
Caron's 1st Volunteer Corps held a departure ceremony at the
This force, composed of fifty thousand users and NPCs, set out to attack nearby territories. Territories that Pixie had occupied.
"An army of fifty thousand can occupy three places at most. Territorial warfare is a continuous war of attrition, after all."
That was what Sion had said. Ted nodded roughly.
"Team A salutes Team Leader Ted!"
"Salutes, Team Leader!"
"Ah, yes. Please rest."
Ted had given the two hundred spellcasters assigned to him the designation of Team A. And he had arranged them separately, preparing the conditions so they could pour spells onto him at any time.
'How many can I stack?'
Around the time the siege began. Ted had such a thought.
Soon, upon reaching the first target territory, the
"Team A. Begin casting spells."
Before the full-scale siege even began.
That is, while the 1st Volunteer Corps and the opposing territory's forces faced each other at a distance of about 1 kilometer, Ted requested the casting of spells.
Soon, one hundred spellcasters used
One hundred
An additional 600 mana recovery per minute.
At the same time, thanks to
With 700 consumed every 1 minute 30 seconds, and over 900 filling up, his mana began to replenish almost infinitely.
"
Soon, Ted—who had over two hundred spells lined up on his body—fired the Charged Lightning.
A yellow bolt of lightning shot out, tracing a massive trajectory as if exploding. Like a crazed colt lashing its tail in every direction, the lightning shattered everything in its path before slamming into the gate of the Viscounty of Byunak.
Pzzzt, kwakakang—!
A sound like swift hands snatching and tearing the air rang out.
"Urk!"
"Wh-what the hell is that?!"
Soon, the soldiers of the 1st Volunteer Corps, including the spellcasters, were aghast.
"What kind of skill is that powerful?"
"As expected, it's no coincidence he shot the king's head by himself at the Pixie proclamation ceremony. He probably has an S-rank skill."
"Huh? Look at that. It's only been a few minutes, and it looks like he's going to shoot again!"
"That can't be. If it's an S-rank skill, the cooldown should be several hours at minimum."
Just as the spellcasters of the County of Ssauron had done, Team A watched him with great doubts about Ted's power.
Pzzzzt—!
Soon, their faces were dyed in shock.
A powerful lightning skill that was clearly A-rank or higher in might—Ted had begun firing it once every 1 minute 30 seconds.
"
Pzzzzt! Kwakakang!
"Kraaaack!"
"What the hell is that! How can something like that even exist?"
For the Pixie side, it was simply absurd.
Whenever the incoming lightning struck the gate, the gate would crumple as if made of clay, breaking into fragments and shattering.
Normally, a gate's durability was at least tens of thousands. For a large territory, it was hundreds of thousands.
Yet such gates couldn't withstand a single strike, ten at most, before blowing apart.
It was something beyond common sense.
But it was reality.
"Ugh, this isn't a fight."
"Damn those Caron bastards, where'd they get a monster like that…."
The soldiers of Pixie, having lost their will to fight, muttered.
The difference in combat power created by Reinforcement +19. It was akin to thrusting cannons at primitive men fighting with stone axes.
And even if rankers above level 600 stepped forward, there was little they could do.
In the past, Tenichi—who was in the latter half of the level 600s and the strongest tanker of his tier—had been unable to withstand even ten attacks from Ted when he was level 300. With Ted as he was now, non-tanker users, even rankers, would fall in two or three blows!
"
It was truly a one-man war that Ted was enjoying.
And so, one territory was breached.
With the gates smashed and the tops of the castle walls blown away, the advantages of defense were largely lost.
If the siege conditions were difficult, Ted simply blew away the entire wall.
Thus, the fifty thousand soldiers of the 1st Volunteer Corps, with Ted in their ranks, were able to reclaim the first territory without significant losses.
"Let us move out immediately."
"A-ah… yes!"
The commander, who had been wary of Ted from the start due to his reputation, was struck completely dumb.
For Ted was truly a one-man army!
"Barony of Korsino occupied!"
And so the second territory fell to the volunteer corps,
"County of Hilkis occupied!"
The third territory also fell to the volunteer corps.
Rute had expected personnel losses of about fourteen thousand per territory. In other words, by the time they occupied three territories, their forces shouldn't even have ten thousand troops left.
But with Ted included, they conquered three territories and still had about forty-two thousand remaining.
They had suffered a scant 2,500 to 3,000 losses per territory.
Moreover, the time had been greatly shortened.
Normally, territorial warfare took at least three days no matter how short. Yet the 1st Volunteer Corps took only 12 hours to reclaim the three territories.
Furthermore… eight of those hours were spent moving troops from territory to territory.
'Hoo, as expected, things are unfolding as I wish.'
Looking at the situation, Ted could cast aside his anxious heart.
If he did the math, it was impossible for him to meet with misfortune here.
Strictly speaking, it was a fight between a tiger and a rabbit. Or a frog and a fly.
In such matters, no matter how unlucky the tiger or frog, they could not lose.
'Hm, and I've already built up quite a bit of proficiency.'
During the siege of Ssauron in the past, Ted had raised his proficiency by nearly 50% through continuous use of Charged Lightning for two hours.
Now it was C-rank, higher than back then. So the proficiency rose more slowly, but the time spent using Charged Lightning had increased.
Two days, then three, then four.
By the time Ted and the 1st Volunteer Corps reclaimed the twelfth territory, the proficiency of Charged Lightning (Open) had risen by 50%, reaching almost 70%.
'Hoo, this will evolve soon too.'
In truth, if Ted had a personal goal in this repeating territorial warfare, it was leveling up and raising the proficiency of Charged Lightning.
Because his level had exceeded 400, the soldiers around level 200 guarding the territories gave negligible experience no matter how many he killed. He had to occasionally kill enemies over level 500, like commanders or generals, to notice any significant rise.
Even so, because the number of enemy soldiers he killed was so vast, by the time they reclaimed the twelfth territory, Ted's level had reached 428.
'This is tough….'
Ted let out a sigh at the continuous siege battles.
When firing Charged Lightning (Open), Ted's body was pushed back over 2 meters.
The recoil from being pushed back was no small matter; it was enough to make his shoulders stiff. And feeling that recoil continuously every 1 minute 30 seconds was quite exhausting.
Under normal circumstances, a gun wouldn't be able to endure such strain. However, the durability of a Reinforcement +19 weapon rivaled that of castle gates, so it was unshaken.
Ted's body was also that of a character, so it wasn't a major problem.
He was simply mentally fatigued.
"Ahh, that is Sir Ted!"
"Sir Ted! Our hero! Caron's hero!"
"We greet Sir Ted, who sacrificed everything for Caron!"
Each time… in every territory, they treated Ted as a hero who saved the nation and bowed deeply.
"Sir Ted. Our family had all our possessions stolen by Pixie. A few days ago, my daughter was nearly taken too, but because you came to save the territory like this, I did not lose my beloved daughter. Thank you so much…."
There were also those who came to Ted directly to offer such greetings.
'….'
But those words didn't resonate with him much.
Ted was not particularly patriotic, nor had he acted to save anyone.
"Thank you, sir…."
However, seeing the little girl NPC who had been captured by the Pixie army and released, tearfully offering her gratitude, strength enough to lead his weary body again welled up within him.
A few days later.
"Sir Ted… I believe any further advance would be too much."
The commander spoke, gauging Ted's mood.
Day 4 of the advance.
The forces of the 1st Volunteer Corps, which had numbered fifty thousand when they set out to reclaim twelve territories, had about twenty thousand left.
But they were twenty thousand who had lost their vigor. The soldiers had endured arduous marches and were greatly exhausted despite their victories.
However, up until now, whenever rest was suggested, Ted had ordered them to move.
Under the present circumstances, the voice of the foremost contributor to Caron's liberation was as good as the king's.
That was why the commander had been unable to bring himself to restrain him.
But now, any further advance was dangerous.
"I see."
Ted no longer insisted.
'It's a shame to spend my time resting, but it can't be helped.'
If it were just Ted alone, he would roam the battlefield for hundreds or thousands of days. Even if tired, he would grind his teeth and force himself through!
Because the repetitive, grueling grind was familiar to him.
But ordinary soldiers… unlike Ted, were human(?).
'Tch. So this is how I have to spend my time.'
While Ted was resting in the territory, feeling disappointed.
"Sir Ted! Sir Ted!"
A staff officer ran hard to find Ted. He could have sent a subordinate, yet he came himself.
Ted went outside the command tent to receive him. The officer opened his eyes wide with an expression of being overwhelmed and panted as if tired from running.
"Yes. What is the matter?"
"Soldiers have arrived!"
"Soldiers?"
"Yes!"
Ted headed with the staff officer to the rear of the territory's castle wall.
There, an enormous number of soldiers were gathered.
'What is this?'
But something was odd.
Normally, soldiers wore uniform attire and carried weapons.
However, the gathered young NPCs and users were dressed in completely mismatched clothing and carrying various weapons.
Such users and NPCs numbered in the tens of thousands.
"Hero of national salvation! We greet Sir Ted!"
"We greet Sir Teeeeeed!"
Seeing Ted atop the wall, they let out cheers.
Ted turned to the staff officer with a puzzled expression.
"Who are they?"
"They are Caron's righteous militia, who walked out on their own two feet from the territories we have reclaimed thus far!"
"Righteous militia…."
"Yes, sir. They are ordinary commoners, not conscripted soldiers! From security guards, warriors who hid and bided their strength, church knights, criminals, thieves, religious believers, to retired soldiers who were once soldiers in their youth! They are soldiers who could fight but could not! Those who did not intervene amid all manner of conflicts have now risen up, joining their strength together!"
Hearing the staff officer's pouring words, Ted could not open his mouth.
'H-huh.'
He was right to not dare speak.
'….'
It was a noble spirit.
A spirit so sublime and lofty that it shamed Ted, who had entered this for his own gain.
Such people had risen up, gathering around him, drawing strength from him.
He could not easily empathize. What was a country, that they would burn with such passion?
Yet Ted was overwhelmed. By their fierce passion for their country.
After standing and thinking deeply for a moment, Ted soon climbed atop the castle gate. And he raised his musket to the sky.
Pzzzzt!
Soon, the lightning gathered in Ted's musket burst into the sky.
Ted inhaled with all his might, then activated
"
Soon, moved by Ted's voice, the numerous militiamen shouted along.
"For the liberation of Caroneeeeer!"
"For the liberation of Caroneeeeer!"
The many staff officers and commanders watching the scene could not find words.
Soon, breaking the solemn atmosphere, Ted opened his mouth.
"I shall depart again. Please rest here along with the soldiers."