2. Entering the War>
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At present, the local war between the Kingdom of Usharan and the Kingdom of Kon was growing fiercer by the day.
Though the Kingdom of Kon was using the advantages of defense—defensive magic formations engraved into its walls and firepower weapons—it was slowly being pushed back.
It was not a difference in the level of Vanders, soldiers, or firepower weapons. On the contrary, due to the Kingdom of Kon’s abundance of resources, its soldiers and Vanders tended to be better equipped than those of the Kingdom of Usharan.
The difference in combat strength came from the autonomous mobile weapons newly deployed along the border by the Usharan Empire.
Those autonomous mobile weapons, which the Kingdom of Usharan had operated since long ago, were suited to being war machines not only because of their tremendous power, but also because they had no emotions.
The most frightening thing about them was that they all shared information and moved as one body.
Considering that commanders were most concerned with communication systems, military discipline, and the suppression of fear, the strengths of such autonomous mobile weapons were truly terrifying.
Until now, their numbers had not been great, so they had somehow managed to deal with them using Vanders and artillery weapons. But then an unexpected change occurred.
No one knew what method they had used, but the number of mobile weapons had increased enormously.
The mobile weapons, evenly deployed along the border with the Kingdom of Kon, began pressing into Kon territory at a frightening pace, and at last they pushed all the way into a strategic point that absolutely could not be yielded any farther: the Kongtian region.
“Ha… what a headache, those Usharan bastards… What is the current state of the war?”
Grandal, the commander of the border guardian forces in charge of the Kongtian region, asked the adjutant before him with a pained expression.
“We are being pushed back badly. We are somehow holding out with Kulraren’s bombardment, but… these mobile weapons are extremely difficult to hit……”
This fixed defensive turret, created by fusing Exar with science, was a work of art that maximized the usage of Talic Stones.
Based on the design of the 1st-class spellcaster Kulraren and created through cooperative work with the Dkon race, this turret had been widely deployed along national borders after its stability and high efficiency were recognized.
In reality, Kulraren was efficiently defending against the Kingdom of Usharan’s ordinary infantry and siege troops.
The problem was those autonomous mobile weapons. Each one of them was equivalent to a Vander.
To begin with, turrets were not suited for the purpose of suppressing Vanders.
Once a Vander reached the Expert class, it was entirely possible for them to see artillery fire coming and evade its range, and a high-performance turret capable of hitting an Expert consumed far too many Talic Stones. With that amount of Talic Stones, one could do far more.
A Vander was most efficiently dealt with by another Vander.
Moreover, the terror of those things was displayed in war.
Unlike Vanders, who each possessed strong individuality, those things exchanged information in real time and executed the most efficient formations.
If the martial corps that the Kingdom of Kon boasted of, the
“Hooah… even though Sir Kranasha is fighting so hard, it’s come to this… Are armed warriors such laughable beings? To think those scraps of machinery are going toe-to-toe with warriors……”
Though he said that, Grandal was shuddering at the power of those things.
They were different from Vanders, beings born as people even if they had been raised for war.
Those mechanical weapons had been born for war from the start, and existed for the purpose of vanishing amid war.
“Still, reinforcements from the Kingdom of Tian will arrive sometime today. Once they do, we should be able to breathe a little easier.”
“That is a relief, at least. If they had been any later, it would have been dangerous. Still, the Kingdom of Tian is impressive… to think they are sending us a Grand
-Vander.”
“They say a tooth aches when the gums are gone, but… with this affair, we have ended up owing the Kingdom of Tian a debt.”
They said the leader of the organization called “Dracona,” which was to be dispatched this time, was a Grand
-Vander whom the Kingdom of Tian had kept hidden.
Even if they knew nothing about the other members, if he was coming, that was enough. And once their kingdom overcame this crisis, they would have to repay this debt.
“They should be arriving soon.”
“Good. I shall go out myself. Have Sir Kranasha summoned as well. They are people we will be fighting back-to-back with from now on, so we should introduce ourselves.”
If the other party was a Grand
-Vander, then he had to go out and greet him personally.
While he was at it, he also ordered the “Black Star” armed corps to be called.
The situation was urgent, so there would be no time for separate greetings.
“Greetings. Welcome. I am Grandal, the commander in charge of the Kongtian region……”
“Good to meet you. I am Kalagul, the person responsible for Dracona in this matter.”
As if the time he had spent in the library had not been wasted, Kalagul, who had already learned proper etiquette, skillfully exchanged greetings with Grandal, the person in charge of this place.
“This is Sir Kranasha, leader of the ‘Black Star.’”
“I am Kranasha. I have already heard the news about you, Sir Kalagul.”
Kranasha looked at Kalagul with eyes full of respect.
A Grand
-Vander received such gazes wherever they went, and they deserved them.
“I am Kalagul. You flatter me. Sir Kranasha’s military achievements have spread even to our Tian.”
Kalagul’s words were not empty praise.
The “Black Star” was one of the five armed organizations that the Kingdom of Kon, one of the Seven Kingdoms, took pride in, and together with Kon’s four great martial houses, it was one of the pillars supporting the kingdom.
Sir Kranasha, who led that “Black Star,” was counted as a martial artist who had achieved such a high realm that none among Masters could match him.
It was no wonder that even Kalagul, who had only recently begun studying the current era, knew of him.
“We have prepared a place for you to rest. The situation is urgent, so you will not be able to rest long, but… for now, please unload your baggage.”
“I can tell at once that the situation is urgent. Sir Lian and Sir Celine, follow the guide, lead the members, and unload the baggage.”
The autonomous mobile weapons were making use of their advantage of not needing rest to attack Kongtian twenty-four hours a day, and because of that, even now that Dracona had arrived, the sound of Kulraren’s bombardment continued without pause.
Kalagul had not come here to sightsee anyway, so once the members had finished reorganizing, he decided to immediately join Kongtian’s forces and move with them.
When the members finished reorganizing and had all gathered, Kalagul began conversing with the adjutants and staff officers under Grandal.
“So… what part would you like us to take charge of?”
“First… we will explain Kanuan and Kel
-Lupen. And……”
Then the staff officers began explaining the current situation, their own forces, the enemy’s forces, troop deployments, plans, and so on to Dracona, dividing up their roles.
They had roughly heard about it through reports, but since it was their first time hearing the details, the rookies who had been listening soon wore expressions of dismay.
From what they were hearing, were these not creatures straight out of myth, like hunting dogs of a war god?
War machines that never tired, moved in organization, and persistently hunted their opponents!
Tension spread across the faces of the rookies, including Panolan.
The only ones whose expressions did not change were Kalagul, Lian, and Celine.
Lian found it strange when he saw Sian wearing a subtle expression.
‘Hm? What is wrong? That child is not the sort to be flustered by something like this…….’
His younger brother had never once been flustered because of an enemy. From what he had heard, the enemy was certainly threatening, but they should not be enough to threaten Sir Kalagul or Sian.
In truth, Sian was not flustered, but thinking about something else.
‘Ah… so that’s where all the toys that were inside the box went…….’
He had thought it might have broken down because there had not been a single coin left inside the box, but now he felt he understood.
He did not know the principle behind it, but it seemed everything that had been in the box had crossed over to a place called Usharan. And that place called Usharan was using them to pressure the Kingdom of Kon.
Once that thought came to mind, he could also predict where that thief had come from.
‘Ah… that thief mister… ugh…….’
He had not known what the triumphant smile the man had worn at the end meant, but now he felt as though he did.
Sian felt as if there had been far too many things making him sigh lately.
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Gron could not come to his senses because of the Kanuan charging fiercely before him.
This four-legged weapon shaped like a wolf was a weapon, and yet it had Vandere wrapped all around its body and was circling in every direction, watching for a chance to bite into his wrist.
‘Kuh… the formation should never have broken earlier…….’
His mistake had been getting excited when he saw creatures that even the famous “Black Star” of Kongtian struggled against floundering in fear of his sword, breaking formation, and charging.
The moment he separated from the formation, this thing began moving in an entirely different manner, as if it had never floundered at all.
The thing that had seemed like a pet dog transformed in an instant into a ferocious beast and lunged to tear out his throat.
He looked back, but the other comrades maintaining the formation were also pinned down by these things and were in no position to help.
‘Kuh… to think a machine would lure me in… But why on earth is the captain…….’
If Sir Kalagul, a Grand
-Vander, stepped forward, he would tear things like these apart like sheets of paper. But Sir Kalagul was merely standing at a passage and cutting down only those that approached; he was not charging in.
The moment resentment-filled thoughts crossed his mind and an opening appeared in Gron, the Kanuan did not miss it.
Watching the Kanuan crouch, then explode with that elasticity in an instant and fly toward him, Gron unwittingly exhaled roughly and shut his eyes.
“Kuah!… Ah… Agh? Huh?”
He had curled up, expecting the agony that would come upon him, but when nothing happened, Gron opened his eyes and looked ahead.
The Kanuan before his eyes was twitching its limbs and emitting a bizarre mechanical noise.
[ADQDA… DAS1AS… KSDF…….]
Soon, perhaps because its operation had stopped, the red light coming from its eyes went out, and the faint rainbow-colored light leaking from its core also vanished.
After confirming that it had completely stopped operating, Gron forgot that this was an urgent battlefield and approached the Kanuan out of curiosity to examine it.
“……?”
Embedded in the Kanuan’s head was a very small iron bead, leaving behind traces of having spun violently, and the bead had torn to shreds the portion corresponding to the cerebrum that controlled the Kanuan.
Seeing that, Gron looked at Kalagul with the thought that of course that had been the case.
There was no way Sir Kalagul would let him, a future pillar who would support the kingdom, die. He must have intervened.
Gaining confidence from that, Gron tightened his grip on his sword hilt and leaped back into the battlefield.
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“Wow, seriously… this is going to give me cancer. Why is that guy suddenly getting brave again?”
Inside the walls, atop a high spire from which the entire battlefield could be seen, Sian, who had taken a place together with the staff officers, sighed as he watched Gron charge in again like a mad boar.
Because he held the position of aide to the captain, he had not been called close to the battlefield, so he had taken a place atop the spire.
He had wanted to avoid involving himself if possible, but from the looks of it, that man Kalagul did not seem particularly interested in whether those people lived or died.
He was indeed fighting while blocking the most important passage, but he paid no attention at all to however many of the fledglings might die.
Since it felt terribly unpleasant to watch living people die right in front of his eyes, Sian quietly activated Nitzmatan.
At present, everyone inside the spire except Sian was tremendously busy commanding the battlefield, so no one paid attention to what Sian was doing.
For a moment, a red light seemed to flash, and then several small iron beads appeared in Sian’s hand.
They were iron beads he had purchased from a workshop and brought with him just in case before coming here.
Then he lightly curled one bead between his fingertips and flicked it with a snap.
It was the sort of motion one would use to flick a friend on the forehead, but the result was not light.
The iron bead that had been caught at Sian’s fingertip vanished in an instant, then flew while drawing a line as thin as thread yet extremely clear, and soon appeared inside the head of the Kanuan that had been lunging toward the nape of Panolan’s neck as if it had existed there from the start.
The iron bead, spinning at tremendous speed, instantly ground up the inside of the Kanuan’s head, and Panolan, who looked at the Kanuan that had stopped operating with strange eyes, glanced once toward Kalagul before heading back into the battlefield even more energetically.
“Ah, come on! Listen to my brother a little… Ugh……”
It was good that their morale was charged up, but should they not be maintaining formation? Even he, who had never read a single military manual, knew that much.
It was getting to the point where I felt sorry for my brother and Sir Celine, who were running all over the place over there trying to hold the formation.
And I’d thought they were trained people, so I wouldn’t need that many, and had only bought five hundred steel balls...
I wasn’t using them on anyone who would merely end up injured, only on people who looked like they might die, just to make them get a grip, but the supply was dwindling at a frightening pace.
I was beginning to get the ominous feeling that, if my luck was bad, I’d use them all up within a few days.
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“Phew... Still, now that support has arrived, things are much easier. I owe Tian a great debt.”
Grandal recalled today’s battle as he read the report.
The power of a Grand-Vander was formidable after all.
That mighty sword of light, its symbol, had sliced through the Kanuan that had been troubling them as if cutting tofu. If they gathered up only the Kanuan that man had cut down today, they would fill a warehouse.
On top of that, he seemed highly experienced, accurately grasping the crux of the war and blocking the most important position by himself.
Thanks to that, Grandal’s forces and the “Black Star,” who had strength to spare, were able to concentrate the troops from that area elsewhere and conduct the battle far more smoothly.
The two people said to be vice-commanders did not seem to have much battlefield experience, but they had good eyes. Their skill in reading the flow accurately, commanding their units, and striking and withdrawing was considerable.
Moreover, they looked young, yet their actual skill was impressive. In particular, the one named Lian seemed like he would require someone at the level of a “Black Star” unit commander to face him.
“Well... they’re Kirine and Roman, so I suppose it’s only natural... But... what on earth are those fellows who came along with them...?”
If those three had impressed him, the rest were nothing but question marks.
One fellow seemed to think he was a charging boar.
One fellow tried to rampage through the battlefield alone as if he were some legendary hero.
One fellow made bets with the comrade beside him on how many they could defeat.
And later, according to the report from the staff officers, the man called the commander’s aide had apparently been up on the spire, doing nothing but snapping his fingers and keeping rhythm.
It was not that their skills were bad. In fact, looking purely at skill, they were quite decent.
The problem was their attitude.
They had Expert-level skills, but what they were doing was like something out of a legendary Ra-Vander.
On top of that, they only pretended to maintain the formation. As if several fuses of reason had been blown, whenever the Kanuan set up a lure tactic, they were drawn out in a line like ducklings, to the point where the two vice-commanders trying to control them looked pitiful.
What was even harder to understand was that not a single one of them had died. There were wounded, but still.
‘Hmm... Is there something I don’t know...? Well, I’ll understand if I watch a little longer...’
Judging by their actions, even if not all of them, about a third should have died, yet not one had.
In any case, he had no complaints. The commander and vice-commanders alone were already doing enough as reinforcements.
Thinking so, Grandal decided he would observe a little longer before making a judgment.
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Nazgal, a Grade Two commander of the Usharan Kingdom in charge of the conquest of the Kongtiang region, frowned when he saw the Grand-Vander that had suddenly appeared, blocked the road, and was shredding the Kanuan to pieces.
“Damn it... what was bound to come has come. But what are the other generals doing? Weren’t all the Grand-Vanders tied down?”
There were four regions of greatest importance among the areas where they were waging local wars against the Kon Kingdom.
The Kongtiang region.
The Arsharan region.
The Kervel region.
The Codorba region.
All four were military key points so important that none could be ranked above the others, so even if the Kon Kingdom yielded other places, it was blocking these with truly insane determination.
To what extent? Enough that it had stationed one of the only three Grand-Vanders in the kingdom at each.
Except for the Kongtiang region, each of the other three areas had one of the Kon Kingdom’s Grand-Vanders stationed there, and to efficiently check those Grand-Vanders, the Usharan Kingdom had also deployed their own Grand-Vanders and Kel-Lufens to those regions.
“...According to confirmation, the Grand-Vanders in the other regions are still in place.”
“What? Then what is that bastard?”
The destruction that fellow was producing, swinging brilliant streams of light in every direction, was a miracle even Nazgal, a Master, could not dream of accomplishing.
The Kanuan clad in Class Two combat armor were being caught by that blade and torn apart like sheets of paper.
There was no doubt it was a great armament, a Grand-Vander.
“According to information from the intelligence department... he is one of the reinforcements sent this time by the Tian Kingdom.”
“What? They sent a Grand-Vander? As a reinforcement? And Taran is just watching with its eyes open?”
If a Grand-Vander left the border, there was no way those wolf-like Taran bastards would simply watch.
In fact, they themselves had been unable to redeploy the Grand-Vander on that border to this side because they did not know what tricks their ally, the Taran Kingdom, might play.
“The Taran border region is still being guarded by Count Roman and Sword Duke Kirine. The one who came this time is... a hidden Grand-Vander. They say his name is Calagul...”
With that, the adjutant handed over the materials he had. Though Calagul had appeared only a little over a month ago, detailed information on him had long since been gathered.
“Ha, ha, ha... Does that fellow Narasha, who just became king, have no greed? There must be so much he could do if he deployed that Grand-Vander... and he sends it crashing into another country?”
Nazgal laughed hollowly, dumbfounded.
He knew that could not be the case.
To begin with, the one who became king in Tian was the one capable of being greedier than anyone else.
Being the king of Tian meant being more greedy than anyone. This, too, must have been sent with some plan in mind.
It was merely a complaint born of his disbelief at the Grand-Vander blocking his path right before his eyes.
But a Grand-Vander was a Grand-Vander, and he had to complete the mission assigned to him.
“For now... report it and send a request for support. It’s not as if a Grand-Vander can’t be stabbed by a blade. Once more Kel-Lufens arrive, we kill him then.”
“Yes!”
According to experiments conducted in their homeland, even their own Grand-Vander had been in danger when only twenty Kel-Lufens were attached to it.
At present, they had fifteen Kel-Lufens. That was not enough, but if they received a few more of the ones remaining in the arsenal as support, they could definitely kill him.
“Anything else to report?”
“Hmm... There are two vice-commanders among the reinforcements this time... They are said to be from the Kirine and Roman families.”
“Ha... what did you say? Then that Lian... that boy came?”
“Yes.”
“Haha... this is maddening. Sending a seed of the Roman family to the battlefield. That is far too great an investment in someone else’s gamble. Or else they simply see us as nobodies.”
Nazgal felt his mood souring.
The fact that the boy named Lian was a Master was not important. Masters were not common, but they were not impossible to find either.
The problem was that this boy was a child of the Roman family.
Until now, not a single member of the Roman family had failed to ascend to Grand-Vander.
In other words, if this child were raised properly for a few decades, he would without question rise to Grand-Vander and become part of Tian’s strength.
To send such a person to the battlefield—unless they had something to rely on, it could only be seen as looking down on Usharan.
The one named Calagul was already complete, but the boy named Lian was still a greenhorn. If they attached just two Kel-Lufens to him, they could kill him.
“Well, this is a windfall. Tian comes after Kon anyway, so I should kill him while I have the chance.”
A lion cub was best caught while it was still a cub.
“I had planned to rest a little for now, but that won’t do. If we withdraw, he may run. Buy time against the Grand-Vander with the Kanuan, and attach a few Kel-Lufens to that Lian fellow. Before our support arrives, we absolutely kill that Lian first.”
“Yes!”
“We begin tomorrow. For today, pull the Karuan back for now and conduct only bombardment. We can’t let those bastards rest.”
As soon as Nazgal sent the signal, he watched the Karuan withdraw in perfect order while escorting the ordinary soldiers and Vanders, and began thinking over the next operation.
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Sian was still acting as a one-man battery atop the spire, counting the number of steel balls he had left.
‘Ha... even though I’m choosing as carefully as I can before using them... they’re disappearing at an incredible speed...’
It was not as if he was firing steel balls at random.
Even though he was firing them according to a strict algorithm, the steel balls were dwindling at a fierce rate.
0. Are my brother and Sir Celine safe? If YES, proceed to the next step.
1. Does it look like they will die if I don’t help? If YES, proceed to the next step.
2. Is the opponent a mechanical weapon? If YES, proceed to the next step.
3. After being helped once, has the person fixed that nasty habit of charging like a boar? If YES, proceed to the next step.
4. Shoot.
Number 0 was only natural, and number 1 was because it left a bad taste in his mouth. As for number 2, even if this was war, it felt terribly uncomfortable to kill people in a war that had nothing to do with him, so he was only blocking attacks when they were by mechanical weapons. Even so, in just two days, less than half the steel balls remained.
On top of that... those men named Gron and Panolan had no intention whatsoever of fixing number 3.
As if they had been moles in a past life, whenever the enemy machines created even the slightest opening, they would immediately charge.
From the looks of it, after they realized someone was protecting them, they had begun throwing themselves in even more enthusiastically.
Every time Sian saw that, he seriously wondered whether he ought to fire these steel balls into the backs of their heads.
Having resolved that he absolutely would not help today, Sian saw Panolan charging off as usual and turned his gaze elsewhere. If he kept watching, his resolve might weaken, so he might as well look somewhere else.
As Sian slowly looked over the battlefield, he sensed that something was strange.
He could feel that the things called Kanuan were stalling as much as possible so that Calagul could not go anywhere else.
‘Hmm? They don’t need to do that.’
That man Calagul’s way of thinking was very similar to Sian’s.
He did not deliberately put himself through danger.
Because he was weaker than Sian, he could not completely ignore His Majesty’s orders and do as he pleased, so he had participated in the war, but he would never charge into a dangerous place.
Even if they did not try to draw his attention elsewhere like that, he would never move from that spot.
That position was also the most important one, but it had an unobstructed view, making it easy to watch all directions, and it was the easiest place to flee from or receive help.
In any case, the fact that they were going that far meant they had some scheme in mind.
Having thought that far, Sian examined other parts of the battlefield.
And soon, he was able to find what the problem was.
An act of depravity that violated number 0 of his algorithm was about to occur.
Several Kel-Lufens were hiding behind the Kanuan and stealthily approaching the area where his brother was fighting.
“Phew... Good thing I came along.”
Taken individually, the things called Kel-Lufens were weaker than his brother. Each one was about the level of Sir Celine.
His brother could probably beat two Sir Celines. But against two of those Kel-Lufens, he would not be able to win.
They were creatures that grew stronger the more they grouped together.
The number of Kel-Lufens currently approaching was four.
Sir Celine and the Dragonas were fighting alongside him, but the moment the fight began, they would all be cut down.
‘Hmm... Those things are a little difficult to handle with balls...’
The Kanuan did not have the ability to see his balls flying and dodge, but the Kel-Lufens would probably perceive them and be able to avoid vital points.
If that happened, the point of impact would shift, and he might fail to pierce their armor.
Moreover, those things were smart. At the very least, much smarter than those fellows Gron and Panolan.
If one unit were destroyed, they would probably trace the firing point and fight while placing his brother or Sir Celine in his line of fire.
He could not use such a lax method (?) when it came to protecting his brother.
‘I’ll take them down before they get close.’
Having thought that far, Sian stretched his hand far out beyond the spire.
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“Huahaha! Five!”
Hearing the fellow named Rashion beside him shout as he cut down a Kanuan, Kranasha, commander of the “Black Star,” frowned.
‘...Does he mean he’s stuck his spoon in five times...?’
Still, at least this fellow was keeping the formation, so that was fortunate.
‘Ha... but they are all doing their part, so I can’t even say anything...’
A single Grand-Vander alone was more than fulfilling the role of reinforcements.
On top of that, even though they were charging in like that, strangely, not a single person had died. Perhaps the Grand-Vander called Calagul was secretly doing something from the rear.
Kranasha sighed and stretched his hand toward the Kanuan approaching before him.
In that instant, a faint ripple ran through space, and Kanuan’s foreleg bounced away with a thud.
Not missing the opening when it lost its balance, Kranasha swung her beloved weapon and drove it into Kanuan’s head.
Kranasha was a Master, and at the same time an Exer who used a spatial ability—a user of two different systems.
Born into a renowned martial family, she had possessed a high Vander value of 45 from the moment of her birth.
And in the year she turned ten, she realized she had talent as an Exer. She threw herself wholly into learning a combat style that would make the fullest use of both gifts, and as a result, she managed to grasp the realms of Master and B-rank Exer at the same time.
Kranasha was making proper use of both her ability and her Vander, cutting down the Kanuans one after another with the greatest possible efficiency.
At the same time, every so often, she glanced over at Lian, the deputy commander who had come as support this time.
Even on a battlefield, the fellow’s shining appearance stood out despite the considerable distance between them. ‘Well… that boy really is tempting. Ha… they said he was twenty-four, didn’t they…….’
She was not talking about his looks.
His talent itself shone.
He was a member of the Roman family, yes, but she had not expected him to be to this extent.
Perhaps because he was still young, there was something a little rough about him, but after a few years of polishing, even she would likely find him difficult to deal with.
But put another way… right now, he was still someone she could kill. For a talent with that much potential for growth, it seemed a waste to send him to someone else’s battlefield like this.
The idea that one overcame mortal danger and improved one’s skills was something found only in novels.
A mortal danger was called that because, just as the words implied, the chance of dying was extremely high. This was not the sort of place to send someone who would become a Grand-Vander even if he simply trained quietly. ‘Is there something they’re relying on? Huh?!’
Kranasha, who had just sliced down another Kanuan and was looking at Lian with puzzled eyes, suddenly wore a flustered expression.
Though she was a Master, she was also an Exer, and she was accustomed to reading space in three dimensions.
Because of that, she was able to detect the four Kel-Lufens approaching from that direction.
They had lowered their cores’ operating rate as much as possible and were advancing while hiding behind the Kanuans, so her discovery had come late.
Looking at their formation, it was obvious who their target was. With those numbers, even she would certainly die. ‘Damn it! That bastard Nazgal… he’s serious.’
With the number of Kel-Lufens they had now, they would not be able to take down a Grand-Vander, so they were likely aiming for Lian first.
The distance was too great; it was already too late to run over. The Kel-Lufens’ cores were already entering activation, spewing energy fiercely.
Just as she opened her mouth, thinking she should at least give a warning, Kranasha felt a dizzying sensation, as if her head were spinning.
For a moment she lost her balance and almost got bitten by a Kanuan, but she quickly regained it, knocked the Kanuan away, and stepped back to settle her stance. ‘What… what just happened?’
Something had caught a severe distortion in her dimensional-spatial perception ability. The change had become so intense in an instant that she could not process all the sensations flooding in, and it had overloaded her.
Kranasha gathered her mind once more and examined the place that had caused the discord in her senses. ‘…
What is that?’
Kranasha had no choice but to doubt the dimensional perception sense that had never once deceived her before.
The space where the Kel-Lufens—more precisely, where the cores of the four Kel-Lufens—were located was gathering into a single point.
It was not something visible to the eye. Had she not been an Exer who used a spatial ability, she never would have known.
Four phases, located in the same dimension but in different spaces, gathered in one place and overlapped into a single phase.
And the instant the four core phases overlapped exactly, the space beside the phase tore open, and a hand abruptly shot out. ‘……!’
Crunch.
Before Kranasha’s startled eyes, the pure white hand seized the cores and crushed them.
It had been a single grasping motion, but at the same time, all four cores were crushed.
The Kel-Lufens, which had been preparing to leap up as they exploded into motion, instantly ceased functioning and collapsed to the ground. Soon after, the disabled machines were struck by Kularen bombardment that had detected the cores’ activation, vanishing without a trace.
To anyone else, it would look as if the Kel-Lufens had been destroyed after being hit by Kularen artillery fire.
Only Kranasha stood there, recalling the scene she had witnessed with an expression of disbelief.☆ ☆ ☆
‘Hmm… was I found out? Someone here has sharp senses…….’
Pulling his hand smoothly out of the empty air, Sian looked at Kranasha, who wore a dazed expression on the battlefield, and thought to himself.
But even if he had been discovered, it did not matter. She would not know who had done it anyway.
That was not the problem for Sian.
The problem he had been agonizing over ever since arriving on this battlefield was this:
At this rate, he would not be able to get away from the middle of this battlefield.
If things went on like this, there would be no end.
He wanted to interfere in the war as little as possible, but even protecting his brother and the people here in little ways like this was already a major interference.
When he first heard they were deploying rookies like those, he had assumed they would be assigned to a small local skirmish and return soon, but to think they had shoved them right into the middle of a war like this.
The enemies would not stop attacking until this place was breached, and if that happened, he would have to beat down every single one of the bastards coming here.
He had to get out of this battlefield.
Sian began to ponder carefully how he could get everyone out of this place.☆ ☆ ☆
The person in charge of this war for the Kingdom of Usharan, Second Prince Rakun La Dmitra, was listening with a smile to the reports coming in.
“The Rashadum region has been occupied.”
“In the Collan region, the local battle is proceeding in our favor.”
“Leifanol Castle has currently entered a close engagement. Neutralization of the Kularens is underway.”
“In the Kiranon region, we were victorious in the engagement against the
At the reports of victory arriving from all directions, Second Prince Rakun once more thought of Sir Kurandas and offered a silent prayer of thanks. ‘Sir Kurandas, thank you. Watch as the Kingdom of Kon falls beneath our feet. I wish to dedicate this victory to you.’
Second Prince Rakun, who had been lost in thought for a moment, frowned slightly upon hearing the urgent report that reached his ears.
“The Kongtian region. Of the approximately six hundred Kanuans and fifteen Kel-Lufens deployed there, losses have amounted to nearly half. The damage was too great, so they have withdrawn for the time being and are maintaining a standoff.”
The Kongtian region. If he remembered correctly, that was the region guarded by the “Black Star.”
It was a key point, but there was no Grand-Vander there, and since he had deployed a considerable number of Kanuans and Kel-Lufens, it had not been a region he was particularly worried about. Hearing that it had suffered more damage than expected, Second Prince Rakun was puzzled.
“What happened? Did some variable appear?”
“Yes. According to the news sent by General Nazgal… a Grand-Vander has joined the battle.”
“What?”
Second Prince Rakun was surprised by the news of a Grand-Vander entering the battle, but at the same time, he understood the scale of the damage.
If a Grand-Vander had joined them and combined forces with the “Black Star,” then that level of damage was not incomprehensible.
However, there was still a question.
“Hadn’t we already confirmed the number of Grand-Vanders in the Kingdom of Kon? They should all be securely tied down by us.”
The Kingdom of Kon also had three Grand-Vanders.
And at present, they had all been pinned in place by the Grand-Vanders and Kel-Lufens Rakun’s side had sent.
“That is… it is said the Kingdom of Tian sent a Grand-Vander as support. This is a report that just came in from the Tian branch of the intelligence department.”
“…
This is madness! Do you mean that Grand-Vander they supposedly had hidden away?”
Rakun also knew that a Grand-Vander who had been hidden in the Kingdom of Tian had appeared. After all, they themselves had kept Sir Kurandas hidden.
But he had never imagined they would send a Grand-Vander to support another nation.
“So if they were going to help, they meant to help properly, is that it……? I still cannot tell what they are thinking.”
With a Grand-Vander, one could do truly many things.
Putting aside the Kingdom of Karan, whose people were madmen and thus could not be touched… even he himself had already thought through several things he could obtain by using a Grand-Vander to pressure the Taran Kingdom’s region. There was no way King Narasha would not know that.
And yet he had sent the Grand-Vander to the Kingdom of Kon as support?
It did not make sense, but Rakun did not know all the circumstances… There must have been some reason they sent him here.
“If there is any combat footage of the Grand-Vander, bring it to me.”
“Yes!”
If it was a Grand-Vander, General Nazgal had probably recorded footage with an Exar.
He would watch that and judge.
After watching through the footage, Second Prince Rakun looked over the report’s data, pieced this and that together, and then smiled wickedly as if he had understood.
“Heh heh… I see what this is. That man called King Narasha does not have complete control over this Grand-Vander named Kalagul.”
Seeing the way he fought on the battlefield, Rakun could roughly guess.
It was clear that he would fight because he had been asked and because he had received things until now, but he had no intention of doing so with all his heart and soul.
In fact, he was guarding the most important route, but if one was confident in one’s own strength, that position also had the highest chance of survival.
If the king had complete control over him, this kind of reaction could not appear. He would be doing everything in his power to slaughter the enemy.
That meant he was closer to a mercenary bound by contract than a knight bound by loyalty.
There was nothing as dangerous as an unreliable Grand-Vander.
Perhaps King Narasha, having judged that this Grand-Vander was not trustworthy, had decided it would be difficult to expand Tian’s national power through him and had immediately sent him overseas.
It let him put on a show, put Kon in his debt, and since the battlefield was the place where a Grand-Vander could be utilized to the fullest, it would have been killing three birds with one stone.
Even if he did not fight with all his strength, a Grand-Vander was still a Grand-Vander. In reality, Rakun’s own forces in the Kongtian region had suffered great losses.
However, if the Grand-Vander was bound not by loyalty but by contract, then there were ways.
“Concentrate the troops. Heh heh… I wonder how desperately a Grand-Vander from another country, and one bound by contract at that, will fight when faced with mortal danger.”
The amount of spare forces left in their arsenal was enormous.
But a Grand-Vander possessed the power to hold back even such an immense force.
However… would that Grand-Vander desperately try to defend the castle?
Second Prince Rakun judged that possibility to be extremely slim.
If they could scare him into leaving, that would be best.
“There is no need to draw out other forces. Concentrate the Kel-Lufens we left in reserve in the arsenal. Ah, and send Kordan this time.”
“Do you mean General Kordan?”
“Yes. We will need him.”
“Understood. I will contact General Kordan.”
Having given all his orders, Second Prince Rakun sank back into his chair and reviewed his plan once more.
“Heh heh… Kalagul, I do not know what you were promised, but let us see how hard you fight.”
Second Prince Rakun gave a sinister smile.☆ ☆ ☆
—Words spoken six hundred years ago by the Ra-Vander, Star Destroyer Robanoton, to his followers.☆ ☆ ☆
“Hmm… their offensive has suddenly grown sparse.”
“Could it not be because their losses were too great?”
“Mm… suspicious……”
Though a Grand-Vander was holding the line, Kongtian was a region they absolutely had to bring down in order to proceed to the next stage.
Unless they had invaded merely to offer greetings, if this was a war they had started in order to swallow the Kingdom of Kon whole, then this was a region they had to occupy no matter what.
And yet their attacks had dwindled.
Thinking they might have diverted their forces to another region, he examined the situation, but the offensives in other regions were much the same.
“That cannot be. Strengthen our preparations further and observe the enemy. It seems they are preparing something.”
“Understood.”
The intuition of Grandal, who had defended the Kingdom of Kon for more than half a century, was telling him there was absolutely no way that was the case.
They were preparing something. He did not know what it was, but still.
And they had to be ready for it.
Grandal, the Grand- of the Kingdom of Tian
-Though he lamented his own situation, having to rely on a Vander, with other regions struggling as well, there was no room to request further support.
He could only hope that Karagul and Dragona would do well...
When the offensive died down for a while, Dragona began training.
Artillery fire continued intermittently, but there was nothing Dragona could do about that.
If there was one thing gained from the war, it was that the newcomers had finally come to understand, down to their bones, the importance of formations and joint operations.
Fortunately, no one had died, but most of them were carrying wounds, and some had one or two limbs broken.
In particular, Panolan and Gron had nearly died and were now suffering from trauma.
Panolan and Gron, who had been the bravest of them all, had only survived after receiving Rian’s help just before they became half-corpses.
Only after being injured did they feel the danger of war looming close, and they were now actively trying to suppress their instinct to become heroes and act as members of an organization.
And Xian... had been to the workshop.
“Xian, what’s that in your hand?”
Celine, returning from joint training, saw Xian carrying something and asked.
“Iron balls.”
“Huh? What are you going to use those for?”
“Heh heh... They’re useful for far more things than you’d think.”
Celine did not understand what Xian meant as he muttered, “I used as many as five hundred, after all...” but soon realized.
“Ah! So that was it! You helped us, didn’t you?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Don’t play dumb. They said the Kanuans were dropping like flies in the middle of battle. After being hit by iron balls.”
“Ah... Watching it just left a bad taste in my mouth.”
Hearing that, Celine clutched her forehead and said,
“Do you not feel wronged or anything? They all think Sir Karagul did that and are admiring him like crazy. While they keep ignoring you.”
“Well... I don’t really care. Since when have I ever cared that much about reputation? It’s not like I deliberately hid it, but there’s no need to go around advertising it either.”
“Still...”
Celine felt strangely angry on Xian’s behalf at seeing him ignored. They did not even know thanks to whom they were alive!
If not for Xian, tonight’s dinner expenses would have been cut in half.
Thinking that side of her was somehow cute, Xian gave a faint laugh and replied,
“Sir Celine, you don’t need to worry about things like that. Haha. It’s not as if rice cakes will fall from the sky because those people respect me, and it’s not as if I’ll be harmed because they ignore me. I’m satisfied so long as I get along with the people I like. I don’t particularly want to be respected or anything.”
“You sound like some saintly gentleman, if anyone were to hear you.”
Celine grumbled. Since he himself was so fine with it, it would be ridiculous for her to get angry, so Celine decided to let it pass.
Xian wanted to correct her, but held back. It was not because he was some saintly gentleman.
It was simply meaningless.
“By the way, when are we going back? We can’t stay here forever, can we?”
Xian had worked his brain at full speed, but no particular idea came to him, and in the end, he had given up.
It was simply amazing that His Majesty King Narasha was good at this sort of thing.
“To be honest, we also thought we’d be moved to another region to provide support... but Sir Grandal’s judgment seems a little different. I think he believes the matter here isn’t over yet.”
Hearing that, Xian suddenly closed his eyes.
“......?”
Celine looked at him with a puzzled expression, and before long Xian opened his eyes and said,
“Oh... This Grandal person... has remarkably good instincts.”
“Huh?”
“Something pretty big is coming.”
Celine could not understand Xian’s words, but she learned what they meant the next day.
☆ ☆ ☆
“They must be determined to trample this place into the ground...”
After employing Exar to observe the enemy camp located far away on the plain outside the fortress, Grandal groaned as he spoke.
The number of Karuans had not changed much. Since half of the six hundred Kanuans had been destroyed, only a little over three hundred remained.
The problem was the number of Kel-Lupen.
“Hah... Seventy units... seventy units, is it... They still had the capacity to deploy that many more...?”
He had known something would come.
But he had not imagined that much would remain in reserve.
Even if he had known, it was not a level he could have stopped.
Seventy units was easy to say. It meant seventy masters moving as one body, like a legion.
The moment he saw that number, Grandal realized what the enemy was thinking by openly displaying such forces.
If they wanted it to be effective, a surprise attack would be far better. There was no need to line them up in the open like that.
It meant only one thing.
“They’re telling the Grand-Vander to withdraw... That’s what this means...”
No nation would grind a Grand-Vander into the millstone of another country’s war. No matter how close an ally they were.
With seventy Kel-Lupen, even a Grand-Vander would be in danger. No, considering the nature of the Kel-Lupen, that they became far more dangerous the more of them gathered, if they clashed, he would certainly die.
Grandal let out a low groan and looked at Sir Karagul beside him.
Sir Karagul was standing on the wall, looking at the same place he was.
It was far away, but with a Grand-Vander’s sight, there was no way he would miss it.
With this much of a difference in strength, Sir Karagul would never fight alongside them.
Grandal was troubled.
Either they would fight to the death without Sir Karagul, or they would abandon this place, retreat, gather appropriate forces, and then fight with Sir Karagul included.
The course had already been decided.
But even if they used the second method, it would be nothing more than a stopgap measure.
From the start, the difference in strength was too great.
So great that he wondered how they had endured without invading until they had raised such forces.
Even if they had secured only half the number of the enemy’s mechanical weapons, it would have been more than enough to invade his own country.
Therefore, they had to catch them here. If they could not catch every last one of those bastards over there, the Kingdom of Con had no future.
‘The third... method must be used... Hoo...’
Grandal let out a sigh.
☆ ☆ ☆
‘Hmm... Those are... the imperial weapon corps I saw in the past...’
After arriving here and seeing the Karuans and Kel-Lupen, Karagul noticed that they were similar to the weapons once used by the empire.
Due to the nature of the Kal-Gul, such mechanical weapons did not work on them. They had great shamanic arts.
Weapons without souls could never be their match.
After the empire realized that as well, they no longer used those mechanical weapons in battles against them.
But with a human body, one could not use great shamanic arts powerful enough to neutralize such things.
That was why Karagul quietly estimated his odds of victory if he faced those weapons without great shamanic arts.
‘...Up to twenty-one units would be no problem... At thirty-three, I might die. Any more than that would be a desperate fight.’
If he combined all the forces here and fought together with them, they might somehow be able to win.
But Karagul had no intention of doing so. The possibility of mutual destruction was extremely high.
‘Hmm... I should withdraw. I don’t know how strong that human called Xian is either...’
He had not yet figured out what level of combat power that man called Xian possessed.
Before his consciousness took over this body, the one called Kuntarian had been too weak to draw out that man’s strength.
They said he had entered the realm of Grand-Vander, but someone on the level of King Narasha could also beat him down that much.
At seventeen, he should have been at an age where he wanted to show off, but perhaps he was not the type who enjoyed flaunting his power to begin with, as Karagul had not seen him use much strength.
Even if Xian was stronger than himself, if that many were to concentrate on them, even two Grand-Vanders would have their lives at risk.
And he had absolutely no intention of taking on such a risk.
‘I should speak with that king first. For a human, he seems to be drawing quite a large picture...’
Karagul moved to use the communication device.
☆ ☆ ☆
“...So that is the current situation.”
“That is correct. What do you want me to do? Do you want me to join up with forces from another region or the capital and fight together?”
For someone called a king, this level of difference in strength must be an unexpected situation.
He had likely sent him here because he thought Karagul alone would be enough to stop them.
And now that it had reached this point, he would also have predicted that Karagul would not fight.
That was why Karagul thought King Narasha would want him to join up in another region and buy a little more time. That alone would be a great help to the Kingdom of Con.
“......?”
At the unexpected answer, Karagul looked beyond the imaging device with a surprised expression.
King Narasha was smiling.
‘It seems he has some other plan...’
He always felt this, but whenever he looked at the human before him, he was reminded of a raccoon. An extraordinarily strong battle raccoon.
In any case, it worked out well for him. He did not have to fight anymore.
He was confident he could preserve his life, but since all sorts of unexpected situations occurred on a battlefield, it was not a good place to remain for long.
‘Well... those humans Rian and Celine will feel a bit bitter...’
After turning off the imaging device, Karagul moved to convey this fact to Grandal and Dragona.