Chapter 608: Stalingrad(4)
Chapter 608: Stalingrad(4)
As everyone knew, Isaac was currently being revered as a prophet who had experienced the future and recorded it in his writings.
Isaac himself, along with his close acquaintances, knew the truth of his nature and could only offer wry smiles. However, as seen with Cecile, even his lover was devoted to him with a religious fervor.
When even those in his immediate circle perceived Isaac as a saint, the general public was a foregone conclusion. Furthermore, starting with his novels and extending to Call of Duty and soccer, he had introduced forms of entertainment never seen before. It was only natural for people to mistake him for someone from the future.
Some had even suffered direct or indirect harm from demon worshippers, causing Isaac’s prestige as a prophet to soar higher with each passing day. Of course, since he was seen as being just a step below a god, people didn't dare approach him recklessly. Their devotion remained, for the most part, a matter of religious reverence.
While following Isaac was all well and good, people still had to consider reality; thus, they were merely occasional visitors. Isaac was a man so high up that people felt guilty just for seeking him out.
"Please let my son pass his exam!"
"Please let me be with her!"
"I pray that my business prospers...!"
However, the same could not be said for North, whose status was significantly lower than Isaac’s. Even now, a crowd of people swarmed in front of his house, having come on a pilgrimage.
Why were they making a pilgrimage to North’s mansion instead of a temple? It was because he was currently being hailed as a prophet. While he hadn't changed the world like Isaac, he had correctly predicted every single development in Blood and Iron.
The plot, in particular, had defied everyone’s expectations, yet North had called it all. From the Six Weeks in France to the transformation of Nazi Germany into villains, not a single prophecy had missed the mark.
"Go away! You damn fools! I’m not a prophet!"
North threw open his window and bellowed at the pilgrims who had gathered since early morning. The stress seemed to have taken its toll; his hair, which had been streaked with white, looked even whiter now.
But the people were undeterred by North’s shouting. They simply finished their individual prayers and went on their way. Eventually, seeing that the stream of pilgrims was endless, North gave up and slammed the window shut.
"Dammit. Aren't these people afraid of the gods?"
He slumped into a plush chair, muttering tiredly. What had started as a trickle of visitors after the Six Weeks in France had now turned his home into a full-blown landmark.
The word on the street was that if the Minerva Empire had Isaac, the Ters Republic had North. It was nonsense, but one had to consider the extremely poor relations between the two nations. Furthermore, the citizens of the Ters Republic were a proud people, and they found satisfaction in this comparison.
Unlike that guy, I’m not even a real prophet...
For North, however, the situation was beyond awkward—it was a headache. Originally, he had just spouted whatever came to mind to draw attention. His goal was to provoke Isaac and lure him to the Ters Republic. He was even receiving sponsorship for that very purpose.
He had successfully bribed the press; all that was left was to wait for Isaac’s reaction.
This is driving me crazy.
It had been a decent plan, but it had gone horribly off the rails. There was no turning back now. People treated him like some sort of fortune teller and scrambled for a chance to meet him, and his house had become a holy site.
Meanwhile, Isaac—the primary target—showed no interest whatsoever. Since the man churned out two volumes every three days to a week, he was likely just focused on writing even now.
Why are the gods staying silent?
The gods did not reveal the future lightly. Even when they did, it was in the form of vague oracles. Revealing the future required a great price. For that reason, even temples rarely told believers their futures.
Predicting the future was nearly impossible for anyone but a god, and doing so could infringe upon divine domains. This was why Isaac was held in such high esteem.
Is it because he writes books that show the future, while I only make predictions?
North racked his brain as hard as he could. This was, in fact, the most plausible explanation. Isaac was worshipped because he showed the future through methods a mortal could not explain, whereas North did not. If North had truly seen the future like Isaac, he would have written a book about it. He was, in a sense, a half-baked prophet.
Since the temples couldn't provide answers about the future, people flocked to North, who was known as a prophet.
It would be too awkward to tell them to go find Isaac instead.
Isaac’s fame had long since pierced the heavens. Most people believed that even meeting him in person would be an imposition. Of course, meeting as author and reader was always fine, but they wouldn't dare openly ask him to reveal the future.
North let out a deep sigh of frustration and glanced to the side. A single letter sat upon a small table.
The Royal Family has half-given up as well... at least I’m glad they’re understanding.
The Royal Family, who had sponsored him to lure Isaac, had mostly abandoned the plan. Previously, they would have reprimanded him or, at worst, quietly disposed of him. However, Blood and Iron had displayed a progression that defied all common sense. Even the Royal Family had acknowledged North, thinking, Well, this is a bit much... It was a truly tragicomic situation where he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
But is that bastard actually a demon?
The Six Weeks in France could be overlooked. One could dismiss it as a heroic feat meant to build Hitler’s standing. But the Holocaust was an event that would make even demon worshippers recoil in horror. A system that treated human beings as insects, lower than livestock.
Nazi Germany, which had agreed to it all, and the German citizens who had collaborated or stood by—they were all the same. It was something an ordinary person wouldn't even dare to imagine. Yet Isaac had done it.
Maybe I should incite people by calling him a demon... No. Then the fact that demon worshippers attacked him wouldn't make sense.
North shook his head. If Isaac wasn't a demon, then he was truly someone from the future. If that was the case, how could he lure him? He had already released another prediction to the press.
A truly terrifying prediction: that the total casualties at Stalingrad would reach a staggering 2 million.
The total casualties for the entire Race War were nearly 3 million. This makes no sense.
In terms of scale, the Race War was a conflict on par with Blood and Iron. It was a war where every race in the world was obsessed only with fighting. However, there were no massive armies like those in Blood and Iron, and the casualties were much lower. Because of that, it was recorded as the war with the highest number of casualties in history.
Therefore, 2 million casualties—and in a single battle at that—was truly nonsensical. Unless people were being 'ground up,' such a figure was impossible.
At most, it’ll be around 200,000. The Battle of Fez was around that much.
There were records from the era when the Minerva Empire was going through its own 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' phase. There was a story of a hero who blocked a river and then ambushed an army of 200,000 as they were crossing. The enemy forces, flustered by the rushing torrent, were picked off one by one like prey. That victory allowed the Minerva Kingdom to truly become an empire and achieve unification.
If Isaac had seen it, he might have said, "Isn't that the Battle of Salsu?" The difference was that in the Battle of Salsu, the army was ambushed during the crossing rather than the river being blocked, whereas in this world, the river had actually been dammed.
If even this turns out to be right, I’ll have to go to the temple myself.
If the prediction of 2 million casualties came true? Then it would be time to doubt himself. Perhaps he possessed a power he hadn't even realized.
North sighed and quietly closed his eyes.
Surely it won't exceed 3 million.
*
Time passed.
[Casualties in the Battle of Stalingrad have exceeded 800,000. A figure four times that of Fez.]
[Just how long will they keep pouring soldiers in?]
[The Soviet Union has even deployed penal battalions. Dmitri survives again today, leading his unit.]
The Battle of Stalingrad continued relentlessly.
[Casualties finally surpass 1 million. Nazi Germany is unable to escape the quagmire of urban warfare.]
[As winter approaches, the two leaders are locked in a fight where neither will give an inch.]
When the casualties exceeded 1 million, even North’s jaw dropped in horror. It was surely an exaggerated story, yet it felt extremely realistic—as if it were a prophecy of what war would look like if science developed in the future.
But North’s shock didn't end there. The Battle of Stalingrad dragged on like purgatory.
[Total casualties in the Battle of Stalingrad: 1.2 million]
Unlike the Giants, the Red Army followed a similar pattern, but Dmitri’s exploits kept the story from becoming dull. Furthermore, the casualty count for each side was shown at the end of every volume, with nearly 200,000 casualties occurring per book.
As winter drew closer and Operation Uranus was about to be launched, the total casualties of the Battle of Stalingrad reached 1.5 million.
"..."
Looking at these numbers, North felt that something was deeply wrong. He began to fear that it really would hit the 2-million mark. Inwardly, he desperately hoped it wouldn't happen, but Isaac was a man who always betrayed his expectations.
[The Soviet counteroffensive, Operation Uranus, has been launched. A massive army of 900,000.]
[Is the Soviet Union literally manufacturing people to deploy them? Despite suffering such immense casualties, they have formed an army of nearly a million.]
And as always, ominous premonitions proved correct.
[The Battle of Stalingrad concludes, as always, due to Nazi Germany’s abysmal logistics.]
[Total casualties for both nations: approximately 2 million.]
[North’s prophecy has hit the mark once again!]
When the Battle of Stalingrad finally ended, North could only clutch the back of his neck. If it had ended there, he would have just dealt with the neck pain. But there was someone ready to pour oil on the fire.
[Hello, everyone. This is Xenon. In this warm... (omitted) ...I would like to ask Mr. North. Are you truly a prophet? If your next prediction is also correct, I would very much like to meet you.]
Isaac was a demon in more ways than one. Without Isaac’s words, things might have just passed by normally. But because even Isaac had begun to suspect him of being a 'prophet,' even more people swarmed in front of North’s mansion.
"Prophet! Please, just once, let me meet my son!"
"Lord North! Please, just once...!"
"Is Blood and Iron truly our future? Or is it a future we can change!"
Looking at the crowd in front of his mansion, which was far larger than before, North spoke.
"No. You demon."