To the Battlefield of Maslantia (3)
A few hours earlier.
Sirius's unit.
THOOM!
Boulders loaded into the trebuchets arced through the air and slammed into the fortress. Thanks to the defensive magic installed along the outer walls, however, they dealt hardly any real damage.
Sirius gazed at the tightly sealed gates and raised his voice.
"Those who seek to live shall die, and those who embrace death shall live. We do not cower behind walls when facing humans. Everyone, meet them head-on! Kill them all!"
KUGUGUNG!
The moment his words ended, the fortress gates that had been bolted shut swung wide open.
Thousands of soldiers poured out of the fortress, their faces grim with resolve.
"Leave not a single one of them alive—!"
Sirius's voice rang out thunderously, and the entire force came surging down the steep hillside like an avalanche.
"Damn it! We can't lose to these pathetic, weakened humans! Wipe every last one of them out!"
"OOOH—! Kill them!"
"It's the demons! They've opened the fortress gates—!"
"Goddammit! Redirect the trebuchet coordinates!"
"You've got to be shitting me! Get the assault squads up front—!"
From atop a hill overlooking the entire battlefield, Sirius observed the enemy's movements under the protection of his honor guard. As expected, the human forces deployed to take Point C were numerous.
And yet.
'What is this?'
A sudden doubt crept into his mind. The enemy's force composition was far too lopsided, concentrated in a single area.
Ranged units, mages, and siege weapons alike — the entire force had been allocated solely to the task of bringing down the fortress.
"—!"
Sirius's pupils dilated violently. A shiver ran through his whole body, like electricity coursing beneath his skin.
'...Could it be? Was this what the Sovereign intended all along?!'
He stood there, mouth agape, lost in thought. How could anyone have conceived of such a thing?
The Resistance had assumed the demons would hole up and focus purely on defense, so they had packed their ranks with siege weapons, mages, and ranged soldiers.
Which meant that if the demons simply closed the distance, the humans would be utterly helpless.
And sure enough—
"GUWAAAH—!"
"AAAAAGH—!"
A slaughter began — one that was, for all practical purposes, a massacre of an undefended camp. The ranged soldiers were too busy scrambling to fend off the demons closing in at terrifying speed. The mages belatedly canceled their siege spells and switched to elemental magic, but having already burned through their mana preparing the siege, they were cut down without offering any meaningful resistance.
The panicked Resistance commanders threw their assault squads to the front, but by then the battle had already collapsed. They could only flail helplessly against the demons raining down ranged magic upon them.
'...You foresaw all of this, didn't you.'
Sirius stared blankly at the humans toppling one after another.
Thirty seconds. That was how long it had taken the Seventh Sovereign — after hearing his briefing — to devise this tactic.
And yet it was a masterstroke that struck the enemy's blind spot with devastating force. How many moves ahead had he calculated in those mere thirty seconds? This was no ordinary brilliance. It would be no exaggeration to call it the realm of the transcendent, far beyond anything mortal.
'...And I dared to question the Seventh Sovereign's strategy. I do not deserve to live.'
Just as a sparrow cannot comprehend the will of a phoenix, he had failed to fathom his sovereign's design. He felt as though he ought to draw his blade across his own throat.
But he was the commander entrusted with this war for Maslantia. Until he led it to victory, such irresponsibility was a luxury he could not afford.
"The cowardly humans are fleeing—!"
"Let not a single one escape—! Pursue them to the end and take their heads! And recover every last piece of equipment they leave behind!"
The battle was settled in the blink of an eye. The Resistance forces chose to retreat, and the demons claimed their first victory.
'...The Sovereign is the single most crucial key to this entire battlefield.'
Sirius thought this with a look of iron resolve, then spoke.
"Today's victory belongs to every soldier standing here—! That we won was not fortune but the natural order of things. Let no one forget this truth — carve it into your hearts!"
OOOOOH!!
After hearing the full story from Sirius, I slumped into my chair, my soul leaving my body.
'No. How is this even possible?'
I couldn't tell whether the Resistance was simply stupid, or whether I was just cursed with terrible luck.
Then again, what good would agonizing over it now do me? The war wasn't over, and opportunities would keep coming.
'This time, for sure... I'm wiping them out completely.'
Just as I'd made up my mind—
"...As such, our casualty rate came in at under four percent — an unprecedented figure, Commander. It was truly magnificent! Sovereign!"
Sirius finished his briefing on the victory, his eyes shining as he looked at me. Apparently, he thought I was some kind of hero.
"So. What's the plan for next?"
"We press the advantage and strike them while their morale is broken, Sovereign. The Resistance must be in complete disarray. They've lost their siege weapons, and a great number of their mages and ranged soldiers besides. The losses were catastrophic. We must seize this moment and hit them now."
'That son of a bitch's brain works way too well.'
Morale in war was an absolutely critical factor. Think of the Korean War — our forces lost Seoul in three days and were pushed all the way back to the Nakdong River defense line in a relentless rout, until General MacArthur's Incheon landing turned the tide and flipped the momentum entirely.
'Not good.'
In that sense, the demons now held the momentum. Soldier morale was about to hit its peak. If this kept up, they really might turn the war around and drive the Resistance out for good.
'That can't happen.'
I shot Sirius an irritated look, but he seemed to be expecting something from me.
"Haha, is there another directive you wish to give us, Sovereign? I will implement it at once!"
His ears practically perked up as he waited on my words. I sighed and spoke.
"Commander. You are deceived by a mirage called momentum."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Surely you must at least know the difference between momentum and recklessness?"
Sirius's face filled with confusion at my words, and I pressed on, taking full advantage of the opening.
"Excessive ambition invites disaster. Do you really think the Resistance hasn't anticipated that we would seize this opportunity? No — they are already preparing. Without a doubt, they will try to drag us into a war of attrition to recoup their losses somehow."
"That is correct, and it is precisely what we anticipate. But we cannot grant them time to regroup. Reinforcements may yet arrive — at this juncture we must keep hammering them, crush their morale, take their stronghold, and drive them out entirely!"
"Commander. Your reasoning contains a fatal flaw."
"...A flaw, you say?"
I nodded and continued.
"Cut off their reinforcements and crush their morale, you say. Isn't it rather the opposite?"
"What do you—"
"Only by utterly crushing them after their reinforcements arrive can we truly break their spirit and conquer Maslantia completely."
"—!"
Sirius stared at me, his pupils blown wide. Then, abruptly, he threw himself flat on the floor.
"F-forgive me—! I failed to grasp the depth of your intent. Truly, the very foundation of your thinking is different from that of a lowly wretch such as myself. I have learned once more...!"
'Hooked.'
The corner of my mouth curled up slightly. The moment the Resistance received reinforcements, the entire board of this battlefield would shift again. So if I could just buy them time to regroup until then... the demons would ultimately suffer a total and crushing defeat in this war.
'So please, this time... don't screw up, you damned Resistance bastards.'
I sighed at the thought.
KWAANG!
Inside the Sacred Covenant's temporary garrison, Commander Robert Freysong slammed his fist down on the table, his face twisted with madness.
"FUCK—! Those filthy demon bastards, they're thrashing about in their death throes!"
"C-compose yourself, sir. Commander."
"Shut the hell up! You incompetent piece of shit, battalion captain!"
He snatched the map off the table and hurled it at the man. His fury would not subside.
One more step. If they had advanced just one more step, Maslantia would have been theirs, beyond any doubt. But that purple demon's head had apparently come unscrewed, and he had unleashed a strategy so unexpected, so utterly unlike anything before.
'That wasn't like him at all.'
Commander Sirius. Ordinarily, the man favored defensive strategies, doing everything he could to minimize sacrifice and loss. But today's tactic had been extreme — a veritable gamble, nothing like the man himself.
"Aha... so that's it, isn't it?"
Then Robert snapped his fingers, as though something had finally clicked.
"...What do you mean, sir?"
"The demons have without question received a new commander."
"!"
Nothing else could explain it. He had seen through every single one of Sirius's tactics until now. That man simply wasn't capable of pulling off a tactic like this. Which meant only one thing.
"How interesting."
The sluggish Sirius had been stripped of his command, and a new commander appointed in his place. Robert clamped a cigarette between his lips, and his adjutant swiftly lit it for him.
"Then what happens now, sir?"
"Hoo... what happens? A battle of brains between him and me, that's what. KEHAHA—! You stupid bastard. Whoever you are, I'll make you regret ever crossing paths with me."
So saying, Robert curled his lips into a grin. It didn't matter who the opponent was — he had absolute confidence he could crush them with sheer intellect.