Chapter 354: Chicken Game (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 354: Chicken Game (2)
A week had passed since the meeting with Sanchez.
Roman Dmitry, preparing for war with Valhalla, was already anticipating the fallout from the collapse of the Northern Front.
"Once we destroy the Northern Front's defense posts, the enemy will have two choices. First, send an army to stop us. Second, deal with Duke Vieto's rebel army before turning their attention to us. Since the rebels boast significant numbers, Valhalla will likely focus on one target at a time. If they choose the latter, they will surely use leverage, such as the Kronos Empire, to keep us pinned down. The moment they do, we will strike these three locations: Luenos, Portbell, and Santino."
"...That is reckless. While we are busy taking those three locations, Duke Vieto's rebellion will be suppressed."
"A valid point. But what if we capture all three locations within a week?"
From the North to Valhalla's capital, the distance was vast.
Even taking the shortest route, the march alone would take at least a month. This was exactly why the fruits of magical civilization were so highly valued.
Past Santino lay a Warp Point, much like Kortas in the Kronos Empire. The moment Dmitry seized it, Valhalla would have no choice but to react. Using the Warp Point's coordinates, they could open a gate to launch an immediate assault on Valhalla's capital, summon Dmitry's reinforcements, or—if they were willing to risk forfeiting their righteous cause—cross over to Hernad to aid Duke Vieto's rebel army.
Therefore, it was a region Valhalla simply could not afford to lose.
The moment Santino fell, the empire would inevitably send troops through the Warp Gate to stop them.
And Roman had given his forces exactly one week to make it happen.
Since it would take the Emperor's army at least a week to march on Hernad and capture it, seizing Santino before the city fell would completely wrest the momentum in Dmitry's favor. The problem was the incredibly tight window. Roman Dmitry spoke casually of capturing three territories in succession, but in reality, just marching between them would consume more than half that time.
They had to conquer one territory per day, at the absolute latest. They needed lightning-fast victories.
Because time was of the essence, Roman Dmitry laid out his strategy for taking the three territories.
"First, we will move our forces near Luenos. Once we establish a camp at a visible distance, the Valhalla Empire will focus entirely on the Dmitry army in front of them, leaving the defenses of the other two territories relatively lax. In that exact moment, we will infiltrate and bring down the second territory, Portbell."
"...That is far too risky. Ever since the operation in Rascal, both empires have been extremely wary of small-scale guerrilla tactics. They will certainly have countermeasures prepared."
The speaker was Chris, and his point was entirely valid.
The incident in Rascal had shocked the continent. The fact that Roman had entered Rascal alone and slaughtered ten thousand soldiers had driven the two hostile empires to mobilize their brightest minds to devise countermeasures. They could not afford to let the same disaster happen twice. If Dmitry's forces infiltrated recklessly, there was a very high probability they would walk straight into a trap.
Roman Dmitry turned his gaze to a specific man.
"Lucas. Are the preparations to attack Portbell complete?"
Lucas smiled.
"Yes, they are ready."
From that moment on, Roman Dmitry's plan rapidly gained momentum.
* * *
On the day Valhalla attempted to assassinate him, Roman Dmitry had officially marked them as an enemy.
Anticipating that war would break out sooner or later, he had issued several orders to Lucas. One of them was to plant spies.
"Valhalla is currently in disarray. In the aftermath of their assassination attempt, conflict has erupted with those who still uphold Valhalla's true principles. Capitalize on this chaos. Plant as many people from our information guild as possible. The more diverse their roles, the better. We need ordinary citizens who can incite the public, as well as combatants who can disrupt enemy operations during an emergency. I will spare no expense to support this, so ensure it is executed flawlessly."
"Understood."
The operation proceeded steadily.
When Duke Vieto declared his rebellion, the ones who lent weight to his claims among the populace were the members of the Hao Sect. They egged on the citizens who were wary of the Valhalla Emperor, encouraging them to raise their voices.
It was the same during Ares's challenge.
They had gathered crowds to prevent the Valhalla Empire from playing dirty tricks, and after Cesar was defeated, they chimed in with the angry masses. 'You are right. The Valhalla Emperor is in the wrong. Things cannot go on like this. We must follow Duke Vieto.' They deliberately engineered the public sentiment in accordance with Roman Dmitry's orders.
In his past life, people used to say:
'Did not the Heavenly Demon Baek Joong-hyuk rise to his position solely through overwhelming power?'
To some extent, that was true.
Without absolute power, he could never have conquered the Murim. However, if he had lacked political acumen while surviving at the very bottom of the martial world, he would never have lived long enough to reach that peak in the first place. It was not cowardice. Shaping the board to one's own advantage was an essential skill for any commander.
Therefore, he had prepared for this from the very beginning.
While Santino—the final gateway—was too heavily guarded to infiltrate, the situation in Portbell was different. As the sun set and darkness fell, the garrison began to retire for the night. That was when the informants, who had infiltrated Valhalla long ago under Dmitry's orders, began to move stealthily.
"Is it time for the shift change already...? Urgh."
Thwack!
It happened in an instant.
Because the infiltrators wore the same uniforms and had familiar faces, the guards had welcomed them warmly, only to be struck down without warning.
The operation was swift.
Over a dozen informants moved rapidly to neutralize the guards around the castle gate before immediately operating the mechanism. The screeching sound of the heavy chains was completely muffled by a Silence scroll. By the time the other soldiers noticed, it was too late. Though they hurriedly sounded the alarm at the sight of the moving gate, it had already lowered over the moat.
Thud.
Rumble.
Beyond the gate, soldiers could be seen rushing forward through the darkness.
The alarm pierced the night over Portbell as the garrison desperately tried to raise the gate back up.
But it was already too late.
Step.
"Kill them all."
Led by Roman Dmitry, Dmitry's elites stepped into the castle.
* * *
Waaaaail—
"It's the enemy!"
"The enemy is here!"
Chaos erupted.
Soldiers who had been fast asleep scrambled out of their barracks, their faces pale with shock as they tried to grasp the situation.
Whoosh!
Roar!
The surroundings were instantly engulfed in flames.
Amidst the searing heat, Roman Dmitry materialized like a phantom, slaughtering the soldiers of Portbell.
Splurt!
"Argh!"
"S-spare me!"
It was a living hell of screams and agony.
In a situation where merely escaping the scorching heat was a struggle, the soldiers were utterly helpless against Roman Dmitry's overwhelming might. The knights of Portbell fared no better. They flared their Aura and charged at Roman Dmitry, but without fail, their severed limbs and corpses ended up rolling across the blood-soaked ground.
The commander of the fortress, Baron Portbell, shouted at the top of his lungs, his face pale with fright.
"Activate the magic system! Do not panic! The enemy's numbers are small!"
[Rain Shower]
[Rain Shower]
[Rain Shower]
Magic circles activated all around them.
Rain Shower.
It was a spell highly effective for firefighting.
Having learned from the incident in Rascal that Roman Dmitry's flames were unnaturally difficult to extinguish, the Valhalla Empire had embedded powerful magical arrays into their fortresses. It was certainly effective. No matter how potent the Flame Demon's flames were, they were not omnipotent, and a spell specifically designed for firefighting proved capable of suppressing the blaze.
The same method.
They would not fall for it twice.
Those who opposed Dmitry had studied the variables Roman Dmitry created and prepared countermeasures accordingly.
Sssssss—
The fire died down.
Under these circumstances, the situation became highly disadvantageous for Dmitry.
No matter how powerful Roman Dmitry was, his strike force was small, while Portbell was garrisoned by a massive army of thirty thousand soldiers. This was different from slaughtering ten thousand troops in Rascal. If they had to fight through a swarm of soldiers attacking from all sides, even Dmitry's elites would inevitably suffer casualties.
However...
"...This is insane."
"How the hell are we supposed to stop that monster?!"
The monster standing before them defied logic.
The soldiers had no confidence that they could stop Roman Dmitry, even if they threw hundreds or thousands of lives at him. As he slaughtered everyone who charged with overwhelming momentum, the soldiers of Portbell swung their weapons with terror-stricken faces.
It was then.
Roman Dmitry, contrary to his usual behavior, suddenly retreated.
At that moment—
Boom!
Rumble!
In the distance, a massive explosion erupted from the castle walls.
While Roman Dmitry had drawn the enemy's attention by raising a sea of flames, Dmitry's elites had neutralized the remaining guards and planted magic bombs along the base of the castle walls. Normally, the inner and outer structural integrity of a fortress wall differed. While the outer walls—meant to repel invading armies—were protected by powerful magical defenses, the inner walls were not as thoroughly reinforced, as it was assumed the battle was already lost if the enemy made it inside.
For that reason...
Crash!
Rumble!
...the castle walls crumbled easily.
As the walls of Portbell collapsed into ruin, Roman Dmitry raised his voice.
"Hear me, soldiers of Valhalla! If you remain in Portbell even after your walls have fallen..."
He slashed an approaching enemy knight.
The blood spraying in all directions caught everyone's terrified gaze.
"...next time, you will face me once more in this very place, stripped of the protection of your walls."
The enemy's defenses.
He had anticipated them all along.
Having deduced the existence of spells like Rain Shower, Roman Dmitry had set an entirely different objective for this guerrilla operation. A fortress's utility stemmed from its walls. If the walls crumbled, the garrison of Portbell—no matter how intact their numbers were—could not hold their ground. They would have no choice but to retreat to Santino in the rear. This would isolate Luenos and easily eliminate one of their three targets.
It was a strike that caught Valhalla completely off guard.
Viscount Luenos, completely unaware of Portbell's fall, had sent a complacent report to the commanders in the rear, suggesting that Dmitry seemed to have given up on the war. It caused the entire region to let their guard down.
And the next day...
"Dmitry is marching!"
"Stop them!"
On the third day, Dmitry's army drew their weapons against Luenos.
* * *
Three days ago, just as Dmitry collapsed the Northern Front, Duke Vieto received a report detailing the series of events.
"...To think he actually turned such absurdities into reality."
He was utterly astonished.
This rebellion.
He had proceeded with it by placing his trust in Roman Dmitry.
But it had not been blind faith.
Think about it. Roman Dmitry's plan was to deal with Alvarez and Cesar through Ares, and then personally move his army to collapse the Northern Front. To anyone from Valhalla, the first part of the plan was bound to raise serious doubts. Ares was a well-known figure whose skills were widely recognized, and while he was undoubtedly a genius of swordsmanship, there were major question marks over whether he could defeat Alvarez, let alone Cesar.
The Northern Front was even more unbelievable.
Duke Vieto had assumed the rebel army occupying Hernad would be placed in extreme jeopardy while Roman was busy destroying the frontline defense posts.
Yet, in the end, Roman Dmitry had kept his word.
Along with news of Ares's victory, he had just received a report that Roman Dmitry had captured the North.
Sanchez spoke up.
"Did I not tell you? Even when the Valhalla Imperial Court openly displayed their intent to assassinate him, Roman Dmitry was a man confident enough to return without receiving a single shred of help. When he says something is possible, it means he has absolute certainty. I believed in that, which is why I urged us to proceed with the rebellion."
Sanchez had been the bridge of trust.
Had he not argued so vehemently, the rebel army would never have made the decision to strike Hernad first.
For now, the immediate crisis had passed.
But with the Valhalla Imperial Court in disarray, the role of the rebel army was now of paramount importance.
Duke Vieto said,
"There is only one way for us to bring down the Valhalla Imperial Court. We must hold out in Hernad for as long as possible and spread the justification for our rebellion to the people. The longer we hold out, and the louder we raise our voices, the more the people of Valhalla will realize that now is the golden opportunity to set this empire right. Because of Roman Dmitry, the Imperial Court will not be able to commit their full strength to suppressing us. If we can hold out here in Hernad for just fifteen days, then even those paralyzed by fear will rise up and aid us."
They believed in the will of Valhalla's people.
Right now, the citizens did not dare move due to the sheer terror inspired by the Valhalla Emperor's reputation. However, once the rebel army demonstrated clear results, the flames of rebellion would spread across the entire land. That was what the rebels were aiming for. Therefore, if the rebel army collapsed in just a few days, they could never hope for a miracle like a popular uprising.
Somehow, they had to hold out.
Roman Dmitry had set the stage for them; they could not afford to crumble after securing such an advantageous position.
"We must hold out at all costs. Fifteen days. That will be our turning point."
* * *
On the third day, dawn broke.
Just as Roman Dmitry launched his attack on Luenos, the Emperor's army appeared beyond the walls of Hernad.
"My God."
"...How are we supposed to stop that?"
At the sight before them, some swallowed hard, while others let out heavy sighs of despair.
It was a terrifyingly spectacular sight.
The densely packed imperial forces easily seemed to number in the hundreds of thousands at a mere glance.
Sanchez spoke in a despairing voice.
"It seems the intelligence was true. The Valhalla Emperor has truly abandoned the North and sent his entire army of one million to capture Hernad. And judging by the presence of the Royal Knights—the Emperor's direct forces—it is clear that their special forces have also been mobilized."
Among the countless flags fluttering in the wind, the golden banner symbolizing the Royal Knights stood tall.
A game of chicken.
The Valhalla Emperor had indeed made an extreme choice.
Without sending a single reinforcement to the North, he was focusing his entire military might on capturing Hernad.
Duke Vieto looked out beyond the castle walls.
"...The Valhalla Emperor. Is he confident he can suppress the rebel army before Dmitry can even create a variable?"
The opponent's intention was clear.
He was furious, and his pride was wounded.
But...
With only two hundred thousand troops, it is impossible to hold them off for long.
Quantitatively and qualitatively, the rebels were overwhelmingly outmatched.
Looking at the sea of enemies, Duke Vieto couldn't help but think that they might not even last a week, let alone the fifteen days he had envisioned.
And so, the battle that would decide the fate of the rebel army began.