Chapter 408: Continental Conquest (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 408: Continental Conquest (7)
Crackle.
Flames flickered across the ruined landscape.
Kevin scanned the devastated earth with a weary expression, spotting Edwin Hector wrapping up the aftermath of the battle.
"Search parties, check for survivors. The rest of you, secure a camp. We'll move out to our next destination once everyone is adequately rested."
This battle had been an absolute victory.
From start to finish, Count Jean-Pierre had been led by the nose before finally losing his head. Capturing the fortress afterward had been child's play. Everything had gone exactly according to Edwin Hector's design. How to strike, how to counter their movements—every detail had aligned with chilling perfection.
Just a few days prior, Edwin Hector had laid out the strategy to Kevin.
"Before we strike, we must understand the board. Currently, the enemy forces excluded from the capital's summons have been ordered to hold their ground to the death. To men preparing for a desperate last stand, the fact that the Kingdom Alliance has split into three separate armies will look like a golden opportunity. That is exactly what we will exploit."
Rustle.
He unrolled a map across the table.
Aside from Count Jean-Pierre's fortress, three other territories with intact forces were circled. This intelligence was courtesy of the Hao Sect. Even amidst the chaos of war, their operatives had blended in with the fleeing refugees, secretly transmitting real-time updates on the ever-shifting battlefield.
"Here is the plan. First, Sir Kevin will infiltrate Count Jean-Pierre's fortress through the waterways. The enemy will be on high alert, so do not overexert yourself. Simply eliminate the visible guards and fire a signal flare for all to see. With the Kingdom Alliance's army looming outside, the thought of an intruder within their walls will drive them mad with anxiety. We will simply sit back and watch. By keeping them awake through the night, draining their stamina, and giving them too much time to think, Count Jean-Pierre will be forced to make a choice. Rather than waiting to be crushed, he will call for reinforcements and attempt a counterattack. The absence of Lord Roman Dmitry will make them fatally complacent."
Edwin Hector reached out and picked up a piece.
Moving the markers representing the three neighboring lords, he placed them on a narrow mountain pass.
"This is the shortest route for the neighboring lords. If they want to combine their forces and mobilize quickly, they have no choice but to march through here. That is our kill zone. We will use Illusion Magic to trick the fortress into thinking our troops are stationary, while our main force lies in ambush at this pass. When the reinforcements arrive, we will crush them using magic and the terrain advantage. Once news of their annihilation reaches Count Jean-Pierre, we will launch our siege, and Sir Kevin will open the gates from the inside. Exhausted from sleepless nights and broken by the loss of their allies, they will inevitably expose a fatal weakness."
Kevin had been deeply impressed.
Down to the finest detail, Edwin Hector had analyzed the battlefield as if he could see the future. Trusting him completely, Kevin had accepted the vanguard role. In truth, his task had been borderline suicidal. Infiltrating through the waterways, holding out in enemy territory for days, and breaking through a fortress crawling with soldiers just to open the main gates was, by any normal standard, absurd.
That was exactly why Edwin Hector had called the plan "interesting." It was an operation that Hector's forces could never execute on their own, but past experience had taught the prince that the impossible became possible when dealing with Roman Dmitry's men.
And the plan had worked flawlessly.
Surveying the utter devastation wrought in just a few days, Kevin felt a surge of absolute conviction.
With a commander like this, we can reach the capital faster than Sir Chris.
A burning sense of rivalry ignited within him. Driven by a thirst that seemed to parch his very throat, Kevin prowled the ruined battlefield for a long time, hunting for survivors.
* * *
Meanwhile, the 2nd Unit led by Chris was on a relentless, forced march.
Most of the enemy forces in their path had abandoned their fortresses and retreated, but news of the other unit's rapid victories had already reached Chris's ears.
"Impressive. To have already wiped out the neighboring lords... I can see why people hold Hector's Star in such high regard. Even if he hadn't been born a prince, he would have undoubtedly risen to greatness."
"I agree," Felix replied.
Chris nodded, though he didn't seem particularly bothered. He had anticipated this from the start. Having personally witnessed Edwin Hector's capabilities on the battlefield, Chris knew that giving the prince command over a powerhouse like Dmitry's army would create terrifying synergy.
Furthermore, hearing how perfectly Kevin had executed the vanguard strategy actually amused him.
You've finally become a swordsman worthy of Dmitry. But I have absolutely no intention of giving up my position. No matter how fast you charge out the gate, we will be the ones to reach the capital first.
"Halt! We make camp here."
"Understood!"
Night had fallen before they realized it. After ordering the troops to rest, Chris summoned his commanding officers to a war council.
Felix pointed at the map. "According to our intelligence, the enemy is massing at a fortress two days' march from here. What are your orders? If we attempt a standard siege, our casualties won't be light."
"I agree. Right now, the Orthodox Method is a poor option."
Chris studied the map. Tracing the route from their current position to the capital, the southern loop had about three major chokepoints they needed to be wary of. If they wasted too much time bleeding against the defenders at those locations, the 2nd Unit would inevitably be the last to arrive at the capital.
Chris refused to let that happen. Rivalry with Kevin aside, getting bogged down here would force the entire Kingdom Alliance to halt their advance and wait for his forces to catch up.
They needed a different strategy.
Chris's gaze settled on a region marked Croit.
"The remaining forces in the south share one commonality. They weren't excluded from the capital's summons; they actively refused to follow Marquis Memphis's orders. The reason is obvious. Around the time of the prisoner-of-war incident, Marquis Croit—once considered a pillar of the Kronos Empire—was killed. The official report claimed it was a summary execution for insubordination, but the truth is that it was Marquis Memphis's arbitrary purge, not the Emperor's command."
"Which means..."
"Exactly. The enemies blocking our path are Marquis Croit's loyalists. They lost their anchor when he died. Out of pure spite toward Marquis Memphis, they ignored the summons, but their pride wouldn't let them surrender to the Kingdom Alliance either, so they banded together. We will exploit that exact crack in their loyalty. If we can convince them to open the gates themselves, we can march straight to the capital without shedding a single drop of blood."
Gasps of admiration rippled through the tent.
It was a flawless plan. The officers couldn't help but marvel; a man renowned solely for his monstrous martial prowess was now displaying the strategic brilliance of a seasoned general.
One of the commanders raised a hand. "And what will we do if they refuse to compromise?"
"Then it's simple."
Chris's expression darkened, a fierce, predatory grin baring his teeth.
"We'll gather their leadership in one place under the guise of negotiations and slaughter them all at once. If they refuse to parley, there's no reason to show them any mercy."
* * *
Time bled away.
With every passing day and night, a relentless stream of reports flooded in, tightening like a noose around Marquis Memphis's neck.
"Count Jean-Pierre and the neighboring lords have been completely annihilated!"
"My Lord! Marquis Croit's faction has surrendered to the Kingdom Alliance without a fight! The south has entirely fallen. It's only a matter of time before they breach the capital!"
"Roman Dmitry has..."
Every single message was a catastrophic defeat.
His head spun with vertigo. Slumping heavily into his chair, Marquis Memphis muttered in hollow disbelief.
"...How could this happen?"
He could understand the previous losses. Roman Dmitry was a monster who had slain Alexander himself; victory against such a being was never guaranteed. But Chris and Edwin Hector were a different story entirely. On a battlefield devoid of Roman Dmitry, the mighty Kronos Empire should have crushed them. Instead, he was receiving reports of shockingly one-sided massacres.
They were being utterly overwhelmed.
The Kingdom Alliance was rapidly converging from three different directions. No matter how much Kronos had concentrated its military might in the capital, the outer defenses had collapsed at a speed that defied logic. His eyes trembled. He wanted to deny reality, but at this rate, the Kronos Empire had no future.
Alexander. The root of this disaster was the revelation of his true identity.
The pioneer of Aura. When the absolute being who represented the pinnacle of Kronos was dragged through the mud, the empire's internal structure shattered. Factions began openly declaring their refusal to serve the current Emperor. The most prominent among them were the mages of the Magic Tower. Once they confirmed that Kronos was behind the historical disappearances of their mages, they severed all ties, declaring they could no longer coexist with the empire.
That was the breaking point.
Kronos began to totter on its foundations. Unable to unite the empire's fractured power, facing an existence like Roman Dmitry was an apocalyptic disaster.
However, he couldn't just sit there and despair.
Chris and Edwin Hector were rapidly closing in from two directions, but they weren't Marquis Memphis's most critical threat right now.
His adjutant stepped forward, voice trembling.
"Even our final bastion has fallen. Within a few days, the main force led by Roman Dmitry will reach the outskirts of the capital."
Soon, he would arrive.
Roman Dmitry.
The monster who had dragged Kronos into the abyss.
Marquis Memphis bowed his head, closing his eyes to escape reality, if only for a fleeting moment.
* * *
Finally, the capital of Kronos loomed on the horizon.
Despite choosing the most treacherous and heavily fortified route, Roman Dmitry had reached the final destination before any of the other units.
He ordered his army to hold their position.
Then, he walked toward the towering gates of the capital—alone.
"...It's Roman Dmitry."
"He's here."
"Gods, damn it."
Atop the massive walls, the soldiers of Kronos were pale with sheer terror.
It was truly him. Their legs trembled violently at the sight of the battlefield's devil. They desperately prayed that the man walking toward them was an illusion, but the die had been cast. Kronos had made its final preparations. No matter what happened next, cowardice was no longer an option.
Step.
He came to a halt.
Looking up at the thousands of soldiers lining the battlements, Roman Dmitry infused his voice with mana, letting it echo like thunder across the plains.
"This is your last chance. Surrender."
A devastatingly brief ultimatum.
There were no sweet promises of amnesty, no long-winded political justifications. Having delivered his demand, Roman Dmitry simply stood there, meeting their countless terrified gazes with eyes as cold as the abyss.
A minute passed in suffocating silence.
After a span of time that felt like an eternity to the defenders of Kronos, Roman Dmitry spoke again.
"There are no more chances."
With that, he turned his back on the fortress without another word.
As Roman Dmitry's figure slowly receded into the distance, the soldiers of Kronos were slammed by the freezing weight of reality.
This was truly the end.
To live, or to die.
They no longer had the luxury of choice.
* * *
A few days later, the armies led by Chris and Edwin Hector finally arrived.
Although Chris had beaten Kevin to the rally point by a single day, neither man cared about the victory. The overwhelming presence of Roman Dmitry—who had arrived several days before either of them—made them both feel as though they had failed to meet their liege's expectations. Their petty rivalry instantly evaporated.
Before them stood the capital of Kronos.
Staring up at the Iron Fortress the empire so proudly boasted of, the commanders convened a war council without a moment's rest.
Roman Dmitry took the head of the table.
"In two days, we will bring down the capital of Kronos."
"Do you intend to use the Orthodox Method?" Chris asked.
The capital of Kronos would not fall easily. Unlike the skirmishes leading up to this point, a siege of this magnitude could not normally be decided in a day or two. Thousands would die trying to breach this impregnable fortress. Yet, it was a reality they had to bear. From the moment they rejected Marquis Memphis's ceasefire negotiations, capturing the capital without a river of blood became impossible.
However—
"No," Roman replied. "Before we strike the capital, we will throw it into absolute chaos. Lucas."
"Yes, My Lord."
From the corner of the war room, Lucas stepped forward, drawing every eye in the tent. Even core commanders like Chris had heard absolutely nothing about what was coming next.
Lucas cleared his throat.
"I will now brief you on the shadow operation the Information Guild has been secretly executing."
It had begun several years ago.
Long before the war with the Kronos Empire had even broken out, Lucas had received a single, absolute command from Roman Dmitry.