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Chapter 256. Divide and Conquer (6)
Chapter 256. Divide and Conquer (6)
Chapter 256. Divide and Conquer (6)
[-Enemy movement detected from the west of the capital. The enemy is approaching on ground, not via airship!]
As the Allied Forces approached Pittsburgh from the west, the command center that received the report could not hide their excitement.
“We’d planned our strategies thinking that they’d approach with the airship… … ”
“This is a good thing. In fact, it’s more advantageous for us.”
“But the enemy wouldn’t advance like that without some sort of strategy.”
No one in the room disagreed. The room went silent, all minds pondering their enemy’s options.
In the once-lively command center, Brepon opened his mouth.
“It might be a distraction. Send the aerial troops stationed around the country to the 7th Magical Division to keep the airship in check.”
Brepon’s orders came quickly, and in an instant, they were sent to all of the armies across Divide through communication magic.
“What is the situation like for the three towers that are being attacked?”
“They won’t be able to withstand much longer.”
“… … is that so?”
With eyes full of suspicion, Brepon looked towards the mirror that illuminated his shadow. Displayed in the mirror was all sorts of information about the happenings in Divide.
‘Why is the enemy after the Palace?’
It was hard for them to figure out why the enemy was recklessly advancing towards Pittsburgh with only a handful of troops.
This war wasn’t one that could be ended just by occupying the enemy capital.
Even then, if they failed, the risks that the Allied Forces would be facing were too great. ‘The Allied Forces’ main priority should be to destroy the towers creating Shadow Worlds… … ’
With this in mind, it would have made more sense to move towards the towers scattered across Divide instead of moving towards Pittsburgh. However, the Allied Forces only targeted four towers, and the rest moved towards Pittsburgh.
‘They have something more important in mind than breaking the towers’ The enemy was exceptional. They would never act without a motive.
Brepon was sure of this. There was definitely a reason the Allied Forces were coming, a reason that was currently unknown to him.
Out of the blue… *THUD*
At that moment, the entire building shook. The cup on the table fell, and documents flew everywhere. There had never been an earthquake at Pittsburgh of this magnitude. And the timing? This certainly wasn’t a simple earthquake.
*RUUMBLE*
Brepon barely held himself together from the aftershock and looked out the window. It was too dark for a normal person to see anything, but this was not a problem for a King-Class swordsman’s eyesight.
He soon could make out a haze of smoke rising in his vision.
It was from the west.
Brepon yelled urgently.
“Get in touch with the 7th Magical Division and find out what’s going on immediately!”
“W-We’ve lost contact. According to the observation unit’s reports, the enemy has broken through the walls.”
At that news, the command center went into an uproar.
One commander turned pale as he shouted.
“It hasn’t even been five minutes since we’ve detected the Allied Forces, yet they’ve already annihilated the 7th Magical Division!?”
They had never let their guard down. They had admitted that their enemy was talented, and that was why they had stationed their magic unit there.
However, it was hard to believe that the castle walls had been broken so easily. ‘There should be a limit to how unbelievable they are.’
Brepon furrowed his brows as he issued an order.
“If this goes according to the information in the artifact, the Allied Forces’ goal is the Palance of Divide. Callithus, lead a group of wyverns to stop the enemy from approaching and consume their energy.”
Callithus, the new commander of the Flying Dragon Brigade, lowered his head as he answered.
“Please leave it to me!”
The Allied Forces possessed more power than they were currently aware of. It was safe to say that the information they had right now was meaningless.
Both the enemy’s strength and their motives were unknown.
It was truly a hopeless situation.
But that was why Brepon thought that they had to go all out.
‘Just because we don’t know the enemy’s numbers doesn’t mean we can wait until we find out.’
Being stuck in the command center coming up with tactics and strategies was not his cup of tea.
Brepon stood up from his seat as he spoke.
“I too, will lead the Janissaries to the frontlines.”
* * *
“The first line of defense must not fall!” At the scene of battle.
A fierce battle was well underway. Divide’s soldiers did their best to fight against the invaders. Under the command of their superiors, they took up their swords and invoked magic to protect their city.
*SLASH*
“HRRK!”
However, despite their valiant struggles, the Allied Forces calmly fought through their defense.
They had no choice but to.
The military organization that was entering Pittsburgh this time was a coalition of powerful armed groups. Even excluding the current highest-ranking forces, namely Desir Arman and a few others, the level of troops entering Pittsburgh was something never seen before.
This was because the group was made up of top-level knights and magicians that Desir had personally selected after traversing the continent.
They had put their faith in Desir and had arrived at his request.
Although their numbers were small, they were by no means getting pushed back by Divide’s forces. With Divide’s half-baked soldiers, it would be near-impossible to defeat Desir’s Army.
‘With this, I should be able to repay some of the debt we owe him.’
That was what Kuros, the knight commander of the Kelin Empire thought. Together with the other knights, he took the lead to subdue Divide’s troops.
When the enemy’s frontlines had collapsed to some extent, he activated his communication pad.
“The vanguard has fallen to some extent.” [-Good work, Commander Kuros.]
The one who had received his call was Desir Arman.
[-We’re going to launch an artillery attack on the subsequent units so please wait without advancing further.]
Divide’s forces were narrowing the siege in real-time.
In terms of quality, the Allied Forces were superior, but with their endless reinforcements, they didn’t let the Allied Forces break through the siege.
If this was to continue, it was clear that there would be a great delay in their advance to the palace.
“All of Hebrion’s magicians, please let out your firepower.”
Those who made up the Allied Forces’ magic unit were by no means ordinary either. “I’ll definitely burn them down.”
“I’ve been waiting for this.”
The countless talents Desir had selected included: Radoria von Dorice, Kelt Nipleka, and many more, all of them products of the Hebrion Academy, the continent’s best training institute.
Their skills were comparable to decent high-ranking magicians. Powerful spells poured down onto the reinforcements that had arrived. *BAAANG*
Divide’s reinforcements started to suffer heavy damage from Hebrion Academy’s shelling. Amongst Hebrion’s magicians, the one that stood out the most was Ronde Fizzlebang.
He only had three mana circles, but the explosion magic he cast, his specialty spell type, overwhelmed the Fourth-Circle magicians’ firepower.
[Chain Bomb]
He invoked a spell on a specific area. While nothing happened immediately, dust seemed to be gathering in one spot. Soon after, a spark occurred, causing a massive explosion that generated even more dust, thus kicking off a chain reaction of gathering dust and exploding it, a chain of explosions which tore through the area, each explosion birthing another explosion. The endless feast of explosions swallowed up the remainder of Divide’s defensive forces that had barely managed to survive.
As their reinforcements also suffered heavy damage, a huge gap had formed in their defense line, and the Allied Forces started to charge forward.
They were ruthless. And behind the scenes, there was Desir Arman’s meticulous commanding. [-Galliand, bioreactions were observed from both sides. Make sure to strike first before they notice the Allied Forces.]
[-Command received.]
Masked men started to move. Belonging to the intelligence unit, they were highly skilled at assassination.
It had been less than one minute since they had moved. [-The target has been removed.]
Every order Desir gave had been returned with a message of success.
Divide’s army tried to stop the Allied Forces with several ambushes, but every time, the Allied Forces dealt with it perfectly. Desir had fully grasped the situation of the battlefield, and at the same time, he moved the most suitable troops in the most reasonable way.
This was something impossible to do unless he had analyzed all of the information to find what he wanted, and fully understood the strengths and weaknesses of the dozens of units he had mobilized.
Despite the countless number of different groups, each used to operating independently, their communication and coordination was flawless. Normally during war, countries would recruit one or two mercenary groups and give them independence on the battlefield, as attempting to manage multiple mercenary groups in conjunction with a full-fledged army was impossible. Only someone like Desir, who spent years with these groups in the Shadow Labyrinth, could command such a union like it was perfectly normal.
Under his expert command, Desir’s Army continued to advance, but even still Desir’s mind was plagued by growing anxiety.
‘We by no means have the advantage.’
At the moment they held the upper hand, no one would dispute that.
But looking at the overall situation, their position certainly couldn’t be called good.
‘Troops scattered all throughout Divide are continuing to gather. The longer we wait, the more troops will arrive.’
The operation this time was a surprise attack made up of a small group of people. No matter how skilled they were, it was impossible to go up against Divide’s large army with this group. There was another disadvantage. Desir suddenly looked up. When he made eye-contact with a civilian that was watching them through the curtains, he stepped back in surprise.
‘The civilians haven’t been evacuated yet.’ The civilians were left in the building.
‘Like this, it will be impossible to invoke Seventh-Circle magic.’
If it were an open area like a plaza, it would have been possible to invoke some high-circle magic, but in an area concentrated with buildings, this would be impossible without severe collateral damage.
The Allied Forces’ troops stopped in their tracks for the first time, but not because they were preparing to siege another defense.
“It’s a crossroad.” Raphaello spoke.
“We have to choose which way to go.”
There were two roads. Of course, both of them were the same in that they led to the Palace. However, the road on the left led directly to the main gate of the Palace of Divide after passing through the central plaza, while the road on the right led to the Palace’s rear gate via the market district on the south.
“What are we going to do?”
“Since the Janissaries haven’t shown up yet, I think it would be best to split up.”
The fact that the Janissaries had not appeared yet meant that they were waiting somewhere in formation.
They were Divide’s best-armed group. If they encountered the Janissaries, they would likely obtain victory, but at the cost of time that would ultimately lead to their defeat.
“The Janissaries will be waiting on one of the roads. If we end up getting split up, at least one half will get to the Palace quickly.”
“That makes sense, but the other half will have to fight the Janissaries though?”
“What’s the problem? Don’t tell me you’re not confident?”
At the remark, Raphaello cracked a smile.
“Of course not, I just said it out of concern for you.”
“You bastards… !”
The one who had interrupted them was Divide’s commander, who had impatiently been waiting for them where the path split.
He had shouted in indignation at the sight of Desir and Raphaello chatting in front of him, but their conversation continued.
“I’ll take the knights and the Hebrion troops.”
“Then the Side Guard will be on this side. Oh, is Pram included with them?”
“Pram has worked with me a lot, so I think he’ll be better in my unit. Instead, could you take the leader of the Side Guard?”
“That’s a fair compromise.”
Watching the two continue their conversation so calmly, the commander of Divide squawked at them.
“If you bastards were real soldiers, then you wouldn’t… … !” It was irritating.
Stopping their conversation, Desir and Raphaello each took out their respective weapons. “Let’s take care of that noisy guy before deciding who will go in which direction.”
“Let’s do that.”
Soon after, magic and aura rose.