Episode 389 – We are right.
Such thoughts, grounds, or claims. In other words, justification is one of the most important elements in war, especially wars of aggression.
No soldier in an invading army thinks of himself as an invader. This is because everyone wants to be a punisher who implements justice, not a villain who attacks innocent victims.
A soldier who has to swing a sword and stab a person he has never seen before has no choice but to become obsessed with the reason, even if only to protect his own heart. Therefore, without a cause, it is only a matter of time before even the best-trained army collapses.
In that respect, the cause of the empire was quite plausible.
– McLane completely refused to cooperate with the search for the Black Snake, the continental public that created the tragedy of the Holy Kingdom War.
– In order to protect the peace of the continent and bring justice to this land, I will punish McLane.
Of course, it was a story that any sensible person would consider an excuse.
However, with the declaration of war containing only a few facts, appropriate propaganda, and the launch ceremony of an overwhelming force that seemed like they would never be defeated, the morale of the imperial army seemed to skyrocket.
– Mobilization of the entire Eastern 8th Corps.
– Deployment of the Imperial Central Army. Three legions and 150,000 troops.
– The Imperial Guard, including the Sword Spirit, and 6 superhumans go out.
– Five of Aserian’s seven major magic tower lords, including the Mage of the Cold Wind, go on a campaign. The magic corps goes out.
It was more than double the scale, both qualitatively and quantitatively, of what the public had expected.
* * *
“The 1st Corps is stationed at Kyle Castle under the leadership of Sir Francisco. The 2nd Corps is led by the Duke himself and entered the fortress Shield in the northwest, and the 3rd Corps is stationed at Fort Armor in the southeast under the command of His Excellency Archduke Patrick. .”
“What about the Kingdom Union?”
Damian Nadal spoke calmly as he gazed at the young monarch wearing royal armor and a sword sitting on the royal throne.
“According to the agreement, reinforcements from Liberty and Teronan are also moving to the western border along with the 4th and 5th Legions. From Liberty, the superhuman Lord Gunther, and from Terronan, the Iron Wall Latin Lawrence and the Tide Mage Gustav Clemens have joined forces at the same time.”
“Three… mobilizing all superhumans is beyond my expectations.”
“The Empire’s intentions are obvious, so the Kingdom Alliance is also at a loss. There is also an agreement signed with us.”
The good news is that preparations for war are progressing properly.
But still, the faces of the nobles gathered in Daejeon were dark.
Logan asked calmly again, as if he was aware of such signs.
“What is the difference in power compared to the imperial army?”
“In terms of pure strength, our troops are at the level of 7 legions, even including the troops of the 5 legion kingdom alliances. If you include the 11 legions of the imperial army and the magic corps, it is clearly insufficient.”
“So are we at a disadvantage?”
“Absolutely not.”
Damian answered Logan’s rebuttal firmly.
The nobles’ puzzled gaze focused on Damian.
“The numerical inferiority can be easily compensated for by vigilantes, new weapons, and the ‘secret plan’ prepared by His Majesty. Our kingdom is strong enough. The Empire will not be able to occupy even a single inch of McLane’s land.”
Now, a ray of hope appeared on the faces of half of the nobles at the words of Damian Nadal, who along with Dwayne Pilsner can be said to be the two major representatives of the civil service.
But these people are truly optimistic. The other half of the nobles couldn’t help but think skeptical thoughts about Damian’s assurances.
– What kind of secret plan are you using to make up for the gap in troops? And what do superhumans do?
Those implicit thoughts were shared through each person’s anxious gaze.
Clan Luf, a nobleman from a small to medium-sized fiefdom in the western part of the kingdom, also had similar thoughts.
‘Should I prepare for asylum in the Empire?’
Although I had no choice but to attend the Daejeon meeting at the king’s summons for war, I had no idea that the kingdom would have a chance of victory.
‘I guess they called me to donate my property for the war.’
Although the territory was precious, it was not more important than life.
For now, he must follow the king’s orders, but even after that, he must pack up the family’s remaining assets and go into exile…
As he was racking his brain with thoughts of this and that, the king could be seen jumping out of his seat as something was said.
“…So I know there are a lot of people who are anxious. But there is nothing to worry about.”
visor.
A sword suddenly drawn.
‘What are you going to do with that?’
The eyes of several nobles, including the clan, were all focused on the king.
“Behold! the power of your monarch!”
Ugh.
Flashing.
The brilliant golden light rising from the sword soared through the roof of the Daejeon, accompanied by a vibration that resounded in the Daejeon.
A golden aura symbolizing the ‘Sun of McLane’ that anyone with even a little knowledge can recognize.
Just as the red sun spreads golden sunlight, the golden light rising from the hand of the red-haired king penetrated the eyes of the nobles gathered in the grand hall.
Skag.
Soon, a light noise was heard, like a thin knife cutting through a sheet of paper.
But the result of that small sound was so great.
Blah blah blah.
The interior of the palace, which is nearly 300 meters long, from the throne roof to the entrance to the main palace and the entrance to the main palace of Grand Pia, all splits at the same angle.
At the same time, the fact that only the sword marks were exquisitely left without touching any of the pillars felt as if three-dimensional strokes had been drawn on the beautiful mural of Grand Pia.
That incredible sight thrilled the souls of the nobles gathered in Daejeon.
An overwhelming demonstration of force that none of the nobles here had ever seen or heard of.
– Is this possible even if it is a sword soul or a new sword?
Everyone’s mouths were wide open, unable to utter a single exclamation, as if their jaws had fallen out.
Looking at the scene, the king, who was emitting a golden aura like a blazing flame from his throne, spoke in a calm voice.
“The superhumans of the empire will never be able to surpass me.”
I hope silence falls in Daejeon for a moment.
match. match.
“Wow!”
Starting with someone’s small applause, thunderous cheers erupted.
“after.”
As soon as I left Daejeon, sweat flowed like a waterfall.
Immediately after using the characteristic ‘Up’, the force in my body was completely depleted, giving me an unpleasant feeling as if my body had become an empty can.
But Logan continued to maintain a calm expression. It was an act of concern about possible watching eyes.
“Thank you for your hard work, Your Majesty.”
“Thanks to you, I don’t think there will be any problems raising money for war expenses.”
Logan smiled wryly at the voices of Damian and Dwayne who immediately followed him.
“…Money is not the issue. I was just trying to crack down on idiots who might cause a rift within us.”
“Who would dare change their mind after seeing a scene like this?”
“It’s just that the cost of repairing the palace is a bit… oh no, not really. Haha.”
Even though Dwayne was a bit off-putting, the performance seemed to work great.
‘This is the end of what needs to be done in Grand.’
Logan sighed softly as he felt his strength starting to build up little by little.
“What are the trends of the Imperial Army?”
“There is still no difference from the information provided by the Eastern King’s Office. The distribution of superhumans is also the same.”
“Would you like to go three ways?”
“Yes. The 1st Corps and the 2nd~4th Corps, with newly assigned corps commanders, are heading to Northern Shield along the Hunter’s Path, and the 5th~8th Corps are heading to Southern Armor along the Adventurer’s Path. And the Imperial Central Army is heading to the vicinity of Ruspelheim. It looks like they arrived and marched along the main road all the way to Kyle.”
At those words, Logan tapped his head with his finger.
“…I’m concerned that the army coming through the open plain through the central highway is rather small in number. They say the elites of the SS have dispersed.”
“Aren’t there wizards of sword spirit and cold wind? Since it is the central army, it must be more elite than the eastern army. There is also a magic corps.”
“…Yeah. I guess so.”
Information about the imperial central army was top secret even in the empire, so no further guesses could be made.
so.
‘You have to see the rest with your own eyes and respond.’
Logan sighed again and calmed his nervous mind.
“Even if we leave tomorrow, we’ll still have time to spare.”
“Of course. If His Majesty is your friend, the morale of the soldiers will decrease…”
“Stop. There is no need to flatter you too much. Just focus on winning the war. Cross-compare the information from King Dongyik and the Eye of Flame. Don’t forget either.”
“…Yes. I’m sorry.”
Damian is shocked and immediately lowers his head.
Logan, realizing that he had reacted too sensitively, chuckled and patted his shoulder.
“You’re doing well, so you should continue to do the same.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“What about me, Your Majesty?”
“…You too.”
“Ah…”
The hairy retainer’s incongruous grumbles aroused the tension-filled mind just a little.
Maybe that’s why my inner thoughts suddenly came out.
“Those who are currently on the battlefield, as well as you. Thanks to you, I am always reassured and grateful. So please take care of me until the end.”
After spitting out some sentimental words, Logan, who felt embarrassed for some reason, quickly turned around and the listeners suddenly jumped.
“…Your Majesty, this is the last time!?”
“What kind of ominous words are you saying…!”
I burst into laughter for a moment.
“The end of this war! You humans!”
“Ah… yes. Haha, that’s what you meant.”
“I knew that was what you meant from the beginning.”
Subjects who act the other way.
Although they didn’t show it that they had such a sensitive reaction to a single word, they must have been anxious as well.
In response, Logan beat his chest and boasted.
“There’s nothing wrong with anything I’ve pushed for so far. This time is the same. Trust me.”
Something that has to be done.
I didn’t even think about failure.
When he glared at his subjects with such intense eyes, they quickly nodded their heads.
“Well, you had a lot of arguments and criticism here and there, but you succeeded in the end.”
“…Huh?”
“Of course. There were quite a few dangerous moments, but you succeeded anyway.”
“…what man?”
These people…
the corners of my eyes naturally went up in bewilderment, but when I saw them snickering, I couldn’t help but laugh instead of getting angry.
The three pairs of eyes that met like that soon burst into laughter without anyone else being the first.
“Fuhahaha.”
Amid the echoing laughter, the tension further decreased, and Logan entered the training hall with a much lighter heart, grateful for the consideration of his loyal subjects.
For the last training before going on the campaign trail.
‘okay. ‘I prepared thoroughly.’
Entering the training hall, Logan put aside his worries about the war and tried to focus only on his sword.
‘Even if today’s performance becomes known outside the palace, the empire will not believe it. It would be nice if the sword spirit responds to a one-on-one battle in Kyle…’
Logan, recalling the sword spirit’s power that his wife and Viktor had told him about, slowly raised his sword, imagining a confrontation with him.
According to them, the sword spirit can use the power to divide space very naturally.
And right now, I guess I haven’t reached that level. As he reached the highest level, he was able to manifest his power without using the 7th form of the divine sword’s vision, the space splitting vision, but he needed at least a few seconds to gather his strength.
Carrying power with each sword strike only feels vague.
‘If you use the characteristics, you won’t lose.’
If you can defeat the sword spirit without doing that, it couldn’t be any better.
It’s much better than leaving the battlefield due to exhaustion after slashing your sword spirit.
‘Because then I could die too.’
Fortunately, he had another solution.
The 8th type of the esoteric divine sword that I only recently got the hang of and was able to cast.
If you can freely use it not only in the training ground but also on the battlefield, you will be able to defeat Sword Spirit without having to use any special abilities.
Ugh.
Logan’s mind slowly focused on the tip of the upright sword.
But at that moment.
Sigh.
The unpleasant presence he had experienced at some point began to be caught in his wide senses.
