Chapter 187. The Hunter and the Trap (4)
‘Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.’
It was a verse I saw in the Bible when I was young.
The pastor of the elentary school church I attended with my parents explained it in a way like 'you shouldn't hit your friends.'
My church life ended with elentary school, so I'll never know if that was the correct interpretation.
The reason I recall that verse is because there is a similar principle in the world of Warlord Conquest.
‘He who uses the power of an Outer God will perish by that power.’
The Sacred Relic of an Outer God.
A dium that grants power beyond reason, even by the standards of this world where all sorts of miracles and spells are rampant.
Perfect disguise, spatial movent, infinite mana, future prediction, and so on.
Each one is a miracle difficult to imitate even with the spells of an archmage, and countless monarchs have used this power to raise kingdoms and empires.
And they all fell.
At least in the history I've seen, they all did.
The catalyst for their downfall was always an invasion by a 'foreign power imbued with the power of an Outer God.'
An army from a distant land.
A different race from an undeveloped region.
Or a neighboring allied nation or a vassal state subjugated long ago, and so on.
Although the invaders themselves were different each ti, they all directly brought about the advent of an Outer God, destroying the kingdom and its monarch who had risen with the power of a Sacred Relic.
Seeing that consistent pattern, it can be seen as a 'judgnt' carried out by an unknown being.
The owner of the eyeball hanging in the sky, which I saw in my dreams.
A judgnt delivered by a being who reigns over the Outer Gods.
I would be no exception.
After all, the reason I ca this far in the first playthrough after the world scenario update, and on Inferno difficulty at that, was thanks to the power of the Sacred Relics.
Although I sotis scold them as subspace parasites, I know.
That while I overca crises with my own knowledge in the beginning, after the civil war, I would not have been able to survive without the abilities of the Sacred Relics.
Sotis I find it strange.
What on earth is the psychology of these guys who follow even while squabbling over sugar rations all day long.
No matter how restricted their power is as Sacred Relics, I know that they are not this cooperative with all Guardians.
In the first place, there aren't many Guardians who can even talk to Sacred Relics.
In particular, I could not find a Guardian who was called 'Master' by a Sacred Relic, even after searching through the history of the Church and the Sacred Relics as if with a fine-toothed comb.
It must an that I have sothing that others don't, sothing that only the Outer Gods can sense.
‘Ahem, that… I can't say.’
‘Tick-tock….’
‘You'll find out when the ti cos. Right, Crusty?’
‘Nyom!’
“……”
Since this is how it is, there's no way to know.
To make a rough guess, it's probably related to my character.
Naless Ash.
A character who starts out with cheat-like traits like [Lord's Unyielding Mind], [Warrior's Insight], and [Warrior's Binding] right from the get-go.
Two of these three cheat-like traits are the powers of a 'Warrior.'
Naless Ash must be a character related to the Warrior.
Since the Warrior is said to be the one who created the Sacred Relics, he must be related to the Sacred Relics as well.
And although a long ti has passed, I still rember.
[You are Naless Ash.]
[Following the destiny of a hero, save the world from the apocalypse.]
The day I fell into this world.
The sentences in the notification window that appeared before my eyes.
“...Your Majesty?”
Well, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
First, I must succeed in the operation before .
“The delegation and the strike force are getting closer. About five kiloters?”
“Right. Let's prepare. I've already told Count Ash.”
“Are you sure it's okay? He's a hero of the Empire. Did you tell him he could really die while acting as a hostage?”
“I did. He knows everything.”
“Alright. Then I'll get ready to greet them.”
The Princess of Blood, Hebrun, descended from the city wall.
For reference, she and the other vampires, in addition to the scenario notified to the Empire, know one more fact.
That this entire 'play' is according to the script of 'Tribus,' to break the vanguard of the Eastern Empire.
That it is a trap set by Tribus, who holds even the Iron-Blooded Emperor and Count Ash in the palm of his hand and mobilizes the full capacity of the Empire and the vampires.
“...In fact, it's the sa thing.”
After all, Tribus is Count Ash, and Count Ash is the Emperor.
Anyway, let's organize it once more.
This 'judgnt' with its blade pointed at .
Its tool is, without a doubt, the Eastern Empire and its emperor.
However, as can be seen in history, just because it is a tool of judgnt doesn't an it commands an infinite army.
As a result of scouting the recent battle with Lur, I was able to analyze their military strength in detail.
The strength of the expeditionary force that crossed the World's Wall mountain range can be classified into the following three.
The army, led by the central army.
A very small number of main heroes, including the emperor.
And the Outer Gods.
‘Among the three, preparations to deal with the central army and the monster army are nearing completion.’
To the east of Wolfskrig, a large army of over 200,000 has gathered.
What's tricky are the heroes.
Among them, the heroes who are over level 10, commonly called 'transcendent beings.'
The Eastern Emperor did not show himself in the last battle.
Nevertheless, I know from World Scenario 3.0 that he is a level 11 mage.
I should probably consider him level 12 to be safe.
Besides him, there are three main heroes.
‘Wind Master, Diviner, and Hwayoung.’
Among them, the one to be most wary of is the Curse Spirit Grandmaster, Hwayoung.
She was also active in the last battle.
According to the Vampire Duke, it is certain that she has reached the 11th rank.
That ans she is a step above the Vampire Duke.
‘The rest are also level 10 or higher. So there are a total of four strategic weapons over level 10.’
On this side, there are only two.
The Vampire Duke has joined, and in the past year, Randal has reached a level comparable to level 10, making it two.
It's a difficult fight.
However, if you ask if it's impossible to attempt, that's not the case.
Honestly, after confirming that military strength, I was slightly relieved.
As I've said several tis, the invasion of the Eastern Empire was faster than I had imagined.
It's not an complacent statent.
It was really fast.
The proof is those heroes.
Even Hwayoung, the most powerful mage after the emperor, was only at level 10.
If they had taken enough ti to tidy up their internal affairs and military, and scraped together various secret manuals and elixirs scattered across the eastern part of the continent to strengthen themselves, they would have been able to create at least three level 12 heroes.
I know this because I've done it myself.
Even in my Eastern Empire playthrough, where I didn't get the help of the Church and instead had to spend considerable ti eliminating the Church's parasitic forces, that was the case.
Even in the worst playthrough, by the ti I reached the very late ga, I was able to create six level 12 heroes.
That's how specialized the eastern part of the continent is for raising heroes.
A kind of regional specialty, perhaps.
Or a reward concept.
Because the East is not as rich in resources like mana stones and natural gas as the West.
Nor does it have the various magic and engineering technologies that humans and other races have developed respectively.
“Begin the operation! Everyone out of the castle!”
“My Lord! Where are you going, my Lord!”
“I have sothing to do! I'll join you on my own, so get out through the pre-arranged escape route!”
It's about to start.
In the body of Count Ash, I evacuated William and the artillery corps.
Beyond the city walls.
A shadow can be seen on the ocher-colored earth.
The envoy.
And the escort-slash-sacrifice surrounding him.
Although not yet visible to the eye, a detached force of 30,000 must have also been prepared to strike in case the negotiations went awry.
Based on my observation of the battle with the Lur Legion, that detached force is led by another Guardian of a Sacred Relic.
‘Sacred Relic and Outer God.’
The third military force of the expeditionary force, and the power that could be said to be everything.
It is also the reason why the Eastern Empire rushed in so hastily that they couldn't even properly equip their own forces.
After all, even if they spent a dozen years raising an army and heroes, it would be difficult to produce as much power as a single incarnate body of an Outer God summoned with a Sacred Relic.
‘A normal monarch would have raised their military strength as much as possible before going on an expedition, but the current Eastern Empire is rely a tool to judge .’
In a word, it's a disposable item.
Treated like a kind of plastic bowl.
Used for a while because a Sacred Relic and a Guardian are needed to bring about the advent of an Outer God.
However, that strategy is limited to when the other side possesses multiple Sacred Relics.
‘If the number of Sacred Relics the other side has decreases.’
Then the power struggle of the remaining forces, which they hadn't cared about, would beco more important.
Their vanguard has two Sacred Relic Guardians.
Here, now, Kalisto is a trap for this.
***
East of the Kalisto city gate.
The ones who greeted the envoy were the Princess of Blood and I, that is, a clone in the form of Count Ash.
Atop the city walls, with over a thousand skeleton soldiers and undead in an attack posture, the envoy leisurely approached to within an arrow's flight.
“It's been a while, Princess.”
The envoy bowed respectfully.
The guy looked like sothing straight out of a martial arts novel.
The appearance of a Taoist with a black robe, a wide-brimd hat, a bundle on his back, and a staff.
If it weren't for the dozens of escorts wearing Eastern-style scale armor, one might have mistaken him for a wandering Taoist.
“Is that the price for this peace negotiation?”
“Yes. The paladin lord. Take him quickly. I have no need for a disgusting paladin noble.”
The Princess of Blood nudged .
While dusting off her hands as if she had touched sothing filthy.
“It's him. Ash Wolfskrig, no, is it Count Ash Kalisto now? It's that face.”
“Do you know ?”
“Of course, I do. His Majesty has been looking for you so eagerly. I didn't think I'd be able to get you this easily, though. Hehe.”
The Taoist in the hat shrugged his shoulders.
As if he couldn't contain his joy.
The Taoist flicked his hand, and my body floated up and was pulled towards him.
I did not resist.
[[Warrior's Insight] is deployed.]
[You have acquired a skill.]
[Yin Water Telekinesis (Level 4)]
Well, it would be good to suck as much as I can from a soon-to-be-dead teacher.
Hebrun, who had been watching quietly, spoke.
“So with this, the Eastern Empire and our Archduchy have entered into a peace treaty for the next three hundred years, right?”
“Ah, yes. I ca to make that promise.”
“The price is that guy, and Kalisto, which will serve as a bridgehead for your expedition.”
Hebrun said.
Previously, the Church and the Eastern Empire had extended a hand to the Vampire Duke, or more precisely, to Hebrun von Zarhill, the Guardian of a Sacred Relic.
Hebrun had replied 'I'll think about it' and then told .
This is the key to this operation.
A fake peace treaty.
The negotiation table where the Princess of Blood, who had captured Kalisto and taken Count Ash prisoner, extended a hand on behalf of the Vampire Archduchy.
Here, by handing over both Kalisto and Count Ash, we gain the enemy's trust.
The key to this operation is to leisurely lure the envoy, the escort, and the strike force lurking behind them into the trapped city of Kalisto.
Of course.
“Hmm, a promise of peace. It is true that His Majesty desires this man ardently, but.”
A Plan B was also prepared for when the enemy did not keep their promise.
“Princess, you too… are a wielder of a Sacred Relic, are you not?”
No, it would be more accurate to say that I was hoping they wouldn't keep their promise.
“If one more Sacred Relic is given, we will have gained a mighty army. The deity of the Sacred Relic you possess, the 'Needle, Thread, and Spinning Wheel,' is a powerful one among them.”
Only then could I more easily, and surely, obtain one of the two Sacred Relics.
“Now, hand it over while I'm asking nicely.”
The Taoist raised his hand.
An alien energy swirls from his fingertips.
Whether it's Taoist power or Buddhist power, it's the precursor to a spell unique to the Eastern Empire.
Of course, what's important now is not that.
“Traitor…!”
Outside the enemy's sight and senses.
Inside the city of Kalisto.
Looking down at the front of the city gate where the atmosphere of war is brewing, I summon one of the high-class laborers of the subspace.
‘Eyeball. Get ready.’
‘Ha, this is a first…!’
I've been waiting for this.
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