Chapter 192. The Battlefield of the Gods (1)
The prelude to war is heralded by the long sound of a horn.
Bwoooo-
The monotonous but chilling sound of the horn echoes throughout the Imperial Capital and the surrounding area.
Fwoosh!
The prepared oil and dry firewood in the beacons set up in various places burn fiercely.
From the high spire of the Imperial Palace, I gazed at the beacon fires blooming dot by dot up to the northern horizon.
The news of the war will spread to the interior of the Empire in an instant, following the flas.
Although the mass production of communication crystal spheres has begun in earnest, it is still the exclusive property of the nobility and so wealthy rchants and craftsn.
There will be remote rural villages without a single communication crystal sphere.
It is also for the wandering monks, rchants, and travelers.
They too must know that a disaster has reached this land.
If we are defeated, that disaster may imdiately befall them.
“Your Majesty, the troops have gathered at their designated positions. They await your command.”
“...I will go down.”
Of course, I have no intention of losing.
I got ready and followed Archduke Gabir down from the Imperial Palace.
Outside, the sound of the horn is in full swing, but the Imperial Palace is quiet.
The trained elite soldiers and knights have already taken their positions at key points and are waiting with bated breath.
I left the Imperial Palace and headed for the command post set up on the eastern wall.
Just then, William ca out of the command post with his oil-stained hands and reported.
“Cannon barrel condition good. Drive system good. Wind direction, wind speed, and humidity updated. Inventory of various types of shells and spare gunpowder is also sufficient.”
“Good work. And the King-of-Kings?”
“He is conducting a final inspection of the Guardian Legion.”
“Is the battleship ready?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. We just need to check the temporary bunker.”
“Go.”
William ran off.
I passed him and entered the command post.
The commanders were moving busily around the operational map.
“What is the enemy's movent?”
“They are 20 kiloters to the due east.”
“And the citizens?”
“Adult n and won who wish to fight have been ard and assigned to the reserve forces, and the rest have completed their evacuation to the underground shelters prepared for each district.”
I quickly checked a few more things.
The deploynt of each unit, the forces of the Church army and the Magic Towers, the urban warfare positions between the triple walls, the reinforcents sent from the Theocracy and the City-State Alliance, and so on.
While listening to the report, I suddenly checked outside the window.
The command post is located on top of the third wall, the highest of the triple walls.
The windows, narrow on the inside and wide on the outside, are structured to defend against most projectiles while providing a wide field of view.
“……Hoo.”
White breath escapes through the narrow gap of the window.
The air is cold.
No matter how much colder the rainy season is than the dry season, this is clearly an abnormal climate.
I looked up at the sky.
It is full of a negative energy, different from holy power or mana.
“Is this the Diviner's doing?”
Having faced the Taoist in the hat before, I have gained so knowledge of the Eastern spell system.
Since the Diviner would have beco a great mage surpassing level 10, it would be possible to control the climate of the region itself.
The drop in temperature is not a simple matter.
Low temperatures dull nerves and movents, and quickly exhaust stamina.
It would be especially fatal to the local troops who are adapted to the hot climate of the south.
Fortunately, I had assud such a situation.
“Take out the winter gear from the warehouse and distribute it to the soldiers.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The final operational eting was quickly concluded.
The details have already been discussed and trained countless tis, and the gist itself is simple.
Defend the Imperial Capital.
And kill the Eastern Emperor.
For these two purposes, we have prepared countless tactics, traps, several layers of defense lines, detours, surprise attacks, and secret weapons.
Although I haven't shared it with anyone, I also have several plans to throw myself, the commander, into the enemy lines if necessary.
“Gabir, let's go up.”
The eting was adjourned, and the commanders dispersed.
It's ti to go to our respective positions.
My position is above the command post, the highest tower on the eastern wall.
The Imperial Secret Knight Order, led by the frozen knight Yula Katran, was waiting.
“……”
A cool tension could be felt in the air.
Even these people, each one a high-ranking hero or more, are tense.
Even Yula Katran, the Emperor's escort knight.
Even Priest Castro, who is called a Bishop solely for his faith and the power of his miracles, without having any enemies in any particular church.
Even the half-giant Karok, who calmly scratched his head even in the Ratn's Plague City.
Even the witch of mad fire, Ella Siollus, who broke through the wall of the 10th rank in the past year.
“Siollus.”
“Uh, huh? Uhh? Yes, Your Majesty?”
Was she gritting her teeth?
Her jaw trembles noticeably as she answers.
It's not because of the cold.
As a great mage, she is now no different from fire itself.
“Relax.”
“Ah, ahaha….”
I said sothing that the Iron-Blooded Emperor normally wouldn't.
Siollus laughs in embarrassnt, and Yula stares with wide eyes, but what does it matter.
The trembling stopped.
That's enough.
Anyway, the emperor act is just a aningless show if I can't get past today.
“Gabir, is the crystal sphere ready?”
“It is ready.”
I stepped onto the temporarily installed platform.
Beyond the battlents, the entire city, and beyond the walls, the eastern horizon cos into view at a glance.
The vicinity of the horizon, where the army of the Eastern Empire would be, is covered by an unknown fog and dark clouds.
I channeled mana into the crystal sphere to activate it and began to speak.
“Great sons and daughters of the Empire.”
My voice echoes.
I can feel gazes directed at from all over the walls and towers.
In indoor defense facilities, dical stations, supply depots, and underground shelters, they will be listening to my voice through communication crystal spheres.
I'm not one for long speeches, but the morale of the troops is the commander's responsibility.
“And brave warriors of our allies who share our fate.”
Amidst the gazes, an old mory suddenly cos to mind.
The first battle I experienced after falling into this world.
The gap in the collapsed wall of Burken Fortress.
A handful of troops obtained by persuading the baron.
The faces full of disbelief that a rcenary mage they had never seen before had beco their commander.
“The enemy is before us. The enemy we have waited for, feared, prepared for, and worried about.”
And.
The squad leader who was buried in his grave that day.
A subordinate who ca in as a squad leader with the mission of monitoring while hiding his identity as a knight, but who supported and believed in more than anyone else.
A comrade-in-arms who shed his blood for and the soldiers.
Terren.
“I reveal it here for the first ti. I have a nightmare every day. A nightmare where you all die. In my dream, I see your corpses piled up like mountains and your blood flowing like a river.”
After the battle ended.
I heard of his death at the rcenary guild's inn and visited Burken Fortress again.
So that he would not be contaminated by the mana of necromancy and beco an undead, in front of a cenotaph where only his cremated bone powder was buried.
Despite having [Lord's Unyielding Mind], I grabbed my inexplicably heavy chest and made a promise.
That I would protect the remaining ones as much as possible.
“I made a vow in front of the grave of a person I wanted to protect but could not. That I would dedicate my entire life to preventing that nightmare from becoming a reality.”
The Iron-Blooded Emperor, Lui Karlos, was the sa.
A hill near the Imperial Capital with many wild strawberries and roses.
In front of the grave of his first love, a maid, he vowed to protect the people of the Empire.
Despite being a psychopath with almost no emotions, he even gave up his own life to keep that promise.
“If the Imperial Capital falls today, I will be buried next to you. But!”
I drew my sword.
The sun is peeking through the dense clouds of the rainy season.
With the gleaming tip of my sword, I aim at the fog where the enemies are hiding and shout.
With the vows of both n who bowed their heads in front of the grave.
“But today, neither you nor the Imperial Capital will fall! I will defeat those Eastern invaders with you and raise a toast! I've even thought of a toast! For the Empire! For our brothers who are with us!”
Sowhere in the distance.
“For the Empire!”
Soone shouted.
“For the Empire!”
“For the Empire!”
One more person.
And another.
They begin to shout along.
From the walls. From the streets. From the towers, bunkers, warehouses, and fortified buildings.
Before long, countless shouts filled the entire Imperial Capital.
Slowly, but surely, courage pushes away fear.
The heat of the people, not winter clothing and stoves, drives away the cold air.
Did it feel that heat?
Near the eastern horizon.
The fog covering them seems to writhe.
As if it were furrowing its brow with an uncomfortable expression.
But its discomfort will not break our hope.
I took a deep breath and shouted once more.
[[Lord's Unyielding Mind] is deployed.]
“We! Today! Will defend this cit
***
“……”
I opened my eyes.
It's dark.
There is nothing.
I was floating in a space like a universe with no end in sight.
A sense of void steeped in silence, where not even the sound of an ant, let alone a shout, could be heard, enveloped everything.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
The sound of applause ca from sowhere.
A voice, thundering like a storm, echoed throughout the vast space.
I turned my head.
There is sothing.
Sothing is moving in the darkness where there is nothing.
That is.
A giant.
Eye.
A pair of black eyes are looking at .
The eyes are approaching.
A little more of the silhouette is revealed.
Graying hair. A long beard. Fine wrinkles. A nose. A mouth. The outline of a face. And….
An overwhelming size.
A single wrinkle is like a mountain range.
The white hair and beard are the cirrus clouds spread above that mountain range.
The nose and mouth are a mountain piercing the sky and a pit leading to hell.
The whites of the eyes are the endless glaciers of the North Pole.
In the middle of the endless glaciers, there is a black land.
Why is it black?
Why isn't it frozen?
Ah, it burned.
The earth isparched.
Soitcannotfreeze.
In the midst of the frozen death, there is a burnt death.
That death looks at , it approaches, I fall towards that land of death in the blink of an eye, and [[Lord's Unyielding Mind] is deployed.]
“……?”
[[Lord's Unyielding Mind] is deployed.]
A sound of tut-tutting.
I ca to my senses.
He has retreated.
The burnt land and glaciers recede into eyes, the mountain range and pit into a nose and mouth, the other terrains into the silhouette of a face, and then into a person wearing a purple silk robe.
Normally, the darkness should have deepened as he moved away, making him invisible, but perhaps because light was coming in from sowhere, I could now see his form.
I quickly found out where the light was coming from.
[You have t the qualifications of a challenger.]
[The God of War has invited you to the strategy table.]
It is the light of the notification window.
Two lines of a notification window, quietly floating in a corner of my vision.
The light from it had faintly spread all around, revealing the shadows.
While I was at it, I moved my body and looked around.
It's definitely clearer than before.
This is not space.
It's inside a huge room.
Well, even if it's not space, it's about the size of a solar system.
I, as small as a speck of dust, am floating in that room.
I looked down.
There are familiar objects.
A large rectangular table commonly found in command posts.
Two chairs facing each other.
A map on the table.
He is right.
I know.
This is the battlefield where I will fight.
It is the 'Chessboard of the Gods,' where the defender and the challenger compete for the one and only throne of the God of War.
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