"The snowfall is getting heavier, it seems that the provisions team will be late."Elisa glanced at the thick, fluffy snow outside the window, and shook her head dejectedly.
This was not the first time a delay is caused by bad weather, from the dreadful anxiousness in the beginning, and the endless, helpless probing for news that never came, and now, the numb dejection and dulled expectations. I suppose in a way, this is a dejected, resigned, acceptance.
After all, this terrible weather not only affected us, and since both sides had to ceasefire, there was nothing to be nervous about.
I must say that the Beastmen chose a very delicate time to advance their attack, the heavy snow that came and went had sunk the war situation into an awkward atmosphere.
Final battle? How does one fight a war while skating and trembling in the cold? Now, just the preparing and distributing of food supplies became a great responsibility, no matter how powerful an army is, they had to learn to respect the majesty of nature.
"d.a.m.n it, if only we started half a month earlier, or perhaps, it"s also fine to wait until spring next year."
It would seem that when every Beastmen had been frozen past freezing point, they would have such thoughts. Normally at this time of the year, they would be at their hibernation spots, sleeping around the fireplace.
It was just like procrastination, where initially, everything went according to plan, but as the preparations went on, due to influences from many sides, it resulted in a delay to the most unsuitable time node.
"What? Is the car stuck? Don"t worry, we still have two hours to go. Hmm? Took the wrong way? That"s fine, we still have one hour to go. Airport Runway under construction? No big deal, probably, hmm, half an hour to go, we won"t be late. Hehe, finally we arrive, I told you it would be fine. What! Airport bag checking? At least half an hour? Hey! Hey! Stop joking! Plane, wait for me!"
Yes, it is similar to the above feeling, it was just as an example, of course, definitely not from my own experience...
Eck, back to business, truth be told, this was undoubtedly the evil plot of someone and some demon king. If the expected strategies of the Beastmen went well, there should be no chance of this happening.
However, at this moment, Elisa was not pleased, although her trick went as planned. After all, as time went by, and the warfare continued getting more critical, the burden that fell on her shoulders were becoming too heavy for her.
Yes, she lied. How could it be possible that in war everything will be fine, the Beastmen and the elves were not easy opponents. Although the general circ.u.mstances were as she described, the actual pressure was greater than expected.
"I will take care of the house. Don"t worry, didn"t Roland teach me all that I need to know? At least, even if that dumb la.s.s Annie can be the Underworld autarch, how is it possible that I cannot handle all of these alone."
For some reason, Elisa always like to compete with Annie. Even if her capabilities far surpa.s.sed that of Annie, she still wanted to prove that she was the most outstanding leader.
But obviously, not everything could be taught, the confusing situation on the battlefield in front of us was way more challenging than the hostile forces in the underworld, which had mostly been cleared up already.
"The Beastmen Air Knights have come to challenge us again, this time with two Lightning Eagle teams, and that Dragon Knight. On the side of San Antonio, they need Master Timier to lead the war, but it seems that Master Timier has not yet recovered from his wounds."
"San Antonio has its own Air Knights already? Didn"t they have the Griffin Knights? With the mythical Griffin Knight providing support, why can"t they go themselves?"
"...they said Elsen is sick, in other words, we must use our military gains to prove our worth."
Hearing this, Elisa adjusted her gla.s.ses without any expression, no one could tell what was on her mind.
"...the mythical Griffin Knight, sick? I should have crushed those jerks! "Flash Crimson Knight" Elsen, is it? Good, I will remember you, I will wait patiently for the day you pa.s.s into the river of Styx, or perhaps, I shall send you there myself!"
Even in the human world, a super powered kingdom was, in other words, tyrannical. In their eyes, their willingness to provide aid to all of you in the seven kingdoms of the North is already a G.o.d-sent favour. How could a superpower allow a tiny country to instruct them, the right to control the alliance naturally belongs to them.
Karsomi Communal Country, which was in command, was only under the prerequisite of the San Antonio states. Since the arrival of the reinforcements, the commanding power of the allied armies was transferred to the arrogant San Antonians.
At that moment, it was obvious that the people of San Antonio were very unsatisfied with the way the East Mist were claiming the spoils of the war, especially since the reinforcements they sent were the least among the six countries in the North.
But the quality of the lowest Gold Rank East Mist Air Knights had to be taken seriously, even by San Antonio. Therefore, they summoned the East Mist Air Knight to war in the name of the Allied Commanders.
In the very beginning, the East Mist Aurora Knights and the Skull Dragon Knights never lost a match in every one-on-one battle, so much so that East Mist, which had been known to be weak for many years, gained quite a reputation.
However, the Beastmen had no plans for one-on-one battles. If one is to compare the numbers, the new generation of Aurora Knights from East Mist were not yet mature, the numbers of Undead Air Cavalry were too few, and they have other responsibilities in the war, as even Timmier had been wounded by the opponents.
"What about the other Aurora Knights? Are there any left who are capable of battling?"
Even at the height of its glory, East Mist did not have more than a hundred of Aurora Knights that were above the lowest Gold Rank. At this time, due to certain reasons, among the fifty Aurora Knights from the Undead Air Cavalry, only fifteen are situated in the Northland, and majority of them were not in Maple City.
"Two Aurora Knights have not recovered from their injuries, three are in good shape. The rest are undertaking patrol duties. His majesty Reyne, on the other hand, applied to join the war, but was heavily berated by Lord Timmier."
It is obvious that even if the three Aurora Knights were of legendary rank, they were still not enough to handle the opposition"s two allied forces of nearly a hundred Air Knights. Although Aurora Knights were good in air battle, the sky was definitely not their most optimal battleground.
Hearing this, Elisa sunk into a deep silence. She was hesitating on whether or not to just destroy the seal, and squash that Dragon Knight to death, then with the same swipe crush those arrogant San Antonians. This would, however, lead to the falling apart of everything, ending with the will to return to the abyss.
"If Roland was here…"
In a sense, this is Elisa"s first time carrying the burden of a national scale, so she was hardly to blame for hesitating. Even if she knew this hypothesis was completely meaningless, she still had to consider such a possibility.
"...Mistress Elisa, actually His Majesty Roland had left a letter."
After a long hesitation, the servant finally spoke up, as if the current situation has reached a predicted dilemma.
Did he have to leave a letter when he could have just contacted me directly? Elisa was stunned at the news. However, she could just shake her head reluctantly.
"This guy saw through me again?"
Indeed, Roland had from the start knew Elisa"s character, and naturally he made some preparations before he left. In order to preserve her dignity, obviously the letter could not be revealed until it was absolutely necessary.
...since you are reading this letter, then, probably the situation is not pretty. Let me guess, what troubled you, yet made you hesitant to tell me is probably the internal issues within the Allied armies. There are too many external factors in this war, the stand of both my enemies are unstable, it is no surprise for them to betray each other to prioritize their forces. Regarding the other countries? It doesn"t matter if we offend all of them. If they cross a line, even if they are our allies, they must also be punished. Just a.s.sume that you are in the abyss, and learn how the old demons treat their allies, you know how they handle these things better than me.
Although Roland seemed unreliable, in reality, he was extremely experienced and astute. He might trust anyone, but he does not trust anyone fully. From the beginning, he had already made many plans and contingencies.
In Roland"s eyes, even if San Antonio did not come, it would still be difficult for East Mist, with its spa.r.s.e members to be given the power to command the Allied armies. And once they lose the power to command, or not even having the right to speak within the allied armies, it would be very difficult for them.
This had nothing to do with one"s determination. In this temporary coalition, it would seem as if it is the law, that whoever had more strength would have the say. Once the central power of command falls into the hands of another country, it is possible, or even probable, that you would become cannon fodder.
This was not Roland thinking badly of others, as he would have done the same as well.
He was firmly convinced that if he held the power to command, he would, without a doubt, sacrifice the armies of the other countries, to conserve his main strength. And reality has proven his hypothesis.
However, it appeared that there were not many of them, as in the past few days, East Mist Kingdom actually suffered the least casualties. The kingdoms that suffered the biggest losses were the Kingdom of Fengqi and Anzolo Empire. Small-scale conflicts had occurred during pauses, their infantry and knights were ordered multiple times to cover the rear and the front lines. At the moment, their war losses were three tenths, and more complaints were rising.
This was also the deviation of political factors in the battlefield. These two countries were, among the seven Northland countries, the Four Southern Countries (four countries that are leaning towards the southern powers). With Sleuweir Kingdom, the Four Southern Countries is on the verge of ruin, and the Karsomi Communal Country being independent of everything else, and with the three Northland countries not that keen on taking orders, it was very obvious who would be used as cannon fodder.
The most unfortunate one was probably the Kingdom of Fengqi. Although politically, they leaned towards the North, as members of their Royal family were made up of Southern royalties, after many disputes, they were instead crushed by the Southern superpower San Antonio.
For the three countries in the North, apart from East Mist there were two more countries: the Kingdom of Shuya, of the Barbarian bloodlines in the Highland countries; and another one almost as ancient as Mist Kingdom, Rhodes Kingdom. They completely disregarded the ridiculous commands from the people of San Antonio.
Of course, these things could not be told as it is, but if one were to put aside all the facade and pretence to look at the results directly, the interactions between any countries are usually that brutally direct.
In reality, with Elisa"s capabilities, how could she not see all these twists? It was only because the responsibility of being the subst.i.tute of Roland was a heavy role, and had made her too scrupulous. This led to her inability to make hostile decisions. Now that there is the relief from reading Roland"s a.s.surance in the letter, naturally no longer hesitated so much.
"Let"s say even our Air Knights are sick, hmm, a cold and fever of forty degrees Celcius, how can they fly in the air to fight? What? Do spectres not have fever? Then diarrhoea. Hmm, yes, I plainly only want to toy with them and shame them. If they don"t like it, then first ask them, how can Elsen get sick. If the negotiations do not fall through, then let Timier meet that Griffin Knight, and see if he has recovered already."
When Elisa made up her mind not to fulfil everyone"s wishes, and let them have a piece of her mind, she felt a little bit more relieved.
Just when she was planning to make herself a cup of Black tea and take a break before taking care of those annoying official affairs, an obtrusive silhouette barged in.
"Oh no, latest news. Anzolo Empire suddenly switched sides before the battle, they attacked our army camps, we lost!"
"Hummph."
The seven Northland countries changed to the six Northland countries in an instant. No matter how cultured Elisa is, she still spat out the Black tea in her mouth. At this moment, she finally understood what Roland meant.
"Every holy war is the time when each country and each superpower renew their stance, the stand of both my enemies are unstable, it is common for them to betray each other to prioritize their forces, we must maintain the superiority of our strength."
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Within the hangar of the Borealis, a group of engineers were busy working. For some unknown reason, the team of youngsters including Cohen and Timmy Lade became the leaders of the research group.
"Why does his majesty still not allow us to do trial runs on the battlefield with these? If they could perform as well as they did in theory, our situation would be much improved, then we will show the Northies what"s good."
"Wisdom of ordinary people."
Ever since he started rubbing shoulders with His Majesty Roland, Timmy Lade took a liking for such contrived speech.
Nowadays, if one were to ask him anything, he will always adjust his gla.s.ses (plain lens), and intermittently added phrases like "Foolish humans", "commoner"s mentality", "even monkeys are smarter than all of you".
Whether or not it made him seem wiser was another matter to be discussed another time, but it does make one want to give him a good beating.
Hmm, many of those in the Gentlemen Alliance had given him a good beating, but obviously, little Timmy had forgotten.
"...what do you mean by saying this? We are not G.o.ds, so obviously we are ordinary people. You have not told me why can"t we enter the battlefield."
Fine, facing the serious-faced Cohen, facing multiple playoffs, even Timmy Lade, who is experienced in escaping had to tone down a little.
"My foolish brother…"
It seemed like, in a way, this toning down is limited.
"I am older than you, and additionally, we are not related."
It seemed that Cohen was a stubborn guy. It is just with this character that, after receiving the command from Roland, he made Timmy Lade work over time obediently, and finally, Timmy Lade had become a little impatient.
"You blockhead, you haven"t got an ounce of humour or the likes of an artist, are you really a sorcerer? You are just like those meat-on-stick Knights!"
"I was never a sorcerer. Am I really like a Knight? That"s great! Hehe, I am not as good as you say I am."
All right, next, it was time for the delighted little Timmy to go on a rampage, but even if he was given two extra limbs, there is no chance for him to defeat Cohen. Somehow, this young, yet stubbornly old-fas.h.i.+oned Cohen is the natural enemy of Timmy!
"Fine, I will say it as it is, his majesty"s wish is that right now, these people below are completely unreliable. They are meant to be used as our back-up, they can"t be used if we are not in a critical moment."
"When is a critical moment then?"
"A lot of times, but before those critical moments, we will not use them. Only when those at the higher ranks decides that it is time to use them, then the light at the hangar will turn from green to red."
"Green light? I don"t see it, am I colourblind?"
"It"s just at the top, The red light means… hang on, the light is red!! It"s war!"
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The Xiluo Swamp, Karda Desert, Bejya Highlands, were forbidden areas for the living, and the territory of Xiluo Empire.
Yet it had become a war zone, countless undeads were killing each other at this moment. The battlefield was filled with the screams of that shapeless Black G.o.d of Death,the ground was scattered with bones and the putrid scent of rotting flesh. The Undeads from both our side and theirs were using actual battles to exchange their own understanding of the art of death.
The civil war in Xiluo had continued for many months already. At this stage, both sides have already suffered terrible losses, and the time has arrived for the war to end.
Yet at this crucial moment, more than thirty Air Knights appeared. The black cloaks they wore hid their ident.i.ty, but from the way the transparent white apparitions rode and the way they exuded the terrifying aura of death, they appeared to be Death Knights of very high ranks.
Just as they touched the ground, a silhouette was already there, waiting.
"Finally you have arrived. It must have been a tiring journey, too bad there is no time for rest."
"Ha, as if we need rest, little Lionheart. In accordance with the orders of his majesty, we have arrived. Our plans can now begin, of course, depending on how you look at it, it could also serve as the ending."
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The once great city Antuen had suffered the worst catastrophe in history, not only did the city lose a large portion of the city wall, more dangerously, the master of the city had lost the loyalty of his people.
During the long invasion, the people and soldiers had willingly sacrificed themselves without complaint, and yet, when the supplies were depleting, not only did the royal court not open up the national coffers to distribute food, they gave out orders to retract the army"s provisions, and this had incurred public anger.
From the start of the war, King Feimer Carson had never been seen. In addition to that, previously before the attack from the Beastmen, it was said that Prince Roland had sent a warning, but not only did Feimer paid it no heed, he even suspected that the Prince had other intentions.
Now evidence had proven the stupidity of his majesty, and his behaviour of hiding within the palace walls proved his cowardice, and on top of that, his h.o.a.rding of food supplies, proved his selfishness. This majesty"s name had been ruined beyond repair.
In this perilous world, the people had the responsibility to provide for their leaders, but leaders have the responsibility to protect his people. This was the fundamental element of trust between the two parties. When the leader refuses to carry out the most basic of his responsibility, then how is he going to sit on his throne?
"Feimer is unworthy to be King!"
There were already such chantings amongst the people on the streets and alleys, but at this moment, the King who had just executed a concubine who advised him to show up at the city walls and fight with the people continued hiding and quaking in fear within the palace.
"All of you want me dead! All of you want me dead! All of you are a.s.sa.s.sins sent by that Roland, you want to take away my throne! I will never grant you that wish, I must live!"
In the meantime, in a household in Antuen, two illegal pa.s.sengers were at a loss on what to do next.
"Margaret, I really want to kill jerks like this, must we keep him?"
"...if it annoys you, then by all means, help yourself, but don"t kill him. Or else this city is finished. "Spare Antuen" Hmph, that Roland really knows how to a.s.sign tasks at leisure."
"Don"t worry, he will get his retribution soon, my intuition is always accurate. It"s like the commonly known...Shu...Shura?" [1]
"...Shuraba you mean? Huh, and Roland invented this weird noun, but it fell upon himself every time. But this time, it most probably won"t happen in front of Elisa, I do feel that Reyne is not a threat at all, your intuition is probably wrong this time."
"Hehe, it"s not entirely an intuition."
The red-haired soldier shook the scrunched up letter, that was a greeting from his hometown, and the expected visit of someone.
"And you did not tell Roland? You plan to deceive him?"
"Hehe, I really forgot this time, it was absolutely unintentional."
"If you forget every time, then it is on purpose."
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Few people knew that the most hidden pathway in the Northland which led to the Underworld, was actually within the Elven territory.
At this moment, a group of adventurers, formed by two young ladies were wandering within.
Anya, are you sure this is the road? Why do I feel like we are on the wrong path."
"Sister Annie, believe me just this once, there is no mistake, I swear by my grandfather"s name, my iron hooves are guiding me now, the way is before our eyes."
"You said that half a month ago, why not find someone to ask?"
"Can I find someone who can answer this… hey, sister witch over there, may I know where can I find the Elven territory from here?"
[1] TL note: "Shuraba 修罗刃" is a living demonic katana from the game Bayonetta. Its unique traits include quick sweeping strikes and jabs which excel against small and agile enemies.
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"You are my little Applet, no matter how much I love you it is not enough, your little red cheeks warms my heart, lighting up my life"s fire, fire fire fire fire!!" [2]
There are many matters waiting to be taken care by me, yet here I am in the snow mountains, drumming and singing away. Why? I guess it is the sing-alongers around me.
"Fire fire fire fire!" [3]
"What is fire? Is it edible?"
"Definitely edible! Didn"t you see that human singing until his tears almost fell, he must be drooling!"
"That"s great, I also want to taste. There are only snow dregs in the snowy mountain."
Among the ones talking are yeti, snow monsters and snow ladies, in this celebration of the Winter Veil festival, they organized large-scaled entertainment activities. When they heard that I am the descendant of the legendary singer, the Mist King, of a thousand years ago, I was informed that if I did not give a good performance, I would not be allowed to take away even one Frigid Nightmare.
Yes, the legendary singer, the one the Mist King used all those years ago to take care of the Frigid Nightmares.
At this moment, how can it be that I am holding back tears because I am drooling? Humans do not even have this ability, I am actually just driven mad with anxiety.
"Encore, encore!"
"What an excellent singing! Little little applet! Marvelous! Little Apple must be the lover that you long for."
"Yes, there are more than enough cubs on the altar, the more songs you can sing, the more you can take away with you."
I finally realized why the Mist King never told anyone what he saw all those years ago. Even if history was all a cover up, but to have such lies to such an extent that must be the only one! If it had been me all those years ago, I would also have died before telling!
I wiped the tears away, with such a show of support from the audience, I could only continue.
My musical talent was extremely inadequate, the lyrics that I could remember of the song were mostly the melody that entranced me by the Demon"s song all those years ago.
"The love who betrayed me forced me to leave, my tears fell as I at last found out the truth…"
Hundreds of years later, there was a legend here, when the mountain people lost his way in the snowy mountains during the Winter Veil festival, if he came back, he would become foolish and silly, and he would crazily sing the Demon"s song that drives people insane. The ones who heard this music will also become foolish and silly, their whole body will know only to sing along.
"My love is as vast as the sky, the soft ground on the green mountain below my feet, the flowers are blooming…"
TL Note:
[2] TL note: this is the chorus of a popular Chinese pop song.
[3] TL note: Part of the chorus of the song above.