Chapter 191: Grand General-nim, Prepare for the Operations Meeting (1)
Imperial Year 378, February 18th.
Lucy’s injury was completely healed, as if he had never been on the verge of death.
Although I should have shared the joy of reunion and relief at his safety with my long-time friend, there was something I had to tell Al and Lucy.
It might have been somewhat easier to speak since I had already talked about it once. Moreover, since Lucy’s specialty was magic, I could expect him to understand the situation easily.
However, I had nothing to say about how I met him or the fact that I intentionally asked for his cooperation and dragged him into this.
I decided to leave all decisions to Lucy and told him everything.
When the story was over, Lucy was lost in thought with a serious expression, his arms crossed.
Then, he lifted his head and spoke.
“Alright. By the way, listen to this. The magic I learned this time……”
“Huh? Lucy, don’t you have anything to say?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“No, well, you know……”
Lucy acted as if the story he had just heard was nothing more than a rumor among neighborhood children. He stared at me blankly and shrugged.
“I have nothing to say. I heard a friend’s secret. That’s all. It’s not like you’re my father’s enemy, or you’ve been scheming to prevent me from getting a girlfriend. So, there’s nothing much to say, right? Hey, Al, what do you think?”
“It was unnecessary worry.”
“See? No one here is taking the situation as seriously as you think.”
Suddenly, I felt like a fool. Lucy’s straightforward personality left me dumbfounded.
“No, but isn’t that too easy to accept?”
“Would you prefer me not to believe you?”
“That’s not what I meant……”
“Then what do you want me to do? Should I tear my hair out and yell, ‘This can’t be happening! It’s a conspiracy! Who are you! Who am I! Where am I!’ Would you be satisfied if I acted confused like that? I believe it because I think it’s plausible. Be thankful that I’m a scholar of Ol Keres Pendens. Mwahaha!”
Lucy laughed refreshingly. Al, with a firm expression, seemed to be thinking that since Lucy believed it, he would too.
Levidian chuckled and said,
“That’s just like Lucy.”
“Haha, right? As expected, my optimistic nature wouldn’t disappear just because I spent a few months with Teacher-nim! Mwahahaha! Oh, Risel, about the new magic I learned…… it’s incredible. It’s a magic so amazing that it’ll turn this future Archmage into an immediate Archmage.”
It seemed Lucy had been itching to talk about the magic he learned. Perhaps the reason he didn’t seem too concerned about my problem was to hasten the time he could talk about it.
Since his power was a great help against Referndi, I was curious about what kind of magic it was, so I decided to listen.
“Ol Keres Pendens awakened the secrets of space. It was about the true nature of this world. You all know the concept of parallel dimensions, so let’s skip that. Ol Keres Pendens’s legacy is magic that can interfere with parallel dimensions.”
Although a method to travel between parallel dimensions hasn’t been developed yet, the magic Lucy used, Infinite Potential, is a magic that draws and utilizes the power of parallel dimensions.
“Actually, the effect of this magic is extremely simple. By shifting my absolute position between the current parallel dimension and other parallel dimensions, I can open a pathway that connects to all other parallel dimensions. Through this pathway, I can draw in all sorts of possibilities. Simply put, I’m summoning the power of myself, who exists in other parallel dimensions and lives as a mage, to this place. As a result, I can create a storm of all kinds of magic.”
“A storm of all kinds of magic?”
“That’s one way to put it. Even a high-ranking mage can’t use multiple spells simultaneously. It’s just that the casting time is dramatically shortened. But this magic allows me to use dozens of spells in an instant.”
“Is that possible?”
“Of course.”
Lucy explained with a grin.
The possibilities that can exist in parallel dimensions are virtually limitless.
This means that there’s a possibility that another Lucy in a different parallel dimension is using magic while Lucy is using Infinite Potential.
The magic Lucy used is to summon all these possibilities and implement them at once.
Although the increase in parallel dimensions has stopped, the number of already created parallel dimensions is likely close to infinity, and the number of cases where Lucy lives as a mage within them would be countless.
In other words, it means dozens of Lucys standing in one place, casting magic. Imagining this is quite terrifying. Just picturing a squad-sized group of Lucys laughing and casting magic is making my lunch hard to digest.
I shook my head and dispelled the unnecessary thoughts. I had another question.
“Then what about Referndi’s magic?”
“I’ve researched the Fundamental series, and after fighting her directly, I concluded that the magic the red-haired lady used was a magic that erases my very existence from its foundation. It’s almost absolute magic. It makes Kersilla Creon disappear as if he never existed. And no one will remember that I ever existed.”
Lucy’s tone was calm, which delayed my shock. I felt like I was suddenly hit in the back of the head with a hammer while sleeping soundly.
“What?”
“If you erase the Fundamental Element completely, I become someone who never existed in the first place. Although records might remain, people will tilt their heads in confusion when they see them, wondering who it is. It’s like deleting a character from a book. It sounds easy, but it’s an extremely difficult magic. Honestly, if I hadn’t escaped to the unlocatable dimension between dimensions, I would have been the one to get hit first. Thanks to that, the red-haired lady’s magic ended up destroying the countless possibilities I summoned instead of me.”
“Was it that scary of a magic?”
“That’s the Fundamental series for you.”
Lucy shrugged as if it was no big deal, but that was just his usual attitude. How could that not be a big deal?
Levidian nodded and asked Lucy,
“I understand. She’s a much more frightening being than I thought. Are you confident you can win if you face that witch Referndi again?”
“I can’t say I’ll win, but I’m confident I won’t lose. That is, under the premise that if they come at us as a group, we’ll also go at them as a group.”
“Don’t worry about that. Everyone here is filled with the thought of crushing Artshever and his gang.”
Aila said confidently, crossing her arms. She had a point. We had already come too far to turn back. There was no more disagreement about confronting Artshever.
“Then, Hyung-nim, will we see each other on the battlefield next time?”
“Probably. Artshever said he wouldn’t stop us from gathering our troops, so we can ditch the guerrilla tactics and push through with conventional warfare. The problem is how many traps he’s set around the Imperial Capital.”
“Oh, especially Silvan Harcian. He must have ground his teeth down so much that he probably needs dentures now. Was stripping him naked a bit too much for an old man?”
“We will handle him, Joey.”
Namias, who was eating roasted chestnuts, looked up at Joey’s words and nodded briefly before focusing on her task again. Well, snacks are good, but even during a meeting……
Certainly, Joey and Namias were a great help last time. We could expect their contributions this time as well. Of course, the opponents would also come up with their own countermeasures.
I said,
“However, Silvan’s side will definitely prepare countermeasures. As anyone would expect, those countermeasures are likely aimed at Namias and Joey. Since we have an overwhelmingly larger number of people, we can come up with various strategies.”
If we put Aila and Lucy forward as countermeasures against Referndi, she’ll definitely be caught. Since they both freely wield the enigmatic powers of magic and superpowers, it would be an almost certain solution.
In the case of Silvan Harcian, I’m thinking of putting Joey, Namias, and Kun against him. I think this is a pretty decent combination. They would be perfect against that gloomy old man.
For Baius Extoria, I’ll add Lea to the previous members. No matter how skilled he is, even surpassing the Spear King, he won’t last long against the Sword King, his true disciple, his slightly less true disciple, and a famous mercenary who strengthens his entire body with magic.
But who will face Artshever?
“Risel, the difference in level between when the enemies have Artshever and when they don’t is quite significant.”
“That’s what I was just thinking. Our personnel can only handle his unpleasant friends. So, we have to form a full-fledged battle formation?”
“If we only had one shaman, there wouldn’t be a problem with magic resistance. But since they don’t have a priest, I guess it’s a tie. Anyway, this is just my thought……”
Aila took out a piece of paper and started drawing a simple formation on it.
We had a total of nine people. Among them, three were magic users, and none had long-range weapons. I wonder if Joey’s greatsword could be considered mid-range.
“You, Ibi-unni, and Mr. Al in the front, then Joey behind you, and then the three magic users behind him. I’ll be a little further back, and Kun and Lea will stand behind me.”
“3-1-1-2-2? Don’t you think the flanks will be a bit weak? It looks good for a frontal attack, though.”
“Then we can change it like this.”
Aila moved her hand, quickly sketching out formations considering the balance of power. She drew defenses for all eight directions, showing that she had been aiming for the commander’s position all along.
As if fueled by her idea, we each started sharing ideas and discussing how to deal with Artshever and his companions.
However, as our discussions always went, it turned into a talent show of jokes, mockery, and teasing, with a proper conversation coming up maybe once an hour.
It seemed like everyone needed some playtime lately, as the meeting eventually transformed from a tea party to dinner, from dinner to a drink, and from a drink to an outright drinking party.
In the end, I completely forgot about the crucial task of finalizing the Imperial Capital Conquest Force’s formation and had to stay up all night writing the formation chart to submit to the headquarters.
Hey, everyone, please participate in the discussion seriously.
Imperial Year 378, March 24th.
Before the formation of the Imperial Capital Conquest Force, there was the Grand General inauguration ceremony.
At the ceremony held in front of numerous soldiers, they enthusiastically welcomed my promotion, and without any significant obstacles, I set the record for the fastest promotion and youngest Grand General in the continent’s history.
I wonder what the storytellers will think. What will the clowns say?
Anyway, I became a Grand General at the young age of twenty-two. Compared to the twenty-two-year-old me from my previous life, I’ve achieved tremendous success.
Having already been a Duke, a General, and the leader of some fearsome clans, I now accepted the position of Grand General without much thought.
It was a point where I had to seriously consider whether I had a petty bourgeois personality.
However, time flowed on regardless of whether I was petty bourgeois or grand bourgeois, and the Herduke Kingdom did not waver in its original intention to march towards the Imperial Capital.
Restart remained silent.
According to rumors, the Emperor sent a decree stripping Duke Ecoshian of his title in a fit of rage, but the ruler of the Southern Empire simply scoffed and closed all gates to the Central Empire.
From Duke Ecoshian’s perspective, it was only natural. There was no need or reason to recklessly confront the Herduke Kingdom.
The number of Southern troops had become so insignificant compared to the Herduke Kingdom Army that it was embarrassing to even compare them. Moreover, the size of the Herduke Kingdom had become similar to the combined area of Restart and the rest of the Empire. (If you include Grenoian, Herduke is larger even without Narvilt.)
I hummed a tune and sent conscription orders to the entire Herduke Kingdom Army, organizing a 400,000-strong Imperial Capital Conquest Force. It wasn’t that difficult.
Since we had withdrawn a large number of troops from the Barrier, we could easily secure the necessary manpower.
Our opponents, the Imperial Capital Army and the Summoned Army, numbered a total of 240,000.
A mere 60% of our forces.
I don’t know how they knew our military size, but the Imperial Capital sent a very, very realistic and exciting letter, claiming that as soon as the Herduke Army entered the Imperial territory, a war would break out, and both sides would suffer tremendous losses.
I read it carefully, blew my nose with it, and then threw it into the fireplace. Using high-quality silk to blow my nose was quite a luxurious experience.
The Herduke Kingdom Army’s military administration must have been screaming to handle the supplies and logistics for a total of 400,000 personnel, but no one was shameless enough to push the paperwork onto me, the Prince, Duke, and Grand General.
Thanks to that, I felt the comfort of power for the first time and designated the gathering point for the army.
Perhaps for his amusement, or maybe out of genuine remorse, Artshever didn’t lay a finger on the dispersed troops.
If there were no preemptive obstructive actions, there was nothing to hinder us. I decided to turn the surroundings of Impelord into a massive military city.
Thus, today, a total of 360,000 troops gathered and set up camp around Impelord.
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