NOVEL NEXT Chapter 258
“Disciple.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“Did you know the Demon King was about to declare himself?”
Jeongjae asked lightly, but the situation was anything but light. Jenis nodded slightly.
“We have our own intelligence network. You know how it is… we’ve heard rumors.”
“Then you already guessed the purpose?”
This time, the Great Sage nodded. Jeongjae let out a deep sigh and lowered his head. Jenis’s expression was also dark. They were facing a staggering enemy force of at least 30,000 with only 6,000 troops from the Southern Army out of a total of 150,000. The disparity in numbers wasn’t the issue. They had both come to this battlefield with the Empire’s strongest forces, Jeongjae and Jenis, because this point was deemed particularly vulnerable.
However, the moment Jeongjae laid eyes on the ‘human’ legion, waving the gray flag established by the Terkeon Empire, he shivered with powerlessness and irritation.
Out of their 6,000 forces, 3,000 were from the Southern Alliance, and the remaining 3,000 were Jenis’s Orc Zombies. On the other hand, the enemy advanced in unison, thousands of heavily armored warriors marching forward with firearms and shields. They were unmistakably human. Humans in pristine condition, untouched by mental magic.
“Is the Demon King leading the charge?”
Jeongjae tilted his head, noticing the enemy’s formation that was beginning to position itself. Jenis understood why Jeongjae said that. The formation of the Demon King’s Army was systematic and solid. It was a formation rarely seen among ordinary Orc foot soldiers.
“No. There’s no dark aura.”
“It could be a deception. There was no dark aura detected in the Eramenia Gorge either.”
“There’s no Demon King on this battlefield. Ordinarily, only the Succubus Queen or the Demon King himself would have this level of command over the Demon King’s Army, but…”
Jenis tapped her staff lightly to scrutinize the enemy commander. Soon, her red eyes revealed the information she sought through the crystal. A middle-aged man with a rugged face marked by a large scar was issuing orders to his subordinate officers and directing the army’s movements.
His unkempt beard obscured his face, but Jenis stared at the crystal for a moment before she started frowning.
“Do you recognize the face?”
“I don’t know his face, but I recognize the emblem on his armor. A lion’s mane. He must be from the Helmut family, which was granted a domain in the north…”
“Is it a famous family?”
“That would be Jean Helmut then. It makes sense. The Helmut family was defending the northern Eva region during the war that broke out 11 years ago, and they were completely defeated with the advance of the Demon King’s Army, capturing the local noblemen as prisoners. According to the documents I read, he was a general who managed to hold out for a week under unfavorable conditions. Of course, because his ancestor…”
Jenis ground her teeth. Jeongjae had a rough understanding of Jenis’s character. Just like Rose, she was arrogant and confident, but in her worldview, most humans were not equal. She found the justification for her authority in her remarkable bloodlines from both her family and her relatives, making her the most aristocratic leader on this continent.
She respected leaders who fulfilled their noble duties. Conversely, in her view, those from the upper class who failed to do so were regarded with more contempt than monsters.
“His ancestor devoted his life to fighting for justice, and when he could no longer uphold that justice, he took his own life, yet this scoundrel only lasted a week before getting caught and became a lackey of the Demon King, leading the rebels? What a garbage piece of work. The prestige of a family that has persisted since the days of the ancient Caprice Empire could be wrecked by this madman. If only he had died; at least then, we could honor his name!”
“The Demon King might have coerced him into submission.”
“It doesn’t seem like that, but even if he did, it doesn’t justify his actions. If that guy had any sense of duty fitting for his position, he should either be leading his legion straight to the Demon King’s Castle or committing suicide. The Helmut was a duke family, and such families need to maintain appropriate conduct. Does he think he can betray and simply surrender as if he were just some commoner?”
“Hmm.”
Jeongjae also felt disgusted by the enemy commander who had forsaken humanity and sided with the Demon King, but he sensed that his anger was directed a bit differently than Jenis’s. However, he had no intention of lecturing or arguing with her about it. Everyone had their own life philosophies and political views. It could even be seen as consistent for Jenis Harker to despise those who used their power for treacherous deeds while harboring a sense of superiority over the commoners who failed to rise.
“The enemy formation is wide and spread out from east to west. This size must be intended to maximize the firepower of their gunmen. But fundamentally, gunmen should be no different from archers, moving forward without any protection…”
“Line infantry…”
Jean Helmut, the traitor of humanity, who had built his experience commanding the rebellion suppression units and earned the trust of the Mage Emperor, would now lead the Demon King’s main force with the Empire’s proclamation. He instinctively chose the formation that would most effectively utilize his troops. Jenis had never conceived or prepared for tactics using gunmen, but as soon as she saw Helmut’s formation, she grasped its intent and core. On the other hand, Jeongjae lacked that kind of instinct and had to ruminate on historical knowledge to deduce the enemy’s intent.
“It looks like the conquistadors are under Napoleon’s command.”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind, forget it. More importantly, I’m concerned about the cannon positions behind the lines…”
“Our army’s armor has sufficient protective magic on it. Unless the enemy unleashes magically enhanced cannons, it’ll be hard to break through our defenses.”
“The Demon King must be cornered. Would he have skimped on support for such a force he just sent out?”
“But if he’s mobilizing human forces, he might worry about betrayal, so providing high-level weapons carries a risk…”
As Jenis thought for a moment about the Demon King’s position, she shook her head.
“He must have positioned magical artillery. It’s dangerous. If the enemy has at least 40 cannons, if they turn those toward us, our troops might not survive, regardless of whether it’s just the two of us.”
“If we’re outnumbered, no matter how much we shine, we can’t prevent the frontline from breaking.”
“There are limits. Even if we’re overwhelmed, preserving the legion is our priority. If necessary, we’ll drain all the walking corpses.”
“Let’s place the Orcs in the front to brace for the artillery attack. That’s exactly why we prepared them.”
Taking Jeongjae’s suggestion, Jenis put the 3,000 Orc corpses at the forefront in a formation for the infantry. The other legion from the Southern Alliance took position where they could adequately protect the Orcs. Jenis glared at the enemy gunmen and asked Jeongjae for his opinion.
“From what you’re saying, it seems that formation has already existed in your world, Professor. How do you generally approach a situation like this? There’s no such thing as an invulnerable formation.”
“A wide formation like this is strong against area attacks. Even if we unleash our Grand Magic, the damage will be limited since the enemy isn’t clustered together. Moreover, given the quality of their armor, even if we rain down fire from above, we can’t wipe them out as easily as we would Orcs. If we need to conserve enough mana to protect our legion in emergencies, we can’t just throw all our offensive magic at them.”
“It would be nice if we could at least herd the enemy together.”
“If we had cavalry, that would be possible. As you can see, the formation is thin. If we had the Royal Cavalry or Eramenia cavalry, we could easily disrupt their formation. A well-trained unit would cluster together in a defensive posture the moment they spotted a cavalry-charge, but Eramenia’s forces might penetrate even that… and even if it fails, it could still be enough to herd the enemy together sufficiently for magic circle attacks.”
“Right now, we have 3,000 corpses and 3,000 infantry. And those infantry aren’t even properly trained for fighting such an enemy. I’m sure there are some among them who will tremble and drop their weapons just hearing gunfire and cannon fire.”
“We’re doomed.”
“We’re doomed.”
The two mages agreed. Meanwhile, the enemy forces were loading powder into their guns, getting ready to fire in a staggered formation. Jeongjae didn’t know the accurate range of the enemy’s firearms, but if these were the kind of muskets he was familiar with, their Orc troops were well within firing range.
“It’d be better if they got a little closer, but they aren’t doing that.”
Jeongjae muttered, having a basic grasp of modern infantry combat. Jenis shrugged.
“Because we’re holding. No matter what, having two Grand Mages here means that getting closer is akin to wanting to wipe out the entire troop.”
“What’s the enemy commander’s name?”
“Helmut. Jean Helmut. He’s a talented commander. He clearly confirmed that the two of us are holding at the same time yet doesn’t retreat. He’s aware of his superiority and seems to know how to seize it…”
If the enemy had 30,000 Orcs, this would be a fight that Jeongjae and Jenis had already won before it even began. The two mages could slaughter and toy with several thousand untrained Demon foot soldiers in numerous creative ways. But, this was a modern-sized army, properly equipped with top-notch armaments and formations.
This was tough. Even if they managed to defend against it, they would have to be ready for one entire legion to be wiped out. And with the Southern Army already having lost over 10,000 troops, losing another 3,000 was not an option. If any further losses occurred, questions about Jenis’s leadership would arise.
“Let’s initiate a retreat operation. Block the pathways with the Orc corpses and pull our forces back intact. Absolutely, this plain is the enemy’s ideal battleground. If we can just get a bit into the rough terrain, the gunmen and artillery won’t be able to exert their combat effectiveness as they do here.”
Jenis made her judgment, pinpointing the characteristics of the gunmen and artillery accurately. Jeongjae agreed with her assessment, but he couldn’t figure out where to retreat.
“Where to? Behind this plain is more mountains. When we passed through, it was late autumn to early winter, but now we’re approaching winter, and we can’t push soldiers into snow-covered mountains. Besides, our legion formation is structured around each stronghold, forming a siege network. If we merely push our stronghold back, the siege network will collapse, and there’s a good chance we’ll allow a division by the enemy’s siege.”
“So we have to pull back the entire army. This is a full-scale counter-offensive from the cornered Demon King’s army. Someone like Violet wouldn’t have plotted a ground offensive that could be easily thwarted. For now, I think we need to retreat slightly south.”
“What if we clumsily retreat and, as Rose pointed out, the remaining enemy remnants in the east try to set an encirclement trap?”
“We’ll figure that out when it happens! For now, let’s prepare to retreat. I’ll lead the allied forces south and relay retreat orders to nearby troops. Professor, please hold off the enemy here with the Orcs. I know you don’t like fighting humans, but it’s clear we need a stronger presence holding the line.”
Upon hearing Jenis’s words, Jeongjae swallowed hard. But he didn’t have the luxury of thinking for too long. He equipped a pair of goggles and drew his Holy Sword from his waist.
“Contact me through the necklace if anything happens.”
“Of course. I’ll let you know as soon as I reach a defendable position. Please do well. You absolutely must come back alive!”
“This isn’t a place where I’m going to die!”
At that moment, amidst terrifying cannon fire, around 40 cannons simultaneously blasted off. Jeongjae quickly unfurled a shield magic circle to intercept the incoming projectiles. The Grand Mage’s barrier deflected most of the shells, but a couple of shells broke through his shield and landed amidst the Orcs.
Seeing the Zombie Orcs shredded and tossed around by explosions, Jeongjae frowned.
“Truly impressive weaponry. This is an elite force that can compete with the royal central army.”
Jenis wasted no time. The Great Sage immediately started retreating the allied forces while maintaining their formation. Even as her army distanced itself, Helmut’s artillery fired once more.
Jeongjae once again activated his shield magic, blocking the majority of the projectiles. However, whether the enemy had increased the number of shots or Jeongjae’s strength had been somewhat lacking, a larger number of shells than before struck the formation’s midst.
No matter how he thought about it, it was impossible for the enemy to possess such abundant artillery ammo due to cost concerns. No matter how many liches the Demon King had, it was logically impossible. If they could just hold out, the enemy artillery’s supply would soon run dry, and they could rely solely on the Orcs’ armor to absorb the shells.
However, which side would reveal their limits first? The destructive power of the enemy army? Or the defensive power of the Grand Mage? Using defensive magic to protect an entire legion and block a pathway is undeniably treated as Grand Magic. If they continued to simply hold the line, there would be no guarantee Jeongjae’s stamina would hold out indefinitely.
“It seems I have to break through.”
Jeongjae muttered as he pulled out Sherlock Holmes’s revolver from his pocket. First and foremost, he needed to eliminate the enemy artillery. Ever since the emergence of artillery as a military branch on the battlefield, target number one in every war had been the artillery.