NOVEL NEXT Chapter 263
“The frontlines have been pushed back, but we haven’t lost too many troops. However, the enemy has gained a significant number of soldiers from this attack.”
Jenis Harker briefly summarized the current situation. Upon hearing Jenis’s words, Phineas nodded. It sounded strange that they gained more troops after launching an attack, yet that was indeed the case. News had already spread that the demonic army, now nearing 400,000, had rejoined the Demon King’s army as the elf army’s encirclement had been broken. In that light, Jean Helmut could be seen as having executed a rescue operation rather than a counterattack.
“What will we do now, Great Sage?”
“General Marbellius, you understand, right? No matter how powerful our allied forces may be, we can’t reach the Demon King’s Castle using only the southern advance route to the north.”
“The enemy’s human army is quite formidable, and the road from the south to the north is heavily defended. Although it’s not impossible to break through…”
“How many will die?”
“If we attempt to breach the current enemy defenses without a clear strategy, we should brace ourselves for over 40,000 deaths before we reach the Demon King’s Castle. This applies to humans and elves alike.”
“That’s an unbearable loss.”
Both the elf army commander and the Great Sage of the Magic Tower agreed. Even at this very moment, wyverns occasionally dropped fire in the vicinity of the camp, and the encouraged Demon King’s raiders were repeatedly attacking the Imperial forces, whose ranks were scattered or disoriented.
Jeongjae had temporarily submitted his leave and returned to the system. While he requested leave, Jenis suspected that Jeongjae had some political motive for meeting with Rose.
“No matter what you think of me, no matter how much you want to distance yourself from me now, I will prove that I’m right. I will win. The next time we face the enemy, I will definitely emerge victorious…”
“What are you saying?”
“No, just talking to myself.”
Phineas perked up his ears and turned his head. He too was no weak fairy among the elves and fairies. Jenis’s muttered words reached his ears, but Phineas Marbellius felt no need to respond to them.
The elf commander bent his head to inspect his troops and then departed. After politely returning the gesture, Jenis sat alone in the tent and pulled out a note that had been tucked in her garment to read.
It was a new report from Bernard, who wished to retire but was being held back to carry out perilous espionage missions.
“The Magic Tower is ready for disassembly. All necessary ships have moved to the Western Coast. Both the university and the Magic Tower are awaiting your orders.”
Jenis murmured the contents of the note, clenching her fist tightly around the paper. They were nearly there. The grand strategy she had begun with the death of the Kraken was at the brink of fruition. The Demon King’s army could not respond to attacks from multiple fronts. Originally, she would have had to devise a way to wring the Gargoyle Queen dry and kill her for this operation, but thankfully, His Majesty the Emperor had relieved Jenis of that burden.
The only thing left to consider was how to timely deploy the four legionnaires to the Demon King’s western coast. Also, how to appropriately have the Eramenia cavalry and the Royal Knight Order maneuver around to the east to restore the encirclement.
The strategy was nearly perfect. If this operation succeeded, the Demon King would not stand a chance.
The Magic Tower was originally not a fixed building. A thousand years ago, during the battle against the first Demon King, an ancient hero had directed the Great Sage of the time to raise the Magic Tower’s position to the north, wary of the dragon and wyvern’s involvement. After that, during the chaotic period of the continent, the Magic Tower moved a great distance back south, returning near Caprice. At that time, the position of the Magic Tower was granted semi-independent status, and unlike the position of “Sage,” which was similar to that of an imperial official, the “Great Sage” position received a status akin to that of a king.
After the continent unified under the rule of the Audrich Kingdom, the king’s intention to place the Magic Tower’s influence under the royal family resulted in it being completely absorbed back into the system. Nevertheless, despite the fact that it might only happen once every few hundred years, the Magic Tower’s position could be relocated quite easily due to its massive size. Upon assuming the position of Great Sage, Jenis showed great interest in this potential.
The principle of disassembling and relocating the Magic Tower could provide a significant military advantage. It meant that she could move the strongest fortress capable of attacking or defending from sky, sea, and land at her will. Moreover, Jenis’s primary focus was on the sea.
Walter, who had been cautious of adventures, preferred to push steadily from the south to the north. Meanwhile, Jenis concluded that she could not subdue the Demon King without striking from all directions. However, it did not mean that Walter was too foolish to think of a landing. The presence of the Kraken had blocked the sea routes, and without eliminating it, Walter could not come up with a sharp plan to remove it.
Jenis succeeded. She had struck a blow from behind the Demon King’s head, a blow that was almost enough to make the Demon King scream. But the more challenging issue lay not in the back but in the bridge of the nose.
The fact that the Demon King granted independent territory to the Dragon Lord couldn’t just be attributed to his fear. The dragons’ land thoroughly defended against the Empire aiming to take the western coast of the Demon King’s Territory. In other words, unless there was a consensus to traverse independently with the Dragon Lord, entering from the west to attack the Demon King’s army would mean wiping out the dragons in the process.
Even if all 200,000 elves from Eramenia gathered, such an operation could not be executed. From the dragons’ perspective, they could not blindly trust the Imperial army and open a path for them. Betrayal by the Imperial army was one thing, but allowing them to pass would essentially mean rebellion. If the Imperial army lost or, even if they later won, if they faltered for even a moment, it would mean thorough retribution and punishment by the Demon King.
Therefore, negotiations with the Dragon Lord were sluggish and ambiguous. Something had to instill confidence in the Gold Dragon. Jenis knew that unless she showed the Dragon Lord a well-planned operation, she could not persuade him to side with her.
So she decided to move the Magic Tower. She would transport the dismantled parts of the Magic Tower via ships from the Caprice region to one of the islands floating in the vast western ocean. Jenis would stay on that island, gather her fleet, and seize complete control over the sea. The Magic Tower would become a military stronghold and also serve to divert the Demon King’s attention for future attacks.
And soon, a hydrogen airship would rise from the Magic Tower.
This would be a method to infiltrate troops into the Mage Empire without setting foot on the territory of the Dragon Lord. After all, the dragon lord did not want elves to step foot on his land. So, Jenis agreed with Phineas to borrow an airship used during the ancient Eramenia civil war, with plans to accommodate a battalion of about 3,000 troops.
This special legion, equipped with new weapons and training methods, would traverse through the territory of the Dragon Lord on the airship, reach the west of the Demon King’s Territory, and then parachute down to gather the remnants of the Great Demon King’s rebellion still remaining in the west.
While it was concerning that the elves had a bad relationship with the demons, it was a problem that could be solved since the half-human, half-demon Jenis Harker planned to accompany them directly. The demons who had caused chaos in the west believed that if they opposed the Demon King, Jenis would guarantee their survival instead of continuing a seemingly hopeless war.
Whether she would keep that promise or not could be considered later, but for now, there was no reason not to utilize them. Even Jean Helmut’s suppression operation could not extinguish their seed. Jenis was confident that if she executed this operation, there would be thousands of orcs willing to respond locally, centered around the indigenous vampires.
If she succeeded up to this point, the war would be over. By merely not shooting down the airship from the sky, the Dragon Lord would have collaborated with the alliance, and he would not interfere with Jenis’s advance. The demons, seeing the elf army invade their homeland, would be thrown into chaos.
The western region was the safest area within the Demon King’s Territory. If gold-armored elves paraded about there, most demons would determine that the Demon King’s reign had come to an end once again and would begin to seek a path of surrender. This atmosphere could inevitably spread all the way to the Demon King’s Castle.
The collapse of the Terkeon Empire would be accelerated. Already, the Demon King relied heavily on human members in his elite forces; once the break began, it would undoubtedly prove difficult to control the deserters as they dispersed and defected to the Empire. Meanwhile, if the cavalry surged eastward to block the northeastern region and push steadily into the Demon King’s Castle, there would no longer be any forces left to stop them.
If successful, this war would end. This was the strategy of a four-army three-sided assault that she had conceived from the moment she seized control of the military.
“Don’t accuse me of being hasty.”
Jenis tightly clenched her fist. Her sharp nails, which she hadn’t trimmed for a long time, dug into her palm and caused a wound. The Great Sage trembled, showing no sign of feeling the pain.
“I’ve already endured long enough. I’ve held back my desire to charge alone into that castle and smash it down every single day. I’ve suppressed my wish to use even more violent and faster methods to create the current situation. Now, all the ingredients I need are gathered. I will finish this war by no later than when the first pollen blows away. And father…”
Jenis drew out the first oath that bound her heart.
The black chain remained steadfast. This iron shackled her until she fulfilled her vow.
“If I win, her corpse will not be handed over to anyone. That’s a promise made on your blood, father.”
The deceased Count Harker naturally didn’t give any reply. But at that moment, the crucifix hanging on Jenis’s neck hummed and emitted a white light.
Jenis’s half-vampire bloodline reacted painfully to the holy power of the cross.
“Ah!”
Startled by the sudden attack from the magical artifact she usually wore, Jenis screamed and toppled over. She nervously yanked off the necklace and clenched it tightly in her hand. The Great Sage yelled angrily.
“This is the holy war! This is a sacred fight, and I’m not the only one fighting for my own sake! What the hell! What the hell is your problem, you damned unicorn horn powder!”
Still feeling the burning pain in her palm from the necklace, Jenis hurled it forcefully to the ground. The silver cross rolled on the floor without a scratch, but the outline of a cross burned into Jenis’s palm remained.
With a grimace, Jenis stared at the mark on her hand and swallowed. She knew that there was something wrong with her. However, just like diagnosis didn’t lead to treatment, her knowledge didn’t translate into corrective action.
The promise she had made to coerce the frightened demons to her side and burn half of Eramenia just to widen her advance route, negotiating independently with the dragons, wasn’t exactly an honorable act. If someone were to ask her why she had done such a thing, she would have logical explanations ready, but she had already concluded that the other members of the alliance would certainly oppose her for having proceeded in secrecy.
Would the elves of Eramenia easily accept such promises thrown between the dragons and Jenis? Regarding this question, Jenis had thought of a rather petty approach: ‘Once I present the results, they won’t be able to refuse.’ Elves are a race that values integrity. No matter how much they hate the dragons, if Jenis established an agreement in representation of the alliance and outright declared it, those who would make their own kin face additional threats by violating the treaty would certainly not be the type of race to murder dragons.
The Imperial royal family wouldn’t have many ways to intervene either once Eramenia acknowledged Jenis’s movements. Rose was a great hero without a king in the world, but only Margaret could put Rose in her place as a sister. In other words, Jenis was trying to execute a negative plan using the elves’ honesty. It was a dangerous idea, but this approach was essential for Jenis.
“I am a human, I am a human, I am a human…”
In the midst of this, the necklace suddenly betrayed her. Mocking her half-vampire bloodline that was still left in her veins. She had never heard of this necklace betraying her father, Count Harker. Arthur Harker was a pure 100% vampire. Moreover, one of the most powerful vampires from Earth, part of the Dracula lineage. The holy power doesn’t just react to blood. What could that cross have observed in Jenis?
“I am human.”
Jenis picked up the necklace and put it back around her neck. This time, the crucifix did not attack her. However, the wound on her hand did not appear easily erasable. After momentarily gazing at the red orb on her staff, Jenis quietly murmured.
“He doesn’t love me, nor does he trust me before that. Let’s proceed like this. Once I win, at least he’ll know that not believing in me was the wrong choice.”
However, before another began to doubt her, she did not ask herself whether she truly trusted her companions.