A magician with pitch-black hair and a wine-colored robe, Bel Artura, lightly tapped the map attached to the wall with his palm, shifting his gaze back to the front after being momentarily focused on me.
“Bin is an exception. Comparing his current abilities to ours, there isn’t much of a difference yet… However, that guy’s potential for growth is far greater than that. If he gets injured while facing the Grand Marshal, it would be a great loss for the continent.”
“Isn’t it time to use every resource available, even if it’s like using a cat’s paw? Things are going poorly, after all.”
Gridia asked, clearly not understanding Bel’s explanation. She secretly seemed to expect me to make a significant contribution as a general.
It was a natural wish, considering how dire the situation was.
Also, quite understandably, I silently prayed that the Holy Maiden would keep her mouth shut.
…How can I fight evenly with a Grand Marshal? It’s a death sentence for sure.
“That’s the part I’m about to explain, so please bear with me. Even without using Bin, I have a way to annihilate the four Grand Marshals.”
“…Annihilate? Are you saying you’re not going to stop just by protecting Valleland’s land?”
Alter asked Bel, taken aback.
“In this situation, the complete eradication of the Grand Marshals sounds like something out of a dream. I only assumed today’s discussion would solely be about planning our retreat.”
“It seems you’ve forgotten how to dream after all these years,” Bel retorted, lightly goading Alter.
Though Alter shrugged indifferently, as if the provocation had no effect on him, Lir, sitting next to him, glared at Bel, clearly upset.
“What’s your issue?”
Bel coldly lowered his gaze on Lir’s with his characteristic chilling, icy stare.
Naturally, as soon as their eyes met, Lir averted her gaze and didn’t utter a sound.
…Well, trying to stand up to Bel is already quite commendable. When you think of her character, she deserves praise a hundred times over.
I patted Lir on the back, refocusing my attention back on Bel’s explanation.
“Let’s resume the explanation then.”
Bel cleared his throat, immediately withdrawing his icy glare from Lir.
The moment Bel turned to look elsewhere, Lir sneakily shot him furtive, annoyed glances.
“The Grand Marshals will begin their offensives from today. A strategy that’s completely opposite to the nature of these creatures, who, once they secure an advantage, like to slowly and steadily wear down their opponents without any variables.”
A heavy hand appeared on my back. It seemed Rex had a question.
“Yes, what is your question?”
“How do you know the enemy will take the offensive?”
“Because of Bin.”
Bel pointed at me with the tip of his pen.
“They’ve observed what Bin has done on this battlefield. He flew around on an elemental spirit and wreaked havoc. Officers’ reports indicate that seven high-ranking Marauders were killed, and six of the specialized mutant troops, personally created by a Grand Marshal, were wiped out.”
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t really me but rather Daljin who handled matters, but I didn’t feel the need to correct this.
“…Yes, I also witnessed it.”
“That kid in our quarters was reading ‘Understanding Intermediate Magic.’ It’s a book that I read when I was nine.”
“Huh?”
“The kid hasn’t even been studying magic for three months and suddenly managed to ride an elemental spirit and reduce the battlefield to a complete mess. What do you think the Grand Marshals will think about this?”
“…You mean, despite the possibility of ruining the war, they’re going to try to eliminate General Bin?”
“They’ll move to offensive measures starting from today. The Grand Marshals themselves will actively appear on the battlefield.”
Bel lifted the feather pen again and began marking points on the map. Soon there were about nine dots marked at regular intervals in the Marauder formation.
“The spots marked on the map are places where I’ve embedded parchment through certain tactics.
And these parchments are inscribed with a kind of boundary magic. Once I judge that the enemy has pushed their front lines far enough, I will activate the magic contained in these parchments to prevent the four Grand Marshals from ever leaving Valleland.”
Bel marked the same nine points on our formation too. Connecting the points created a massive geometric shape that covered both the enemy and our formations.
“…You mean to enclose such a vast space?”
Alter looked suspiciously at Bel.
Even to someone like me or Lir, who aren’t particularly knowledgeable about magic, it sounded far-fetched.
The size of the indicated shape on the map was easily over 30 square kilometers. A boundary covering such an extensive area…
“Using the parchment as a medium to expand the boundary makes sense, but the strength is… somewhat concerning. The wider a boundary becomes, the weaker it generally gets.”
“Your observation is accurate but don’t worry, I have special methods prepared,” Bel confidently replied.
Alter pushed further, questioning what this “special method” was, and Lir, with a glimmer of courage, seemed ready to back him up as well.
“I’ll trust you, though.”
When it seemed a loud argument might ensue, I had no choice but to interject.
“…Bin?”
Alter looked at me, bewildered.
“His refusal to explain the method means that knowing it would do us no good. Alter, trust me this one time. He’s not an idiot; there’s no doubt he’s prepared a good plan.”
“…”
Still looking restless, Alter stared at Bel until the end, though he didn’t press the matter any further.
“Alright, let’s assume we’ve confined all four Grand Marshals within an ‘indestructible boundary.’ What then?”
How.
Even the first time I heard about this strategy when I arrived at this battlefield, this question remained unanswered.
Even if you lure and confine all four Grand Marshals, if there’s no safe way to eliminate them, then the plan would be nothing but empty talk.
It wouldn’t be an easy fight against four Grand Marshals unless we brought in a Sword Saint…
“Two weeks from now, Rex will arrive.”
“…”
The murmurs of worry and anxiety were silenced instantly with those words.
“Is… the northern front okay? If the Sword Saint leaves his post, the Demon King might act…”
Rex, the only colleague among us who understands the overall war landscape, carefully raised a hand and spoke.
Currently, Rex is holding the northern front against the Demon King while the four Grand Marshals are causing havoc in Valleland.
If news of Rex’s arrival in Valleland spreads, all soldiers maintaining the northern front lines would fall into the Demon King’s hands in an instant.
“All measures are in place to allow him to leave the northern front. The castles have been neatly consolidated, and capturing a couple more high-ranked Marauders will ensure the enemies don’t notice Rex’s arrival here.”
After a brief silence, Bel spoke with gleaming eyes.
“Once here, he’ll be able to fight for about 15 minutes.”
Fifteen minutes.
That’s all the time the human known as Rex needs to turn the tide of battle and sever the heads of the four enemy commanders.
A flicker of hope, aspirations for the future, and a yearning for victory swirled within the small cabin.
“Any questions?”
“…”
After hearing this story, no one had any more doubts about the operation.
Such is the power of Rex.
No matter how suicidal and impossible a plan might seem, he can turn it into a victorious maneuver.
The only true hope for the continent.
“Let me reiterate this one more time. The information discussed today must not leave this cabin. If the enemy learns of this, they’ll deploy more high-ranked scouts to the northern front, and the Grand Marshals on this land will flee.”
Bel, pulling out a pipe from within his robe and lighting it in his mouth, continued the conversation.
“Don’t smile. Always be filled with despair. Always keep your heads down. The more we despair, the more they’ll confidently attack us.”
Soon, the flame ignited the pipe in Bel’s hand.
The familiar smell of smoke swirled around the room gently.
“Dismissed.”
Bel finished speaking and was the first to leave the cabin with Gridia. A mix of emotions could be seen on her face — a feeling of “Finally, this war is coming to an end” and “We have to endure this for two more weeks.”
Rex quietly took a deep breath and stood up, followed by Alter.
Lir and I briefly exchanged glances and stood up last.
Because of the story I’d just heard, it all felt rather surreal.
If Rex and the four Grand Marshals can be confined in one ‘area,’ then without a doubt, he will eliminate all four within 15 minutes.
If everything goes as planned, the number of Grand Marshals will drop from nine to five—cut by almost half.
If the number of Grand Marshals decreases by almost half, it essentially means that the Marauders’ military power will also be halved.
This operation will be not only a turning point for Valleland’s battlefield but also a pivotal moment in the upcoming war between the Marauders and the Allied Forces.
…Perhaps we are standing at the center of history.
Thinking this way, a shiver ran through my skin.
*
As Bel predicted, the Marauder army began pushing aggressively from the very next day after observing me on Daljin’s back creating chaos on the battlefield.
“Attention to the front! Raise your shields high!”
“Pew! Unleash everything you’ve got!”
Without cover or shields, the mages and archers poured out every weapon they had to stall the enemy advancing through the no-man’s land.
However, the mages ran out of mana, and the archers ran out of arrows. The only infinite entity on this battlefield is the Marauders and the mutant forces born from their hands.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
The front lines retreated day by day. The continental army minimized casualties while retreating to the rear trenches. The Marauders overreached their pushes, losing three high-ranking Marauders and a powerful mutant created using dragons.
“…This is pointless.”
By the fourth day, the Grand Marshals officially began appearing on the battlefield. They twisted the terrain of the no-man’s land with a single wave of their hands, and they even molded the corpses on the battlefield into enormous mutants.
Every time the Grand Marshals showed up on the frontlines, Bel also appeared at the vanguard. With a mechanical, cold expression, he burned the soldier corpses that had been mutated beyond recognition. Wherever his hand passed, the battlefields, once muddy with mud and blood, hardened as solid as the surface of pottery.
Bel’s battles with the Grand Marshals never seemed to reach a conclusion. Comparing mere individual strength, Bel had a slight edge. However, because of the unseen Grand Marshals lurking somewhere on the battlefield possibly waiting to exploit his vulnerabilities, Bel couldn’t take the initiative in the fight aggressively.
The Grand Marshals also clearly knew this fact, deliberately guiding the battles into a war of attrition. They were simply waiting for Bel’s mana to deplete.
No matter how powerful Bel Artura may be, a prolonged war of attrition with the Grand Marshals every day would eventually drain his mana.
Draining mana through attrition and attacking once it’s depleted is the most archetypal and surefire way the Marauders have when combating magicians.
Even while launching a massive offensive, they kept a close eye on ‘Bel,’ one of the most dangerous forces on this battlefield, ensuring he couldn’t escape their surveillance.
The relentless and suffocating pressure continued, and with Bel’s mana, it would be sufficient to last around ten days.
By the night of the thirteenth day, Bel began complaining of dizziness and hyperventilation. Seeing this normally machine-like human break down made me feel uneasy within.
Thus, the fourteenth day came around. It was the morning of precisely two weeks since I first rode Daljin and rampaged across the battlefield.
The light burst through the clouds and shone upon the battlefield without the slightest care.
“…Damn.”
I sighed softly, looking at the sun breaking through the clouds and stepped out of the tent early in the morning.
“We’re ready.”
An already prepared group of Orcs, Elves, and an old man greeted me.
I quietly swallowed and slowly followed the officers’ directions toward the front lines.
It was time to retrieve the traps we laid by the riverside for the past two weeks.
