Episode 217: Light of the beginning of war
The two battalions led by Sink and Serua were heading towards their destination smoothly. Meanwhile, red lights are flashing in the south, and intense magic bombing is being carried out. It's all the work of the golem soldiers.
Six hours after the start of the journey.
They finally succeeded in lining up at the desired position.
"We'll fight while retreating. First, set up mines around this area. We'll use this area as a point to buy some time. There's no need to worry about consuming bullets. We'll retreat little by little and drag them out. ”
The battle began just before the sun set.
Sink raises his voice. Although they can't see it visually, the village of the pig demons is right there, and the 600 soldiers can be seen to be nervous. As a Paladin and Governor, Sink simply continued to state facts and goals.
Meanwhile, Serua comforts the soldiers.
"It's okay. We will definitely win. Even if 10,000 monsters come, we won't be afraid. Because we have Synch and I. We also have the latest weapon developed by Holy Knight Agera Norman."
It is believed that Obrad Village has a fighting strength of over 50,000 soldiers.
It's unlikely that all of them will attack at once, but there is no doubt that they will be attacked with many times more force. Since they were outnumbered, they had to make use of their mobility in a retreat.
Both landmine traps and unmanned weapons are measures to reduce casualties.
Furthermore, on top of that, I plan on playing the trump card of holy light to begin the battle.
“Today we see the light of God.”
Serua says.
And accumulate magical power.
A faintly glowing blue-white magical power leaked from her body and accumulated as holy light. Disintegrates magical information bodies, magical power accumulation bodies, magical power condensed bodies, and all other magical connections. That is holy light.
The sunlight illuminating the sky was red like blood, but a white light appeared that was enough to cover it up.
God's light that illuminates the world.
It's a power befitting a ``Saint''.
After accumulating power to the maximum, Serua activates the trident's world map and specifies the coordinates through it. The village of Obrad that we should aim for is far away and impossible to see with the naked eye, so we will need assistance from observation magic. But on the other hand, once you receive that assistance, you won't take it off.
"Notify all troops. The greatest battle in history begins from now on. Get ready!"
Sink's words become the beginning.
The holy light disappeared into the southern sky... and eventually the horizon was filled with white light.
◆◆◆
The start of the operation was immediately announced to Magia Cathedral.
Immediately after that news, the Pope gathered all the bishops and also called the Miko of Future Vision. The purpose of this is to predict the outcome of the battle that will mark the 300th anniversary of the sacred calendar.
"Now, let's begin the prophecy."
That's what the Pope says.
Then, the miko--now a boy--quietly closed her eyes.
"...Question"
"Now, about the monster's movement. In what direction will it move?"
"Straight north."
"How much will the sacrifice be?"
“There are a lot of injuries.”
A magic user who can read the future, a miko, is searching for the sacred Grineer of any era. However, the magic equipment is not always the same, and has slightly different characteristics. The miko of this generation was the type to read the future by asking questions and giving conditions.
The miko is informed in advance of the situation on the continent of Dibro and the conditions of the operation, and can predict the future with these factors in mind.
“Is the fort built between the rivers strong enough?”
"..."
“What happened?”
"I can see two futures at the same time. One is a future of destruction and a quagmire of battles. The other is a future with no blemish."
"It's not confirmed yet..."
To tell the truth, this miko has low accuracy in predicting the future.
It is a conditional branching time manipulation ability, and if the preconditions are even slightly different, you may see a completely different future. Although it is useful as a reference, there is a weakness in that it cannot be completely trusted. Instead, it reads the future depending on the question, so it has the advantage of being able to easily find the answer you want.
“What do you all think?”
“I get the impression that something can trigger a change.”
"Do you want to find out the cause?"
"Have you provided sufficient conditions? Isn't it just the luck of time?"
"That's so irresponsible!"
"I'm not saying anything inappropriate!"
This battle will remain in the history of Holy Grineer. Perhaps because of this, the bishops were also on guard, and the room had a somewhat tense atmosphere.
"Let's calm down. The operation has already begun. We don't have time to discuss things at length. If there are going to be many injured, let's send additional treatment tools. The teleportation gate has also been completed."
"Is there a limit to the production of God's spiritual water?"
"That secret medicine isn't the only means of treatment. You'll also need clean cloths, medicine to prevent infection, and nourishing food. I'm sure they're setting up a teleportation gate at the river base, too, right? Why not send it directly?”
“It’s not about avoiding what should happen, but preparing for it...”
It's not a bad method.
The magic weapon of seeing into the future is excellent in terms of avoiding crises, but this generation's miko is weak due to being sickly. Since we cannot see too far into the future, we will be observing the near future while setting conditions in this way. It is convenient to be able to predict multiple futures by setting conditions, but the problem is that it is unstable.
The Pope also decided to adopt that method.
“Then, shall we prepare to send additional medical tools?”
Instead of worrying about a bad future, take the surest move.
It was a natural decision for someone in a higher position.
However, there are not many places where you can be prepared for a muddy battle. The first demon lord subjugation in history must end in success, no matter how much it costs. Everyone present, including the Pope, was prepared to cut him down.
◆◆◆
Shu and his 18th battalion building the river fort were doing well.
The appearance of the fort is completed with ``Create Fortress''. Not only did they install heavy weapons and bring supplies to the warehouse, but they also installed teleportation gates as a trump card.
“Lazard-sama, this is complete.”
That's what the priest engineer reports.
This teleportation gate was developed jointly with the Hades Group, and when connected to a corresponding gate, it can instantly travel long distances.
Although the gate is a complicated machine, it is not that difficult to install. All you have to do is assemble the larger parts and connect them with cords.
“Now, please bring in the supplies.Also, this is confidential, so please only allow some priests into this room.”
"I understand. Please leave this to me."
"Then I'll leave my seat for a moment. I'll be back."
"Ha!"
This location across a wide river makes it difficult to supply supplies. Therefore, it was a stroke of luck that the gate was completed. In addition to the First City, the gate can also be connected to the Sacred Grineer if you change the settings. There is no way we can run out of supplies. It would be a different story if the Holy Grineer were to go bankrupt, but that is highly unlikely.
Even the construction of a fort, which would have required a huge amount of money in the first place, was completed with a forbidden spell. There is plenty of room in the budget.
The gate is installed in the basement of the fort, and is directly connected to the supply warehouse. However, Lazard exited from a different location and ascended the narrow spiral staircase to the upper floor.
Beyond that was the operational command center of this fort, where the commanders, the holy knights and priests, were having discussions, taking notes on their devices, and staring at the map displayed on the virtual screen.
When they confirmed that Lazard had entered, they straightened their posture and welcomed him.
“Lazard-sama, I see you have returned.”
"Ah. What about Floria-san and Aroma-san?"
"Yes. First of all, Floria-sama is on a surveillance mission using her powers.Also, I was told that Aroma-sama will prepare things around the fort..."
"I see. Thank you."
Next, I asked the priests in charge of communications.
“So, have you heard from anyone from the south?”
“They just started a battle.Currently, they seem to be gradually moving north and attracting pig demons.”
“So far as planned, huh?”
"Also, I received a message from my home country that they would like to send a large amount of medical supplies as soon as the gate opens. They also told me to prepare for the possibility of another tough battle."
"Understood"
Food and spare ammunition have not yet been brought in. These items will be brought in from the first city, so it will probably take some time. Transportation from the home country will take place after that.
“How complete is the fort?”
"We are moving the supplies we brought in to various locations one after another, but we are not able to do it in time. We have been informed that work at the edge of the fort is delayed."
"We need supplies, but the electronic wiring won't be ready in time. There are also limits to the number of priest engineers."
"I see. That's a problem."
Lazard thought about it for a while.
Although there is nothing we can do about supplies, the lack of engineers is a big problem. Priest engineers are engineers who work exclusively for the demon religion, and are people who specialize in maintaining demon religion facilities such as cathedrals. There were places inside the church where only priests were allowed to enter, and this situation gave rise to the special profession of priest engineer.
There are not that many jobs, so there is a huge shortage. All of this was completely unforeseen, and we had to hire a large number of engineers from the beginning.
(Even if I call you now, I won't be able to make it in time... No, is that really teleportation? But that's confidential...)
Teleportation magic is considered a top secret, and cannot be exposed to the public eye so easily. Even the gate we're using this time is a strategic secret. Moreover, it is not possible to make public information such as teleportation of arbitrary points.
However, on the other hand, this strategy absolutely needs to succeed, and there is no time to be so obsessed with it.
(I can't decide on my own...)
Lazard asked again.
“How many engineers will we need?”
“I would like 100 more people.”
"Hmm. Then, please send that information to Magia Cathedral. I will also help you."
"Thank you. Would you like to connect now?"
"Please do that."
The success or failure of the strategy will depend on how quickly the fort is completed.
Lazard was determined to push through even if the Pope opposed him.
◆◆◆
The first job of the soldiers who entered the fort was to transport supplies.
The items that the holy knights and priests bring to the supply warehouse are moved to various parts of the fort. The installation of heavy weapons and magical weapons is also part of their job.
Among them, Shu and his friends were in charge of installing magical weapons.
The reason was that he had knowledge.
"Drive a metal stake outside the window. Wrap a copper wire around it."
"effect?"
"Yes. Without it, the caster may receive an electric shock."
“Hey.”
Gilbert Rayvan sounds impressed as he works.
What they have installed is a magical weapon that emits lightning, and if magical power is poured into it, it will be activated automatically. A gun barrel is set up to protrude from a window on the south outer wall of the fort, and is planned to be used to attack monsters attempting to cross the river. However, even though it is controlled by magic, it is a radiation weapon and has to be grounded as a safety measure.
"Since we focus on mass production, there are rare cases of defective products mixed in. Don't forget to test. Execute the test command with the dedicated circuit connected to the magic crystal. The diagnostic program will automatically check it."
"...I forgot."
"Well, it's not really our job."
"That's right."
"There are too few engineers. I'm glad I know about it, but I'm sure there are more people who don't know about this."
What Shu felt was that the strategy was sloppy.
These preliminary preparations were too quick considering the elites from all over the Surada continent were gathered together. A one-night castle is an effective strategy, but it is a construction project that should take time. Moreover, having soldiers do that is too sloppy.
If I were to judge it without hesitation, I would say that it is poor.
(Or maybe it has some meaning... It's something to see.)
Far away, on a battlefield in the south, a fierce battle has begun.
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