Warfare Paradigm (2)

The Allendia 9th and 10th Corps, and the Templar 2nd, 4th, 6th and 7th Corps, led by Sabine Asil and the other five Templar Lords, left the battlefield in unison and headed North.

The southern part of Allendia was left for the taking.

The people of the Fairy Kingdom prepared a clean white cloth in fear. It was to raise the sincerest white flag when the Mado Kingdom invaded.

But they never used the white flag they had prepared.

The enemy forces, who were supposed to surrender, suddenly stopped attacking.

* * *

Tasmaral, the capital of the Mado Kingdom.

Several officials were meeting before the vacant throne of Genovia.

An old white-haired black wizard asked with an expression that he didn’t understand.

“Your Majesty has ordered to pull back the army? Do we need to give up the war that we’ve almost won?”

A middle-aged man with red skin and black hair shook his head.

“She has made a fair judgment. I’m getting a similar request from the Kaldris Kingdom.”

Located in the Middle East of Latna, half the kingdom’s population were black, red-skinned southerners and yellow easterners.

The white people were mostly outsiders, most of whom came to Sinkers to study.

The vassals gathered in the palace were in similar proportions.

A young yellow servant said, “Considering the post-war process and the Kaldris-Rune relationship, it is beneficial to ensure that the main forces of Allendia have been eliminated.”

“Well, if we take Armorica as it is, the Fairy Royal Family will be evacuated, and if they continue to resist, it will be troublesome in the long run.”

“It would better for us to gather all our strength and break their will of resistance at once.”

“The odds are good, so there’s no need to increase civilian damage.”

The queen and her vassals agreed, so nothing was stopping them.

The 30,000 Mado Kingdom troops turned their heads and began to move north along the border.

Thanks to that, the Fairy Royal Family got into a festive mood.

Sormel, the Fairy King, hit his knees and burst into admiration.

“Surprised? Didn’t it work out as the Sword King said?”

The vassals were also pleased.

“His resourcefulness has reached the heavens!”

“Our common minds couldn’t understand at all.”

They wouldn’t have been able to understand unless they knew what was going on in the war. They couldn’t help but wonder what kind of mysterious strategy he used and admired him instead.

So the southern border of Allendia was empty. There was no more fighting, no more war.

All the soldiers of the Three Continental Powers headed to Fort Fieldrocks.

The public eye also turned north.

The one who won the battle in the North would be the winner of this war!

* * *

‘… They may think so, but it doesn’t matter if they win or lose this war.’

Leaning on a chair in the strategy room, Garhan looked indifferent.

‘That’s great. If we increase the size of the battle, they’ll do everything they can with their power.’

The problem was that they were still hiding their true face and had only shown strange tactics so far.

“They extended their reach to the south by using the Wyvern. They’ve got the Mado Kingdom army moving within striking distance.”

“They keep hitting and running, and the Mado Kingdom army has no way to respond.”

“That’s why the movement of the Mado kingdom’s troops is slowing down. At this rate, the Allendia Army will be ready first.”

“As expected, the mysterious Wyvern is a problem.”

“Is it a true Wyvern? There’s no such Wyvern in this realm.”

“We’re working hard at the Sinkers, so I’m not sure, but we’ll have an answer soon…”

Before his eyes, the vassals of Kaldris Kingdom continued to argue.

Watching the meeting, Garhan clicked his tongue.

‘You still don’t see the nature of the problem?’

The real problem wasn’t just the Wyvern’s identity.

‘The problem is that the absolute power that can change the outcome of a battle with only three or four people is moving with a mobility beyond common sense.’

That trick itself wasn’t new to him. It had been often used in the countryside.

It had been decades since the last war in the center of the continent erupted, but there were still occasional local wars among small countries in the countryside.

It was quite common for the disadvantaged to open their hands to the Three Continental Powers and borrow powerful knights.

A top knight in the middle of the continent was a strong individual in level 80s, at least.

With such a high-level knight, it was possible to single-handedly sweep away troops in their 20s and 30s.

The average level of the soldiers was low, and most people still used normal horses. Hence, the Golem Steeds showed superior mobility.

So the knights in the center didn’t necessarily lead the army when they fought in the countryside. They led the war to victory or defeat by supporting the disadvantaged allies by moving as the elite minority.

Wasn’t it the same as what the Sword King had done?

Nevertheless, that method wasn’t taught as a regular tactic in the Three Continental Powers.

The average level of their knights ranged from the 60s to 70s. In addition, all of them moved on Golem Steeds.

Even level 106 Toniruth, the strongest knight of the Kaldris Kingdom, couldn’t do such a thing against the regular forces of the Three Continental Powers.

It was only possible when the level gap was extreme.

Garhan’s expression was slightly stiff.

‘I’ll have to admit it. The Three Continental Powers haven’t fought an aggressive war for too long.’

Rotation, fortification, and cavalry were all strategic elements when level 100 was the highest in mankind.

But at that moment?

The estimated level of Garhan and Genovia was 150, and the level of the dead Sword King Baotolt was 160.

‘The new Sword King Felard Bean’s level is estimated to be around level 140.’

Up to level 100, he was about a matchless warrior, but he became an asymmetric power if he was over level 140.

Therefore, the Three Continental Powers couldn’t find a countermeasure within their existing strategies.

‘Does this mean I need to invite a strategist or something from the countryside?’

A vassal pinpointed it in time.

“The Wyvern is one thing, but the Sword King’s party itself is the problem.”

Others spoke up, too.

“The Sword King, the Spiritual Boxer, and his companions are so strong that a small number of inferiorities are overturned.”

“And there are rumors that the Sword King uses strange magic or spiritual arts…”

“Huh, you believe in false rumors on the battlefield?”

“There are too many people who have seen it to be false rumors. I also got some very unusual information.”

“Unusual information? What is it?”

The eyes of the conference room were on the person who brought up the plan.

After hesitating for a moment, he spoke carefully.

“Maybe… Sword King Felard isn’t a real Valtara warrior.”

* * *

Han-bin’s group had largely destroyed the intelligence network of the Kaldris Kingdom, but there was still some information coming in.

“The Sword King had the Darkness Church make a dedicated magic scroll?”

“Yeah, he also commissioned a dedicated spiritual scroll.”

The person who had brought up the issue raised his voice.

“Then he performed his strange magic and spiritual art on the battlefield. If he was using scrolls to learn magic or spiritual skills, isn’t that nothing like a Valtara warrior?”

The Valtara Barbarians’ phobia of magic tools was so well-known.

“Scrolls are a kind of magic tool!”

Other vassals, however, responded suspiciously.

“It couldn’t be confirmed that he is fake with only that…”

“Aren’t scrolls just a paper on the surface?”

“Maybe he just used it without knowing it…”

“He might have thought it was no different than reading a book and learning magic, right?”

In a sour response, the vassal who had brought it up cried out as if it was unfair.

“No matter what, he is a Valtara warrior. He can’t be that ignorant!”

That time, everyone answered with confidence.

“No.”

“He can be that ignorant.”

“Really.”

The vassal who cried out was speechless.

“…”

“What’s more, isn’t he already an Aura user? How can an Aura user deal with Mana or Prana?”

“And he used barbaric sorcery that we aren’t aware of…”

The servant’s voice died down.

On his account, it was a conjecture.

“Imagine he’s not a real Valtara warrior.”

An old vassal patted his beard and asked a question.

“Is that good for us?”

“What? If the Sword King is a fake, the morale of his enemies…”

“So, let’s say he’s a fake Valtara warrior.”

As if frustrated, the old vassal asked again.

“So? Does that make him a fake Sword King?”

He swung Baotolt’s sword and used Baotolt’s swordsmanship. He was as strong as him, too.

Whatever the identity, Felard Bean was strong enough to win the title of the Sword King.

But he wasn’t just an ignorant Valtara warrior?

He was a decent Latnain who knew human benevolence?

“… Can you call that weakness?”

Rather, he was as strong as the Sword King, but he was a much more trustworthy warrior who knew the value of people’s lives without being cruel!

“I don’t think there’s any reason for him to pretend to be a Valtara barbarian.”

It made a lot more sense to say that he was a real descendant of Baotolt.

“Before that, there’s no way that an Aura user can use magic spells or spiritual arts. It must be a false rumor.”

* * *

Garhan, meanwhile, was lost in thought.

‘The identity of the Sword King Felard…’

It wouldn’t be so strange that Felard, an Aura user, used Mana or Prana, although his vassals didn’t know that.

He must’ve gotten Hollien’s unique item, the Four-Power Conversion Belt.

Garhan also had little doubt that the Valtara warrior used the unique item.

They had the incarnation of darkness, the incarnation of Kybriel.

The Valtara Barbarian evaded mana tools. But if the Goddess allowed him to use them, wasn’t there no longer any reason for him not to use them?

For the same logic, learning magic or spiritual skills using scrolls hadn’t been considered strange.

However, listening to the story reminded Garhan of another question.

‘Baotolt, was he a man who abandoned the belief he had followed all his life that the Goddesses had accepted?’

No.

Of course, there was no guarantee that the disciple would have the same personality as their teacher.

There had been rumors that the new Sword King was quite good in character, unlike the previous Sword King.

But what if he assumed he was fake?

‘Which means he needs to disguise himself as a Valtara warrior on purpose.’

There were many suspicious aspects about the current Sword King.

First of all, it was unclear if he was a real disciple of Baotolt. In many ways, the time wasn’t right.

‘It doesn’t make sense that he is so strong at that age.”

Even Baotolt, the genius among geniuses, had managed to get his hands on it when he was 50 years old.

‘But what if he’s older than he looks?’

In Latna, some gained eternal youth other than through the Goddesses’ Blessings.

‘Aliens… don’t get old, too.’