355: Chapter 347 Clash, and Drones

Novak was feeling a bit panicked right now.

He never imagined that a full 300,000 Soldiers and three Magisters would be completely wiped out within Lake's borders.

And the price paid by the enemy was merely a few... thick arrows?

Novak guessed they probably weren't arrows in the traditional sense.

Now was not the time to dwell on that. Novak forced himself to gather his chaotic thoughts, considering how to eliminate the fallout of this initial defeat and planning the next steps of the operation.

Three hundred thousand men, elites—it was undoubtedly a crushing defeat.

But in truth, it wasn't a major blow to the overall strength of the allied forces.

The coalition consisted of eight Principalities and three Kingdoms. An army of 300,000 commoners was not difficult to replenish; commoners were the one thing they had in abundance.

The most critical point was that only three Magisters were lost in this battle.

Magisters were indeed precious, but losing three was not unacceptable; it wasn't as if they were Saint-level.

If three Saint-levels had died, then the coalition would truly be finished.

Moreover, the sacrifice of those three wasn't meaningless; at the very least, it provided vital intelligence.

Lake possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Novak narrowed his eyes and looked at Brando, who was sitting nearby: "Did the Kingdom not suffer this scale of attack back then?"

Brando shook his head: "No, we only saw countless flashes of fire in the darkness, followed by diving Griffin Knights."

In that case... then it wasn't surprising.

Dismissing his suspicion, Novak withdrew his gaze and returned his focus to the war, feeling some regret in his heart for sending out the Rose, Wild Lion, and Raging Bear—three legions that did not belong to his own country.

As God was his witness, Novak truly hadn't expected the three legions to be wiped out to the last man.

In his view, invading Lake couldn't even be considered a proper war; it was essentially a cost-free banquet for dividing spoils.

As the commander-in-chief of the coalition, he obviously couldn't show favoritism to his own country by letting his own legions be the first to set out and seize the loot; the coalition would have collapsed instantly if he had.

That was why he had appointed three legions from other nations as the vanguard.

The message was—look how fair I am, letting you take first pick of the spoils.

However, in the end, it all backfired.

After the Raging Bear legion's own mental gymnastics, the three Legion Commanders successfully suspected him of intending to expend their forces and reported this to their respective superiors.

The kings of the three countries became suspicious, though they didn't take any drastic action yet.

After all, Novak's orders aligned with common military sense and showed no signs of hidden malicious intent.

So this misunderstanding shouldn't have been an issue; once the three of them had filled their pockets with treasures, it would naturally dissipate.

But now... with the three legions entirely sacrificed, the trouble was massive.

Novak had no doubt that the three kings had already contacted each other to discuss withdrawing their troops.

If they only withdrew their troops, Novak wouldn't be too worried.

The departure of three countries wouldn't cause too much of a decline in the coalition's strength.

What he feared was the three countries exposing the matter.

Even though Novak hadn't played any schemes and had plenty of justification—

For instance, he had never withheld intelligence, and the three Legion Commanders had been overeager for glory and left their logistics teams far behind.

But the member states of the coalition wouldn't care about that.

They would only suspect: 'You never intended to subjugate Lake; you were using this as a pretext to annex the surrounding nations, weren't you?'

At that point, the coalition would automatically dissolve and be defeated without a fight, and Lake would likely take the initiative to send troops and retaliate against him, the leader who formed the coalition.

Novak sat opposite Brando with a headache, unable to stop himself from cursing: "Those three idiots!"

Brando smiled: "Actually, Commander-in-Chief, you don't need to worry too much."

"How so?" Novak stared at the confidence on his face, his eyes showing anticipation.

"The loss of 300,000 Soldiers does not affect the coalition's overwhelming strength over Lake."

"Of course." Novak puffed out his chest. "Not counting the 700,000 Soldiers still here, our main legions haven't suffered any losses. In terms of replenishing manpower alone, it can be done in just one month."

"Then... with 300,000 Soldiers dead, their Principalities won't actually be that furious, right?"

Just as said before, in the perception of the High-tier Professionals and royalty of the Saul Continent, did commoners even count as people?

The only function of commoners was to rely on their massive numbers to produce Professionals.

Professionals were the backbone of humanity.

The reason powerless commoners weren't slaughtered indiscriminately by the upper class and Professionals, and even had some laws protecting them, was precisely this.

Novak nodded, then looked troubled again: "The trouble is, it wasn't just commoners in there.

Their Legion Commanders were Magisters and Sky Knights, and there were a few Professionals among the Soldiers as well.

Well... the only good news is that aside from the Legion Commanders, there were no other High-tier Professionals in there."

Even for a Kingdom, the death or injury of High-tier Professionals was painful. Magisters could indeed be built up with resources, but that didn't mean they could be cheaply mass-produced; after all, resources themselves were a constraint.

Brando folded his hands and smiled: "High-tier Professionals are not Saint-level. It's undeniable that training them is expensive, but... being expensive means they have a price."

"Interests?"

"Yes.

Your Excellency's distress is that the exposure of the matter will lead to the collapse of the coalition, and Lake will take the opportunity to sneak attack your country.

Paying a price in interests to resolve the crisis is quite a bargain, isn't it?"

Novak pinched his chin thoughtfully: "Then how do we ensure they keep the secret?"

"If they speak out, the interests are gone."

"Hmm... I have to request instructions from the King to give away the interests we've already partitioned. I can't make that decision myself."

"Your King's reputation for wisdom is known by all neighboring countries. I believe he will distinguish between what is trivial and what is urgent."

Novak agreed and wasted no more time. He didn't even go to a quiet place, but pulled out a sound transmission crystal to contact the King right in front of Brando.

The response was as Brando expected. After listening to the account, the King only pondered for a few seconds before agreeing to the request.

With his confidence restored, Novak immediately stood up and loudly called for his adjutant.

The annihilation of 300,000 troops was indeed not a severe loss, but it would ultimately affect morale. Novak didn't want this matter to ferment in the army, so he decisively ordered the adjutant to have the army enter the territory in batches.

Once they wiped out a few of Lake's legions and successfully captured those weapons to display before the Soldiers, letting them understand the true nature of the weapons, there would be no need to worry about panic spreading through the army once word got out.

The adjutant took the order and left. The command was quickly transmitted to all levels, and the army began to move accordingly.

Thanks to the 'sacrifice' of the three legions, Novak had a clear strategy.

Unlike the large-scale massed marches of the past, the coalition's remaining forces were spread out thinly to avoid a repeat of the three legions' tragedy.

Of course, to prevent Lake from concentrating superior forces to attack them, Novak planned a main force of 310,000 Soldiers, equipped with two Saint-levels, to ensure that Lake's weapons of mass destruction would not be effective.

As for why it was 310,000 Soldiers, there was no profound meaning; it was simply that Novak felt '300,000' was unlucky.

As the army set out, Novak didn't stay idle either.

Considering himself an excellent commander, staying in the far rear was not being responsible enough.

He mounted a high-level magical beast and set out with the army.

...

Keton City.

Unlike the emptiness and silence of half a month ago, the city was now bustling with large numbers of Soldiers, the sound of chaotic footsteps echoing in the streets.

The city gate.

The Legion Commander of the Third Army stood on the city wall, gazing at the distant mountains and rivers.

Damu was behind him, though he wasn't holding his magic guidance sniper rifle, which he valued as much as his life.

"Damu." The Legion Commander turned around. "How does it feel?"

The question was very vague, but Damu understood what was being asked: "It feels great."

"I'm so envious."

"The special ops squad allows for multiple applications."

The Legion Commander shook his head: "If I had barely missed the cut and been eliminated, I would definitely try again, but... the gap is too large. Forget it.

And..."

He turned around, looking at the Third Army Soldiers standing guard at the battlements: "I'm a bit reluctant to leave them."

Damu followed his gaze: "Developing brave warriors also brings a great sense of achievement."

"Haha." The Legion Commander chuckled. "A year ago, we were still Farmers, busy in the fields every day swinging iron hoes. Now... which do you prefer?"

"Me?" Damu blinked. "In comparison... well, I like both quite a bit, but it really depends on what the Commander-in-Chief needs.

If the Commander-in-Chief needs me to farm, I can go right away.

I haven't forgotten my farming skills."

"Hahaha... as expected of Damu." The Legion Commander gave a mysterious compliment, then pulled the topic back on track. "Did you bring the thing?"

"How could I forget?" Damu turned and went down the city gate, returning with a strange object in his hand.

"This is called... a drone, right?" The Legion Commander examined it.

"Yes."

"Damn, I'm so jealous!"

"The special ops squad deals with High-tier Professionals; we must be equipped with the most advanced magic-conducting weapons.

And don't worry, once production ramps up, you'll have them too."

Wiping away non-existent drool from the corner of his mouth, the Legion Commander suppressed his anticipation and asked: "What is its function?"

"Well..." Damu scratched his head, "It can transmit images from far away back to us."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Demonstrate it?"

"Okay."

Damu responded, took a remote control out of the Storage Pouch at his waist, and began to operate it.

The drone's four blades began to spin, and it rose into the air, flying into the distance.

The Legion Commander watched the drone fly away: "How are the images transmitted back? Where do we watch?"

"Here."

He looked down at the remote control Damu was holding with both hands; the square glass area in the middle emitted a faint light, then displayed the ground rapidly moving backward.

The perspective was undoubtedly an aerial shot, with very high clarity; even the details of the pebbles on the ground could be seen clearly.

"With this, the enemy will have no more secrets!"

"Its use is limited." Damu shook his head. "Magisters and Sky Knights can all fly; it's easy for them to shoot it down.

I think until Mr. Geoffrey enhances its functions, it can only monitor legions without Magisters."

Gazing at the control center with novelty, the Legion Commander muttered: "The Commander-in-Chief is truly amazing. These things aren't even recorded in the Church's Record of Divine Graces."

Lake had been labeled a God-forsaken land, and the Church members within its borders had fully evacuated.

Those Divine Officials ran very fast; by the time Zhang Mu had just issued the order for their arrest, they had already fled far beyond the borders.

Fleeing in such a hurry, they naturally couldn't take everything in the cathedrals with them.

The First Army had captured many light-element magic books, various levels of Meditation Methods, and some miscellaneous books.

The Record of Divine Graces was one of the latter, and was used by the First Army Soldiers to pass their leisure time.

"Is that probably why God wants to eliminate the Commander-in-Chief?" Damu seemed to think of something and guessed.

"Who cares?" The Legion Commander waved his hand. "God never cared about us; it was the Commander-in-Chief who saved us from our suffering.

Instead of spending time pondering God, why not... what's that?"

He pointed his finger at the control area of the remote, and Damu looked down.

On the small display, a squad of about a hundred people was sprinting on the ground.

Judging by the direction, their target was clearly Keton City.

"Enemy attack! Everyone, prepare for battle!"

Damu watched the Legion Commander's back disappear as he turned left at the end of the walkway, then slowly withdrew his gaze, controlled the drone to return, and also turned to head downstairs.

...

A squad of a hundred men was racing along a mountain path toward Keton City.

The Soldiers in the squad were all elites, which could be seen from their neatly worn armor and the long spears they held.

A ragtag army would never be provided with such excellent equipment.

They were fast, but their expressions weren't particularly anxious or solemn.

According to intelligence, Keton City was already an empty city, so there was no need to lay siege—though one shouldn't dream of capturing a city with only a hundred men anyway.

As the path gradually widened, the team was about to emerge from the mountains.

Once out of the mountains, Keton City was only a ten-minute run away.

The captain recalled the information given by his superiors and silently quickened his pace.

"Captain." Suddenly, the only other Professional in the team besides him stopped the Soldiers and walked up behind the captain. "There's an ambush."

An ambush?

The captain focused his hearing and immediately heard dozens of faint breaths coming from behind the slopes on both sides about a hundred meters ahead.

A clumsy ambush.

With a cold sneer in his heart, the captain gave the order: "The vice-captain and I will lead the way and eliminate the enemy directly."

"Understood!"

"Charge!"

Without any hesitation, the captain led the vice-captain in a charge toward the top of the slope.

After a few steps, the attack came as expected.

A row of heads popped up over the crest of the slope, holding strange weapons.

The captain had seen drawings of these strange weapons and knew their power was limited, so he didn't care much, and his charging pace didn't slow down in the slightest.

He even had the presence of mind to think that since Lake's Soldiers were ambushing him here, the intelligence about Keton City being empty was likely incorrect.

"Whoosh—"

The sound of something slicing through the air passed his ear, startling the captain.

This power... doesn't seem like what the superior said...

"Bang—" Beside him, the vice-captain's head suddenly exploded like a watermelon, red and white bits splattering everywhere.

The captain wiped the slimy fragments of flesh from his face, staring blankly as the headless corpse lunged forward a few steps with momentum before falling and rolling, only stopping when it hit a tree.

The two had known each other for a long time and were very familiar with one-another.

The captain knew the vice-captain's Professional rank was Junior Knight—not very high, but certainly not a level that should be killed by a commoner.

A little toy? Can't even pierce ordinary iron armor?

Which idiot gathered this intelligence?!

The captain was stronger than the vice-captain, but only by a limited margin.

If the strange weapons in the hands of Lake's Soldiers could headshot the vice-captain, they could naturally headshot him too.

"Retreat!" the captain screamed shrilly, turning around and charging into the crowd of Soldiers who were still in a daze.

The captain understood that if he wanted to survive, he didn't need to run that fast; he just needed to be faster than his Soldiers.

However, from the top of the slope behind him came some excited shouts.

"gatling! Quickly, set up the gatling!"

The captain didn't know what a gatling was; he only smelled the scent of blood emanating from the name.