Ch.168Flower-viewing party.

“Hurry! By now, the encirclement line must have been drawn!”

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

With the sound of countless hoofbeats, Fahrenheit’s 400,000 troops advanced rapidly.

Three days had already passed since they bypassed the nearest city. In their desire to arrive as quickly as possible, this rapid response force had reduced the number of siege weapons and arrows to maximize speed. As such, they were not suitable for a full-scale battle.

However, they were still an army, and in a battle of 100,000 versus 400,000, even with slightly inferior firepower, they could overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers.

Of course, it would still be a difficult fight, as other cities in the rear would also be sending reinforcements.

“Damn it… We have too little information…!”

There was no doubt that the enemy was on the move and forming an encirclement.

This had been cross-verified through various intelligence reports, and the surrounded cities had urgently lit signal fires to call for support.

However, they lacked crucial information about the enemy.

Not just their numbers, but details about what armor and weapons they were equipped with, and where their soldiers came from.

Of course, being from the Amurtat camp, they would most likely be armed with firearms, but they needed to know whether they had more rifles or cannons to properly counter them.

Of course, as the rapid response force, they would have to learn by “taking hits” from now on.

“Damn it! We’ll rest here today! Inform the rear guard!”

“Yes, sir!”

Thus, the rapid response force gave up on approaching the enemy and took a rest.

Even as they fell asleep, the Amurtat invaders were surely tightening their encirclement.

*

“General.”

“Yes?”

“It seems the enemy is coming.”

“Is that so?”

While the rapid response force was rapidly sleeping, Amurtat’s encirclement forces were leisurely resting and conserving their strength.

Anyone would be dumbfounded to see the command post’s relaxed and carefree demeanor, as if they were on a picnic outing.

Especially if they heard the conversation coming from their mouths.

“Then let’s withdraw now.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll make sure we’re ready to depart by tomorrow morning.”

“Hmm.”

That’s right.

They hadn’t come to fight in the first place.

Although 400,000 enemy troops were close at hand, they weren’t afraid at all.

The reason was simple.

The Sword Master was already approaching their vicinity.

Even though he had used a body double, there was no way his escape from the base would go unnoticed. By now, information about a suspicious person heading toward the encirclement line would have been reported.

But the Sword Master Ignatz would arrive here faster than that information could reach the rapid response force. Soon, this place would become a monumental site where an army of 400,000 would be slaughtered by a Sword Master.

As the morning sun rose, soldiers began to wake up one by one.

“Hurry up, you sluggards! The enemy is coming, so shouldn’t we scram?”

“We must flee with our tails between our legs to drain the enemy’s energy, and Master Ignatz will be pleased!”

“Move quickly, quickly!”

And so, all 100,000 soldiers began to retreat at once. Seeing this, the scouts turned back to deliver this good news to their homeland.

Of course, none of them would ever make it back.

“Have you dealt with all of them?”

“Yes.”

“Good. We’ll wait a little longer to handle the follow-up forces before returning.”

“Understood.”

These scouts were eliminated by Amurtat’s elven guerrilla forces, who anticipated that more would come looking when the scouts failed to return, and planned to deal with them as well.

These elves were, naturally, from Blumen Elfium. Through this war, they sought to prove their usefulness to Amurtat and to be recognized not as lukewarm associates but as definite allies and an independent sovereign city-state.

Therefore, they participated as auxiliary forces, and the Fahrenheit side, unaware of the elves’ participation, was suffering skyrocketing losses among their scouts.

They couldn’t send knights for reconnaissance, so they had to send ordinary people instead. But even skilled scouts could have their lives taken in an instant by bow-wielding elves.

“Captain. The enemy is coming.”

“Good. Everyone, get ready.”

For the first time in a very long while, Titania felt her heart racing.

She began to understand a little why the Illius were so obsessed with war.

War is profitable.

While it cannot compensate for the tragedy of death, the elves were gradually realizing that war could bring in more than enough to cover the losses caused by death.

*

“What?! What the hell happened?!”

“Why can’t we see the enemy?!”

And so, Fahrenheit’s rapid response force, which had rushed here even cutting short their sleep at dawn, fell hard for Amurtat’s bait.

No, they simply couldn’t understand why there was no one here when Amurtat forces should clearly be present.

“Damn it! What were the city’s forces doing?! If a force of that size was moving, they should have sent someone long ago!”

They did send people.

They just never arrived.

“General… what should we do now?”

“Looking at where the enemy was, we found campfires that were lit just a few hours ago. It seems they haven’t left long ago. If we pursue them now, we should be able to catch up.”

“Catch up…? The fires are still there…? Damn it! Anyone can see this is a trap!”

“But… do we just turn back then?”

At those words, the commander of the rapid response force couldn’t say anything.

400,000 was no child’s play.

Several countries must have strained themselves to gather this number, and if they turned back now, they would surely face condemnation from politicians.

While bringing politics into the military is a shortcut to downfall, if politics couldn’t intervene in military affairs at all, the army would starve to death.

“…Form a pursuit team for now. Organize the fastest knights… to find out where the enemy is headed.”

“Yes, sir. Knights! Attention!!”

“And you, select soldiers to inform the three countries of the situation and request support, as we’re running low on supplies.”

“Yes, sir.”

But there was still hope.

Judging by what the enemy had left behind, they were only a few hours ahead. If they could pinpoint their location, pursuit would be easy.

“Damn it! Of all times, it had to be winter…! May they fall into a crevasse!”

In another season, they could have tracked hoof prints or footprints, but unfortunately, with the swirling snow, it was impossible without clearing all the accumulated snow.

Even if it were possible, it would take too much time, making it ultimately useless.

As they were thinking this, a knight approached those who were busily moving about.

“Hmm? Halt there. Identify yourself. Where are you from?”

The knight raised his visor, and only then could they see that this knight from the rapid response force was actually Ignatz von Jäger, the standard-bearer and Sword Master of Amurtat.

Soon after, the rapid response force was annihilated, and no news reached Fahrenheit.

Oh, of course…

The news that was clearly conveyed was that the three countries, which had been rejoicing at the enemy’s disappearance, were simultaneously attacked by countries waiting in the rear and turned into Amurtat’s forward bases.

Afterward, Fahrenheit urgently dispatched an investigation team, which was annihilated by the elven guerrilla forces.

Then another investigation team was formed to investigate the first team, and only then did Fahrenheit learn that their 400,000 troops had not deserted or gone missing, but had been “annihilated.”

That day, Fahrenheit received 400,000 skulls, and the countries that had exhausted themselves by contributing troops essentially raised the white flag, saying they could no longer provide more soldiers.

Meanwhile, Amurtat completely repaired and reopened their supply base, demonstrating a cosmic level of defense that had descended to earth, delivering hell to the attacking forces. As auxiliary forces trained in subjugated countries began to join in large numbers, Amurtat’s manpower issues were quickly resolved.

Just one mistake.

Due to just one mistake, the entire Fahrenheit camp was plunged into crisis. Those who should have taken responsibility cowardly wrote suicide notes saying “I have burdened too many people (rest omitted)” and committed mass suicide, causing the worst crisis as Fahrenheit’s military leadership was left adrift.

“This cannot be… This cannot be happening…”

Grand Duke Marcus wailed as he watched his vassal states falling to Amurtat in real-time.

But what could he do?

They had no Sword Master.