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Chapter 448 - Strong Right From The Start (2)
An old man dressed in light clothes mumbled with his hands behind his back.
“It has started.”
“I need to leave now.”
Richter Simon, the man standing behind him, adjusted his red robe. And the old man, Linmel, swept his white hair.
In the 4-year war, he threw his body to save Count Welton and was on the verge of death, but with Ricky’s help, his life was saved.
However, his life was the only thing that he saved. His mana and blood were all messed up, and he couldn’t use magic anymore.
He felt ashamed for not being able to do anything in the war against Zenith.
“I feel that way again.”
“A man has a lot of things to do
 When all the wars are over and we become the victors, we need to start preparing now to focus on nurturing successors for the future to come.”
“The old man should go back to his room, then?” 1
“Aren’t you old enough, though?”
“Look at this man. Hahaha!”
Linmel laughed at Simon’s joke.
Words like these were more comforting than sympathetic ones. Then Linmel took out three scrolls from his pocket.
They were the scrolls that he had recently completed, and they were a compilation of the realizations he had gained in his later years.
“Isn’t it funny? It was only after my body turned out like this that I reached the state I longed for.”
Even if it was just a theory, he managed to complete the magic he wanted. Although it was impossible for him to use it himself.
Linmel gave them to Simon.
“You will prove my conclusions on the battlefield. It is all about the realizations I made.”
Linmel’s magic realization was ‘Absolute Hallucination.’
Completing that meant reaching the 9th class. He didn’t know how it was possible after losing his magic, but Linmel’s power was valuable on the battlefield.
Simon nodded as he accepted the scroll.
“I understand.”
“A lot of blood will be shed. It must be a bigger and more dangerous war than in the past. Come back alive.”
“Everyone wishes the same.”
“Where do I start?”
Linmel turned around and walked to the cabin in the back. Then Simon made sure he was fully inside the cabin and left.
Three years.
That was the time when he didn’t belong anywhere and only clung to magic.
A fire broke out at his fingertips. The time had come to show the results.
“Late.”
“It isn’t something you should say if you had come after me.”
Simon mocked Siegfried, who was waiting at a distance from the cabin. But Siegfried just shrugged.
As he was tying the straps of the golden robe tightly, he said to Simon,
“It has been a while since the war.”
Siegfried also became a free man for three years and devoted himself to developing his magic.
So he could no longer feel the helplessness he felt before.
So he could be stronger than before.
Simon smiled, feeling Siegfried’s calmness.
“It looks like you got what you wanted.”
“I wished so hard that it came.”
“The taste of a meal like before.”
“Haha. It is like that for us nobles.”
“It has been a long time since I beat up a noble.”
Simon responded casually to Siegfried’s dark humor, who was a former slave.
Siegfried widened his eyes because he didn’t know that Simon, who usually never joked around, would give a witty answer.
Seeing that look, Simon smiled.
“Let’s go now. It is time for us to play a big role as mercenaries.”
“Now, let us go in style.”
Siegfried took out his staff and hit the ground.
With a thud, the space rippled, and the figures of the two vanished like a lie.
Ann had a tense look on her face.
She had also been through dangerous times, but this was the first time she would step into a full-scale war.
She couldn’t join three years ago since she wasn’t qualified enough.
Her heart pounded like it was about to burst. The battlefield she was assigned to was at the southernmost border of Seldam.
Further down, like Seldam, there were the Kingdoms of Apsilon and Fiangre, which got destroyed and were now in the hands of the Sun God.
So this would be the frontline and the most important battlefield.
She had never been to war before, so how could she not be nervous about being deployed to such an important base?
‘Teacher is so mean for putting a newbie like me here.’
Her head felt like it would explode.
As Ann was sighing, Lennon, who was close by, approached her.
“Still doing that?”
“I might die from nervousness here. Why did Teacher have to put me here?”
“Why do you think so?”
Lennon said,
“Because you are a genius.”
Ann wasn’t a genius at magic. Even though her magic skills did improve a lot compared to before, she was still lower than Lennon, to the extent that she couldn’t touch the 6th class.
And yet she was a genius who had been recognized by Jamie.
She was the best military strategist, with intelligence that was unrivaled, a good understanding to the extent of being able to copy something she had only seen once, and the ability to judge a situation and calculate numbers.
Actually, Jamie never won a chess game against Ann. However, there was one downside to her.
“A genius who has never experienced anything like this before.”
“What are you so afraid of?”
“I am sorry for being like this, but I cannot help it. It feels like my heart would come out of my throat.”
“Idiot. Just focus on your role.”
“This brat is so
”
“Leave all the other things to me. I will do what you cannot do, so you do what you can. Do not worry about anything else. That will ease the pressure and your anxiety.”
Ann’s eyes widened at Lennon’s words. It was because she didn’t think he knew how to be kind like this.
Perhaps feeling Ann’s gaze, Lennon blushed and said,
“What are you looking at? It is all about winning the war. Not for you.”
“Yes~ Yes~”
Ann laughed at that.
For some reason, she felt a little less tense. Her heart still raced, but Lennon’s words helped her.
Taking a deep breath, she exhaled with all her might. When the declaration for war falls, the war will start.
And it would start like this.
Ann got up and walked out of the building. The cold city of Seldam, which was now in ruins, was being used as an outpost.
Since the city was located on a ridge of moderate height, the enemies would want to try and take the higher ground.
“Phew.”
She checked out the deployed troops.
More than 30,000 soldiers could be seen.
In front of the line of commanders on horseback and those in charge of a vanguard position stood a man who was to command this battle.
He was an impressively muscular man with dark skin who was blind.
It was Darius, the unseen warrior champion, who reigned as the King of the Arena of Darkness for ten years.
In the past, he was the one who helped Jamie get the last form of the Futility Divide.
“We will leave soon.”
Lennon said that from behind.
The first battle and how it would proceed had already been discussed, and Ann clenched her chest.
Her heartbeat subsided little by little.
“The enemies will never cross our land.”
“Well. Who are the soldiers here?”
The enemy had around 20,000 more troops than their side. But the number was a good thing.
Lennon reached out to Ann.
“You are the Goddess of Victory.”
“Huh. Just for such days.”
Ann held his hand with a broad smile.
Jamie stood at the top of the Black Tower and looked at the vast land.
“They say the war has begun.”
Jamie nodded at the report of Abset, who stayed behind as his aide.
His two disciples were participating in the war. It was a good thing, but the first battle would help them guess the limits of their opponent.
It was for them to measure their strength.
Of course, it was just the start of the full-scale war, and small and medium-sized battles continued to happen everywhere, so they knew their strength to some extent.
However, this time, they wanted to know their full power.
‘Which side will act first.’
Jamie narrowed his eyes.
He could see the scenery of the battlefield even though he wasn’t there.
The troops were moving, and a bloody fight had started. The commander was Darius, and the military strategist was Ann Myers.
Darius was a strong man who could see the ability of his opponent, and Ann was the brain whom he recognized.
Even Jamie couldn’t predict what kind of synergy the two would bring. However, he was sure of one thing.
“The first battle would be our victory.”
The Sun Church must have prepared everything, but they wouldn’t have thought that the two most talented people with brains and strength would come.
And if they failed to win, the Sun Church would enter the northern lands.
So somehow, they had to use the advantage in this obvious war now.
The appearance of a possible God.
In order to overturn the variables, the Sun Church would do something. The core of this war was divided according to how the Gods on each side would move.
So, whoever moved first would be at a disadvantage.
As Jamie had expected, the army of the Black Tower occupied the higher ground and began to overwhelm their enemies.
Numerous arrows and magic spells fell from above, and the soldiers cut down their enemies. Even though the enemy had a higher number, it was clear which side had a better advantage.
And when the enemy troops had been greatly reduced, a full-fledged fight would unfold.
Allied forces joined with the archers and the magicians. With the enemies’ morale low, their captain might order a retreat.
As mentioned earlier, the first battle was for them to measure each other’s strength. However, it was embarrassing for the enemy to see their allies, who had been defending until then, attack.
But this was bait.
“Ra, you cruel jerk. If they aren’t under the direct control of your church, will you just abandon them?”
In the distance, the cavalry came in white armor. The crest of the Sun Church was on their chest.
‘The Sun.’
The soldiers who had been sent out to occupy the high ground were used as decoys.
This war was the war of Gods.
The strength of their opponent couldn’t be judged by human forces.
Who would the first God be?
“Strong right from the start.”
This battle would make a huge difference in the future. And Jamie looked up.
The sky turned red, with dozens of meteorites piercing the sky and falling to the ground.
The Sun Knights were shouting.
-Everyone, defend!
-If we get swept away, even we won’t be able to maintain our position!
-Destroy it!
There was a flash of light in the distant lands. It was from the location where the meteor fell.
Who dropped it?
-A mercenary has appeared.
-What nonsense.
Jamie laughed at the voices of the two, who were familiar and whom he hadn’t met in such a long time.
Siegfried and Simon.
They were those two.
TL/N:This means to be confined.