novelraw Chapter 268 : Orc Mountains (2)
Chapter 268 : Orc Mountains (2)
With Kanna Cartier’s decision, preparations for an all-out war against the Orc Mountains began.
The magic system, reactivated through the Floating Territory’s ‘Arc Reactor,’ had a different texture than the magic previously channeled through the Order’s central satellite magic devices.
It was somewhat unfamiliar, but through repeated practice in a short amount of time, the priests gained a rough understanding of the techniques’ characteristics.
The cruciform starlight of the Guardian Cross Order that used to cover the battlefield had vanished.
However, the soldiers—rearmed with morale after being brought back from the brink of a hellish crisis where the Black Sea’s veil had blocked everything—realigned their ranks.
Unlike the Demon King’s Territories they had conquered so far, no specific strategy had been established for this first battle to seize the Orc Mountains.
In fact, that was only natural.
Through U-jin, they had learned that underground tunnels were being dug within the Orc Mountains and that the fortification strategy often used by the Demon King’s Army in the past had been revived.
However, that was merely something to raise their vigilance; it wasn't enough information to decide anything based solely on its existence.
There was only U-jin’s information that they seemed to have become about twice as strong, but their exact total power was still impossible to gauge.
While they knew the general Orc soldiers had been strengthened, they didn't know what changes the Named-grade orcs or their leader, the Orc Lord, had undergone.
Thus, they hadn't been given enough information to devise a detailed strategy tailored to the Orcs.
Of course, since there were numerous Anti-Demon Fronts even at this very moment, the Order possessed a vast amount of data related to war.
The qualitative method for a siege based on that data was to mobilize a force that overwhelmingly exceeded the scale of the defense, crushing them in a short time while accepting some damage.
But to simply deploy such a strategy, there were too many variables in this Northern Subjugation process.
To be honest, it was difficult to say that there was such a massive gap between the fortified Orc Mountains and the current capabilities of the Subjugation Force.
From the perspective of Kanna Cartier, who was responsible for the entire Subjugation Force, she couldn't place a single massive gamble.
If so, she eventually had to devise a strategy under the assumption that their powers were somewhat equal. In that case, the Orc Mountains, which held the home-ground advantage and were playing defense, would naturally be at an advantage.
Therefore, rather than sharpening their blades to stab deep all at once, Kanna Cartier chose to go through a light initial battle first.
It was a sort of probing battle with retreat in mind.
She intended to further identify their strategies and traits through combat with the Orc units.
Moreover, although the priests had learned the characteristics of the techniques to some extent, they had never used them in actual combat.
She felt that a single battle was essential to handle those things of an ambiguous nature that were neither quite magic nor quite sorcery.
That didn't mean she intended to waste troops simply to gain information without any results.
While she would induce a chaotic battle so that each other's power could be revealed, the current morale of the Subjugation Alliance had to be considered, and the situation wasn't leisurely in many ways.
Regardless, they had to emerge victorious in the battle.
To achieve that, Kanna Cartier assigned a small, separate mission within this seemingly strategy-less first battle.
…No.
To be precise, it was a mission U-jin had suggested first.
Special supplies brought from the Floating Territory seemed quite suitable for use in the current situation.
“…You’re saying this is at stake?”
Ludwig Allegro muttered as he looked up at a massive hunk of iron that easily exceeded a man’s height.
Nod—
“That’s right. It’s one of the mana weapons produced internally by our Floating Territory.”
“…….”
“I originally had no plans to provide these as supplies, thinking you wouldn't be able to use them properly… but this friend even went so far as to say he’d take them personally, so I came down to explain how to use them myself.”
Tap, tap—
Looking around at the gathered crowd who wore expressions of confusion regarding its use, Kim Satgat raised the end of his staff and tapped the body of the iron stake.
Just how densely compressed was it?
Instead of the sharp, ringing sound typical of metal, a dull thud echoed, as if he were tapping concrete.
“First, the purpose of this object is to sever the mana that naturally flows through the atmosphere.”
“……!”
“It’s a tool that temporarily cuts off the natural flow of the area and resets the mana flow of the combat environment to be advantageous for our allies.”
Heh-heh—
“It’s a brand-new item that hasn't even been used once in the Floating Territory yet.”
Just as Kim Satgat said, the iron stake was a weapon that had never been used separately in the Floating Territory.
In fact, it wasn't just the iron stake.
Since they didn't know what the environment of the Transcendental Plane was like, the Floating Territory ‘Joseon’ had put considerable technical effort into the field of military force.
However, due to their nature of moving while remaining hidden, they rarely had the opportunity to use their weapons in actual combat.
Among the supplies the Floating Territory provided to the Northern Subjugation Force, quite a few weapons had never actually been used in real battle.
…That, too, was one of the Floating Territory’s interests in the Northern Subjugation Force.
Of course, if one were to point out the fundamental reason, this wasn't it.
From the Floating Territory’s perspective, they needed to test weapons that had never been used in battle at least once before ascending to the Transcendental Plane.
Even if they didn't know exactly when, since Sejong, the Lord of the Floating Territory, had said it ‘wasn't far off,’ there was a possibility it was right before their eyes, so they were preparing in advance.
The fact that they were providing weapons they themselves had never used as ‘supplies’ might have been offensive to the Northern Subjugation Force, but as long as the performance was guaranteed, the Subjugation Force had no reason to refuse.
The fact that the Floating Territory produced them themselves meant they weren't the kind of weapons used in the War against Demons so far, and that in itself was as good as ‘over-technology.’
“This iron stake induces a ‘mana entanglement phenomenon’ by severing the flow of mana and causing it to conflict with the existing flow.”
“…….”
“The exact principle is the conflict of the trigram virtues of the Later Heaven Bagua due to Yin-Yang disharmony, but….”
Shrug—
“You won't understand even if I tell you, so just know that much.”
Louis Button, who had tried to understand Kim Satgat’s words before giving up and shaking his head, asked him.
“…I don't know much about it, but regardless, doesn't the occurrence of a mana entanglement phenomenon itself affect our side as well?”
Louis’s question hit the nail on the head.
To be precise, a mana entanglement phenomenon was something they had been experiencing vividly through the ‘Black Sea’s Veil’ until just a moment ago.
If, as Kim Satgat said, the only effect of the iron stake was to cause mana entanglement on the battlefield, then even allies couldn't be free from its influence.
Furthermore, while for the Orc shamans it would simply make their original mana manipulation more difficult, the priests were currently in a state of confusion, unable to find their way through the characteristics of the mana utilization system called ‘술법 (sulbeop/technique)’ which they had never encountered in their lives.
In the same environment, the allies might be even more affected.
However.
There was a separate solution for that part.
If the problem of the allies’ mana utilization hadn't been solved, U-jin wouldn't have gone out of his way to tell the Floating Territory that he would bring these down.
“Heh-heh. Did you think I came down here without considering even that?”
Ssh—
Kim Satgat pulled out a fluttering sheet of yellow paper from his robe.
In the center of the paper, a familiar Taegeuk symbol and the Bagua were drawn.
The proud explanation Kim Satgat added was nothing short of shocking.
“It’s an object called the Taegeuk Bagua Protection Charm. If you possess this, you can offset the ‘conflict of the trigram virtues of the Later Heaven Bagua due to Yin-Yang disharmony’ caused by the iron stake. In other words.”
“…….”
“To put it simply, you become ‘immune.’”
In short, to summarize Kim Satgat’s words: they would drive the iron stakes into the Orc Mountains to make ‘mana utilization’ itself difficult in the battlefield environment, and then give these ‘Taegeuk Bagua Protection Charms’ to the allies’ mana users to make them immune to the effect.
So.
It meant they could forcibly convert the space under the influence of the iron stakes into the allies’ ‘home ground.’
It was a revolutionary idea.
The reason the defending side had an advantage in siege and defense battles was that it was their home ground, and they could set up various magical devices in advance.
However, if Kim Satgat’s words were true, they could use these ‘iron stakes’ to bypass all those magical installations at once and flip the space itself into the allies’ home ground.
If it worked properly, it would be a siege weapon powerful enough to be called a ‘disaster’ from the enemy’s perspective.
“The range of effect is the pentagonal area connecting the five axes where the stakes are driven. Naturally, if you drive them far apart, the effect weakens, and if you drive them close together, the range of the established formation narrows, making the effect stronger.”
“…….”
“Any more questions? I’ll teach the specific methods of use to the personnel once they are decided.”
“…What about transport? It would take several people to move something that size.”
Smirk—
As if he had anticipated Ludwig’s question, Kim Satgat placed his right hand on the iron stake instead of answering.
Then.
Woooong—
A strange energy emanating from his hand synchronized with the iron stake, and the stake gradually began to shrink in size.
And the size of that iron stake, which kept shrinking without end, eventually reduced to the point where one had to focus their vision intensely to even see it.
“The motif is Yeoui.”
“…….”
“If it’s Yeoui, isn't it only natural that it should be able to fit inside an ear hole? Heh-heh.”
Laughing like that, Kim Satgat held out the iron stake, gripping both ends with his thumb and index finger.
Just as he said, the size of the iron stake had shrunk to barely over a single knuckle in length.
“The method for enlarging it is the same. You might struggle a bit if it’s your first time, but if someone with a talent for mana receives my instruction, it won't take very long.”
“…….”
“Well, if it’s really too difficult, I can even provide direct assistance from Joseon.”
Shrug—
“I brought them down because I felt I should explain them, but once I go up, there’s a separate device for launching them directly.”
At the following explanation, the three people representing the Order fell completely silent.
The reason was simple.
The image they had in their heads of ‘Floating Territory Joseon’ seemed to be deviating further and further from its orbit the more questions they asked.
They had known for a while that their technological level wouldn't be ordinary, but even considering that, this was at a substantial level.
It was like an onion that kept revealing more layers no matter how much they peeled, and their heads were only getting more complicated. If they weren't going to find out everything, it felt better to stop here.
And so.
“Then.”
“…….”
“I wish you victory.”
The all-out war with the Orc Mountains began.