A Regressor's Bucket List

Chapter 271 : Orc Mountains (5)

The effect of the iron stakes was incredible.

“…Does this even make sense?”

To the point where even Ludwig Allegro, the head of UMC, who was said to know everything happening on the continent, was so shocked he couldn't hold back his exclamation.

“How is this possible? No, this is just cheating.”

Someone might think he was exaggerating, but he wasn’t the only one reacting that way.

It was just that Ludwig had spoken first, so they remained silent; Kanna and Louis were also clearly feeling the effects of the ‘iron stakes,’ the strategic siege weapon from the Floating Territory.

To get straight to the point, the first all-out war in the Orc Mountains was a victory for the Subjugation Allied Forces.

And it was a great victory.

Naturally, it wasn’t that there were no casualties on their side, but when compared to the enemy’s losses, there was a quantitative difference of more than three times the scale.

And that was excluding the numbers of high-ranking unit types like Named magical beasts.

Although the exact number of high-ranking enemy units killed hadn’t been tallied yet, it was certain that the casualties among their own Hero-class forces were extremely minimal.

Including the difference in high-ranking units, the result was practically an easy win.

…And the ‘iron stakes’ that Ludwig had just marveled at played the biggest role in that.

“…It was certainly an overwhelming performance. I thought it sounded unusual from the description, but…”

It wasn’t that the Order didn't have siege weapons of its own.

Since the War against Demons was ongoing, related research was always in progress, and siege weapon research had been the most focused area of war studies since the Demon King's Army began their ‘fortification’ strategy.

Given the significant time and cost invested, it was true that the Order’s siege weapons possessed quite decent capabilities.

To the point where, in normal circumstances, they could confidently speak of it as their most advanced field.

However, the problem was that the Demon King's Army was also constantly looking for ways to counter them.

It might have been different if the War against Demons were a simple game of rock-paper-scissors where everything was decided in a single battle, but unfortunately, it wasn’t.

As the Order’s siege weapons improved, the Demon King's Army’s defensive technologies also advanced day by day, and the total amount of time and effort invested by both sides remained roughly equal.

In other words, despite being highly sophisticated and meticulously crafted siege weapons, it was difficult to say they were particularly ‘effective’ against the Demon King's Army.

The large-scale magic prepared by the Order was essentially their siege weapon, but each time, the defensive measures deployed by the Demon King's Army completely countered it.

Sometimes with armor.

Sometimes with drugs.

Sometimes with buildings.

If they played scissors, the opponent switched to rock; if they played paper, the opponent switched to scissors. In such a situation, no matter how much effort was put in, it was impossible to achieve a great effect.

However, the ‘iron stakes’ were on a different level.

From the perspective of the Demon King's Army, it was a type of siege weapon they had never seen before, utilizing a mana system called ‘sorcery’ that they were completely unfamiliar with.

As Kim Satgat had stated, this battle was the debut of the iron stakes in actual combat…

Consequently, the Demon King's Army naturally had no countermeasure, which left them with no choice but to let the tide of battle be completely overturned.

Of course, since ‘Isaac Einstein’ was on the other side, they couldn't afford to let their guard down by relying solely on this.

He was someone who could review the battle lost to the iron stakes at any time and discover a way to counter it.

But for now, it was an undeniable fact that the overwhelming victory of the Order’s army in this battle was thanks to the iron stakes.

The scene where five iron stakes, driven in under Kim Satgat’s command, formed a Five Elements Formation, and the orcs melted away under the magic poured inside without being able to offer any significant resistance, was so unfamiliar that even Kanna Cartier, who had experienced numerous battlefields, could say she was seeing it for the first time.

Even the shamans, who used a system most similar to magic, were helpless within that formation, forced to suffer magic and physical attacks without being able to resist even once.

In fact, the proof of its effectiveness lay in the fact that most of the casualties were sustained before the iron stakes were properly driven in and the formation was fully established.

“…With this, we can definitely win.”

Kanna Cartier muttered softly.

Having personally experienced the effect of the iron stakes, confidence naturally welled up.

It was only one battle’s worth of experience, but as they say, the first time is always the hardest.

Based on that precious experience, she calculated that if they continued the battle, the current Northern Subjugation Force could sufficiently conquer the Orc Mountains, no matter how fortified they were.

No matter how great Isaac Einstein was, it would be difficult for him to come up with a countermeasure for the iron stakes right away.

But.

As soon as she spoke, a dissenting opinion burst out.

“…The Orc Lord hasn’t appeared yet, Kanna.”

It was Leonardo Louis Button.

While it was partly because he was naturally the most conservative of the three, Louis’s words actually made sense.

The Orc Lord was the head of the orc race and the one responsible for allowing the orcs, who were once only a 3-star minimum scale, to grow this much.

Compared to other races, the ‘Orc Lord’ held a massive share of importance within the orc race.

Even without adding all those extra details, he was the most important figure simply by being the demon in charge of this Demon King's Territory, the Orc Mountains.

“…Furthermore, they haven’t even used their unique abilities yet.”

Like the Order’s Cross Radiance, the Demon King's Army also possessed wide-range mana utilization techniques that influenced the tide of battle.

The unique abilities that only demons who received a seal from the Demon King could use were one of the biggest factors in swaying the course of the war.

“…They’ll probably come out in the next battle. It won’t be too late to see then and decide.”

From Louis’s perspective, Kanna’s action of judging the success or failure of the conquest based on a single battle seemed quite dangerous.

“Even if it was successful, judge calmly how much progress has actually been made on the front line, Kanna.”

“……”

“More than a thousand soldiers gave their lives to advance just one finger’s width on this map.”

His words had merit because it was still impossible to gauge exactly how many orcs there were.

Of course, they could make a rough guess through battle, but because of the tunnels U-jin had discovered, it was difficult to grasp the exact numbers, and there was little previous data on the Orc Mountains to verify anyway.

They had always been famous for their endless numbers.

Ludwig, perhaps sharing Louis’s opinion, offered a slightly different suggestion.

“In this situation, wouldn't it be better to wear down their forces through guerrilla warfare instead?”

Swoosh—

“You know, like that guy over there who went into the middle of enemy territory alone to drive in the stakes. Pick a few exceptional ones and eat away at their forces, focusing on the Named ones.”

“……”

“While actively utilizing mana weapons, too.”

It was certainly a method with its merits.

Since the enemy’s troop numbers weren’t confirmed, it was hard to tell exactly how much of a burden killing ordinary orc soldiers would impose, but killing Named magical beasts would definitely be a strain for the Orc Mountains.

Then, once they reached a point where they could gauge the situation, they could switch strategies and lead into a large-scale battle at any time.

However, everything in the world has its pros and cons. This method also had clear disadvantages.

“…It’s true that the Northern Subjugation Force has gained a bit of breathing room through a stroke of luck, but we don’t have that much luxury.”

“……”

“It’s overwhelming.”

First of all, since it involved operating small-scale forces, it would take a long time for the strategy to reach an effective level.

Although they received supplies and mana support from the Floating Territory, that didn’t mean it was indefinite.

『Does that mean… the place called ‘Floating Territory Joseon’ has created a satellite magic device almost on par with the Order’s?』

Heh—

『On par… Not quite. At most, there’s just a little bit left over after operating the Floating Territory. It’s not as vast as the Order’s, is it? Just how much mana supply are you expecting?』

『……』

『We can’t provide as much as you think.』

As Kim Satgat had previously drawn a line, there were limits to the mana the Floating Territory could provide.

The Order’s central satellite magic was an organ that could be called ‘permanent’ as it contained the Messiah’s power, and it possessed a massive amount of mana enough to cover the entire continent.

However, the Floating Territory’s sorcery device could not be completely equal to the central satellite magic device, which was called ‘the greatest legacy left by the messenger of god.’

As he said, it was already consuming mana just to fly in the sky, and since it wasn’t a perpetual motion machine, it needed separate time and resources to recharge mana.

Since the support promised by the Floating Territory was only enough to resolve the immediate mana shortage, the situation wasn’t optimistic enough to openly plan for a long-term war.

Just as it was unexpected help, it wouldn’t be strange if it disappeared at any moment.

Of course, if the ‘Curtain of the Black Sea’ were lifted in the meantime and they could receive mana from the Order’s central satellite magic device again, it would be a very meaningful strategy.

But that was too optimistic.

According to the records Louis knew, the minimum duration for the ‘Curtain of the Black Sea’ to be maintained was two weeks.

In other words, if the curtain’s duration lasted longer than that, the possibility of it continuing for much longer could not be ruled out.

After all, it was the first Curtain of the Black Sea to be cast in 100 years.

A moment of silence filled the room.

And then.

Swoosh—

Swoosh—

Swoosh—

“……”

The heads of the three people naturally turned in one direction.

Sitting there was U-jin, the person who hadn’t voiced a single opinion inside the tent until now.

The scene of three people, who held some of the highest ranks among the Order’s high priests, sending looks clearly tinged with dependence toward someone was quite awkward and rare to see.

However, the three of them were staring without a hint of hesitation, as if they didn't feel any such strangeness at all.

At their behavior, which now felt somewhat natural, U-jin let out a laugh as if he found it absurd.

And just as they wanted, he answered briefly without any flowery language.

“Let’s just push ahead with the all-out war.”

“……”

“Because I have a method in mind.”