novelraw Chapter 493: Schemed Against
Chapter 493: Schemed Against
Second-phase seekers were the ground-level cornerstones of every force. Axel let out an amused chuckle. Since he killed most of the surviving academy students, the timeline remained more or less the same, which was very good.
His plans would have fewer hiccups on that note. With such great losses and a lack of talented individuals later on, high society would have no choice but to bring a large number of commoners into their ranks.
If things don’t go too badly, in the next 5 to 10 years, most of the military forces of all the noble and merchant families, as well as the royal family, will consist of commoners. Something that would eventually cause an immense crack in the noble society’s unshakable authority.
After all, he was playing the long game. Temporary losses were much obliged by him, as long as he made great returns later on.
After gobbling up a table full of delicious foods cooked by his maid Claire, he let out a satisfied burp. No matter how shitty humanity’s situation was, he had to admit that this world’s rare cuisines and food culture were truly heavenly, without a shadow of a doubt.
Axel immediately returned to the rune chamber. It seemed the doppelganger bastard was slagging off, only after he shouted harsh comments of how pathetic his rune crafting and forging were, as well as screaming shameful profanities that could make even a tree jerk back in shame, did the lazy doppelganger increase the pace of his work through gritted teeth.
No matter how much he was filled with anger, the creature could not go against the words of Axel. Though the original had not ordered him anything, he knew that if he did not obey everything perfectly, a greater punishment would await him.
Axel, meanwhile, smiled darkly. He felt like a corrupt office boss, pushing his own work onto his faithful subordinate, who had no choice but to work through blood and bone if he wanted that promotion, leading them through the nose, and even then, his underling would not be able to say a single thing.
The feeling was great. The endless amount of work, something which only he could do, could be delegated to someone else. He was ecstatic, even though Axel loved runecraft in general.
Doing the same work day and night for months and months made even him feel a bit annoyed.
***
The unified army was divided into three exact groups, this time on the 2nd level of battle, each from one of the great kingdoms. Many who expected the leaders of this war to come join in this time were disappointed. Even though they were also 2nd phase seekers.
This created more bad rumors in the three armies. The morale of the 2nd phase seekers about to participate in the battle was at an all-time low. After all, they had seen how brutally the enemy forces killed 300,000 first-phase seekers.
Hearing the low, dissatisfied murmurs of the soldiers, exactly one day before the second clash was about to happen, Jaden sighed, looking at the three princes. He eventually stated, "There is no other choice, the soldiers, we must give them rune tools, at least of the common grade."
BANG!!!!
Lucien scowled, punching his fist on the table that made the entire tent shake, "How many fucking times must I tell you the same plan over and over?"
At this moment, Enrick gave a dark look towards the Golden Prince, for he knew exactly what Lucien was after. He chuckled, but his tone contained no amusement, "Well, unlike you here, we’re not so desperate for revenge that we would damn thousands of innocent seekers and their families."
Lucien clenched his fists; the words spoken by the prince of Samartan were indeed the truth; he didn’t give much of a damn about the nuances of war, resources, and people management, things that make a war profitable. He only wanted to make the ghost race pay and attack where it hurts.
Lucien let out a soft laugh, but his laughter was filled with utter disdain, "Don’t fucking pretend like you’re some saint who gives a damn about those cannon fodder and their families. Already 300,000 of them are dead. Can you be any more of a hypocrite?"
Thorian interjected in a firm tone, confirming his stance to stand with Enrick, "Which already was a big mistake in our part. I did not truly think that we would suffer such a crushing defeat, even with light-based magic artifacts given to the soldiers."
The prince of Suncrest then turned towards Jaden, who was obviously not on his side as well. Even if Lucien had the highest commanding authority, he alone could not call the shots if the other three were not in agreement.
This further highlighted how truly divided humanity was, even when faced with a collective enemy.
Though this time, the fault would fall on Lucien himself, as he was the one trying to put his personal agenda above everything else.
Lucien sneered, "Fine, have it your way, we will see if you lot even have proper quality rune tools to arm all of your 2nd phase seekers."
Enrick said in a snarky tone, "We will only arm them with common grade 2nd-tier tools. Of course, you can arm your soldiers with higher quality ones."
He paused for a moment, added with a provocative grin, "Uh, of course. I forgot the Vex family was destroyed, sigh, what a pity."
Lucien’s killing intent leaked out, his face frost-cold. If it wasn’t for the fact that if he attacked Enrick right now, his image would only become more stained, he might even be stripped of his position immediately, the bastard of Samartan probably wanted exactly that.
Lucien managed to control himself, ignoring the provocative look, he sneered in his heart, ’Damn wretches wait till you just see, better luck matching the quality of the rune weapons made by Axel Nomrad himself.’
The golden prince knew that there was no one even remotely close to Axel Nomrad in Samartan and Blackvale in terms of runic talent. Heck, even their best rune weapon production forces were inferior to even the Vex family.
The moment Lucien walked out of the tent, Enrick let out a sneer, "I could literally hear what he was thinking. If only he knew that we’ve also purchased more than enough rune weapons from Axel Nomrad."
Jaden nodded, "By the time he even realizes it, it would be too late."
***
Three enormous battalions of 2nd-phase seekers stood side by side. Each of the battalions had its own distinct color of magic-based clothing. Showing the culture of each great kingdom.
The Suncrest Seekers wore golden-and-red attire.
The Blackvale seekers wore dark gray attire.
The Samaritan seekers wore bright, colorful attire.
Unlike the first-phase seekers, the 2nd-phase existences did not need armor; the type of armor they needed would be too expensive. Thus, it was not particularly viable to produce them in large quantities, as it would consume too many resources. The returns would not be worth it.
Each of the battalions stood in formation in four rows, from initial, mid, late, and peak 2nd phase, from the back to the front.
Each battalion consisted of 10,000 second-phase seekers. Their collective mana created a tangible pressure around that made the very grounds tremble.
Unlike the first clash, this one would be much more spread around, with smaller teams facing off against one another, rather than a complete all-out clash between two mighty forces.
There was a powerful warlord aspect holder designated as the battalion leader. Due to their usage and unique nature, these aspects provided the entire army a huge boost in power, and a collective boost was also applied to the warlord aspect holders.
The combined might of the 30,000 second-phase seekers was like a divine armada, ready to rain down heavenly judgment on the undead army. All of their attire was blessed by powerful light magic. That would increase the base damage of their every attack against all undead-type beings.
The combined pressure of the 30,000 second-phase seekers far outclassed the pressure of the 300,000 first-phase seekers’ army. That’s how big a difference there was between the two phases of power. Without possessing bloodline powers or some special trait. It was a pipe dream for anyone to even think of fighting higher-phase seekers.
Every single soldier wore a cold expression, and bloodlust radiated out from them like a tidal wave. They were amongst the best of the best, with great potential, unquestionable battle prowess when working within teams, and holders of powerful aspects and aspect-based abilities that made each of them an efficient killing machine on the battlefield, such as this.
The ones who would slaughter endlessly without batting an eyelid? The cream of the crop. But even then, there was a ripple of tension in their hearts as they looked at the approaching allied army.
Nearly 12,000 bone golems, each of which had peak 2nd phase power, seven meters in height, marching in slow but heavy steps. Causing small tremors in the earth that travelled for miles and miles, the quake of the ground only grew stronger cumulatively.
And this was merely the first wave; more powerful foes awaited behind the army of golems, if a sufficient number of forces even manages to survive from the unified army after the first clash.
Because, in all honesty, at least 5-8 strong second-phase seekers were needed at a minimum to put down only one bone golem. The odds were well stacked against the unified army, as always.
***
{Read Author note below....}