Long after night had fallen, in the deep darkness of the Royal Plaza, the Superheavy Battle Tank continued to sit ominously. 

Not knowing how to drive the thing, it had been left until John Cooper could be talked to about getting a driver to relocate it. And since nobody knew how to drive it, and it was built to be nigh indestructible, none of the guards believed that it needed to be watched. 

More importantly, none of them wanted to watch it. Looking at those engraved names for too long drove a few of the guards to paranoia. It did nothing like make them mad, so it wasn’t deemed dangerous, but it had just enough of an effect to, over time, bury its image into the minds of those too close. 

Not even servants dared to clean the tables and food that the tank had crushed under its treads. Splinters and crushed pastries continued to go stale around it, and when one ordinary servant girl had been forced to draw near, she was overtaken by the visions and had dropped to the ground, passed out. 

When woken, she expressed horror, thinking she had been the one whose heart had been ripped out of her chest by a Scourge monster. 

Until it could get moved, the Plaza was an exclusion zone, barren, only illuminated by the city beyond. 

Until it suddenly wasn’t. 

A woman, draped in black and walking with her head down, headed straight toward the tank from the doors leading to the Palace proper. Her steps were measured, but anxious. 

She slowed as she approached the tank, looking up at it once it had easily eclipsed her figure. She trembled faintly as the screams and harrowing visions entered her mind, but she was powerful enough to hold herself together. 

After all, she recognized one of them. It was calling her. 

“I hear you… where are you…”

She muttered and stepped toward the cold steel of the front armor plating. Her eyes slowly shifted from one name to another, reading each one and moving on once she understood that it wasn’t the one she sought. 

She went around the tank, stopping at the large painted letters of its name. 

Regret. 

She gazed upon those letters, freezing as she saw the engravings within them. They were formations, so horribly complex that she couldn’t fathom what they did, and yet the voice within screamed at her. 

She reached out, touching them, and causing them to flash with brilliance. Her vision went white, and within her own mind she saw the past. 

The brilliant battle, the terror of Unholy Light, screams and explosions that rended the planet. They slammed through her mind and despite being Authority 9, she threatened to outright collapse. 

She kept her feet subconsciously. More visions of annihilatory battles flashed, some of them carrying esoteric meanings. All she understood was the desperation. The fight against all odds. 

Against an Authority 11 King Blood of Unholy Light. 

She shuddered as a single image of it was seared into her mind. But the image was not of the King Blood living, nor its obscene strength. 

It was its death at the hands of that she sought. 

She saw her husband crushing the King Blood’s head into pulp, the almighty heroism of the image burned into her neurons such that she could never forget even if she wanted to, as if the formations were afraid that she wouldn’t understand the depth of the sacrifice. 

Once the image was implanted she recoiled away from the cold metal, the formations going lifeless. She started falling but there was suddenly a pair of hands to catch her. 

It took her almost a minute to regain herself. It was only then that she looked up, finding him. 

John Cooper, the last man to fight alongside her husband. 

Avicia cried, his blank face staring down at her. It was cold, nearly lifeless, emotionless. There was no sorrow in it. 

But there was also only one person who could’ve put those formations there. That tank was more than just a weapon. It was a symbol. 

It was his Regret. 

Suddenly, he held out a ring. She recognized the wedding ring. It doubled as a spatial storage, something she had custom ordered for him. 

“I had to crack the seal on it. But rest assured, everything is still there.”

She reached out and took it with shaking hands. 

The funeral still hadn’t been held. Everyone had been too busy. There had been too many dead, and the military was still recovering from the massive blow it had taken. There was little time for holding ceremonies. 

That was why she had fought to be at the Assembly. It would be the only place she could find John Cooper. 

There had been so many things to say. So many hateful curses, so many sorrowful mourns, so many empathetic comforts. She wasn’t sure if she hated this man. She had gotten so many messages about him. Nonnen had told her that, when the battles were over, he wanted her to meet him. 

Now she had, and she had no words. When she looked at him, she felt like there was nothing to say. Nothing that he hadn’t already thought of. No amount of curses that he hadn’t already said to himself. 

His neutral voice echoed in her mind again. 

“I will be hosting a funeral in the coming months for the Snow Doves. But I want to hold one for you and your family as well. For Nonnen. If you’re okay with being in contact.”

He held out his Aerial, one she didn’t recognize. After some thought, she touched hers to it, exchanging information. 

Then she steadied herself on her own feet, his hands retreating from her. She straightened her dress and, after receiving a handkerchief from him, wiped her face. 

She took a few shuddering breaths to calm herself before nodding. 

“I would appreciate that, Sir Cooper.”

“It’s the least I’ll be doing. You have a blank check for the event. Just let me know what you want to do, no matter the expense. It can be as grand or as small as you wish.”

“…Very well. What about… his body?”

“I have him, but I’ll be holding onto him for now. The remnant power lingering in his body and ashes is dangerous. It’s already slowly destroyed two spatial rings, so I need to find a way to contain it safely before handing it off.”

“I understand. Thank you.”

John just nodded before turning. 

“I must return for now. If you wish to talk further or discuss any details, you have my personal contact. Don’t hesitate to use it.”

“I understand…”

She nodded back as he walked away, leaving her next to the tank. 

The voices no longer screamed at her. As if realizing that she was related to the fallen, they avoided her, seeking out those who deserved their torment. 

Once John disappeared beyond the doors to the Palace, Avicia fell to her knees. 

She clutched her dress, and she screamed alongside the memories of the dead. 

……

…

March 2nd, 626

The second day of deliberation came. 

I sat in my designated chair of the meeting room, just like the day before. Except now, there were half the amount of people at the table. 

Most of the plus ones that had been brought the day before were all gone, the night before having been filled with endless talks. Those at the table, at least those of sufficient status, didn’t do most of the talking, leaving their subordinates to do it for them. Those subordinates were now sleeping while the invited were here to engage in the real discussions. 

Today would lay half the foundation for the future. 

Umara wasn’t here, having retired after we ate breakfast together. As for me, although I was going on 24 hours, I had my Psyka to keep me sharp. I could stay up for another few days if I really wanted to. 

The only reason that didn’t usually happen on the front lines was because I was usually fighting for my life in those situations. But now, I could use my power for something other than slinging hate at ungodly monsters. 

Having Psyka made mundane things like pulling off all nighters easy. I still felt completely fresh, Psyka streaming through my brain and augmenting my mental faculties. 

Currently there was a large map on the massive table before us. It detailed the area around the northwestern front that had recently fallen, including the locations of the now toppled Stronghold Charlie and Treehouse. 

A few major decisions would be made today. First would be the location of the new bases that had to be established. Second would be determining the main method of transportation between them, whether that was to be an underground Rail line, road, or plane. 

Third would be detailing the logistics of procuring troops, as well as assessing intel regarding Scourge movements in the area. The enemy would determine how many people needed to be sent. 

But what would determine everything else was where the new bases were established. That’s why everyone looked at the map intently. 

The overarching goal was to hold the Scourge beyond the River of Desolation. It was the line in the sand, but the issue was that Stronghold Charlie wasn’t that far away from it. 

Stronghold Charlie was located near the edge of a mountain range. Between that mountain range and the River was a large swath of desert, untouched and uninhabited. 

Thankfully, the mountain range went all the way to the coast, so it would be difficult for the Scourge to simply route around us. Their easiest path would be to continue beyond Stronghold Charlie and hit the desert before reaching the River of Desolation. 

The only reason we would be able to take the desert from them is because that intestine hadn’t grown that far yet. It was progressing, probably faster than ever, but it still took time. If we moved fast enough, we’d be able to establish a bulwark in the desert and at least fight them back to the mountain range

Thanks to my planes once again, everyone was able to look at detailed images of the landscape in question. The desert was mostly open but if one of the bases was positioned correctly in relation to the river, that wouldn’t be an issue. Stronghold Charlie had the advantage of terrain on its side but so long as I had any say, the wide open desert would be far more advantageous to me than the mountains. 

It took a dozen seconds to think of three new places for three new bases, places that were both easily defendable and close enough to other bases for easy cooperation.

Only one of those positions would be certain, however. It would be the one furthest west, the position that would both take the largest brunt of the Scourge’s hatred and be the farthest from established human cities. The other two positions were closer to the River and therefore closer to other cities. That meant the nobles would fight for those position changes like their lives depended on it. If they managed to argue for a good base position, they’d set themselves up economically for years. 

I was only worried about the certainty. 

There was light conversation around the table, small mindless comments about the population figures for the other strongholds and reserve forces. However, everyone was looking at the map and staring at that barren swath of land, the future battleground against the Scourge. 

It was finally time for me to step in. 

I stood, immediately catching the eyes of all nobles, generals, and the King. My movement was deliberately slow, one of my hands raising and reaching out. 

Psyka fluttered off my hand, washing over the focus of the map and dropping a pin on one very particular spot on one of the detailed images. 

For the first time I spoke. 

“This position, right here, is where we need to establish the next Stronghold. It will be the one to not just survive the Scourge, but push them back.”

My voice echoed in the Assembly Hall, silence prevailing for a short time as generals and nobles looked at me, stupefied, as if it was asinine to think that I would ever offer my opinion. 

One of the Generals, Full General Heuser, responded. He was supposedly in charge of a Stronghold further to the east, not a rear position, but far more pampered than the western bases were. After all, they had the Church over there to handle the vast majority of the fight. 

“You so confidently declare that the position you chose is the correct spot? Are you simply arrogant?”

“Now now, General Heuser,” The King waved and smiled, “His confidence must come from somewhere, as smart of a man Sir Cooper is. I’d like to hear his reasoning.”

I glanced at the King, then at the General, who reluctantly fell silent.

Then more of my Psyka poured over the map, leaving icons and outlines detailing the most predictable presence of the Scourge and their future movements. 

“My reasoning is simple. The Scourge wants to grow their Gargantuan Intestine beyond the mountain range around the fallen Stronghold Charlie. That Intestine is what their army revolves around. It is their supply line in just about every conceivable fashion. Food, water, resources, monsters, Royals. They all come from it, but they don’t stray too far either. So we have some time before they advance out of the mountain range and into the desert in the south. Why bother marching millions of monsters through tough terrain when you can simply wait for the intestine to grow? So if I’m being honest, the exact position of the main combat base isn’t the most important factor. However…”

The pin on my chosen spot flashed once more. 

“The reason I chose this position is because it would be the most suitably offensive position.”

“I disagree.”

General Heuser stated, standing as I did and motioning toward the map. 

“Is it not obvious how, on the contrary, that position is the worst defensibly? It’s in the middle of the open! There are clear flat channels leading straight to it, channels of land that the Scourge can easily use to flood toward the base and annihilate it! Stronghold Charlie was strong because it utilized the mountainous terrain to its advantage. That’s why it was able to stand so long. And the hills around the Treehouse were why it wasn’t immediately overwhelmed when the Scourge started pressing its attack! So how could the position you chose possibly be anything other than a death sentence to every troop sent there?!”

I let out a small sigh, admiring the General’s ignorance. 

To think that they had been on the back foot so long that they no longer understood the concept of offense. 

“General, I’m amazed at your misunderstanding.”

“Hah! I’d love to hear this,” he cackled, “A rookie summoner invents a few things and thinks that he can dictate strategy to me! You’re 70 years too early to do that, boy!”

“Age does not equal wisdom, General. Don’t be a fool and listen. You might learn something.”

“What did you…?!”

I interrupted him with a snap of my fingers, my Psyka gently permeating the entire room and carrying my words. The General continued to bark but I simply spoke anyway, my voice carried into the minds of everyone within earshot.

“I didn’t choose this position because it was easily defendable. In fact, I chose it because it was quite the opposite. Indeed, there are channels that the Scourge could use to flood monsters toward it. However, that can only happen if the Scourge is there to do so. If they are alive

to do so.”

I tapped the table again, figures of my tanks, planes, armored vehicles, and all the amazing weapons atop them appearing on the map. 

“Unlike you, General Heuser, I’m tired of simply sitting there and letting the Scourge claw at us without contest. And all your words have done is help me understand that you, just like many others, have forgotten what it means to take the fight to the enemy. If the Kingdom continues to sit idly like this, the day that the Scourge reaches the River of Desolation will be inevitable. I am not the only one who sees it. However, I am the only one who can offer the solution. 

“Everyone here has seen the Superheavy Battle Tank that continues to sit within the Royal Plaza. 640 thousand pounds of solid steel, so dense with enchantments that when we were testing the armor’s tolerances, some spells would explode inches away from the armor, coming in contact with mana so dense that it acted as its own barrier. Those guns atop it are capable of putting holes through Bombardos from several miles away! And you know what the best part is? Right now, there are 300 more of those tanks just outside of the walls of the Capital.”

I tossed a projector out, a live video from a helicopter in the air showing all of the tanks lined up in rows outside the city walls. 

Even more, there were thousands of people around them, citizens from within the city who had been ushered by Sawn Industries workers to go and view the metal behemoths. 

Everyone at the table leaned forward, wanting for a closer look. 

General Heuser scowled, yet even he couldn’t tear his eyes away. 

“This right here, ladies and gentlemen, is the future of warfare! These are just 300 of our largest tanks. And yet, at the end of this month I will have another thousand of our smaller model, one that weighs 150 thousand pounds, to compliment them. And that isn’t counting the fleet of armored vehicles I’ll have the month after! What people like General Heuser fail to understand is that my planes were only the first step toward what I’m calling Mechanized Warfare.”

I waved toward the live video, which quickly switched to a recorded video of a live fire test. 

The superheavy battle tank fired at a massive metal wall about a mile away, and when the projectile slammed into the metal surface, it penetrated deep and then detonated, blasting not just a massive hole through the metal structure, but sending a sharding projectile beyond the wall and farther out beyond. 

“Humanity cannot match the Scourge in sheer numbers! They will always have us beat. They breed like heathens and then send their filthy spawn right at our walls without care for death or carnage. Humanity’s magic has done well to hold them back for so long. However, it has become clear in recent months that our simple numbers are no longer enough! The only reason the Treehouse hadn’t fallen sooner was because my planes were dropping thousands of bombs a day on the massive hordes of Scourge, murdering hundreds of thousands of them before they could even launch their attack! Do not think for a second that it was ‘just the mountains’ that held the Scourge. It was my industry that stopped them, and now, it’ll be my industry that will drive them back.”

I wiped away all the other images above the map, focusing back on the pin I dropped denoting the location of the base. 

“This position, General Heuser, is the best because it will allow me to send my tanks and utilize my vehicles to the greatest effect. With no mountains, no trees, and no barriers in our way, the Scourge will have nowhere to hide. They will simply watch as bombs hail down on them from above. They will tremble as armored vehicles rush out to annihilate their detachments scattered across the land. They will be crushed under treads as my tanks roll across sand and dirt to deliver hellfire from their cannons. With my industry, with my technology, we will take the fight to them. We will drive them back as they come flooding from the mountain range, not simply sit there like cowards, as someone like you might suggest.”

I grinned as he roared in protest. Without me speaking everyone was able to hear his voice, his words about how I was wrong and twisting his words. 

A few seconds later and I turned to the King, my Psyka nudging everyone’s attention back to me. 

“Your majesty, King Distrion Jealven Alphon. I’d like to propose something to you. As a soldier, and as an inventor whose products have served the Kingdom for the better.”

The King’s brows raised, the Marshal of the Royal Guard standing beside his chair glaring at me with scrutiny. 

Hook.

The King waved. 

“Go on, Sir Cooper.”

“My proposal is thus: Place a Stronghold in this position. Arm it with the standard allotment of troops. And then, allow me to outfit the entire Stronghold and its forces with my machines of war. My technology goes beyond simple tanks and planes. I have personal armor, sensors, structural enchantments, tools and weapons that can deliver magical attacks from miles away. The Stronghold will be an impenetrable fortress as it will be the source of ruin for the Scourge. I ask that you give me, give Sawn Industries, the rights to dictate the type of warfare this Stronghold fights with. And I will bring you victory. When the Scourge’s Intestine arrives and as those armies of millions march on that desert, as they inevitably will, I will eradicate them from the face of this world and I will deliver unto you a level of victory that hasn’t been seen in centuries. I don’t need 300 thousand troops that will turn into mere fodder like those at the Treehouse did. I just need a tenth of that, and I will turn them into the most effective army this world has ever known.”

The Hall was silent under my proposal, the gaze of four Sovereigns, and many more Marshals and Brigadiers, boring through my being. It was a massive amount of pressure to be under but I gave no hint of my stress. 

Line.

The King pondered for a few dozen seconds, his smile slowly growing wide. He couldn’t contain his excitement.

“You’re telling me, Sir Cooper, that you will bring me what no other General has brought me in centuries? That you and your technology are the key to this war? That, by giving you control of a small base with a mere 30 thousand troops, you’ll be able to bring me victory over the millions of Scourge currently occupying that mountain range?”

“Your majesty, a million Scourge means a million Crystals, and I’ve also designed special mass Crystal harvesters for the battlefield.”

I smiled at him.

“Give me a couple years, and I’ll bring you, not other nobles, but you, half of them.”

The King smiled even wider. 

And Sinker. 

“You make a tempting proposal, Sir Cooper.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep