Chapter 173 – The Blue Lion vs. The Crimson Conqueror

1

“Count, even now, wouldn’t it be better to pull back the troops and accept the demands of the Duchy?”

“…It’s too late. What’s done is done. Make sure everyone is fully prepared for battle.”

The desert.

Count Acre had chosen this desolate place as the battlefield.

He knew just how grueling it was to set up camp on the unstable ground.

With each breath, the gritty wind scratched at his nasal passages.

His vision blurred, and the coarse sand rolling around in his mouth left his throat dry.

The air itself was a source of suffering, and the Count’s soldiers huddled together, enduring the misery.

The Acre army numbered twenty thousand strong.

They weren’t conscripts but elite soldiers who had gathered for the glory of the Blue Lion.

Some fought for noble titles, others for wealth and honor, and still others to curry favor with the Count.

This territorial war would be decided in a single clash.

If the casualties were too great, the battle would end in a duel between the commanders.

Count Acre, his face hardened, dismissed his advisors.

“We strike at noon. Inform the units.”

“…Understood.”

“Glory to the Blue Lion.”

It was the same phrase he had always shouted with confidence, but today, it felt like a march toward death.

Everyone knew it.

But still, the Blue Lion had to bare its fangs and stand tall in the face of any enemy.

That was the Blue Lion.

That was the role of the Acre County, guarding the Empire’s outskirts.

Was there anything more ironic than a sword meant to protect against external threats now being pointed at one of the Empire’s own dukes?

And the opponent was no ordinary foe—it was one of the ducal houses that upheld the very foundations of the Empire.

Count Acre couldn’t help but wonder if this was the right course of action.

“Are we prepared?”

“Of course. The Church has made thorough preparations. Even if we can’t win, we can wipe out all the key figures.”

“I hope your words hold true. There will be nothing left to avenge if we fail—only ruin.”

A foreign voice quietly responded, “Understood.”

The forces of the Caesar Duchy numbered just ten thousand.

The enemy had twice as many soldiers.

In open battle, numbers were a decisive factor.

But Count Acre couldn’t afford to relax, not for a moment.

Even with superior numbers, all of that could become meaningless if a certain powerful figure appeared on the battlefield.

Labeth Caesar.

The most powerful Archmage of the current era was going to personally join the battle.

‘Can we truly trust the Church’s plan?’

They claimed to have something prepared that rivaled the Archmage.

But could they really be trusted…?

Count Acre stared at his sword.

The blade, Emilia, was a gift from the Emperor when he had sworn to protect the Empire.

Now, that very sword was aimed at one of the Empire’s key pillars, and he had no time to lament it.

“Count! The enemy has arrived!”

“…Order the army to prepare for battle.”

His eyes glinted with a dull resolve.

2

The desert wind was unfamiliar to Manus, yet oddly familiar at the same time.

Thanks to his experience exploring ancient ruins in harsh conditions, he could endure the dry, gritty air of the desert.

What felt foreign to him was the atmosphere of the battlefield.

There was an unsettling undercurrent of tension, a hidden malevolence ready to explode and consume everyone present.

Manus stood alongside his family, silently observing the oppressive aura that hung over the battlefield.

Tyrannis and Invidea seemed unbothered, as if this scene was all too familiar to them.

Their blue eyes scanned the battlefield with practiced calm, merely assessing the enemy’s numbers.

His sister, Invidea, spoke to him.

“You look nervous.”

“Not really. I’m more curious about what the Church is planning to pull.”

“We should definitely be on guard. We’ve already organized a special detachment.”

Their father, Labeth, cast his gaze toward Manus.

His son, who had set aside his studies at the Academy to come to the battlefield.

Pride swelled in him, knowing his son truly had the blood of a conqueror.

But that didn’t make the dangers of war any less real.

Even Tyrannis and Invidea might have to risk their lives here, so bringing along a student who hadn’t even graduated from the Academy was not something he was keen on.

So, he asked.

He wanted to know his son’s reasons.

“Manus, why did you choose to participate in this war?”

“I couldn’t just stand by and let the Church’s actions go unchecked.”

“In my eyes, they’re nothing more than a petty group. You’re worried about them?”

Labeth spoke as if it were nothing, his attitude completely different from Manus’s.

It was as though he viewed this war with the same nonchalance as going for a stroll through the village.

Was he truly so indifferent to any threat that might come their way?

Well, if Manus had a power as deep and vast as his father’s, he might feel the same way.

Manus decided to trust in his father’s strength.

He was also curious—just what kind of power did the man wield to earn the title of the continent’s strongest mage?

Even Tyrannis, who had reached 6th-Class, felt like an insurmountable wall to Manus.

‘What kind of presence will my father show on the battlefield?’

Beyond the desert, the Acre forces began to emerge.

Their white armor gleamed with a subtle blue light, exuding a commanding presence.

The Acre family, renowned for their swordsmanship, boasted an impressive knight order.

If the Caesar family had their magic tower, the Acre family had their knights.

It could be seen as a battle between mages and knights, but war involved far more than just those two.

Labeth looked at the enemy army with indifference and spoke.

“Prepare the magic.”

Though his words were spoken in a casual tone, they were amplified by mana, reverberating loudly across the battlefield.

The Caesar mages raised their hands to the sky in unison.

The Acre family had staked everything on the rights to the Vilteit Great Forest.

They risked having to pay millions in tribute each year if they lost.

Defeat in this territorial war meant the downfall of the family.

The Emperor had permitted this war to both help Caesar reclaim its lost interests and to uncover the Church’s secrets.

Thus, the curtain rose on the first territorial war in decades.

[Intemperie]

A massive magic circle appeared in the sky.

The Acre knights, seeing it, fiercely whipped their horses into a gallop.

Their goal was to reach Caesar’s formation and create chaos before the magic circle could be activated.

The mana-infused warhorses moved faster than expected, their power immense.

Despite the sandy terrain, the Acre soldiers charged at an incredible speed.

Labeth briefly watched the magic circle, then activated his own mana.

He hadn’t planned on stepping in, but it seemed the enemy was slightly more capable than anticipated.

‘What in the…’

Rumble—

Just by awakening his mana, the entire area seemed to respond, the earth itself trembling.

Manus, standing nearby, felt the hair on his body stand on end.

With a calm expression, Labeth Caesar created another massive magic circle in the air.

A single mage had conjured a circle the same size as the combined efforts of the entire mage battalion.

And he did it with such speed that even the Acre knights hesitated under the sheer pressure of his mana.

“That was… impressive.”

Though it was only enough to delay their charge for a moment.

Labeth completed his magic in an instant.

Manus’s eyes widened as he watched.

Before him was a display of power that only ten people on the entire continent had reached.

Even with his own [Caesar’s Mindset], which allowed him to understand all magical knowledge, it was impossible to fully grasp the magnitude of what he was witnessing.

This was a level of magic so extraordinary, it deserved to be recorded in the annals of history.

This was the reason why, in the original story, the Caesar family had never needed to intervene.

The reason why Manus’s character had been discarded as a one-time pawn.

All Manus could do was watch.

Silent, as he witnessed a miracle.

Or perhaps, to the enemy, a catastrophe.

[Cytis]

7th-Class fire magic.

A cascade of flames erupted from the enormous magic circle, racing across the desert like a river of fire.

The inferno swallowed up the Acre knights, creating a massive crater in its wake.

No natural disaster could take lives as swiftly as this.

The heat was so overwhelming, even the blazing desert sun seemed cool in comparison.

Manus, seeing the scene unfold for the first time in his life, was left speechless.

Cytis.

He knew the spell—7th-Class fire magic.

‘So this is what it looks like in reality.’

The impact was on a completely different scale than any game effect he’d ever seen.

The Acre knights at the front of the charge evaporated in an instant.

The pride of the Acre family, gone without a trace.

Despite unleashing such devastating magic, Labeth’s expression remained calm.

With his arms folded, he spoke once more.

The Caesar forces’ attack was far from over.

“Extinguish the flames with magic.”

Swoosh—

The magic was executed.

This was the work of the mages from the Tower, who had dedicated their lives to magical research.

If their firepower hadn’t been impressive, that would’ve been the real surprise.

Rain of ice fell from the sky.

A wide-area debuff spell that hindered the enemy’s mobility and rusted their armor.

In war, mobility was equivalent to life.

The silver armor that had once shone so brightly turned an icy white.

In an instant, it corroded.

“Advance.”

Labeth’s command was crisp and to the point.

Now, it was time for the slaughter.

With the enemy’s defenses and mobility weakened, they would be crushed in a single overwhelming strike.

It was Caesar’s signature strategy, a tactic that had never once failed.

Waaaaaahh!!

The Caesar soldiers roared as they charged across the scorched and frozen ground.

They marched forward with spears and swords in hand.

“Hold formation! Move without wasting energy!”

“Keep your spears steady! Prepare to charge in one push!”

“Control the horses! Don’t break formation!”

Caesar had its own knight order, and they were no less formidable than Acre’s.

Wearing black armor and crimson capes, they exuded the aura of true conquerors.

The mages riding with the knights began casting spells.

Unlike ordinary mages who preferred to observe the battlefield from a distance, these were combat mages who had honed a single spell over years of training.

Their task was simple.

To support the knights’ charge and shield them from the enemy’s attacks.

The result was a perfect collaboration between knights and mages who had fought together for years.

As swirling whirlwinds whipped up around them, their massive figures bore down on the Acre soldiers.

“Advance.”

Labeth’s command was flawless, free of any excess.

Even the elite forces of the Acre family, tasked with defending the Empire’s borders, were helpless in the face of Caesar’s overwhelming magic-backed army.

Or so it seemed.

Surely the Acre side had their own hidden cards to play.

They had to appear anxious.

They had to make it seem like the war would end quickly, forcing the enemy to reveal their trump card.

Caesar’s greatest weapon wasn’t its mages or its knights.

Labeth spoke to his children at his side.

“Prepare yourselves.”

“Yes, father.”

Their voices overlapped as they responded.

Caesar’s ultimate weapon.

Tyrannis and Invidea were about to move.

A force so powerful, it could crush anything the enemy threw their way.

Caesar had plenty of aces up its sleeve.

And then…

[Side Quest]

[Stop the Dire Order’s plot]

[Reward: Skill Slot +1 / ???]

[This mission requires a team. Number of participants: 3]

It was time for Manus to make his move.

–TL Notes–
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