Siegfried immediately convened an emergency meeting. “What’s up? Did you think of a way to hit them hard?” Taycan asked, expecting to hear about the ingenious strategy Siegfried had come up with. “I wish that were the case. But no, not this time,” Siegfried shook his head and replied. “Scorched earth. The Holy Alliance is planning to... decimate the Kiev Kingdom.” A deafening silence fell upon the entire room at those words. If they were truly planning on using scorched earth tactics, then the scale of devastation the Kiev Kingdom would suffer would be beyond imagination. “C’mon, there’s no way they'll do that. I mean, sure, they can be quite ruthless. But scorched earth? That’s going too far,” Taycan said, shaking his head. Then, he continued, “People wage war to gain something in the end. But if they wipe out everything, then what’s left to take? If they do that, then not only the surrounding nations but also the public will turn against them.” “You’re not wrong,” Siegfried replied, not outright dismissing Taycan’s reasoning. “But why did you come to that conclusion?” Taycan asked. “The Holy Alliance is already spread thin across multiple fronts, and they are lacking manpower. If I were them, I would use this chance to completely raze the Kiev Kingdom to the ground and wrap up the central-western front entirely.” “And don’t forget that their ultimate goal is to expand the influence of the Monotheism Church and open Celestial Gates. They want to summon the angels and bring the Middle Realm under their rule. They’re not just after land gains.” “Wait, are you serious?” “You still don’t get it? Why else would they start a war of this scale for no reason? And what about the angels backing them? You’ve seen them too, haven’t you?” “I... yeah, you’re right.” “This isn’t merely speculation. It’s not just a theory. It’s happening,” Siegfried said. Then, he pointed at the map spread out on the table and asked, “They’re pulling back through here and here, right?” “Yeah,” Taycan replied with a nod. “Then look here. This is where their forces will split,” Siegfried said, pointing at a specific point. “Why are they splitting up?” “They don’t need one massive army to raze things. I’d bet they would be splitting into three groups of one hundred thousand each. Then, they will fan out and cause devastation across the entire territory of the Kiev Kingdom.” “But they will still stay in formation. Something , moving in a fan formation,” Siegfried continued. He placed the three black horses on the map that represented the Holy Alliance’s army and arranged them in a triangular formation. “If we sally out of Odessa to stop them, then...” Siegfried said. Taycan caught on and finished his words, “...We will be surrounded and annihilated.” “Exactly,” Siegfried nodded. “This is a move with two purposes. It will wipe out the central-western front and force us to come out of Odessa.” “They’re trying to kill two birds with one stone. But the problem is... we don’t have enough men to stop them,” Siegfried groaned, running a hand over his face. The fact that he read right through the enemy’s intentions just from analyzing their path of retreat was nothing short of brilliant, and it was indeed a clear display of how sharp his tactical mind was. However, the cold, harsh reality remained. The one hundred thousand men stationed in Odessa couldn’t take on the Holy Alliance’s three hundred thousand troops. Most of the Kiev Kingdom’s troops were wiped out during the string of brutal defeats in the early stages of the war. All in all, they lost about three hundred thousand men. Mobilizing the coalition forces formed by Siegfried was not an option, as they couldn’t be deployed in time. The coalition had only just begun forming, and mobilizing them would take time—time they did not have. Also, many of the nations that joined the coalition were already entangled in their own wars against the Holy Alliance. “What... do we do then?” Taycan asked, his voice low with a tinge of despair. If they marched their army out of Odessa, then they would be walking straight into a trap. However, if they stayed put behind their walls, then millions would be slaughtered by the Holy Alliance. “What else can we do?” Siegfried replied with a shrug. Then, he said without a hint of hesitation, “I will mobilize the Proatine Kingdom’s army.” And with that, Siegfried made his decision. The Proatine Kingdom was officially joining the war against the Holy Alliance. In truth, Siegfried had no intention of deploying the Proatine Kingdom’s forces in this war between the Kiev Kingdom and the Holy Alliance. It was all because the Proatine Kingdom’s army was small. The kingdom was one of the rare ones that did not enforce mandatory conscription of civilians into the military. Rather than relying on droves of untrained soldiers, they heavily invested in their military by training elite soldiers. As a result, the soldiers and knights of the Proatine Kingdom possessed quite high combat prowess individually, but they numbered only around one hundred thousand. Compared to other countries with similar economic power, the Proatine Kingdom’s military amounted to only a fifth of their size. Thus, Siegfried only utilized the kingdom’s troops in small-scale skirmishes rather than massive battles one. But at this point, there was no better option in sight. Even if they hastily assembled a coalition force and sent it to the Kiev Kingdom, it would be too late by then, as millions would have long been slaughtered. In the end, the only way to change the tide of this war was to mobilize the Proatine Kingdom’s army, which was the only one that could be deployed immediately. “We won’t be able to stop all the massacres,” Siegfried stated firmly. Silence descended upon the entire room once again. “This point here is when the distance between the three divided armies of the Holy Alliance will become the widest. We have to wait until then,” Siegfried said, pointing at the map. Then, he asked, “Do you see these nine cities in the enemy’s path?” “Yeah, I know,” Taycan replied. “What’s their combined population?” “All together about... 1.3 million people?” “They’re all going to die. All 1.3 million of them... will be slaughtered.” Despite Taycan’s outburst and his face turning pale, Siegfried did not waver. He had to remain firm and convey things clearly. The Proatine Forces possessed superior combat strength compared to other nations, but they were far too few in number to fight in a large-scale battle. In order to maximize their effectiveness in this war, they had to strike when the enemy forces were spread out, even if they had to sacrifice 1.3 million people. Unfortunately, there was no other option but to endure until the right moment came. “But there’s got to be some way! We’re talking about more than a million people! Not just a few—” “No, there’s no other way. This is the only way,” Siegfried replied, shaking his head. “But still! To just stand by and watch more than a million people die is just—” “It’s impossible to save everyone, Taycan,” Siegfried said, feeling sick to his stomach. He was absolutely disgusted by the tactic used by the Holy Alliance, but there was nothing he could do about it. In this situation, saving everyone was practically impossible. The Proatine Forces could win and save the people if they committed all of their troops in an all-out war against the Holy Alliance. However, that would come at the cost of the Proatine Forces taking immense casualties. Siegfried was the King of the Proatine Kingdom rather than the King of the Kiev Kingdom. There was no way he, as a ruler, would sacrifice his own people for the sake of another kingdom. And besides, with the impending world war looming on the horizon, suffering heavy casualties in this battle would be disastrous for the Proatine Kingdom. “Instead... I’ll be deploying detachment forces to help evacuate the citizens of those cities,” Siegfried added. “We may not be able to save them all, but I think we can save at least half of them.” “With the Adventurers,” Siegfried replied. Then, he explained, “A unit composed of Adventurers will engage the Holy Alliance and buy enough time to evacuate the civilians. If we manage to pull that off, then we should be able to save about half of them.” “Is that the best we can do?” “Yeah, I’m afraid there’s no other solution to this...” In the end, Taycan understood exactly what Siegfried meant and accepted the plan. If they could save even six hundred fifty thousand people from the initially expected casualties, then that would be a silver lining for the Kiev Kingdom. Just as Siegfried had predicted, the three hundred thousand-strong army of the Holy Alliance withdrew from Odessa and split into three armies of one hundred thousand soldiers each. They razed every settlement in their path, regardless of whether it was a large city or a tiny village. They even slaughtered all of its inhabitants. They demolished every building in sight, poisoned farmlands with noxious chemicals, and slaughtered every livestock that they came across. In the wake of their march, not even a single critter survived. “Kill them all! Men, women, and children alike! They’re not humans! They’re heretics possessed by demons! Show no mercy! Slaughter them all!” Urged by their officers’ fanatic zeal, the soldiers marched onward, leaving trails of slaughter behind them. But things were not going as smoothly as they hoped they would. Just as Siegfried planned, Adventurers kept popping up across the region, evacuating civilians and fleeing with them. “Kill them all! Hunt them down and leave no one alive!” “Damn it! Encircle them! Don’t let them get away!” Thanks to the Adventurers who suddenly appeared like phantoms across the battlefield, the Holy Alliance forces were put in a troublesome situation. In one of the major cities, the Adventurers stood guard at the front gates, defending the city from the Holy Alliance. While the standoff was happening, other Adventurers evacuated as many of the civilians as possible through the underground sewers. Fresh chapters posted on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚑𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥 With the help of the Adventurers, over half of the civilians in numerous major cities were successfully evacuated. The Kiev Kingdom still suffered immense casualties, but thanks to the effort of the Adventurers, they managed to reduce the projected death toll of more than a million people by more than half. About a week later... Elsewhere, Fenril, a corps commander of the Holy Alliance, was fuming after hearing that the operation was not going as smoothly as planned. He was the commander of the 2nd Corps. The three armies of the Holy Alliance had decided to go their own ways, and the 2nd Corps went north. Fenril's rage lasted only for a short while. Under his command, the 2nd Corps had just surrounded a major city with a population of more than five hundred thousand people. And now, a massacre was imminent... “Let the men take their lunches. We will begin exterminating those rats once the men are done with their meals.” The city had long been rendered defenseless, so there was no need to even fight a battle. All they had to do was march in and slaughter every living thing in sight. Just as the Holy Alliance’s 2nd Corps took a short break to eat lunch before slaughtering the civilians huddled up in the city... The Proatine Forces began warping in one after another, roughly five kilometers away from where the 2nd Corps of the Holy Alliance had set up camp. One hundred thousand troops appeared in rapid succession and quickly assembled into formation. The only thing dividing the Proatine Forces and the 2nd Corps of the Holy Alliance was a small hill. “Loyalty! We stand before our liege!” Oscar was busy preparing for the battle ahead when she saw Siegfried, who had already arrived and was waiting. “Oh? You came in person?” Siegfried waved his hand and asked. Oscar knelt on one knee and replied, “Yes, Your Majesty.” “Thank you for making the long journey and coming all the way here.” “Not at all, sire. I merely used the warp gates.” “Ah, I have something to report, sire.” “The 8th Corps of the Marchioni Empire under the command of Her Highness, Princess Irene, has agreed to join this operation.” “Eh? What?” Siegfried muttered, blinking a few times. He couldn’t believe what he heard just now. “Hold on. That woman hasn’t gone back yet? Even though the empire is in a precarious position right now?” “Yes, sire. She insisted that helping the Proatine Kingdom strike back against the Holy Alliance is the better course of action.” “So? Where is she and the 8th Corps?” “The 8th Corps of the Marchioni Empire has already warped in near the Holy Alliance’s 3rd Corps.” “We have agreed to strike in an hour.” Siegfried couldn’t hold back after hearing Oscar’s report. If it were the 8th Corps of the Marchioni Empire, then they would absolutely crush the 3rd Corps of the Holy Alliance without much trouble–no, the 3rd Corps would be obliterated in an instant. ‘If we get rid of the 2nd Corps and Irene takes out the 3rd Corps...’ Siegfried started drawing a picture in his mind. ‘Then the 1st Corps will be all that’s left. They will become completely surrounded and vulnerable.’ The Holy Alliance planned to surround the Kiev Kingdom’s army from three sides and annihilate them the moment they sallied out of Odessa. However, Irene and the 8th Corps of the Marchioni Empire had entered the fray, turning the tables around. Rather than the Kiev Kingdom being surrounded and annihilated, it was the Holy Alliance’s massive three hundred thousand-strong army that would be wiped off the face of the continent.