As I hesitated, Lune Aire continued her story.
“They said that the national gendarmerie had fallen into the hands of the coup forces as soon as we met. I told Enok you should be informed immediately, but Nikolai signaled with his fingers in sign language.”
The members of the 8th Assault Magic Infantry Battalion are all trained in both sign language and hand signals.
It’s a method to facilitate communication when the sound of the wind during descent makes it impossible to communicate.
“They were saying we were being tailed.”
Lune Aire recalled those not-so-distant days bitterly, biting her lips.
“Right after that, shooting started, and Nikolai was critically injured. I killed two of them, but the rest escaped.”
“Why are you sure it was the Soviev Empire?”
“Their accents were exactly like what I’d heard back in Rymansk.”
I couldn’t help but sigh.
Accent is innate. No matter how excellent a spy might be, very few can completely conceal their native accent under stress.
In the midst of gunfire, their accents or peculiar habits would have surfaced. Lune and Nikolai had remembered the familiar speech patterns from the Rymansk arsenal.
“But if the Soviev Empire is operating freely in the capital, there must be someone backing them. And since we’ve also received warnings not to trust the national gendarmerie…”
“So you faked your deaths.”
“Exactly. At least Nikolai will be able to operate safely.”
It was a gamble they decided to take.
If Nikolai’s d*ath was faked, his safety could be guaranteed until his critical wounds healed.
Moreover, with Lune pretending to go mad, it would have been difficult for the coup forces and the Soviev Empire to deal with her.
The national gendarmerie would likely try to capture her instead of killing her, intending to use her.
Had both of them been killed, I wouldn’t have been able to definitively prove the involvement of the Soviev Empire’s intelligence agency.
In this regard, Lune Aire and Nikolai Hilbert had devised an excellent strategy.
So clever was their plan that even I fell for it.
And based on this,
It seemed quite possible that many within the coup forces were unaware that the Soviev Empire was currently active in the capital.
They probably didn’t know that external forces were used.
And considering this, the only force that could be dispatched to conduct operations in enemy territory…
“Intelligence General Directorate.”
“Yes, that’s right. They’re behind it.”
After the skirmish at the Rymansk arsenal, the members of the 8th Assault Magic Infantry Battalion, including myself, conducted a comprehensive analysis of the Soviev Empire’s Intelligence General Directorate.
Valuable information obtained with the help of the intelligence agencies of the Ameria Federal Republic, Pry Free Democratic State, and Britton United Kingdom.
The reason why Lune Aire and Nikolai Hilbert decided to take the gamble was likely due to the closed and independent nature of the Intelligence General Directorate.
They speculated that the main coup forces were unaware of the involvement of the Soviev Empire’s Intelligence General Directorate.
“But now that things have come to this, the Intelligence General Directorate won’t just sit idly by, will they?”
“I think so too.”
“This night will be the turning point.”
I placed the pistol I had on the desk.
“What’s this…?”
“I brought it from where the national gendarmerie had confiscated it. I hope you’ll cover my back again with your marksmanship this time.”
Logan P02.
A fine pistol made in Reinhardt, and the weapon I had handed to Lune that day.
With a gentle smile, I spoke, and Lune clicked her tongue in response.
“Always trying to charm women at inappropriate times. You should save that expression for your friend over there.”
“Heh, yeah. So, you’re here?”
“Still, leave this place to me. You focus on your mission.”
Lune Aire said with sparkling eyes.
“Everyone is counting on you, Lieutenant Colonel Enok Revendale.”
At that moment,
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH─!!!
An alarm sounded throughout the room. Lune’s gaze changed, and our eyes met.
“They’ve arrived.”
The instinctive sensation.
“I’m counting on you.”
“Yeah.”
I checked the chamber of another pistol I had on my waist and rushed out of the room.
The counterattack from the army training camp began with Nikita’s retaliation, but the enemies did not retreat easily.
Instead, our side was the one being pushed back.
KWAANG!!
Red flames soared into the night sky. Despite continuous firing, the bullets were blocked by a wall of water.
“Those bastards are mages!!”
“Are they part of the Mage Brigade!?”
“Weren’t all of the Mage Brigade captured by the national gendarmerie…!!”
Anyone could see that the firepower advantage was overwhelmingly theirs. No matter how much training soldiers had, rifles don’t choose who they hit, do they?
There might only be a difference in accuracy.
But the fact remains that even a blind b*llet can snatch away life.
However, the intruders freely manipulated mana amidst the hail of bullets.
Before the real development of industry, technology, and science, mages were objects of fear and reverence.
Even a current 2nd-grade mage could easily annihilate an entire infantry battalion.
Mages standing high on cliffs, arrogantly judging with fire.
Yet, even though the times have changed,
Even though their glory isn’t what it used to be,
All nations still regard mages as the highest authority for one simple reason:
Irreplaceable strength.
Why are Great Mages called strategic weapons and subjected to various restrictions?
Simply because they are strong.
Because a single human could stand against an entire corps.
This applies not only to Great Mages.
For soldiers who haven’t properly faced mages before, whether their opponent is a Great Mage or a 3rd-grade mage, they have no other option but to keep pulling the trigger endlessly.
BANG!! TANG!! PING!
KWAANG!!!
“AGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
“HOT!! SO HOT!!!”
Another explosion occurred. Two senior soldiers carrying a machine g*n from the rear line were engulfed in flames and turned to ash.
Nikita clenched his teeth while watching this scene.
Despite somehow escaping the outpost and joining the senior soldiers,
Even if more allies kept arriving, nothing about the situation improved.
“You bastards! What are you doing!? Hurry up and sh**t…”
BANG!
The body of the soldier who was urging him collapsed onto the ground. He died without even letting out a scream, his eyes looking vacant.
“sh*t, sh*t!!”
But there was no room to retreat. The more bodies piled up around him, the more Nikita felt a burning rage in his chest.
He didn’t know who these guys were.
But if they infiltrated the training camp with such overwhelming force,
And if at least a dozen or more troops were rampaging through the entire training facility,
Even Nikita, who hadn’t yet earned his full soldier status, knew what they were after.
Prince Orlando Rus III.
The situation had already spiraled beyond repair. It could only turn more unfavorable for the coup forces.
A cornered rat will bite a cat.
And when the cat gets bitten, it becomes infected with a fatal disease and slowly dies.
Mutual destruction.
Isn’t it obvious what actions those who sacrificed the nation’s fate for their own desires would take upon knowing their predetermined doom?
That’s why Nikita gripped his rifle even tighter.
PIIIING─!
A b*llet grazed past the spot where he’d been injured earlier.
Even as his life was threatened, Nikita calmly adjusted his breathing and aligned his sight parallel.
Then he pulled the trigger.
BANG!!
Simultaneously with the deafening gunshot, the shadow in front of him fell flat.
He got him. He really got him.
The joy was brief. As he was about to pull the bolt to eject the spent cartridge and reload,
Fiery flames filled Nikita’s vision. An intermediate-level red magic, Blaze Ballista.
It was a dynamic flame that pierced through and reduced to ashes the cover he was hiding behind.
“Ahhh.”
Just as Nikita let out his final dying breath,
KIIIING─!!
An unfamiliar noise rang out. When he opened his eyes, he saw a man effortlessly blocking the blazing flames.
The sun piercing through the descending darkness of night. Hair shimmering in gold.
“Ignis Protection.”
The mana stretching from his fingertips literally swallowed the Blaze Ballista.
Lieutenant Colonel Enok Revendale.
The battalion commander of the 8th Assault Magic Infantry Battalion and war hero.
And the military figure Nikita respected most.
“Lieutenant Colonel!!?”
“Good work, soldier.”
With a casual utterance, followed by a flash of violet light, Nikita watched him disappear from view.
In a flash, he leapt into the enemy ranks and sliced off the wrist of an enemy who was about to return fire within mere seconds.
“AGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!”
PATSZT, ZZZUCK!!
The mages who had been leisurely turning soldiers into corpses moments ago were now being overwhelmed.
“It’s Lieutenant Colonel Enok Revendale!!”
“You bastards, k*ll them all!”
“…My God.”
While other soldiers cheered, Nikita could only stare blankly at the scene.
“This… this is overwhelming power…”
It was the moment when a layer of shell peeled off in the young trainee’s heart.
“KEHCK!!”
The direction attacked by the Soviev Intelligence General Directorate wasn’t just the eastern tower. Conflicts between the Intelligence General Directorate agents and the training camp guards were continuing at the rear gate as well.
“Hmm… Could they have evacuated already?”
“…Shut up, you bastards…”
“Not bad, considering this minor country’s soldiers’ morale deserves praise.”
KAHDDEDDAK.
KADAK.
“Ugh, ughh, aaaah!!!”
Yegor Ivanov infused blue mana into the throat of the officer he grabbed and lifted up.
A terrifying execution method that freezes every cell from the toes to the crown.
As white frost sprouted like spores on the skin of the officer who was writhing in agony, his once living body transformed into a giant block of ice.
PADDAKD, KWAJIK!!
When Yegor applied force to his grip, cracks ran along the neck, and the head dropped off.
“Director, the initial forces have all been eliminated, but reinforcements keep coming.”
To Yegor, another man dressed in black approached and bowed his head while speaking.
He was the director of the 3rd Division, considered among the elite of the Soviev Intelligence General Directorate. Yegor casually waved his hand and replied.
“Isn’t that enough with just Director 3 and his team?”
“That’s correct.”
“Just hold out until I bring the prince’s head.”
“And… news from the eastern tower. Enok Revendale has appeared…”
“What?”
In fact, the people Yegor had mobilized so far weren’t the true strength of the Intelligence General Directorate.
Initially, considering their origin, abilities, everything shrouded in mystery, he thought deploying second-line forces would be sufficient to handle a minor country like Okhraine.
But several years ago, a certain individual named Enok Revendale suddenly emerged, shattering his expectations.
A powerful mage, an outstanding strategist, and a warrior equipped with overwhelming martial prowess and combat sense.
At first, Yegor Ivanov thought he was merely a usable gemstone, but each time the battalion he led triumphantly declared victory, he felt a burning sensation in his chest.
How long has it been?
For a truly worthy opponent to appear.
And in a minor country at that!
In the Okhraine Duchy, destined to be trampled under the boots of the empire.
So he poured effort into this operation.
The personnel deployed were all top-tier operatives from the Intelligence General Directorate.
Not only because this was a crucial operation to assassinate the prince, overthrow the state, plunge it into civil war, and allow the empire to ‘humanely’ intervene in Okhraine’s eastern region,
But the most important reason was that Enok Revendale was here.
“We’ve received support requests from Divisions 5 and 6 who infiltrated the eastern tower. They say they’ve been completely blocked by Enok Revendale.”
“Of course. They’d be blocked. Huh!”
At Director 3’s words, Yegor Ivanov burst into laughter.
“In that case, I’ll leave the mission of infiltrating the training camp and assassinating the prince to you.”
“Eh?”
“Support isn’t necessary. I’ll handle it alone.”
Leaving those words behind,
Egor began leaping up the fortress walls in an instant.
