“Are you saying our target isn’t the Great Demon?”
“To be precise, it’s about opening a path to reach him, brother.”
Sadarkelisa is sealed. This is almost an absolute truth. He exerts some influence, and his minions still hold a place in Hell. It was clear that the Aesir of Valhalla had fallen, but Sadarkelisa’s seal remained unbroken.
The Temple of Mercury of the Five Towers, guarded by the Celestial Dragon Karadfel. Trapped deep within, he merely schemes behind the seal. This seal was broken at the end of the Great War in his previous life, so in this era, it could never be undone.
But if her seal were to break and she began to exert influence on the Material World, it would be too late. There would be no way to stop a fully powered Great Demon, at least not in the Material World. And the likelihood that she would be the only Great Demon to break free and act at that moment was slim.
Therefore, it had to be done now. The moment Sadarkelisa’s schemes became blatant. The moment the enemy’s most powerful pieces entered the board, it was the only chance to target her.
“He is sealed, but he is corrupting this continent through his minions. So, to defeat his true form, we must first open a path to him.”
“Is he in the Material World?”
“No, brother. But we have prepared a way to reach the gateway.”
Fernandez stood up after saying this.
“Let’s go, brothers. Local assistance is unavoidable.”
“We’ll follow, brother.”
Fabiano nodded with a stern face. The other Inquisition Officers followed him out of the tent.
Aeren rested her chin on her hand and scanned the room. The combat tent of Yarl was filled with clan elders, shamans, priests, and the southerners, along with Freya. They were all silently waiting for one person.
Soon, the man appeared, lifting the tent flap. Though he had only been in the north for less than a week, he had already made his presence felt throughout the entire clan.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Fernandez walked confidently through the crowd. His heavy footsteps were followed by the towering men behind him. The tent felt instantly crowded. Fernandez and the Inquisition Officers stood in one corner, looking at Aeren.
“Everyone’s here. Good. Let’s begin.”
Aeren nodded at Fernandez. He stepped forward and scanned the room. The fear of defeat, the sticky defeatism of refugees who had lost their homes, flowed through the air.
Some legion leaders often emphasize “spirit.” They say victory in war depends on morale. Of course, that’s not wrong. If you flee before fighting, how can you wage war?
But truly great commanders believe victory lies not in “spirit,” but in “information.” Fernandez was one of those people.
Mental fortitude is merely collective hypnosis to make soldiers obey irrational orders and illogical situations. To make them fight, you shouldn’t rely on such secondary factors.
Vision. Fernandez smiled as he looked at the map. To lift the defeated morale from the ground and turn numerical inferiority into victory, a vision of “possibility” was needed.
It was closer to agitation than strategy. Fernandez, or rather, Faijashi, was more of an agitator than a great field commander.
-Click.
Under everyone’s gaze, Fernandez raised his left arm. His bandaged arm seemed to grasp the air for a moment before snapping his fingers.
-Whoosh!
The neatly laid parchment tactical map on the large table was instantly engulfed in flames.
“What?!”
“What on earth… are you doing?!”
The elders murmured. Only Aeren, Fernandez, and the Inquisition Officers remained silent. Aeren looked at him as if testing him, while the Inquisition Officers waited with almost full trust in Fernandez.
‘Good. They didn’t question the magic.’
-Probably those fools think this is some miracle or divine spell.
‘I burned a piece of Rune Glyph. Thankfully, no halo appeared.’
The black halo of the Bronze Throne was too blatantly heretical. But Malerun’s shamanic system didn’t leak useless magical energy outward.
Fernandez smirked and waved his hand. The flames soon died down. The elders were still murmuring, but seeing their Yarl remain silent, they gradually quieted.
“What is this?”
Aeren spoke softly. The lion-like arrogance of violence was directed at Fernandez. He ignored it and turned to Freya.
“Freya. Can you do it?”
[This?]
Freya laughed boldly. Fernandez needed her only for her information. She had already been briefed on what to do before coming here.
-Pop!
Flowers bloomed impossibly between the wooden tables. Pop, pop. Roses, forsythia, mistflowers, and tulips. Regardless of seed or blooming season, colorful buds covered the table.
“Oh…”
The elders marveled at the goddess’s work. Aeren and Gunnar groaned for a different reason. This… is a map.
Beyond the crudely stitched parchment tactical map made by human hands, this was a divine map. The northern landscape as seen by the gods unfolded before their eyes.
“We are few in number. Even if we gather all our warriors, we barely reach five hundred. Mostly infantry.”
“Our clan’s warriors are worth a hundred each!”
“The enemy also has their clan’s warriors. Even demons among them.”
Ignoring the elder, Fernandez continued. He pointed at a blue flower on one corner of the map.
“Hazart Palan. Hazart Turan. Even if we gather all the warriors from these two clans, we’ll barely reach that number. If we recklessly expand our forces here…”
“There’s no future. Unlike them, we need a future.”
Aeren cut off Fernandez’s words and muttered. She was right. Victory in war wasn’t everything. This was a struggle for survival, and the northern winter was long and harsh. The clan couldn’t devote all its resources to war.
“You anticipated their goal isn’t unification?”
“Yes.”
“You’re quick.”
-Impressive.
Faijashi admired Aeren. The strength and justice of Sardiel. If Pieranel handled the Temple of the Gods’ strategy, she was the Archangel in charge of tactics. If her talent had blossomed, this level of insight was understandable.
‘Satisfactory. This will go smoothly.’
-Capturing the Great Demon? Haha, you’ve become bolder than I thought, Fernandez.
‘At least it’s better than a mission to save some incompetent woman. Having a shieldmaiden to stand with on the frontline and break through obstacles is preferable.’
-True.
Fernandez, without showing admiration, pointed at the red roses spread like branches across the center of the map.
“As you said, their goal is indiscriminate slaughter and the total collapse of the north. That means other clans won’t willingly join their forces or seek political alliances. They’ve made too many enemies. That’s our opportunity.”
“Unite the scattered minor tribes. Yes, that’s the ideal picture we envisioned. But how? In this winter, those fools are hiding in some mountain crevice, barely surviving. How do we gather them, spread the word, and form an allied force to resist?”
Fernandez shook his head.
“Forgot? We have a goddess. That means we can see the entire north. No one is easier to find than those hiding in the mountains.”
