To describe a magical battle on the scale of war more poetically, bards call it the “Battle of Silence.” A very straightforward way of putting it. Fernandez looked up at the sky and wondered. How on earth could that be called silence?
Just as cavalry is called the nightmare of infantry, magic can become the nightmare of all soldiers. Even a single basic fireball, conjured by one person, can cause dozens of casualties.
The birth of efficient asymmetric power. That’s precisely why every nation invests vast amounts of gold into magical forces. The dense formations of infantry, the beautiful sequential charges of cavalry—all the technical skills of a commander can be rendered useless in an instant.
So, commanders and field officers thought of another way: “How to exclude mages from the battlefield.” Unless they could politely ask the enemy to stop, the only solution was to deploy their own mages.
-Kurrrrrr!
In the sky, magical currents form a swirling vortex of colors. Mages from each camp prepare their spells, while mages from the opposing camp disrupt them.
The Battle of Silence. In reality, only a fraction of the magic actually hits the battlefield. Mages from each side fight with all their might in the sky, using magic against magic, wagering the lives of their soldiers as the price of failure.
“The magical forces are precariously balanced.”
-Are Lavirata’s Burial Priests weaker than expected?
“No. The Empire’s mages are just more skilled than we thought.”
On an individual level, magic is mysterious, but on a national scale, magic is proportional to the amount of gold invested. The Empire possesses a magical force larger than any other human civilization, and this creates the military disparity between the western kingdoms and the Empire.
Mages in the conventional sense. They are entirely different from scholars who prove mysteries and explore the world. The Empire’s Philainneil University pursues only two magical capabilities: countering enemy magic and realizing large-scale legion magic. Hence the derogatory nickname: the Imperial Explosive School. A place entirely focused on large-scale destructive magic…
-Kwaaaaaaang!!
A portion of the Legion of Skeletons is engulfed in an explosion and collapses. Bones and dust rise like a cloud, and the flames from the explosion begin to spread the damage.
During the fierce magical battle in the sky, a fragment of magical energy falls to the ground, condensing into a spell. A spell that seeks only destruction, only greater explosions.
-Kugugugugu!!
The vast prairie of the Great Wilderness. The Lavirata Dynasty’s army fills the horizon. Individually, their mass is not significant. But as a whole, they move in perfect unison under the will of a few, creating tremors in the earth.
The skeletons raised by the Burial Priests and the dynasty’s nobles walk, wield swords, and advance according to their masters’ commands. Their formations are flawlessly beautiful, not a single step out of place.
-Kung!
Without any signal, the vanguard halts. Despite the sudden movement, the entire legion stops without a single disturbance. Fernandez, still on his horse, looked down at the scene in awe.
-Show them the true essence of magical combat, quickly!
“Don’t get impatient, Faijashi. We have more important things to do than proving ourselves.”
Fernandez calmed Faijashi and looked down at the Imperial Legion’s formation below the hill. The Emperor had sent troops as promised—faster than expected and as powerful as anticipated. However, the forces of the other Elector Counts were conspicuously absent.
“Too greedy.”
-It’s unbearable.
The Emperor didn’t want to share his glory or the interests of the Great Wilderness with the other Elector Counts. He had abandoned their support and dispatched the central legion’s forces instead.
The faculty of Philainneil University and the Combat Mage Legion were preparing for the magical battle in the rear. About 20% of them were faces he recognized. The Empire had gathered all the outstanding mages from within its borders.
Meanwhile, on the frontline. The forces of Ribue and the Beastman Nobility were divided, with the Imperial Legion standing imposingly between them. The Radiant Spear Society, the Levans Knights, the Oathbound Knights, and the Knights of Gurr’s Burning Fortress—the Emperor’s main forces had gathered.
“Ribue won’t last half a day.”
-Half a day? If they last that long, it’ll be a miracle.
They were currently facing the rebel forces of the Lavirata Dynasty and the Federation of Beastman Nobles. But as soon as this war ended, their swords and spears would immediately turn toward Ribue.
This war would surely lead to Ribue’s downfall. That’s why the Elector Counts remained silent despite knowing the Emperor’s greed. Ribue’s destruction was no loss to them.
Eight Elector Counts were too many to govern the Empire. All the Elector Counts thought so. They were beasts sensitive to their interests, and the fall of one Elector Count inevitably led to the expansion of their own interests. And the Emperor was creating the justification for it himself.
-Kwaaaaaaang!
The battle lines clashed. Fernandez tightened his reins, calming his horse, which was eager to charge. Behind him, the elite soldiers of the Beastman Nobility gathered.
War tempers heroes with the blood of soldiers. Among the humans falling to the spears and blades of the skeletons at the forefront, the Age of Heroes would dawn.
Even if it didn’t, it would be made to. Fernandez’s sharp eyes focused on a protruding section of the frontline where Duke Erbe and his knights were fighting fiercely.
“Don’t retreat! Forward! Forward!!”
Kirhas swung her sword, crushing a skeleton. Though individually weak, the terrifying aspect of the Legion of Wraiths was that their numbers seemed almost infinite.
There was no limit. Literally, the skeletons buried beneath this land were scattered…
