Teaser: David vs Goliath.
Boom!
The alchemists and mages created another dirt pillar.
Cale didn't need to see the battlefield to know what was going on.
The alchemists and mages had appeared to support the roof of the palace when Sir Rex and his group had used magic bombs to blow it up.
They had scattered some unknown fluid which responded to the alchemists’ and mages’ mana and had shot up into the sky. Then the alchemists put a black thread of unknown origin around the pillar.
Once the black thread disappeared into the dirt pillar, it had turned into a sturdy black pillar.
Cale was only looking at the Flame Dwarves as he started to speak.
“An alchemist's job is to always come up with something new.”
Boom!
The black pillar continued to become larger until it turned into a tower.
The towers continued to grow in number until there was a total of seven towers.
The mages and alchemists would get to the top of these towers and launch long-range attacks from there.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-
Cale looked toward the Dwarf Chief through the sound of the trumpet.
Alchemy.
The alchemy of this world was similar to alchemy on Earth.
Their goal was to create gold.
However, the methods to do that were different.
The alchemist of the Western continent sought to use natural elements to create gold. That was why these alchemists could not help but become close to mana which had the purest natural element.
‘But according to the Dragon half-blood, the alchemy that the White Star is looking for is not aiming to create gold.’
The ancient Dragon Eruhaben's voice could be heard in Cale’s mind.
‘Do you know why they are researching dead mana?’
Dead mana bombs. That was completely unrelated to alchemy if their goal was to create gold. However, the White Star’s Alchemists’ Bell Tower had partnered with the Empire for around twenty years to research dead mana bombs.
‘I originally thought that they just wanted dead mana bombs to use as weapons, but I realized that I was wrong after hearing what the Dragon half-blood had to say.’
Cale had never seen the ancient Dragon looking so serious.
Eruhaben had a shocked yet fearful expression on his face as he explained.
‘What the Alchemists’ Bell Tower wants is mana, not gold.’
Cale stiffened up after hearing that as well.
The reason they researched dead mana.
‘They want to create mana.’
Water, fire, wind, earth, and wood. Mana exists like each of these five basic elements of nature.
It was one of the foundations for power in the world.
And they were a group that was trying to create mana.
‘After hearing about that from the Dragon half-blood, I learned that the Alchemists’ Bell Tower is a higher-ranking organization than Arm.’
Cale completely understood.
He could not figure out what the crazy White Star wanted, however, that bastard had done all sorts of crazy shit, and creating mana was just one of them.
What would happen if that crazy bastard who would even attempt to create a chimera was able to create mana?
‘It’d become a total mess.’
There would be no chaos like that one.
That was why Cale made up his mind once again.
He was going to completely destroy the Alchemists’ Bell Tower.
This was the first step to getting that done.
Cale looked toward Kanelle, the chief of the Flame Dwarf tribe, and started to speak. He could see the shaking pupils in the chief’s eyes.
‘Yeah, I get it.
I'm sure war is scary.’
Cale tried to be the calm and collected commander and tried to speak with a majestic air as he understood what the Flame Dwarf chief might be thinking.
However, Chief Kanelle’s reaction was strange.
“…Chief Kanelle, what are you looking at?”
Kanelle was not looking at Cale, but behind Cale. Someone urgently rushed toward Cale at that moment.
It was Choi Han.
“Cale-nim!”
He seemed to be in such a shock that he called out Cale’s name. At the same time, Kanelle's mumblings reached Cale's ears. Kanelle was currently scared.
“The king- the king of beasts is-”
‘What?’
Cale quickly turned around. He could see the battlefield as he heard Choi Han’s voice.
“It is the Lions from last time!”
Cale could see a few people flying to the top of the black tower made by the alchemists using flight magic.
Two of their faces were familiar.
“Cale-nim, they are the ones we saw up north!”
They had seen these Lions when they had visited Guardian Knight Clopeh Sekka’s house to steal the crown. Those arrogant Lions had ended up kneeling in front of Choi Han’s blade.
They were currently not in their berserk transformation as they had appeared from within the Empire’s forces.
Nobody would have realized it if Choi Han, Cale, and the Flame Dwarves were not there.
“C, commander-nim!”
Chief Kanelle’s expression became desperate.
The Lions were talented in leadership and adept at large group battles.
Unlike the Tigers who lived alone in their own mountain, the Lions lived in large groups in order to maximize their strength.
“Commander-nim, those bastards are stronger than the, B, Bears. The Lion tribe even has two potential successors for the Lion King position in this generation! They are super strong!”
Flame Dwarf Chief Kanelle's eyes could not stop shaking.
If the Bear tribe was the ones who had annoyed the Flame Dwarf tribe in Arm every day, then the Lion tribe was the ones that treated the Flame Dwarves as if they did not even exist.
They considered themselves the greatest tribe and considered the Dwarves to not even be worth their gazes.
It was kind of true.
The Lion tribe was like the Whale tribe on land.
The Tigers could be the best if they did not have the tendency to be alone, however, the Lions who lived in a pride were considered to be the strongest.
‘I didn’t expect the Lions who didn't appear with the Indomitable Alliance to appear with the Empire!’
The Flame Dwarves became extremely scared after seeing the Empire’s might as well as the Lion tribe.
Why?
‘The Roan Kingdom and that sword master! Even the commander-nim!
None of them can join this battle!’
This would be a war without the main characters for victory in the last war.
This was like fighting without any limbs.
“…Commander-nim.”
The Dwarf’s expression did not look good.
He had already chosen to be on Cale's side. He had chosen to join this side in order to survive. In that case, they needed to win this war.
“We need to make it a defensive battle. I will go work with the other Dwarves waiting in the castle to build tools for defense.”
Rosalyn had brought Mary, some Flame Dwarves, and some mages to the tower, however, there were still plenty of Flame Dwarves inside of Maple Castle.
They were probably busy right now building tools for defending the castle like putting together more of these wings.
The Chief bit down on his lips while thinking about the Dwarves who would be working hard to complete these wings without knowing about the Empire's strength and the Lions.
However, the wings were useless in the current situation.
“Commander-nim, it is useless to take care of just the alchemists right now. The Lions, mages, and knights that are fortified with magic…those tens of thousands of soldiers are going to invade!”
The Flame Dwarf Chief was afraid. How could they defeat so many enemies with less than five thousand on their side, especially when the Whipper Kingdom had so few warriors?
The only way to survive was to lock up the castle gate and resist.
Rosalyn agreed with that statement.
Rosalyn was the only one who could openly fight along with the Whipper Kingdom’s forces. That was why Rosalyn shared her thoughts as well.
“He's right. Young master Cale, we need to choose safety first.”
She looked toward Toonka and continued to speak. She thought about Toonka as well as the native warriors on their side.
Their armors and weapons were terrible compared to the Empire’s knights’ equipment, and as they did not have any magic fortification, it was as if they were naked compared to those knights.
“I'm sure you agree with me, Commander Toonka and Chief Harol, we need to preserve the number of warriors on our side.”
They needed to defend first and lower the enemy numbers before sending the soldiers and warriors out when they saw an opening to launch a counterattack.
They needed to use the Flame Dwarves and Mary’s strengths during that time as well.
"That is the only way to reduce the difference in numbers. This is the only way to effectively defeat the Empire’s overwhelming numbers when we are fighting without our limbs.”
Rosalyn's analysis was blunt.
She looked toward Cale with that blunt and cold gaze while the Flame Dwarf Chief looked toward Cale with fear and urgency.
It was at that moment.
“Pfft.”
Someone started to laugh.
Rosalyn’s eyes opened wide.
“…Commander?”
Toonka was laughing like a maniac who had a screw loose.
Rosalyn and Chief Kanelle did not get angry at Toonka’s actions. It was because he was not laughing at the two of them.
Chief Harol was smiling as well.
There was also one more person who was smiling.
“…Young master Cale.”
Cale was also smiling with them. He could not help but smile at this feeling that he had not felt in a while. Raon, who had been quietly invisible for a while, asked Cale in confusion. Human, what is going on?
‘What is going on?’
It was making him think about the past. Long before Kim Rok Soo was a team leader, the newly employed Kim Rok Soo had gone out to take care of some business with his team leader when they were beaten to a pulp.
Naturally, they had failed their mission. Kim Rok Soo had spoken to his former team leader when they were both still on the ground in pain.
‘Team leader.’
‘Ah, listen to that tone of yours, you bastard. What is it?’
‘When do you think we will be able to fight using overwhelming strength? Do you think it is possible?’
‘I don't know. Don’t talk about the impossible.’
‘That’s too bad.’
‘What is?’
Kim Rok Soo had thought it was too bad at that time.
His company was always lacking manpower and had to fight against large organizations or strong individuals even though they were weak. That was why they never had enough strength.
Kim Rok Soo had never fought against an enemy while possessing overwhelming strength over that enemy.
That was why he had said the following to his former team leader.
‘My style is to cause a damn ruckus with overwhelming strength.’
‘You crazy bastard.’
Crazy bastard.
His former team leader’s voice brushed past Cale's ears.
Kim Rok Soo had been disappointed at that time, and that disappointment continued even when he followed in the footsteps of his team leader and became the new team leader.
The Empire was in possession of an overwhelming advantage.
“Miss Rosalyn.”
Cale looked toward Toonka and Harol. He then turned toward Rosalyn and continued to speak.
"Do you know what makes the Whipper Kingdom so scary?”
“Excuse me?”
Rosalyn asked in confusion while one of the mages who came with her responded back. He was one of the mages who had escaped from the Whipper Kingdom. He calmly answered Cale's question.
“The Whipper Kingdom is scary because there is no defense.”
‘There is no defense?
Does that mean…they don't ever defend their castles?’
Cale started to speak while the Flame Dwarf Chief and Rosalyn stood there in confusion.
“The Whipper warriors have magic resistance.”
“Ah!”
Rosalyn gasped as she remembered that fact while the Flame Dwarf Chief's eyes opened wide from this fact he just found out.
Some of the Whipper Kingdom's natives were born with magic resistance. That number only grew as time went on.
It increased significantly after the Magic Tower conducted their cruel human experiments.
Toonka was someone who was at the peak of those individuals.
His physical strength was overwhelming, but his magic resistance was even greater than that.
Armor that is fortified with magic?
It was just like regular steel to the Whipper Kingdom's warriors.
They had innate abilities that allowed them to resist magic for a while.
That was why they could charge forward without any fear.
Even if the Empire happened to be caught off guard last time, the Whipper Kingdom's forces had still fought against the Empire's knights and mages during the last battle at Maple Castle.
And they managed to win.
The overwhelming difference in number?
Why did the Empire need to prepare such a large number of troops in order to conquer the Whipper Kingdom?
It was because they knew they needed at least this much to be victorious.
Chief Harol who made eye contact with Cale started to speak.
“Defense is not in the Whipper Kingdom's dictionary.”
“Kehe, kahahahahahaha!”
Toonka's laughter shook the tower.
He could see the Empire’s forces.
The Lion tribe and alchemists were not stepping up, but the knights and soldiers who were wearing armor fortified with magic, as well as the mages, were prepared for battle.
However, Toonka turned his head and looked toward Cale.
Cale nodded toward Toonka.
‘Do not worry about your back.’
Toonka understood what Cale meant with that nod.
That was why he started to move.
In fact, he jumped off the tower.
He laughed as his large body flew off of the tower.
“Kahahahahahahaha!”
His crazed voice reached both the Empire’s forces and the Whipper Kingdom's soldiers. These soldiers did not have magic resistance like the native warriors.
They watched their leader fall from the tower.
Boom-!
Toonka landed on the ground with a loud noise.
Outside of Maple Castle.
He was now face to face with the close to 100,000 troops from the Empire.
He could also see Duke Huten in the distance.
“Kehehehe-”
An overwhelming difference in numbers?
Had that not been the case when they went up against the Mage faction?
It had been even worse back then.
They had nothing when they went up against the mages.
However, he had won.
‘No, we won.’
Toonka opened his mouth and shouted out loud.
“Open the gates!”
Defending?
Staying cooped up and defending the castle?
They wouldn’t ever do something like that.
Screeeeeeeech-
The castle gate opened.
The warriors who were just as crazy for battle as Toonka appeared from behind the gate. Soldiers were following behind them.
There were only a minimal number of people staying back to guard the castle.
The rest of them were giving off either a venomous presence or a crazed look as they followed behind Toonka.
Toonka remembered what Cale had told him before Choi Han and Rosalyn had arrived. He looked down at his waist.
There was a small but sturdy pouch securely tied on him.
There was a small marble inside the bag.
All of the soldiers had one as well.
“…Young master Cale?”
Rosalyn noticed the pouches on the sides of the Whipper Kingdom's soldiers as they headed toward the Empire's troops. She flinched and looked toward Cale, who picked up one of those marbles and started to speak.
“Eruhaben-nim worked very hard.”
The marbles were filled with a fluid that was the same color as Raon’s eyes. He turned his head and looked toward Flame Dwarf chief Kanelle.
“You’ll be able to see it soon.”
The Flame Dwarf chief flinched at Cale’s gaze. He had not been able to see Cale's gaze clearly because he had been shocked by the Lion tribe.
Cale’s pupils were not shaking at all.
The commander confidently continued to speak.
“You’ll be able to see just what you need to do.”
‘We need to get rid of alchemy.’
Cale continued to speak as the chief thought about that.
“You’ll also be able to see how the weak are able to defeat the strong.”
The Flame Dwarf Chief’s body started to shake.
The Whipper Kingdom's forces seemed weak compared to the Lion tribe that ignored the Flame Dwarves and the Empire that was showing its overwhelming strength.
The Flame Dwarf Chief, as someone who had always been a weakling, felt his fingertips starting to shake.
There was a way for the weak to defeat the strong.
“What is that method?”
“Going crazy and fighting without looking back.”
Kanelle subconsciously gasped after seeing Cale's gaze.
However, Cale had turned his head.
There were times that you needed to run while only looking straight forward.
That was the case for the Whipper Kingdom right now.
Cale started to shout as he knew how the Whipper Kingdom must be feeling right now.
“Priests, start moving!”
However, honestly speaking, both the Whipper Kingdom and the Empire had the wrong idea.
“Mary, you go back inside the castle as well! Go gather the Flame Dwarves!”
People on the tower started to quickly move. Cale was at the center of those people as he observed Toonka who was heading toward the Empire and addressed Choi Han.
“Choi Han.”
“Yes, Cale-nim?”
“Follow me.”
There would be no need for the warriors and soldiers to worry about their back as Cale had told Toonka. Human, I will go to save people as well! I will go with you no matter what you say!
This was because Cale had prepared some overwhelming strengths for it.
‘There's no reason Cale Henituse, no, there is no reason that I need to fight as I had fought when I was Kim Rok Soo.’
The Fire of Destruction started to twirl on top of his palm.