Chapter 600
We Must Fight a Dragon. (1)
The high-ranking officers of the United Army were in excellent spirits. Their chins were raised, their necks stiff with pride.
The distribution of war spoils was nearly complete. Everyone had secured significant territories and wealth.
Each kingdom, upon hearing the news, had sent envoys to commend their commanders. Once they returned home, they would be celebrated as war heroes and wield great influence.
"Ah-hem, all that remains now is to return home."
"With our kingdom's territory expanded, the results are most satisfying."
"The remnants of the Salvation Church are few in number now."
"Indeed. We must ensure they are thoroughly crushed so that such heretics never rise again."
They had come to understand just how terrifying the Salvation Church truly was. Even amidst their elation, a deep-seated fear lingered in their hearts.
Thus, the Four Major Temples and all the kingdoms had resolved to utterly eradicate the remaining followers.
Never again would such people be allowed to lift their heads.
"I hear the newly reorganized legions will depart soon."
"Well, since they are composed of only the most capable warriors, eliminating the remnants shouldn't be difficult."
"Those bastards must already believe their lives are over. Hahaha."
At best, the remnants were no more than rebels from minor kingdoms. Though they were scattered, carefully laid plans were already in place to wipe them out swiftly.
For the time being, the Kingdom of Sardina would continue to serve as the headquarters of the United Army. Until the continent’s wars and the Riftspawn crisis were entirely quelled, a central command was necessary.
Just as they began to feel at ease, convinced that everything was over, Ghislain convened a meeting.
Gathered in the royal castle of Sardina, they greeted Ghislain with bright smiles.
"Haha, what urgent matter prompted the Supreme Commander to call this meeting?"
"Could it be more good news?"
"Are you perhaps planning to hold a grand banquet?"
With their worries gone, they all felt at ease. Some even hoped for another reward.
Ghislain surveyed them before speaking with a grave expression.
"We cannot return yet. We must prepare for a new battle."
The United Army’s commanders nodded with gentle smiles.
"We're aware that some remnants remain. That’s why the subjugation force is setting out soon, is it not?"
"Haha, I never expected the Duke to be this cautious. The only ones left are rebels from minor nations."
"Ah, but isn't it precisely because of the Duke's nature that we were victorious in this war?"
"Of course. We'll take our time returning after assessing the situation, so there’s no need to worry too much."
Laughter filled the room. Though they thought it was a trivial matter to call a meeting for, they still felt a certain satisfaction after all, if someone of Duke Fenris’ stature deemed it important, it must be significant.
Then, without a change in his expression, Ghislain dropped a single remark.
"We Must Fight a Dragon."
"Haha, dragon or not, who could possibly defeat us?"
"Exactly! That overgrown lizard—"
"Haha..."
"Ha...?"
"What? What did you just say we’re fighting?"
The laughter died instantly as everyone turned to stare at Ghislain in shock.
A creature they had never even considered suddenly entered the conversation. Their expressions were filled with disbelief, as if they doubted their own ears.
"A dragon? Where did that come from?"
"We must have misheard, right?"
"Perhaps... are you just making a joke because you're bored?"
As they gawked at him with incredulous faces, Ghislain shook his head.
"No. We really have to fight a dragon. Its name is Arterion, a White Dragon that resides in the Shadow Mountains."
Ghislain shared the information he had learned from Ereneth, deliberately omitting any mention of the Adversary, and only explaining the dragon itself.
After hearing the full story, the gathered nobles and commanders looked utterly dazed. The most shocked of them all was, unsurprisingly, Marquis Gideon of the Turian Kingdom.
"T-Then... the reason our kingdom has been constantly attacked by monsters is..."
"Yes. It’s because of the dragon."
Marquis Gideon turned to look at Julien, who nodded and added,
"That’s highly likely."
The marquis was in complete shock. The idea that such a terrifying being had been residing so close to their kingdom worse yet, that their entire nation had been caught up in a dragon’s twisted game was utterly horrifying.
It was such an absurd claim that few could accept it immediately. What kind of dragon announces its arrival beforehand?
"No, but... how does a dragon just appear out of nowhere...?"
"Are you certain about this information?"
"The strange phenomena in the Shadow Mountains have not yet been explained."
Ghislain nodded firmly.
"Yes. The Elven High Chief brought us this news. The information is reliable, and we must prepare accordingly."
They were well aware that the Ritania Army had an Elven High Chief among their allies.
And with Ghislain himself pushing the issue, they had little choice but to accept it, despite their bewilderment.
One of the nobles cautiously asked,
"T-Then... how exactly do we prepare for this?"
The war against the Salvation Church had been a conflict between humans. They had handled it like any other war.
The Riftspawn had been an entirely different problem, but at least they had figured out a way to deal with them.
But a dragon?
None of them had any idea how to fight a dragon.
It had been centuries since anyone had seen one. The last recorded dragon corpse had been discovered over two hundred years ago.
None of them had ever faced a dragon in battle, so it was only natural that they were confused.
Ghislain scanned the United Army’s high command before speaking.
"First, we must stop the Monster Wave in the Turian Kingdom."
A horde of monsters, far stronger than anything they had faced before, would soon descend upon them.
It was the harbinger of a dragon’s arrival.
In his previous life, a similar situation had unfolded, but back then, no one had understood the reason behind it.
After all, Monster Waves were a common occurrence in the Turian Kingdom.
The dragon had always appeared with a delay after the Monster Wave, which was why no one had ever linked the two events together.
No, it would be more accurate to say that no one had even considered researching the connection. At the time, the United Human Army had been too preoccupied with fighting the ever-expanding Riftspawn to think about anything else.
But now, things were different. Ghislain had the knowledge from his past life and the information he had received from Ereneth.
"This will not be like before. We must be thoroughly prepared."
The room buzzed with murmurs. Everyone had heard of Monster Waves before, but many assumed Ghislain was exaggerating the threat. After all, the Turian Kingdom had built numerous fortresses over the years and had always managed to hold the monsters at bay.
Only Marquis Gideon looked tense as he asked,
"What makes this different?"
"Think of it as every single monster in the Shadow Mountains pouring out at once."
The room fell silent in shock.
The Shadow Mountains were infamous for their seemingly endless supply of monsters. No matter how many were hunted, their numbers never seemed to dwindle. If every single one of them emerged at the same time, the scale of the disaster would be unimaginable.
Ghislain continued in a firm voice.
"This will not be like the wars we have fought so far. You must think of this as a single, massive battle - one overwhelming offensive."
In his past life, when this Monster Wave had struck, the entire Turian Kingdom had been devastated.
At that time, Julien had been leading the United Human Army, and as soon as the crisis began, he had mobilized a coalition force. Even then, the Turian Kingdom had suffered immense losses.
Before they could even begin to recover from that catastrophe, a dragon had suddenly appeared and driven the kingdom to the brink of destruction.
But this time was different. The United Army was already assembled, and they had ample time to prepare.
"All combat forces will be stationed at the fortresses of the Turian Kingdom. Bring in every siege weapon from your home countries catapults, ballistae, anything we have."
A heavy silence settled over the room.
If all the monsters in the Shadow Mountains truly poured out, their numbers would easily reach the hundreds of thousands.
The United Army had grown accustomed to large-scale battles against the Riftspawn, but monsters were far more powerful than those creatures.
There were also unique and formidable variants among them. If hundreds of ogres appeared at once, they could easily bring down a fortress.
This time, they would have to face such creatures head-on. The more siege weapons they had, the better.
Then, a noble raised another concern.
"If we move all our forces and weapons to the Turian Kingdom, what about the remnants of the Salvation Church?"
"We cannot afford to deploy too many troops elsewhere. A single legion will handle the remnants."
"But that will take too long. What if they regroup in the meantime?"
Duke Leinster's corpse had been found, but Gartros was still missing. It was safe to assume he was still alive.
Even if they were just remnants, if they gathered in one place, they could become a serious threat.
Trying to eliminate them with just one legion would be time-consuming and difficult.
Ghislain agreed with their concerns, but he had another plan in mind.
"Once we stop the Monster Wave, we can redirect our forces to subjugate the remnants. After all, only the elite can face the dragon. But since that will take time, I intend to ask for outside help."
"From whom?"
"Count Raypold. She’s currently fighting elsewhere, but soon, she will ascend as the King of the Kingdom of Norbagen."
At those words, Claude widened his eyes and whispered to Ghislain,
"Did she agree to that?"
"She will. Amelia needs to clean up the situation around her anyway."
"And what if she refuses?"
"Then we’ll make her do it. I'm busy, so you go and persuade her. Use threats or negotiations whatever works."
"...Are you sending me to my death?"
"What else am I supposed to do? We can’t go right now. Do you want to just leave the remnants alone?"
"......"
"I'm not asking her to do it for free. Negotiate with her. And if that doesn’t work, threaten her."
Ghislain had never once asked someone to do something for free. He always ensured there was a fair exchange.
The problem was that negotiations with him often involved intimidation or dragging people along against their will. But in the end, both sides usually gained something from it.
"There’s no one else besides Amelia who can handle this right now. Since we’ll need to provide troops and supplies, we should assign someone suitable to oversee it."
"...Who exactly is 'someone suitable'?"
"You."
"......"
"Go."
Claude broke out into a cold sweat.
He had heard that Amelia had been waiting for an opportunity to punish him for siphoning one gold from the Actium Merchant Guild in the past.
That single gold coin had caused her endless headaches as she tried to figure out what it meant.
In the end, Amelia had found out that he had simply pocketed a bribe, and she had been furious about it ever since.
Before Claude could even respond, Ghislain turned to the others and declared,
"Claude will take a legion and begin the remnant subjugation alongside the King of Norbagen."
"......"
The room fell silent.
It was clear that Ghislain had made this decision entirely on his own. No negotiations had even taken place with Norbagen’s queen yet.
But, as always, Ghislain bulldozed ahead with his plans, making it impossible to argue.
The remnant subjugation could be delayed if necessary, but the dragon was the real issue.
"We might be able to hold back the monsters if we all gather our forces. But the dragon... How do we even fight it? Even with our elites... Is it truly possible?"
Ghislain nodded with absolute confidence.
He had already slain a dragon in his past life.
"There’s no need to worry about the dragon. As long as we prepare properly, it won’t be impossible to defeat. We have plenty of powerful warriors here, don’t we?"
"Mm..."
The United Army’s high command nodded in agreement.
If nothing else, they could trust Ghislain’s confidence.
There was still unease, but they had no better alternative.
Ghislain looked around at them before continuing.
"However, in addition to siege weapons, we need something else. We must contact our home countries and secure as much support as possible."
"And what would that be?"
"We need at least a thousand mages of the 5th Circle or higher."
"Haah..."
"We cannot win unless we seal the dragon's magic. That many mages are absolutely necessary."
The commanders' faces darkened as they nodded.
Even in a major kingdom, there were rarely more than fifty 5th-Circle Mages. In smaller kingdoms, such mages often served as royal court wizards.
To gather a thousand, they would have to scrape together every last mage from across the continent.
"We must secure siege weapons and mages at all costs. Even those who were researching the Riftspawn must now focus on preparing for battle against the dragon."
With that, the meeting came to an end.
Or rather, it was more of a declaration than a discussion.
After all, the United Army had always been Ghislain's to command. Some still had doubts and grievances, but by now, everyone had grown accustomed to his dictatorship.
The army sprang into motion once more, requesting reinforcements from their homelands and preparing for a new war.
And around this time, Ghislain began dreaming more frequently.
* * *
"Hmm."
Ghislain surveyed the battlefield within his dream.
Since the day divine power had seeped into his body, he had experienced this dream a few more times, but nothing particularly unusual had occurred.
All he saw were scenes of the United Human Army fighting against the Salvation Church.
Since that day, the Saintess had not spoken to him.
With no way to interact, Ghislain simply observed the battles, absorbing whatever knowledge he could.
“Tsk, you can’t fight like that.”
"Who’s commanding them? Seriously?"
"Wow, now this battle is incredible."
With a bit more time to analyze, Ghislain now found himself clicking his tongue in frustration or marveling at the brilliance of certain strategies.
Since the commanders changed from battle to battle, some fights were painfully inefficient, while others were executed with almost miraculous precision.
He took the opportunity to reassess strategies and tactics, and occasionally, he gained insights from watching battles between the Hero and the Adversary.
Then, suddenly, the scenery changed.
"Oh..."
A massive army had gathered larger than anything he had seen before.
At its forefront stood the Saintess and the Hero, along with several other warriors whose presence radiated immense power.
Their expressions were tense. This battle was clearly critical.
KWAAAAAAAAAH!
A deafening roar tore through the air, prompting Ghislain to lift his gaze to the sky.
As he turned toward the sound, he saw dozens of massive creatures soaring toward them from afar.
They were creatures Ghislain knew all too well.
"Dragons."
The supreme beings, revered as the strongest lifeforms to ever exist, had appeared behind the United Human Army.
And at their very front flew a magnificent white dragon, its body gleaming like freshly fallen snow.
"Arterion."
The Dragon Lord, who had once fought alongside the United Human Army to drive out the Salvation Church...
And now, the enemy of humanity.