Chapter 205

Outbreak of War
By the time Draconia reached the border, the Empire had finally issued a declaration of war.

"So they've given up on a surprise attack." Gilbert muttered in exasperation.

The Empire had likely planned to overwhelm Arland with a force far outnumbering its military and swiftly occupy it with a blitzkrieg. But they had made a critical mistake right from the beginning—they lacked the speed necessary for a surprise assault.

There was nothing to do but be astonished. Even though they'd gone through the trouble of eliminating Arland's internal darkness and kept their invasion unnoticed, they blundered right out of the gate.

But this was inevitable. The Emperor's knowledge of warfare amounted to little more than thinking victory would be assured by simply hurling a numerically superior force at Arland. Of course, from Arland’s perspective, it was outrageous. And by mobilizing even criminals and commoners from within the Empire, they’d ended up with a mass of untrained troops. Those commoners, unused to military marches, had fallen behind. Naturally, when one part of the army slows down, the rest must follow suit.

"For now, let's take a look at what this declaration of war says." Draconia said as he read aloud the document handed to him by a subordinate. Incidentally, the imperial envoy who had brought the declaration had already been killed. This was to ensure the Empire remained unaware that the Arland military had already mobilized.

As Draconia read the contents, his expression turned expressionless like a Noh mask. Perhaps because he read it loud enough for others to hear, the surrounding knights also adopted the same expressionless look.

The contents, summarized, were as follows:

Alicetia is a human, and yet Arland is using her talents for the sake of sub-humans.

Alicetia is a Holy Maiden, and Arland is monopolizing her.

Arland disrupts the order of the continent and does not follow the policies of the Central Alliance.

Arland is discourteous to the Empire and does not pay tribute.

Therefore, the Granzur Empire declares war on the Arland Kingdom.

The conditions for surrender include Arland becoming a vassal state, the handover of Alicetia and the other royals to the Empire, and governance of Arland to be managed by imperial-designated nobles.

Furthermore, other races are to be handed over as slaves.

"You've got to be kidding me."

The demands completely undermined the very existence of Arland. Even if Draconia were to accept them, there was no way the people of Arland would comply.

And the demand for Alicetia’s surrender—this infuriated the kingdom’s military.

The rest of the demands were nothing more than nonsense not even worth hearing. The Empire always made similar demands, so by now it had become something of a seasonal tradition. Everyone was used to it. But handing over Alicetia—that was absolutely unacceptable.

Alicetia was universally seen in a positive light within Arland—dubbed "the Holy Maiden," "the Treasure of Arland," and so on. Most commonly referred to as "the Princess," she was recognized as someone incredibly important to the kingdom.

Her willingness to hand over even her personal wealth for the kingdom's sake earned her the respect of many citizens. And those actions, in turn, enriched the lives of the people.

Who wouldn’t come to love a young princess who did so much? Alicetia herself gained no personal benefit. No matter how much she earned, everything was used for the development of the kingdom.

The military felt the same. Arland's army was strong—and proud. They saw themselves as both the sword and shield that protected their homeland. Alicetia’s devotion was something they believed they must repay through their own deeds, and that belief had thoroughly permeated even the lowest ranks.

The Arland army split into two units. The troops who had yet to assemble were gathered near the border by Gilbert.

Meanwhile, Draconia, with the forces already assembled, launched an invasion into imperial territory. The goal was to conduct delaying battles—to slow the Empire’s advance and buy time until Alicetia’s preparations were complete.

There was likely no chance of victory for the kingdom. Draconia had only 50,000 troops. The rest—still yet to fully gather—were the armies of the nobility. In contrast, the Empire’s ground forces, according to scout reports, totaled over two million. It was a force assembled from across the entire Empire. And that was just the ground troops; the remainder was the air force.

Normally, there would be no hope of winning. But neither Draconia nor the Arland army let their morale drop. They would protect the kingdom no matter what. And if they could buy time, Alicetia would send powerful reinforcements. That belief sustained them.

Draconia launched a surprise attack on the unsuspecting Imperial forces. The Empire's frontline troops were untrained civilian soldiers. They were no match for Arland’s hardened warriors.

"Die, you barbarian kinggggg!"

A heavily armored knight came at Draconia, surrounded by others, attempting to impale him with a bristling wall of spears.

"Futile! You’ll never take my daughter from me! Neverrrrrr!"

Draconia repelled every spear with his fighting spirit alone. The spears couldn’t even pierce him due to the sheer force of his aura. He then struck one of the armored knights, shattering the bones in the man’s arm that held the shield and causing him to drop it.

"You’ve got a decent body. I might actually be able to use you."

“H-Hiiiieeeeeeaaaaaahhh!!”

Grabbing the knight’s head, Draconia smashed him into another Imperial soldier. The knight and the soldier both died from the impact alone.

Draconia fought on the frontlines, wielding both his beloved war hammer—and the corpses of the Empire’s soldiers—as weapons.

Imperial soldiers were excellent weapons for Draconia. There were endless replacements nearby, and using them up without remorse was easy.

But for the imperial soldiers fighting against Draconia, it was unbearable. Their comrades turned into deadly weapons and attacked them. And even ranged attacks with magic or bows used them mercilessly as shields.

The surprise attacks by the Arland army led by the demon-like Draconia were textbook examples of military tactics.

However, tragically, overwhelming numbers held immense power. A strong Arland soldier could kill ten imperial soldiers alone. But when surrounded and attacked simultaneously, the story changed. And the numerical difference was simply too vast.

Draconia repeatedly used ambushes to whittle down the imperial army. As a result, he successfully forced the Empire to waste a great deal of time before entering Arland territory.

However, the cost was great. From an initial force of about 50,000, the army had been reduced to near collapse after just a month of fighting. Only 30,000 elite troops remained. In contrast, the Empire had lost about 130,000 soldiers.

They were winning in terms of kill ratio. But the total number was just too different. Even if they could take out 130,000 at the cost of 20,000, Arland, which had no reserves, was at a tremendous disadvantage.

And so, Draconia's army retreated. Any further irregular warfare would be difficult. Their focus on speed had left them short on supplies. Being in enemy territory, resupplying was nearly impossible. They needed to return to the kingdom and reorganize with Gilbert’s unit.

The Empire then boldly violated the kingdom’s territory. They began sending pillaging units to towns and villages where evacuees still remained. The kingdom's army could not respond. They had no reserves.

“Is leaving it to Eudis our only option?”

“Father, while he has serious personality issues, his abilities are real. I'm sure he'll buy time and help the evacuees escape.

We should focus on delaying the main force.”

Eudis’s Point of View
“What a goddamned mess.”

Eudis stood in a village along the border, glaring off into the distance. It was a village that, due to a communication failure, hadn’t realized war had broken out and had been late in evacuating. Leading the second training corps, now designated Unit 201 due to wartime, Eudis was in command. In the Arland army, units numbered in the 200s were special forces assigned exclusively to irregular warfare—this was the first such unit.

The unit had about 300 members, far below full strength. Eudis had trained them harshly, and from the original 1,500 recruits, only these remained.

However, those who remained were the elite of the elite chosen for the second training corps. For Eudis, this number was satisfactory.

“Captain, orders from HQ. Evacuate the civilians, burn the village, and withdraw.”

“What, we’re not fighting?”

Eudis was displeased with the order to retreat. Those here were elite troops. He judged them capable of fighting. They had also stolen supplies from a base, so a few battles wouldn’t be a problem.

“Our unit is a covert one. It’s best to avoid engagement.”

Not only Unit 201, but all units under Alicetia’s command had to remain hidden. If the Empire didn’t know of their existence, they couldn’t prepare countermeasures, making future counteroffensives more effective.

“The order is just to withdraw?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Very well. Then burn the village. Don’t forget to tell the villagers that the kingdom will compensate them after the war. Also, check once more if anyone is still left behind.”

The subordinate saluted and ran off.

Eudis clicked his tongue as he saw him off. He understood the logic of the plan. But he couldn’t accept it.

He was a rough man—he knew that himself. But his feelings for the kingdom were sincere. That’s why he’d quit drinking his beloved alcohol since becoming the commander of this unit. He knew how badly he behaved when drunk.

Then, once the village was set ablaze, a scout reported that an imperial unit was approaching.

“Definitely a looting party. This location’s a little off the main invasion route.”

In this world, taking needed supplies on-site was common sense. Logistics were too weak to transport everything necessary.

“Alright. Then we’ll fall back… after we annihilate the imperial unit.”

“All troops, camouflage yourselves and hide in the village. Attack when the imperial troops reach the center.”

“Um… sir, the order was to retreat…”

“That’s right. We will retreat. But only after we annihilate the imperial unit. The order didn’t specify when to retreat. So there’s no problem.”

Everyone grinned at his words. They had stolen supplies from a base, including some gear not officially adopted.

One such piece was the silencer. Technically a “sound suppressor,” this device enchanted bullets with the Silence spell. It truly silenced gunfire.

Bullets enchanted with Silence didn’t even make wind-cutting noises as they pierced their targets. The 201st used the same AK-47s as other units, but theirs had been specially modified by Alicetia—completely different from the standard models.

And so, Unit 201 hid in the center of the village.

After a while, the imperial troops arrived. Seeing the smoke still rising, they likely understood Arland had employed scorched earth tactics. They were careless.

“Doesn’t look like there’s anything left here.”

“Damn. Think there’s a beastkin woman or two left?”

“Hell, we came all the way to this backwater country. If there ain’t any women, this ain’t worth it.”

Hearing these words, Eudis swore that the imperial soldiers would pay for burning the village—with their lives.

The imperial soldiers marched in, completely unaware that Unit 201 was listening in. They were likely headed for the next village.

That was bad. That village also had citizens still there, late in evacuating. And the people from this village were going there too, aiming to reach the town with the evacuation airship by traveling along the main road.

"They even took the damn beds with them."

"Over here, not even the cupboards are left!"

The villagers had taken all their belongings with them when they evacuated. What made that possible were the storage pouches. The storage pouches sent from the Viceroy Merchant Union were handed out to the villagers, who used them to flee with everything, down to the last item.

Then, despite his displeasure, when the looting unit passed through the center of the village, Eudis shot the leading commander in the head with his gun.

The commander suddenly fell from his horse. The Imperial soldiers, caught completely off guard, couldn't comprehend what had just happened. At the same time, Arland's army, camouflaged and hidden, began flanking suppressive fire from both sides.

“Wha—Gyaaaaaaaaah!”

“Where?! Where is the attack coming from?!”

“Cowards! Come out and fight!”

Of course no one would come out. The Imperial troops continued to fall one after another, picked off by the silent killers.

Some of the magicians using barriers and knights equipped with magic tools couldn’t withstand the hail of bullets raining down on them. The 7.72mm rounds were powerful as it was. With repeated hits, even barriers would shatter.

“R-retreat!”

Someone among the survivors shouted the order to retreat, and the remaining Imperial soldiers scrambled to flee, trying to escape the village the way they came. They had no countermeasures against this unknown form of attack.

But the moment they exited the village, mortars fired from a nearby forest rained down on them, and another round of gunfire came from the hidden troops. Unlike inside the village, there were no obstacles to shield them on the open road, and the looting unit was wiped out. All 500 members of the looting unit were annihilated.

After a while, Eudis and the others emerged still wearing their camouflage.

“It’s mop-up time. Kill any survivors. They won’t have any useful intel even if we take them prisoner.”

“Yes, sir!”

His subordinates jabbed their bayonets into the corpses, and if they got any reaction, they fired more bullets. They then proceeded to confiscate the looting unit’s supplies.

“Pile the bodies in one place and burn them. We can’t have a plague breaking out after the war.”

After stripping useful supplies and storing them in storage pouches, they burned the Imperial soldiers' corpses on the outskirts of the village.

“Now then, as per orders, we pull back. We’ll make our stand in the territorial capital of Shuln.”

It wouldn’t take long for the destruction of this unit to be discovered, and reinforcements would surely come. To prepare for that, they would conduct a defensive battle at the capital of the Count’s domain, Shuln, where basic fortifications at least existed. Only this village and another nearby had failed to escape in time. While Shuln had a large population, more than half had already evacuated, so there was no issue.

One of the subordinates retrieved military trucks from a storage bag, and the unit boarded the cargo beds. There were just enough trucks for everyone, so no one had to walk.

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