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The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 199

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 199.

As the summoned personnel gathered, the kingdom quickly established a siege.

Under the command of First Prince Proud, they began to tighten the noose around Iswakan.

There were battles in the process, but naturally, lower-grade students from the Academy like myself had no role to play.

We were focused on providing support in the rear, handling supply and administrative tasks.

‘Even so, it took quite a lot of effort.’

It was clear how they viewed this situation.

This large-scale mobilization order was a demonstration of royal authority.

The Ellan Kingdom was handling this matter more thoroughly to make an example of the rebel factions and the Savior Alliance.

It was a show of force to demonstrate the extent of the kingdom’s strongest military power.

Moreover, there was also a reason for internal unity.

“Did you see earlier? Senior Ingen’s explosion magic! Five undead soldiers disappeared without a trace! Undead soldiers with magic resistance, mind you! As expected, Senior Ingen is the strongest among the senior students!”

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you see Senior Bane’s rock magic? Nothing can survive being crushed by that!”

Our classmates were arguing about who was more impressive.

They had nothing else to do as work was slow, but as they said, the skills of the Academy’s senior students and graduates were considerable.

‘As for the warriors who handle martial arts…’

The warrior side wasn’t much, as they were all weaker than Lucretia except for about ten of them, but I was even interested in the pure magician side.

Magicians who wielded mysterious magic with their own attributes.

Thanks to their firepower, the siege quickly tightened.

Finally, at the point of a week into the war, we were able to push the enemy into Iswakan and set up a base about 1km away from the city.

As we had driven them into a semicircle, the enemy had no retreat except for the sea behind them.

At this point, as per the strategy, they began preparations to select the elite forces to subjugate Iswakan.

In the meantime, a small banquet was held.

“Sir Ars!”

Erina showed me the food she had received and smiled brightly.

As we were eating, Elena, who was at the central base, showed her face.

She picked up some fruit from the food Erina offered and said to me,

“Elaine. As you said, I’ve looked into it, but it seems there’s no way to go to the Forest of Lament right now.”

“I see…”

I wanted to somehow contact Gaspar in the Forest of Lament, but there was no other way as long as the enemies were occupying the port.

“What about borrowing a fisherman’s boat?”

“That won’t work either. The fishermen who were fishing in the area have all evacuated or been taken by the enemy.”

“There should be empty boats left, right?”

“Well, yes, but…”

The point was that there was no one to send. Elena had never been to the Forest of Lament, nor did she know Gaspar. Rinoa and Erina were out of the question.

At best, it would be Anduha, but Anduha’s individual combat power wasn’t that great.

“Do I have to go myself?”

I didn’t realize the talent shortage was this severe.

“There’s also the option of me escorting Sir Anduha…”

“Rather than that, it’s better to just watch the situation for now.”

We had already completed the siege and were counting down to recapturing Iswakan.

After recapturing Iswakan, the plan was to immediately cross over and conquer the Forest of Lament, so it wouldn’t be too late to contact Gaspar then.

‘…But what is this?’

Something ominous brushed past my heart.

This was similar to the sensation I used to feel on the battlefield before.

An instinctive warning telling me we had fallen into the enemy’s trap.

My heart was pounding and cold sweat was running down. If I were the commander-in-chief, I would reconsider the operation from the ground up due to this ominous feeling.

However, I wasn’t in such a position, so all I could do was try to suppress my anxiety.

***

The surrounded Iswakan.

Kieran, who was commanding the rebellion, was staring at the tightly packed Ellan Kingdom forces with a complicated expression.

‘What fools. And…’

Kieran self-deprecated, thinking that they might have been fools too. He was now regretting making things too big.

‘Things progressed too quickly. To the point where we couldn’t do anything. As if someone else had intervened… Maybe we’ve been used too.’

Thud! Hearing footsteps from behind, Kieran turned his head.

There stood a man with a dark impression.

“What is it? Viscount Pax.”

“Huh.”

Viscount Forschine Pax. He was the head of a powerful family in the Ellan Kingdom, now suspected of rebellion.

Viscount Pax was under house arrest, but for some reason, he was in Iswakan.

Kieran inwardly clicked his tongue.

‘I underestimated this man too much.’

Initially, Kieran was confident that he could sweep away the rebel forces of the Ellan Kingdom or the Savior Alliance in the Forest of Lament in one go.

It actually happened that way. They easily took away the undead soldiers and Mepatra, the monster ruling the Forest of Lament.

However, looking back at the current situation, it seemed like they might have been led to do so.

After all, the current situation was an incredibly favorable arrangement for them, especially the Savior Alliance.

Kieran had no doubt that Viscount Pax, who created the opportunity for this incident, was deeply involved with the Savior Alliance.

“I asked what’s going on.”

“I came to confirm the operation.”

“If it’s about that, the conversation should have already ended.”

“No, no. Didn’t you leave open the possibility of retreat?”

“…”

“Now that they’re all gathered, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Show them the power of your Article. Then everyone will revere you and never set foot in the Forest of Lament again.”

“Stop with the flattery. So? What do you intend to do in this situation?”

“Huh, I’m not interested in this incident itself. Just… We plan to take care of a few necessary things while riding on your coattails.”

“Don’t interfere.”

“Of course. The main actors in this incident are, after all, the conflict between your faction’s Article and the Kingdom of Ellan. We’re merely supporting actors.”

Viscount Pax smiled like a petty person, but Kieran didn’t find that smile amusing.

At that moment, as dawn began to break, the Kingdom of Ellan’s movements became busy.

Kieran sensed that the time for the decisive battle was not far off.

No, this wasn’t a decisive battle. It was just devouring an opponent who had unwittingly entered the tiger’s den.

‘Since it’s come to this, I’ll thoroughly crush them.’

Kieran took out the staff he had been carrying.

Archmage Kieran. He was a figure from 120 years ago, who had studied black magic to gain immortality.

He was particularly engrossed in blood research. To obtain the dark attribute he lacked, he researched the blood of those born with the dark attribute, and finally, using it, he became able to handle the dark attribute himself.

His research turned the faction Article he created into the headquarters of black magic.

Thanks to his research, all the magicians belonging to the Article became able to handle the dark attribute.

“Then we’ll begin. Everyone, move to your positions!”

The Article’s magicians took their places in perfect unison.

They begin to chant something in collaboration.

* * *

The attack time was in the morning.

First, the selected elite unit would enter, and the forces that followed would gradually occupy the path they had opened.

It wasn’t orthodox. The orthodox method for urban occupation was to occupy bit by bit while advancing slowly.

If not done this way, they could suffer severe damage from enemies ambushing from inside buildings.

Nevertheless, they could do this because their firepower was tremendous.

Prince Proud intended to advance while completely devastating the city.

That would render ambushes and the like meaningless.

“Listen, Proud Unit!”

Prince Proud named the elite vanguard after himself. It was a way to claim credit without personally participating in the vanguard.

He was about to give a morale-boosting speech and then issue the official attack order.

But that’s when it happened.

“…!”

A chill running up my spine. The warning of instinct rang an alarm bell.

And at the same time, something black flew from the far side of the sky.

“Ah…”

Everyone was staring at it blankly.

Mello muttered in a deflated voice.

“A dragon…?”

A black monster approaching with flapping black wings.

It was that dragon that could only be seen in books.

The dragon’s danger classification was Special Grade. It was a grade given because it simply couldn’t be measured with grades 1-9.

“What is this!”

The prince’s party was also looking up at it in shock.

“Pre-prepare for battle!”

When Prince Proud, who had come to his senses, shouted, they started to get into formation, but it was too late.

The black dragon, which had already approached as close as it could, landed in front of the vanguard that was preparing to advance, as if sliding.

It was still far from where I was, but because its size was so large, I could observe its appearance.

Its appearance didn’t look good, even as an empty compliment.

The body, which should have been glossy, had black scales torn in places, reduced to rags, and blood was flowing all over its body.

It looked like an animal that had been abusively trained.

Above all, its eyes were chilling. The pupils were moving so frighteningly, as if chasing flies with its eyes.

I could tell at a glance. That dragon was in a state of insanity.

“Even if it’s a dragon, it can’t withstand our forces! Proud Unit! Eliminate it…!”

It was the moment Prince Proud was about to give the attack order.

As if receiving some command, the dragon’s swaying pupils suddenly stopped, and with a deep breath, it roared.

“Kuooooo──!”

Then red smoke began to spread around the dragon. The smoke obscured the view.

I quickly grabbed Erina’s hand tightly and covered our mouths and noses.

The smoke engulfed the surroundings for a full 10 minutes.

Everyone prayed for the smoke to clear soon. …However, if they had known the devastation that would unfold later, no one would have thought that way.

As the smoke cleared.

Sensing that the light had changed, I looked up at the sky.

“As expected…!”

The sky turned red. It was the same as what we experienced in the Forest of Lament.

It seemed this place had already been transformed into a different world by that thing.

‘No, the strange energy is even stronger than back then!’

Then strange sounds began to be heard from here and there. Sounds that were like screams, or roars.

At least, they weren’t sounds that humans would make.

It was heard next to me too.

“Erina!?”

Turning my gaze to the strange cry from Erina’s direction, I couldn’t help but flinch.

A horrible monster with bumpy skin was screaming at me.

‘Damn it!’

I quickly accepted the situation.

Since I hadn’t let go of her hand, it means this monster whose hand I’m holding now is Erina.

‘Is it an illusion magic!’

Moreover, it was the highest level of illusion magic. It distorted what was seen and made communication impossible. It even used that level of illusion magic over a wide area.

‘To this extent…!’

What we experienced in the Forest of Lament was nothing compared to this.

It was strange from the beginning.

I heard that Mepatra, the monster of the Forest of Lament, was tamed by Viscount Pax. They didn’t talk in detail about that monster, but they said it could be easily subdued, so I thought it was nothing special except for its unique properties.

But for it to be a dragon. This means that Viscount Pax had been controlling information from the start, aiming for something.

‘Now is not the time to worry about that.’

For now, I had to navigate through this situation.

All 60,000 people were thrown into confusion.

Still, being mages even if rotten, they quickly caught on that this was due to illusion magic.

“Erina! It’s me! It’s me!”

I was trying to calm Erina, who was struggling to pull her hand away.

I held her hand tightly. It felt like if I let go of this hand, I would never meet Erina again.

“Tch!”

I forcibly hugged her tight to keep her from moving. This seemed to work, as Erina, who had been struggling, soon calmed down.

“Are you a bit calmer now?”

Although words didn’t get through, the meaning seemed to be conveyed as Erina in monster form nodded.

While words didn’t work and appearances seemed changed, it seems it couldn’t deceive movements.

I took out paper and a pen from my backpack.

─It seems everyone is under illusion magic. Just in case, I’m asking, but you are Erina, right? If so, write your full name.

Erina quickly nodded and wrote Erina Egell Saleon with the pen. Seeing that she wrote even her middle name, it was certain.

For now, it seemed we could overcome the confusion this way. Once this commotion settles, we can all either defeat that dragon or find a way to escape from here.

‘Breaking the barrier won’t work.’

Back then, it was possible to escape by destroying the barrier because the old mage Polarian, who knew the gap in the barrier, told us the location, but now we don’t know where that gap is.

‘At times like this, the command should step up…’

However, it seems the other side had the upper hand in terms of command ability.

“Kueeeegh!”

The sound of battle could be heard from everywhere.

The undead soldiers had started to attack. The appearance of the undead soldiers was exactly the same monstrous form as us, so there was no way to distinguish them.

This was fatal.

The command system was already broken, and infighting was occurring among allies, and now enemy forces were attacking.

Eventually, attacks came even towards me and Erina.

“Kuk!”

I avoided the attack while hugging Erina. I could have just killed them if I counterattacked, but I couldn’t because there was a possibility they were allies.

‘This war situation is already irreversible!’

In terms of war, this is a lost battle. If we fight more here, we’ll only be annihilated.

So I had no choice but to choose the best I could do.

“Hold on tight!”

I decided to escape from this place with Erina.


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The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road

Score 9.2
Status: Completed Type: Author: Released: 2022 Native Language: Korean
I ended up possessing Ars Elaine, a supporting character in the game. Struggling to prevent my death, I pave my way.

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