Amber Sword

However, the opponent was a woman who looked identical to Senior Sister, which he found hard to accept.

Ou Fuwei’er remained silent, seemingly waiting for these young ones to speak. Brand shared the same thought, taking this chance to see the true strength of the Three Heroes of Erune.

Loka pondered for a moment before responding, "The advantage of time will eventually be lost, but until then, we can decide where and how to engage the Black Blade Legion."

Indeed.

Turning temporal advantage into geographical advantage. Brand secretly praised, as the leader of Erune’s Three Heroes was worthy of his former illustrious reputation. His thoughts coincide with mine. However, he had planned earlier, while the opponent made an instant judgment, showing a big difference.

Luckily, he never considered himself a genius Commander, and he was here simply because he possessed far more knowledge than anyone else in this period of history. That’s enough.

"What is the objective of the operation?"

"Obviously, hold and wait for reinforcements." Enrock replied.

"Then where should we choose as the battlefield?" Everyone’s gaze inevitably fell on the opened map, including Brand’s. Previously, they had headed east from Ampezel Port into the Machinko Mountains, and now they were slightly south of Ding’s Mountain Manor.

Ding’s Mountain Manor is a famous landmark near Ampezel, referred to as a manor but actually a mountain tavern shaped like a fortress. The manor is located about a dozen miles east of Ampezel Port, surrounded by mountains, in the mountain forest connecting Ampezel to Anlek Province.

Since it’s the only main road nearby, straying from it means being in the wilds southeast of Ampezel. There’s another road going south from Ampezel, leading to Flada-Pes Territory, and they are between these two roads.

This area is a 25-30 level adventure zone known to Brand. Further south lies a Guard City of Ampezel, with a logging area nearby that supplies Ampezel’s daily charcoal; Brand had done numerous tasks there before.

There is also a small iron mine nearby, and due to the charcoal, many ironworks estates emerged around the year 360 in the era of abundance. The Guard City serves as the center, leading east into mountains, and west to a densely populated coastal region.

Brand decisively drew a line in this area.

The young ones were debating.

Caglis believed they should leverage their army’s advantage of being small but elite, to ambush the Black Blade Legion in the Fama Valley (1). This valley penetrates the northern branches of Anlek and is a prime terrain for ambush.

However, Enrock suggested they should enter the Fama Mountain Range and proceed along it into the northern main branch of Anlek Mountain Range. There, they could gradually retreat, using their elite advantage to circle around the Northern Alliance in deep mountains. It was an ingenious idea, Brand thought, reminiscent of guerrilla warfare, and kept it as an alternative plan.

Yet, just as he was stunned, the dispute heated up. Enrock ridiculed Caglis for his rigid thinking and military dogmatism, while Caglis retorted calling him a bandit, having the mind of a mountain king.

Unable to reach a conclusion, Breson supported Caglis’s view, while Miu Ke thought Enrock spoke better. Only Frey, Loka, and Nemesia’s eyes fell on Brand.

Brand smiled slightly and pointed on the map, "Let’s host a grand banquet for the Black Blade Legion here."

Everyone looked where he pointed. Though it was not far from here, Brand drew a line leading to a place called Mar Highlands.

What kind of place is that?

Everyone saw the mapped area, clearly not the best spot for ambush. Mar Highlands is a flat plateau terrain, although surrounded by three meeting mountains, it spreads into a flat bottom plain—a perfect place for a military showdown. Fighting here might pose issues; if not for Brand leading them through bloodshed, everyone, including Caglis, would suspect if he was a spy for the Northern Alliance...