Chapter 278: War (2)
As Elisha trailed off with an uneasy expression, Camellia’s languid voice echoed through the room. She said, “We don’t know why the demons have suddenly begun gathering under the Archbishop of Ruin, but... if Elisha has made such a deduction, I believe it would be wise to heed it.”
Elisha had never expected Camellia to step in on her behalf. She turned toward the Empress in visible surprise. “Your Majesty?”
Camellia continued, “Is this not the conjecture of the Cursed-Eye Spider, rather than some random hero’s guess? It carries far more weight than the words of those who merely sit behind desks and wave their hands.”
With a look that said, “Is it not so?” Camellia glanced at Lionel.
Lionel replied, “How unexpected! I never thought I’d see the day you listened to someone else’s counsel.”
Camellia glared at him. “Hmph. Did you take me for a foolish ruler who ignores even the earnest advice of her subordinates?”
“No, that’s not what I meant...”
Since when did Elisha become your subordinate? Lionel said internally, swallowing those words before they could leave his mouth.
He let out a deep sigh. “War...”
Ever since the demons had suddenly become more active during last year’s Sealing Festival, he had expected that such a day would come. But now that war seemed to be looming right before them, its weight pressed heavily on his shoulders.
“First, we must evacuate the cadets,” he said.
If Elisha’s assumption was correct and the demons had indeed united under the Archbishop of Ruin, there was no need to think too deeply about their target. It was going to be the Hero Academy. More precisely, their target would be the Abyss beneath the academy. Five hundred years ago, the Great Five Heroes had sealed the Demon God there. The demons would surely march toward that very place.
“We will prepare temples in the Holy Empire where the cadets may stay,” Marianne replied.
“If necessary, there are plenty of empty chambers in the Imperial Palace as well,” Camellia added.
***
As the Masters discussed evacuating the cadets from what could soon become a battlefield, I shook my head quietly. “No. If we evacuate the cadets immediately, the damage could actually become worse.”
Ordinarily, a mere cadet would never dare to speak up in a gathering of national leaders. However, this was not the time to worry about such trivialities.
“What do you mean by that?” Headmaster Ryu asked.
“They’re not fools. If they realize the cadets have all been evacuated, they won’t force a full-scale battle,” I answered.
“And?”
“As the standoff drags on, they may instead target the Empire, the Holy Empire, or the Republic. They know perfectly well that the heroes’ strength is concentrated at the Hero Academy,” I explained.
Camellia leaned in. “In other words, they may invade other nations first to divide the heroes’ forces?”
“Yes.”
If that happened, the Empire, the Holy Empire, and the Republic, left practically undefended, would become sites of mass slaughter. It was the strategy that the demons had used in my previous life. The Tri-Nation Alliance had gathered its forces at the Hero Academy to face the demon army. The demons exploited that, attacking other regions to scatter their strength. The heroes couldn’t leave the academy, knowing the demons would strike at the Abyss the moment they did. Yet if they stayed, they would be forced to watch their own citizens massacred. It had even caused internal fractures.
In any case, we couldn’t repeat the same mistake. To do that, we couldn’t let them realize we were preparing for war. So, I suggested, “We need to lure them into the Hero Academy and wipe them out in one decisive strike.”
Headmaster Ryu’s eyes sharpened dangerously. “So what you’re saying now... is that we should use the cadets of this academy as bait?”
“Yes,” I replied.
Blue sparks burst around him. “Where do you get off saying such nonsense?”
“Calm yourself, Lionel,” Camellia shouted.
“Does this look like a situation where I can remain calm?”
“He has not said anything incorrect.” She narrowed her eyes slightly. “As Dale said, the more openly we prepare, the more cautious they will become.”
“Ha. You’ve shown unusual interest in Dale lately. Have you lost your senses? How can you even consider sacrificing the cadets?” Headmaster Ryu asked.
Camellia stared at him. “And would you then sacrifice others instead?”
“That’s...!” Lionel flinched, his words catching in his throat.
Camellia continued, “If we concentrate all our forces at the Hero Academy and the demons strike elsewhere, what then? Could you remain here guarding the academy while hundreds, or thousands, of Republic citizens are slaughtered? I would not. As the sovereign of the Empire, I have a duty to protect my subjects.”
“Camellia, you...” Lionel trailed off, his expression complicated.
Pope Marianne, who had been listening quietly until now, finally said, “What about using the Warp Gate? The moment the war begins, we evacuate the cadets through the Warp Gate in Valhalla City.”
Lionel’s gaze grew heavy. “The Warp Gate in Valhalla City...”
“The Warp Gate in Valhalla City will become the demons’ top target the instant war breaks out,” I said.
Demons were driven by destructive impulses from the Demon God’s soul stigmata, but it didn’t mean they were mindless beasts. The Warp Gate in Valhalla City was connected to the capitals of every nation. The moment war began, the demons would definitely seize it.
“And to use the Warp Gate in Valhalla City, wouldn’t we first have to take the cadets outside the academy?” I added.
The distance between the Hero Academy and Valhalla City was greater than one would think. They would have to break through the demon army and escort the cadets all the way to the Warp Gate. Compared to that, waging a defensive battle within the academy itself would be far less costly. Moreover, if they stationed the cadets near Valhalla City from the start, the entire strategy of using them as bait would collapse.
“There’s a Warp Gate inside the academy as well, isn’t there?” I asked.
“Inside the academy?” Headmaster Ryu narrowed his eyes and let out a dry chuckle. “You can’t mean the proposal that came up during the previous Summit Conference?”
“Yes. I heard construction has already begun.”
“It has, but completion is still several months away.”
A Warp Gate was the pinnacle of magic engineering, capable of transporting users instantaneously regardless of distance. A Warp Gate’s performance was nothing short of fraudulent, but that didn’t mean it could be built overnight. At the shortest, construction took months, and at the longest, years.
“It doesn’t need to be fully completed. We only need to use it once, when the cadets evacuate from inside the academy,” I said.
“You’re suggesting a disposable Warp Gate?”
“Yes.”
“Come to think of it, you’re in the Warrior Division...” Headmaster Ryu let out a deep sigh and shook his head. “Hahh! A Warp Gate is essentially a passage connecting two separate spaces. Whether it’s used once or maintained permanently, the effort required is more or less the same.”
“But it’s not impossible to make, is it?” I asked.
“Yes, it’s possible. Theoretically,” he replied.
Imagine trying to bore a tunnel straight through a massive mountain. Normally, it would take months, digging through the earth, carving out the passage, reinforcing it so the ceiling wouldn’t collapse. If one wanted to skip all of that and blast a tunnel through in a single instant, how absurd an amount of energy would it require?
“To create a Warp Gate capable of transporting not just one or two people, but thousands of cadets, would require, quite literally, astronomical levels of mana,” explained the headmaster.
There was a reason Warp Gates existed only in national capitals and major cities. Constructing even one required a dizzying amount of manpower and mana.
“Astronomical mana. How much, exactly?” I asked.
“Even if Her Majesty the Empress poured out all her mana, it wouldn’t be enough.” Headmaster Ryu sighed again and shook his head.
Camellia frowned faintly from beyond the holographic projection. “Hmph. To dare use my mana as a comparison, how impertinent!”
However, she offered no real objection. She understood as well as anyone how preposterous the amount of mana required for a disposable Warp Gate construction would be.
With an expression of frustration, Headmaster Ryu said, “Even if we were to gather every mana stone across the continent starting now and begin construction, it would still take at least a month. Unless you possess infinite mana, the academy’s Warp Gate cannot be used.”
The shorter the construction period was, the more mana was needed. The increase was not linear, but almost exponential. With the signs of war looming right before us, completing the Warp Gate in time was impossible.
A faint smirk tugged at my lips. “Infinite, you say.”
Ashen Flames wrapped around me. Mana spilled from the soul stigmata carved into me, filling the room.
Headmaster Ryu was alarmed. “What are you doing?”
“I’d like you to assess how much mana is required.”
He gave a disbelieving laugh. “Hah! For a mere cadet, your mana is extraordinary. But it’s nowhere near enough.”
“Is that so?”
In that case, I just needed to muster up more mana. The Ashen Flames engulfed me, burning more fiercely. Gray smoke poured from my pores, spreading thickly throughout the room.
“Is this still not enough?” I asked.
Headmaster Ryu’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Just what are you?”
He had long known that I was far beyond the level of an ordinary cadet, but he hadn’t imagined this kind of brute, overwhelming quantity of mana. Yet, his answer remained the same. “Even so, activating a Warp Gate would require more.”
Then I had no choice. “Is that so?”
“No...”
My flames kept roaring.
“W-wait! At this rate, the ceiling’s going to collapse!” Headmaster Ryu shouted.
Mana surged out without end. The academy’s main building, no, the entire campus, shook violently as though an earthquake had struck.
The headmaster’s eyes were filled with shock. “What the hell is this?”
My entire body was wrapped in ash—no, my body had transformed into ash itself.
I turned toward him with a grin. “Well? Is this enough?”
Silence fell over the room.