"......"
Ghislain woke from his dream, staring blankly for a moment. Then, he smirked.
"It's just nonsense."
Why would Yulian appear there? It made no sense.
Ghislain knew Yulian's life better than anyone. There was no way Yulian could appear in some ancient war from an indeterminate time.
"This necklace really is something else."
There was still no guarantee that the dreams shown by this necklace were true. They might even be mixing his memories to fabricate lies.
Ghislain carried the necklace and observed the dreams only to find clues. He wanted to uncover the Salvation Church's obsession with holy relics and Ernheart's true intentions.
"I plan to see a few more of these dreams… but if this keeps up, the credibility is bound to drop."
Even if he eventually found answers from these dreams, if he couldn't trust their truth, it would be meaningless.
He had considered discussing them with others, but after today's dream, he dismissed the idea entirely.
— Yulian, you appeared in my dream.
Spouting something like that would surely lead to massive misunderstandings. Especially among the knights, most of whom were former mercenaries. They would never stop teasing him.
Claude, of course, would be the worst. That guy would twist this into something absurdly convoluted.
Others like Kaor or Alpoi wouldn't sit idly either. All of them were crazy and eager to find new ways to torment him.
"No way I'm walking into that trap. Absolutely not."
Ghislain, who typically cared little for others' opinions, wasn't about to let this one slide. He had too many lunatics around him.
— Pffft! Master, what's this about Yulian in your dream? Why was he there?
"....."
See? One of them had already started.
— Was that priest something you conjured in your dream? Huh? I didn't see the real thing, but the aura around him was way too similar to mine, wasn't it?
"....."
— So why did you meet Yulian in your dream? Huh? Why as enemies? Was that just for the drama? Huh?
"....."
— Even if it's just a dream, isn't this too much? Pffft! Oh, if you're that curious, why don't you go see him yourself? Or is this your… preference— AHHHH! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!
The sarcastic Dark ended up imprisoned in Ghislain's mental cage, suffering for quite some time.
Ghislain shook his head and got up from bed.
'It's not important. Don't overthink it.'
This was a problem he didn't need to dwell on, driven solely by his curiosity.
And honestly, it was entertaining. He couldn't help but wonder what story the next dream would reveal.
So, he decided to keep observing the dreams when they came and focus on taking down the Salvation Church to gather information.
'If it gets more confusing later, so be it.'
That wasn't his main goal anyway. Ghislain's true objective was the complete eradication of the Salvation Church and the unification of the continent.
Standing up, Ghislain issued orders to the entire army.
"We march now."
The well-rested mobile army and the Lutania Army finally began to move.
Though the campaign had been slightly delayed due to Hellnik, it wasn't a bad thing. More forces had joined the Allied Forces in the meantime.
A massive force of 300,000 troops advanced toward the Artrode Kingdom. The Allied Forces, excluding the Lutania, were divided into four corps of 50,000 each.
Each corps consisted of combined forces from various kingdoms. Only the Lutania army of 100,000 moved as a single, unified entity.
"We'll spearhead the central assault."
The Lutania Army chose the most fiercely contested route.
No one objected. The Lutania Army was indisputably the strongest within the Allied Forces.
Though Yulian was absent due to his duties with the Turian army, the Lutania Army still boasted many powerful figures.
"Secure every stronghold thoroughly. Think of it as rooting out every last cockroach hiding in their homes."
Ghislain had warned Ernheart before—he wouldn't leave a single one of them alive.
Now, it was time to make good on that promise.
The Artrode Kingdom was well aware of the Allied Forces' advance. They prepared for a decisive battle at their frontline fortress.
As Ghislain's forces arrived to confront the fortress, he issued a single command.
"Initiate Operation Meteor."
For the first time, the entirety of the Lutania army would wield its full might against a human opponent.
A force of 100,000 soldiers moved slowly due to its size, but they brought an immense arsenal of siege weapons.
Ghislain planned to deliver a shock and awe campaign that would leave both enemy and ally in utter disbelief.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
The mobile army assembled Galbanium mobile catapults.
Rumble!
Meanwhile, colossal dwarven-made catapults were assembled at the rear and moved to the front lines.
Once preparations were complete, Ghislain extended his hand with a smile.
"Destroy everything."
At his command, hundreds of catapults unleashed a barrage of stones toward the fortress.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
No army on the continent possessed such a vast number of catapults. The required funds and production capacity were simply out of reach for most.
Only Fenris, which had poured every ounce of its resources into war preparation for years, could produce such numbers. Moreover, Ghislain had requisitioned additional catapults from other territories.
This amassed arsenal swiftly began to demolish the fortress.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Artrode Kingdom's frontline fortress was rapidly reduced to rubble.
The fortress commander, Count Guylon, was utterly stunned by the Lutania army's overwhelming firepower.
"What… what are we supposed to do?"
Retaliation was impossible. The forces defending the walls had already withdrawn.
Not just withdrawn—they were scrambling to dodge the relentless rain of stones within the fortress.
"Why are there so many stones?! How many did they bring?!"
The continuous barrage seemed unending, as though the 100,000-strong army had done nothing but mine stones.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
There was nowhere to hide. The indiscriminate bombardment shattered even the buildings within the fortress.
"My lord! You must retreat!"
Count Guylon was no exception. With the command post destroyed, he had to flee like the rest of his soldiers.
The only difference was that he had knights to escort him.
"This is insane… How many catapults do they have?! Fire back! Fire our catapults!"
But Count Guylon's orders were futile.
Initially, the defenders had retaliated with their own catapults. But for every stone they launched, the Lutania Army launched a hundred in return.
Their catapults were destroyed before they could be used effectively.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the stones rained down, smashing everything in sight, Count Guylon clutched his head in despair.
"Ugh… This is absurd."
What kind of attack was this? It was so one-sided that there was no point in calling it a battle.
While Count Guylon was darting about in confusion, the sky suddenly lit up.
Crackle!
Lightning flashed and disappeared repeatedly.
Boom!
Bolts of lightning began raining down from the sky.
"Aaaah!"
Barely avoiding the stones, now the defenders faced magic attacks. It was too much to handle.
Count Guylon screamed in panic.
"Mages! What are our mages doing?!"
Being a frontline fortress, it housed many highly skilled mages who had successfully implemented a magic blockade.
So how were enemy spells still being cast?
Count Guylon turned to check on the mages and immediately understood why.
"Dodge!"
"Block it!"
"The magic field has collapsed!"
The mages were in chaos, scrambling to avoid the relentless rain of stones. Naturally, they couldn't focus on maintaining their magic.
The Artrode mages were outnumbered. Even a slight lapse in concentration tipped the scales against them.
In truth, the Lutania mages could have overwhelmed them from the start but had held back intentionally.
Vanessa, commanding the Lutania mages, gave her orders.
"Don't overdo it. You'll need energy for later. Lord Jerome's handling most of it alone right now. Just do enough and fall back."
"Understood."
Once the stone barrage broke the magic blockade, Vanessa's mage corps effortlessly unleashed their spells on the fortress.
Boom!
Pillars of fire erupted across the fortress, accompanied by cascading lightning strikes.
The Artrode mages couldn't mount a proper counterattack and were swiftly incapacitated. The smarter ones quickly fled.
Count Guylon clenched his teeth. There was no way to counter this.
"We should've fought them on open ground."
They wouldn't have won, but at least it wouldn't have been this one-sided.
The mages were scattered, fleeing in all directions. The 30,000 defenders hadn't even put up a fight before being crushed by stones and magic.
As he watched the fortress crumble helplessly, Ghislain smirked.
"Who needs a meteor? When stones fall endlessly from the sky, that's a meteor, isn't it?"
And so, the operation was named 'Meteor'.
"......"
The mage standing beside Ghislain to assist him remained silent. He wanted to argue but had nothing to say. Looking at the state of the fortress, it truly seemed as though a 9th-circle spell like Meteor had been cast.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The fortress, battered by stones and magic, was now reduced to a pile of rubble that barely deserved to be called ruins.
Ghislain, confirming the destruction of the fortress, raised his hand.
"Let's clean up."
As Ghislain charged forward on his black steed, the waiting Lutania army surged forward as well.
"Waaaaaah!"
There was no need for ladders or siege towers. The fallen debris served as an easy path to climb over.
Ghislain was the first to reach the ruins, leaping over the debris and swinging his spear.
Boom!
Nearby enemy soldiers died without even having time to scream. The fortress was already filled with corpses.
The Artrode forces had no way to stop the advancing Lutania arny. Most of their soldiers had already been killed by stones or magic.
"Re-retreat!"
"Run quickly!"
"There's no way we can win!"
The Artrode soldiers threw down their weapons and fled. None of them wanted to fight against this absurdly powerful army.
What little remained of their forces scattered in every direction, leaving Count Guylon staring in despair.
"How could this…?"
Guylon had heard many rumors about the strength of the Lutania army. Yet he had been ordered to hold the line, no matter the cost.
Even though they were outnumbered, they had 30,000 troops and a strong fortress. He had believed they could hold out.
But they couldn't even last half a day.
Clop, clop.
Hearing the sound of approaching hooves, Guylon turned his head.
A young man riding a ferocious black horse came into view.
This had to be the infamous Duke Fenris.
"A-are you Duke Fenris?"
"I am."
"I surrender. According to the customs of nobility, you must—"
"Cockroaches."
Ghislain cut him off, raising his spear.
"Don't leave a single one alive."
Slash!
Count Guylon's head fell before he could finish his sentence.
Having cleaned up the fortress, Ghislain issued his next command.
"Rest for a day, then move to the next stronghold. Leave some forces behind to secure the area, and… collect all the stones."
To completely annihilate the enemy, the surrounding areas also had to be fully secured. No remnants could be allowed to escape or find a hiding place.
The goal was to kill or drive them all out, forcing them to regroup in the Kingdom of Grimwell.
"Waaaaaaah!"
As the battle ended swiftly, the Lutania soldiers cheered, raising their weapons high. With Ghislain, war felt almost absurdly easy.
The knights who had followed Ghislain for years looked on with sentimental expressions.
"Back in the day, we had to fight with our bare hands."
"We've really come a long way."
"How many times did we almost die back then?"
They hadn't always had such overwhelming power. In the past, they'd had to jump from castle walls or use hot-air balloons for nighttime raids.
Lucas rested his spear on his shoulder and chuckled.
"I guess all that suffering was leading us to this."
They had tried everything just to win. Now, having achieved such overwhelming might, they felt a deep sense of fulfillment.
The Lutania army rested for just one day before advancing to the next stronghold. They weren't even tired; they had hardly exerted themselves.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The next fortress fared no differently. The Artrode forces could only flounder helplessly as they were pummeled.
Watching yet another fortress collapse, Ghislain wore an indifferent expression.
"Looks like they've pulled all their superhumans away."
Without superhumans, there was no way to withstand Operation Meteor. The only counters would be an equivalent number of catapults or overwhelming magic power.
But no fortress could realistically possess such a vast number of catapults, and no magic force could surpass Lutania's, the strongest on the continent.
The only viable option was for the Artrode superhumans to confront Lutania superhumans directly. However, most of their main forces had already moved to the Kingdom of Grimwell.
As a result, the Artrode army was systematically destroyed wherever the Lutania army advanced.
During this steady campaign of conquest, new information reached Ghislain.
"The Grimwell royal castle has fallen! The King of Grimwell has been captured!"
This news meant that Gartros had succeeded in obtaining the holy relic he desired.
[T/L: I am in dire need of support. I will give discount to all those who will buy the rest of the chapters all together, so please support me the reader on my webnovel platform and read ahead chapters on my ko-fi page "RevengerScans" : https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]