Chapter 54 : Nuclear Missiles Are Better Than Magic At the edge of the peaceful lake, a crowd of human knights was gathered around a bonfire right next to my flagship. "Do you believe we can defeat the entire Aliomeri army on our own? " "I'm not sure if Sir Jun, who hasn't fought on the continent before, should lead the attack..." "There must be a reason for our King to trust him so much. From the moment our King gave him full authority over our troops for this war, it is our knight duty to obey Sir Jun." "But we are just a few hundreds and they are thousands ! Isn't this suicide ?! Why not just leave the forest and wait for reinforcements ?" I could hear these knights discussing and arguing among themselves, but I didn't care about their opinion. It was already nighttime, and everyone present near the Lance of Kar'goth was waiting for my next command. The Lyssandra King gave me full authority over his knights when I told him about my plan, and the first village chief who just came back after evacuating his people also gave me control of his vigilante corp. He came back accompanied by the other village chiefs of his clan escorted by a dozen of elf warriors, and all of them accepted to be under my orders without a second of hesitation when they learned I was going to fight Aliomeri. I had at my disposal twenty human royal guards and eighty elite knights from the four duke household, as well as a hundred elves from the vigilante corp and around fifty elf villagers who voluntarily didn't leave with the other civilian to protect the forest. In addition to these troops, I could also count on the four human dukes, the five elf village chiefs, and even the Lyssandra King. I did not plan to send any of these important figures to their death, but it was good to know that each of them was much more powerful than a regular human knight or elf soldier. Thanks to the huge amount of resources spent on them since their childhood, nobles on Lunaris are often as powerful as the knights guarding them. I was currently waiting for Alpha Zero and Alice's final report before putting my plan in motion. I tasked them with an important mission ; they had to escort the Aliomeri princess back to the main army, so she could join her loyal troops hidden among the half-blood legions and instigate a rebellion within the main army to force them to halt their march. Once Alice and Alpha Zero confirmed to me that the first step was a success and the princess and her forces were at a safe distance, I would engage the main army with all firepower. I know the enemy has numerous mages among their ranks, so only by removing this still unknown menace with a preemptive nuclear strike would my mind be at ease. We should better be safe than sorry ; I would rather use two of our five remaining proton torpedoes now to ensure that these mages won't be a problem than suffer losses that could have been avoided. We had enough drones ready to be deployed for the time being, but because the flagship was getting dismantled, we would be unable to produce more to replenish their ranks. Thus, I have to employ each of them very sparingly. I didn't know if it was because I already witnessed and experienced the destruction caused by Scyllas' spells, but I was extremely wary of this 'magic' that uses a similar principle to create strange phenomena. After getting teleported at the last moment and escaping death so closely when I was about to be engulfed by Legatus's mini sun, I remember Gladia telling me that it would probably leave me a deep trauma... It seems that she has been right ; this made me very cautious, if not paranoid, when dealing with unknown magic. As I was lost in thoughts, my gaze set on the horizon where the Aliomeri army was getting closer, the King approached me with a serious look behind his thin helmet visor. "Sir Jun, do you really trust this princess ?" When I informed him that we captured two royals from Aliomeri, he confirmed to me that using them as hostages would be useless. He advised me to just behead them and send their heads to their Queen to shame them, but I had other plans. I had to say, this human King was far more brutal than he appears to be when it comes to matters concerning Aliomeri. "Do you need to trust a frying pan when cooking ? Or an axe when cutting wood ? There is no need to trust a tool to use it efficiently, Your Highness." I answered, still looking at the horizon. I wanted to leave it at that, but I had to make him feel at ease about it. After all, I will most likely stay in close contact with him after this conflict ends, so gaining his trust now would be beneficial. I turned to face the King, then added. "If she doesn't follow my plan and she decides to betray us... then my subordinate would bring you her head before she can do anything to harm us. Do not worry." The King stood silent for a few seconds, probably not expecting me to be so cold-blooded toward a kid. She might be an elf with a long lifespan, she was still a teenager without any real experience. As far as I know, the only sentiments I still have left after all those years spent in the Singularity are for my squad, Gladia, and my crew only. For me, a single drone has more value than a hundred of these natives, whether human or elf. "I have confidence in your ability Sir Jun, but I can't help to think of how risky it was to send her back to the main army. If she warns her brother the First Prince, we would not only lose the surprise advantage we currently have but they will also be aware of our exact position and the strength of our forces..." I knew the King agreed to my plan only because I promised him that by the time the sun rises, only ashes would remain from the main army. When I described to him what destruction a single proton warhead would bring to the battlefield, he looked at me with round eyes and probably doubted if I was telling the truth. To convince the King of lending me authority for this conflict, I had to assure him that we will deal with Aliomeri ourselves and we will not require the help of any of his men. He was free to leave the forest and get back to his kingdom if he wanted to. The temporary alliance between the Lyssandra kingdom, the Ravaleth clan and my crew was mostly based on hearsays and prophecies painting me as an otherwordly hero, which was ridiculous. I wanted them to respect me not because of a prophecy, but because of my own ability. This conflict was the perfect occasion to prove myself to these natives. I didn't mind the King doubting our combat capabilities, but I also made it clear to him that I will not maintain a cordial relationship with a country governed by a cowardly King. If he wasn't willing to take advantage of such a good opportunity to trample on Aliomeri, he was a fool who did not deserve our help. Contrary to my expectation, not only did he not flee, but he agreed to my proposition and also gave me full control over his own knights. The King even guaranteed me that if we bring down the Aliomeri kingdom as easily as I said, he would generously reward us and consider us as eternal allies of his kingdom. He even ordered his most trusted duke, the old Duke Eddington, to hurry back to the capital, gather the Lyssandra military and declare war on Lyssandra to open up a second front. The King probably thought that we would keep in check Aliomeri's main army inside the forest while Duke Eddington and the entire Lyssandra army will invade their territory from their shared border in the south-east. He was expecting a long and exhausting confrontation and planned accordingly, which proved how competent he was. The fact that he was ready to commit all the resources of his kingdom to support us and win this war greatly pleased me. That's why I didn't tell him that everything would be over before his Duke even arrived at the capital of his kingdom, so as to not shatter his fighting spirit... "Your plan seems good, but I don't understand why you accepted the Princess' request to save the loyal troops she brought into the forest... No matter if they are half-bloods or pure-blood, none of these treacherous elves deserve mercy, nor do they deserve to be saved..." "I understand your hate of Aliomeri's elves, but you should know the circumstances of those half-blood soldiers better than anyone, Your Highness. In addition to being born from the wombs of abducted, abused, and violated human women, they got indoctrinated at a young age and tortured on a regular basis by their pure-blood superiors. Your hate is misplaced, these half-blood cannot be held accountable for simply being born. " "But..." The King tried to say something, but I immediately interrupted him. "In my opinion they are also victims like their mothers, and this can be used against the Aliomeri commanders. If my guess is right, not all of them are submissive to the pure-blood elves and that's probably why so many of them decided to side with the Second Princess to plot a coup d'état. They represent a strategic asset too big to be ignored." "How can you be so sure ? They might betray us just after we save them. No matter how much they suffered when they were kids, I do not see the point of saving them now that they grew up and are pointing their weapons at us. If you just need additional soldiers, we can leave the forest and get them from my kingdom's military. There is no need to gather rotten fruits just because they are still edible." "Yet, those mature fruits are often the most delicious. My squad members and I are the best examples of how impossible it is to completely submit someone to your will through torture..." I paused for a moment to not let my hate toward the Scyllas show, before continuing. "Like these half-bloods, we have also been indoctrinated and subjected to brutal and cruel experiments that killed many of us, just to be used as cannon fodder by the Scyllas. What these half-blood elves endured is nothing compared to what the Scyllas did to us, and yet we always kept enough strength to stand up against them. We fought for our freedom and we won. Today, the Scyllas are no more." Once again, the King was speechless and didn't find any words to respond to me. I knew his concerns were genuine, but because of his royalty title, he would never understand how deep the despair of being a slave is. I was not trying to save these half-bloods out of pure charity, I just understood what they felt better than anyone else. I was convinced that they would willingly offer their lives to us if we give them a chance to get their revenge against their pure-blood masters. Such was the weakness of an organic being's mind. I now understood why the Revered Mother got overwhelmed by what she felt the moment she took control of my body. For her, these emotions were probably nothing more than shackles and limitations. Getting some half-blood elves fighting for us would indirectly preserve my forces. I wouldn't mind sending all of these half-blood elves to their death if it can preserve my valuable drones. No matter how I thought about it, agreeing to the Princess's request brought only benefits to our side. When I felt Alpha Zero back in my shadow, I turned my back to the King and headed toward the flagship, before stopping and adding. "I do not need your knights nor any additional soldiers ; my squad and my crew are more than enough to deal with these foolish elves. For now, just observe and enjoy the spectacle. You'll soon understand why I spared the lives of the princess and her loyal troops." The King accepted my words, as this time he didn't respond and just nodded at me. I accepted and respected his hatred toward the elves after I learned what they did to his citizens, but letting his personal feelings influence his decisions during war-time didn't fit well with his title of being a 'Wise' King. I'm sure he'll change his mind and understand why I'm saving these half-bloods once he realizes how helpful they would be later. Thinking about it, I should also keep some of them for Gladia's studies... 'Gladia, is everything ready ?' [Yes. The first phase has been successful, I have a visual of the princess and her troops getting chased by a group of soldiers. Alice is taking care of it. They caused more commotion than we expected, which forced their main army to stop their march ; they are currently setting up a defense perimeter around their camp.] 'Good. What about the coordinates of their capital ?' 'It. Has. Been. Collected. As. You. Wished. Master.' While Alice has been tasked to protect and evacuate the princess and her loyal half-blood troops, Alpha Zero had to find the coordinates of Aliomeri's capital city. He used the sudden commotion the Second Princess caused to silently abduct and torture a few officers, so he could get the coordinates of their capital as well as the exact location of their Royal Palace. [We are waiting for your order, Jun.] The King, Dukes and village chiefs were all looking at me. They all waited for me to show them what we are capable of, curious to know if I said the truth about these 'proton' warheads. They probably wondered if these these strange metallic arrows I told them about could tear the sky, burn the land and melt the living. They won't be disappointed. "Proceed." When I gave the signal, two armored panels on the upper deck of the flagship opened, each unleashing a roaring missile that pierced the night sky at full speed. *Whoosh!* *Phoosh!* The two proton missiles propelled at high speed and followed by a trail of thick white smoke left behind them a violent gaze of leaves forming a whistling torrent of dust. They were so fast that it was almost impossible for the natives to follow them with the naked eye, only a few knights had an acuity good enough to see their blurry figures. The two proton missiles propelled at high speed took only a second to escape our sight, leaving behind them a trail of thick white smoke. Because the missile silos weren't designed to shoot in the atmosphere, a violent gale of leaves and dust formed all around the ship. The two missiles flew close to each other for a few seconds, before heading in opposite directions and disappearing in the darkness of the night sky ; one of them went straight to the Aliomeri army's location while the second one headed toward their Royal Palace. "By Zenon's beard..." "May Artemil bless us..." Both the Lyssandra King and the first Village chief unconsciously took a few steps back from the flagship, haggardly looking at the sky their mouth wide open. 'I hope you didn't forget to reduce their power Gladia.' [Don't worry, I calculated and accurately condensed the hazardous matter for the first missile explosion to not exceed one kilometer in radius. As for the second one, I did set up its explosion radius to be around 5km. Just enough to destroy the Royal Palace and the nobles' residential area without devastating the whole city.] 'What about the radioactivity ?' [I suppressed it to the maximum. Except for the direct impact site, there should be no major after-effects besides the explosion blasting the surrounding area.] I had to admit that the Ancient Scyllas were genius when it came to designing mass-destruction weapons. When I first found out about these proton torpedoes in the Golden Hangar, I recalled those of my former world. At that time, Gladia decrypted this sudden memory for me and informed me that the most powerful nuclear weapon on Earth, the Tsar Bomba, could vaporize everything within a 5km radius, flatten all kinds of buildings within a 30km radius, and burn to death anyone within a 100km radius. Learning this amazed me, as I didn't expect my former world to have such powerful weapons... until Gladia told me that each of these proton torpedoes could be configured to be a hundredfold more powerful. I was speechless. They were so powerful that a direct hit of one of these torpedoes was enough to take down a Scylla Cruiser in a single shot. We were lucky Gladia could contain their explosion, or else we would have blown up the entire region. When Gladia started the countdown, I turned myself to the natives and reminded them of the instructions I gave them beforehand for their safety. "Be careful everyone, it is time..." [3...] "...don't forget to close your eyes..." [2...] "...and to plug your ears... [1...] The very moment Gladia finished the countdown, a dazzling light shone over the whole region, blinding everyone present around the lake. I could hear the painful cry of the few arrogant knights who kept their eyes open despite my warning. "Shock-wave incomming, keep your eyes shut, lower your body and plug your ears as best as you can !!" I shouted the final warning to ensure that none of the natives, especially the leaders, would get inadvertently wounded. *BOOOOOOM!* A few seconds after the sudden flash of light, we heard a sound so loud that it could pierce our eardrum. The shockwave that followed just after felt powerful enough to crush our bones into dust if we moved carelessly. The usually peaceful lake erupted massive waves that slammed upon the shore. The branches and leaves of the giant trees spanning the forest surrounding us got ripped off and smashed down on us with extreme force. The shock wave ripped up the bodies of the birds and other flying beasts still in the air when the explosion broke out, and soon after a shower of blood mixed with their shredded remnants rained on us. Whoever did not crouch down in time has been strongly pushed backward. I even saw a bulky knight wearing a heavy armor set weighing more than 25kg getting propelled like a mere pebble. The earth shook so violently that we felt like the ground could crack and fall beneath our feet at any time. Even though Gladia had greatly lowered its intensity and it happened a few kilometers away from our location, witnessing a nuclear explosion from so close was horrifying. This was quite different than using these torpedoes in space, when I was inside the control room protected by the thick armor of the Lance of Kar'goth. I waited for the shockwave to pass by us before standing up and checking if everyone was ok. Only my squad and I could stand up, albeit with difficulty. Even the sturdy battle-drones needed some time to recalibrate their dislocated joints. Despite our helmet visor that could dim the dazzling brightness forming in the sky and our dark armor that absorbed a part of the shockwave to reduce the toll on our bodies, we still got disoriented. That was how strong the explosion has been. A disturbing whistle rang in my ears, and I could feel the suffocating heat of the air around us even through my armor. If even we had trouble withstanding the shockwave, I can't imagine what the natives felt. These few seconds felt probably like hell for them. I wiped the cluster of dust, leaves, and blood drops that formed on my visor before calling for my squad. "Kat, protect the ship. Jerome, Douglas... let's move." "Yes, Leader." We passed through the natives who were all laying on the ground, still in pain and confused from what just happened, before engulfing ourselves in the deadly quiet forest accompanied by two regiments of drones. Now was the time to clean up this mess.