Became a Strategist with a 100 Intelligence and 100\% Accuracy-Chapter 260: The Second Magician (6)

And then, after several more days passed...

Finally, a group holding the deep green flag of the Karelia army became visible atop the walls of Tepello Castle.

"The enemy has arrived right at our doorstep."

Tifa, who had been watching beyond the walls, whistled sharply.

"What should we do, Luna?"

Luna closed her eyes, quietly drawing her sword from its scabbard, and spoke.

"Open the western gate."

"Western gate, open!"

With the loud command, the western gate of the castle was opened, and the interception force, with Luna at the helm, moved out in an orderly fashion. The number of troops was over 80,000! Deploying such a large force outside the castle had taken considerable time. Had the enemy been a smaller, more mobile force rather than a massive army nearing 200,000, they would have likely arrived before the full deployment, bringing siege weapons with them.

Despite such a large number of troops emerging, the situation for Luna’s army was still overwhelmingly unfavorable. The enemy’s forces were more than double their own. If they had been fighting from within the castle, there might have been a chance, but with the interception already launched, there was little that could be done.

What must be relied upon now... is the valiant efforts of every general and the "decisive moment" Jinor spoke of.

It’s fine.

In our army, as long as we cannot avoid this battle, we will never lose.

Luna clenched her fist and pressed it to her chest, closing her eyes as she recalled the voice of the man.

"My lord! Stay healthy! And if the opportunity comes, never let it slip away! I will return to your side for sure!"

‘...I will never let go of the opportunity I have, until the day you return to my side, I swear...!!’

Slowly opening her eyes, a red glow flashed in her gaze. The same energy that even Airen had been momentarily overwhelmed by enveloped her once more.

The warmth left behind by my strategist, Swen, is in this clenched fist.

Desperately holding onto that lingering warmth, Luna shouted in a strong voice.

"...The interception force of Lunarian's army will now advance!"

"Wooahhhhhh—!!"

The battle had begun.

The first priority for the interception force, unsurprisingly, was to handle the siege weapons. Normally, with proper troop management, they could have avoided the destruction of the siege weapons without much trouble, but...

"Damn it, why are there so many of them?!"

Sade cursed loudly as he cut down Lunarian soldiers, his frustration reflecting the overwhelming numbers of the interception force. They had missed the timing to defend against the siege weapons. Originally, they expected only around 20,000 or 30,000 troops to appear. But with the full force of Luna's army now outside, they were helpless to stop the siege weapons from being neutralized.

It almost seemed as if all the defenders of the castle had been pushed outside.

Though it was evident that the siege weapons were being destroyed right before their eyes, from the Karelia army’s perspective, it was difficult to truly regard this as a mistake.

The enemy’s forces numbered 200,000.

Even if they sent out every soldier from the castle, Lunarian’s maximum force was only about 90,000. If they sent out that many without preparation, it would be suicide, wouldn’t it?

"What, even if something’s behind us, it won’t matter!"

Swish!

Though Sade quickly refocused on the battle, his thoughts were not the only ones questioning the situation. Vanessa, who was overseeing the entire battle from the rear, was also taken aback by the unexpected numbers of the interception force.

‘...Why?’

It seemed like a self-inflicted mistake.

Yes, at first, our forces had been thrown off guard. The balance had been disrupted. This had allowed the siege weapons to be neutralized quickly. However, in a battle where the victory condition wasn’t the destruction of siege weapons, this decision was difficult to justify.

But the key issue wasn’t strategy or brilliance—it was simply numbers.

How could 80,000 soldiers defeat 200,000?

It was just basic arithmetic. With such a disparity, strategy didn’t even need to come into play.

‘There must be a reason behind this. Luna Iniang is certainly no fool. It seems we have to prepare for some unforeseen circumstance.’

The most obvious guess was enemy reinforcements, but the only possible reinforcements—the Ohana army—had already declared they wouldn’t intervene.

Even after reviewing the recent developments, there were no signs of any diplomatic activity.

So, what could this be?

No, perhaps this was an attempt to lead them to think that something was about to happen?

‘...No.’

Despite these thoughts, Vanessa didn’t let her guard down.

‘Since we don’t know what might happen, rushing in without thinking would be risky.’

As she was about to relay her thoughts to Cecil in the rear, a soldier came rushing in.

"Chief strategist!"

"What is it?"

"Reinforcements... It seems enemy reinforcements, who were lying in ambush, have appeared! They’ve shown up on both our left and right flanks, attempting a surprise attack!"

"...Reinforcements?"

What?

Reinforcements?

Vanessa’s pupils shrank in shock.

"Reinforcements... from Ohana?"

"No, it’s... not from any country we know of..."

"...What?"

Flustered and unable to finish his words properly, the soldier wasn’t mistaken, however.

Soldiers who appeared to assist Lunarian’s army were leading the charge.

On the left, commanding a large group of archers, was Gustav, known as the leader of the Raven Mercenaries.

On the right, leading a rapid infantry assault, was Aaron, the leader of the Chilean Mercenaries, a man famed for his bravery.

"I swear, when Luna Iniang reappears on the stage of history, I will come to her aid."

"Until that moment, I hope you stay healthy."

These were the men who, after hearing Swen’s words and receiving Lunarian’s army’s support, had gone into seclusion. Now, they had returned to the stage of history.

***

"Attack!"

"Don't miss the gap! Fire at once!"

――The moment the two mercenary groups joined the fight, once again, it flashed before Jinor's eyes.

Really, I was right.

No. To be precise, Jinor knew very well that it wasn’t that his words were correct.

The reason he could arrive at such an unfounded conclusion was [N O V E L I G H T] that, in the end, he believed in the statement made by Swen, the one and only strategist trusted by Luna—‘Luna Iniang will become the unifier of the continent.’

‘Alright!’

Jinor immediately began to assess the scale of the reinforcements.

Rather than Luna herself, who was at the front, fighting with a sword, it was Jinor, holding the title of state strategist, who was in charge of commanding the troops from the rear.

"Gather accurate information and report back!"

Soon after, a soldier began to report to Jinor.

And then, something began to go awry.

"The reinforcements consist of two mercenary groups! The Raven Mercenaries with 20,000 soldiers and the Chilean Mercenaries with over 25,000 soldiers!"

‘...Huh?’

At this point, Jinor’s expectations were thrown off.

A total of about 45,000 soldiers. It wasn’t a small number, but in the context of an enemy force of 200,000, even if these two mercenary groups were elite soldiers, the numerical difference would still be too great to overcome.

If the victory was a constant—if it was absolutely certain that Luna's army would win—then this number, no matter how you looked at it, was insufficient.

‘Could there be additional reinforcements?’

But Luna had already mentioned these two mercenary groups... had they already joined?

Or was there something else I don't know?

***

While Jinor was trying to piece together the situation, the Karelia army began to assess the situation as well.

"These damn rats! Where did they vanish to, only to crawl under such a small country!"

Sade muttered as he quickly analyzed the changing battle conditions.

‘The archers probably number around 15,000 to 20,000... What about them?’

The information about the enemy reinforcements quickly reached Vanessa, the strategist.

‘So, a total of about 45,000 soldiers... This is manageable.’

Though the sudden appearance of reinforcements caught her off guard, the numbers were still manageable for a victory.

"Everyone, don’t panic! It’s just two mercenary groups! The situation is still overwhelmingly in our favor!"

Luna Iniang. It seemed that the huge number of interceptors she had deployed was an attempt to catch us off guard with the unexpected reinforcements... But this would be the end of it.

Vanessa quickly ordered the entire army to charge. Just then...

"Ughhh!"

"Run!"

"......???"

Suddenly, several soldiers from the vanguard began to retreat quickly.

"Stop! Where are you going?! Don't you know that abandoning the front is punishable by death under military law?!"

Despite Vanessa’s desperate command, an overwhelming number of soldiers began to flee uncontrollably.

Unable to even understand what was happening, at that moment...

――Kaaa-boom!!

A tremendous roar echoed, and everyone’s gaze, including Vanessa’s, was drawn to the sound.

And what entered her line of sight was――

‘......!!!’

Vanessa immediately realized.

This moment would forever become the nightmare of the Karelia army.