Emperor of Steel

However, the center of all the forts was the Verange castle, and of course, it was also the place where the most number of monsters were gathered.

Aslan, who was appointed as the engineer, dug the ground on the plains west of Verange castle and put in oil and gunpowder mixture at the order of his superior.

At first, he did what he was asked to do right away, but when he saw the wizards building up magic circles for flame on the mixture where oil and gunpowder were kept, it made him puzzled.

‘I can’t keep doing this...’

Looking at the work he did all alone, he was able to understand what kind of a plan the Storm Break operation which their King ordered was.

However, the operation couldn’t be carried out like that.

Aslan, who thought that, went to Baron Tart, who was in charge of the 1st squad artillery engineers.

“What was that? We shouldn’t do it like this?”

“Yes, it is like we are trying to pull in the monster legion and then launch our fire, but this plain isn’t a suitable place to light a fire.”

“What the hell are you blabbering about that? What the hell is it that you even know to say such words!”

Tart yelled at the man.

Even if he wanted to change, he was asked by his superior to complete the work as soon as possible, and it seemed natural that the man under him couldn’t do it and decided to come up with an excuse.

“It seems like you think you are still the commander of the fort, just do what I asked you to do.”

Whether Aslan was a former Count or not wasn’t the problem.

Right now, Aslan clearly had a boss, and if he once again violated the military code, he would definitely be punished by the military law.

“But if we don’t do that, we will all suffer serious damage, so will the innocent people!”

“This man! You have been forgiven for deserting your position as the commander, and now you want to disobey the orders?”

“That isn’t what...”

When Aslan tried to correct Tart’s misunderstandings, Marquis Rogers and the senior commanders entered the camp.

They had come to see if the work assigned, the gunpowder burying, which was supposed to be the backbone of the Storm Break operation, was going well, but they ended up hearing the screams.

“What is going on?”

“Nothing at all, Sire. It is just that this guy doesn’t know where he belongs...”

“If my ears aren’t wrong, I think I heard something about our allies being hurt?”

While Baron tart hesitated to answer, Aslan approached Marquis Rogers and reported.

“Sire, we shouldn’t go ahead with the gunpowder work on the plains near the castle. it will turn into a sea of fire for Verange Castle.”

“Th-this is a cocky bastard!”

Baron Tart’s face went red with anger.

A man, who was supposed to be a measly worker was opposing his words, a senior officer, and directly reported to the Chief Commander!

He tried to raise his voice, but Marquis Rogers raised his hand and stopped Baron Tart.

“Is that really true? Even the Verange Castle will take damage?”

“Yes, at the pace in which the monster legion advance, it will be a week before they arrive here. However, at that time, the northwest winds blow strongly in this region. Instead, the flames will move all the way to the castle.”

At Aslan’s explanation, Rogers asked with a frown.

“The northwest winds will really blow during that time?”

“I know it well because I have lived around this region for many years. If you can’t believe me, call for any local and ask them.”

At Aslan’s words, Rogers summoned old people who lived in the close vicinity to check for the information.

And he was able to confirm that Aslan’s words were indeed true.

“This! If that happens the operation cannot be executed!”

It had been two months since operation Storm Break had been started.

After learning that Arsene had taken over Shaikan’s body, Luke knew that the Libiya Kingdom would surely send in their monster legion to invade Symphonia.

And as a response to that, Rogers was sent to establish a defense operation and the solution for it was gunpowder blasts.

The name of the operation was called Storm Break in the sense of destroying the monsters which would come in like a raging storm.

Gunpowder and oil necessary for the operation were collected, and then asked the wizards of the Magic Towers in the Kingdom to set up a magic circle for Heatwave magic.

“We put in so much effort... everything went to waste!”

It was when they were feeling bad and flustered as they were closing in on the time, they should have at least understood how the wind works.

“Sire, what are we going to do?”

“If we proceed with his operation like this, we might have to evacuate the people who have entered the Verange Castle.”

The officers and the other commanders were all discussing, but it wasn’t so easy to once again ask the refugees who came to the castle to move again.

Moreover, at such times, almost all of the people were flocking over to Verange castle.

“Go and call for Aslan de Ferrierd right now.”

At the order of Marquis Rogers, who couldn’t find another option, called for Aslan.

Having been able to point out the problem, he thought that Aslan might be able to come up with a plan of alternatives.

Aslan, who was called into the operation room, looked at the map and spoke.

“I will say this again, the plains around the castle aren’t suitable. In my personal opinion, I think that the monster legion should be finished before they enter the plains.”

“Somewhere other than the plains?”

Asked Rogers with thoughts running in his head.

“Yes, the enemy is going through this area right now. If the number of monsters exceeds 100,000, they won’t be able to enter at once. So we can dispatch troops to every open ground beforehand and grab the enemy by his ankles.”

“Are you proposing the battle in the mountains? The terrain in the mountains is narrow and it isn’t easy to move the Gigant in such spaces.”

The reason why Luke and Rogers chose the plains was because the use of Gigant could be done in huge numbers.

After inflicting a critical blow on the enemy with the explosions, they decided to cut down the remaining ones with the Gigants.

“That will be the same for the enemies, they won’t be able to move in large numbers. If the terrain is narrow, they will also have a numerical disadvantage. And in a defensive battle instead of an offense, we can block the path and endure the battle for a long time when compared to them.”

“It certainly is, but the enemy might not be a fool, and he will choose a detour.”

If it was a simple group of monsters, the attempt would surely break them.

However, the monster legion of the Libiya Kingdom wasn’t just any group of monsters.

Among them were wizards who could control monsters, and act as the brains of the legion.

“Before they look for a detour, we hit them first as separate units. It is about sending in soldiers who are good at mountain battles. If we can keep hitting them at every blockade, the monsters will try to annihilate their own troops to stay alive and not get caught.”

“So, we are going to use their own monsters as bait. And while holding them down, we will drag them to a place where we can set up a trap, right?”

“Yes, Chief Commander.”

Rogers took a close look at the mountains on the northwestern part of the map.

There was no other area that was wide enough to lure 100,000 monsters at once, however, there were several places to disperse the enemies.

“We will stop and lure them. Over here and here... set up traps in these four places.”

“Understood.”

“We are short on time, so let’s hurry.”

At the command, their Chief Commander who worked on the plains got canceled right away.

The Symphonia army, seeking to achieve the victory with their short-lasting time, began to move.