A light smile appeared on Niflheim’s face as he walked back next to Izroth and turned to face the crowd of chanting players.
“It looks like you’ve given them some proper motivation. It’ll make our jobs a lot easier.” Niflheim stated.
“I concur. We will require all the assistance we can muster for this plan to work with minimal to no losses. When must we depart?” Menerva inquired.
“We’ll be departing as soon as possible. And by that, I mean within the next half hour.” Izroth answered.
“Thirty minutes? You’re really putting us on a time crunch here.” Niflheim sighed.
“It may not be a lot of time, but I trust the two of you will do what needs to be done,” Izroth said calmly.
“There is a quandary. Thirty minutes is not enough time to summon the main forces that have assembled in the Land of Unity,” Menerva commented.
“That’s because we’ll be leaving ahead of our main forces,” Izroth stated.
He then continued, “Twelve hours from now, our main forces will depart into Malentansium. In three days, they will begin their assault on the Night Lord’s Crypt. Before it comes to that, we have to take care of things on our end. No matter what happens, we will not let the Tempest mages reach the Night Lord’s Crypt.”
During the representative meeting, one of the things Izroth suggested was the existence of a special group of mages trained by Tempest to open a Gateway of a Thousand Bloodless Hands.
In order to prevent that from occurring, Izroth proposed that a small strike force be sent to deal a quick and decisive blow against them.
When the roles were being decided, Izroth volunteered himself and the 9th Division for the task.
Needless to say, there were those against it. After all, even if the 9th Division were at full capacity, it would only be 150 people. Not to mention, how could they entrust such a heavy task to a Captain?
In the end, Izroth convinced them to leave it to his 9th Division for one reason—speculation. While there was a high chance of him being correct, there was also the possibility that he could be wrong. If that turned out to be the case and they sent a War Brigade Legion to intercept the Tempest forces, they would be losing roughly 20% to 30% of their forces.
Naturally, they could not risk weakening themselves to that extent based on speculation—even if it held some merit. But, if a lone division offered to volunteer for such a dangerous mission that may or may not yield results, no one could fault them if it turned out to be fake and later came to light.
Of course, this was all simply a way for Izroth to drive the assignment toward him. Regardless of what others thought, he was confident that Tempest would use this chance to open the second Gateway of a Thousand Bloodless Hands. Not to mention, on the off chance he did turn out to be wrong, there would be no harm done, and he could shift his focus from attacking to scouting.
“So, realistically, we have roughly two days and some change to see things through. It’s still not nearly enough time to train anyone, but we can instill some basics in them. It’s not a long-term solution, but a quick fix is all that we can afford right about now. We’ll see that it gets done.” Niflheim said as he walked past Izroth and pat him on the shoulder.
Niflheim made his way toward the newly recruited 9th Division members. Since they did not have a lot of time to waste, he understood that every second from this point onward was invaluable.
“Your plan is too impetuous—is what I would have liked to say,” Menerva remarked.
“Oh? What stopped you?” Izroth asked with a carefree smile on his face.
“I have witnessed firsthand more than once what you are capable of, Izroth. During those times, I have found that what would be considered temerarious to others does not necessarily apply to you. Consequently, I will trust the orchestration you have set in motion and do everything within my power to ensure that it does not go astray.” Menerva stated as she began to follow after Niflheim.
As Menerva walked away, she suddenly halted her steps and said, “Do you remember what you said to me on that day? You told me that you have a goal. One that requires people with determination and talents.”
“I remember,” Izroth replied calmly.
“Good. Then, I will show you my determination and talent firsthand.” Menerva said as she resumed her steps.
…
Thirty minutes later…
After their conversation with Izroth, Niflheim and Menerva wasted no time organizing their newly formed squadrons.
Once they properly assigned the ranks of their 5-Man and 10-Man Squad Leaders, their next goal was to instill some basics into the members of the 9th Division.
The basics included things such as how they would retreat if needed or what to do if their method of communication suddenly vanished. They also went over a few battle formations based on the number and classes of players.
In addition, even though they were somewhat lacking when it came to players with support-type classes, they possessed a decent balance between physical and magic-based classes.
After setting roles and going over the battle formations a few times, it was finally time for the 9th Division to depart.
And their destination? The Tempest and Malentansium border connected on the far end of the entrance into the Land of Unity.
…
More than half a day later, Izroth and the 9th Division reached the end of the Land of Unity.
In front of them on the right side was a gloomy land of darkness with no life in sight. There was a putrid scent that drifted ever so slightly over into the Land of Unit that was enough to leave one nauseous. That land belonged to the kingdom of Malentansium.
However, the opposite side was completely different. It was a place plagued by a seemingly endless sea of raging storms and turbulent winds.
That was the territory of the kingdom of Tempest.
Although both lands were connected directly to the Land of Unity, it was too dangerous for either of their armies to march through. Not to mention, setting up a stable supply chain or calling for reinforcements would become an impossibility.
It was the reason why Vostracane was constructed in the first place in order to properly contest Amaharpe and Rosentarus for ownership of the Unsanctioned Zone. And it was also the reason why neither of the two kingdoms could immediately send in more troops after the destruction of Vostracane.
‘Tempest… It’s the first time I’ll be paying a visit to this kingdom. Though I can’t say, I’m really looking forward to it.’
So far, every encounter Izroth had with something regarding Tempest led back to something bad. There was also the fact that Tempest was secretly colluding with the Shadahi—no, rather openly colluding since they had already made their move back in the Demilitarization Belt.
Nonetheless, even though this was Izroth’s first time visiting Tempest, he was not completely ignorant when it came to the kingdom’s inner workings.
Unlike most kingdoms in RML, the power structure in Tempest was quite different in comparison.
For one, they did not have a king but rather an Emperor. However, unlike the kings of the various kingdoms, the Emperor did not hold virtually absolute power. Instead, for many big actions, they had to win the approval of the Counsul and the majority votes of the Senators.
That’s why it was impossible for the Emperor to have made the move while keeping those important members of his kingdom in the dark. There was no way he would not have been kicked out of his position as Emperor without haste if what he had done was of his own admission.
“We will be crossing into hostile territory. Everyone, be sure to keep your guard up and remember what we’ve discussed.” Izroth reminded.
He then continued, “Let’s go.”
Once Izroth gave that order, he and the 9th Division crossed the border into Tempest.
The nerves of the players could not be hidden. Some of them were even shaking from nervousness. But, they had already decided to stick by the 9th Division despite their nerves.
It also helped that the ones leading them did not carry an ounce of doubt about them. In fact, there was an almost comforting level of confidence in their leaders. This put their minds at somewhat ease.
