The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military

Chapter 208: A War Begins (1)

<h3>The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (208)</h3>

66. A War Begins (1)

Reform spread through the Empire’s capital like wildfire. 

As soon as the establishment of the parliament was formally approved in the Great Hall, the first action that was taken was the selection of the citizens’ representatives. And afterwards, the elected representatives immediately set about reducing the powers of the imperial family and of the nobles. 

Of course, they never thought to completely abolish the nobles and imperial family all at once. Doing so would be great, but would require the complete overhaul of the social system; attempting to do that in the current upheaval, when it was not a time of peace, would cause several problems. With that in mind, they decided to slowly change things, one at a time. 

In this way, there were several conflicts of opinion, but at least there were no fights arising because of the sudden changes. 

“There is nothing left for me to do here.”

Iron said that as he looked at the parliament building that was being constructed where the palace once stood. His task was to protect the Empire as the foundations for the new generation were being laid. To accomplish that, he had made his way to the capital and occupied a position there, despite how troublesome it was. But now that he was here, it seemed that there was no reason for him to remain in the capital obstinately. 

“You’ve come?”

“Yes, sir.”

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Iron asked without even looking behind him. Faulden bowed as he replied. 

“And the situation in the south?”

“Things are dangerous, sir.”

Faulden presented the report he had already read to Iron. 

“This is the intel gathered by the Ravens.”

Iron read through the entire blow-by-blow report that had been collected by the intelligence. 

After the mass awakening in the Empire, several things changed in the south and west of the continent. The biggest among those changes was that many people came to know the truth about the external gods and the ancient gods. The problem now was that those people, having learnt the truth, were now being oppressed. Even those who had sought asylum in the Empire were being captured and turned into slaves in those two places. 

If that was all, Iron might have turned a blind eye. But that wasn’t the end of it. 

Those who had dared to disobey [the gods] were being murdered in cold blood, and those who were still alive and captured were being tortured in gruesome ways if they refused to reveal where their base was. Even if the dissidents were children……

“The south is even more troubling than the west.”

Iron said, sighing deeply. 

At least in the west, the oppressed people had allied with the revolutionaries, allowing them some room to breathe. But that was only because the revolutionaries too had chosen the ancient gods, and not the Lord God. In fact, different from the external gods, the ancient gods did not know yet how to unite among themselves, which actually made them a ticking time bomb. 

The gods, in order to make their descent to the continent, were allowing those who had made contracts with them to commit all sorts of crimes. After learning of that, Iron announced the mobilisation of his troops and sent the 23rd Corps led by Saeridan to the south. But this turned out to be insufficient. 

“I think it’s time for us too to make a move.”

Iron looked at Faulden. 

“Assemble everyone. We leave the capital tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir!”

Faulden bowed at Iron’s command and hurried away. 

“……..”

Iron looked once again at the report brought by Faulden, his expression turning icy. 

There were already gods that had descended through various reincarnations. Unlike in the west where the external gods were spending their time bolstering up their base of believers, the ancient gods in the south were already using those who had made contracts with them to complete their plan for descent.

The greatest threat at this point was neither the external gods nor the monsters, but the ancient gods. 

The one fortunate thing was that the newly established parliament was running smoothly. 

“They are doing good work.”

In the distance, Baron Chevara, one of the key figures among the reformists, could be seen talking to some other people. He was bringing up all the topics that had topics that had previously been considered unreasonable for debate in the parliament. 

When compared to the modern times Iron came from, the parliament still had a lot of shortcomings, but the important thing was that they were starting off strong like this. 

Marquis Maldini and Marquis Varesi, from two of the top noble families of the capital, were vehemently opposing him, but the general consensus so far seemed to be in favour of the reformists. 

Having checked on the affairs of the capital one last time, Iron began preparations to leave. 

Several tens of airships that had been gliding through the capital’s skies were now gathered in one place. At the same time, several more airships were flying around the area, as if to back them up.

“All preparations are complete, sir!”

Cardro step forward to speak, and Iron gave a small nod in response. He rode a drake up to a large-scale battleship. As soon as he boarded the battleship, he saw Ariel and the other commanders who were on standby. 

“Any news on Saeridan?”

“He is currently at the border with the Southern Alliance of Kingdoms. He is in the middle of a standoff with the Alliance’s army.”

Faulden reported Saeridan’s status, to which Iron nodded before giving an order. 

“Tell him to withdraw a bit. Before we arrive, he should refrain from any needless battle.”

“Yes, sir!”

Faulden immediately ordered the comms officers to relay the message, while Iron turned to the other commanding officers. 

“Once we arrive in the south, we might have to go to battle. Make sure you are prepared.”

The commanding officers showed tense expressions at Iron’s words. Even when fighting monsters, the words ‘make sure you are prepared’ were not something that was said unless things were critical.  Iron had never said this except when they had fought the Giant Worms and the manticore coalition army. Feeling nervous, they looked at Iron. 

“If need be, we might have to occupy the entire southern region.”

“……Ah.”

“We may even have to kill all the humans in the south.”

They gulped upon hearing Iron’s last sentence, anxiety coursing through them. 

“They could be kids, or even elderly people. But if they have made a contract with the devil or anything similar, we must kill them. Showing needless compassion will only put the lives of our own troops in danger.”

The officers’ hearts, which had been shaken by their Commander’s statements, gradually calmed down. The mention of their own troops had cleared their heads. 

“Be prepared to kill them all. That is how our troops can stay alive.”

 “Yes, sir!”

The commanding officers replied with fiery eyes. Seeing his subordinates’ resolve, Iron nodded and gave further instructions. Before arriving at the south, he discussed all the intel on the south, as well as the information they had about the ancient gods, so that they could determine what tactics and formations they would use. 

Finally, it was time for the Mobile Field Army to leave for the south. 

The people thought that the nobles would use this opportunity to gather their armies again. But the tide of change had swept through the entire Empire. The moment the parliament was established, all the capital guards and defence troops that had taken bribes from the nobles were arrested and taken to prison. The reformists had felt that this period, in which Iron and the Mobile Field Army were in the capital, was the best time to punish them. 

Perhaps because what they had been worried about did not happen, the capital remained peaceful even after Iron left. 

But the same could not be said for the south. 

‘Iron who conquered the southeast is coming!’

At this news, all the people of the south trembled with anxiety. 

The ones who were most afraid were the royals. The revolutionaries alone had been a great headache, and now Iron too was coming with his army. 

By this point, the ancient gods had already become the nucleus of the south and its forces. But right now, Iron was coming to the south to rescue those who believed in the Lord God. That only meant one thing. 

‘I cannot accept you who have chosen to believe in the ancient gods.’

Knowing Iron’s meaning only increased the chaos in the south. 

Those people, once united by the power of the ancient gods, looked at one another, different thoughts arising in their minds. The situation was grave enough for even the coalition of the other-worlders, who had united solely because they came from the same world, to begin showing signs of collapse. 

“It seems the quests from the Lord God are better than the quests from the ancient gods.”

“The reason why we came here at first was because of the Lord God, so wouldn’t it be better to return now?”

There were many other-worlders who had thoughts like these. They were unable to stop thinking about their original world. As they thought about their family, relatives and close friends who were still there, they could not focus on the ancient gods. For that reason, there were several people who were confused on what choice to make. 

However, there were also many who did not have those thoughts. 

“If you completely turn your back on the Lord God, we will be able to summon the incarnations of the ancient gods.”

“Just focus on the ancient gods alone.”

“We can become stronger even faster!”

These people had completely sided with the ancient gods, as they only sought to become stronger; their numbers included many of the high-ranking other-worlders too. Finding a way to survive in the time of destruction was already a daunting task: they did not have the time to think of anything else, let alone their original world. 

The people of the south and the other-worlders remained in chaos because of their individual circumstances. If this continued any longer, their unions would collapse. 

There was only one way to reverse the situation. 

[The Southern Kingdoms’ Confederation hereby declares Iron Carter and the Mobile Field Army invaders. Starting now, we will go to war with the Empire.]

The other-worlders’ union also agreed to this decision made by the confederation. 

[All guilds will go to war with the Empire.]

With the two greatest powers in the south rallying their troops, the entire region fell into disorder. Those who were still torn between the Lord God and the ancient gods even began considering leaving the south entirely. But they had no choice but to follow the injunctions of the two powers, as those who looked favourably on Iron were being imprisoned on espionage charges. 

Because of the decision of the confederation and the other-worlders union, things began moving at lightning speed. 

“Ravens have sent a report.”

At the border, Saeridan received the paper that the aide-de-camp presented to him. As he read it, he frowned. 

“Have they gone mad?”

The contents of the paper were grave, giving cause for alarm. 

[They’ve decided to go to war with the Empire. A surprise attack will likely be first move.]

“Let’s fall back for now.”

Having made that decision, Saeridan ordered all the troops to withdraw. Of course he wanted to stay and fight the enemy forces, but stopping the other-worlders with his skills was beyond his abilities. 

The army of the Southern Kingdoms’ Confederation began advancing. They even had masters among their troops: except the masters who had been gravely injured by the manticore, all the masters were called to fight in the war against the Empire. 

Regardless of the fact that the time of the awakened had come, the value of the masters was the same as ever. Their absolute strength meant that their coming along with the army was not to be taken for granted. 

“Prepare to retreat to Command if need be.”

“Yes, sir!”

At Saeridan’s order, the entire 23rd Corp began retreating. Seeing this, the morale of the confederation’s army increased, and they continued to advance. 

The confederation’s justification for the army was that part of the land [previously] occupied by the monsters belonged to them. Since the Empire had occupied that land without authorisation, they were coming to retrieve what was theirs. 

With such a far-fetched reason, they gave notice to the Empire and felt that they had given a good enough cause for the action. Then they marched forward without hesitation.

Finally……

“The Empire’s lands start from here?”

Carlos, one of the masters from the Southern Kingdoms’ Confederation, looked at the land before him. 

In the past, he had never dared to step on these lands. Now, he was leading troops into it. 

“Brings back old memories.”

Another master, named Muradin, looked at the same lands, his face filled with a myriad of emotions. 

“Now that we are here, we should advance further.”

“Yes. The fight with the Empire will have to start at some point.”

The other-worlders who had come agreed with the two masters’ decision. They wanted to fight Iron one more time. To add to that, the quest they had received said that they had to fight Iron’s Mobile Field Army and gain victory. That was why they joined the march towards the north. 

A while later, they reached the vicinity of the Mobile Field Army’s Command. As they charged, ready to fight, Saeridan began preparations and declared a state of emergency among the troops. 

At the same time, Iron was speaking with two other commanders. 

-Is it really okay?

“Yes.”

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On one screen was the eastern commander. At his question, Iron smiled brightly in response. Another screen showed the southern commander, worry written on his face. 

-Are…… are you really going to fight the two masters from the confederation on your own?

“Yes. So there is no need for you to leave the frontlines, Southern Commander. As for the Eastern Commander, take it easy and make your way here slowly.”

Iron’s words made the two commanders remain quiet. 

Even though the two masters were one level lower when compared to those of the empire, they were still masters. He was planning to fight both of them at once?

They wanted to tell him not to overdo things, but Iron had already fought against the manticore and the imoogi at the same time before. 

“I can buy us enough time. So don’t worry about it and come to help us when your frontlines are secure.”

Iron’s eyes took on a sharp glint as he spoke. 

“The day you both arrive will be the day we attack.”