103. War 1

"War, as expected, is the dirtiest." Grayfia's long snow silver hair fluttered and the pure and flawless face looked at the huge army gearing up and said lightly.

But as long as you concentrate carefully, you can find disgust hidden in her words.

Yes, she hates it, she hates war.

War, which is a derivative of human desires, is the root of all evil.

"Fia-chan, I agree with you. But, War is necessary to Progress.."

"Man seeks peace, yet at the same time yearning for war.. Those are the two realms belonging solely to man. Thinking of peace whilst spilling blood is something that only humans could do. They're the two sides of the same coin. To protect something, another must be sacrificed.

This is the lesson they need to learn."

Izumi who arrived along with others, heard her and sighed.

Grayfia nodded as she knew this too after all in her war was a common occurrence. But the cruelty of war, she knows it better than anyone.

Others who heard Izumi's words couldn't help but think.

Adul and Ulfric smiled at each other.

They too had experienced war and Izumi's way of doing things astound them every time.

"Ahem, Izumi. Have you prepared the speech?"

Hajime coughed and asked.

After all, Izumi was both, the leader and the commander of the allied army.

"..."

The whole room went silent.

Izumi scratched his cheek and said with an embarrassed expression, "Not necessarily."

Everyone rolled their eyes at him, what a leader, what a talent.

All vanished.

"Let's go."

All of them entered the field under countless eyes.

"If they know about Izumi's real plan. I don't think they would show this much pride and appreciation." Tio murmured but everyone around her could hear her clearly.

They could smile wryly.

"Dear Granddaughter. Your man is doing the right thing though it seems cruel at first but it'll last longer. As he said earlier, to protect something you must sacrifice another thing. Eternal peace is a dream and not even a beautiful one." Adul whispered as he could see his granddaughter's thoughts were conflicting.

The most awaited day finally arrived.

There was palpable tension everywhere.

Citizens of Tortus were extremely afraid and nervous.

All of these were being broadcast, but Izumi had some surprises waiting for them.

Finally for the first time ever, every race gathered together, putting away their grievances.

Everyone gathered outside the gate of the Empire's capital.

When they saw Izumi entering the field alongside various leaders.

As the announcement began.

"Adul Klarus, representative of Dragonmen.

"Ulfric Heipyst, representative of Demi-humans.

"Hajime Nagumo, the representative of Human and the right arm of the Commander In Chief.

Yue, the captain of long range fighters.

Shea Haulia, the captain of both close and mid-range fighters.(They don't know about Shalter)

Tio Klarus, left arm of the Commander In Chief.

Grayfia Lucifuge, vice-commander of the army.

And finally,

The supreme leader, Commander of the Allied Army of Tortus, Emperor Izumi Miyamura!"

Hearing Izumi's name countless cheers emerged from the soldiers regardless of their race.

Izumi stepped forward and scanned the whole crowd.

He could feel some humans still didn't take this seriously as his eyes glowed for a second.

Hehehe, hope you remain the same after witnessing the cruel truth.

"I'm honoured for everyone's support, so I'll not talk nonsense."

He paused then a violent momentum erupted from him and he asked loudly, "Want to win this war?"

"Yes!!!!" Everyone yelled firmly.

"This ability lies within you only. You are the one who can change the outcome of the war. So brave warriors, show me your courage. Show me your determination. And I promise you that we'll win against all odds."

"Can you do it?"

"Victory is reserved for those willing to pay its price."

"Are you ready to sacrifice your life?!"

Izumi questioned loudly.

"I do! I'm ready!"

"We're ready!"

"For the victory!" Izumi raised his hand and yelled loudly.

"For the victory!" "For the victory!"

Their morale immediately soared.

Everyone shouted as their shouts could be heard by the Demonic army marching towards the capital damaging their morale.

Even Adul and others could feel their blood boiling.

With a few words, he managed to win everyone's support.

He is indeed a worthy Leader.

Izumi didn't interrupt their yelling. He waited and continued, "Within 3 hours the War will officially begin. Respective squads should go to their position as your leader will guide you from there. Remember, do not show mercy to your enemy.

Disperse!"

Saying this he walked back to where everyone was standing.

"Enemies are already within the border. There is an Apostle leading them along with a Dragon." Saying this, Izumi glanced at Adul.

"He is not one of us. He betrayed his comrades for darker power." Adul replied with anger evident in his voice.

"Then Tio, he's up to you. Hajime will take care of that Apostle. Your appearance will raise our army's morale to the extreme." He ordered as both of them nodded.

"Shea and Yue, you should also get ready."

"Grayfia, go and tell those Heroes to prepare according to the plan."

"Adul-san and Ulfric-san will be with me in the monitoring room."

"So, be careful everyone. And Good Luck."

He was really worried after all of them were his family.

One by one, everyone executed his order without any disagreement.

Leaving only three of them.

"Izumi-kun, do you believe that he took the bait? Maybe he has some other plans." Ulfric couldn't help but ask a question that had been bugging him.

"Oh, Ulfric you've gotten old. When a person becomes desperate, his mind will not work properly, but here we are dealing with a coward. He'll grab every straw available to ensure his victory and safety." Adul said with a cunning light flashed upon his eyes.

"That's right. He has already lost the moment I step into the game." Izum's lips curled into a devilish grin.

He had put aside his negative emotions for now as he doesn't want to go berserk again.

He could kill Ehit easily but his other purpose won't be fulfilled.

Unification.

He wanted to unify the whole Tortus under one banner and was sure many kings would never agree to this.

After all, they couldn't co-exist with other species.

When Dragonmen Tribe became the only Emperor of Tortus after the unification, Humans and Demons were the one who backstab them after being easily deceived.

So he was taking another route.

He was going to use the cruelty of war to force them into a dead end.

Otherwise, why so much trouble?

He wanted to see if conquering this world would activate some extra rewards.

If nothing happens, then next time he will simply leave after completing the quest.

_____

"What?!"

Grayfia's eyes twitched before she once more and explained.

"Izumi-sama said that please get ready as soon as possible. He may call you anytime."

"Thank You, Grayfia-san. I think we're ready."

This time their big sister Shizuku spoke up and she wasn't bothered with resentful eyes on her back.

Anyways, she was here to act as a reinforcement for squadron call, not to babysit them.

You could see there was a ring on her finger similar to Grayfia.

During this month, she mustered her courage and confessed to Izumi.

Izumi also accepted her and gave her A Ring of Halo.

They were in a healthy relationship, yes only holding hands.

How lewd!!

He was unwilling to send her to this annoying party but she volunteered as she wanted to hone her skills in the battle and repay her last trace of Goodwill to her former group.

"Okay. Be careful and call us if anything is necessary." Grayfia left after she sent a magical transmission to Shizuku's mind.

"Shizuku-chan, I think. Some of our friends don't welcome us anymore." Kaori's sad voice sounded.

"It's okay. At least, our important ones are with us." She comforted Kaori.

After all, not everyone was angry at them.

_____

"It's okay. She can protect herself. If not for her and Kaori's feelings then I might have killed them. Hehehe... I'll make sure you're useful anyway."

Izumi shrugged after hearing from Grayfia.

"What's the matter?" Adul asked.

"Nothing. Nothing. Just some wannabe Heroes are now raising complaints. When they were first given Heroes status, they enjoyed its benefits to the fullest and now acting like crybabies."

Izumi sneered as he knew how hypocritical they were.

"Indeed a shame. It was great that my granddaughter met you. If she was with them I would be preparing to fight with Humanity." Adul vaguely guessed how this would have turned out if Tio asked for their help.

After all, her granddaughter was beautiful as late his wife... cough..cough.

"Ah, I wanted to ask what about the traps he might have prepared to deal with you."

"He sure has. He has already sent two apostles to destroy the kingdoms under our banner."

"Why are you not doing anything?" Adul and Ulfric shouted in unison.

"That day, in the meeting 23 Kings were present, right?"

Instead of answering, Izumi asked a question.

"How many do you think sent their troops?" Seeing their nods, he asked again.

"..." They looked clueless.

"10." Grayfia answered.

"Only 10 kingdoms have sent their troops as planned though there are some tricks, but at least they kept their words, whilst the other 13 joined the 2 Kingdoms who refused to attend the meeting and are waiting for fishermen's benefits." He paused then added.

"What they don't know is that I've already killed 2 kings and my subordinates are acting as their proxy. Since they wanted to become fishermen that much.

I've eaten all the fish and only bones are left for them to pick up."

Izumi said innocently but there was cold sweat behind Adul and Ulfric's back.

This man is too terrifying and ruthless whether in power or in the brain.

He had already anticipated and calculated, the results even before the war began.

They were fortunate that he wasn't their enemy.

_____

Near the border.

Demons holding machetes and wearing heavy armours could be seen marching towards the battlefield, but their morale was little lower after listening to their enemies determination to fight to death.

The man who was leading the army frowned and was very dissatisfied that his enemy was ahead of him.

A month ago, he had met with God Ehit, the true God and the God who he always believed was his subordinate.

He was stunned and became excited when he was appointed as an Apostle of God.

And received a mission to kill all the Heretics who intended to rebel.

Thinking of something, Freid Bagwa stopped the march and turned around.

He was wearing priest-like clothes. He also changes his hair color from red to white and grows a pair of white wings.

"What are you afraid of?" He scolded loudly as the demons lowered their heads in fear.

"Remember We, Demons are a superior race. And we're fighting for our God. But they are rebelling against God.

They are clinging to their last hope, those Heretics.

No matter how strong they are.

Humph! How can a puny group of Mortals match our God?"

Seeing his deception was working like honey, he continued brainwashing them.

"Our God believes that we can win. He has faith with us. We must not disappoint our God's belief.

Let's go kill all the rebels, and become the only Overlord of Tortus.

"For Our God!" He shouted with a bad smile and all demons followed and shouted frantically.

"For Our God!"

'How simple and easy minded they are. I can't believe I was a member of this foolish group..'

After becoming an Apostle, his arrogance flared to an unprecedented level and he didn't put Izumi and his group in his anymore.

Even he began to feel disgusted towards his own race, but he had to stand up and brainwash them as he couldn't fight a war alone.

With that over, they began marching with a terrifying pace.

______

Somewhere...

"Hahaha, the war hasn't started yet and the victory is already in my pockets...You didn't expect this move from me, right?

You damn Heretic!!!"

A lost cloud-like soul was floating on the throne and laughing.

Of course, it was Ehit or who else.

He had gotten bored of Yue's grandfather's body and destroyed it in anger.

"Just wait. I've got a big surprise for you."

He grinned sinister revealing white teeth.

He turned towards his left and there was a ikemen face with silky brown hair and had jade green eyes, covered in black circles due to constant unrest.

But there was no light inside it.

"Don't worry young Hero. You did a good job escaping. I didn't summon you in vain unlike other wastes.. Too bad your soul couldn't survive the aftermath. But don't worry, I'll definitely kill that man. After all, he's my nemesis too... Hahahahahaha."

Ehit assured it with a hideous look, but the body didn't respond, it looked like a soul6less puppet, just staring at the soul.

(A/N: So, who is he talking with? Wrong answer only.)

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