Ch12 Osteria's Rage

The Brewing Storm

The Grand War Council of Osteria was in chaos.

Field Marshal Augustus Reinhardt slammed his fist on the massive oak table, his face red with barely contained fury. Around him, Osteria's highest-ranking officers, admirals, and political elites sat in tense silence, flinching as the impact rattled the chandeliers above.

Across the grand war chamber, Prime Minister Wilhelm von Dietrick merely sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Marshal, control yourself."

"Control myself?!" Augustus barked. "We lost an entire fleet—eighty ships—to an empire that didn't exist a month ago!"

A deep silence followed.

The humiliation of it still burned.

They had expected Wallonia to be a mere nuisance, an anomaly that would fade with time. Instead, they had been publicly humiliated—their proud fleet reduced to smoldering wreckage at the bottom of the ocean.

And now, to make matters worse…

"They've officially allied with Nagata," Admiral Konrad Weiss growled, tossing the latest intelligence report onto the table. "Wallonia is supplying them with food, weapons, and transport."

Augustus clenched his fists.

"Then that means one thing."

Wilhelm exhaled sharply. "War."

A thick silence followed.

The Osterian elites stared at each other, the air heavy with unspoken dread. They had no idea what kind of monstrosity they were about to provoke.

Meanwhile, in Wallonia – The Diabolical Duo Returns

Inside the Imperial Strategy Hall, Emperor Arthur Paulus Wallonia sat across from Chancellor Erich, both sipping wine like two bored aristocrats discussing the weather.

"Well," Erich mused, twirling his glass, "I'd say it's about time Osteria starts screaming."

Arthur chuckled darkly. "Oh, they're definitely screaming."

He tossed a stack of intelligence reports onto the table.

"Osteria is about to declare war on us."

Erich leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands, eyes gleaming with mischievous delight. "Oh? And how shall we ruin their expectations this time?"

Arthur smirked.

"We do absolutely nothing."

Silence.

Erich blinked. "…What?"

Arthur leaned back, stretching his arms casually.

"We do nothing, my dear Chancellor. We let them stew in their own paranoia. Let them build up their forces, let them scream, let them scramble for allies—"

He grinned, eyes glowing with malicious amusement.

"—and then we remind them why we are not to be trifled with."

Erich let out a low whistle. "You are truly an evil bastard."

Arthur raised his wineglass. "To calculated chaos."

They clinked glasses, their unspoken schemes already weaving a future where Osteria would never see what was coming.

Back to Osteria – The Breaking Point

Three days later, in the Osterian High Command, things had reached the boiling point.

Augustus Reinhardt stood before the council, his voice a sharp blade slicing through the room.

"We can no longer afford to wait. Wallonia must be dealt with—immediately."

The council murmured in agreement, their fear and pride twisting into hatred.

"Then it is decided," Wilhelm said grimly. "We issue an ultimatum—Wallonia must cease all aid to Nagata, or we shall have no choice but to consider them a hostile power."

The decree was written, signed, and delivered within the hour.

The world held its breath.

Wallonia's Response – A Masterstroke of Mockery

When the Osterian demand reached the Imperial Palace, Arthur and Erich were in the middle of an intense chess match—the kind where both of them were playing three moves ahead while also casually discussing world domination.

A messenger entered, bowing stiffly as he presented the ultimatum document.

Arthur took it, skimmed it, then burst into laughter.

"Oh, this is precious."

Erich glanced over his shoulder, reading the document before shaking his head.

"They're actually demanding that we surrender our influence over Nagata?"

Arthur wiped a fake tear from his eye. "They really don't get it, do they?"

Erich smirked. "What shall we do?"

Arthur tapped his fingers together ominously.

"Oh, I have an idea."

He grabbed a piece of parchment and, with the most mocking, arrogant flourish, scribbled a one-line response:

Wallonian Empire's Official Reply to the Osterian Ultimatum:

"No."

Arthur sealed the letter with golden wax, handed it to the messenger, and smirked.

"Send that."

The messenger stared in horror.

Erich, meanwhile, snorted with laughter.

Arthur turned to him with an innocent smile.

"Too much?"

Erich chuckled. "Oh, absolutely. But I love it."

Osteria – Absolute Meltdown

When the one-word reply reached Osteria's Grand War Council, the room erupted into pandemonium.

"They sent a single word?!" Augustus roared, face turning purple with rage.

Wilhelm sat there, staring at the message, his expression unreadable.

Finally, after a long silence, he exhaled.

"…We are at war."

Back in Wallonia – A Toast to Madness

Arthur raised his glass again, watching as reports flooded in about Osteria's impending war declaration.

"Well, Erich," he mused, taking a sip of fine wine, "looks like they took the bait."

Erich leaned back, smirking. "Shall we move on to Phase Three?"

Arthur grinned deviously.

"Oh, let's."

The Calm Before the Storm

The Imperial War Council of Wallonia was eerily quiet.

Emperor Arthur Paulus Wallonia sat at the head of the long mahogany table, idly swirling a glass of red wine. His golden eyes gleamed with amusement as he skimmed the latest intelligence reports.

To his right, Chancellor Erich leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, a cocky smirk plastered across his face.

Across from them, Princess Asahi of Nagata and Captain Aesuki Toranaga sat stiffly, trying not to look concerned.

After all, they had just watched these two men single-handedly provoke a world war with a one-word response.

"…So," Asahi finally spoke, choosing her words carefully. "You knew Osteria would declare war?"

Arthur grinned. "Oh, I was counting on it."

Aesuki frowned. "And… you have a plan?"

Erich snorted. "Oh, we have more than a plan. We have seventeen plans."

Arthur clinked his glass against Erich's. "And all of them are designed to make Osteria wish they had never even heard of us."

Silence.

Asahi and Aesuki exchanged glances.

Nagata had traveled here seeking salvation…

Instead, they had walked into an empire run by absolute madmen.

Meanwhile, in Osteria – The Paranoia Grows

Inside Osteria's Grand War Room, Field Marshal Augustus Reinhardt stood before a massive war map, his fingers twitching as he analyzed Wallonia's positions.

"They're up to something," he muttered.

Prime Minister Wilhelm von Dietrick sighed heavily, rubbing his temples.

"Of course they are," he muttered. "That's all they ever do."

Admiral Konrad Weiss leaned forward, placing a hand on the table.

"Our spies in Wallonia report that they are… unusually quiet."

Silence.

The room tensed.

Augustus narrowed his eyes. "Define 'unusually quiet.'"

Konrad exhaled. "There is no war mobilization. No increased patrols. No emergency war councils. The factories continue producing at a steady rate. The citizens are acting normal—as if they don't believe a war is coming at all."

A slow, suffocating silence filled the room.

Then—

"…They're playing with us," Augustus whispered, his hands curling into fists.

Wilhelm's face darkened. "They want us to make the first move."

A thick tension settled over the council.

They were about to march into a war… against an empire that was actively mocking them.

And they had no idea what the hell Wallonia was actually planning.

Back in Wallonia – The True Plan Unfolds

In the Imperial Strategy Hall, Arthur leaned over the massive war map, tracing a slow circle around Osteria's key supply routes.

"So," Erich began, "which plan shall we use first?"

Arthur grinned.

"Oh, the fun one, of course."

Erich's eyes glinted with excitement. "You mean—?"

Arthur nodded.

Erich burst into laughter.

Princess Asahi hesitated. "…What exactly is 'the fun one?'"

Arthur turned to her, smirking like a devil.

"We're going to let Osteria invade us."

Silence.

Aesuki choked on his tea.

"WHAT?!"

Arthur simply grinned. "Well, not really. We're just going to make them think they're successfully invading us."

Asahi and Aesuki stared in disbelief.

Erich chuckled. "Arthur calls it Operation: Hollow Fortress."

Arthur tapped the map, eyes gleaming.

"We will fake our weakness. We will let their spies 'discover' staged military reports. We will 'accidentally' let them see us withdrawing forces from border regions. And when they finally think they have an opportunity to crush us…"

His grin turned utterly predatory.

"…We will snap the trap shut."

Aesuki exhaled slowly, running a hand down his face.

"By the gods," he muttered. "Nagata has truly allied with madmen."

The Trap is Set

Over the next three weeks, Wallonia played their game perfectly.

False intelligence reports were "leaked" to Osterian spies, showing fake battle plans and exaggerated weaknesses.

Wallonian border defenses were visibly thinned, luring Osteria into thinking they had the upper hand.

Reports of 'civil unrest' in Wallonia were whispered into enemy networks, convincing Osteria that Wallonia's empire was unstable.

It worked beautifully.

On the twenty-second night, Osteria took the bait.

An elite Osterian invasion force—80,000 soldiers, 300 tanks, and 600 artillery pieces—was sent across the eastern border, expecting to crush Wallonia in one swift stroke.

They marched forward, confident…

…Until they realized no one was resisting.

Empty fortresses.

Abandoned towns.

No enemy in sight.

The Osterian generals hesitated.

"This is… too easy," one muttered.

"…It's a trap," another whispered.

But it was too late.

Wallonia had already closed the doors.

The sky lit up.

From the nearby mountains, Wallonian artillery and missile silos unleashed a devastating bombardment, turning the landscape into an inferno.

The once-confident Osterian forces found themselves completely encircled—trapped in a massive kill zone where Wallonia's true forces had been lying in wait.

By the time dawn broke, Osteria had lost over 40,000 men.

It was a massacre.

And just like that… the war had truly begun.

Back in Wallonia – The Aftermath

In the Imperial Palace, Arthur sat comfortably in his chair, reading through the battle reports.

"Well," Erich mused, pouring himself another glass of wine, "I'd say that went rather well."

Arthur chuckled. "Indeed. Now then—on to the next part of the plan."

Princess Asahi, who had witnessed the entire operation unfold, sat in stunned silence.

"…You planned all of this?" she finally whispered.

Arthur looked at her, smiling.

"Of course."

Aesuki, still trying to process what had happened, exhaled sharply.

"…We are never betraying you," he muttered.

Arthur laughed. "Smart man."

Erich grinned. "Now then—shall we see what Osteria does next?"

Arthur's eyes gleamed.

″surely we shall″

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