How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game Chapter 283 - Preliminary Battle (1)

The dragon carriages carrying Erendil, the Sword Masters, Count Campbell, and other strategists crossed the Trafal Mountain Range and arrived in the east.

The plains in front of the Trafal Mountain Range were filled with people. It was an enormous army. Not just the empire, but the south and west had joined forces as well.

As they had arrived on schedule, all the soldiers were waiting to march. I heard news of my companions through Terka, who came to find me.

He said there were no major issues. Though they had entered as mercenaries, they were maintaining good relationships. I told him I would visit them later.

“Carl.”

“Cedric.”

Afterwards, I briefly greeted Cedric, who had arrived in the east earlier. Though he hadn’t revealed anything about that mystic ‘healing’, he had joined Erendil’s proposal.

There were many familiar faces. It was natural. Everything I had done since coming to this world was for this moment.

“It’s been a while.”

“Indeed. Have you been well?”

“I’ve been fine. What about you? I hear you caught a devil? We used to be at similar levels, but now you’ve become unreachably far ahead.”

Casmak Rodri was one of them. Once the ruler of the western archipelago in the game, he now came as a representative of the western alliance, beyond just the archipelago.

It was objectively clear that while his abilities played a role, my help had been significant.

Seeing these scenes made me feel proud of the past I had gone through. It wasn’t just about making Erendil the emperor.

Haisen, who became the center of the three southern kingdoms, was also nurtured by my power, and Casmak of the west benefited from me as well.

“That’s not wrong.”

“I like that you don’t act humble. As I said last time, it’s really amazing.”

“What is?”

“The difference between us then and now. Isn’t it huge? From me running a small organization in a western port city and you being a mere agent of an intelligence agency…”

Although Casmak spoke in a whisper, there were many ears listening. I moved the winds to prevent others from hearing.

“Now we’ve become the representative of the western alliance and the empire’s top meritorious subject, haven’t we?”

Right. Considering the gap between the past and now, I could understand why Casmak felt a new sense of emotion. Just for me, on my first day in this world, I was an orphan in the market.

Who would have expected that an orphan from the alleys of Haisen would become the most favored meritorious subject of the emperor? Not to mention becoming a Sword Master, regardless of status.

“Do you think you made the right choice by not dismissing my business proposal back then?”

As I continued with a smile, Casmak’s eyes widened. He seemed to recall the past. He turned his head with an awkward laugh.

When I first approached Casmak, he had dismissed me. Saying a kid not even twenty was playing games.

“It was a good choice for you, Casmak, not to underestimate me.”

“Is that how it goes?”

“If you had underestimated me twice, your position would be occupied by… who was it… Beic and Muiron?”

“Veron and Muic.”

“Right. One of them would be in your place.”

Casmak frowned playfully.

“That’s a bit unpleasant. Those guys don’t have the capacity to surpass me.”

“Hmm. Well, that’s not wrong. That’s why I sought you out.”

If it had been those other guys instead of Casmak, they wouldn’t have even managed to half-control the western archipelago. Casmak showed a deep smile at my acknowledgment.

“How about a drink tonight, it’s been a while?”

“Let’s postpone that. I’m not one to indulge in leisure before achieving my goal.”

“That’s unmanly.”

While sea men who live with alcohol daily might not understand, I couldn’t do that. Our opponent is the Great Devil.

I nodded without bothering to refute.

“Aren’t you from the south? You’re bound to be different from sea men like yourself.”

Originally, Casmak’s comment about being unmanly wasn’t meant seriously, but was a provocation to drink. As I changed the subject, he clicked his tongue and nodded with a disappointed face.

“Then don’t back out after everything’s over.”

“Of course not.”

Our conversation couldn’t continue further. Erendil had taken her place in front of the great army that had finished preparing to march. It was a speech before the march.

“Soldiers of the Empire! Soldiers of the South and West!”

Erendil’s voice, enhanced by an Archmage’s magic, reached clearly and powerfully to the edges of the plains filled with soldiers.

“I, Erendil Kisturath, say to you, forget your affiliations. You are not gathered here in the name of the Empire, the West, or the South.”

I was watching her from behind. Perhaps because Casmak had talked about the past, her appearance felt unfamiliar.

When I first encountered Erendil in the Empire, she had a clearly young and delicate appearance. It was difficult to connect that image with her current self.

“Warriors of the continent! Darkness has come to the continent after hundreds of years. Fortunately, unlike the past, we have recognized this darkness early and have been preparing for it!”

The faces of the soldiers listening to Erendil were varied. Some were tense and stiff, others had resolute determination, and some had expressionless faces…

“However, even if the darkness seems small now, we must not be careless. We have seen examples from the past. If we fail to drive out the darkness from the east today, this darkness will grow larger than before and engulf the continent.”

I understand even the expressionless faces. Unlike the era of the founding emperor, today’s soldiers haven’t experienced devils firsthand.

Only the imperial army had fought a large-scale battle against devils and their followers, once in the northern mountains.

“Warriors of the continent, I believe without doubt that I, that you, that we! Will drive out the darkness.”

But they will soon know. When they encounter devil worshippers in the east and get closer to the Great Devil, they will fully realize the crisis.

Still, it’s fortunate that as Erendil’s speech progressed, even the faces that were expressionless began to show determination.

Erendil said this and looked around at the audience. A brief silence indicated that the end of the speech was approaching. Erendil opened her mouth again.

“Descendants of light, march towards the darkness.”

Unlike before, she put less force in her voice, but the words came across deeper and heavier. Perhaps the Archmage added a magical effect.

As soon as Erendil’s words ended, the sound of horns filled the plains. The march had begun. It wasn’t a masterpiece, but it wasn’t a bad speech.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“No, let’s go.”

***

The march had begun. Even after coming here, I was in contact with ‘Star Cluster’. We were cross-verifying information, but since it was still early, there was no incorrect information.

Even though we had identified their supply routes and logistics bases, we didn’t move straight towards them. We advanced along their periphery.

There was no particular reason to be suspicious. Originally, the Great Devil was in the northeast anyway. Their supply routes also followed the main roads.

I was moving separately. My job was to eliminate their scouts. It was something I had done before.

‘In the war with the west.’

There might be enemy spies on our side too, but the information from spies probably wouldn’t be transmitted in real-time.

In a space where Archmages and Sword Masters roam, if any unusual currents are detected, problems would arise immediately. The same goes for ‘Star Cluster’.

The work was easier than in the past. The method was the same. Catching hidden scouts while surveying the front with winds.

But now that I’m a Sword Master and even flying, it’s inevitably easier.

However, there was a problem even as I caught scouts and advanced. It was the magical tools they possessed. Not all of them had them.

But among them, the slightly more skilled ones carried dark purple beads.

They were similar to the magical tools I had previously secured that searched for Devil’s Blood. I could tell that they were used as a channel for information transmission.

‘Still, it’s not a big problem.’

I didn’t place much significance on catching scouts in the first place. It’s just doing small tasks. They’re bound to know about our movement.

The continent’s great army, united from the Empire, South, and West, is on the move. Even without scouts, they would notice our movements.

Nevertheless, we catch them for the sake of the special unit. We plan to raid their logistics bases later, so we’re reducing their eyes even a little.

It was expected that a battle would take place in about 5 days. This was intelligence from ‘Star Cluster’.

The Great Devil had not yet shown itself, but it was said that the eastern forces had moved, and this was confirmed.

‘It’s not full-scale yet.’

The enemies had holed up in a castle with decent defenses. Their numbers weren’t that great. It was a ploy to buy even a little time. A kind of sacrificial lamb, you could say.

The reason was that the eastern armies were still heading northeast. A proper battle will take place in front of the northeast after the preliminary skirmishes.

Still, whenever I had time, I checked on the kids. Namir, Aron, Jofor, Rina. To be honest, I felt a great deal of regret.

Even now, they all have extraordinary skills, but if we had more time, we could have used them better.

Of course, if I had to choose between the two, now is better. For guerrilla-style gains, the enemy forces would need to be larger than they are now.

***

After midnight, I was secretly crossing the plains. It was an operation of the special unit moving separately from the main force.

Since the logistics base was much further up than the area where the siege was taking place, we had been moving separately for 4 days.

Being few in number and marching with minimal sleep, we moved more than 5 times faster than the main force. Of course, there are enemies between us and the main force.

There were two reasons why we targeted the first logistics base. The first was to force the retreat of enemies between the main force and us.

‘The road here is narrow, making it difficult for a large army to exert its strength.’

It’s not for nothing that they’re engaging in a defensive battle to buy time. Attacking three castles in a narrow area flanked by mountains will slow down the advance.

Not knowing our military strength, they’re more likely to employ a strategy of retreating rather than risking encirclement.

After that, the road widens again so it’s not an issue. The second reason is that we don’t know how long ‘Star Cluster’s’ information will remain valid.

Being the first logistics base, the amount of supplies might not be as much as imagined, but we intended to secure whatever we could.

‘It could be a trade-off, but… if their words are true, we should be able to identify the logistics base again even if the enemy changes it.’

We didn’t bring many soldiers. Just 2,000 cavalry. We don’t need to transport anything anyway. After seizing the logistics base here, we just need to wait for the main force.

Soon, the imperial army that wins the siege will come here to retrieve the supplies.

Our role was to safely occupy this place and defend it until the main force arrives. The number of soldiers is fine even if it’s small. Because three Sword Masters were moving.

Although it’s unlikely, even if the Great Devil appears, it was for three Sword Masters to cooperate and survive.

‘Me, Denif, and Mondegreen.’

Even if problems arise, at least two out of the three should survive. I checked the enemy movements from the front. This is how 2,000 cavalry could come secretly.

We came by detouring, so there weren’t many people monitoring in the first place, but as we got closer to the logistics base, I could sense presences.

On a night with dim moonlight, I crossed the darkened plains. Silent movement. With each move of Moonlight, one person fell.

Now we just need to charge. There’s no danger felt by senses yet, but I was cautious. Because of what ‘Star Cluster’ said.

-The Sword Masters of the east have moved secretly.

Like the continent, the east also has Sword Masters. We had identified two, but ‘Star Cluster’ said they became four with the power of devils.

Judging that they wouldn’t have gone to the time-buying defensive battle, there was a high probability they were here. Not all four, but still.

And as I advanced a bit more, I could tell my prediction was true. Because someone had sensed the expanded winds.

Despite my careful extension, someone suddenly turned their head and looked in my direction. And then, ding-! ding-! The alarm bells started ringing.

We couldn’t abandon the mission because of a Sword Master after coming this far. We had three on our side too. I made eye contact with Denif and Mondegreen.

“Charge!”