"Was it just a dream?"
Ghislain recalled the words the saintess had spoken to him at the end.
"Don't come." What could that possibly mean?
He thought it was just a dream, but could it mean that the saintess had actually interacted with him?
Was the necklace truly trying to tell him something, or was it just an ordinary dream? He couldn't be sure.
— Master…
Dark spoke up. Ghislain turned to him and asked,
"Did you see it?"
— I saw it… It was strange…
"What was strange?"
— The feeling… It felt bad…
"Do you know why it felt bad?"
— I don't know. The more I look, the worse it feels…
Dark was sharing consciousness with Ghislain. It was unclear whether his bad feeling was influenced by him, or if there was another reason.
"Hmmm…"
He still couldn't make sense of what was happening. If it wasn't just an ordinary dream, then perhaps the necklace was trying to convey something to him.
Still, compared to last time, it seemed to have more substance. Maybe after a few more dreams, he could figure out the situation?
Whether it had any connection to the current crisis was another matter entirely.
"Ugh, my head just keeps getting more muddled."
Though he was naturally curious, there was no helping it. He had to wait and see.
For now, he had to focus on destroying the Salvation Church. He couldn't let his attention waver because of these dreams.
"Well, at least we've handled one big thing."
Hellnik had been quite a troublesome foe, even in his previous life. It had been difficult, but taking him out was undoubtedly a major achievement.
After a brief rest, Ghislain and the mobile army began to move toward the Artrode Kingdom.
"They'll probably be well-prepared too."
The Salvation Church and the forces of the Artrode Kingdom had long been united. Meanwhile, the allied forces had only just begun to gather.
While he didn't doubt the allied forces would win, it was bound to be an arduous battle.
"Using Hellnik to buy time… they're probably up to something."
The Salvation Church had two major options left.
"Either they attack another kingdom to disperse our forces or… they go after the allied forces that have already gathered."
The information that he and the main force had left to deal with Hellnik must have reached them.
So, Ghislain had only ordered the allied forces to encircle the Artrode Kingdom. They couldn't handle both the Artrode Kingdom and the Salvation Church simultaneously.
Though he planned to confront the Artrode Kingdom in battle, wars like this rarely ended in a single fight.
When such massive armies clashed, it inevitably took time.
It wasn't long before the Salvation Church's choice was revealed.
"The Artrode Kingdom has invaded the Grimwell Kingdom! There are reports that the Revolutionary Army is with them as well!"
"The Revolutionary Army, huh… Their strength has certainly grown."
Hearing the news, Ghislain paused to think.
'Why there?'
The Grimwell Kingdom was somewhat distant from the Artrode Kingdom.
Though the kingdoms in between had already been ravaged, making passage easy, the Grimwell Kingdom was known to be a considerable power.
'That kingdom had been holding off both rifts and rebel forces effectively…'
The Salvation Church had many options for conquests. Why would they strain themselves in this situation?
'It must be that.'
Gartros was obsessed with holy relics. He had even mentioned obtaining them from other places.
It was certain that the Grimwell Kingdom possessed a holy relic.
Ghislain questioned the messenger who had delivered the news.
"Did you confirm how many forces remain in the Artrode Kingdom?"
"Though the exact numbers are unclear, more than half seem to have moved to the Grimwell Kingdom."
"More than half" was still an immense force.
The Salvation Church's main force, the Artrode Kingdom's military, surrounding rebel armies, and even the Revolutionary Army had all joined. No single kingdom, however strong, could withstand all of them.
Not even the Lutania Kingdom had faced such an onslaught.
'Well… their plans fell apart because of me.'
If they had moved like this from the start, the Lutania Kingdom would have been destroyed in an instant. Though, back then, they likely couldn't mobilize such forces.
Gillian turned to Ghislain and asked, "What should we do?"
Though it was phrased as a question, the answer was obvious.
Ghislain quickly made his decision.
"We'll stick to the plan and take over the Artrode Kingdom first. We need to destroy their base of operations."
Though they would continue resisting from the Grimwell Kingdom, they would be at a disadvantage compared to fighting from their home base.
"Send a message to the Grimwell Kingdom. Tell them to avoid engaging and just evade. If they refuse, at least evacuate their king to our side."
As she spoke, Ghislain doubted the message would be heeded.
'Kings and nobles are notoriously stubborn.'
The Grimwell Kingdom was a vast and powerful nation, and they were immensely proud of that fact.
In reality, they had sent allied forces to Lutania early on and had successfully defended against rifts and rebel forces.
But that confidence was precisely the problem. They would undoubtedly boast they could also repel the Salvation Church's main force.
Even in his past life, the Grimwell Kingdom had acted arrogantly. When forming the initial alliance, they had tried to take control of the alliance.
Recalling those memories, Ghislain shook his head.
'Too many powerful players.'
While the troops sent as reinforcements somewhat listened, the kingdom's main forces never did. They only started cooperating once their country was nearly destroyed.
Even in his past life, everything had always moved frustratingly slow.
'I guess I'll have to beat them into line whenever we meet.'
He genuinely wanted peaceful cooperation, but given the urgency, every new troop needed discipline immediately upon joining.
Ghislain steeled himself. He couldn't allow others to exploit his supposed soft-heartedness(?).
While Ghislain gathered his resolve, the mobile army encountered another group of soldiers.
"Oh, my lord has arrived."
Galbarik and the dwarves from the main force greeted Ghislain. Many mages were with them as well.
Behind them were several enormous wagons, pulled by dozens of horses. These wagons were almost like small houses.
They had been waiting for the mobile army along the path, per Ghislain's orders.
Galbarik approached Ghislain and asked in a low voice, "Where's the mage?"
"Right here."
"Hehe, I heard he's an 8-circle mage. Our lord is truly amazing. How did you manage to rope someone like that?"
"I didn't rope him in; he came on his own. Heaven always seems to be on my side."
Ghislain grinned. Meeting Jerome so quickly had indeed been a stroke of luck. They were all incredibly busy, after all.
Galbarik chuckled in response.
"So, can we deploy him now?"
"Of course. We're always in a rush, aren't we?"
"Exactly. Having a high-level mage join at a time like this is truly fortunate."
The two exchanged knowing smirks. The mage Galbarik referred to was Jerome.
While the army took a brief rest, Jerome began conversing elegantly with the mages in the rear.
This gathering occurred whenever the march paused after Jerome had joined.
"So, spatial travel can be highly unstable unless additional magical measures are taken… By generating a protective shield first and establishing highly refined coordinates…"
Jerome sincerely answered the mages' questions. He had no hesitation in sharing what he knew.
The mages listened intently to every word.
It was knowledge from an 8-circle mage, after all. Not wanting to miss a single detail, they eagerly asked more questions whenever the opportunity arose.
The problem was that Vanessa was the only one who understood what Jerome was saying.
"Ah! So, it's like using a tremendous amount of mana to warp space-time and create a sort of shortcut connecting two points..."
"Wow, you understood that in one go? Genius!"
"No, no. It's because Lord Jerome explained it so clearly," Vanessa responded humbly.
But in truth, Jerome was often taken aback when speaking with her.
She never needed anything explained more than once.
'What took me years of training in the mind realm to understand!'
And yet, she had reached the 7th Circle in just a few years without such practices. He couldn't believe it when he first heard about it.
'Am I the fool here? Is this normal? My mentor told me I was smart! Was that just like a mother saying her child is beautiful no matter what?'
Having rarely engaged in long conversations with other mages besides his mentor, Jerome found himself briefly confused.
He thought he was quite brilliant, but seeing Vanessa, he began to doubt himself.
Meanwhile, the other mages, excluding Vanessa, just wore blank expressions. Alpoi, in particular, was even drooling.
Yet, judging by his mana, Alpoi must have been a highly trained individual. Jerome subtly asked him,
"Alpoi, do you understand what I'm saying?"
"..."
Alpoi didn't want to admit that he didn't understand. It was too humiliating for his pride as a veteran mage to admit this to a newcomer.
He was a man who lived by his pride and reputation—renowned as the first in human history to defeat a goddess.
He refused to be looked down upon by a mere human mage.
So, he simply bit his tongue.
"Kyaaaah! Of course I understand! But I hurt my tongue, so I can't speak properly! Swooosh! Blood! Ahhh! Ow ow ow! My tongue! It hurts!"
"..."
Jerome concluded that Vanessa was just extraordinarily intelligent.
In any case, someone like Vanessa would be immensely helpful in times like these. Jerome generously shared his magic knowledge with her.
Vanessa, in turn, was deeply impressed by Jerome and felt profound respect for him.
'To think there's someone like this among mages.'
Jerome was completely different from any mage she had ever encountered.
Mages typically hoarded their knowledge, and even when they shared it, it was often after extracting every ounce of labor from someone.
But Jerome wasn't like that. He seemed genuinely eager for others to grow stronger, freely sharing his knowledge.
The reason was obvious to anyone.
'It must be because of his desire to help others.'
Vanessa knew about Jerome's exploits. A kind-hearted person like him would naturally share his knowledge without expecting anything in return.
Thus, she couldn't help but respect not only his magic prowess but also his character.
While the two were engrossed in their conversation, the other mages didn't mind.
'Vanessa will break it down and explain it to us later.'
'It's Vanessa, after all.'
'There's a reason she's the director of the magic research institute.'
"How dare this newbie try to humiliate me! Just wait and see!"
Except for one mage who held a grudge, the elegant discussions continued smoothly.
Seeing the mages so focused on his words moved Jerome deeply.
'Even during a war, they're so committed to learning. How admirable. But why do they all have such heavy dark circles? Have they been through a lot?'
Although war was grueling, it was unusual for mages to look this exhausted. Jerome found it somewhat curious.
At that moment, Ghislain approached the gathered mages with Galbarik in tow.
"Jerome, this is Galbarik. He's in charge of 'crafting' for our Fenris territory. You'll be seeing him 'often,' so get along well."
"Really? I look forward to working with you!" Jerome greeted Galbarik warmly. Seeing this, Galbarik also broke into a wide smile.
"Ahem, ahem, pleased to meet you. They call me the 'Great Blacksmith,' though it feels odd to say it myself. By the way, I heard you're an 8th Circle mage..."
"Yes!"
"Wow, truly impressive. This will definitely speed up… I mean, anyway, it's remarkable."
Galbarik grinned slyly after confirming Jerome's Circle. Jerome assumed the grin was simply a gesture of goodwill.
Suddenly, Ghislain placed his hands on Jerome's shoulders and said,
"We'll have to part ways briefly."
"Huh? Why? Aren't we heading to the battlefield?"
"We are. But you don't have to come with us immediately. Take your time."
Jerome tilted his head in confusion.
Although he had only recently joined, he was undoubtedly one of the strongest in the allied forces. Especially in battle, his magic would be a critical asset.
For someone like him to be left behind—it was baffling by Jerome's logic.
Seeing his puzzled expression, Ghislain smiled warmly and explained, "You need to do some work. There's something you need to take care of here with the dwarves and mages."
Jerome still looked confused.
Vanessa averted her gaze elsewhere.
The other mages nodded solemnly with gloomy expressions.
[T/L: I am in dire need of support. I will give discount to all those who will buy the rest of the chapters all together, so please support me the reader on my webnovel platform and read ahead chapters on my ko-fi page "RevengerScans" : https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]