Ancient Imperial Calendar Year 1813
The 2nd Army under Marco Ashbrum's command was conducting simultaneous campaigns without rest to aid countless villages under attack by the devils.
"Report, Brian," said Marco.
"The report isn't very encouraging. Over a hundred villages have been destroyed. Estimated losses are over a hundred thousand. Several cities and fortresses have been reduced to rubble. These devils are doing their utmost to live up to their name."
After Brian's disheartening report, Marco opened the map and tried to find the devils' next potential point of attack.
"Hey, Brian, look."
An important detail had caught Marco's attention. Brian looked at the spot Marco was pointing to with his finger.
"The Congbrum Mountain Range... Wait a moment... Hahaha! Marco, you're a genius! I'll summon the commanders immediately!"
Brian excitedly left the tent and soon returned with all the commanders following him into Marco's tent.
Marco hung the map on the wall to explain the battle plan.
"Our plan is as follows: We've noticed the devil armies are advancing south. The only way for them to cross south, as you all know, is the Congbrum Mountain Range. They don't know this yet, but after failing to find another route south, they will inevitably pass through the Congbrum Mountains. And we will ambush and destroy them there—a great victory with few losses."
After the Ashbrum commanders discussed the details of the plan for a few hours, the meeting ended.
"Now, everyone rest. We depart at dawn and begin preparing the ambush in the Congbrum Mountains."
All the commanders said in unison
"As you command, Commander-in-Chief!"
As the commanders filed out of the tent, only Marco and Brian Ashbrum remained.
Brian drank the last of the beer in his mug. Then, before leaving the tent, he looked at Marco.
"What do you think will happen to the Ashbrum Dynasty after this war?"
Marco's mood soured. Since the Second Great Kislavein-Ashbrum War, the Ashbrum Dynasty and the Eastern Territories had failed to regain their former glory.
"I don't know. Perhaps we will fall completely under the Kislavein yoke. But even if we preserve our independence, it will take decades for us to recover."
Brian's morale sank even further. In the years since the Second Great Kislavein-Ashbrum War, all traces of his former energy and cheerfulness had vanished. The post-war weariness and exhaustion in the Eastern Territories had drained all his vitality.
"My anger towards the former Dynasty Leader, XXI Carl, has only grown. For the sake of his empty dreams and arrogance, he threw us all into the fire. Look at the state the 1800-year-old, deeply rooted Ashbrum Dynasty has fallen into."
Marco agreed with this sentiment.
"You're right, Brian. The Ashbrum Dynasty, the eldest of the Five Ancient Dynasties ruling the Five Territories... But now we are weaker than even the Costin Dynasty of the Central Territories, the youngest Ancient Dynasty, which has only been independent for a hundred years."
When the Central Territories were mentioned, a piece of news came to Brian's mind.
"Ah, that's right! A throne war has broken out in the Central Territories!"
Marco asked curiously,
"A throne war?Has the Costin Dynasty Lord died?"
Brian shook his head.
"No,but the people could no longer endure his dictatorship and have gathered around another member of the Costin bloodline and rebelled."
Marco was less surprised by the rebellion itself and more by the fact that an ordinary member of the Costin Dynasty had started it.
"But Brian,even if the rebellion is successful, wouldn't that result in the dissolution of the Costin Dynasty?"
Brian laughed.
"Hahaha,so there are things even you don't know!"
Brian sat in a chair and placed his right arm on the table.
"Look,the Costin Dynasty in the Central Territories has an Elective Monarchy. Meaning, the people elect their Dynasty Lords by majority vote."
Brian was astonished.
"Majority vote?What kind of nonsense is this? Since the First Ancient Emperor, Dynasty Lordship has passed from father to son. The alternative is the dissolution of the Dynasty. What are the people in the Central Territories thinking?"
"I don't know," said Brian.
Marco's aide-de-camp, Juan Yuan, raised his hand to ask for permission to speak.
"Speak,Juan. What is it?" said Marco.
Juan coughed, cleared his throat, and then began.
"Sir,the people of the Central Territories have been subjected to invasion and exploitation by the Dynasties of the North, South, East, and West since the fall of the Ancient Empire.
"A hundred years ago, under the leadership of the 99th Dynasty Lord, Mustafa Costin—of the Costin Dynasty, which was founded during the Ancient Imperial era and survived—they fought a great War of Independence. They decisively defeated the four Ancient Dynasties and secured the independence of the Central Territories.
"Mustafa Costin became the first Dynasty Lord of the independent Costin Dynasty of the independent Central Territories and gave his people the right to vote and be elected. Thus, the system we call Elective Monarchy emerged.
"Mustafa Costin died 15 years after the independence of the Central Territories. Later, in an election, the people chose his brother, İsmet Costin, as his successor and Dynasty Lord.
"Since that day, the people have been electing one person from among the members of the Costin Dynasty as their Dynasty Lord."
Marco and Brian Ashbrum were utterly speechless, faced with the historical knowledge of Juan Yuan, whom they saw as a bit of a fool.
"Juan,how do you know all this?"
Juan laughed.
"I learned it from my brother,sir. He is a historian."
Brian said with a stern face,
"It shows."
One Week Later
The devil armies trying to advance south were attempting to cross the Congbrum Mountain Range.
"What a damned terrain this is!"
"Do we really have to go through here to attack the south?"
"We have to!Among all the places we've conquered, all routes to the south are either swamps, impenetrable forests, or surrounded by massive mountains. This is the only way we have."
"Ah,fuck!"
The unrest within the devil armies had peaked.
The one million soldiers under Marco Ashbrum's command watched the devils passing through the Congbrum Mountains from their hiding places.
"Get ready! Wait for my signal," said Marco.
The 2nd Army, composed of Ashbrum and Kislavein units, began waiting for the order to attack. After a while, the awaited order came.
"ATTACK!"
On the order of Commander-in-Chief Marco Ashbrum, one million soldiers attacked from their hiding places.
The devils were caught in an unexpected ambush. Unlike the devils, the Ashbrum soldiers, who had grown up in this terrain, ran across the rugged landscape as if it were a flat road, slaughtering the devils.
Winged devils flying over the mountains swooped down on the human army like eagles, tearing the heads off anyone they caught.
Marco Ashbrum signaled his most elite soldiers to bring down the devils flying overhead.
Marco, Brian, and the most elite legions in the army shaped their auras and hurled them at the winged devils in the air.
The sky was painted in dazzling dark blood-red and golden-yellow hues, like the dazzling colors of a painter's brushstrokes and lines. Just seconds after this attack, thousands of devil corpses fell from the sky.
Marco pointed his sword at the devils.
"KILL THEM ALL!"
Marco stood at the forefront, encircling the devil armies.
With their room for maneuver restricted, the devils refused to wait for their deaths like sacrificial lambs.
"If we're going to die, let's take as many humans with us as we can! Haaaaaa!"
The devils launched a counterattack with great fury and hatred.
"Wipe out Harloumen's bloodline!Kill all humans!"
The devils' counterattack was effective, but soon the human armies trapped the devils once again.
The mages attacked the encircled devils with dozens of different spells per second, inflicting heavy losses on them.
Seven hours later, all the devils had been killed.
A Few Days Later
Brian was reading the papers in his hand.
"Our total losses are around 230,000."
"How many devils did we kill, Brian?" asked Marco.
Brian shuffled through a few files before finding the report he was looking for.
"Around three million."
After the battle, all the surviving commanders were filled with great joy and satisfaction.
"Good. Then let's bury our dead, dispose of the devil corpses, and continue advancing until the last devil breathes its last in the Eastern Territories."
Following his victory at the Congbrum Mountains, Marco Ashbrum set out on a campaign into the regions occupied by the devils. Meanwhile, the armies under the command of the 3rd Army Commander, Fraud Kislavein, were also engaged in battle with the devils.