Book Eater

Chapter 363: Seimei’s Legacy (4)

“... A blitzkrieg is the key to this war.” Theo understood Seimei’s intentions in moments.

He had expected that the army would be split in two, since the onmyōjis of Japan wouldn’t be able to fight alongside the yokais. Furthermore, the violence and strength of the thousand year old monsters, who were stronger than the top ranked creatures, wouldn’t fare well in an army’s structure. As such, the formation of two separate units of humans and yokai was natural.

Seimei nodded. “Correct. And as you know, transcendents are too powerful to move in one unit. It is inefficient in situations where we need to move quickly.”

Theo rolled a shoulder.“So, it is a blitzkrieg? Then the burden on my shoulders will be heavy.”

“Kik, don’t exaggerate. Your abilities have been boosted to their prime after possessing my three artifacts. No one outside of Geongun Castle can threaten you,” Seimei grinned as he poked Theo in the chest. He took a few steps back and continued, “Then shall I summarize our targets?”

The primary objective of a blitzkrieg was to break the enemy’s capability to wage war by rapidly striking the enemy’s weaknesses with superior mobility. No matter how massive a building or kingdom, they would collapse once their prillars crumbled. Their blitzkrieg would aim to snap the enemy’s spine before they realized they were under attack.

Now, everybody pay attention!” Seimei clapped a few times to get everyone’s attention before raising his hand.

Wiiiiing!

A translucent map appeared in mid air, delineating the borders and territories of the East Continent. Theo was briefly intrigued by the utility of such a spell and was about to analyze it when Seimei snapped his fingers.

Tsuchigumo inhaled sharply. “Ah...!”

Daitengu’s brows furrowed. “Hmm?”

Shuten-doji frowned. “What is it, fox? Are you going to act like you are surprised?”

Everyone reacted differently to the blue and red dots that appeared on the map. There was someone who understood the meaning of the change and was surprised, someone else who didn’t understand the meaning, and another person who picked a fight just because it was Seimei. Red and blue dots filled the map.

Seimei looked at the crowd and asked, “Theo, you know what these points and colors mean?”

Theo nodded with a long sigh. He had recognized the markers immediately. Less than thirty percent of the dots were blue, and it was easy enough to guess what they were when the map showed them clustered around major cities.

“The red dots are the mutants while the blue dots are the survivors. A dark color indicates the strength of the object or a large number of people in a small area.”

Seimei nodded. “That is correct. Then can you see the goals of our army?”

Theo replied, “The capital of Geongun Castle, and eight other castles.”

Nobutsuna and Toman nodded quietly when they heard the answer. However, the yokai didn’t know the situation and could only listen with puzzled expressions. There were two hundred and fifty six castles at key points in the Central Empire. Each castle had a lord, who then reported to one of eight princes. The princes who ruled thirty two provinces each were said to be the core power of the empire.

Seimei nodded. “That's right. Only the royal family, apart from the heir, is eligible for the title. The goal of this blitzkrieg is to defeat their armies as soon as possible.”

“Seimei, I want to ask one thing.”

“Hmm?” Seimei looked at Theo.

“At present, the empire isn’t a proper kingdom but a den of monsters. What is the point of subduing the strongholds? It won’t change the situation unless we defeat the main culprit of the disturbance.”

“You are half right, half wrong,” Seimei said, shaking his head. “As you said, the empire has lost most of its functions as a kingdom. Their fingers won’t stop even if their shoulders are cut. However, there is meaning in disconnecting the shoulder and fingers. If we do this, won’t it be possible to hit the arm with the shortest distance?”

Theo frowned. “Are the eight feudal princes that dangerous?”

“I think so,” Seimei stated. His eyes narrowed as he explained, “While it seems like they only have a slim chance of becoming an upper species, that doesn’t take into account that they are the product of the generations of breeding between the royal family and Lust. There is a higher possibility of them becoming upper species, as well as obtaining variant powers.”

Theo saw the problem immediately. “... Can they gather armies and use military strategy?”

“If that happens, it is all over.” Despite his mischievous tone, Seimei’s eyes were heavy.

They were outnumbered, and there was a chance that the strong individuals could organize. Instinct told them to run away. Humanity’s only hope of winning was breaking through the creatures, but there would be no breakthrough if the creatures could be controlled like an army.

The humans could only fight to the death.

“Sigh, we can only try.”

The core of this blitzkrieg was entrusted to Theo, who was faster than anyone else once he transformed into lightning. He could act as the tip of their spear as they aimed to kill the eight feudal princes.

“Please specify a goal.”

Coincidentally, in the same moment that Theo woke his fighting spirit, dark clouds on the horizon rumbled with thunder.

Kururung―

It sounded like the war drums of the heavens.

***

Kwarurung!?

The air howled in protest as a single lightning bolt lanced through the blue sky. Theo didn’t pay attention to the ground as he accelerated across the Central Empire.

- It might be a blitzkrieg, but you don’t have to do it all. Two of the princes will be handled by two masters, the two armies can take two more. The two princes in the west are too far away to make any meaningful impact, which means you only have to take care of the two eastern regions.

Theo thought back to Seimei’s words and murmured the names of the two eastern castles. The names of the princes’ castles were similar in that they started with Cheon, or Heaven in the eastern tongue.

Cheonkang Castle and Cheonju Castle. I’m closer to Cheonju Castle right now. At this rate, I’ll be there in ten minutes.?

The strategy meeting in Japan had only ended an hour ago. Even if there was a mole present, the raid was happening so quickly that trying to inform the Central Empire was a futile prospect. Theo was moving a dozen times faster than the speed of sound, crossing territories in the blink of an eye.

A blitzkrieg was a lightning fast attack. However, the strategist who invented the concept wouldn’t have known that an attacker could turn into real lightning.

- Don’t hold back. Lust will have placed eyes in every army. The longer you fight, the more your information will be exposed. Defeat the targets as quickly as possible.

I know that much.

Did a magician need to be reminded about the importance of information? Theo smiled as he flew over a few rivers and four mountain peaks before starting to slow down. Lightning was a favorite technique of his because of its tremendous speed, but the shock wave caused by his passage was too loud. Theo stopped ten kilometers away in order to avoid the attention of the enemy.

Kwajijijik.

He could see Cheonju Castle in the distance.

“Hugin.”

The crow that appeared in the sky was three or four times larger than normal. It was the special summon of the summoning magician, Satomer.

“I’m going to borrow your eyes.”

Kyaack-!?

Hugin cried out in agreement, and Theo’s vision grew sharper. Crows like Hugin and Muninn served the gods in the Age of Mythology. Of course, Odin was equivalent to the king of two species. However, after Hugin signed a contract with Theo, he wasn’t lacking any power.

“...?Umm, it is a pretty solid castle.” Theo was briefly impressed by the defenses of Cheonju Castle.

It is several times stronger than Tae Rang’s ward, and I don’t see any gaps. It would be much faster to break through than to try and manipulate it. If the other castle is like this, it might take more time than I think...

There were two ways of passing through a ward, trickery or destruction. However, only Theo had these choices. It was almost impossible for others. Although a yokai like Shuten-doji or a Nobutsuna-level swordsman could break through, it would be difficult to focus on breaking down a ward while the enemy had monsters to throw at you.

A ward based on the method of feng shui and a castle swarming with variants... The risk level is equivalent to grade 1.

Theo’s lips curved as he declared, “So what?”

Who would dare pit a fortress against a great magician?

Forced Harmonization.

Four types of magic spells were activated, fire, water, wind, and earth, to form Abraxas. The force that had destroyed Theo’s mortal coil and placed him in the domain of an immortal was a spell for going beyond his limits, but it was also possible to exert more destructive power than imagined by smashing opposing attributes together.

Kiiiing-!

Space screamed from the enormous force gathering together. As four beads became one, the dimensional wall started to tremble. If Theo gathered a bit more strength, the dimensional wall would tear, and an empty space would open its mouth.

A bead made of pale light… A force that could blow away a mountain gathered on his palm.

Not yet.

However, Theo kept the power under control.

“Your turn, Heavenly Sword.”

He pulled up the power of the new sword in his body through his right arm. A strand of light rose into the air and cut the wind passing around him. This was the power of the sword itself. If it was unleashed without regard, did it have enough power to cut the world in twain?

“Beyond the clouds in the sky, cut through the world!”

The power of the great spell, Abraxas, permeated the god-sword. It felt like the bones in his right arm were being crushed as the god-sword struggled to contain the great spell’s might; however, Theo didn’t give up.

Synergy-Harmonize.

The first attempt at the fusion of the great magic and god-sword had succeeded!

Fusion Complete: Unprecedented God-Sword.

As the whole world froze, Theo didn’t miss the gaze coming from the distant castle. The eyes of the monster, one of the eight feudal princes of the empire, were filled with malice, bloodlust, and astonishment.

“―Die!”

The god-sword came down on the castle like an inexorable guillotine. It broke the clouds, split apart the ground where the castle was located, and shattered the ward. This was a blow that surpassed even Seimei in the past!

The destruction of Cheonju Castle started with this absurd surprise attack.