Became a Strategist with a 100 Intelligence and 100\% Accuracy-Chapter 305: Blind Spot of a Hardcore Player (5)
The soldier wearing the armband cried out in an urgent voice, almost pleading.
“Serpina’s forces... they’re marching on Valharat Castle with approximately 198,000 troops!”
...What?
There’s no way Serpina’s army could be coming.
After all, Hernandorf and Emma are using all their strength to protect us... aren’t they?
“What nonsense is that?! They can’t possibly be invading! Can’t you explain yourself properly?!”
“I-I'm only reporting the facts! H-How could I dare °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° lie in front of Her Majesty...?!”
“Go to Epinnel.”
That was all Yuri said.
“In times like this, we have to soothe the souls of Emma and Hernandorf even more. You know as well as I do that they’ve been protecting us. There’s no need to worry. We’re going to win. So don’t just stand around here—go discuss our defenses with Epinnel.”
She turned away and closed her eyes, resuming her prayer.
Maybe Serpina had decided she couldn’t afford to waste any more time and was pushing forward with an invasion to buy herself some time.
But at least in Yuri’s mind, that was a grave miscalculation. No—perhaps it was Emma and Hernandorf themselves who had manipulated the situation to draw this outcome!
They had poured everything into expanding the altar. Every last coin had gone into it. And the more they built, the more Serpina’s soldiers had retreated from their incomplete front lines as if repelled by some mysterious force. Each report only deepened Yuri’s conviction.
That they were making the right choice.
Once Serpina’s forces were driven off again, they would return to preparing for war. If they could restore their numbers to what they were before the plague, they would challenge Serpina once more. It didn’t matter if she had a mage.
Because they had Emma and Hernandorf—watching over them from above, always.
That foolish woman. Our enemy, the enemy of the Academy. I’ll kill you with my own hands. For Emma, for Hernandorf, and for everyone else who died before them...!
——Even in this moment, Yuri’s belief remained blind.
She hadn’t always been this foolish.
But one misstep after another had taken everything from her: the mage she lost through her own mistakes, the brilliant strategist she let slip away, her entire army wasted by plague, the deaths of two beloved friends, and then seeing the one who killed them murdered in turn by another woman she loathed just as much.
Any ordinary person would have gone mad ten times over from what she’d endured.
Perhaps it was because of all that—because she had failed over and over again—that the intelligent woman Yuri once was had vanished completely.
No—more than that.
At this point, unless she had something to believe in, blindly and absolutely, she couldn’t even keep her feet planted on solid ground.
Ever since narrowly escaping death in the war against Chel’s forces, she had been unable to govern properly. The only thing that gave her the strength to function again was the belief that the comrades who had died because of her mistakes had appeared to offer her a chance at repentance.
And, incredibly—
From the moment she began offering prayers to her lost comrades in dreams, miracles had begun to occur.
How could she even describe this feeling? As if the mage she’d lost had somehow returned to her side. As if she herself was performing miracles that no strategist—no one—could ever replicate.
Yuri felt herself coming alive again. That’s why she clung to it. Believed in it, absolutely, with unwavering faith.
So she shut her eyes, closed her ears, and spoke only with the dead.
Emma, Hernandorf. Just a little more strength. Please... guide us to the path in the sky. Please. Please...!!!!!!
Please, please, please...
She kept praying, over and over, for a wish that could never be answered—because they were already gone.
***
At that very moment, as Commander Yuri continued her prayers at the altar—
Epinnel, acting in her place to manage the affairs of state, was speaking with a soldier, her expression dark and grave.
"I'm sorry, but could I ask you to brief me one more time—everything, from the beginning."
"Yes, ma’am! I’ll explain it as many times as needed."
The soldier wearing the red armband, now somewhat composed, gave a steady report of the current situation.
"Commander of the operation is Airen Juliet, with Irian al Kasky as the second-in-command. Total force is estimated at roughly 198,000, but... some scouts report that there is a follow-up force."
"A follow-up force?"
"Yes, ma’am. We’ve received information suggesting the army is advancing in separate divisions. And... apparently, they’re approaching while forming some kind of unusual formation. From what I heard, they’re advancing with strict coordination, with each step seemingly controlled."
‘What is this? Are they being cautious of everything that’s happened so far?’
Frankly, no other explanation came to mind.
Could it be that Serpina had somehow figured out how our army was communicating with the heavens?
Swen was on their side now, after all. It wouldn’t be strange if he had deduced the mechanism.
"What about siege weapons?"
"That’s... it appears they haven’t prepared any."
"What?"
"It’s true. We’re not sure why, but..."
There had to be a reason behind every action.
No siege weapons, the strange formation, the deliberate fragmentation of the troops—every part of it must have a calculated purpose.
"...Alright. And Anima?"
After their last talk that day, Anima had secluded herself in her private chamber, temporarily withdrawing from public duties.
Epinnel could’ve pressed her to return, but instead chose to give her space—
She had already known Anima’s logic would never be accepted by Yuri in her current state.
"Well... I went to inform her, but she wasn’t there."
"What? Where did she go?"
"I’m not sure, ma’am..."
It was unfortunate timing, but realistically, even if Anima had been present, it wouldn’t have led to any immediate solutions.
"Alright. Post a soldier nearby so she can be informed when she returns. I’m going to begin preparing for battle."
"Yes, ma’am! Are we going to hold the fortress?"
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
"No."
"Then...?"
Epinnel fell into deep thought.
I have to do it myself.
Yuri is too far gone.
Anima is absent.
If anything is going to be done... it must be with my own hands.
There must be a reason. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Something we haven’t perceived in Serpina’s actions—something we’ve missed.
...Then Epinnel's eyes lit up. Her voice turned resolute.
"A surprise attack. We estimate the enemy’s location, then strike at their flank."
***
Epinnel took the majority of the forces she could muster and lay in ambush at a midpoint along the enemy’s route of march.
‘It’s not certain... but splitting their forces and advancing in formations—this must be a countermeasure against our communication with the heavens.
If that’s the case... then all I have to do is break it.’
No miracles had occurred this time.
So in a way, her theory made sense.
The enemy would never expect an ambush from a force that wasn’t even half their size.
Surely they would believe Aishus could do nothing but hide and wait to die.
In a normal battle, even if the ambush succeeded, it wouldn’t change the course of the war.
They couldn’t overcome the sheer difference in numbers.
‘But if I can just throw Serpina’s forces into chaos, I’ll be able to reconnect with the heavens and make a miracle happen!’
Logically speaking, she knew this was ridiculous.
And yet—
The miracles she had seen with her own eyes.
Serpina’s refusal to engage in meaningless acts.
The known existence of mages across the continent.
Swen, a man who had once performed miracles through communion with the heavens.
The lack of siege engines, the meticulous spacing, the bizarre coordination—all of it—
All these concrete "facts" pointed in one direction.
So even if it sounded absurd—wasn’t that the answer?
But unfortunately——
WAAAAAAHHHH!!
"What the—?!"
It wasn’t their own men shouting.
It was—!!
"Uwaaagh!"
"The enemy! Ambush!!"
A rain of arrows poured down onto the allied forces hiding in ambush.
‘They detected the ambush?! How?!’
That couldn’t be.
If they had known, and sent troops here—
Then the carefully constructed formations and spacing between their forces should’ve collapsed.
If so, then the miracle should’ve happened, right?
No matter how hard Epinnel tried to reason it out—
No matter how she based her logic on the "only explanation left after eliminating all other possibilities"—
It didn’t work this time.
——Because, unfortunately, her intelligence wasn’t 100.
***
Let’s rewind the clock a little.
"Their perspective must be turned against them.
And through that—we arrive at the most efficient solution."
"Turn their perspective against them? What does that mean?"
To Serpina’s question, I smiled.
"In other words—we must show them a miracle."
"A miracle?"
"Yes. A blatant, inexplicable miracle that defies all logic—one that stops Serpina’s army cold."
I said it, smiling right at Serpina.
The most shameless, confident smile I had ever shown.
"With that, the Aishus Army will destroy itself."
