Chapter 711: War Against the Merge ( 711 )

Garius confirmed with a slow nod.

"The fragments are still tainted with his Celestial power. He’ll use the leftover pieces as anchors. Break one down? It reforms in seconds. This isn’t a battle of attrition, it’s a test of endurance. To wear down Javier’s automated targeting until he finds a crack."

He paused again, then pointed to the row of cannons along the Armand wall.

"Now look here."

They followed his finger.

"Our mana missile system hasn’t launched. Not even once."

That silenced the room.

Alf’s expression stiffened. "...He’s waiting for them."

Garius smiled thinly.

"Exactly. He knows Javier’s missile system doesn’t activate unless the threat level crosses a specific threshold. Which means... the real attack hasn’t begun yet."

He pushed several figurines forward on the map.

"These golems are just opening pieces. Sacrifices to draw fire. The real play... is still behind the curtain."

"Since Edmund and I used to share everything... I know how he thinks," Garius muttered, eyes still fixed on the war map, his voice low but resolute.

"I’m the one who taught him. Taught him to look five steps ahead, not one. Taught him that a real strategist doesn’t just look at weakness, but by measuring the enemy’s strongest point."

He tapped the section marked Armand Border Wall again.

"He knows he can only attack from the front. He has to break this wall before he can even think of advancing. So what will he do?"

Garius turned slightly, glancing at Alf and Erinnette.

"He will probe, measure, and test every inch of our defense. Not to look for flaws... but to study how strong our strengths truly are."

Erinnette clenched her hands. "That’s how he crushed the Dwarves, isn’t it?"

Garius nodded once.

"He didn’t win because of overwhelming power. He won because he anticipated their best. Broke through their strongest point. And once he understood the limit of their best defense... he deployed his real force, all at once, at their limit point—where they thought they were still safe."

He paused, then turned back to the map.

"That’s how he conquered more than half the Dwarven Kingdom."

Alf narrowed his eyes. "And now he’s doing the same. Studying Javier’s defensive system. Not to find a hole. But to confirm that even the best, even Javier’s cannon wall, has limits."

Garius let out a quiet breath.

"...And Edmund will wait. Hold his trump card. He’ll grind down the perimeter, let the golems take the shots, distract the cannons with summons. He won’t charge until he sees exactly when our system reaches its limit."

Erinnette’s voice was quiet. "Then what happens?"

Garius looked up, his right eye glowing faintly again.

"Then he’ll unleash what even I haven’t seen yet."

"...Remember the Second Celestial?" Garius said suddenly.

Alf and Erinnette stood straighter. Their expressions hardened.

"My lord?"

"The monster that the raw celestial summoned. The one that wiped out the Old King’s frontline troops before we even knew what hit us."

Erinnette nodded grimly. "We remember. That day... we lost nearly ten thousand men within an hour. If we didn’t charge in to stall it, me, Alf, Hesbeirn, the capital would’ve fallen before you reached the Celestial."

Alf clenched his fist. "We cleared the path, reduced the casualties. You faced it alone, my lord... while Queen Mylezra, King Veldrac, Lioness, Edmund, Gumarak, and Gurdan intercepted the endless summons."

Garius’s gaze turned distant, dark.

"That was when Edmund still fought for the world."

A heavy silence filled the war room.

"And now... he’s the Fifth Stage Vessel."

Garius’s voice dropped lower.

"That means he possesses all the Celestial powers."

Erinnette’s lips tightened. "So after the Golems, you’re expecting..."

Garius nodded once, slowly.

"The Third Celestial."

"The Riser of the Fallen."

Alf’s breath caught.

"That thing... that ability... my lord, if he uses that on the fallen soldiers, even the ones we’ve purified—"

"Then our own dead will rise," Garius said flatly. "Twisted, corrupted. With their weapons. With their memories."

He looked back at the map, hand pressed down on the border wall location.

"The worst part? We can’t destroy them easily. Not unless we erase the core of the summoning itself."

He opened his eyes. A faint glint in his right one.

"And unlike last time... now he’s the one controlling it."

Garius continued, his finger moving across the map.

"He has all five, and with that, he’s entered the Fifth Stage of a Vessel."

He paused, eyes glowing faintly again.

"That means auto regeneration... and a combined ability set I can’t even fully comprehend. We don’t know what kind of synergy those five will produce when fused."

He sighed. The weight of command pressing on his shoulders.

"Now I have no choice but to rely on Javier, Marcellus, and Cedric to open the path. This isn’t a fight against raw celestial forms anymore..."

His voice deepened.

"This is war against a merged nightmare—and the longer he sustains it, the more powerful it will become."

Garius’s gaze sharpened, lingering heavily upon the strategic map spread before him.

"We don’t have time."

Garius continued slowly, eyes never leaving the glowing map.

Yet, rushing headlong toward Edmund’s current forces would only result in massive casualties. Even if we deployed our fastest, strongest Pekko units, losses would be unavoidable. This is no longer a mere war between kingdoms. It’s a war against corrupted filth."

"What should we do, my lord?" Alf asked calmly, maintaining his disciplined composure.

Garius didn’t respond immediately. His finger lightly traced the outline of the Armand Border Wall, lingering for just a second on the vibrant runes marking Javier’s defensive installations.

"Tell our shadow units and battle maid units not to engage without my direct approval," Garius instructed firmly. "Also, ensure General Hesbeirn is briefed clearly with this information. Deploy our healer units and high priests to cover the border wall and nearby areas. Prioritize healing for any attacks that manage to penetrate past Javier’s defenses."

"Yes, my lord," Alf and Erinnette responded in unison, bowing their heads respectfully.

Garius exhaled quietly before glancing at his trusted aides.

And where are my two lazy sons—Marcellus and Cedric?"

"They have already been summoned, my lord," Alf replied, bowing his head slightly.

"Good." Garius returned his attention to the glowing runes and shifting icons displayed across the strategic map. His voice lowered thoughtfully, more to himself than to those around him.

"Let’s hope my youngest son has another surprise to bolster our defense. Javier’s current inventions will hold for as long as they’re able."

Alf and Erinnette listened silently, understanding the gravity behind each carefully chosen word.

"But if—" Garius paused, allowing his gaze to sharpen, "if his defenses reach their limit, then it falls upon us to continue this war."

His voice softened.

"Even if, personally, I would prefer that none of our people or troops perish in this meaningless conflict."

The heavy silence returned, settling around the war room like an invisible shroud. Garius’s words were not a plea or a wish.

They were a cold acknowledgment of reality. The war had escalated far beyond politics, rivalry, or even vengeance. It had become something much darker, and infinitely more dangerous.

This was a war for survival.

( End Of Chapter )