Volume 1, Chapter 7: The Melancholy of King Bartholomew
Bartholomew Wilibar Alexa, the king of Alexa, was anxious. He had obtained the Dragon Ball, a divine tool that could control the weather. He thought he had also convinced Duke Kuroda to defect to his side, but it was a lie. He had been deceived. Furthermore, he had not anticipated the power of the Gouten, whose destructive force was immense.
One strike and he lost ten thousand soldiers. After his anger at Duke Kuroda's betrayal, he had forced the first wave to retreat, resulting in a loss of ten percent of his 150,000 soldiers. Generally, if a military force loses twenty to thirty percent of its soldiers, it can no longer continue fighting.
If the Gouten were to strike where the soldiers were concentrated, they would have no choice but to retreat. Edelheit had also received information about the Gouten and seemed hesitant to move south.
"It's so frustrating that we can't concentrate our forces," said King Bartholomew as he looked at the map showing the placement of soldiers on the tabletop.
"The inability to concentrate our forces is such a tricky situation," he continued. If they concentrated their forces, they would be wiped out by the Gouten. He was frustrated that they couldn't concentrate their military power.
"Also, our supply troops were attacked again today. It happened inside Alexa's territory more than yesterday," said General Konrad, the commander of the seventh army.
"The Gouten hasn't been used yet?" asked King Bartholomew.
"No, it hasn't."
"What are you thinking? Our troops are heading towards the central part of Alexia more and more. Do you want to cut off their supply lines? If so, why do we attack random places every day? Is this a meaningful operation? Above all, which unit has the Gouten?," King Bartholomew's face darkened.
"We are currently investigating it, Your Majesty, but we still do not know," General Conrad replied.
"The enemy's second unit is still not moving, staying holed up," King Bartholomew asked General Wenzel, who leads the second unit of the Alexian army.
"Yes, we are completely at a stalemate," Wenzel replied.
At that moment, a messenger knight knelt before the king and exclaimed, "Your Majesty, the Heidelberg Castle, a relay point for supplies, has been attacked! Gouten has been used! The castle is heavily damaged and on fire! Most of the defense troops were killed in the explosion! All the accumulated food seems to have burned down!"
"What?!" General Conrad stood up and shouted.
"Damn it, our important provisions..." King Bartholomew muttered bitterly.
"Our supply line is long, so they are trying to make us anxious. However, Heidelberg Castle is critical. It was a gathering place for essential provisions. We had 5,000 soldiers guarding it, but it seems like it meant nothing to Gouten," General Wenzel said gravely.
"If news of the burned provisions spreads, it will surely cause unrest among our soldiers," General Conrad's face also turned pale.
"There's no other choice. We must retreat. Our plan was too optimistic. However, fortunately, we now know where Gouten is. We cannot leave it be. We must crush it. If we do not, we have no future. All troops, destroy Gouten! No matter how much damage we take, we must destroy it!" King Bartholomew stood up and yelled.
"Haa!" The generals lined up stood up and saluted the king.