Fort Whitebridge

Shortly after the Holy Knight Empire's camp lit up like fireworks, the eyes of every battle witch stationed on the wall brightened with excitement. They wanted to shout it all out but refrained from doing so due to military discipline.

"My Lord, the magic bomb appears to have been much more effective than we anticipated," Aeliana reported her observation.

"Un," Vaan nodded before explaining the exact situation to her regarding the explosions. Then, he said, "Since we blew up their war supplies, it should buy us some time to prepare for their next attack."

Now that blood had been drawn and hatred had been formed, the empire's following attack would undoubtedly be much bigger and fiercer.

"If they want to enter our land, they'll look for a weak point to target."

"Where do you think the empire will attack, my Lord?"

"Let us head to the council room."

Following Artemis's question, Vaan suggested a change of location as they continued their discussion over the battle map.

Agatha, Mesulina, Arabelle, Aeliana, Astoria, and a number of other matriarchs were all called to the council room.

Thanks to the spatial teleportation they had installed in each region, the members in charge of defending Dragontail and Ironhaven were able to arrive within mere seconds.

Artemis gave them a quick update before Vaan spoke.

"If the enemy wants to minimize their loss but maximize their gains, they will not do a full-frontal assault. However, they will likely try to make us believe that they are to distract us from their true objective."

"And of the three forts, Fort Whitebridge is the least likely to be their target. Fort Whitebridge's defense is too strong. If they forcefully try to cross Stormwind Lake, they will suffer too many casualties," Vaan stated.

Stormwind Lake was where the hotness of the west Violent Tributary and the coolness of the east Sleeping River met; it was always a windy region. A violent tornado could be summoned to wreak havoc in the area with the right combination of elemental spells added into the mix.

If the Holy Knight Empire weren't stupid, they would know Stormwind Lake was the worse location to cross.

However, Dragontail and Ironhaven also had their pros and cons.

For instance, the Violent Tributary was hard to cross due to its boiling temperatures and high sulfur content. But once crossed, the empire's aura users could freely fight in the open space around Fort Dragontail.

On the other hand, the calm waters of the Sleeping River were easy to cross. But once crossed, the empire's aura users would have to fight in the restrictive and treacherous steep rock pillar region of Ironhaven.

The collapse of a single rock pillar would crush many people to death under its immense weight.

"If the empire has to choose between Fort Ironhaven and Fort Dragontail, they will most likely pick Fort Ironhaven. But, of course, that's if they don't know about the other secret passages."

Compared to the potential hazard of the Violent Tributary, the risk of Ironhaven was lower. Furthermore, the Sleeping River was the easiest water region to cross.

If they had to launch a full-frontal assault, Fort Ironhaven was the best choice.

"But what if the empire is aware of all the secret passages, my Lord?"

Faced with Artemis's question, Vaan smiled and didn't answer immediately. But just when he was ready to reply, a battle witch rushed into the meeting room with urgent news.

"My Lord, the empire has made another move! They are sending a large fleet of magic airships toward us."

"A large fleet of magic airships? Indeed, crossing the water isn't their only option But if they are trying to send troops into our land through the air, there's no way they wouldn't fear the possibility of being shot down. Do they have absolute confidence in the magic airships' defense? Or"

After pondering for a moment, Vaan quickly led everyone outside to check out the large fleet of magic airships personally.

In the distant sky, the large fleet of white magic airships could be seen rising higher and higher in altitude as if they wanted to pierce the clouds and hide amongst them, not knowing other beings were hidden up there.

'Supreme Leader, there's a bunch of enemy ships up here. Should I take them out?'

'No need. It's not time for the dragons to reveal themselves.'

Vaan shook his head at Zodreg's question.

Thanks to Zodreg sharing his visual senses, he was able to get a good look at the large fleet of magic airships. The enemy wasn't just trying to transport soldiers; they were trying to scout.

"The empire is just trying to scout us. Since they want to look, let them look. However, if they come within three hundred yards of our airspace, shoot them down."

"Yes, my Lord!"

The High Witch-rank battle witches answered.

Nevertheless, everyone was disappointed when the Holy Knight Empire's fleet of magic airships kept their distance and only observed from afar. They knew how to stay out of the battle witches' firing range.

After lingering in the sky for a few hours, they simply left.

Vaan wasn't so bored that he would watch the empire's movements the entire time, especially when he had competent subordinates tasked with it.

He used his time to raise more High Witches out of sight.

Holy Knight Empire's camp

Meanwhile, Emperor Renardier and the war leaders were surprised when they received their awaited scout report.

Fort Whitebridge: 20,000 25,000 witches

Fort Ironhaven: 5,000 8,000 witches

Fort Dragontail: 10,000 13,000 witches

Note: no visible incoming reinforcement.

Numerous nobles, lords, and commanders frowned when they realized the Kingdom of Black Rose didn't reinforce any of the three forts since the start of the war.

"Do they think they can defend their forts with so few troops? They are looking down on our empire too much! We must show them the might of our army, Your Imperial Majesty!"

"Don't forget they have many more witches stationed in their border cities, and they are suspected to be in possession of teleportation technology. They can easily reinforce any fort in an instant."

At the emperor's reminder, the hot-headed baron that spoke up earlier immediately fell silent with an embarrassed look.

"Of course, the Kingdom of Black Rose has one fatal weakness; spatial manipulation consumes a lot of mana. If we can force them to deploy large-scale reinforcements via teleportation repeatedly, we can exhaust their mana reserves very quickly."

Emperor Renardier rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look.

If the Kingdom of Black Rose exhausted its mana reserve, the witches wouldn't be able to cast many spells; they would be at a great disadvantage in a battle of attrition.

Suddenly, Emperor Renardier's eyes sparkled, having thought of a great plan.