Chapter 15: Chapter 15 — Slaughter
Heavily armoured Imperial Soldiers raised their shields and rushed towards the trenches. In them, soldiers stood with their heads slightly poking out, aiming their iron sights at the approaching horde.
[Fire at will! Kill them all!!]
The trenches erupted with a symphony of firepower. Machine gun nests opened fire, their loading crews constantly replacing cooling water and ammunition. Soldiers rapidly cycled the bolts on their bolt-action rifles. Soldiers with more advanced carbines mechanically squeezed their trigger.
An Imperial soldier waved his sword and emotionlessly ran towards the wall of lead. Soldiers all around him were falling like harvested wheat, their heavy armour providing no resistance against the high-powered bullets. He ran into a wall of barbed wire, the razer-sharp spikes lacerated his body as he struggled to get through. A bullet went through his brain, and he collapsed like a broken puppet. The soldier behind him didn't react and just used his body as a stepping board to get over the barbed wire.
The soldiers of the People's Army didn't even have to aim. Machine gunners held down their triggers as their barrels spat death. Howitzers continued washing the ground, thinning out the advancing army. An explosion went off near an Imperial Soldier, blowing off his arm and sending shrapnel into his stomach. He did not react to the blood spewing out from his stump and his minced intestines falling out of his stomach, he just kept running forward. A bullet went through his kneecap, sending him stumbling towards the ground. Unable to walk, he started crawling forward, pulling himself forward with his remaining arm. An archer beside him drew his bow and fired an arrow at the trench. It missed, impacting slightly in front of it.
Scenarios like this were happening all around the battlefield. Even if they were on their final breath, they never stopped advancing. This was one of the flaws of puppets; their lack of flexibility. They could not make their own judgements and had to rely on human commanders. While this was not that big of a problem in the cold weapons battlefield, it was a crippling weakness in the hot weapons battlefield. With the spread of hot weapons, it could be predicted that puppets would be used less and less.
Trains transported tons of munitions to the front lines to sustain their output. Spent cannon and howitzer shells piled up, forming small hills. Spent casing lined the trenches with a shiny blanket of bronze.
With the combined output of the battleships, howitzers, and trenches, the 200,000-strong Imperial Army had been wiped out down to the last man. On the Third Reich's side, there were only a dozen unlucky soldiers who had been hit by arrow fire.
The gunfire gradually slowed down and stopped as the last enemy soldier was killed. Despite the overwhelming victory, there was no celebration. The battlefield fell into a freezing silence. The smoke gradually cleared to reveal the true horror of the battlefield in front of them. Countless bodies lay in front of them. Most were missing limbs; others didn't even keep an intact body. The once lush forest had become a barren and bloody land.
Countless craters densely dotted the land, leaving no trace of their targets. The muddy wasteland was covered in blood. Now having time to process what had happened, soldiers were horrified at the destruction they had caused. As the adrenaline wore off, many soldiers turned and threw up. The horrific scenes they saw and inflicted would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Horns sounded and the soldiers reluctantly emerged from their trenches to clean up the battlefield. Steam trucks drove over, ready to transport the corpses to pre-dug mass graves. In his office, Konrad turned away from the screen displaying the battle and turned to his officers.
[Sir, the natives have shown great potential in the art of warfare. They should be somewhat battle-hardened after this battle. Propaganda has already reported our victory. A great celebration has been prepared for when they get back]
[Additionally, our spies have reported that the Imperial Army was made only 2 months ago, and it was made by a new legendary teenage wizard in the Elsass Empire using many resources and treasures. This wizard first emerged about 4 months ago, and rapidly grew in power. He was given the title of Grand Royal Supreme Ancestral Wizard Archmage Daiki. It is rumoured that his magical talent is even stronger than the gods. However, he seems to be very lustful and has ignored the affairs of the kingdom, preferring to instead spend his time with and expanding his harem]
Konrad's eyes sharpened, he had located the otherworlder. He could somewhat tell the thought process of Daiki. When you rapidly gained power, it was easy for it to go straight to your head, especially if you were previously a weak teenager. And when you were placed in a powerful Empire like the Elsass Empire with the emperor taking care of you, it was easy to get complacent. And the title… an Emperor wouldn't give out such an extravagant title. It must have been his own personal request.
Konrad was different to Daiki. First, the power that they gained was different. In this world, power has two manifestations. The first type, which no one can deprive, the most reliable, that is, the strength that belongs to oneself in this world with extraordinary power. The second is military power. If you have a powerful army, and their loyalty to you is unquestionable, then you have the capital to face everything, you become a force to be feared!
When you have personal power, you become addicted to the feeling. You can overpower everything yourself! If you want to attack, no one can resist. If you want to escape, no one can stop you! If you don't know any better, you feel like you're invincible in the world! This was the exact scenario that Daiki found himself in. He had already become very powerful, and he was in one of the strongest Empires! Nobody could threaten his life! With the emperor behind him, he could do whatever he wanted! Worst case scenario, he just escapes to another Empire. Any empire would open their doors to him, a person with such great potential!
On the other hand, Konrad had never been in a state of calmness. His power came from his army, his territory! He himself was ultimately still a mortal human! Even with the supplement of priceless treasures and elixirs short of the Eternal Spring, his lifespan had a limit. He only had one shot. If he failed, he couldn't simply escape from his territory. He would be abandoning his power if he did so. If they found out about his power, every Empire would try to capture and enslave him. After all, unlike Daiki, he couldn't resist powerful slavery magic.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone