How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 523

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Survive as the Second Son of a Magic Noble Family (523)

7 minutes ago, 5:50.

[Ernst, we have completed deployment of our forces throughout the operation area following the advance Baden forces.]

[Your Excellency, there are still no anomalies outside. We will continue observing and report immediately if any changes occur.]

I focused my mind on all the sounds coming into my left ear. Right now my colleagues and advisors are contacting me, but before long I’ll hear the voice of the army’s senior general.

The supreme commander of this operation is naturally His Majesty King Hildegart. The king becomes supreme commander in any case. Then who is the field commander? That’s also His Majesty the King. He directly commands important military operations like Frederick the Great—not the current Friedrich, but Frederick the Great from our history. General Otting, who serves under His Majesty the King, conveys the king’s orders to us, and we move accordingly. And I was appointed as the king’s adjutant, which was appointed in preparation for participating in field command during emergency situations, but so far it hasn’t been effective.

The fact that I must command a brigade is not a tremendous burden to me, but it does weigh heavily on my shoulders. I am a lieutenant colonel in the Bavarian Special Operations Division HfS, which is similar to the Imperial Special Operations Command but also serves the role of a secret intelligence agency like the existing Bavarian Intelligence Service. I was able to obtain this rank because I received treatment as a quasi-founder while reorganizing the structure, purpose, and functions of this organization. Up to this point, there are sufficient precedents within my knowledge, and this itself was originally the kingdom’s strategy to employ Nicolaus Ernst in a position where he could handle broader authority. However, most of the HfS mages are naturally deployed with the 1st or 4th Corps of the Royal Army, and I alone broke away from there to serve as temporary (m. d. F. b.) commander of the Bayreuth-stationed brigade under the 3rd Corps in Nuremberg with the rank of lieutenant colonel. First, this is a geographically important operation for us. Next, having a lieutenant colonel receive temporary status to lead a brigade sounds somewhat awkward no matter how you look at it. This reminds me of the precedent in America where a captain was promoted to temporary brigadier general at ultra-high speed, and while that might have been the case there, it’s even more exceptional in Germany. Since I am neither royalty nor nobility on the surface. Such exceptional circumstances are only possible when there’s a consensus that the situation is more critical than usual.

“Your Excellency.”

55 minutes. I had to go now. Before that, I turned around. My secretary looked into my eyes and spoke with conviction.

“I will pray that God’s grace be with Your Excellency.”

I had never told them that I was an atheist to my bones and could never become a theist no matter how much I thought about it. I was just grateful for their consideration, so I didn’t want to stop their prayers.

“Please pray that grace be with Bavaria and all European citizens.”

“I will.”

I offered my secretary a final handshake. He held my hand with a worried expression, and at the same time seemed to be falling into faint bliss thinking about the numerous glories Bavaria would gain after this operation ended and the lives of citizens that would be preserved. However, he was fundamentally more anxious than optimistic, which I could tell from his shoulders being rigidly raised. Everyone would be like that. Even though the efforts we had accumulated step by step since last year supported us, we were not the type of people who would be optimistic before a watershed moment. I squeezed his hand tightly, released it, and warped to the coordinates I had received in advance.

56 minutes, I arrived inside Bamberg’s city hall. The areas with civilians were still excited with a festive atmosphere. The intensity, the wind, the sunlight too… I thought of the hymns that would be flowing through each household and the evening meals that would be as abundant as Thanksgiving, and I thought of the bright red sunset and twilight that would settle by the time we finished our operation. I didn’t want to disturb this peace even a little.

I looked at the members of the brigade. Two regiments, but I had modified them to function almost nominally as direct operation teams. Even if the mages weren’t HfS members, they had to maintain a special forces-style composition and had no choice but to do so.

But there’s something that bothers me here… Why wasn’t I properly assigned to a brigade under the 1st or 4th Corps, and ‘why’ are the 3rd Corps mage units entering Bamberg, the core of cores, instead of the 1st Corps mage units or 4th Corps that would naturally be expected to enter this strategic point?

First, the 10th Infantry Brigade commander position was vacant, but since that was a vacancy His Majesty the King intended, excluding that, it’s because the 1st and 4th Corps are based in Munich. When Pleroma decorates the geography of a diocese, they don’t necessarily copy the actual region, but we can’t deny that the possibility is somewhat higher. Remember that Ainsiedel’s Diocese of Osnabrück was using the Göttingen University library building located within the diocese as an archive. Also, from the experience of the extra chapter, I know that the Bishop of Bamberg has been based in central-northern Bavaria and beyond for over a decade. As I thought earlier, I reconsidered the presence or absence of a lever in the square four times, and to reduce such repetitive developments and increase our chances of victory even a little, it’s right to mobilize those familiar with the geography. There are no mage armies stationed in Bamberg, only non-mage cavalry brigades. Nuremberg and Bayreuth are cities near Bamberg, and the mages in the brigade I’m in charge of are mostly local nobles from here or those who have trained in the vicinity for long periods. Two of the three Catacombs people who joined us as allied forces are also from Bamberg. The Catacombs leadership assigned combat mages residing in various places to us on their own.

The orders that will come down to us will be as follows. Isolate the Bamberg Archdiocese and Eichstätt Diocese within 3 minutes. Since this is a plan I established, I believe it will proceed as such unless His Majesty the King disapproves.

3 minutes, this operation concentrates all the information and materials we’ve accumulated so far. Only then can we quickly isolate the Bamberg Archdiocese and Eichstätt Diocese within 3 minutes. The more time we allow, the more they will have a chance of victory against us.

As soon as I arrived, I sent a communication and lit a cigarette. This cigarette was different from the one I smoked with Leonard earlier—it was the item Emmanuel used when he knocked me down. Of course, we had all already taken medicine to make the cigarette’s magic ineffective.

I turned to the Catacombs combat mage standing in the back row. Like all the mages present, he was wearing monocles with his eyes fixed with magic power. General Otting’s voice reached my ears.

[5:57, commencing entry as of the current time. Isolate the Bamberg-Eichstätt dioceses within 3 minutes.]

“Claudia Neumann, and Vanessa Heckl.”

One was a Catacombs combat mage, and the other was a Royal Army combat mage. They responded.

“Yes.”

“As we discussed in advance.”

Since our Bavarian Royal Army will launch an immediate attack, please make sure to cast a barrier for our side and bind this entire space to the astral plane before sending it to different coordinates. That’s what I meant. Then Claudia Neumann smiled crookedly and nodded satisfactorily. I could hear her distinctive Bavarian accent.

“You don’t need to worry, Ernst.”

I never worried, but anyway the message that she understood was conveyed. I raised my hand high and showed the two mages behind me numbers with hand signals. The first people to move are the three of us. I looked at their golden eyes and slowly nodded. And with my other hand, I pulled and released the spine of the book that served as a lever with my finger.

Thud—

What unfolded before my eyes was the cathedral I had already visited twice. And a cathedral packed with people. Transparent milky white sunlight cuts through the cathedral’s darkness. This holiness is regarded as excessive punishment for their disloyalty to life. My vision gradually becomes slower. Concentration slows the world and accelerates me. The Bamberg Archdiocese has one archbishop, three auxiliary bishops, and one suffragan bishop. The Eichstätt Diocese has one bishop, one auxiliary bishop, and one suffragan bishop. And numerous monsignors are here.

In Bamberg Cathedral, numerous people in white clothes sit quietly in their seats and also stand in rows in the aisles facing the altar. Opening the status window is quite a sight. Magic power 6, 7, 8, 9… I’m momentarily shocked by the numerous high points. In other words, more clergy than believers are sitting in this place. Priests, deacons, and monsignors. It’s clear that nothing about the 6 o’clock announcement has been disclosed to them either. The believers must be watching from the square—ah, that’s good. One auxiliary bishop is busily moving around the altar. The bishop, is he planning to come at the exact hour? No need to think. I took out a sphere from my pocket and threw it. Gas with the same performance as my cigarette spreads from within it. Slowly—the act of them noticing the situation and reaching for their wands… could not exist in that slow spacetime. Before the heretics, who were rejoicing at the coming of Christ’s word with blissful smiles on their faces, could turn their heads toward me, the vibration of my throat first cuts through and passes my body.

—Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain!

Kwaaaaang—!

The sound of my staff striking the ground with all its might was nothing now. The roar of divine power, which would be nothing but wind, shakes Bamberg Cathedral. As if a storm had swept through the cathedral, I felt even the ground I stood on being uprooted. People’s eyes glazed over and I saw some of them open their eyes wide in shock instead. They must have been strong mages. I continue to channel divine power through my staff while casting spells. The thought that the spires and arched ceiling might collapse like this stiffened my entire body, but constant training breaks through that rigidity. Neumann, the Catacombs combat mage who had been standing back, strikes her staff down as if pushing it into the floor.

[Terra, terra, terra, audi sermonem Domini—!]

Scripture. I opened my eyes wide at the scripture verse recited by the Catacombs combat mage. Although it was still in Latin, the Catacombs combat mages no longer hesitated to recite scripture. In today’s world where scripture possession by Catacombs mages is illegal, they didn’t read scripture due to persecution on earth—fearing that scripture verses might burst out after torture and violent interrogation, and that was closer to being unable to do so. But now…

[Confractione confringetur terra, contritione conteretur terra, commotione commovebitur terra—!]

In an instant, the mass of people before my eyes disappears cleanly. They laid new coordinates beneath these people, bound them, and threw them into an unknown space. Since you can’t bind and send them like this without knowing the coordinate system, this was a method we couldn’t use after Munich-Freising, but the Catacombs make this possible. A moment of peace arrives and Neumann speaks.

“The ceiling’s going to collapse. Seeing Ernst’s divine power that I’d only heard about in person makes my blood run cold.”

This isn’t the time for trivial talk. I tapped my artifact, raised my hand to the sky, and said.

“Entry!”

The mages who received the signal flood into the cathedral entrance. Among the slightly over fifty mages, one team that split half of one regiment and a Catacombs combat mage clustered together according to the established strategy, touched the lever leading to the residential area, and disappeared. The remaining ten and one Catacombs combat mage wait in the cathedral. They will go out to the front of the cathedral to deal with the believers waiting in the square in front of here. And finally, the remaining thirty Royal Army mages and the Catacombs combat mage ace head to the bishop’s residence with me.

I approached the altar and turned the key I had already touched once. Since I have experience, progress is swift. The familiar office of the bishop’s residence appears before me. 5:59, 1 minute left.

A familiar face, Sarah Hohenfelss is not here. Auxiliary Bishop Ralph Huber is also not here. Instead, there’s another bishop. He’s wearing clothes with purple trim decoration. Another auxiliary bishop? I opened the status window. I recalled finding that name from the list I received from Ainsiedel, and I realized with a confused expression that he was a suffragan bishop. There are several auxiliary bishops, but usually only one suffragan bishop. The moment we arrived, twenty of the thirty mages split into groups of five and scattered to ransack various parts of the residence.

—Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain!

Kwang—!

It’s blocked. The obviously flustered Vitriol blocks the divine power. Of course he would, this place wasn’t dimly lit like the cathedral, this person faced us head-on unlike the cathedral people, and also this place should be a space where no one else can newly enter unlike the cathedral. However, my business is elsewhere. I raised my left hand to show the Royal Army mages behind me, and at that moment the bishop’s residence desk came into our hands. The suffragan bishop who had been chanting magic formulas seemed to feel absurdity at the behavior of taking the desk instead of attacking people, revealing his expression candidly for a moment. However, his eyes soon fixed on me, and likewise, however, I have no intention of getting caught up in that.

The Royal Army mages break down the door and throw the desk outside while preserving it intact. They will break the levers contained there one by one. Now only five remain in the space: one suffragan bishop and four on our side. Neumann strikes down her staff and shouts.

[Terra, terra, terra, audi sermonem Domini—]

I tapped my artifact. Then I began with a ceremonial greeting and moved my lips.

“Your Majesty the King, the 10th Infantry Brigade reports.”

* * *

“Your Majesty the King, the Bavarian Royal 2nd Infantry Regiment reports. April 12th, 17:58, we have completed the operation to destroy the Regensburg Diocese coordinate system. We await the next orders. Bavarian Royal 2nd Infantry Regiment Commander Leonard Wittelsbach, end of report.”

Leonard Wittelsbach said, leading his mages.

Leonard was now in the southern 3 dioceses. In an empty coordinate system with no one there, just formal main church buildings, bishop’s residence, and archive buildings remaining. And since they had completely destroyed their last remaining coordinate system, now the people of this diocese cannot cross over to Pleroma’s Bavarian territory even if they discovered anomalies in Brandenburg. If they really want to set foot on Bavarian soil, they would have to come to the surface world rather than Pleroma’s world, and if they hurriedly come to the surface to check the situation, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish. Subsequently, General Otting’s announcement that all coordinate systems of the southern 3 dioceses had been destroyed was heard. He gave the 2nd Infantry Regiment orders to continue standing by.

It was natural that the southern 3 dioceses’ progress would be fast. They just had to burn down and eliminate land that truly had nothing on it. Leonard Wittelsbach and the mages under his command focused on the static of the artifact hanging on their left ears. They had no choice.

The pocket watch’s hand points to exactly 6 o’clock. Even until that moment, the world was quiet. 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds… As time passes, the air becomes sharper and sinks deeper. At the same time, it intensifies. Paradoxically.

[6:00, 10th Infantry Brigade’s operation to isolate Bamberg Archdiocese and Eichstätt Diocese successful.]

General Otting’s voice is heard. Leonard closed his eyes at those words.

Nicolaus Ernst had succeeded, as was only natural. At the news of his success, the mages’ faces brightened. They felt the momentum of victory. Even before General Otting’s status briefing ended, his adjutant’s voice was heard.

[6:00, 7th Infantry Brigade’s Würzburg Diocese coordinate system isolation operation successful.]

[6:01, 11th Infantry Brigade’s Speyer Diocese coordinate system isolation operation successful.]

Simultaneous announcements came from the northern 4 dioceses where operations that could be called real battles had begun. It was natural that the northern 4 dioceses were more important than the southern 3 dioceses. The southern 3 dioceses could be entered through the entry routes discovered by Nicolaus Ernst’s glasses anytime before 6 o’clock and blown up entirely. But the northern 4 dioceses were different. They had to quickly put numerous people and clergy to sleep and send them away, and if they failed at quick victory, they even had to fight directly with Pleroma’s clergy. And Bavaria had successfully threaded the first button. A personal communication came from General Otting.

[Colonel Wittelsbach, can you hear me?]

“I can hear you.”

[Move immediately with the 2nd Infantry Regiment to Bamberg City Hall. By 6:30, eliminate the Archbishop of Bamberg and the Bishop of Eichstätt.]

This means to go beyond the Pleroma Bavarian region depending on circumstances. To eliminate the bishops, our range of action could spread beyond Bavaria to the entire empire. The risk burden increases not just double but dozens of times. Since I knew this would be the plan originally, Leonard Wittelsbach answered without hesitation.

“I will follow orders.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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