Chapter 110: It’s Time for Me, War God Louis VI, to Show My Might!

Chapter 110: It’s Time for Me, War God Louis VI, to Show My Might!

After Queen Frankischko’s death, the King gradually became aware of the existence of the wizards…

The flame of vengeance burned in the heart of the great Monarch of the Sorrento United Kingdom. He bided his time and prepared meticulously, plotting to make the wizards taste the thunderous wrath of his kingdom.

Gradually, various nations began to frequently hold special joint military exercises.

The King’s step-by-step actions did indeed cause some apprehension among the wizards.

Simultaneously, they provoked intense humiliation and fury among the high-ranking wizards.

The Muggles weren’t fairing well either. The destructive power of these wizards was astonishing. Not only were ‘decapitation’ strikes common, but even many ‘military exercises’ often failed to hit their targets and frequently resulted in friendly fire.

Gradually, the great nobles and high officials of the Muggle world also learned of the wizards’ existence.

The common folk believed them to merely be a series of military exercises or colonial wars involving the Sorrento United Kingdom, but the leaders knew the true identity of their enemy this time.

The Muggles suddenly realized they seemed utterly incapable of handling these elusive wizards.

Support from the Sacred Oak alone wasn’t enough. They were no match for the wizards.

The wizards, too, discovered that today’s Muggles were nothing like those of the past. The overwhelming cannon fire seen in those ‘exercises’ meant that just one stray shot landing in a Secret Realm could lead to incalculable losses.

The situation grew increasingly tense. However, because of a newlywed Queen with an insignificant reputation, the conflict between wizards and Muggles began evolving in a strange direction.

A peculiar phenomenon arose – over the last decade or so, nearly every high-ranking Muggle minister who opposed the Queen either contracted a strange illness or vanished without a trace.

On the wizard side, the whereabouts and addresses of anyone who displeased Delphinia invariably found their way to the expert Muggle marksmen.

Frequently, during conflicts between the Kingdom of Sorrento and other nations, their armies would ‘accidentally’ stumble into the Secret Realm territories of wizards who held grievances against the Witch Queen. Or, during kingdom military exercises, artillery fire would ‘unintentionally’ level a specific Secret Realm – with unnerving precision, as if someone on-site were feeding coordinates.

Clearly, Her Majesty Delphinia was playing both sides as a double agent, constantly stoking the flames on each.

The disputes escalated. Wizards began manipulating other kingdoms, pressuring Sorrento or even provoking wars. Many kingdoms that had previously participated in joint exercises with Sorrento turned against her.

But ever since the Kingdom of Sorrento had been purged of the Queen’s opponents, this nation – already possessing a powerful industrial base and now supported by the Witch Queen and a faction of wizards – became terrifyingly potent.

This conflict ultimately became the War of Ascension for the mighty Sorrento Empire. During this war, Sorrento also managed to locate the ‘true forms’ of many hidden wizard principalities that had secretly backed various Muggle Kingdoms against her.

Steel armies marched into one wizard territory after another. The only place spared was the Sacred Oak, which the King and his ministers had mistakenly always believed was a ‘theological seminary’.

Ultimately, this war gradually subsided through mediation by the new Witch Queen and the Magic Council’s leadership, prevented from escalating into a devastating world war. That obstinate Magic Council had finally done something useful.

The other wizards breathed a secret sigh of relief. Though they often manipulated Muggles easily, sustaining losses at even a 1:100 ratio was unsustainable. Cultivating a wizard took over a decade, but a Muggle trained for mere months could threaten such a wizard. Continuing meant facing a brutal war of attrition on the open front.

The Muggles also breathed a secret sigh of relief – the wizards were like indestructible super-agents and super-spies. Even with the help of the ‘Mages’ (true wizards) the Queen had found, continuing would mean societal and economic collapse.

Both wizards and Muggles had suffered significant losses, yet the new Queen, who had constantly fueled the fires and played both sides, reaped the greatest benefits – over those same dozen years, all dissenters against her, whether in the wizard world or the Muggle world, were gone.

Those remaining were solely her supporters.

She had truly consolidated her position, becoming the supreme ruler acknowledged by both Muggles and wizards. Even the Red and White Queens, whom the Witch Queen had once fear, now regarded her with apprehension and showed her deference.

The world had known peace for many years now, yet Her Majesty Delphinia seemed like someone ill-at-ease with quietude.

During the last Sorrento United Kingdom military parade, the kingdom showcased their latest weapons born of the Industrial Age. The Witch Queen had specifically arranged for senior Ministry of Magic officials to attend and broaden their horizons.

In the mere span of a decade or so, the military capabilities of the Muggle Kingdom had undergone a dramatic transformation.

This left a deep impression on the notoriously obstinate elders within the Ministry. It also delivered a sharp shock to the extremist factions among the wizards.

No one truly wanted war. But the wizards felt compelled to deliver a small ‘riposte’ – especially since that King had been laughing just a little too triumphantly.

Therefore, following that spectacle, the wizards resolved to restore the balance. They would show those weak, ignorant Muggles how utterly useless their ‘iron puppets’ truly were.

They would remind the Muggles of the terror wizards represented.

Thus, the Great Family Wizards confronted the King with a wager.

At this point, lines of Narration appeared before Louis’s eyes.

For this wager, the King promised that should the Ministry of Magic win, then the Sorrento Parliament Building would become Ministry property – the Ministry would take up residence there. Furthermore, henceforth, the kingdom’s high officials would not interfere with any actions wizards undertook within Sorrento.

The implications were starkly obvious: a wizard victory would mean wizard interference in the Muggle kingdom’s governance. The Muggles’ power would either be balanced by wizards or be effectively neutered.

Should the wizards lose, however, the Ministry would be obliged to dispatch genuine wizards to serve in the Royal Court, teaching Magic to the royal family. Moreover, Muggle nobles would gain the right to attend various academies to study Magic – the Kingdom would thus overcome a critical weakness.

This was playing with fire right next to their most vital parts – and grabbing fistfuls at that.

To prevent this wager from escalating back into war, both sides agreed on a ‘minor skirmish’.

During the negotiations, a certain Mr. Archie from the Barriff Family worked hard to secure a good outcome for his interests – and he succeeded.

The venue for this ‘Olympics’ was set as the ‘Stogg Dragon Colosseum’, boasting the most comprehensive facilities. Henceforth, this branch of the colosseum in Englen City would also openly reveal its truly wondrous aspects to the Muggles.

As he heard this, lines of Narration suddenly materialized before Louis’s eyes.

[But who could have imagined? The person most eager for the Muggles to lose in this wager was none other than Her Majesty, the Witch Queen ‘Delphinia’… However, if the Muggles truly did win, the King would be happy – and Comrade Del would just have to be happy as well.]

[What Louis didn’t know yet was that this would be a showdown of ‘genuine vs. fake Gundam’. You choose to…]

[A. [I’m betting on the Muggles!]

Note: “How could I miss out on this?! It’s time for me, Magic-lover War God Louis VI, to take the stage!”

Goal: Strive to ensure the Muggles ultimately see a satisfying result.

Option One: Participate as a human! Pilot the ‘Son of Lant’ and defeat that thing even the Witch Queen isn’t fully confident can be handled – after all, the Muggle Yordel Engineers’ latest weapon, the ‘Son of Lant’, might not be able to handle ‘Mr. Gundam’, the Dragon Slayer.

Option Two: Help the Muggles win through clever tactics, prevent the wizards from sabotaging, and ensure the ‘Son of Lant’ can unleash its true power.]

Reading this, Louis frowned. ‘What is this ‘Son of Lant’? A nickname for the newest tank? Anyway, the first option sounds more straightforward.’

Louis looked down at the rewards.

[Success Rewards:

1. Random Attribute +15 (Note: This time linked to the Fate Lines of three Wish-makers)

2. Position as Court Wizard, Position as Archmage1;

3. Imperial Tutor1 (Who knows what they’d prefer to teach…)

4. Temple Knight Reputation for the Moon +1000;

5. Reputation with Great Inventor ‘Lant’ +Max;

6. Destroyer Permit: ‘Son of Lant’ Driver’s License1;

Failure Consequences:

1. Be Hammered to Death by Gundam + Wizards Combined1;

2. Detonation of the ‘Son of Lant’1;

3. Ministry of Magic Destroyed1;

4. Extremist Faction Regains Control of Ministry1;

5. World War I1;

6. An Even More Terrifying Witch Queen1;

Note: Although human society has developed to a highly advanced point sufficient to make the Sacred Oak collapse, wizards still possess terrifyingly bug-like abilities when it comes to dismantling human social structures. Therefore, once war starts, the outcome is unpredictable…

The Witch Queen, who once sided with the Muggles, her true stance on this matter remains unclear. Perhaps her intentions are far more dangerous than even her ‘husband’s’.]

[B. [I’m betting on the Wizards!]

Goal: Strive to ensure the Wizards ultimately see a satisfying result.

Option: Eliminate the terrifying Dragon Slayer ‘Gundam’ prepared by the wizards ahead of time. Take its place to fight while the wizards stare dumbfounded. Then destroy the ‘Son of Lant’.

Success Rewards:

1. Random Attribute +15 (Note: This time linked to the Fate Lines of three Wish-makers)

2. Department Head, Department of Mysteries Branch1

3. The Red Queen’s Admiration1;

4. House Red Queen Family Reputation +1000;

5. Gronn Tribe Worship +Max;

6. The Attention of True Giant Dragons;

Possible Failures:

1. Be Hammered to Death by Gundam1 (You failed to kill Gundam)

2. Be Turned to Pulp by Cannon Fire1

3. Weeping from Ocris and Others?(unknown number)]

Louis ignored the ‘Failure Consequences’ sections. Glancing at the rewards for A and B, he thought internally: [I’m betting on both Muggles and Wizards.]

[???]

…