Game Opportunities Become Reality Chapter 134
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Game Opportunities Become Reality Chapter 134
33. Ambition (4)
With the return of the previous Marquis James, who was believed dead, his son, the current Marquis James, had to give up his title.
And so, the "former" in the title of Grandmaster Gabriel James, former Marquis of the Kingdom of Rhinehearts, disappeared, and once this invasion crisis is resolved, even that Marquis title is set to be elevated to a Duke title.
-Grit.
Even though he had regained the power he had kept away from due to his promise, the Marquis James's expression was merely complicated.
There is no need to explain at length that the reason for this was the atrocity unfolding right before his eyes.
The people of the Kingdom of Rhinehearts being tormented by soldiers of the Croysen Empire.
Even though it was a sight he had seen many times since his days on the front lines, it was a scene he could never get used to and one he must never get used to.
"Those beasts."
He thought the Crown Prince, who had revealed his ambition, was dangerous.
But he could not deny that his way of thinking was something that any citizen of the Kingdom of Rhinehearts, who had been oppressed by the Croysen Empire for so long, had dreamed of at least once.
'Overthrow the Croysen Empire?'
Whether that was realistically possible was uncertain, but at this very moment, he too wished with all his heart that it would come true.
Clutching a single sword, the Marquis James, accompanied by broadcast drones as if receiving an escort, began to walk.
It was the moment the Grandmaster of the great Kingdom of Rhinehearts appeared on the stage of world history.
"What? That old man?"
-Slice.
"Huh? M-my, my hand...."
-Squirt! Squirt!
"Gack!"
"Aaaargh!"
And his arrival decorated the surroundings as blood scattered brilliantly like rose petals.
"A Grandmaster!?"
"A Grandmaster in Rhinehearts! I've never heard of such a thing!"
The sword in his hand and the four flying swords (Sword Aura) that, according to his will, shattered every enemy before him whether soldier or Vanguard.
The martial level of a Grandmaster was so splendid and destructive that it could not even be compared to an Aura Master.
And his martial prowess was broadcast live through the broadcast drones, and it did not take long for the citizens, who had been enraged by the Croysen Empire's outrages, to shift from fury to exhilaration and cheers.
-BOOOOOM!
Furthermore, the sight of the thickly-armored Heaven-Piercing Fortress being destroyed by his Sword Aura was truly a spectacle.
"If you wish to live, disarm and sever the tendons in both your legs yourselves. Otherwise, you will all die."
"M-monster."
The enemy forces: 1 Heaven-Piercing Fortress, 200 Vanguards, 1,000 Knights, 5,000 soldiers.
That was the size of Marquis Tris's army stationed there when Marquis James had retaken the Pieren Viscounty.
The Grandmaster's terrifying martial prowess became an extremely effective propaganda.
* * *
The domain of Marquis Tris of the Croysen Empire.
"My lord! My lord!"
"What is it, with all this fuss?"
Marquis Tris, even after committing the grave act of provoking an entire nation, was leisurely playing chess with his son in his domain.
However, his entertainment was shattered by the sudden arrival of his domain army's staff officer, and his brow furrowed deeply.
But at the staff officer's following words, a look of bewilderment took over his face.
"The Pieren Viscounty has been taken back. In the process, our forces have suffered near-total annihilation."
"How dare those mosquito bastards, knowing not their place, slaughter my troops without even a negotiation?"
To an outsider, it would seem as though a benevolent lord had been attacked.
That was how displeased Marquis Tris was at the news of the Pieren Viscounty's recapture.
"Father! Give me troops! I will retake it immediately!"
At that, his son a youth of boiling blood who had been playing chess with the Marquis stepped forward.
After a moment's thought, the Marquis, curious about how his army had been defeated, asked about the enemy's size.
"If they managed to take it back so easily even after I sent additional Heaven-Piercing Fortresses and guard units, the enemy force must have been considerable."
"W-well, that is."
However, what the staff officer said next was completely unexpected, leaving both Marquis Tris and his son, who had so boldly stepped forward, speechless.
"The enemy was a single Grandmaster."
"What?"
"A Grandmaster, my lord. It seems likely they were a hidden power they had been keeping secret. They say it was the previous Marquis James, who was known to have died long ago."
"What kind of joke is this?"
"It is the truth! As if to send a warning, they even broadcast it live."
If he had been defeated by a large army, he wouldn't feel this uneasy.
But if the opponent was a Grandmaster, the situation became tricky.
If a single Grandmaster went mad and crossed the border, the only people who could sleep soundly with their feet stretched out would be the imperial family.
That was how valuable a Grandmaster was strategically a military force with considerable deterrent power.
Officially, it was said to be an act committed on his own discretion, but Marquis Tris's actions had been instigated by the imperial court.
Until then, he had believed the imperial court would mediate if things escalated, but now that a Grandmaster was charging at him with fire in his eyes, he couldn't trust the imperial court either.
In the end, Marquis Tris had no choice but to click his tongue and back down.
"Those mosquito bastards, I can't stand them till the very end."
"Indeed, my lord."
Having gained nothing and suffered only heavy losses, Marquis Tris felt a bitter taste in his mouth, but there was nothing he could do.
Even a fool would know this wasn't the time to act.
With a sigh, Marquis Tris knocked over the black king on the chessboard and rose from his seat.
-CRAAAAASH!
But then, at that moment.
A massive impact that seemed to shake the very world, along with a powerful tremor, rocked Marquis Tris's lord's estate.
"What is this!?"
Marquis Tris barely kept his balance and shouted into his terminal.
Then, the Heaven-Piercing Fortress in the sky above his domain, linked to his terminal, responded.
[Intruder detected. Intruder detected.]
[Five Heaven-Piercing Fortresses of Rhinehearts Kingdom nationality and 300 Vanguards have teleported in at a point 2km above the domain's skies.]
[Among them, three individuals appearing to be a Special Task Force have broken through the defensive line and infiltrated the lord's estate.]
At the continued report, Marquis Tris's face turned pale white.
"What?"
The answer that came back to his question was the same.
The only difference was...
[The 3 intruders believed to be a Special Task Force are rapidly approaching the lord's office.]
[Vanguard Sir Ludis killed]
[Vanguard Sir Aura killed]
[Vanguard Sir Marsiz killed]
The enemy's horrifying speed of movement as they infiltrated the lord's estate.
As if the Vanguards meant nothing at all, the intruders' infiltration speed showed no signs of slowing.
[Distance to intruders: 300M]
[Distance to intruders: 250M]
[Distance to intruders: 200M]
The numbers counting down the intruders' distance shrank steadily, leaving him with no choice but to flee.
Marquis Tris deactivated the Spatial Teleportation Interference Magic and tried to use Teleport Magic.
But the teleport ring was dead, showing no reaction at all.
"Why isn't this working?"
[The intruder has activated Spatial Teleportation Interference Magic.]
At the report from the Heaven-Piercing Fortress monitoring the estate, he bit his lip and lunged toward the corner of the study.
A small passage was revealed there, and his son, easily recognizing it as an emergency escape route, asked the Marquis.
"What about Mother and my sister!?"
"There's no choice! Hurry up!"
And so the two of them, unable to even gather the rest of the family, slipped into the rat-hole-like emergency escape passage.
"Where do you think you're running?"
But their escape ended in failure.
Because their bodies froze as if paralyzed, unable to move a single muscle.
And then, suspended in midair, they were hauled upward like fish caught in a net.
They were brought back to the office now sporting a massive hole, destroyed at some point where they could see a fresh-faced young man, a beautiful young woman, and a black-clad man who looked like an assassin.
The black-clad man was unknown, but the young man and the young woman were unmistakable.
"Duke Lawrence, Marquis Klein. Are you trying to start a war between Rhinehearts and Croysen?"
"Nothing wrong with that."
"..."
"But do you know what's more certain than the question of war?"
"W-what?"
"It means that before anything else happens, you two are going to die."
Marquis Tris's pupils shook wildly.
Even while captured by the enemy, he couldn't quite comprehend the situation.
The Kingdom of Rhinehearts was a vassal.
A vassal that had been pushed around by the Croysen Empire time and time again.
Yet these bastards had suddenly gone mad, pulling off this reckless stunt.
Having never anticipated such a situation, everything felt surreal to him.
"Today, the domain of Marquis Tris disappears from the map."
"W-wait..."
A youth younger than his own son.
But at that youth's words, Marquis Tris felt terror for the first time in his life.
* * *
[What had become almost an annual event the Croysen Empire's provocations! But no one expected the Kingdom of Rhinehearts' hard-line response! The domain of Marquis Tris reduced to ashes overnight!]
[They had advised the domain's people to evacuate, but by burning all their lands, there was no longer any home to return to.]
[The Croysen Empire strongly protests. Despite cries that they would not shy away from war, their panic is plain to see.]
[Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Rhinehearts: Didn't the Croysen imperial family claim Marquis Tris's actions were his own arbitrary decision? We simply eliminated a reactionary who defied the imperial order shouldn't you be thanking us instead?]
[Imperial Crown Prince of the Croysen Empire: No matter how wrong Marquis Tris's actions were, the Kingdom of Rhinehearts has crossed the line. This is clearly a challenge to the Empire.]
[Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Rhinehearts: We only dealt with the criminal and his property, so our actions are justified. All evidence of what Marquis Tris did within our kingdom is preserved on video. I suggest you stop making baseless accusations.]
[The Kingdom of Rhinehearts deploys the new Grandmaster, Duke James, as commander of the eastern border.]
I let out a hollow laugh as I watched the fierce war of words playing out in the press.
"Unlike the old days when they only said they'd never forgive now that they're showing it through action, the weight behind it is completely different."
The situation between the two nations is at a flashpoint where it could erupt at any moment, yet the reactions of the two nations' people couldn't be more opposite.
The people of the Croysen Empire, who had never doubted their own superiority, responded with wariness and anger, while the people of our Kingdom of Rhinehearts cheered the Crown Prince's hard line, saying it felt cathartic.
The Crown Prince's remarks, released through the media, directly hinted at a shift in the Kingdom of Rhinehearts.
And as if to back that up
[Kingdom of Rhinehearts lifts restrictions on lords' possession of Heaven-Piercing Fortresses and Vanguards.]
[Lords growing stronger means the royal family grows weaker? Nonsense! If the royal family grows stronger, the problem simply solves itself!]
[The Royal Mage Tower of Rhinehearts will have its entire Vanguard equipment production purchased by the royal family.]
[The Kingdom of Rhinehearts starting an arms race? Neighboring nations grow increasingly concerned...]
By showing it through action, the Croysen Empire's nonsense has quieted down considerably.
Whether here or on Earth, if you just keep enduring, the other side takes you for a pushover.
I thought the Kingdom of Rhinehearts' transformation wasn't a bad thing.
After all, I'd always had the goal of turning this nation into an Empire.
In that sense, the Crown Prince's path aligned with my own aims.