Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 253
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Chapter 253
56. The Beginning of Change (1)
When I said I would take his hand, Lord Exceed's expression, which had been furrowing his brow or radiating a sharp aura, softened.
Feeling a needless pang of guilt at his demeanor, I cleared my throat and changed the subject.
"Have you ever visited Lyseth Island?"
Currently, I had raised an army and was heading toward Lyseth Island.
Lord Exceed had nothing to do with this matter, but I asked anyway about the days of Grand Duke Lucas.
"Well now. I don't recall. Whether it's the aftereffects of reincarnation, Rondel's memories aren't entirely intact."
This was another story I was hearing for the first time.
When I made a surprised expression, he waved his hand and supplemented his explanation.
"Ah, don't worry I remember most of the important things."
Perhaps this is why Lord Exceed looked so different in many ways from the Grand Duke Lucas I had imagined.
I consider my past life and my current life as the same person, but isn't he treating his past self and current self as different?
Of course, it was merely speculation, but I thought it was a sufficiently plausible story.
"In a way, couldn't Chester, the Opportunity manager, have more memories of his past life than Lord Exceed?"
At Lord Exceed's words, I asked that question in a joking tone, and he let out a hearty laugh, saying that might be the case.
"That may be so."
But he surprised me again with an unexpected remark.
"However, Chester's memories aren't intact either. Important information was modified into different content, or deleted."
"Important information, you say?"
"Ah, that's something you don't need to know."
It might seem strange to try to know every detail of his past memories.
But the notion of memories that Chester didn't know about somehow sounded deeply significant to me.
'Why is he suddenly divulging this kind of information?'
I questioned inwardly.
The flow of the conversation was natural.
Yet he revealed content he didn't need to share, making me tilt my head.
"Hm? Looks like we're almost there."
Then Lord Exceed pointed at the holographic map of the Heaven-Piercing Fortress and changed the subject.
"Your Highness the King, we are about to enter Lyseth Island's air defense identification zone."
Gregory approached and reported the same, so I could no longer question the matter of Grand Duke Lucas's memories.
I had to prepare for the battle that would soon occur.
"If they attack, we counterattack. If they don't, we advance in a straight line to the central city."
"Yes!"
The conversation with Lord Exceed might truly be nothing significant.
But why?
To me, who was scheming and planning ahead with my own hidden agenda, it sounded like a warning to be careful.
* * *
Lyseth Island's Four Great Families Alliance Army Command.
As battle broke out between the Duchy of Lawrence forces and the Lyseth Island forces, the alliance army command became a veritable marketplace.
"The 1st Corps is being breached! The Duchy of Lawrence forces will soon engage the 2nd Corps!"
"Heaven-Piercing Fortress: 23 destroyed! 11 heavily damaged! Your Excellency, numerous Vangas are sending rescue requests! What are your orders!?"
"Just use regular soldiers for rescue operations! You don't need to report every single thing!"
"I-I'm sorry!"
Lyseth Island had been peaceful all this time, so the alliance army command being in such chaos was the first time in nearly several centuries.
The heads of the four families sat boldly in that command room, biting their nails.
"No, why are we just getting pushed around by a force less than half our army?"
"Ugh, they only know how to eat money are there really so few who can actually fight properly?"
But unlike their seemingly urgent exterior, the conversation of the heads felt detached from reality.
At that, the alliance army Commander and one of Lyseth Island's two Aura Masters, General Pike, shook off the hands of his subordinates trying to stop him and strode toward them, saying:
"You must surrender."
At General Pike's words, the heads of the four families glared wide-eyed, and soon anger colored their faces.
"Is that something a soldier should say? Surrender!?"
"Are you telling us to kneel before that man!?"
"We can't do that. Bow to Grand Duke Lawrence's absurd, unreasonable demands? Are you in your right mind?"
The heads of the four families all reacted the same way.
From their perspective, this war was a fight Grand Duke Lawrence had waged without justification.
They judged that by dragging things out, spreading word of Grand Duke Lawrence's tyranny to the world and drawing international condemnation, they would ultimately be the ones to win.
Of course, the best method would have been to win the war and defeat Grand Duke Lawrence, but that was that.
"Our opponent is a 9th-circle Lord Wizard. On top of that, he is known to be able to mobilize not only a Grand Master, but even a Lord Master and dragons."
A gap in fighting strength so vast that war itself could not even be established in the first place.
But even at General Pike's words, the heads of Lyseth Island merely furrowed their brows.
"This is no longer an era where wars are fought by individual ability."
"No matter how excellent a mage's magic or a knight's swordsmanship may be, the individual doing the fighting is still a creature made of flesh. In the end, once the head is pierced, they die all the same."
Typical frogs in a well.
They evaluated their opponent by their own common sense.
General Pike felt like he was dealing with a child who was merely big-bodied.
"No! That logic only holds when facing an Aura Master or a 7th Circle high-level mage! Once Grand Duke Lawrence a 9th-circle mage steps forward in earnest, we will be annihilated without being able to do a thing! If he were to drop Meteor here, there would be no way to stop it! The reason he moves his army like this even though he could easily strike our heads is because we are meant to be an example!"
Normally, if one gave such a rebuke, one would be watching the reactions of the four family heads and shrinking back, but the General instead grew angry.
A dangerous act that could easily invite backlash.
It was a sight that showed just how much General Pike cherished Lyseth Island.
At the General's momentum, the heads flinched in surprise and were thrown off balance.
"If you wish to preserve even a little of Lyseth Island intact, you must surrender!"
"Does General Pike know what Grand Duke Lawrence is demanding?"
"Isn't it that we must replace the head of each family and faithfully follow Grand Duke Lawrence's instructions?"
"No, and you knew that and still !"
The heads expressed their fury, asking whether he was saying such things despite knowing the situation, but they were left speechless by General Pike's ensuing barrage of facts.
"Isn't it better than being annihilated and having your country taken? If you endure only the humiliation of the moment, at least your families will continue your family lines."
Even as they continued to agonize over whether to surrender or not…
"Second defensive line breached! We will soon engage the central army!"
The army of the Duchy of Lawrence advanced again and again with unstoppable momentum.
"Haa."
In truth, the heads of each family also knew the severity of the situation.
They simply did not want to admit it.
"The longer you hold out, the more you will lose. Not only will you merely be removed from your positions you will be executed."
"Is there really no way? Not even 1%?"
"We have completely missed the timing. Now there is no way but to comply with their demands. Even that, though, feels like the time limit is closing in."
And at General Pike's finishing blow, the heads of the four families finally let out deep sighs.
"For now, we will have to speak with Grand Duke Lawrence."
In the end, General Pike's persuasion worked.
* * *
"It ended more anticlimactically than I expected."
I smirked as I looked at the heads of Lyseth Island's four great families, forced to their knees.
At my reaction, whatever momentum they'd had before was gone, and they all groveled, begging abjectly for their lives.
'How can men who are supposed to be the leaders of a nation be so pathetic?'
That was the conclusion I had reached after examining each family head's information with Myriad Mirror.
Among the four, there is not a single one who is worthy of being called a real person.
They were individuals who embodied the maladies of the old status system with their entire beings.
I immediately placed those four under arrest and personally selected the heads of each family.
'I feel like a villain.'
No, from Lyseth Island's standpoint, I could be called an unquestionable villain.
After all, it was no different from stripping them of their sovereignty.
'But there's no helping it.'
Within the limited time, I had to unify Rondel as quickly as possible.
First, I plan to explain the situation in detail to the next-generation heads who will lead Lyseth Island, and once everything is finished, ask for their forgiveness later.
"Shall we head to Earth now, then?"
"Sounds good."
In response to my question, Lord Exceed smiled and nodded.
* * *
Earth changed in many ways because of the Great Disaster.
While there are countries like Korea that turned the crisis into an opportunity and are thriving.
There are also countries that collapsed due to the Great Disaster and still have not recovered.
There are also places where a new country was established after overthrowing the existing power structure amid the chaos.
Japan fell into that last category, where after the Great Disaster, some military factions that had been watching for an opportunity ousted the Prime Minister and seized control of the administration, putting forward a new national name: the "New Japanese Empire."
Naturally, not a few citizens expressed concern over this move by the military.
However, the citizens who voiced dissatisfaction with the new regime were ordinary people passive about political participation, and rather, the far-right forces with excessively one-sided political tendencies enthusiastically supported the new government, showing fervor.
Thanks to that, Japan's rebellion was not reversed and came to be called a revolution, rising to the surface as a matter to be dealt with.
"As you know, our military power is currently below Korea's. Fighting them right now is too dangerous."
The Prime Minister's official residence of the so-called New Japanese Empire.
The Japanese military generals gathered there spread out a paper map and agonized.
They held a discussion with war against Korea in mind, and this was to prepare a response after obtaining information that the Blue House was currently preparing for war with Japan.
"Damn it, for Great Japan to be in a position where it has to watch the Koreans' every move."
"It can't be helped. They suffered little damage during the Great Disaster."
"Because our archipelago served as a breakwater."
"Shouldn't we be getting money from them instead? We're the ones who protected them."
"Who says we aren't. Anyway, Koreans only know how to stab you in the back."
For reference, perhaps because they were soldiers, many of them had right-wing tendencies like their supporters.
Because of that, none of their assessments of Korea were normal.
"Moreover, there are otherworlders behind them."
"Reiers County?"
Korea alone was a powerful enemy, but with Reiers County added, there was no answer.
Thus they sighed and put their heads together, but could not reach any meaningful answer.
"How about forming an alliance with China?"
"What, are you in your right mind?"
At that moment, one general put forth an unexpected opinion.
Even if its status is not what it once was, Japan is still an ally of America.
For such a country to join hands with China was absurd.
Naturally, his colleagues criticized the person who made the proposal.
However, some generals thought differently.
"No, it makes plenty of sense. If Korea attacks and conquers Japan, where do you think the next target will be?"
"Hmm…."
"Moreover, as long as a strong unified Korea exists, a weakened Japan will find it hard to maintain an equal alliance with America."
"So you're saying we should build a new relationship with China instead of America?"
"Isn't the timing perfect? China is also split into multiple countries, and among them there are factions advocating democracy, so it's vastly different from the China of old."
Thanks to that, the reactions of those who had been dismissing it as an absurd opinion could only weaken.
They began to judge that there was some sense to it.
"I'm still negative on it. Compared to China, our hand is lacking. If we join the Chinese camp as we are, we might end up being swallowed instead."
"That's right."
But China, no matter how split it may be, is still China.
Each piece had a size that could not be ignored.
To the point that none of them could be considered below Japan.
The most ideal thing would be for America to step in and mediate the war with Korea, but perhaps because of what happened last time, there was no trust.
And attaching ourselves to China was likewise a big risk.
"Hoo, what do we do."
In the end, they could not easily reach an answer, and the meeting merely passed the time.
How much time did they waste like that?
"Your Excellency!"
A First Lieutenant burst into the meeting room, calling out the generals' unified form of address, "Your Excellency."
They tensed up, wondering if Korea had invaded.
"Ah, beings shaped like demons are eliminating the poisoned lands across Japan and the temples within them."
But what followed was a bizarre report no one could have anticipated.
"Demon?"