The so-called first-strike advantage of an Arcanist Mage was built upon rising from beneath the water, where no one could see, up to the surface, then suddenly launching an attack, using large-scale destructive magic to inflict irreversible losses upon the enemy's military strength.
In the original storyline, the Valeria Empire had been retreating step by step under the onslaught of the Church Knights, losing vast amounts of territory and wealth, nearly reaching a point of no return.
It was then that Anthony, Dean of the Elizabeth Academy of Magic, suddenly appeared before a strategically important military fortress on the side of the Kingdom of Velys, using his self-developed Arcanist magic to obliterate all defensive installations and living forces, pushing the entire war into its next phase.
