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Jura Tempest Federation, General Staff Headquarters.
The Staff Conference Room was filled with powerful individuals, the kind of room where even a typical Major General wouldn't dare speak out of turn. Commander-in-Chief Benimaru stood on the platform, baton in hand, pointing at the massive electronic map behind him.
"Everyone, this war with the Eastern Empire is the first large-scale war since the Jura Tempest Federation was founded! The enemy is not weak, so we must not underestimate them."
The high-ranking officers below broke into murmurs.
"The Eastern Empire, I heard it's the strongest empire in this world..."
"Since even the Commander-in-Chief takes them seriously, they're probably not to be trifled with."
"Terrifying, the strongest empire, sounds like they're not easy to deal with..."
Cough, cough...
Tsuru, sitting at the head of the room, coughed lightly twice, and the murmuring gradually died down.
"Everyone, according to the intelligence provided by the Intelligence Bureau and Kaito-sama, the total forces the enemy is deploying this time are likely no less than three million."
"Only three million?"
Azazel, commander of the First Fleet of the Imperial Navy, asked with a surprised expression. When Kaito and the others had fought the demons before, the demons had also deployed three million troops.
"You, whose head is full of women, do you really think three million can compare to your black wings? Last time, Sirzechs and his three million demons were defeated by just over ten thousand people."
Uriel seized the opening to needle him, her taunt landing squarely.
"What the hell, what's that supposed to mean? What's wrong with us black wings? You white wings got assimilated even faster than we did!"
Uriel's lips curved into a disdainful smile.
"Hmph. Our Lord lives in Kaito-sama's house."
"I..."
"Both of you, this is a military meeting!"
Tsuru cut in before the argument could go further. Sigh. Sakazuki and Sengoku were already headache enough, and now there was another pair just like them.
"Hmph! *2"
The two glared at each other, then turned their attention back to the platform.
"That's right, just as General Uriel said, these three million are different from the enemies we've faced before. They're capable of causing real casualties, so no amount of seriousness is too much."
At the words "enemies we've faced before," Ajuka Beelzebub, currently Deputy Commander of the First Fleet, couldn't help but look dejected. Of the so-called three major races of the Bible, only the demons had actually fought a war against Kaito and his allies. The other two had been assimilated peacefully.
"Our biggest enemy this time is..."
Benimaru gestured, and the electronic screen behind him lit up with the profiles of ten individuals.
"The top ten sequence of the Eastern Empire's Imperial Guardians. Sequence One, Kondou Tatsuya. According to intelligence from Kaito-sama, he possesses the Ultimate Skill [Sandalphon, Lord of Execution]. There's no intelligence yet on whether he'll appear on the battlefield himself, but what's certain is that he commands the opposing forces."
Benimaru pointed his baton at the third profile.
"Sequence Three, Granit. Known as the 'God of War' in the Eastern Empire."
"God of War?"
Kamado Tanjiro, a Major General of the Army, couldn't help but exclaim at the title.
"Heh heh, Tanjiro, he just calls himself the God of War. No need to be afraid."
Rengoku Kyojuro, the Marshal of the Army, turned to him with a smile.
"Heh heh, I'm not scared, just a little surprised."
Tanjiro grinned and scratched the back of his head.
"Hahahaha! That's good! Indeed, as Marshal Kyojuro said, 'God of War' is merely a self-proclaimed title. Take it seriously, but there's no need to fear it. After all, we also have Marshal Sengoku, known as the 'Tactician'!"
The tense atmosphere broke immediately, and everyone who knew Sengoku burst out laughing. Especially Sakazuki.
"Hahahaha!!!"
"Sakazuki!!!"
Cough, cough...
"Alright, I'll continue the introductions. Two others are worth paying attention to. One is Garcia, Sequence Five. This guy has the ability to convert the willpower of defeated enemies into his own strength, so someone needs to engage him from the very start and never give him the chance to convert anything. And then there's Marco, Sequence Eight..."
At the name, Sengoku and the others all turned to look at Vista, currently serving as a Vice Admiral in the Army.
"Uh... Marco? Same name, huh."
Vista eyed the profile Benimaru was pointing to, a look of surprise on his face.
"It really is just a coincidence. The reason he's worth noting is that this guy can imitate others."
Sakazuki's expression turned serious.
"Imitate others? The same ability as that guy, Bentham?"
"There are differences. This one imitates not just an opponent's appearance, but their abilities as well."
Everyone present went still. Complete imitation? That was a genuinely tricky ability, since it meant that apart from the highest-ranking among them, anyone could be easily copied by the enemy.
"Each of these individuals is stronger than an awakened Demon Lord. As for the rest of the Imperial Guardians, the Royal Knights will handle them."
At the mention of the Royal Knights, everyone present nodded. Each of the three hundred Royal Knights currently possessed early Sixth-tier strength, and that was nothing to scoff at. A typical awakened Demon Lord sat around the same level, which meant, put simply, that the Royal Knights alone amounted to three hundred Luminases.
Even Kondou Tatsuya of the Eastern Empire had only been assessed by Kaito as early Seventh-tier. Velgrynd did have mid-Seventh-tier strength, but Rudra, the vessel of [Michael, Lord of Justice], could barely reach high-Seventh-tier himself, being someone who could contend with Guy Crimson. Among the top ten sequence, aside from Damrada, who also barely scraped into early Seventh-tier, the rest topped out at peak Sixth-tier or lower.
On the Jura Tempest Federation's side, meanwhile, there were plenty of individuals who'd already reached Seventh-tier, to say nothing of a few idle people with nothing better to do. Diablo, the Black Primordial. Guy Crimson, the Red Primordial. Carrera, the Yellow Primordial. Benimaru. Zegion.
All Seventh-tier. Add in Ultima, the Purple Primordial, Testarossa, the White Primordial, and Velzard, the White Ice Dragon, none of whom were even participating in this battle, and the Jura Tempest Federation had reached double digits in Seventh-tier individuals alone.
There were even more at Sixth-tier, with every marshal and admiral across the various military branches sitting at that level, and factoring in Academy City and the administrative departments would only push the number higher still. And none of that counted the three hundred Luminases of the Royal Knights.
All told, the Eastern Empire did have the ability to resist the Jura Tempest Federation. Just not much of one. Kaito, for his part, viewed this whole war as little more than a training exercise.
"Kaito-sama places great importance on this war, so I'll give everyone half a month more. Once the time is up, launch the attack first!"
As soon as Benimaru finished speaking, everyone in the room rose to their feet. They looked to the portraits of Kaito and Rimuru displayed behind him, expressions serious, and shouted as one:
"Yes! We guarantee to crush the Eastern Empire! *n"