Chapter 234: Correction
"Why on earth!" said a Human male while staring down at the table. "That navy that smells like fish is making significant progress, while we can't even put that tiny piece of land into our hands!"
He was Aidan Roden, the supreme commander of the Ronante army.
Although their homeland was called the Ronante-Oroban Alliance, the army command boldly declared themselves descendants of Ronante.
No one in the command was responding to this man dressed in a gray-brown uniform, and it was understandable.
According to the intelligence agents and reconnaissance troops, the number of garrison troops at Hareun base was just about at the regiment level. Their equipment was even worse. They had a decent amount of mortars and howitzers, but not a single tank or armored infantry.
On the other hand, the Ronante army division was a fully equipped, complete unit. It was a unit hastily gathered with the intention of destroying the Empire’s base before they could prepare, but they could not operate with a large number of troops due to Hareun being a small city. Regardless, the result was a crushing defeat.
Even before this, the Oroban navy and the Emperor's family had been treating the Ronante army quite disdainfully. The Ronante-Oroban Alliance was unable to conquer other countries on the first continent primarily because the Empire and the Union Kingdom, the two other major nations, were at war at the time. The two nations were fighting across three continents, involving other nations on the first continent as well, causing the Ronante-Oroban Alliance to be tossed around and merely biding their time, unable to find the right moment to conquer the continent.
Unlike the Oroban navy, which could blame the two countries for invading and occupying various seas, the Ronante army appeared to be dragging their feet. The Oroban navy even used political machinations, criticizing the Ronante army and utilizing the royal family, which nominally held the highest authority, but still, the Ronante army was unable to move. There were quite a few countries that provided support from behind the scenes, ensuring that the Ronante army could not proceed with the continental conquest, whether it was for the Empire or the Union Kingdom.
Numerically, the Ronante army could overwhelm them, but with the introduction of airships, hot-air balloons, tanks, and armored infantry into warfare, the exchange rate of weapons was not favorable. While an attack wasn’t impossible, if the Ronante army achieved victory with poor exchange rates, they would still feel uneasy as long as the Oroban navy maintained its military strength.
The Ronante-Oroban Alliance was maintained by the balance between the army and the navy, and this power struggle was also a fight between two players seeking to take the lead in a single country.
The Ronante army would question the Oroban navy why they didn’t seize the coastline first, to which the navy would retort that it was because the army didn’t capture the port first, and this pattern would repeat. If the Ronante army managed to capture a target, somewhat forcefully, the navy would leisurely sail in, using supplies as bait to demand a share of the harvests of victory.
As this cycle continued, there was no longer any meaning for Ronante to advance, and just as signs of civil war were emerging, a fight broke out with the Union Kingdom, leading to a dramatic reconciliation. Of course, the army and navy held longstanding grudges against each other.
In the midst of this, when it seemed that the Empire was going to take control, the two players of the Ronante-Oroban Alliance hurriedly formed an alliance with Hegemonia.
The first thing that the Ronante navy did was to dominate the ocean between their alliance and the Empire. Due to the Empire's passive approach on that front, the navy was able to achieve consecutive victories and successfully constructed a supply base at the Saijin Archipelago, a major strategic point.
However, there were problems. One issue was the remaining forces of the Empire stationed on the Saijin Archipelago. Although they gave up on confronting the naval forces within artillery range, they hid in the dense forests on the archipelago and attacked the navy’s supply base using guerrilla tactics. Even when naval forces were gathered and deployed for a counterattack, they often failed to locate the enemy or suffered losses against small groups of the Empire’s troops. As the navy started to exhaust their ground forces for operations on land, the Oroban navy eventually decided to abandon their suppression operation and intended to pass the responsibility onto the Ronante army.
That, however, came with another problem. In the case of the first continent, while the northeast was under the control of the Ronante-Oroban Alliance, the majority of the southwest was a mix of various kingdoms. This meant that they could not head straight to the third continent from the western coast. To establish supply lines, they had to choose between the north and south routes, but as the Union Kingdom preemptively claimed the southern route due to its proximity to the fourth continent and other reasons, the Alliance's supply line was limited to the north. And at the northern tip of this route was the Hareun base.
From the perspective of the Oroban navy, they hoped that the Ronante army would quickly capture the Hareun base, establish a transportation route, connect the supply lines, and then clear out the remaining Empire forces on the Saijin Archipelago. However, as they failed to capture Hareun quickly, rumors started to circulate within the navy.
"Are these guys dragging their feet on purpose?"
There were other supply routes that existed, but the supply lines were so long that resources were depleted during transit, and they were occasionally attacked by the Empire’s naval vessels that appeared out of nowhere, adding to the uncertainty and instability.
As the Ronante army’s capture of the Hareun base slowed down, the Oroban navy's main forces at the Saijin Archipelago were gradually becoming worn out. From the perspective of the Oroban navy, in addition to continuing their string of victories, they could have thought that the Ronante army was taking their time on purpose, as a form of revenge for past grievances.
However, from the perspective of the Ronante army, there was no proper channel for them to clarify their situation. Both groups officially served the Emperor of the Alliance and reported to him, but other than that, they typically understood each other's intentions through spies planted in each other’s groups, bribery, and intelligence activities.
Sung-Woon realized that something was going wrong with the Ronante-Oroban Alliance, starting from its name.
"A two-member alliance is difficult," he said during a meeting to discuss how to respond to the Ronante-Oroban Alliance.
Wisdom asked, "Even if it's a true alliance in every sense?"
"Yes. Perhaps that’s even more problematic.”
"Why do you think so?"
Sung-Woon replied, "First of all, it’s funny that they’ve simply combined the names of Ronante and Oroban after merging. It means neither side has managed to take the lead. Conversely, it also means that they will have to continue fighting for dominance in the future."
"Indeed."
"If it's not an alliance supported by the system, but just a verbal one, it would be over as soon as someone betrays the other or breaks the alliance first. However, they are not even capable of doing that."
Wisdom said, "Now that I think about it, it's definitely true. But why has it become like that?"
"They got scared and hesitated. They were standing in front of a fight over who would dominate the continent, but they couldn't go beyond that. Usually, taking the offense is considered disadvantageous, so they just kept building up their barriers against each other. However, they then realized that we and Hegemonia had taken control of our respective continent. They were afraid that the expected tripartite structure would turn into a bipartite one before it could even form, so they hurriedly formed an alliance."
In simple terms, they lacked skill.
Sung-Woon said, "Those guys should not be too complicated to deal with. However..."
"Is there another problem?"
"No, never mind." Sung-Woon stayed silent for a moment and then said, "Anyway, the method is simple."
"What are you planning to do?"
"I'm going to sow discord between them."
Wisdom then said with a tone of uncertainty, "I think it's the right decision...but in this situation, if we propose an alliance or show any kind of favor, they will naturally become suspicious. And that suspicion will feel like an external threat, potentially making their relationship even stronger. Isn't it risky?"
Sung-Woon replied, "It doesn't necessarily have to be done that way."
The method Sung-Woon had thought of for a long time while observing the Ronante-Oroban Alliance was a simple one.
"We just have to beat one of them."
And Sung-Woon did just that. He decided to fake a defeat against the Oroban navy while continuously achieving victory against the Ronante army. Of course, achieving real victories was not as easy as faking defeats, but the two gods of the Ronante-Oroban Alliance were too worried about their apostles getting hurt and couldn't fully deploy them, meanwhile, the Pantheon was able to confidently deploy theirs.
'Male Chicken and Vladimir, those two must be the type to save their potions until they are almost dead in an RPG game.'
Dordol and Keiju secretly went into the Hareun base and led the troops to victory. More than just strategy and strength, both apostles were war heroes like Obin, possessing skills to maximize the morale and abilities of their soldiers.
On the other hand, the Ronante army, constantly second-guessing if this was some kind of trap, kept losing battle after battle. They couldn't advance but were instead retreating.
Upon realizing this fact, Vladimir, who controlled the Oroban navy, had no choice but to express their anger at Male Chicken, who controlled the Ronante army.
"Look at this, it doesn’t make any sense. What are you doing?"
Male Chicken had his own complaints as well.
“What are you doing yourself? If the alliance is struggling, shouldn't you divert troops and provide support?”
"Don't talk nonsense. It's just a tiny port town, isn't it? Does it make sense that even with all the army forces deployed, you can't occupy it? To begin with, where have you placed your apostles on the battlefield? Are you keeping them to make soup later?"
"Whole army forces, you say! The inland soldiers are spread out, blocking the revolutionary army. Even when your navy was leisurely spending time on the sea, it was my army that was doing the work."
"That's not true. The reason we are maintaining the situation somewhat is because my navy has blockaded the sea."
"I can say the same thing. How about I pull out all the inland troops right now? Starting from the old Oroban region, it would be interesting to see."
A round of argument somehow came to a calm. However, after the quarrel, cold suspicion took the place of anger in Vladimir's mind.
‘Pull back my naval forces? And give up the territory while doing so? Is this guy possibly...on the side of the Empire?’
Vladimir thought that while it would require some tricky methods, it was a possible scenario if Male Chicken had enough trust in the players of the Empire and the Pantheon. Such suspicion was also conveyed to the priests in their territory, exacerbating the conflict between the Oroban navy and the Ronante army.
In this situation, Hegemonia was the most distressed. Hegemonia was planning to attack the eastern coast of the third continent simultaneously with the Ronante-Orroban Alliance, but the Alliance had not sent a signal even after the preparations of the Union Kingdom were completed.
First, Hegemonia requested a Whisper Conversation with Vladimir.
"What the hell are you guys doing?"
Taken aback by the harsh greeting, Vladimir hesitated before answering, "Is that you, Hegemonia? Actually, there were circumstances."
After hearing Vladimir’s explanation and accumulating doubts about Male Chicken, Hegemonia nodded.
"...Ah, I see. So that's how it is." Deciding on something, Hegemonia said, "I want to help you."
"Really? But we are still fighting the Empire in other places, and we also have to prepare the expeditionary force."
"I am busy, but I just can’t stand by and watch." Hegemonia continued, "Are all your apostles in the capital now?"
"That’s right. They are protecting the Emperor."
"I will send my apostle to you. They will explain what's going on."
"Why not explain yourself now?"
Hegemonia furrowed her eyebrows as if she was bored. "As I said, I am busy."
Vladimir awkwardly nodded.
"Oh, okay I'll also inform Male Chicken."
After enough time had passed for someone to travel from the territory of the Union Kingdom to the capital of the Ronante-Oroban Alliance, Hegemonia’s apostle appeared. But there was not just one of them.
"...Three?"
Male Chicken muttered, "Did all of them have to come just to talk?”
"It seems they are allied forces. With three apostles from Hegemonia, of course we could win,"
Leading the way was Salkait, the first apostle of Hegemonia. The experienced Gnoll walked straight into the emperor's palace as if it was their own home. Following Salkait were two other apostles, Bounda the Goblin, ranked sixth, and Aruega Rob, a Werewolf and the seventh apostle. Bounda, known as the Destroyer, possessed a somewhat unique rationale, while Aruega Rob was a descendant of the Evil God that had appeared on the first continent.
The emperor, having already heard the news, sat on his throne high above, looking down at Salkait. He welcomed Salcait with open arms.
"Welcome..."
However, he couldn't finish his sentence. Salkait had picked up a pebble from somewhere and threw it at the emperor's head.
Thump!
The emperor, whose face was now unrecognizable, fell from the throne and rolled down the stairs, eventually collapsing at Salkait’s feet.
While Male Chicken's mouth hung open in shock, Vladimir quickly contacted Hegemonia.
“What are you doing! Hegemonia!”
While Vladmir asked that question, the three apostles of Hegemonia began to indiscriminately kill the people inside the palace.
“What am I doing? I'm correcting a mistake.”
The apostles of Male Chicken and Vladimir, who were originally supposed to protect the emperor, stepped forward to face Hegemonia’s apostles. Each of the players had two apostles. Male Chicken had won over two divine beasts as his apostles, while Vladimir had made their own creations as apostles.
Both Male Chicken and Vladimir had no doubt that their apostles, which they dearly cared for, were strong. However, Hegemonia seemed uninterested in their apostles.
"I thought you two might be of some...use. So, I waited, thinking no news is good news. But seeing you dilly-dallying, making excuses, and doing nothing, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Nebula hasn’t even made a proper move yet, and I can already see the future unfolding. You quarrel amongst yourselves, holding me back, while I become indecisive, and then, absurdly, I get struck down by Nebula. That's…"
Hegemonia paused for a moment, then continued, "...not the ending I want."
Hegemonia glared at the two players.
"Instead, you’d be better off as my XP points."
As soon as Hegemonia finished speaking, Salkait swung their hammer onto the palace floor.
***
A few hours later, above the ruins of what was once the capital of the Ronante-Oroban Alliance, Hegemonia looked at the World Message in front of her.
[Player 'Hegemonia' has earned the right to challenge Large Area: Land.]
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