Inside the empire's command center, Emperor Renardier and Ulrich refined the details of their second night's operation with the participating war leaders.
"The kingdom realized our plan too quickly. As a result, tonight's operation could only be considered half successful. We need a new strategy for tomorrow's operation. The straw dummies were too simple; the kingdom won't take them seriously," Emperor Renardier stated before asking, "Do you have any good idea, Marquis Salazar?"
"Since the kingdom didn't burn our rafts, we should continue sending more rafts for tomorrow's day and night operations," Ulrich said after some thought.
"The logs are expendable, and the rafts are easy to make. So we can afford to waste them as much as we please. And if we use steel wood and coat them with green slime, they'll be almost impossible to burn."
"Once we fill the three water regions with enough of these slime-coated wooden rafts, our troops will be able to use them as springboards to reach the forts quickly; it'll practically be the same as running on water."
"That is indeed a good idea, but the chance of that succeeding is quite low. It'll take at least two weeks to fill the river with enough rafts before they become viable as springboards. The kingdom will surely catch wind of our plan before we see its fruition," Emperor Renardier frowned.
"I'm aware, Your Imperial Majesty," Ulrich admitted.
"However, it doesn't hurt to keep the option open in case the kingdom overlooks it. That said, our siege weapons will still play the most important role in crossing the river and breaching the forts' defenses."
"Still, if today's experience has taught us anything, it's that our army is ill-equipped to fight over water terrain. We are severely lacking in range weapons. If we want to apply constant pressure on the kingdom and wear them out, we definitely need more range weapons," Ulrich stated.
Emperor Renardier and the war leaders fully agreed with Ulrich on that point.
Their war with the Kingdom of Black Rose differed from previous wars. If they wanted to fight an army of witches with minimal disadvantages, they needed to adapt. The wizards weren't enough.
Fortunately, they had access to knowledge of powerful siege and ranged weapons and the resources to build them quickly.
…
That night, Emperor Renardier and the attending leaders felt satisfied by the end of their meeting. They retired to their tents to rest with great anticipation for tomorrow's plan.
That night's operation was only a test; tomorrow's plan would be the real deal, where they would produce actual results.
As such, everyone went to bed feeling good about tomorrow.
…
Meanwhile, in the sick bay, Duke Chalfont stayed up with his fellow injured soldiers.
Although they were out of critical condition, they weren't fully healed. It was a problem all aura users faced. The more powerful their bodies were, the more potent healing potions and spells were required to heal them.
As such, their bodies were still in pain from the explosions. And because of the pain, they couldn't fall asleep.
"I must say, Your Grace. You are the most fortunate one out of everyone hit by the explosions. You were the closest to the first explosion, yet you only got away with your limbs getting blown. They even found your limbs and reattached them for you," an armless soldier mentioned.
"On the other hand, some of our other brothers were reduced to nothing despite being further away. That doesn't seem very fair, does it? Perhaps, the heavens wanted you to live so you could take revenge for us all."
At first, Duke Chalfont thought the soldier was complaining. But later, he realized the soldier was just trying to cheer him up.
"Hahaha…" Duke Chalfont lightly laughed.
"It's nothing like it. I just have a much sturdier body than everyone else, thanks to my unique aura cultivation method. It's also thanks to my unique aura cultivation method that I managed to survive many battles and contribute a lot to the empire."
"No matter how unique your aura cultivation method, aren't you still a Late-stage Aura Lord, Your Grace? How can there be such a huge difference?" another injured soldier asked with doubt.
"That's because my aura possesses the earth attribute," Duke Chalfont explained.
"As you know, aura is created when you fuse blood and mana. However, there is more than just pure mana; they also possess attributes. And depending on which attribute mana you specifically fuse with your blood, your aura can also have special traits."
"If you're interested, I can teach you all my unique aura cultivation method," Duke Chalfont said generously.
Since he lost his only child, he considered looking for successors to learn his unique aura cultivation method so it doesn't die with him.
"If you are willing to teach, we are willing to learn, Your Grace!"
Without a surprise, all the injured soldiers voiced their eagerness to learn after hearing the offer. They would be foolish to turn down the opportunity to learn a superior aura cultivation method.
"Alright, why don't I start teaching right away since we can't sleep anyway. Who knows? Maybe if you achieve great progress, you could also become war heroes during this war, let alone increase your chances of survival…"
While speaking, Duke Chalfont suddenly paused with a frown, picking up a strange whistling sound that became increasingly clear.
"Do you all hear that…"
Ka-boom!!!
Before anyone in the sick bay could begin to guess the source of the whistling sound, a brilliant white flash swallowed everything with its terrifying heat and claimed everyone's lives.
Even a couple thousands of soldiers staying in the surrounding tents were also caught in the massive explosion and lost their lives.
At the same time, the thunderous roar akin to heaven's wrath resounded far and wide, waking up everyone within the central camp.
"E-Enemy attack…!"
Countless soldiers cried with shock and alarm as the fire from the explosion soon spread to other parts of the camp.
The magic bomb dropped down on the empire's camp when they least expected it. And once it happened once, everyone became restless, not knowing when the next magic bomb would drop on their heads.
pαпdα`noνɐ1`сoМ Just like that, many people from the empire kissed their good night's sleep goodbye.
The empire wasn't the one capable of launching a night attack.
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