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Chapter 184

Gandula’s territory stretches from Bern Village to the northeast, between Bern and the Ente Forest, and they have been at war with a large army force to the north led by General Genbu, one of the four Divine Generals who are the pride of Todorokuni.

By the time Dran unknowingly caught Merle’s attention, both armies were facing each other and fighting in Panara Plains, which lies between Gandula’s territory and the Gansa River near its border.

At this time, compared to Gandula’s military force of 160,000 soldiers, Todorokuni had 280,000 troops in the Panara Plains.

The two armies were facing each other with a difference in numbers and strength by over 100,000 soldiers, but they were relentlessly exchanging highly deadly attack magic, making practical use of guns, and they were exchanging artillery gun fire.

With steel armor that has been reinforced with magic, and their physical abilities also strengthened and amplified by magic, less than an hour has passed since the battle began, but there were already countless corpses piling up.

In the sky, the Gandula soldiers were riding in war chariots pulled by celestial horses, and they were throwing spears, magic attacks, and steel arrows made for aerial combat, while Todorokuni’s flying cavalry that consisted of cryptids and beasts with the ability to fly, were in fighting formation, with the flying battleships supporting them from behind.

For the ones from Todorokuni’s side left on the ground in the terrain of the Panara Fields, it was hard for them to see what was going on, but the Gandula forces were already in place in the many bushes, trenches, sloping inclines, and along the steep cliffs.

The defensive walls around the Gandula’s side which they had been building for a while, were now surrounded, making the scene look more like a siege than a battlefield.

According to Gandula’s preparations, the ground around their camp was heavily muddied due to magic, and the Todorokuni infantry and cavalry were caught by it, stealing away their mobility.

The Gandula forces, with the advantage of having the high ground, unleashed bullets and magic arrows, raining it down on those Todorokuni soldiers mercilessly, and a considerable amount of soldiers lost their lives.

Although Gandula had the geographical advantage, and has proceeded to gain the upper hand in this war, they couldn’t afford to be careless or get too relieved yet. Todorokuni, with their vast military forces and economic power, has plenty of equipment, and they have invested in many types of advanced weapons supported by their technological strengths.

The Todorokuni battleships flying in the air surpassed Gandula in terms of both the quality of the cannons built into them, and their large size and the speed. In terms of the number of troops they could carry, and the number of flying cavalry that they could deploy, they were easily far superior to Gandula.

If the tide of the battle shifts in Todorokuni’s favor, it’s only natural that they, who are in the perfect situation to receive air support, could quickly gain the advantage.

The only reason why the aerial battle has been in Gandula’s favor since the fighting broke out, is because Prince Vashana of Gandula is participating in the battle.

Vashana was wearing the Anirajana, a silvery blue armor that holds the power of lightning and storms, a secret sacred weapon that was passed down to Gandula from the sky gods. With a silver bow in his hand that was just as blue as his armor, he could fly freely through the sky and destroy the soldiers of Todorokuni one by one.

Vashana’s entire body has a beauty that embodies such harmonious proportions, it can only be thought that every part of him was created with delicate care by the gods. The young prince’s body and muscles had a rigidity that only the most excellent of warriors could achieve.

Even though Vashana was the first to fly up in the air and immediately got targeted by the most number of Todorokuni soldiers, there was not a trace of panic or fear showing in his dark brown skin, his neatly parted red hair, and his dark eyes that looked like polished black jewels.

Vashana felt the unchanging sensation of the silvery blue armor, Anirajana, and of the longbow, Gunstrom, and then he could update the order of priority for which enemies to kill in an instant, allowing him to continue to mercilessly and accurately kill his enemies one by one.

His fingers, covered by the armor, pulled on the pale bluish white lightning bowstring of the Gunstrom, making the blessings of the sky god residing in his armor and longbow turn into a swirling storm with arrows of lightning, and they were released toward his targets.

The flying cavalry from Todorokuni naturally possessed higher magical power compared to soldiers of other countries, and with the defensive techniques applied to their equipment, they had much higher defensive performance than most other soldiers, but even they were helpless in the face of Vashana’s powerful divine arrows.

Vashana didn’t even stop to check if the arrows he released were reaching their targets, he was already aiming for the next enemy the moment the arrows left the bowstring.

Leaving the command of Gandula to the other generals deployed on the ground or in the air, Vashana flew through the air like he was the wind itself, dodging arrows, magic, and bullets from all directions.

He completely understood that there were thousands of attacks coming his way, but he was able to see through them, allowing his unshakeable spirit to take control of his body, letting him perform evasive moves, as if he was dancing elegantly.

But Vashana’s goal wasn’t to cut down the flying cavalry one by one. He was aiming for the heart of Todorokuni’s air fleet, to disrupt the chain of command and prevent the battleships from providing air support.

As he flew around with the sharpness of a lightning flash and the freedom of the wind, those two functions revolved around him, and Todorokuni knew immediately that Vashana’s goal was to defeat the aircraft carriers and the aerial battleships.

Those aircraft carriers and battleships he was targeting were also lined with mages and gun wielding soldiers on the decks of the almost 200 meter long ships. They began to shoot at the enemy approaching them with a bluish silver glow.

Vashana’s vision was filled with the sight of the dense, anti-aircraft flames that he couldn’t find a way out of.

Anyone who saw this scene would think that Vashana would jump into the flames himself, like a winged insect jumping into a fire in the summer.

With the defensive power of the Anirajana, Vashana would not be harmed, even if he chose to mindlessly jump into the rain of fire, but he didn’t like the idea of soot getting on the sacred weapon passed down through his royal family.

「O great Indurshach in the sky, please watch over my battle. Hear me, soldiers of Gandura, and look! I, Vashana, as an agent of the god’s divine will, shall deliver divine punishment to the savage tribe to the east who wish to harm our land, our country, our beloved people, and our families! 」

The sound of Vashana’s clear declaration inspired the Gandura below, and their already high energy and morale rose sky high.

For the soldiers of Gandura, Vashana, who had awakened the divine weapons which had not been wielded in so long, was the literal embodiment of divine will. He was a superhuman that should be called a living god.

With the sharpness of a vird of prey, and eyes like an icey sea, Vashana pulled the lightning bow strings of Gunstrom as far back as he could, and blue lightning and wind began to flow around the bow.

Todorokuni’s air fleet sensed the immense power being released from Vashana, originating from the sky gods, and their flying cavalry were forced to rush back to their ships or quickly distance themselves from the area.

Every warship is already equipped with enough magic power to maximize its attack and defensive barriers, and they worked hard to increase the strength of those barriers in preparation.

「Lightning that burns the heavens and the earth, wild storms that stir the world, and the divine will that resides in my arrowheads will decide your death. This is divine punishment, Ganshal Slagma!」

When Vashana’s fingers let go of the lightning bowstring, the attack that was released from the Gunstrom was like a natural disaster, and it turns out Vashana’s words just now hadn’t been an exaggeration.

Although the area of effect was limited, thousands of lightning bolts and a huge storm swallowed up the entire Todorokuni fleet, including three aircraft carriers and five battleships, and Vashana’s techniques turned them into original forms: scrap metal, pieces of wood, or bits of flesh.

The storm and lightning produced in the aftermath rained down on the Todorokuni soldiers on the ground, and the tides of battle tilted in Gandura’s favor, and it would be difficult to reverse it.

But since Vashana had used the maximum output and techniques of the divine weapon, his mental strength and physical strength had been greatly exhausted. But he could see the skies, which had been clear just earlier, were now swirling with black clouds and countless lightning bolts, and as he exposed his body to the storm, he was able to make up for the lost stamina.

He felt a sense of superiority he felt from the overwhelming power of being able to control even natural phenomena, and the sense of relief that he could greatly reduce the casualties of his own soldiers, but also a great guilt for slaughtering a tremendous number of soldiers, even if they were his enemies.

It all mixed together into a complex mixture in his mind, but it was blown away by the thunderous and stormy wind, which was very refreshing.

Even if he became entranced in battle, Vashana’s mind and body never relaxed even once.

In the far rear of Todorokuni’s air fleet, most of which had disappeared without a trace, except for the few flying cavalry that had managed to escape, Vashana could sharply sense a powerful presence, which he should not underestimate, even with his divine weapons.

「So you’re here, Genbu. The other sinful and evil Four Generals are with you? Well, either way, you’ll all fall prey to my bow」

With arrogant confidence, Vashana’s black eyes rose toward the heavens above, watching the multiple black specks approaching him.

This would later be called the opening act to the worst era of all wars, a war where countless superhumans and beast people who have transcended human knowledge participated in battle.