Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 108 - 12 Planning the Final Assault_2

Chapter 108: Chapter 12 Planning the Final Assault_2

"Illusion Sword?" the other Night Watchmen immediately guessed the answer.

They knew nothing of the Star Nine Forms from the East, but another type of Extraordinary Swordsmanship—the Illusion Sword—was renowned to them.

"Exactly, the secret swordsmanship of Ancient Macedonia, the Illusion Sword," Phibes said gravely, "According to historical records, the generals under Alexander the Great and his King’s Friend Knights, who were also his friends and students, thus mastered his Extraordinary Swordsmanship, the Illusion Sword."

"The execution of the Illusion Sword requires the Arcane Power from the Arcane Sequence. Alexander the Great himself had the bloodline ’Meteor Fire Rain,’ and for the King’s Friend Knights to use the Illusion Sword, they needed to draw on external sources to supplement their Arcane Power."

Phibes picked up a piece of shattered arm armor and showed the mithril pattern on the back to everyone: "Relevant evidence is the magic circuit on the armor, drawn with sintered secret silver powder, connected at the end to a Wizard Stone containing the blood of Alexander the Great himself."

"The Wizard Stone provides the energy, and the blood of Alexander the Great alters the energy properties, transforming it into Arcane Power, is that right?" Kolmer said doubtfully, "But I remember that Hannibal of Carthage, who was also famous for the Illusion Sword, belonged to the Undead Sequence and didn’t use any Wizard Stone."

"That’s because Hannibal’s Illusion Sword was his modified version, the Undead Illusion Sword," Phibes explained. "After Alexander the Great conquered the East and died, his Illusion Sword was also taken around the world by his generals."

"Among them, the people of Carthage on the South Continent learned this swordsmanship from the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Later, Hannibal Baka modified this swordsmanship, integrating the nature of the undead into the illusion, making it possible to produce multiple illusions at once without the need for Arcane Power."

"Comparatively, the Undead Illusion Sword is more flexible and suited for one-to-many combat situations; whereas the Illusion Sword itself, even though it produces fewer illusions, has combat capabilities nearly as strong as the original."

"Let’s set aside the matter of the Illusion Sword for now," Ms. Ailuo Wen, the commanding Silver Moon Knight with golden hair, frowned and said, "I am more concerned about why, after a thousand years, King’s Friend Knights under Alexander the Great now appear here in the form of the Black Knight’s undead?"

"That question, I’m afraid, can only be answered by Alexander the Great himself," Phibes shrugged his shoulders.

"I’m not joking with you, Phibes," Ailuo Wen sighed, "Since the King’s Friend Knights have now emerged from the dirt, even if Alexander the Great himself returns from the Netherworld tomorrow, I would not be surprised in the slightest."

"That’s impossible," Kolmer objected, "The current level limit of the Magic Tide is only Level 5, and Alexander the Great was a Level 28 Demigod before he died from poisoning. Even if he returned from the dead today, just summoning a slight amount of Spirituality would drain his power, causing him to die again."

"What if he doesn’t act personally?" Ailuo Wen countered, "Even if he’s just commanding from behind the scenes, with his military command ability comparable to Caesar and Hannibal, he could still cause substantial casualties among us Night Watchmen."

"Yet, this is merely your conjecture," Kolmer reminded her, "There’s no evidence to suggest that Alexander the Great has returned from the Netherworld."

"There was also no prior evidence to suggest that high-level undead like the Black Knights would appear in this mutant event," Ailuo Wen bluntly said. "Had the headquarters not sent a warning, we wouldn’t know how many Knight Followers would have perished in the first exploration. Shouldn’t we always prepare for the worst?"

"What is the worst-case scenario, then?" Kolmer challenged her, "If Alexander the Great is resurrected, there’s no way our Eastern Legion can resolve this mutant event, even if headquarters sends Resting Holy Knights to support us."

"We could request a strike from the Space-based Railgun, using a small nuclear bomb," Ailuo Wen suggested. "A central bombardment, once and for all."

"Space-based nuclear bombs are limited; headquarters won’t waste them here just because it ’might’ be the undead of Alexander the Great," Kolmer sighed.

"Fine, it seems headquarters would rather have us fill this unknown abyss with human lives than use their precious nuclear bombs,_ passing over our heads every day," Ailuo Wen stood up, not hiding the anger on her face.

"We’ve already lost two of our Silver Moon Knights, and there will be more casualties in the coming days. After this mutant event ends, I will smash every fallen knight’s metal plaque, along with the list of casualties, onto the heads of those old men at headquarters!"

She stormed out of the command tent, leaving the others exchanging glances.

"Our Morning Star Knights, our casualty numbers are five times that of theirs," Phibes sighed heavily. "What can we do? Isn’t it the duty of the Night Watchman to eradicate the Undead Spirits? If we don’t delve into this Undead anomaly, who else will?"

"That’s right." Commander Blaise, who hadn’t spoken until then, said, "What does the Razor’s Law say?"

"If not necessary, do not add substance," the two Knight Commanders answered.

This Razor’s Law originally meant "simplicity is better than complexity." In the Night Watchman organization, however, it had taken on two meanings.

Ordinary knights believed it meant to focus on the battle without distractions. Only the higher-ups knew that it really meant "if you can do something with one penny, don’t spend two."

The Night Watchman headquarters also had no surplus provisions!

"Right. We could let The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps scout ahead with us!" Phibes suddenly said. "These unconventional battle organizations, they definitely have better survival tactics in unknown environments than our Night Watch knights!"

It was nonsense to say, because even the slyest mercenary corps couldn’t possibly have military experience richer than that of the formally trained Night Watchmen. There was a clear gap between professional soldiers and amateur mercenaries.

However, the underlying message Phibes didn’t vocalize was: let The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps share the damage by scouting ahead, without us needing to invest or risk anything.

We could just let them take the larger share of the spoils.

"Well, indeed. With the combat skills of Chief Aske, he could easily defeat a Power Armor Knight, and handling a few more should be no problem," Commander Blaise understood his implication and pondered.

"Exactly." Kolmer also caught on immediately, smiling and saying, "In my view, Chief Aske’s true strength is unfathomable. Even if Emperor Alexander himself were present, The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps could still put up a fight."

Isn’t that a bit over the top! The other two were rendered speechless.

If they could go toe-to-toe with Emperor Alexander, The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps would have ascended to the heavens by now, and we Night Watchmen would have started worshipping them as ancestors.

"Cough, let’s leave Alexander aside for now, I think The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps could handle a Demigod Level Undead Spirit," Phibes quickly smoothed things over. "Besides, we Night Watchmen wouldn’t just be bystanders; we would of course provide remote support."

These words "remote support" really struck a chord in Commander Blaise.

Remote meant staying safely behind and firing from a distance, without facing direct attacks from the Undead Spirits.

"Let’s do it this way then!" Blaise declared. "Master Phibes, go and inquire about the intentions of The Azure Longsword, and find out their terms."