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Chapter 597.2: The Witch’s Secret (2)

Battle of Scorched Earth.

This was the large-scale military operation planned by the united army just half a year after the devastating Battle of Stanlos. The term, ‘Scorched Earth’, was derived from the location of the battle, Hawe Desert.

Hawe Desert was a barren land overlooked by both parties for many years, and it only came to the limelight due to this military operation.

Many of the Austine Empire’s military commanders found this military operation abrupt and perplexing.

Based on the reports from the united army’s intelligence department, this military operation started out as a small-scale military maneuver organized by the Saint Mesit Theocracy, but their scouts unexpectedly discovered the trails of the Deviant Sovereign, which resulted in it being escalated into an assault mission.

The Rosa Merchant Confederacy, Knight Kingdom Pendor, and Country of Scholars Brolne had chosen to participate in this battle, thinking that they would stand a better chance in bringing the Deviant Sovereign down by launching an assault before he could gather his forces around him.

The Austine Empire received the news much later, so they could only take the sidelines in the battle.

Speed was of utmost importance in warfare. All veteran military commanders understood that.

The united army was massive, and communication was often interrupted due to the deviants’ interference. It was common for allies to fail to inform one another about their respective battles, so the Austine Empire’s military commanders didn’t think too much about their late intelligence.

The united army’s highest command center had issued a mobilization order to the Austine Empire’s armies. The highest command center was a committee comprising humankind’s Origin Level 1 transcendents. They held absolute authority in the eastern border, such that their orders had to be prioritized even over the Austine Empire’s imperial authority.

Compelled by the mobilization order and their deep-seated hatred of the deviants, the Austine Empire’s armies were quickly deployed. The more hawkish military commanders jumped at this opportunity to launch attacks, whereas the more conservative ones let out a sigh before putting all their efforts into making preparations for war.

All of them understood what it meant for another major battle to occur between humankind and the deviants at this juncture. The soldiers felt both worried and expectant. They hoped that they could wash away the threat of extinction looming over humankind’s head since last year.

All of the Austine Empire’s frontline personnel, be it commanders or soldiers, busied themselves with preparations for the upcoming assault.

In a dark room, a cold-faced man sat at the end of a long table and quietly browsed through the emergency reports coming from the united army’s headquarters and other countries. Opposite him sat a man with a blurred face.

“Seems like they have started suspecting you. What do you intend to do?” the Collector said in a gloating tone.

For such an important battle, Lukas, despite being the emperor of the Austine Empire, actually caught wind of the news at the same time as his soldiers. Such a situation had never happened before. Naturally, the Collector understood the significance behind that.

The Collector picked up his teacup and leisurely awaited Lukas’ answer. He wanted to see the seemingly emotionless emperor losing his composure, but things didn’t go as he wished.

Lukas was unfazed by the Collector’s taunt.

In truth, he had known about the united army’s suspicions and their secret investigation into him, but he didn’t pay them any heed. He calmly looked at the Collector and replied, “I am only being suspected because of the mess you caused.”

“I can’t deny that… but we did get something out of it too. Don’t you agree?”

“…He isn’t dead yet. He has reinforcements coming.”

Having gathered the information he had received from the reports from the Savior’s worshipers, Lukas could already guess the true motive behind the ‘Battle of Scorched Earth’.

Hearing that, the Collector fell silent. None of the Savior’s worshipers had expected Roel’s encirclement to blow up into the Battle of Scorched Earth. After all, the Ascarts’ awakeners had never been so highly regarded before.

Be it Winstor Ascart from seven hundred years ago or Ro Ascart from three hundred years ago, while their disappearances had caused a huge stir, the actual repercussions were still limited in scale. In fact, they were mostly limited to just the Saint Mesit Theocracy.

It was completely different for Roel Ascart this time around.

Upon learning that Roel was trapped in the deviants’ territory, half of humankind’s major powers swiftly made the decision to deploy all of the available forces they had to save him. This was far beyond the scale of what the Savior’s worshipers hidden amidst humankind could deal with.

After all, they weren’t in the Second Epoch anymore, when the Ancient Austine Empire was the sole dominant power in the world.

On top of that, Roel and Antonio’s combined efforts in suppressing the Fallens had greatly undermined their ability to interfere with the human world. This made their partnership with Emperor Lukas ever more important.

Emperor Lukas was neither an evil cultist nor the Collector’s subordinate. The two of them had simply struck an agreement to use each other to achieve their respective goals. Till one of them lost their value to the other, it was necessary for them to maintain this relationship.

Thus, the Collector reined himself in upon sensing Lukas’ dissatisfaction.

“He may still be alive, but it’s only a matter of time. No one can single-handedly oppose an entire race, not even that clan.”

“But he isn’t alone,” Lukas voiced his doubt.

“Are you talking about humankind’s reinforcements? Hah. You wouldn’t be so worried if you knew what Banjol, the Deviant Sovereign, is capable of,” the Collector replied with a smile. “The lockdown on your intelligence might have placed us in a disadvantageous position, but it won’t faze that ancient Sovereign at all. The deviants are stronger than ever.”

“The deviants growing stronger reaps no merit for me. You should step forward and properly resolve the mess you caused.”

“It’s also my wish to resolve this problem once and for all, but Banjol has fully awakened from his slumber. He isn’t my puppet; I can’t freely enter his territory. Even so, everything is as good as settled.”

“…I hope those aren’t empty words,” Lukas replied after a prolonged silence.

He stood up and looked at the Collector one last time before leaving the room.