Chapter 50 - Ceaseless Campaigns

With no effort an Iron wall appeared out of nowhere. It was set in an angle that bullets ricocheted towards the sides.

Then while they were reloading, their second volley I finally said out.

"Are you guys getting ready to kill your commander ?".

It had shocking results, as in an instant I was not only gunned but nearly bombed down. Oh c'mon give me a break.

"Call Damun out, we have fail safes for such an occasion as well !!!".

The troops were well trained and I could see they were only staying to stall me for the immediate evacuation. I felt so proud, my training regime is actually showing results.

Damun stood behind a barricade of troops and shouted out.

"Please answer a few of my questions!!!".

I was just waiting behind my wall of iron for Damun. I never believed that Envy had ever left the Ishvalan nation and I was pretty sure that he was roaming in my camp. Okay I am not sure but pretty suspicious of one person in particular.

As such I had left fail safes for both our sides, one for Damun and one for my own self. After all being suspicious does not equate to all ready knowing the answer.

At most I had a vague feeling that the Dwarf in the flask had left me as one of the best pieces in this war, at least until his goals are met. I am actually a good fertilizer for him, well until the requirements are met, after which I am quite an obstacle, even for him.

Damun then said "Name the book, Commander and I were studying recently?".

"The Art of War", I quickly replied.

Damun then without any pause continued, "Name the Author ?".

"Sun Tzu", I shouted out.

Now for us who have always lived on Earth, this few details are not really mind boggling, but for these Dimensions beyond our reach. These few details could determine the enemity between us.

Because reading the book and knowing its Author do not contribute to any sort of credibility, there are few more questions to be held accountable for, because the next question is actually the trick to realise who is who and why it is always good to have caution.

Damun then solemnly asked "Where does this author live ?".

Therein lay the trap both of us have set for everyone. Because "He does not exist, at least not in this world".

At once Damun gave out commands to lower the weapons and I had already set down the Iron wall. I swaggered in and why not, its still my base that I had slowly raised.

While I was nearing the barricades Damun then asked me one more question.

"Please answer another question for me. There is no doubt I believe you are my Commander but this is just a bit personal".

If in the most worst possible case, someone had spied on us or got these answers somehow, this trick lay in wait for their miserable souls.

All the troops may look like they had laid down their guard but in actuality they were just repositioning themselves. This trap was set so that at the very least Envy may at least get a few bullets inside his head.

"Why was Commander studying the Art of War with me ?".

It was no secret that I had vast knowledge of Martial Arts, Science, Military Tactics, Engineering, etc. and so on. As such I was a sort of a mentor for all present, from old to young all were studying various sorts of trades with me.

There was one secret though a few trusted subordinates knew. I was grooming Damun as the next Commander, and they also knew another truth.

"Its because I only know the book, I still lack the creativity to actualise many of its content. So Damun you aren't just my student, you are also my teacher".

The most knowledgeable one, which is me among them had said such words, many had expected words that showed the superiority I held in regards to knowledge but never had they expected such humble words.

I mean its a fact I really can't apply many of the things I learned in books at once. Now I may be smarter and have many Overpowered skills but I can't just do what I haven't even imagined to try.

As such the vicinity around me had gone silent with solemnity in the air and yet I was walking forward, with no regards to my surroundings.

"Collateral report Damun".

As if suddenly jolted awake, Damun ordered a few of my men to bring out the reports. Let me be honest, the report was bleak enough to make me feel astonished.

The Valkyries had been completely out of commission. The ones present are the Reserve Force. The only reason I mistook it for the main force was due to quite a few high ranking individuals being present who were fine. Looking through these reports I found that the casualty count was a whopping 24 people.

This may not seem much, but for the already low in number elite groups under me, this was a substantial loss. More so if the report actually says they died of a mysterious illness.

Now my first thought was, is the Dwarf starting to move. To remove all variables from the equation, was he beginning to wipe the board clean or just completely jumble it.

But after visiting the hospital I realized I was overthinking and also why the casualty count was so high. This mysterious illness was just radiation or at least the aftereffects of the Nuclear explosion.

Now I was at the epicenter of the explosion and I should have been the one with the worst effects. But I had already been refining my Gene and even though the refining of my Gene was at a low level, it still gave me a substantial resistance, at the very least it was higher than many a.d.u.l.ts.

Coupled with the cleansing and repairing of my body that I had been doing, I never realised that I was actually ill or at least the effects were non-existent for me since my immediate problem at that time wasn't radiation but death.

So I began healing them and it was fast. Even though it took me five minutes for every patient it was fast, nearly touching rejuvenation for those that lay in bed.

I know speedy recovery was in actuality not a good thing for them but they were already at their peak, or rather I had already squeezed all the potential their bodies could possibly display. Quite a few among them were reaching Hawkeye levels of physical conditioning, the mental conditions are hard to say.

The agony they felt was clearly rescinded a few moments after my touch. I had been storing heat from the Monster Truck since the beginning it began to roar. Otherwise where would I get my Petrol and wouldn't a Truck's parts melt with how long I had been running it.

Damun who had been looking at all this said to me in a sigh "Alchemy is such a powerful force and yet all Ishvalans ever experience its shine is during wartime".

I had already shown my disdain for the Ishvalan community that actually burned down knowledge that could have helped the war. Even if the public was outraged, the least the upper echelon at that time could do was save a few texts or research on it for weaknesses. But they actively partook in such stupidity, I clearly not only felt mad at them but also thought that the losses in this war was well deserved.

Now clearly this was an extreme view from me but the fact that my subjects actually questioned me for this stupidity was blood boiling.

"Power is in the end just that, the potential for good or bad lies in the user, is what many would say. But I feel that the ones who ignore such power, one that can be easily acquired to opt and live in the darkness and fearing it, is not only foolish but infuriating".

Damun then asked "Isn't it understandable that we as a human would be fearful of the unknown".

"Damun what is the greatest quality a human has".

He thought for a while and said "Morality".

"While this is also an answer, I believe its Adaptation. The first man to ever lived must have feared a lot of things, since everything was new for him. Many things were not only dangerous but also fatal for him. But even then he ventured forth and pioneered for us, showed us how irrational our fear was".

"If that man had instead run away from every little thing that he feared instead of trying to understand what makes them dangerous, what would our world be like. We would be running from anything that could hurt us".

"Damun I do not condemn any religion or God, I just don't want them to be the excuse for every ignorant and irrational choice."

Damun then looked towards the setting sun and said "Commander believes in Gods ?".

"Yes I do".

I am one myself, at least beyond this flesh.

Damun then looked nostalgic and said "Commander should then understand that God's are synonymous to the word Hope, for a normal human at the least".

I was also drowning in these melancholic and philosophical thoughts, so I asked him "Damun is God all powerful in your view ?".

As if it was no question at all Damun replied back "A God that isn't All Mighty and Powerful, if that was true then who would seek him out ?".

So I replied back "Are you as powerful as a God ?".

It was a blasphemous thought for the devout Ishvalan, but under my guidance Damun knew where the advantages of a religion lay and where its disadvantages were blatant.

He was solemn, never having thought this line at all. It was the first time a question such as strong as this was laid in front of him.

His thoughts in a jumble he replied "No I am not !!!".

Then I continued "Then you do not know how a God would think. Before coming to Ishval, I read something that shaked my view on religion entirely, the note said".

"For mortals to try and understand a being as powerful as God is not only dumb but also something only an insane person would say was possible, for clearly a mortal can never be as powerful as a God, so how can he profess what, why and how a God thinks".

Damun was visibly shocked and he hesitated before asking "So does that mean we have been longing for someone who might never even glance at us ?".

"Who knows, though from my point of view, praying to God hoping for riches is just Gold digging. Praying to god in hopes for an answer is clearly a one sided questionnaire. Even after all this cursing at God is like throwing your responsibilities on someone you don't even know. All in all God, under mortal minds has become the greatest excuse they could ever use to justify nearly anything".

Damun was shaking his head, this was clearly a Philosophical thought that was too high level for him. At the moment learning all he can is better and good than vying for something beyond.

"Don't break yourself on something that is beyond you. For now train a new batch and stop all those decoys, bring them back in".

Damun clearly hesitated at this point, even though the decoys were only delaying the inevitable, they were still buying ample time for us.

"I have my plans, we have time, the ones that actually lack time is not us but our enemies!".

"To say this means..." Damun looked excited.

"Yes, by next month I want the Valkyries to double and the Imperials to at least triple".

Eyes wide Damun could only look at me and mouth a grin, waiting for my orders.

"We are going to capture a fortress. The one at the westmost corner of this entire war. So to say, by the next Two months I intend for our group to have an actual base of conduct".

"Notify everyone, we have already gone and killed an Alchemist. Whats a measly fortress compared to it".

Damun immediately convened the meeting and at once began preparations. Though the entirety of the camp was shocked, they knew without confidence I would not issue such suicidal orders.

During the meeting I also pointed out one error that has remained in Ishvalans since generations 'How to counter Alchemy ?'.

As such there was proposal for reverse engineering and studying Alchemy, which was quite gladly accepted by all present. No one wanted another Nuclear bomb at their doorstep, at least all present clearly understood the amount of danger that thing was.

Even the reserve force which had been twenty five km away at that time clearly felt the earth shake and wind breeze rush towards them. Clearly that was a weapon bordering on power that was beyond mortals, it was near godly.

In such a way one and a half months passed by.