Chapter 211: Starting the massacre

"Okay, we will go after the local commanders first, then move our operations to the heartlands of the North."

From the moment when I came with my request to the Longinus group to the moment when the entire team along with the Prince I met back when I first appeared in this world and Teria sat down to discuss the strategy… Maybe half an hour passed. Yet, as if it was your other monster subjugation question, Longinus or his group didn't protest.

"I think we should start with those located in the outermost part of the battlefield." Pointing my finger at a specific location marked on a makeshift map that Hubriel provided, I raised my head and looked at the faces of everyone gathered. "If we start spreading death from the innermost part, the news will travel up the command chain. In other words, before we will be done, some of our targets might try to flee."

"That's… But what if the local lords that are leading their own troops would catch the wind of our intended massacre at their headquarters?" Longinus asked while looking me in the eyes. "I know that it's better to just get rid of the absolute top-brass… But if the small lords will survive, the source of the problems won't disappear. There won't be any peace for as long as any of the big lords exist."

His protest actually made sense. While getting rid of everyone who was at the top was the most crucial part of the task, as long as even a single lord of the current regime would remain, he would become a beacon to all kinds of rebels and traitors who wouldn't accept their new ruler.

But Longinus' worry was actually unnecessary. Because he didn't know about something I knew.

"There is no need to worry about the smaller targets. You said they are leading their troops personally, right?" Moving my sight back on the map, I took a moment to digest the situation.

"Yeah. It's plain to see for anyone that this entire army consists mostly of conscripts, with its core centered around foreign mercenaries. While mercenaries will fight for as long as their side will be winning… Well, I don't want to discount the courage of some of those former serfs…" Noticing Longinus' struggle, I simply waved my hand at him. 

"I understand. But there is no need to worry about that part." I moved my finger away from the headquarters in the plains behind the mountainous region to the valley we were currently in, "the bulk of their forces already entered the valley. From the east, an army of the winged tribes is coming. Once the rout well being, we can just pick the officers off at the destroyed passes they will use to flee."

My finger moved at the three crossed circles marking the position of the fortresses of the winged tribe.

"I know that we could just destroy the passes that already fell and trap the main part of their army in the valley…" I shook my head before explaining the reason why my face turned sour as I said that, "but that would mean, those trapped in the valley, would have no place to escape to. That would make for some unnecessary casualties… Both on the winged and wingless tribes sides."

That was the main reason why I didn't want to block the path for the wingless tribe forces. Without a path to retreat, they would be forced to fight to the last man. With just a little bit of management, the officers of the northern federation could constantly rally their troops by making them realize that they had no other choice but to cut themselves a path forward to survive.

And I didn't want to see this kind of mindless slaughter, especially if it wouldn't influence the outcome of the ongoing war at all.

"I understand. I think we can go with this plan." Longinus said while slapping his hand against the desk where the map was laid out. "Any objections?" he asked before scanning the entire tent for any volunteers.

"Great. Since there is no one objecting, let's not waste any time." Rather than letting Longinus take the lead of the entire situation, I assumed this duty myself. Moving away from the table, I checked whether all my pieces of equipment were properly strapped to my outfit before moving out of the tent.

This entire meeting took place in one of the four fortresses that the winged tribe still held. With Teria's appearance, all the chances of breaking even a single fortress suddenly turned nigh for the northern armies, forcing their commanders to be satisfied with just the three passes they managed to control.

"Everyone ready?" Teria asked as soon as she stepped out of the tent. In her hand, there were four short ropes, each of which one of the Longinus team wrapped around their waist. Three more resided in my own hand, strapping Longinus himself, Hubriel, and one of the male mages that I never got to know a name of.

"Yeah!" A wave of enthusiasm shook the group as everyone prepared themselves mentally for what was about to come.

"Good. Then off we go!" Teria shouted as she jumped and flapped her wings. In a flash, her group was already airborne, traveling high above everyone's heads.

"I'm sorry guys, but our start won't be as effective." Putting a wry smile on my lips, I focused all my energy in my knees before propelling myself upwards. Instantly using a huge amount of the mana that the quick break in traveling allowed me to regenerate, I continually phased upwards and forward, attempting to cope with the additional weight of three, weighty baggage that hung to the rope I held.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck….' The pain of dealing with such an uncommon situation was unbearable. Sadly, even in a winged tribe, flying wasn't a common ability. From what Teria explained to me before, only those who achieved a certain level of strength were capable of doing so… Most of which fell prey to my attacks when I first appeared in this world. As such, there was no one else but me who could share Teria's burden of moving our group towards its first objective.

And cruising in my mind was the easiest way to alleviate at least a bit of this insane pain.

"Thank God it's not far…" Noticing the landmarks that Longinus forced me to memorize, I clenched my jaws as I poured even more mana into my phasing. And bit by bit, we managed to get closer and closer to the northern federation headquarters… Before we finally arrived there.

Not in the headquarters, but right above them.

"DROP NOW!" I shouted while letting go of the rope. While we were above the ground, the fall wasn't long enough for those experienced and strong mercenaries to get hurt from jumping from such height.

But that wasn't the end of what I planned for this place. Still midair, I reached to my pocket only to pull out all the remaining fireblaze Sander's stones, before throwing them in a circle around the headquarters. With the invasion force attacking from right in the middle and fires instantly appearing all around the place, the first objective of the mission was over.

So I dropped down to the ground. Besides me, Teria allowed her team to descend in a more controlled manner, simply lowering them to the point where only a meter or two separated them from the ground. Yet, even with that precise drop-off, she managed to land on the ground nearly at the same time as I did.

"Well, let's not hold ourselves back." Looking around, I saw countless stares of shocked people, unwilling to believe what their eyes were telling them. And before this perfect opportunity would pass, I once again brought my repetitive, cylinder-fed shotgun. This time though, rather than loading it with birdshot ammo that could at most injure, I made use of the standard spray ammo.

Between the two types of ammunition, the one I was currently using was basically the same as the birdshot. In short words, it was a small container filled to the brim with small-sized balls, aimed at covering a huge area once shot. The only difference between described birdshot and the ammunition I decided on using right now, was the size of those balls. Because while the birdshot shrapnels were capable of injuring and killing birds, the real live ammunition was more than capable of dismembering any human that was unlucky enough to stand in its path!

"KILL!" Encouraging everyone, I shouted while aiming the muzzle at the first enemy.

I pressed the trigger. The gun responded, spewing fire from its barrel.

As if someone pulled on a string, both my target and a man who was unlucky enough to stand right behind him, exploded to the back. Pressed by the several balls that instantly sank into their bodies, there was hardly anything they could to do protect themselves from the shot.

But I didn't even need to reload.

Press of the finger, shot, a moment to let the gun reset itself. Press of a finger, recoil from the shot, interworking of the servomechanisms within the gun.

Bit by bit, I was chipping away at the bulk of the enemy forces that just happened to be in the headquarters while the rest of my assault team continued to get rid of any stragglers that would escape from my wrath.

Soon, the entire tent gathering turned into nothing but a burned-out patch of ground, with bodies lying haphazardly one over another all over the place.

"I found the bodies of the main and second in command of the entire army." one of Longinus' teammates reported.

"Good," I replied while a smile blossomed on my lips. "It's time to get rid of the secondary headquarters then!"