Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 464

Magic Learned in Vain – 465

# 465

The Fall of the Empire 3

King Lauzel couldn’t come to his senses. Ever since becoming king, there hasn’t been a peaceful day.

Something always seems to happen.

It’s all good.

It’s all good, but…

Why is the Empire acting up again?

It’s truly unfair.

They forced me to marry…

The princess, whom I never even met, is dead.

I heard she was incredibly beautiful.

I feel sorry for her.

She was so young, unable to even pursue her own desires before passing away.

How heartbroken must she have been, forced to marry a man she had never seen in her life?

We are both miserable.

Why must we be unhappy?

Isn’t it all because of the Emperor of the Empire?

Why does he covet even these remote lands when he already possesses so much land and power?

They should just live well on their own. What is it with their greed?

And why are they taking it out on us?

Is it my fault that the princess died?

Yes, she died on our land, so it’s largely our fault for not protecting her.

Then let me ask in return.

The Demon King has descended.

Damn it.

Try stopping him yourselves.

Aren’t we amazing for stopping the Demon King?

If it weren’t for our Legion Leader, hundreds of thousands of city dwellers would have vanished without a trace.

Even after explaining all that, it’s no use.

The Imperial Army is simply blaming us.

Lauzel shouted.

So, what crime are we being accused of!

You’re just playing your own game.

Why are you bothering us!

Bothering!

Damn it. I can’t live like this.

“Don’t you think so, Duke Sizinpi?”

“Huh? What are you suddenly talking about?”

Duke Sizinpi looked at the king, who suddenly screamed, with a bewildered expression.

He seemed extremely stressed. Priests rushed over to check the king’s pulse.

“He needs to rest.”

Of course.

The priests always say the same thing.

Rest.

Who doesn’t know that he needs to rest?

But how can he rest when the country is on the verge of collapse?

If he rests now…

He’ll be resting forever.

Damn those priests.

“I’m just annoyed.”

Lauzel said, grimacing.

How could he not be?

The faces of all the nobles gathered in the Grand Hall were equally grim.

Some nobles were already thinking of other things. Should they liquidate their assets and flee to another kingdom right now?

The 800,000-strong Imperial Army was right in front of the capital, Poman. If it were just ground forces, they could somehow hold out by using the terrain, but there was no way to stop the 50 battleships.

They were desperately trying to operate the anti-aircraft artillery, but they couldn’t stop the battleships.

In fact, the anti-aircraft artillery unit was wiped out without a trace by artillery fire as soon as they fired their first shot.

They were completely overwhelmed in terms of firepower.

King Lauzel, Duke Sizinpi, and Baserabap regretted not having established a defense strategy against battleships sooner.

All the nobles had doubted it.

Surely the Imperial Army wouldn’t invade the kingdom with battleships?

That “surely” caught them off guard.

The anti-aircraft unit, which was only there for formality, was annihilated without even putting up a proper fight.

There were still a few legions left, but they couldn’t stop the Imperial Army with them.

Once air superiority was seized, they couldn’t do anything.

“Well, everyone has been racking their brains for hours. Does anyone have any good ideas? Raise your hand.”

Lauzel said weakly, like a flat soda.

No one answered.

“I promise. I won’t be a pain. You can say whatever nonsense you want, just say something. Is there any way?”

Lauzel asked again.

No one answered.

The nobles lowered their heads, trying to avoid eye contact with the king.

What could they do?

Even if the sky falls, there’s a hole to escape, but in the current situation, no method would work.

It felt like the sky was falling and the ground was rising.

“Prime Minister.”

The king sighed and looked at Baserabap.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Haven’t you heard from my brother?”

“Ahem, the ministers are listening. Brother, you say.”

“So what? Is this the time to be polite? If there’s no solution, everyone here will have their heads cut off and hung outside the castle.”

“Still, you’re going too far. It might not be like that.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Ahem.”

Baserabap was also at a loss.

He had never felt so trapped in his life.

It seemed impossible to escape no matter what he tried.

“The only person who can make the Imperial Army retreat is my brother, right?”

“Even so…”

“It’s impossible this time?”

“We have no choice but to believe. He’ll have a solution.”

“That’s right. He’s a capable person who has solved all the impossible things so far. My brother…”

Lauzel lowered his voice as much as possible. After looking around, he continued.

“I heard he captured five of the Imperial Army’s battleships. Can’t we strike the Empire from behind with the Wyvern Corps and the battleships?”

It was top secret.

Only Duke Sizinpi, Baserabap, and the king knew about it. That’s why the king lowered his voice so the ministers wouldn’t hear.

“Impossible. Even if we captured them, they need to be repaired. Moreover, we don’t have soldiers who can pilot the battleships. They haven’t even had minimal training. Also, the Wyvern Corps… it’s called a corps, but the numbers are very small. If the Imperial Army is fully prepared, we could lose all our precious wyverns.”

“Haa. Is there really no way?”

“Just wait a little longer. We’ll hear from Duke Legion soon.”

“Really… this is nerve-wracking.”

King Lauzel leaned halfway back on the throne.

It wasn’t just the king.

The ministers put their heads together again to think of a solution, but they couldn’t come up with anything.

Tick-tock-

Time passed.

Reports on the Imperial Army continued in real-time.

There was no good news.

Only news of the continuous retreat of allied forces.

No one expected anything.

No one thought they would win the battle. They were just fighting to buy time by slowing down the Imperial Army.

They were dying knowingly.

That’s why morale was terrible.

In some units, so many deserters appeared that the units were disbanded altogether.

It was then.

The door to the Grand Hall burst open.

The Grand Hall was as quiet as a mouse. No one dared to open their mouth.

The maids who were serving knew the atmosphere and couldn’t even breathe properly.

But someone, not even aware of the atmosphere, burst open the door.

Everyone looked at him.

It was John Wick.

His face was flushed red.

“What’s going on?”

Baserabap asked.

“The Imperial Army…”

“Has the Imperial Army already reached near the capital?”

At Baserabap’s words, all the ministers were startled and panicked.

“Shouldn’t we run away?”

“I don’t think this is the time to be here.”

“Shouldn’t we save our lives first, regardless of our assets?”

As the ministers whispered, King Lauzel glared at them once. Those bastards!

“No.”

John Wick shook his head.

“Then?”

“The Imperial Army…”

“Is the Imperial Army attacking Poman already?”

This time, Duke Sizinpi shouted. His face was completely drained of blood as he shouted.

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

“The Imperial Army…”

“Is the Imperial Army suddenly going crazy and retreating?”

King Lauzel said weakly. He seemed absurd even as he spoke. He chuckled like a madman.

“Yes.”

“Okay, tell me. What is the Imperial Army doing?”

“That’s right.”

“What?”

“They are retreating.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

“What?”

Everyone tilted their heads and blinked as if they had misheard. What nonsense is that guy talking about? It’s not even midsummer, but did he get heatstroke?

“The Imperial Army is retreating.”

“That’s not a funny joke.”

“Look at this.”

John Wick took out a magic tool containing CCTV footage and played it.

The screen appeared.

An unbelievable sight was unfolding on the screen.

An 800,000-strong army.

It wasn’t just infantry.

Tank units.

Light armored cavalry units.

Heavy armored cavalry units.

Light infantry units.

Heavy armored infantry units.

Siege units.

Engineer units.

Archer corps.

Mechanized magic units, etc.

The elite Imperial Army was all gathered.

Even more terrifying were the giant ships floating above the heads of the 800,000 ground troops.

It was no exaggeration to say that it was the pinnacle of mechanical magic.

What could possibly fight against them?

It was not a joke.

They crossed the border not to break the kingdom’s spirit.

It was to overthrow the dynasty and turn it into a vassal state that was completely advantageous to them.

Of course…

The existing royal family and nobles were the top priority for elimination.

Only the nobles who thoroughly cooperated with them would survive.

But…

Those who were overwhelmingly advantageous were suddenly retreating.

No one understood this strange phenomenon.

Even if the royal army gritted their teeth and held on, they wouldn’t last more than half a month. It was only a matter of time before the kingdom collapsed.

So why were they suddenly retreating?

“Why?”

The king asked.

John Wick was also curious. But he couldn’t say, “I don’t know,” here.

“I can only guess that some problem has occurred in the homeland.”

“The homeland? What problem? For example?”

“The Emperor’s sudden death, for example.”

“Hmm.”

Lauzel stroked his short beard.

John Wick was right.

There was no need for the Imperial Army to retreat to trick the royal army.

Such tactics could only be used when one side had a slight advantage. It was definitely not a tactic to be used against the royal army, which would be annihilated if the Imperial Army just blew on them.

Then was John Wick right?

“Are you monitoring the movements of the Imperial Army?”

“Yes. Two mobile units are widely deployed and chasing the Imperial Army. In fact, they are retreating rapidly. They are returning much faster than the speed at which they invaded.”

“Find out what’s going on as soon as possible.”

“Understood.”

John Wick, who received the order, hurriedly left the Grand Hall.

The king and ministers finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Whatever the reason.

They had barely survived for now.

* * *

Macaroni, the capital of the Empire.

The Emperor of the Empire, Royal Salon, stared at the burning city with an unbelievable expression.

A super-giant city with a population of 1.2 million.

The most evolved and developed city on the continent was right here.

Royal Salon is confident.

The greatest achievement in human history is the construction of this city.

The capital of the Empire, Macaroni, guarded by multiple defensive barriers built by thousands of wizards and 150,000 special forces, could easily defend against any enemy.

Of course, they had never allowed enemies to invade this far.

The Empire is that huge and powerful.

But…

“What are those things! Why the hell are they attacking us!”

The number of dragons visible in front of him was hundreds. When they breathed all at once, the multiple defensive barriers that Macaroni boasted of were blown away at once.

“Why now!”

The elite force of 800,000 was gone. The Empire’s proud aircraft carrier fleet was also absent.

At least if they were here, the Empire’s guard wouldn’t have been blown away so easily.

Thus began the massacre.

With the current forces, it is by no means easy to face even one dragon.

But now there were hundreds of dragons.

Especially those things!

There were more than ten super-large dragons over 200 meters long.

The Emperor also knew what those things were.

Beings that only appeared in legends.

Ancient-class dragons had appeared all at once.

Hundreds of breaths once again struck the capital of the Empire. It was the power of a vast nature. Any power possessed by mankind is useless in the face of the power of nature.

That power!

Swept away the capital of the Empire all at once.