I need to give names to the cultivated magic dolls that
They had
When ordinary monsters were generated in cultivation capsules, their abilities came out roughly 1.5 to 2 times normal. The higher the monster's rank, the longer the generation process took—that part never changed.
If you tried to accelerate generation, you'd inevitably end up with lower-ranked monsters. There was just no way around that.
The 1,000 cultivated magic dolls had only their core structures completed so far.
It would still take considerable time before they were born.
However, based on projections, they would be upper-daemon class.
They were supposed to be terrifying dolls with power surpassing at least
In other words, they would be born as A-rank. That meant combat power equivalent to what humans would call the Holy Knight class.
If that was their baseline power right out of the box, then training them and raising their levels—how strong could they become? That was something to look forward to.
The question was whether souls would dwell within them.
Monsters needed a core soul to begin absorbing magicules and generate life.
The cultivated magic dolls skipped the process of gaining a soul entirely, starting instead from the generation of power.
It was possible that all we'd end up with were soulless dolls that possessed power but no will. Well, if that happened, we could repurpose the Sariion Dynasty's technique for possessing cloned bodies and have ordinary soldiers operate them.
Ramiris had said it was possible to link them to
Above all, Beretta had become Ramiris's subordinate. I couldn't keep relying on him forever.
The Labyrinth's defenses should be fine, but that didn't mean I could just ignore them either.
Well, I'd think about that once the dolls were finished.
I returned to my office and took a breath.
There were so many things to consider.
First, the First Corps.
The troops under his command: The Star Wolf Demons—100 members.
...
The wolf soldiers and the Star Wolf tribe had been merging and evolving together.
They had reached A-rank combat power [EP: roughly 9,000–9,900] and served as squad leaders.
The Green Corps—12,000 members.
...The original 4,000 from the earliest days had become elite soldiers, operating in groups of three.
Their numbers had grown significantly over the past year, but apparently they were being deployed without any issues.
The majority of the soldiers were warriors from the various tribes here in the Great Forest of Jura, many from warrior corps backgrounds.
The elite soldiers had apparently grown to B-rank combat power [EP: roughly 5,000–6,000].
Next, the Second Corps.
The main force of the Monster Nation, with Geld as supreme commander.
The troops under his command: The Yellow Corps—2,000 members.
...The Orc Tribe warrior corps that had been under Geld from the start.
Their individual abilities were quite high, at B+ rank [EP: roughly 7,500–8,000].
They could maintain an ironclad defense in tandem with Geld, functioning as one with him.
They also served as squad leaders, taking on the role of drilling and leading the new recruits.
The Orange Corps—35,000 members.
...Newcomer Orcs. A unit at C-rank strength.
However, only about 15,000 of them were combat personnel—the remaining 20,000 were rear-support and engineering troops.
And finally, the Third Corps.
The elite aerial cavalry unit, with
The troops under his command: The Wyvern Corps—100 members.
...The most formidable unit in all of Tempest, bar none.
Their A-rank combat power [EP: roughly 9,500–9,900] remained unchanged, and their command ability was exceptional.
Some individuals had even reached A-rank on their own. Their hidden ace was the ability to undergo Wyvern Warrior Transformation.
The Blue Division—3,000 members.
...
Composed of volunteers from the Lizardman Tribe's warrior corps.
Their abilities were C+ rank, and they were seasoned veterans in their own right. But that wasn't where this unit's true value lay.
The defining characteristic of this division was fighting while mounted on wyverns.
They commanded the skies—the unit with the highest offensive power in any battle.
This was Tempest's secret ace-in-the-hole.
Incidentally, wyverns were a subspecies of Lesser Dragon.
They were B+ rank monsters, but we'd managed to capture them with Millim's cooperation.
Those were the three corps that the Monster Nation boasted.
Commanding them all was
Since Benimaru had been granted command authority over the entire military, frankly speaking, I didn't have any troops I could move on my own.
Well, as Benimaru's strategist, I happened to have a link to Sir Raphael, so it wasn't as though my will couldn't be reflected in his decisions.
Benimaru had 100 members of the Crimson Flame Group assigned as his personal guard.
The Crimson Flame Group had also grown to A-rank combat power [EP: roughly 9,000–9,900], making them an absurdly powerful force.
Watching their combat training, I'd noticed that while they might fall short in raw power, if it came to an actual fight, they could hold their own against Gelmud. Factoring in their levels, they were in no way inferior to what humans would call A-rank. They wouldn't lose even in a one-on-one against a Holy Knight.
The standard for monster strength was largely determined by magicule count.
Naturally powerful monsters didn't even have the concept of levels. However, the monsters of the Monster Nation combined high magicule counts with military training.
Even if you judged them above the normal baseline, I didn't think it was an overestimation.
The fact that Hakuro, with his relatively low magicule count, was so strong made that clear enough.
The squad leaders were all warriors who had survived Hakuro's hellish training regimen. They'd been forged thoroughly.
And then there was the intelligence unit led by
The Indigo Darkness—approximately 100 members?
This was one even I didn't have detailed knowledge of beyond the four squad leaders. It was a mysterious unit.
Souei had told me they had no combat ability, but I didn't buy that. He seemed like the assassination type.
It existed as Souei's personal instrument, and few even knew of its existence.
In fact, rumors circulated about it being a somewhat terrifying unit—just rumors, though.
Incidentally, the Third Corps could occasionally be placed under Souei's command as well. Aerial reconnaissance was invaluable for intelligence gathering, after all.
This was arranged through an agreement between Benimaru and Souei—only when Souei submitted a request and it was approved would the Third Corps fall under his command.
Naturally, Souei had no authority to issue orders without such a request.
The chain of command was strictly enforced. The fact that I myself had no troops I could directly command made that abundantly clear.
Oh, right—
Taking advantage of their inability to die, they'd undergone terrifying training and had grown to B+ rank [EP: roughly 8,000–8,500].
They probably had the highest growth rate of any unit.
They'd performed well during the battle against the Holy Knights too, and before long, some of them might even break through their limits and reach A-rank.
The Wyvern Corps was unquestionably the strongest unit right now, but if there was any unit that could eventually overtake them, it would be the Purple Conquest.
They were the hardest to kill and best suited to buying time—making them perfectly suited as my personal guard.
The executive council had determined they were befitting of that role.
Though I should note—even though they were my personal guard, they didn't actually follow my orders. They existed to protect me, so taking orders from me and acting on their own was strictly forbidden.
That was how Shion had proudly explained it to me.
Though honestly, if I asked her to run errands, she'd do it without hesitation... Better not mention that to her, though.
Public face and private feelings—you had to know when to use which.
And then there was Shion's newly formed direct unit.
The Shion Personal Guard—essentially Shion's fan club.
It wasn't an official unit, so both its numbers and capabilities were unknown quantities. I hoped it would be okay... so long as nobody died.
Shion had been raising it in secret, so its true nature remained unclear. Even at its largest, it probably didn't exceed 1,000 members, so it wasn't exactly front-line material.
Dagryule's sons were serving as squad leaders and doing their best, and during the recent fight between Leon and Yuuki, they'd performed competently. They might prove useful in their own way... though my worries remained.
Incidentally, I'd received a letter of thanks from the Dwarf King regarding Shion's contributions.
It was good to know she'd actually been of real use that time.
The military forces currently under my control in the Monster Nation looked roughly like this.
Then there was
He'd declared, "I shall assemble an elite force at your command!" before departing.
He'd cooperated with the Hinata situation without any issues, so he might actually be suited for domestic affairs... though he himself seemed to enjoy fighting, so maybe I should just let him do as he pleased.
However, once the war with the Eastern Empire ended, there would likely be peace, and I'd want him involved in governance then. In truth, I thought he was more suited to administration than
The one thing I had to watch out for was that, if left unchecked, he'd probably push tax rates sky-high—absolute monarchy levels. This wasn't a game; setting the tax rate to 90% would cause a catastrophic problem.
Diablo seemed perfectly capable of doing something like that without batting an eye, so I'd have to be vigilant there.
Anyway, these were the current military forces of the Monster Nation.
Under Gobta's command: approximately 12,000.
Under Geld's command: approximately 37,000.
Under Gabiru's command: approximately 3,000.
Total: roughly 52,000—a massive increase in military strength.
But this was still only the Monster Nation's standing army.
Come to think of it, the Second Corps being treated more as engineering troops than frontline soldiers was what made these numbers possible.
Even now, we still had room to support additional troops, which spoke to how much the nation's power had grown.
However, as a force to stand against the Eastern Empire, it was still insufficient.
To increase our numbers further, there was the option of temporarily summoning monsters.
As a precaution, advance notice of the mobilization had been distributed to each settlement. They were to prepare so they could respond to a summoning at any time.
Gathering the labor force in advance would impose a burden, so the plan was to have them assemble once a state of war was declared.
I'd have preferred to settle things with just the standing army alone, but...
Based on projections, roughly 50,000 monsters would gather.
These would form the Fourth Corps, designated the Red Corps.
Command would be entrusted to Benimaru.
To mobilize a ragtag force like this, relying on his Unique Skill, Great Marshal, would be the way to go—and he was the right person for it.
Then there were the mercenary units provided through the Council's military cooperation.
After all, the Monster Nation's defeat would mean the destruction of every nation surrounding the Great Forest of Jura, so full cooperation was inevitable.
With that understanding, mercenary units were being summoned and gradually assembling.
Their commander was Arnaud, a Holy Knight dispatched through the Committee's cooperation.
Approximately 30,000 had gathered so far. Feeding them wasn't a problem, but I wondered how many more would arrive.
We'd been designated as the Southeast Front, responsible for defense in that direction. Meanwhile, the Northwest Front would be guarded by the forces centered on the Holy Papal State of Lubelius.
Since the northwest wasn't currently in a wartime state, patrol soldiers remained stationed in the various cities as usual.
That said, with 30,000 mercenaries already assembled, it seemed knights from various countries had sent reinforcements as well. The fact that our threats had been quite effective was probably one reason the nations were being so cooperative.
According to Arnaud: "Roughly another 30,000 should arrive from various nations. Mercenaries from distant lands are still en route.
After that, they'd be held in reserve. The total ceiling is around 60,000."
Mercenaries, and knights from allied nations.
Gathering every last one of them only added up to that number—was that a lot, or not enough?
What I couldn't forget was the labyrinth city where adventurers had settled in Tempest's surrounding municipalities.
From there, volunteers—fools who wagered their lives exploring the Labyrinth (who, every single time, ended up as feed for the phantasms)—had been gathering.
This volunteer force, made up of those who'd stepped forward, would be led by Masayuki under the banner of the Hero.
"Why is it me..." he'd grumbled, looking thoroughly miserable. But with him leading, things would probably work out well even without any intervention on my part.
In times like these, he was a reliable ally.
The number of these volunteers was approximately 10,000. An astonishing turnout.
Well, once the war began, the Labyrinth would close for business—the interior would switch to interception mode, transitioning from a playground to a killing floor—and having nothing to do was probably another reason for the high turnout.
We'd declared that meals would be provided, and rumors were spreading that rewards would be given for notable achievements.
It was probably Souei who'd planted those rumors, but paying rewards wasn't a problem—perfectly acceptable.
So in summary: our own nation provided 50,000. Summoned monsters: 50,000.
From surrounding nations: 60,000. Adventurers: 10,000.
Grand total: 170,000—a massive army being assembled.
Current mobilization rate was about 50%, but there was no need to rush. All preparations were proceeding steadily.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Around that same time, in the Eastern Empire—the Nasca Namelium Ummeria Eastern United Empire—preparations for war were advancing with the same thoroughness as the Monster Nation's, if not more so, honed over long years.
The stages of departure were steadily being put in place.
Before long, the Empire would awaken from its long slumber and unleash its devastating power.