[Path security verified. Path security verified.]
[The Grand Strategist is moving.]
To ensure the safety of the Grand Strategist, multiple armored carriages were always deployed during a campaign. This procedure, a standard safety and security protocol since the days of the old Martial Righteous Alliance, served a dual purpose: it provided a contingency should a vehicle be damaged, and it prevented enemies from pinpointing exactly which carriage the strategist occupied.
“This way, Grand Strategist Sima,” the senior strategists urged, their pace brisk as they ushered him toward a fresh vehicle.
“I will check the interior first…”
A guard entered first to clear the space. Once he signaled, Sima boarded, followed closely by his entourage.
Thud.
The heavy, reinforced door slammed shut, and before the latch had even fully clicked, the Grand Strategist spoke.
“Status report.”
The senior strategist in charge of communications responded immediately. “Engagements continue across all sectors. As we are in the initial stages of the conflict, our field commanders are following standard rules of engagement—”
“—Enough.” Sima cut him off, his voice thin and sharp. “You’re talking in circles.”
He looked toward his closest aide, who didn’t hesitate to give the blunt truth. “The situation is precarious, sir.”
Sima’s eyebrows twitched with irritation. “Precarious? Why? We have the Military Strategy Bureau, professionals trained for this specific theater. The enemy does not. What is the bottleneck?”
Even accounting for the fact that the current Military Strategy Bureau lacked the field-command experience of the old Alliance days, the report was unsettling. The senior strategists avoided his gaze, breaking into a cold sweat like students facing a severe headmaster.
“…To begin with,” the aide continued, bearing the burden of the explanation, “the primary issue is the lack of active cooperation from the Dread King’s side.”
Once the blame was shifted toward the Northern monarch, the other strategists felt emboldened to chime in.
“That is correct, sir.”
“We cannot yet discern the cause, but while their field commanders are attempting to respond, the Dread King’s central command remains utterly static.”
“As a result, we are unable to leverage our numerical superiority.”
“Furthermore, because they aren’t pushing, we’ve failed to establish a proper pincer formation.”
“The messengers we sent earlier have all gone missing as well…”
The “missing” messengers were the victims of Grand Young Master Yeon So-hyeon’s relentless assassination campaign, a variable the Third Young Master’s camp had no way of knowing.
Tsk.
Sima clicked his tongue. “Send a direct envoy to the Dread King. I don’t want a common messenger; use the Namgung Clan’s long-range scouts.”
Once the directive was issued, the strategists moved with practiced efficiency.
“They’ll need to punch through the thick of the fighting.”
“Assign those with high-tier martial arts.”
“A single man is too risky. Send a full scouting cell as an escort.”
“Since they’re heading to the central command, we need someone of sufficient rank to make executive judgments on-site.”
As they ironed out the details, Sima turned his attention elsewhere. “Next problem?”
His aide, who had been cross-referencing documents, answered quickly. “The enemy’s military response is far superior to our projections.”
“Superior to projections?”
“Yes, sir,” several strategists added cautiously. “Our field strategists are working tirelessly to direct the flow, but for some reason, the tactical maneuvers displayed by the Grand Young Master’s side are proving exceptionally difficult to counter.”
Sima leaned over the status map on the table, a low groan escaping his lips. “These movements…”
The Third Young Master’s camp was an alliance, a mixture of various factions that rarely worked in tandem. The Military Strategy Bureau’s role as the “oil” in the machine was vital to their success.
“As you know, sir, the Grand Young Master’s army is also a temporary coalition of diverse groups,” the aide noted. “The War Advisory Group, the Sword Forest, the Zhongnan, Diancang, and Kongtong Sects… they are just as fragmented as we are.”
“…And yet,” Sima whispered, his wrinkled eyes narrowing as he scrutinized the map, “look at these maneuvers.”
They are moving with the cohesion of a single, unified entity. How is this possible?
“Could it be…” the aide said, stroking his beard thoughtfully, “that the Grand Young Master himself is directing the field in real-time?”
The others nodded in agreement.
“Certainly.”
“It would explain how such a disparate group is acting with such synchronicity.”
Unlike the Military Strategy Bureau, which had no direct authority over the individual sect leaders, the Grand Young Master held absolute command. If he were personally micromanaging the lines, it would make sense.
However, Sima shook his head. “No. It isn’t him.”
The certainty in his voice left the strategists bewildered.
“Sir?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because the Grand Young Master is undoubtedly elsewhere,” Sima replied. If his theory about So-hyeon being a Cultist was correct, the boy would be near the Third Young Master. Even if he wasn’t…
“There is no greater waste of resources than having a Supreme Being, a warrior of his caliber, wasting his time on field commands.”
The strategists swallowed hard at the term.
“…A Supreme Being.”
“…Absolute power.”
It was the first time Sima had officially acknowledged the Grand Young Master’s martial level as being on par with the “Greatest Sword under the Heavens” of the Sword Clan or the “Uncrowned Emperor,” the Sword King of the Namgung Clan.
“…If that is the case,” the aide stammered, “shouldn’t we be making preparations to counter the Grand Young Master himself?”
He sounded unsure of his own suggestion. How did one “prepare” for a warrior who had reached the zenith of the martial world? It shouldn’t even be possible…
“Do not worry,” Sima said, cutting through their mounting anxiety. “The Grand Young Master will be handled by the Alliance Leader.”
“Ah! Of course…!” The faces in the carriage brightened instantly. Former Alliance Leader Wang Cheol-jin was, without question, a master of that same legendary tier.
“Indeed. So, leave the Grand Young Master to him and focus on the battle.”
As the strategists celebrated the news, none of them noticed the smile that flickered across Sima’s lips, a cold, calculating expression that stood in stark contrast to his ethereal, sage-like appearance.
I don’t care if the boy is a demonic cultist or not.
Why else would he have spent so much time talking to Wang Cheol-jin instead of observing the field?
I’ve planted the seeds of doubt deep enough. The Leader will not let him go.
Sima’s smile deepened. He will keep the boy pinned down until he is absolutely certain of his innocence.
In truth, So-hyeon’s actual allegiance mattered little to the Grand Strategist. His objective was simply to bind the one man who could walk away from this fight, Wang Cheol-jin, to the Grand Young Master.
With this, the Grand Young Master’s feet are bound alongside the Leader’s.
Even with Grand Strategist Zhuge dead, and even after So-hyeon had broken his spirit multiple times, Sima remained the man most worthy of the title “Grand Strategist.”
“More importantly…” Sima stood up and moved to the reinforced window. “There is something in these troop movements… something that doesn’t feel like the Grand Young Master’s usual aggressive ambition.”
His gaze sharpened, as if trying to peer through the dust of the distant battlefield to find his counterpart.
“…It is a scent of experience so thick and deep it cannot be hidden.”
The conviction in his tone sent a ripple of unease through the room.
“Experience, sir?”
“Are you saying the Grand Young Master has a strategist with enough seniority for him to entrust the entire army to them?”
“I am,” Sima said, his tongue darting out to lick his lips in anticipation. “It seems I shall have to handle this personally.”
***
At the heart of the Grand Young Master’s army.
“Tell the Zhongnan Sect to stop overextending! Command them to hold the line!”
An old man was bellowing at the top of his lungs from the roof of a War Advisory Group carriage. “And tell those Diancang bastards to stop lurking for opportunities and just ram the flank already!”
“Yes, Old Strategist!”
The command of the Grand Young Master’s entire force currently rested in the hands of the Old Strategist of the War Advisory Group.
“Look…!” a scout shouted, pointing across the field. “Grand Strategist Sima’s banner is rising…!”
It was the signal that Sima had personally taken the reins of the opposition’s movements.
“Excellent!”
Instead of showing tension, the Old Strategist clapped his hands with glee. “You little brat from the Sima Clan!”
The old man, his hair bone-white and his face a map of deep wrinkles, laughed with a gravelly, raspy voice. “Let’s see if you truly deserve the title of Grand Strategist on a field of blood! I’ll show you how it’s done!”
Sima had used Wang Cheol-jin to bind Yeon So-hyeon. In response, So-hyeon had used the anonymous Old Strategist to bind Sima.
“Come on then, let’s have a dance that’ll wake the dead…!”
***
“The… the battlefield…”
Mount Hua Sword Dragon Gam Woo-hyeon whispered to himself, swallowing hard. “It’s pulsing… like it’s suddenly come to life.”
From his vantage point on the cliff, he had an unintended front-row seat to the unfolding chaos.
“Grand Strategist Sima has begun to move the pieces himself,” a voice said behind him.
“Wait, then…!” Gam Woo-hyeon whirled around to face So-hyeon. “Is it alright for you to be standing here, Grand Young Master?”
So-hyeon offered a dry chuckle and a casual shrug. “Are you worrying about me now?”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant…” The Mount Hua Sword Dragon waved his hands in embarrassment.
But he couldn’t help it.
On this massive scale, a dozen separate world-shaking events were happening simultaneously. The duel between the Sword Monarch and Yeom Gwak-chu; the brawl between Immortal Master Taecheong and Geom Gwi-hon; the madness of Yeon Jeok-gwang clashing with the Seamless Heavenly Robe directly above them, and now, the clash of the master strategists.
There were surely a hundred other things happening that he, as a mere individual, couldn’t see or verify from this distance.
So this is a true battlefield…!
For all the conflicts he had survived for the sake of Mount Hua and his own ambition, this was something that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. It transcended simple victory or defeat; it was an experience that overwhelmed his very soul.
“Oh?”
Yeon So-hyeon suddenly looked up toward the top of the cliff, as if sensing a shift in the air.
“W-what is it…?” Gam Woo-hyeon asked.
The Grand Young Master’s composure was infuriating. At such a young age, he was controlling this gargantuan war and its external politics with the nonchalance of a man taking a stroll. Gam Woo-hyeon found his own speech turning more deferential despite himself.
Ahem.
Realizing he had accidentally used formal honorifics, Gam Woo-hyeon cleared his throat and felt his face heat up.
So-hyeon offered him a fleeting, knowing smile. “It seems,” he said, gesturing toward the heights, “that things are reaching a conclusion up there as well.”