Three days later, on June's 29th day, Evan was in the situation room of Todbury's capital city, together with Amiyah and her subordinate Commanders.
Some seats were empty as a few Generals and Colonels had been injured gravely in the battle of the Cudjour River, with two Senior Colonels even losing their lives.
No matter how much Evan wanted to reduce casualties, it was impossible for there to be zero deaths whatsoever.
Take this recent battle now; the Imperial Army had lost somewhere around 3000 soldiers, which was 7.5% of the forces they battled with. The casualties on Wolfen's side—although rather low for a defeated army—were around 7,000.
While this amount was tiny, when compared to the people who died every day on Aidos, Evan paid more attention to this because these people were combatants and not normal people.
"Evan?"
'I'll think about that later, now I need to convince them to go through the mountain.'
The boy snapped out of his sea of thoughts when Amiyah called him, and then looked down at the Map of Central Wolfen placed in front of them.
They were expecting Princess Heather to be arriving sometime today, so they were discussing how they were going to plan their routes to Cudjour.
By all rights, going West seemed to be the easier option, despite the rivers. The Cudjour mountain stretched eastward, and they'd need to march longer to go around it.
However, some of the Generals wanted them to go east despite the longer march.
"I agree with him."
Evan finally voiced his opinion while gesturing towards the General who pushed for them to go around the mountain from the east route.
"If we join up with the Princess, and Beluar's reinforcements come on time, then it's very possible for us to go east."
"Beluar's reinforcements? The supplies?"
"No. the soldiers."
Seeing the confused expressions on their faces, Evan decided to explain, starting from the point that the General he gestured to earlier had already spoken on.
"Wolfen knows we want to wrap this up quick, so they'd be expecting us to take the West route which is much faster to traverse.
Like he said, I propose we detour to the east precisely because they'd be expecting us from the West.
My plan, however, goes further than this."
Pointing to the west point of the map, he moved the little soldier models and spoke.
"Let's split our forces into three. A 40-40-20 split.
We'd have the 20% be a detached force that goes around West, so when their scouts spot us, they'd be 'sure' we're coming from the West.
This force would depart a few days after 40% of our army has gone eastward, and since the distances are different, they'd arrive around the same time.
With that, we'd pincer the Army which'd be waiting for us on the West."
"Then what about the other 40%?"
In response to Amiyah's question, Evan pointed at the Cudjour mountain and her expression darkened immediately. The fact that it did, meant she instantly understood Evan's aim.
"I said this before, but you're crazy."
"You're not the first to tell me that."
Evan chuckled as he leaned back in his seat and spoke with a small grin.
"Consider it a Challenge. If we can cross through the Cudjour mountains, take the Hillside fort and then use it to mount an offensive on Cudjour's famed Brightwall fort, then it'd only be a matter of time before we can take Agla.
Besides, it'd move our plans forward by a lot, as the moment we take Cudjour, Wolfen would have no choice but to send 'him' out."
Although Evan had not mentioned any names, they all knew exactly who the 'him' that the boy spoke of was.
Every nation had its famed Generals, and then there was that one General who stood above the others in both martial ability, charisma, and command.
Like how the 'Duke of Frost' Kieran and 'Human Flame' Bourne stood out even among the Seven Star Generals, and the way 'Heaven Sword' Finely and 'Sword Saint' Luke were greatly respected among the Ten Great Swordsmen.
Wolfen had their own powerful General who was based in the capital Agla, but if the Imperial Army reached Vadvale, then they were definitely going to send him out.
And Evan…the boy wanted to fight him.
'Rodald "Stormbringer" Kuhagan.'
'Just like Kieran, he should be an Epic Level existence at this time. Although I feel I can fight weak Epics in my base form and even defeat some Lower-level Inferior Stages with BoD, I'm yet to actually test it out.
But first, I'd need to get that thing in the Cudjour mountains to guarantee my victory.'
Evan controlled his expression before looking up at the Generals who were discussing his proposition and spoke.
"With the current level of morale, even if the Cudjour mountains are dangerous, the soldiers would not object to crossing.
Whether they can cross the mountains or not will ultimately rely on the skill of their commanding officers. This is a job for you guys. Don't you have any desire to push your own limits?"
His words had Amiyah narrowing her eyes as she realised he was egging them on. But before anyone could say anything, she held up a hand to silence them and asked.
"I wonder…which of the three armies would you be going with."
At this question, Evan smiled and gave a reply that confirmed Amiyah's conjecture.
"Obviously the one going through the mountains. I proposed the idea, so I have to at least see it through."
'Bullshit'
That was the word that crossed Amiyah's mind when she heard Evan's reply. After reading numerous reports on the boy and the way he acted, especially the one about the S Rank team that had followed him into the 'Lair of the Lizard Lord' in Lacertilia, she was sure of it.
'There's something in the Cudjour mountain that he wants, and he's using us to get to it!'
◇ ◇ ◇
The day went by like always and everyone was carrying out their duties as usual. Just like in the previously captured states, the people of Todbury had no choice but to go about their daily lives like always.
By evening, Amiyah received a message and she summoned all her generals to the front of the State's Government House.
When Evan noticed this, he spread out his aura and scanned the entire State in one go, before a small smile appeared on his face.
'She's Here.'
Coming out of the Government House, he flew up into the sky and looked over Todbury, seeing the massive Army that had now situated itself within the State's borders.
He could count over 70,000 soldiers at first glance but when he saw the flag being flown, his smile transformed into a frown.
"Of fucking course Isaac wouldn't send his daughter out there alone."
The Flag of the Fifth Imperial Army was one that Evan did not want to see, as this meant that the Commanding Seven Star General was present.
'Fifth Star' Lierin Ianqen.
A woman who disliked the GWE and everything that came out of the country.
Evan wanted to question Isaac's decision-making by sending Lierin to a place where he, a GWE noble was. What's more, Evan was sure that Lierin was going to stick to Heather like glue and make things harder for him.
Sighing in exasperation, he controlled his expression to hide his obvious displeasure before moving his gaze to the young lady who was riding not a Warhorse like everyone else, but a wolf.
He disabled his concealment and almost immediately, she looked right up at the sky.
Her dark, curly hair which she inherited from her grandmother framed her face in soft waves, accentuating her features while her eyes which mirrored her father's, were deep and expressive.
She exuded a sense of confidence and poise befitting of her royal lineage as she rode at the front of the battalion together with the Fifth Star.
Naturally, she stood out quite a bit.
Earlier, she had sensed an unfamiliar powerful aura sweep through the area, and seeing how Lierin's expression had stiffened, she knew the owner of that aura was stronger than she could tell.
Seeing how Amiyah who had also sensed that aura only shook her head with a wry smile, she could tell it wasn't from a hostile party, and this made her all the more curious.
It was at that moment she suddenly sensed a gaze on her body and immediately her head snapped upwards.
Her Wolf also seemed to sense it and immediately growled, forcing her to redirect her attention to placate the creature before it scared off the other horses.
Sure, they were Level 200 War Horses, but this didn't mean that they had lost their fear of natural predators, even more so if said predator was a Level 300 existence.
The creature stood at six feet tall, its imposing figure accentuated by its very dark grey fur. Under the faint light, the fur seemed to shimmer, adding an air of mystique to its presence.
"Calm down, Luna girl."
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