In Ark Simulator, why do I always get a tough start?

Chapter 121 Shot
"boom--!"

"Run! Run!!"

"Where can we run?! The roads in front and behind are blocked!"

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die like this!"

This was a completely one-sided, bloody massacre.

[Not only the Duke of Caesar, but everyone in Victoria was completely surprised that Sherag was hiding a high-speed warship!]

High-speed warships are practically a symbol of military power on the continent of Terra.

It's not that other countries lack the ability to shoot down this airship, but rather that the moment airships are deployed to the battlefield, it signifies that you possess military strength that commands respect from other nations.

This proves that your country possesses a complete industrial system capable of manufacturing advanced weaponry.

It sounds simple, but no one would believe that a small, religiously-based country that has only recently opened up to the outside world and has only been developing for three years could achieve this.

Although Lateran was a small religious country, it was incredibly wealthy, with sugar more plentiful than water, and had remained open to the outside world for centuries in order to spread its doctrines.

And you caught up with them in just three years.

Unprecedented, unheard of.

So much so that even Duke Kast, who was at the foot of the mountain, who had been smugly imagining his army capturing Sherag and himself gaining the first credit for defeating the Letanian army, showed an expression of disbelief when he saw the giant airship.

"No, impossible! How could this be?!"

[The Duke of Castle, unwilling to believe that what he was seeing was the real Duke, wore an expression of even greater horror than when he witnessed the resurrection of the Emperor of Letania in the previous playthrough.]

"Three years! How could he possibly have the ability to build a high-speed behemoth in just three years?!"

"Where did he get the technology?! Where did he get the funding? This is impossible!"

"Illusion, yes, it must be an illusion!"

"Jeragand is not dead! This must be an illusion created by Jeragand!"

"—Your Grace, now is not the time to talk about these things!"

However, witnessing his duke's incredulous and frantic expression, Harold, who had barely escaped the chaos, tearfully advised Kester:

"The high-speed warships of the Sherag are about to bomb us! We need to take refuge quickly!"

"We haven't lost yet. The key now is to hold our ground! Otherwise, everything is over!"

However, Harold's good advice was met with a cold, angry glare from the Duke of Cactus.

"*Elegant Victorian slang*!"

"Harold! Are you telling me to abandon my army and run away?!"

Harold almost cried upon hearing this.

He understood his duke's feelings, of course. After all, these troops were her direct subordinates; if they were all annihilated here, her dukedom would be meaningless.

Is this the time to consider these things?

[Faced with that suddenly rising layer of ice, more than a meter thick, even heavy weapons would take some time to break through it, let alone now?]

Unless a steam knight is airdropped directly, rescuing Duke Caesar's army is basically wishful thinking.

Just as Harold was about to speak and continue urging Kester to get away from the battlefield, a sudden, familiar cannon shot nearly scared him out of his wits.

[After a sharp, whooshing sound like a meteor, a series of explosions erupted on the distant Victoria position, before Harold and Castle's eyes.]

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The explosion of a powerful howitzer shell sent shivers down the spines of the earth, filling it with terror.

The only ones capable of possessing such powerful shells are their enemies, the Laetania, with whom they have long been locked in a standoff!

The thing they feared most has happened.

At this most vulnerable moment for Victoria's defenses, the Letanian army launched its offensive!

As if it had been pre-arranged with Sherag, the Letanian army launched its final offensive the moment Caster's army was completely divided!

This seemingly pre-arranged timing of the attack completely shattered the Duke of Caesar's psychological defenses.

"How could this be... The news of my army's attack on Shelag was top secret, and the decision was made only a few hours ago."

"Why...why did Letania assemble its army so early? Why did they choose this particular time to attack the front lines?"

The Duke of Caesar was completely stunned. The tragic scene before her made her feel as if she were having a nightmare, and she kept shaking her head, trying to wake herself from the illusion.

However, both the explosions from the distant front lines and the agonizing screams of the soldiers before her completely shattered her last shred of hope.

"Could it be that Kjerag and Letania have already joined forces?!"

"Was yesterday's assassination attempt and today's all-out attack a setup they orchestrated?"

Unfortunately, Kester's guess was just wishful thinking.

[Sherrag and Letania never colluded, much less conspired to attack Victoria.]

However, the fact that the new emperor of Letania was infinitely smarter than them was that he clearly knew who his true target was.

The new emperor of Letania never considered fighting Sherag to the death as his primary objective; his target was always the opposing coalition forces.

[The battle has simply reached a stalemate. If we can capture Sherag at a relatively low cost, we will undoubtedly gain a defensive advantage.]

However, if too many casualties are incurred in the effort to capture Shelag, then it would be completely not worth it.

Therefore, after the shapeshifters' assassination attempts all failed, the new King of Letania and Theresis decisively abandoned the idea of ​​continuing their attack on Sherag.

[Once the armies of Victoria and Colombia are wiped out, Sherag will be nothing more than a small, independent country within his territory.]

With such a huge economic gap, Sherag is destined to make little of a splash.

Taking it down is hard, but making money from it is easy.

The new emperor of Letania is not one who needs to expand into worthless territories to declare victory; he understands this perfectly well.

However, just as they were all planning to use Sherag as a natural fortress to deplete Victoria's military strength as much as possible and outmaneuver their enemy in terms of national power...

Unexpectedly, fighter jets appeared just like that!

Victoria and Columbia were unaware that their ranks had long been infiltrated by shapeshifters and the "Ministry of National Security," and that Letania was fully aware of their operational plans.

Therefore, after they had devised their plan to ambush Sherag, the moment they saw the signal flare flash, the new emperor of Letania decisively gave the order to attack.

[After its reforms, the Letanian army was disciplined, commanded strictly, and could enter a state of war at any time; its mobilization capacity was far superior to Victoria's.]

Thus, without a single exchange, and entirely based on the same strategic objective, Kjerag and Letania completed this "remote cooperation"!

They all chose to eliminate the combined forces of Victoria and Colombia first!

However, the Duke of Caesar was unaware of all this.

[After witnessing the seamless teamwork between Sherag and Letania, this seasoned intelligence veteran realized the gravity of the situation!]

[Their own army is likely already riddled with infiltration.]

[The entire army is filled with spies from Sherag and Letania; Victoria lost half the battle from the very beginning!]

"Your Majesty the Duke?"

Seeing his duke lost in a daze, a frantic Harold had no choice but to offer a reminder.

However, his call only made things worse; it caused the Duke of Cactus to reflexively move away from him.

"No, don't come near me!"

The Duke of Caesar stared at Harold with a look of horror and wariness, his voice trembling slightly as he coldly said:

"You! You must be a spy sent by Sherag! You misled our army and gave us the wrong message!"

"That's right, it's all your fault! Our army has fallen to this state because of you!"

"Traitor! I'll kill you!"

Having said that, the Duke of Caesar, driven to madness, suddenly drew his rapier from his waist and pointed it directly at Harold.

But before Duke Kast could pierce Harold's chest with his rapier, her body was blasted away by the shockwave of a cannonball fired from the high-speed warship!

Harold, being a veteran, immediately dropped to the ground, which allowed him to narrowly avoid the flying daggers and the aftershocks of the shattered ice wall.

The Duke of Caesar was not so lucky.

Bombarded by the aftershocks of the artillery fire and struck by shattered ice, she felt a piercing pain in her back, nearly causing her to faint. As the Duke of Caesar gradually recovered from the dizziness of the pain, she saw, through her blurred vision, waves of shouting Sherag soldiers charging out.

However, they mostly treated her as if she were dead, and none of the Sherag people paid her any attention.

But she still vaguely saw the figure of the leader, holding the military flag, the one she hated most.

"Quickly! Retake the town, lay booby traps around it, and be ready to meet the enemy's counterattack at any time!"

"Fiona, Chen! Tell everyone not to pursue too closely! Those carrying heavy weapons, remember to hide in the wreckage and be wary of possible attacks from the Steam Knights!"

"Nosis, high-speed warships should not pursue too deeply to avoid being caught in the crossfire. Just be wary of Victoria's warships and steam knights."

"Everyone! No one is allowed to stray too far from the snow mountain! Yeragand's protection will not extend to those who leave the snow mountain, understand?"

[That voice, that arrogant way of commanding everyone...]

[Without a doubt, this person is that damned King of Kalan!]

The thought of King Kalan, who had caused his downfall, being so close at hand fueled a deep-seated hatred in the nearly unconscious Duke of Caesar, who reached into his pocket.

There, she still had her last weapon—a small gun that had been given to her as a gift by the Lateran ambassador.

With his last ounce of strength, the Duke of Cassel raised the gun, enduring the double vision before his eyes, and aimed it at the man he hated.

At that very moment, someone finally noticed her unusual behavior.

"Pray! Be careful!"

"boom!"

Unfortunately, it was too late.

The small gun fired smoothly, producing a faint sound of a bullet piercing flesh.

The Duke of Caesar had no idea who he had hit, or what part of his body he had struck.

The only thing she was certain of was that her bullet had hit its mark.

"boom!"

But the next second, a sharp pain shot through the Duke of Caesar's hand!

Chen Huijie, arriving suddenly, kicked away the gun in Kester's hand and used the heel of her high heel to firmly stomp on Kester's palm.

However, just as Chen Huijie instinctively drew her Crimson Blade, about to deliver a swift death to the Duke of Caesar...

Your voice stopped the actions of this chivalrous but hot-blooded senior superintendent.

"Chen, spare her life, she is of great use to us."

Your tone was so calm and rational as you approached the Duke of Caesar alone and knelt down beside him.

It was then that Kester finally saw your face clearly, so close to his.

In her eyes, your composed smile was so mocking, as if laughing at her fallen state.

Just two weeks ago, this duke was speaking rudely and arrogantly in front of you.

Just over ten days later, the tide turned, and this arrogant duke once again became your defeated foe.

And this time, your start will be far, far more difficult than hers.

But you still won.

[You have definitively proven that your ability to defeat her was not due to the power of your nation, but rather to the precipitous difference in talent between you and her.]

"Long time no see, Duke of Caster."

"You don't seem to be feeling well? If you don't mind, would you please come to Sherag for another chat?"

"—King Kalan!!"

However, your mocking laughter completely drove the duchess mad. She let out a devilish roar at you, a hatred so intense it seemed she wanted to tear a piece of your flesh from you.

But you still ignore all of this.

[You merely gestured with your eyes for Chen Huijie to tie up the duke, to use as leverage in future negotiations.]

[And to Harold, who was not far away and had already woken up in a daze, you said with a smile:]

"Your Excellency, it seems you're not entirely satisfied with your treatment in Sherag's cell?"

"But rest assured, this time we will keep a close watch on you and will never let you escape because you are unhappy with your imprisonment."

Listening to your sarcastic remarks, Harold, who had been captured twice, remained silent for a long time before shaking his head in defeat and replying as if he were about to cry:

"...Whatever, I'm pretty much dead anyway."

"That would be perfect."

However, having no time to attend to Harold and Castle, you simply ordered Chen Huijie to take them back to Shelag.

[Then, you gave another order to Fiona, who was standing nearby.]

"Strengthen the defenses here; we must not let our guard down until the war is completely over."

"At that time, I will inspect the preparations of the various armies amidst the ruins. Anyone found negligent will be executed without mercy!"

"Yes!"

After receiving a response from Fiona and her soldiers, you nodded in satisfaction. Then, enduring the pain, you continued to stand in place, silently suppressing everyone.

Your other hand was also tightly clutching your wounded abdomen.

[Without a doubt, this is the shot that the Duke of Caesar fired at you.]

No one noticed, no one knew, except for Yera's gasp that reached your ears.

"Qi?! You, you're injured!"

"Quickly, I'll send a message to Ensiodis right away and have him send a medic to treat your wounds!"

"There's no need for that. Don't bother anyone."

Blood was already flowing freely from his abdomen, but you cannot leave now.

The war is not over yet. Whether Letania will make peace with you or take the opportunity to eliminate Sherag remains to be seen.

Now, you are the only one who can withstand all the pressure on the front lines; you absolutely cannot fall.

If you fall and Letania discovers Kjerag's weakness, then Kjerag may suffer the same fate of destruction.

You cannot give up yet.

"Well--!"

[You insert your fingers into your abdomen; a few drops of cold sweat seep from your forehead, and your face turns slightly pale, but you don't utter a sound of pain.]

After some fumbling, you finally managed to remove the etched bullet that had seeped into your abdomen.

"Gada."

[By tossing down the blood-stained bullets and crushing them underfoot, you've done your utmost to maintain your balance and composure, slowly making your way towards the foot of the snow-capped mountain.]

Only upon entering Yeragand's territory can you receive her protection.

Although Yera's remaining divine power may not be enough to heal you.

But at least, this can significantly slow down the progression of your wound.

At the same time, you were constantly giving instructions to Yera in your mind:

"Tell Ensiodis to arrange for a medic to stay at my lodgings... and then treat my wounds after I return."

"I... will hold on a little longer until the inspection is completed and the morale of the troops is appeased."

"but……"

"—Don't argue with me, Yela, this is the best option for Sherag right now."

Ignoring Yela's advice, you cannot allow yourself to fall at this critical juncture when the danger has not yet passed.

You believe that if you just persevere a little longer, everything will turn around.

[Sherrag's fate is about to change; this is the time when you cannot afford to be careless.]

Absolutely not.

(End of this chapter)