Chapter 33 — Sunstones

Eldriel, the capital of the Elsass Empire.

Sitting on his throne, the emperor was grimly receiving reports. The atmosphere was palatable as the full weight of the situation sunk in.

While the Elsass Empire held the title of a powerful Empire, it was actually a paper tiger. Its strength lay in its vast population able to form an army the size of millions. However, it severely lacked high-end combat power. Its low-level force was overwhelming, but its high-end force was quite disappointing.

That was why the emperor would try to summon a person from another world, and why he would so desperately get him to stay. Before Daiki's death, he was the most powerful person in the Elsass Empire. Without him, all that was left was the large but low-level army.

Perhaps in this medieval world, a large mortal army might be able to suppress a powerhouse, but that did not apply to the WW1-era weapons of the Third Reich.

The impact of battleship cannons directly decreased the more powerful the opponent was. A high-level magic user or warrior could dodge the shells, cast disruptive magic, counter-attack and even be able to survive a few direct hits. However, a mortal soldier could do nothing of the sort. They would simply be massacred helplessly in front of battleships.

With the army of the Elsass Empire mostly consisting of mortals or low-level professionals, the result could be imagined. Even if the Third Reich hadn't attacked them, without Daiki, the Elsass Empire would still have been eventually taken over by their powerful neighbours.

However, all this could not be blamed on the Elsass Empire. It wasn't that they were weak, it was that everyone else was just too strong. Whether it be the shortcut of Holy Magic in the Holy Church, the fast training of beastmen, the inheritance of thousands of years of the magic Empires or the accumulation of the Elves, the Elsass Empire didn't have any of these overpowered abilities. It was simply a declining Empire, only barely keeping its status through its huge armies.

Unfortunately for them, the technology of the Third Reich meant that numbers no longer mattered in this game. Gone were the days when you could just overwhelm the opponent through numbers. Konrad was confident that even if there were a hundred million soldiers, he could wipe them all out!

The only thing to be wary of was high-powered individuals. However, the intelligence of the Third Reich found that apart from a few ancient inheritances, there were no extremely high-powered entities in the Empire. Even if there were some variables, they would not be able to change the overall trend.

The Elsass Empire's façade of strength from bullying smaller countries was what gave them their position. But now, it was crumbling.

[Our armies have refused to fight after only 100,000 deaths! They are unwilling to fight what they perceive to be an invincible opponent!]

This was to be expected. Although numerous, when faced with geography-changing bombardments and flying enemies that the mele-focused troops couldn't even reach, it was expected that the soldiers used to easily defeating weaker Kingdoms surrendered.

The emperor sighed and walked to his secret vault. All the ministers in the throne room grew excited, thinking of what secret trump card the emperor would pull out to reverse the situation. After all, every Empire had an ultimate trump card, the mystery of which would serve as a deterrent, like a nuclear weapon.

Only the ruler of the country would know what it was, as countermeasures could be made if it was revealed what it was. Of course, there was the chance that the country didn't have a trump card or it wasn't very powerful. But, who dared to gamble?

Although rare, there were cases in history of a losing Empire dragging their opponent into mutual destruction with them! The scariest part was that nobody knew what the card of anyone else was. It could be anything from an extremely powerful group of assassins, an ancient chained demon, powerful curse magic or even a magic array that would draw the life energy of everyone in their capital city to unleash a groundbreaking spell!

However, the emperor knew best that he didn't have any heaven-defying trump cards. Opening his secret vault with his blood, a small reinforced box emerged from the ground.

Opening the box, inside lay several pale yellow stones. They were shaped similar to mana stones but gave off a special brilliance that sparkled and illuminated the whole room. Although small, the aura they gave off was palpitating, as if it was on another level of existence from everything else in the room. Looking at them, the emperor's face steeled with determination.

[These are Sunstones, passed down since the founding of the Empire. They contain a tiny amount of the sun's essence and are priceless treasures. Their origins have been lost to time, with any imitations not even achieving a portion of their power]

[This is why the Spectre Knights were formed. Ever since the start of the Empire, countless generations have tried to study how to harness the power of the Sunstones. Through hundreds of years of research, the Spectre Knights were formed as an imitation of the power held in the stones. They are trained from birth and have their bodies modified to let the power run through them, giving them great power and blinding light to fight their enemies]

[However, due to the limited supply, we have never drawn much power from the Sunstones, lest they be used up]

The emperor waved his hand and the Sunstones levitated to each of the Spectre Knights respectfully standing nearby.

[The Empire is in a time of crisis. Brave Knights, draw the full power of the Sunstones and bring victory! Use them without worry about consumption, the Sunstones are valuable, but the Empire is even more important!]

[With them, you will turn into beacons of light, harnessing the endless power of the Sun and scorching your enemies with blinding light!]