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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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The Territory Capture event, fraught with controversy from the start, was about to begin.
Even though all the first-year students from each academy had teleported to the island arena, the coliseum still echoed with boos and jeers.
“Are you kidding me?! How could he do that?! Where are all those pundits who predicted the first-years would win this year?!”
“That bastard who wrote the article, “Mirinae Academy Will Rise from the Ashes of the Death Meteor Tragedy,” show yourself! I’ll kill you!”
Despite the competition being intended as a friendly exchange between academies, the audience unleashed a torrent of raw, unfiltered vitriol.
They openly discussed illegal betting odds, casually threatened violence against 17-year-old students—it was a chaotic scene.
Gainard, attempting to restore order, moved to the center of the arena.
“Silence.”
Swish.
With a single, swift motion, he drew his sword.
He hadn’t infused it with killing intent, nor had he swung it with any particular force, yet the simple act of drawing his blade silenced the coliseum.
The unspoken threat, the power he held in reserve, was enough to make everyone reconsider their actions. It was a display of dominance that transcended words.
“Please refrain from bringing such unsavory sentiments into a student competition.”
The presence of a powerful figure had momentarily quelled the unrest, but it hadn’t truly extinguished the underlying anger.
They were silent because they had to be, not because they wanted to be.
In the hearts of Mirinae Academy’s supporters, Lee Seok-hyun was now public enemy number one, a traitor deserving of the harshest punishment.
This sentiment was especially strong among the parents of noble students. Unlike the commoner parents, who lacked the connections and resources to gather detailed information, the noble families knew the strategic implications of Lee Seok-hyun’s choice.
They understood that even the most talented commoner would face insurmountable obstacles if they incurred the wrath of the nobility.
Gainard, observing Lee Seok-hyun’s image projected on the coliseum’s central screen, felt a surge of unease.
‘What is he thinking?’
If the mountain terrain was unavailable, the forest should have been their next choice.
While not as advantageous as the mountains, the forest offered cover for ambushes, opportunities for setting traps, and a better chance for a smaller force to hold off a larger one.
But the plains? Even with his inherent bias towards his own students, Gainard couldn’t rationalize Lee Seok-hyun’s choice.
And he wasn’t the only one puzzled by this decision.
‘What is he thinking?’
Elua Velutos shared Gainard’s confusion.
She’d initially dismissed Lee Seok-hyun’s choice as a foolish blunder, like Arak and Raymay, but she quickly reconsidered.
‘That man isn’t an idiot.’
She recalled his sharp wit and composure during their encounter at the Portal Management Office.
The way he’d confidently requested a White Blade officer as a witness to their contract, his audacity in summoning the other academy representatives, the ease with which he’d controlled their conversation—
These weren’t the actions of someone prone to making elementary strategic errors.
‘There has to be something more to this.’
She couldn’t imagine him casually proposing a wager and gathering the academy representatives just for a friendly competition.
While he had displayed a certain level of self-serving greed, Elua sensed a deeper motive at play.
‘I need to observe.’
While she longed to launch an immediate offensive against the plains, Elua decided to hold back.
“Everyone, use reconnaissance magic to survey the surrounding areas and observe the other territories.”
“Yes!”
She shifted her strategy from immediate aggression to careful observation.
She wanted to thoroughly analyze the mountain terrain, identify any potential advantages or hazards, and use the high ground to monitor the other academies’ movements.
It was a textbook example of leveraging the strengths of the mountain terrain.
However…
–Crackle. BOOM!
…things rarely went according to plan.
“Lady Elua! We can’t scout the Mirinae Academy territory!”
“What? Why?”
“They’ve deployed some kind of interference magic. It’s more advanced than ours…”
“There’s magic that can block our view here?”
“Yes…it seems so… We’re unsure how…”
Being unable to observe the plains, the most visible terrain, was a significant disadvantage.
As Elua pondered sending a ground team towards the plains…
“Lady Elua!”
…another unexpected event unfolded.
“What is it?!”
“The Tanteroi Academy territory… the forest… it’s on fire!”
“Wh…what?! How… suddenly? What’s going on?! Only thirty minutes into the competition…”
While minor setbacks were to be expected, this was a major incident.
Despite her experience manipulating people, Elua had no military training.
The sudden chain of unexpected events left her reeling, her thoughts scattered.
“Everyone, hold your positions! Do not engage!”
Elua, struggling to regain control, issued the safest possible order, then turned her attention towards the plains.
‘Lee Seok-hyun, what are you doing?’
The certainty that he was orchestrating this chaos clouded her judgment.
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“We’re taking the plains.”
Before the competition began, during the brief strategy meeting…
Lee Seok-hyun’s opening statement stunned his classmates.
“Huh? Why?!”
“Commoner, are you crazy?!”
Woo Do-hyun and Bellos voiced the thoughts of everyone present.
“Velutos was first last year, so they’ll obviously take the mountains. That means we should choose the forest, it’s the best terrain for us to hide and launch ambushes! Don’t you even know that?”
As everyone nodded in agreement with Bellos’s assessment, Lee Seok-hyun shook his head.
“No, that’s precisely the mistake everyone makes. That’s why things keep going wrong.”
“Mistake?”
“Yes, mistake.”
Bellos’s predictable objection gave Lee Seok-hyun the perfect opening to present his argument. Refuting a common misconception would make his own strategy seem even more brilliant.
“I’ve been thinking. Why does everyone choose terrains that don’t suit their academies?”
“Suit?”
“Yes, suit.”
Lee Seok-hyun unfurled a large map, revealing his meticulously crafted plan.
“Let’s start with Velutos Academy. It’s common knowledge that most of their students are nobles, which means a high concentration of mages. So why do they always choose the mountains? Mountainous terrain is restrictive; there isn’t enough open space for large-scale magic. And if they plan to reshape the terrain to suit their needs, then what was the point of choosing the mountains in the first place?”
He’d spent the past month studying the records of previous exchange competitions, analyzing each academy’s strategies and identifying their recurring flaws.
“And Ruamos Academy, with their priests and nuns, why do they always choose the forest? The combination of paladins and priests isn’t well-suited for forest combat. They need open areas for their formations and opportunities for flanking maneuvers. A mix of forest and plains would be far more advantageous. Yet, they consistently choose the forest.”
Why?
Lee Seok-hyun continued, building his argument, guiding them towards his final conclusion.
“And Tanteroi, with their heavy armor, why choose terrain with forests? Imagine marching across open plains, only to be slowed down by dense trees. Have they given no thought to stamina management? They should be choosing the plains.”
From past competitions to the present, the prevailing strategy had been to choose a terrain first and then adapt their tactics accordingly.
They would blindly select a seemingly advantageous terrain like the mountains without considering their own academies’ strengths and weaknesses.
“Do you know why this keeps happening? Because everyone thinks like Bellos. They prioritize hiding, they want to feel safe.”
But this isn’t a defensive battle; it’s about capturing territory.
Why focus on being attacked when you should be thinking about attacking? Doesn’t that seem backwards?
“Why do you think we’ve been doing combined training for the past month? Why do you think I’ve been pushing you so hard? To become better defenders? No. We’re going on the offensive the moment this competition begins.”
A swift regrouping, followed by an immediate, overwhelming assault.
This strategy was only possible because he’d spent the past month training the first-years as a single, cohesive unit.
“There are over fifteen hundred first-year students participating from each academy. That means roughly six thousand students on this island.”
With so many combatants, who could possibly control them all effectively?
Could students accustomed to fighting in five-person teams suddenly manage hundreds of soldiers in a large-scale battle?
As Lee Seok-hyun posed these questions, his classmates, initially skeptical, found themselves nodding in agreement. They were being subtly drawn into his logic.
“Why do you think I appointed squad leaders and conducted large-scale training exercises? There’s a reason for everything.”
If the command structure relied on a single leader, the entire operation would collapse if that leader fell.
But what if the command structure was decentralized? A main commander issuing general orders, supported by squad leaders adapting to unexpected situations?
“Terrain is secondary. The key to winning the Territory Capture event is controlling your forces effectively.”
And no one could match him in that aspect.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Now that you understand, I’ll explain the plan.”
With every word, every carefully crafted phrase…
His classmates’ reactions shifted from nods of understanding to enthusiastic applause. They were already celebrating a victory that hadn’t even happened yet.
And so, the competition began.
Ignoring the predictable jeers and criticisms, they arrived at the plains and immediately reorganized their ranks.
They formed into the familiar formations they’d practiced during combined training and began their advance.
No lengthy explanations were needed.
“Uwaaaah! Fire! Fire!”
“It’s them! They started the fire!”
“Who are you?! Where did you come from?! What are you doing?!”
Their first target: Tanteroi Academy.
A group of aspiring knights, foolish enough to choose a forested terrain.
“Their lines are so cliché.”
The burning forest.
With few mages among them, the Tanteroi students naturally retreated to the plains.
Clang, clang, clang.
Their metal armor, heated by the flames, slowed their movements and inflicted burns.
Crackle, crackle.
Burning twigs crumbled beneath their feet, turning to ash.
“The invasion has begun.”
No surrender would be accepted.
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