Immortal Kingdoms

"That's too much!" The general pointed at the map, his face fuming red. He glared at the selected provinces and his heart bled, various contingencies flashing in his battle-hardened mind. Anger won over trepidation as he furiously poked the map with his callous finger.

"Giving up these territories will cripple the traffic of our income and strain the spending of the entire kingdom for the long run. I cannot permit this under no circumstances!" Looking at the map, the general felt like he was being played the fool. However, he then calmed down and realized something, but Leonardo already spoke up.

"Are you an idiot? You can always surrender if you find it unbearable. I mean, the sooner you give up, the less you lose during this war; both lives and land." Leonardo's voice was calm and flat, but borderline disdainful. The general felt like slapping himself.

Now that it came to this, if he really went ahead to surrender midway, it would only serve as a stain on his war achievements and not a strategic retreat. If he surrendered too soon, it would be a display of cowardice and not wits, since the terms Leonardo suggested had no specific parameters for the duration of the war. On the other hand, if he surrendered too late, who knows how many soldiers would die? Land be lost? And for the worse, his fate thereafter?

He then remembered that he enjoyed an unquestionable advantage when it came to numbers. There were four provinces that Leonardo selected, and each province had at least two contending families with an ancient heritage. Of course, the Regalian Crown deliberately spiked contests between equally ambitious houses in the provinces beyond its control, that way they'd have something keeping them busy.

That means he could conscript at least eight saint powerhouses, and with him at the helm, that made nine.

Nine saints on their side and three on House Grace's side.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers on their side and only a thousand on House Grace's side.

Almost limitless military rations on their side and the complete opposite on House Grace's side.

The more he thought about it, the more confident he felt. Thus, he spiked up his courage, newfound confidence, and determination as the crimson eyes behind that expressionless mask no longer seemed so frightening.

He will obliterate a thousand men strong army, circle their leader in a death trap battle of attrition, and claim the former Star Territory to his kingdom and its borders. When he thought of such accomplishments, his blood boiled with excitement. It can't be helped, the position of the Star Territory is just too strategic as it was stationed amidst the collective borders of the three ruling powers on three of its five fronts, with only two fronts bordering neighbouring vassal kingdoms, the Regalia Kingdom being one of the two.

The moment they occupied the territory, they would have a knife in the back of their neighbouring vassal kingdom, this was a significant military edge, a geological advantage.

The more he thought about it, he realized that he was simply too pessimistic by counting his potential losses that he almost overlooked the potential gains. This sudden boost was exactly what Leonardo was waiting for, allowing him to smoothly go back and forth with the negotiations.

After all, the general was convinced by his pride, greed, and perhaps foolishness that sooner or later, he may lose many battles, but he will surely win the war. Eventually, at least.

Half a day later, Leonardo and Pandora walked out of the border fortress with a document signed by the three parties; Leonardo, the general, and the representative. While they were walking, Pandora asked curiously about Leonardo's skills and techniques, since she noticed he wasn't using any in the massive battle known as the ravine of demise.

"Leader, do you not have any battle skills or techniques? Now that you're a saint, even if you haven't learned any magic, you can simply imbue your skills with your martial intent to comprehend new techniques." Pandora wasn't looking down on Leonardo, but she was genuinely curious.

Leonardo thought for a moment before shaking his head, and responding, "I have plenty of skills and techniques. However, my training was in the use of the sword, while my bloodthirsty armament is a halberd variation of the spear. Hence, my skills and techniques are useless."

"It's not that I can't simply get myself a sword to use, but the bloodthirsty martial intent is special. Other than the inherited bloodthirsty techniques, you can't apply them to any other skills. As long as I am under Arcadia's suppression, being unable to release my desolate martial intent externally, my skills and techniques are useless."

Leonardo's Master in the Exiled Paradise is an Immortal Swordsman and an incidentally powerful one at that. Nier's bloodthirsty armament was a sword, thus she was biased towards the use of swords, hence she desired that Leonardo became a swordsman as well. Thus, his cultivation technique, combat techniques, and battle skills all revolve around the sword. As for his bloodthirsty derived techniques and skills, he could only patiently wait for them to surface naturally in his mind as his comprehension of the martial intent deepened.

Pandora finally understood that Leonardo's main motivation behind the war was to cultivate his bloodthirsty martial intent and everything else was simply a bonus. Very quickly, the two of them arrived at the army's camp, only to see that Miko has already joined up with the main force, but there was a cute little girl by his side.

She looked around seven or eight years old, a timid but curious character and a pair of large baby blue eyes peeked from behind Miko's legs as she observed everyone around her.

Looking at this little girl, Leonardo seemed to think about something but he didn't speak of it, as he was supposed to be 'Bloodthirsty' at the moment, and not the young businessman. When Miko made eye contact with Leonardo' his body involuntarily shook as he quickly dropped to one knee, reporting to him.

"I greet the Commander!"

The little girl seemed startled and flustered when she saw Miko quickly kneel, and she awkwardly followed by example while tightly clenching the hems of her dress. All of those big brothers were scary, especially the big brother in black and red.

Leonardo nodded in acknowledgement to Miko, overlooking the presence of the little girl. It was absolutely foolish to bring this girl to a soon-to-be battlefield, but Leonardo didn't want to actively get involved in decisions made by Miko, especially towards what could be considered the final thread of hope that kept the man from falling into depraved guilt.

"You all have one week of grace period to allow the four provinces the necessary time, they need to make some preparations for their inevitable massacre. While they bask in their illusory sense of safety, comfort, and superiority, you will spend this time resting and recovering your energy."

"You may act as you please as in one week from now, you can only kill or be killed. I will charge my way through the four provinces and their armies even if I was the last man alive. I will either bring back those towns, cities, and people under the rule of House Grace or die trying."

Everyone had their own thoughts and expressions when they heard this. Some of them even thought about getting as far as possible within this one week before defecting from the army, who would find them now that they have been freed from their shackles? None of them was stupid, and they could see that other than the saints, everyone else was doomed to die.

Miko was exceptionally grateful as he had assumed that Commander Bloodthirsty was giving him this time to bring the little girl back to a safe territory before they began their slaughter. Hence, he was determined to rush back at top speed and join his Commander on the frontline.

Honestly, no matter what they thought or how many of them fled, those people have already served their purpose once the formalities were over. Moreover, if the slaves provided by the ruling family were to defect on their Master in the first battle, Leonardo couldn't wait to see Queen Adeline's expression after that. Thus, he turned his back to them with no other thoughts than killing on his mind.

With Aria and Juvia staying behind in the palace, he could go all out this one time knowing there was nothing he could lose as a repercussion.