Raid brought their companions up to speed on everything that had happened on their trip to the Second World. Once that was done and dusted, they proceeded to hold a meeting in the throne room.
“Looks like each state’s representative is gathered.” Standing on the elevated platform in front of the throne, Raid swept his gaze across the room and nodded. He could spot some familiar faces among the crowd, but most were newcomers. “Thank you all for gathering here. For starters, let me tell you all now that I won’t bother with any formalities or etiquette moving forward—it’s a waste of time. I may look like a kid, but keep in mind that I’m nearly ninety years old on the inside. Well, you can pretty much think of me like you would the Legnarian beastdweller and special-class magician, Totori.”
With his preface out of the way, Raid nodded once and continued. “For this operation, I, Raid Freeden, and Eluria Caldwin hold full command. Our orders will always take top priority.”
Taking the chance during Raid’s brief silence, one person raised his hand. “First-Class Magician Pastor of Vildpeth,” he said, introducing himself. “You’ve already been handed all authority over us, so I have no objections to that. However, I’ve heard that you two will be in charge of fighting the Calamities, so I would like to suggest that you entrust command to someone else.”
“Let me explain why we didn’t do that,” said Raid. “Approximately six thousand people are being mobilized for this mission. The scale is huge, the likes of which the Second World hasn’t seen in generations. Naturally, there are no commanders experienced in handling this many soldiers. However, Eluria and I are different—we’ve led thousands of troops in an era of war and human wave tactics. Thus, this operation has the highest chance of success with us in the lead.”
Pastor narrowed his eyes. “Even if you must take command while facing the Calamities?”
“Correct. I can declare with full and unwavering confidence that I can face the Calamities while commanding an entire army without producing any casualties. Well, if you’re still doubtful of our abilities, then you can see for yourself in our initial skirmish to recover Celios. If you’re unsatisfied, you can raise another protest after.”
“Hmm... I understand. I’ll trust your confidence.”
Most likely, Pastor wasn’t the only one who’d had such doubts—after all, not everybody here was familiar with Raid’s and Eluria’s strength. However, with this public declaration, Raid had managed to put their concerns to rest at least for the meantime.
After a short pause, another hand flew up. “Hey-ho, over here! Special-Class Magician Jamil of Gralea speaking,” drawled an easygoing middle-aged man. “So, about those Calamities—are we special-classers really no match against them even if we team up?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Raid replied. “Calamities are generally as big as—if not bigger than—ultra-sized manabeasts. Not to mention that they’re not exactly living beings, but rather an amalgamation of magic in the form of a creature. To beat them, you’d need to destroy their core, for which you’d have to first break through their tough exterior. It’s far more efficient to have you guys deal with the Offspring, since they’re much easier to beat despite their larger numbers.”
“Yeesh... A’ight, got it.” The man sighed and shrugged. “I’m pretty confident in my ability—I mean, I am a special-classer—but if those things aren’t like anything we know, then I guess I’ll just go kick some small fry butt instead.”
Special-classers were the pinnacle of the Second World’s magicians. With their strength, Raid could certainly expect good results against the Calamities...eventually. Calamities could infinitely recover their flesh with polluted mana and thus keep their core protected at all times. Against them, special-class magicians could only win after a long and tedious battle—and that estimate could still shift depending on how good or bad a match the special-classer was against each specific Calamity.
Hence, it was far more efficient for Raid and Eluria to take on the Calamities and instead delegate the special-classers to the Offspring. This would not only speed up the battle but also ensure a much higher survival rate for everyone else.
“Offspring are also unlike any beast or living being we know, but they’re only as big as medium- to large-sized manabeasts,” Raid continued. “You can fight them like you would manabeasts, as long as you keep in mind that they’re tougher than usual. Special-classers go without saying, but even those below them can beat an Offspring as long as you coordinate as a team like always.” Moreover, if they still struggled against the Offspring, there was still a fallback. “Just remember—if things are looking dicey, head straight for the sea. As for why, Ariel over here can explain.”
Ariel nodded. “Calamities and Offspring typically act on land. The reason for this is because—as explained earlier—their bodies are composed of polluted mana.”
The crowd nodded and murmured in understanding.
“Mana easily shifts and disperses around water currents and pressure. This makes it difficult for Offspring to maintain their forms underwater. Not so for Calamities, but they avoid the water anyway. This is why we fled across the sea to the eastern continent—to place a large body of water between us and those monsters.”
The Calamity that appeared in Palmare in the Second World had been unable to move immediately because it had appeared in the sea. It had been directing all its mana to maintaining its large form, and after it started moving, it prioritized heading for land.
“That being said, they are not simply vulnerable to water. For example, magically applied water actually hinders the leakage of polluted mana. Rivers have a flowing current but are too shallow, whereas lakes are deep enough but have little to no flow—neither are effective in stopping the Offspring and Calamities. In summary, please keep in mind that only the sea fulfills all conditions for hindering these monsters.”
Ariel finished her explanation with a bow. After confirming that there were no questions, she stepped back again.
“For the aforementioned reason,” Raid continued, stepping forward in her place, “we will make our way to Celios through the southern sea route. It’s gonna be a long trip since we’re headed from the eastern continent all the way to the opposite end, but it’s the safest route we have with the smallest chance of being ambushed by Calamities. Well, not like the land route was ever on the table to begin with.”
“Heeey,” drawled Carille, raising her hand. “Carille, magic artificer from Vegalta speaking... Sooo, considering the distance from this eastern end of the world aaall the way to Celios, we can’t exactly make the full trip without resupplying partway, can we? Even if we can, it’d be a one-way trip... Uhhh, what are we going to do about that...?”
“A technical question. Then allow me to answer.” Raising his hand, Wisel stepped to the podium and took in a short breath. “Whereas magical technology is mainstream in the Second World, machinery is the mainstream in this world. There aren’t many experts here, so I’ll keep it simple: Mana and electricity can be produced from water currents, and we have machines that can produce power by fusing these two. Now, with technology from the Second World, we can increase the proportion of mana and amplify the electricity, making extra-long-distance trips possible. The prototypes responded well to the tests, so it’s all good to go.”
“Wooow... So we don’t even need a stopover?”
“We plan on making one after recovering Celios. We’ll create an artificial island away from the mainland and use it as a stopover for teleportation spells to form a secure supply route.”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh, I see... We’re all amateurs when it comes to machinery, sooo I guess we’ll learn as we go,” Carille drawled.
“I’ve already prepared materials explaining the First World’s machinery. I’ll give a more in-depth explanation once all the artificers and technicians have gathered.”
Carille nodded, satisfied.
With that, Raid stepped forward once more and said, “Let’s wrap up this discussion here. Remodeling the Second World’s ships will take some time, so we can still entertain questions and flesh out the plan until it’s time to depart. In the meantime, you’re all free to acclimate yourselves to life here in the First World.”
Raid dismissed the meeting with a clap. With that, some First World personnel stepped forward to escort the representatives.
Finally, Raid let out a heavy sigh. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of free time...”
“Mm-hmm. You’re going to be especially swamped the whole time.” Eluria reached out and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
Since Raid and Eluria were the heads of this operation, they naturally had a lot of work ahead of them on all sides. Although most of the work would be left to Alma and her brigade, only Raid could transport personnel and resources from the Second World. He also had to face the Calamities, take command of the operation, and flesh out their strategies and plans for the future. Suffice it to say that there would be no time for rest anytime soon.
“If you ever feel tired, I’ll help you with command,” Eluria offered.