Free Web NovelIron Wall Clausewitz.
Frederick certainly knew that name.
A living legend of the Imperial Military.
The soul figure of the Second Order.
It was rumored that the customized mech he piloted, the 'Indomitable,' had never been defeated in a direct confrontation.
Not 'rarely,' but 'never.'
His combat style was renowned for absolute defense and precise counterattack.
It wasn't a flashy, highly aesthetic style of fighting.
Instead, it was a cold, industrialized combat philosophy that simplified slaughter into the most efficient process.
He would not give the enemy any opportunity.
He would not make any mistakes.
He would not waste a single attack.
Every sword swing was fatal.
Every defense was impenetrable.
Like a precisely calibrated killing machine.
"Wait, wait, wait—"
Frederick's voice began to tremble, and this time it was definitely not from the cold.
"You mean—the incarnation of destruction—will be modeled after Iron Wall Clausewitz—?"
"Not entirely."
Margaret closed the last light screen, and the light in the stone cave suddenly dimmed, leaving only the orange glow of the campfire casting flickering shadows on the rock walls.
"The incarnation of destruction is not a copy. It will not possess Clausewitz's own consciousness, memory, or tactical judgment."
Frederick let out a breath of relief.
"It will only possess his combat instinct."
Frederick sucked that breath back in.
"Combat instinct?"
"The void realm extracts material from Pavela's memory."
Margaret stood up and dusted off her military uniform. "Whatever Clausewitz was like in her memory, that is what the incarnation of destruction will be like."
"Judging by Pavela's age, she wouldn't have been a participating soldier. Even in the Punishment Camp, where Usar were not treated as human, there were age requirements."
"So, she must have been a Usar civilian caught up in it."
"Then, Clausewitz through the eyes of a civilian who strayed onto the battlefield—"
Her dark green eyes flickered with a cold glint in the firelight.
"Wouldn't be a famous Imperial general."
"But rather an unstoppable grim reaper, crushing everything, walking out of the snowstorm."
"No weakness."
"No flaw." ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"Only pure, overwhelming, despair-inducing power."
The air in the stone cave seemed to freeze.
The crackling sound of the campfire became exceptionally clear.
Frederick swallowed.
"Then... then how do we fight?"
Margaret glanced at him.
That look contained no comfort, no encouragement, only calm honesty.
"In a direct confrontation, we have no chance of winning."
Frederick: "..."
"In this void realm, the law of the Path of the Tower suppresses the power of other Way Backs."
"Your ability and Reinhardt's are greatly weakened. Alicia's illusions are not restricted by The Way Back, but her physical condition does not allow her to engage in high-intensity combat."
"And me—"
Margaret looked down at her own hands.
She clenched her fist and then released it.
"My power can probably only exert thirty percent."
"Thirty percent of me cannot defeat a Sequence V level incarnation of destruction."
Frederick felt his heart sinking bit by bit.
"Then..."
"But we don't need to defeat it head-on."
Margaret's tone suddenly changed.
From the calmness of stating facts to the decisiveness of formulating a plan.
"The incarnation of destruction in the void realm has one characteristic—it does not exist out of thin air. It requires a 'core' to maintain its form."
She raised her right hand and drew a circle in the air with her index finger.
A new pale gold light screen unfolded at her fingertips, displaying a simplified schematic—a humanoid outline with a glowing dot in the chest cavity.
"This core is usually located deep within the incarnation of destruction's body; it is the focal point of the void realm's power. As long as this core is destroyed, the incarnation of destruction will disintegrate, and the void realm will dissipate along with it."
"The problem is—"
She drew several concentric circles around that glowing dot.
"The core is layered and protected. The incarnation of destruction's shell, its combat instinct, its control over the surrounding environment—all of these exist to protect that core from being touched."
"So, what we need is not to 'defeat' it."
"But to 'break through' it."
"To tear open a gap in its defense, even for an instant, allowing one sufficiently powerful attack to reach the core directly."
Her gaze swept across the three students in turn.
"Frederick."
"Here!"
Frederick instinctively straightened his back.
"What is the focus of combat for the Path of the Chariot?"
"Uh—charge, breakthrough, unstoppable forward momentum."
"In this void realm, how much has your ability been weakened?"
Frederick sensed the familiar surge of heat within his body.
"...Without a mech, probably only twenty percent left, maybe less."
"Twenty percent is enough."
"Really?"
"I don't need you to engage the incarnation of destruction head-on,"
Margaret said. "I need you to do one thing—at the critical moment, use all your strength and charge it once."
"Just once."
"Knock it aside. Knock it flying. Knock it off balance."
"Even if it's only for half a second."
Frederick opened his mouth, then closed it.
He wanted to ask, 'Are you sure that twenty percent of a Sequence II me can move a Sequence V incarnation of destruction?' but upon seeing Margaret's eyes, he swallowed the question back down.
"Reinhardt."
The gloomy young man looked up.
"What is your Way Back?"
Reinhardt was silent for a moment.
"Path of the Hermit, Sequence II."
Frederick was startled. freewebnøvel.coɱ
Path of the Hermit?
He and Reinhardt had been in Margaret's special program for nearly a year, but he had never known Reinhardt's specific Way Back.
This gloomy fellow never brought up his own abilities and always trained separately with Sebastian, never showing them off in front of others.
Frederick searched his mind for knowledge about this Way Back but found he knew almost nothing.
Margaret continued speaking.
"How suppressed is the Path of the Hermit in the void realm of the Path of the Tower?"
"...Less than theirs."
Reinhardt glanced at Frederick. "I can probably exert sixty percent."
"Sixty percent..."
Margaret nodded. "That's enough. You are responsible for reconnaissance: find the incarnation of destruction's location, observe its movement patterns, and then return to report."
"Do not engage it."
"Do not get close to it."
"Do not let it discover you."
"Can you do that?"
Reinhardt was silent for two seconds.
"Yes."
"Alicia."
The girl with platinum blonde hair looked up from the corner, her purple eyes shimmering softly in the firelight.
"Yes?"
"How long can your illusions last?"
Alicia tilted her head and thought seriously.
"If it's just visual and auditory deception... probably about twenty minutes."
"What about if touch is included?"
"...Ten minutes. Maybe shorter."
"That's enough."
Margaret took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
White mist diffused in the cold air.
"This is the plan."
She raised her right hand, fingers spread open.
Five pale gold light screens unfolded simultaneously, displaying markers and routes for five different positions.
"Step one: Reinhardt departs for reconnaissance to confirm the incarnation of destruction's location and movement patterns."
She folded down one finger.
"Step two: Based on Reinhardt's intelligence, we select favorable terrain as the battlefield. Not going head-to-head with it on the open snowfield—we need a terrain advantage."
She folded down another finger.
"Step three: Alicia sets up illusion traps. Not to harm it, but to interfere with its perception, causing it to misjudge at the critical moment."
The third finger was folded down.
"Step four: I will be responsible for frontal containment. I will use all my strength to maneuver around it, consuming its attention, forcing it to focus its defense on me."
The fourth finger was folded down.
"Step five—"
Her gaze fell upon Frederick.
"When its attention is completely focused on me, and when Alicia's illusion causes a momentary lapse in its judgment—"
"You charge in from its blind spot."
"With the full power of the Path of the Chariot."
"Shatter its shell."
"Expose the core."
The last finger was folded down, and the five light screens merged into one, displaying a complete tactical schematic.
"Then, I will end it."
Silence reigned in the stone cave for a few seconds.
Reinhardt was the first to stand up, tossing the branch he had been using as a fire poker into the campfire.
"If that's the case, let's cut the nonsense,"
he said. His tone was still cold, but Frederick noticed a trace more sharpness in his eyes than before.
"I'll leave first."
"Wait."
Margaret called him back.
She took something out from the inner pocket of her military uniform.
A Tarot card.
It was not the common divination card used in class before.
The material of this card was completely different.
The card face was dark gold, its edges emitting a faint halo, and the pattern on the surface seemed to flow slowly, like a living thing sealed in amber.
The card depicted a figure holding a scepter, with a table covered in tools at its feet.
The Magician.
"Take this."
Margaret handed the card to Reinhardt. "If you encounter danger, crush it. It will form ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) a brief protective barrier around you—it should last about three seconds."
"In someone else's void realm, three seconds is the limit of what I can achieve."
Reinhardt took the card, glanced at it, and then carefully tucked it into the inner pocket of his chest.
"How long until you return?" Margaret asked.
"Fifteen minutes."
"Only ten minutes."
Margaret corrected him. "The void realm will not maintain the status quo forever. The more unstable Pavela's mental state becomes, the more likely the void realm is to change. Our time window is limited."
Reinhardt nodded.
Then he turned and walked toward the entrance of the stone cave.
Alicia waved her hand gently, and the distorted air at the entrance parted like a water curtain to either side, revealing the vast, white, snowy world outside.
Reinhardt's figure stepped into the snowstorm.
One step. Two steps. Three steps.
By the fourth step, his outline had already begun to blur.
By the seventh step, his entire person seemed to merge with the snowstorm, disappearing completely.
As if he had never existed.
Frederick stared in the direction Reinhardt disappeared for a few seconds, then withdrew his gaze.
"...I always thought he was just gloomy."
he murmured. "Turns out it's a professional specialty."
Alicia resealed the illusion barrier at the entrance and then sat cross-legged back in the corner.
Frost Sugar, the small silver cat, crawled out of her sleeve, curled up on her lap, its tail swaying gently.
"Fred."
Alicia suddenly spoke.
"Yes?"
"Are you very scared?"
Frederick was startled.
He looked down at his hands.
Those hands, covered in burn scars, were already shaking like a sieve.
"...Yes."
He admitted honestly. "Scared to death."
Damn it, making a Sequence II with only twenty percent power charge into a Sequence V incarnation of destruction?
And Iron Wall Clausewitz at that?
Who wouldn't be terrified facing such a certain-death situation?
