A Villain's Journey Begins in the Type-Moon World

To prevent Ascalon from suffering even more cruel treatment, Kal'tsit had no choice but to guide her to gradually accept this assimilation.

When Ascalon found Kal'tsit and heard about this so-called "order," her first reaction was to refuse outright.

"He already knows of your existence and has his eye on your abilities, intending to exploit them... Opposing him now will only increase his displeasure and make you stand out even more in his eyes, putting you in a more dangerous situation."

Kal'tsit shook her head helplessly, her voice low:

“I wanted to advise you to stop as soon as possible, but you insisted on not listening… Now that he has come to us, it is no longer possible for you to try to distance yourself by making excuses.”

“I’ve never understood it, Kal’tsit.”

Ascalon stared at his friend, his eyes filled with confusion and inquiry:

Why are you suddenly so subservient to him? What did he do to you and Amiya without my knowledge? Are you still unwilling to tell me the truth?

Faced with Ascalon's questioning, Kal'tsit remained silent, averting her gaze. This silent response only fueled Ascalon's frustration.

She stood up abruptly, her tone resolute yet tinged with self-mockery:

"Fine... If you don't want to talk about it, then so be it. Either way, it's related to the Doctor or involves other people you can't mention... Since he specifically asked to see me, then I'll go and meet him myself."

Before he finished speaking, Ascalon had already turned around and strode towards the elevator.

Watching her departing figure, Kal'tsit crossed her arms and let out a barely audible sigh: "Don't blame me, Ascalon..."

……

On the deck, Ascalon was greeted not with fresh air, but with a suffocating sense of oppression.

“I admire your courage, Miss Ascaron…” A cold voice pierced through the thick fog, “These past few days, your ‘dirty tricks’ have never stopped, tirelessly investigating everything about me. You’ve even gone after the people around me…”

As Ascalon stepped onto the deck, it felt as if an invisible hand was gripping her throat, rendering her speechless. Thick black fog instantly engulfed everything around her, obscuring all familiar ship outlines.

At the same time, a powerful force dragged her forward until the horrifying face appeared clearly in her oxygen-deprived vision.

The oppressive aura emanating from Wang Chong was so tangible and heavy that she could hardly breathe. Ascarun had no doubt that this man could crush her into dust with a single thought.

"Even though Rhodes Island's two top leaders have clearly stated their allegiance to the Reunion Movement, you still want to secretly investigate this information..."

Wang Chong's voice carried an undeniable coldness:

“Since you ignore Kal’tsit’s words, then I will find someone you are willing to listen to to advise you.”

He paused, the last vestige of patience in his voice seemingly vanishing: "But remember, this is your last chance. Surrender, or be destroyed? I have no interest in playing these pointless games with you any longer."

As the words fell, the black mist formed by the "Millennial Sigh" that had been gripping Ascalon's neck suddenly released its grip.

Ascalon suddenly lost his balance and collapsed to his knees, coughing violently.

"Cough cough...you...cough...if you want to kill...Your Highness!?" As Ascalon barely managed to stop coughing, preparing to face her final fate, she opened her eyes wide in disbelief.

Because beside Wang Chong, a figure she knew all too well slowly appeared.

Although she had already learned from Amiya and Kal'tsit that Theresa had been resurrected by Theresis, she never expected that her revered princess would appear before her at this moment.

"Let me speak with her alone," Theresa said to Wang Chong, her tone calm but with a hint of pleading.

"Let me speak with her alone," Theresa said to Wang Chong, her tone calm but with a hint of pleading.

Wang Chong nodded slightly, and the black mist that shrouded the deck receded like the tide. He had already established his authority, deeply engraving his invincible image into Ascalon's mind.

The next step of persuasion was best left to the person to whom Ascalon was loyal.

About an hour passed in the oppressive atmosphere. When Theresa finished speaking, Ascalon's expression had changed from initial anger and incomprehension to numbness and despair.

Upon witnessing this scene, Wang Chong understood that the matter was now over.

Even though Ascalon was filled with resentment, Princess Theresa, whom she served, had already submitted to Wang Chong. What right or power did she have to resist the other party?

Seeing Ascalon's distraught state, Theresa's heart sank. However, she still tried her best to show her usual gentleness, softly comforting her:

“It’s alright, Ascalon… When a path proves to be impassable, we might as well try a different one. At least, only when we truly reach the future can we judge whether our current choices were right or wrong.”

She reached out her hand, trying to convey a sliver of warmth: "And you are not alone. I will walk with you, not just me, but Kal'tsit, Amiya... we will all face that inevitable end together."

This was the only solace Ascalon could grasp at this moment. Only now did she truly understand why Kal'tsit always wore that complex, regretful expression whenever she pressed her for an explanation.

“…Alright.” Ascalon’s voice was dry and hoarse, carrying a calm acceptance of fate. “I will continue to follow Your Highness. I will accompany Your Highness…to witness the final outcome.”

With Ascalon's surrender, Wang Chong successfully gained 200 villain points from this "evil deed," bringing his total points to 55300. (The rest of the text appears to be nonsensical and unrelated to the previous sentences.)

Immediately afterward, Wang Chong poured the black mist containing controlling power into Ascalon's body without hesitation. From that moment on, Ascalon was officially brought under Wang Chong's command.

After that, she prepared to infiltrate the warship, just as Wang Chong had planned.

……

As night fell, after another day of fierce fighting, the battlefield temporarily fell silent, as if the two sides had reached some kind of silent truce.

However, in the conference room of the Fourth Army warship, Constantine was wide awake and paced back and forth restlessly.

He stopped abruptly, slamming his hand heavily on the tactical map, his voice filled with rage:

"We wanted to quickly quell the chaos in the south! But where did those well-equipped musketeers come from?! Our heavily armored shield guards, which we are so proud of, have become moving targets in front of them!"

His sharp gaze swept over the disheveled and dejected generals present, his tone growing increasingly stern:

"If it weren't for the fire support from the warships, and the long-range suppression from the sorcerers and artillery, the battle situation these past two days would have been even more horrific!"

"Tell me! When has my 500,000 well-equipped troops, with two main warships deployed as backup, been held up here by a mere 140,000 enemy soldiers, unable to advance an inch?!"

Constantine's questioning echoed in the oppressive conference room. He had thought that the southward advance, with its new adversary and overwhelming force, would be enough to quickly suppress the southern rebellion.

But the reality is that two whole days have passed, and not only have they been unable to advance the front line, but the enemy has also chipped away at several meters of their position.

What angered him even more was that the morale of his more than 200,000 troops in the Third Army Group was low. When faced with the integrated soldiers, they were like frightened birds, completely lacking fighting spirit, and had become a complete burden.

If things continue like this, let alone suppressing the mutiny in the south, we won't be able to promptly advance into the central region to fight against the main force of the Independence Movement from the north...

If this continues, before they can resolve the southern front, the Northern Integrated Army will break through the central defenses, join forces with the Southern Army, and march on them together!

Chapter 439 The Advantage Lies With Me

"Marshal, the reason why the consolidation forces are so rampant is entirely due to their overly sharp firearms..."

The first to speak was the local Third Army commander, who had been fighting a bitter battle with the southern unification forces for half a month. His face was bitter, and he spoke frankly:

"Their muskets, if they hit within effective range, could easily cause casualties on our side. Our shield guards, vanguards, and guards, who were responsible for charging into battle, became sitting ducks during the charge. They could only barely get close to the enemy's position and engage in close combat by suffering huge casualties."

"If they only have this ranged firepower, that's fine! At worst, we can fight a war of attrition and use our sorcerers to suppress them with precision strikes while they crawl out of the trenches to ambush our charging soldiers, and then cover our charging troops as they get closer. Once we engage in close combat, their excellent muskets will be useless."

"The problem is that their ranks are not only equipped with many excellent and powerful sorcerers who can effectively resist our magical attacks, but also have an elite guard that is better equipped than ours and can withstand our melee offensive."

"What is most despairing is that, as I just said, the enemy's guns are easy to operate and powerful, so much so that some ordinary civilians can pick up weapons and become qualified soldiers with just a little training. Therefore, the heavy losses our army suffered after a fierce battle can be replenished in less than a day by consolidating our forces!"

"You should know that the consolidation currently occupies seven cities, each with a population of over one million. They only maintain a force of 140,000 at present, entirely due to limited weapons production capacity. Otherwise, it would be a piece of cake for them to raise 500,000 troops to form a musket army group."

"We can't win a direct assault, and we can't afford a war of attrition... Naturally, the soldiers' morale is low, and they have no will to fight. To be honest, Marshal, unless strong reinforcements arrive, the soldiers on the front lines see no hope of victory whatsoever. No matter how harshly you berate them, you can't ignite their fighting spirit."

The general's words echoed the sentiments of all the Third Army commanders present, who nodded in agreement. They had all faced the unified forces head-on and exhausted all possible tactics.

There are tactics and methods to eliminate the enemy's musketeers. However, if one batch is wiped out today, the enemy can replenish their ranks with new recruits tomorrow, continuing this endless attrition. In the end, our troops are often worn down first, and ultimately, we can only retreat in defeat.

"Marshal, there's another problem," the warship captain added immediately. "The enemy is extremely adept at constructing strong fortifications and setting up clever positions. This makes our attempts to use the warship's firepower for suppression and attack extremely poor in the short term, except for some initial surprise victories."

"Indeed, we can use concentrated artillery fire to temporarily suppress the enemy, preventing them from showing their faces and buying time for our assault troops to get closer. But as the general just said, the enemy has no shortage of powerful guards and sorcerers, and even if our soldiers charge forward, it will be difficult to completely break through their lines."

"Moreover, naval gun barrels have cooling limitations and cannot maintain that high-intensity firepower output indefinitely. Once the barrel overheats, the density and accuracy of the barrage will inevitably decrease, which will give the enemy an opportunity to counterattack."

"While our warships are not afraid of ordinary guns, they are by no means indestructible. If the enemy's spells, guns, or cannons happen to hit the warship's critical weak points such as its cooling vents or ammunition conveyor belts, causing the warship to malfunction and lose its maneuverability, then that massive warship will become a sitting duck for the enemy!"

"Enough!" Marshal Constantine interrupted the captain's speech sharply. His sharp gaze swept across the room, and seeing everyone silent, he couldn't help but sneer:

"I'm not here to hear you boost the enemy's morale and diminish our own! I want to hear solutions to the problem!"

"Even if integration can quickly replenish those musketeers, don't they need to get used to each other? Don't they need to adapt to the brutal pace of the battlefield?"

"A new recruit is a new recruit! Some operations and tactics cannot be accomplished by someone who has just entered the battlefield!"

"You think you can completely crush a battle-hardened elite army with just a few powerful weapons? What a joke! You've just been terrified by the power of guns and rifles, losing your composure and sound judgment!"

"Think about it carefully! After the reduction and replenishment of personnel, can the integrated forces still maintain the same fierce, smooth, and seamless offensive as before? It's just that our army's morale collapsed first, which is why we failed to keenly perceive this change!"

The latest update from Tianyu Literature (tianywx.com) is "The Villain's Journey Begins in the Type-Moon World".

"If three days of intense testing don't reveal their true strength, then five days! Ten days! Half a month! Keep them constantly wearing down!"

"I refuse to believe that if they replaced all 140,000 soldiers with inexperienced rookies, they could maintain the same level of organization and combat effectiveness. War is never a child's game where victory or defeat can be decided simply by killing people!"

Constantine's resounding speech left the generals present looking at each other in bewilderment, unsure how to respond.

"So... Marshal, do you mean we should continue to wage a war of attrition against the Reunion Movement?" a general asked tentatively.

"No, to be more precise, I need you to completely ignite the fighting spirit of the soldiers!"

Constantine said:

"We have an army of 500,000, and even more warships to support us! As long as all our soldiers are in high spirits and unafraid of sacrifice, those 140,000 integrated troops, no matter how tough they are, are by no means as invincible as you imagine!"

Constantine had, after all, witnessed firsthand the even more monstrous elite warriors of the Unified forces in the North, warriors capable of taking on ten or even a hundred men each. Had he not been urgently transferred away by the Emperor, and had he not been caught off guard by the sudden arrival of the Flying Dragons and mounted archers, his army's victory over the Northern Unified forces would have been a foregone conclusion in his strategic plan.

Therefore, even though he had witnessed firsthand the power of the Southern Integral Army's muskets in the past two days, he did not believe that this army, which focused on long-range firepower, was necessarily stronger than the Northern Integral Army. He clearly saw the limitations of this unconventional force.

Upon hearing Constantine's analysis, the generals pondered carefully and realized that the marshal's words made some sense. Their expressions softened, and they began to silently consider countermeasures.

Seeing that the generals seemed to have taken his words to heart, Constantine pressed his advantage, dropping the key information:

"I have received definitive information from the Imperial Council. The conflict between the Empire and Kamishir is about to end, at which time the Fifth and Seventh Armies will be deployed to the southern front!"

"Therefore, our current goal is very clear: simply deal with these remnants of consolidation entrenched in the southern cities! Even if we cannot completely eradicate them, we must severely damage them so that they are unable to continue causing trouble in the south!"

"And you no longer need to worry that heavy casualties among your soldiers will render you unable to resist the threat from the north in the future!"

"Marshal, is this really true?" another general couldn't help but ask. "Are we really no longer worried about the pressure from the north?"

“Absolutely true! You only need to focus all your efforts on defeating the enemy before you! But…”

Constantine's voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a chilling intent:

"If you haven't done well enough, His Majesty has already made it clear: the Empire will no longer need the Third and Fourth Armies... You should understand what this means, right?"

Upon hearing this, the generals present instantly changed their expressions, and many even broke out in a cold sweat.

This has almost completely blocked their last escape route! Previously, they still had the idea of ​​preserving their strength and retreating to the central region in order to make a comeback.

However, if His Majesty decides to disband the two major army groups, these generals will not only lose their ranks, but may also be thoroughly punished for their past crimes. Once they return, they will most likely face the guillotine!

Constantine took in the terrified expressions on everyone's faces and sneered inwardly.

He knew that the purpose of the meeting had finally been achieved. He wanted to completely intimidate the generals of the Third Army and cut off their escape route of passively avoiding battle and outwardly complying while inwardly resisting.

Otherwise, even the best situation will be ruined by them!

Seeing the resolute fighting spirit finally ignite in everyone's eyes, Constantine knew the time was ripe. He stood up and delivered a powerful final summary:

"In that case, immediately begin preparations for a full mobilization! Those so-called musketeers are not to be feared! What we truly need to be wary of are the sorcerers within the enemy ranks and their core elite warriors!"

"Without their magical protection and battlefield command, how could those civilians who have just gotten their hands on weapons possibly be a match for us, the imperial warriors who have fought countless battles and bled on the battlefield?"

"Moreover, from any perspective..." Constantine's voice boomed throughout the council chamber, "In this battle, our forces number 510,000 to 140,000! The advantage lies with us!"

Chapter 440 Game Theory

For the next two weeks, the major battle in the southern region continued. Neighboring countries began to focus their attention on this area.

The fighting between the two sides was far more brutal than expected. In the past two weeks, Ursus has suffered nearly 100,000 casualties, with countless more wounded.

This time, the number of casualties on the integrated side was much higher than before; nearly half of the 140,000 casualties died on this battlefield.

There are many factors that caused such a huge number of casualties:

Firstly, as time went on, the Ursus army became increasingly familiar with the Reunion Army's musket attack patterns and developed more effective countermeasures, allowing them to take the lives of musketmen at a lower cost.

Secondly, it is difficult to quickly replace the veterans who died in the Integrated Army with inexperienced new recruits. Although these new recruits are full of fighting spirit, they often make mistakes, act rashly, or suffer accidental injuries or deaths due to lack of experience when executing complex tactics and dealing with emergencies.

Thirdly, there was the sustained suppression of firepower from the warships. Ursus' two land-based warships provided powerful long-range fire support, effectively compensating for their previous disadvantage in long-range strikes.

Its overwhelming artillery fire made it difficult for the Integral Army's musketeers to fire with peace of mind, causing immense psychological pressure on the new recruits and significantly increasing casualties.

Wang Chong was not too surprised by the battle losses. The geographical environment of the southern cities was much more comfortable than that of the north, so the overall quality of the young and strong men there was lower than that of the young and strong men in the north.

Furthermore, the young and able-bodied men in the southern cities had limited training time and were almost immediately thrown into actual combat upon picking up their weapons.

The ability to maintain the battle line and even push back when outnumbered and with the equipment gap partially offset by warships, while maintaining a better kill ratio than the enemy, was largely due to the many "conveniences" it provided and the high morale of its soldiers.

In addition, the continuous influx of troops from the three cities ensured that the Integrated Army's strength remained above 100,000, which enabled them to hold out and even launch a counterattack.

Yes, the last reason for the heavy losses was that the Reunion Army did not adopt a conservative defense, but instead actively pushed forward the battle line, trying to force the Ursus Army and its warships back.