I JUST WANT A PEACEFUL LIFE

While looking at the windy grassland in front of him, a knight approaches Jade.

"Sir, we detected the Nergal's army leaving their border." said the knight.

"So, they finally made a move. Prepare the army and call all the generals." said Leon.

"Yes, sir." replied the knight.

As soon as the knight went to relay his message, Jade's body was set on fire and flew in a certain direction. A moment later, Jade arrived at one of the hills in the grassland. On the top of the hill, an old man is painting the canvas ignoring the incoming Jade.

Arriving beside the old man, "You are still here." said Jade.

"Ahh… Jade, you are here again. I am just an old man doing his hobby. You don't need to keep visiting me." replied the old man.

"If all the old men are like you, there will be no monsters in this world." said Jade.

"Hahahaha… Don't worry, I just want to record this beautiful place before it gets destroyed." said the old man.

"Then, I suppose you will not meddle with our war." said Jade.

"Ohh.. I am not sure about that. As a wanderer, I go as the wind carries me." said the old man.

"You…" said Jade while releasing his aura.

Not wanting to lose, the old man also releases a tremendous aura on par with Jade. The whole area immediately shakes while the animal, in the span of hundreds of kilometers, runs for their lives. Few people in the Windshire Fort could even detect their mana pressure.

This is why Jade couldn't go away from the Windshire Fort. It is not because he needs to be on guard for the Nergal Kingdom's attack. It is because a certain old man decided to come and stay on the Humnia Grassland, which is the neutral area between Nergal and the Heart kingdom.

Moreover, he is not an ordinary old man as he is none other than Archmage Ikalis, who stayed in the Heart kingdom's capital city a few weeks ago. Under the pretext of painting the scenery, Ikalis suddenly appears in the Humnia Grassland and forces Jade to keep looking out for him.

Although both are seventh-grade combatants, their expertise is in different fields. As an Archmage, Ikalis could do more large-scale destruction easily, while Jade is more proficient in frontal battle.

Ikalis may have a hard time fighting against Jade, but Ikalis could destroy and decimate the whole Heart kingdom's army, which Jade didn't want to see.

After the pressure clashed for a while, "My.. My.. we will destroy this entire hill before your war even begins if we keep continuing like this." said Archmage Ikalis casually before retracting his mana pressure.

Jade didn't respond but also retracted his pressure.

"Alright, you have my word. I will only spectate your war from the side." said Archmage Ikalis.

"You better be." replied Jade shortly.

"Or what?? Killing me?" asked Archmage Ikalis while smirking.

"No. But, you will be hunted down by two angry seventh-grade combatants." said Jade before leaving Ikalis.

"That's certainly something I'd like to avoid." replied Archmage Ikalis while looking at Jade in the distance.

Then, Archmage Ikalis looked at the bright sky and the windy area in the surrounding area.

"It seems there will be a huge storm coming." said Archmage Ikalis solemnly.

A few moments later, Jade arrives back at the Windshire Fort's war meeting room. There are already many people waiting for him inside the room. The room atmosphere is quite tense and filled with people with at least fifth-grade strength.

Despite the tension, no one dares to make a voice. Unlike the noble's meeting, the Heart kingdom war meeting is more serious and strict. The Heart kingdom has large territory and borders with many kingdoms, which led them to have a lot of war in the past.

Hence, they have sophisticated war military laws and procedures. Any fools who try to do something foolish will be executed on the spot. The people inside the war meeting room are also not ordinary people but war veterans who know the cruelty of the battlefield.

Jade appeared in the room and immediately looked at the three people near his seat. They are the Duke and Duchess of the Heart kingdom. Two of them are active Duke and Duchess, while the last one is a hidden Duke. All of them are full-fledged sixth-grade combatants.

"Alright, let's start this war meeting." said Jade after measuring up the three Duke/Duchess.

As soon as Jade said that, he sat on his seat while the nearby detection unit began to explain the Nergal kingdom's army they had detected.

According to the detection unit, the Nergal kingdom sent five sixth-grade combatants, fifteen fifth-grade combatants, thousands of fourth-grade elite knights, and many low-grade soldiers.

Hearing such a lineup, everyone couldn't help but hold their breath. The real problem of the opposing army is not their huge number but their fifteen fifth-grade combatants. In front of a superior power like a seventh-grade combatant, numbers are useless.

Jade could decimate them using one of his large-scale attacks. However, the enemy sixth-grade combatant definitely did not let him be.

They will hold and fight with Jade and the duke/duchess. Hence, they didn't have enough people to hold the enemy's fifteen fifth-grade combatants. These fifth-grade combatants may be able to cause a lot of casualties in their army.

Although the other three duke/duchess could also fight these people, it would also take time and many variable things could happen during that time. Currently, there are only eight fifth-grade combatants inside the Windshire Fort.

It means they are outnumbered by half. These fifth-grade combatants may be able to buy time until the duke/duchess helps them. But, without proper planning, it will only lead to chaos and more casualties on the battlefield.

The purpose of this battle is not to win since there is Jade on his side. Unless the Nergal king comes, it will be impossible for the Nergal army to take over or win this battle. Hence, the purpose of this battle is to win with the smallest amount of casualties.

The Heart kingdom knows this will be the beginning of their war against Nergal and all the other nearby kingdoms. These nearby kingdoms are waiting for an opportunity to launch their own attack the moment the Heart Kingdom shows any moment of weakness.

Currently, the Heart Kingdom can buy time through diplomacy and contracts. But, in the end, they still need to face all these nearby kingdoms, especially large kingdoms like Nergal, Tascar, and Hascua, who have the strength to invade the Heart Kingdom.

Although Tascar and the Hascua kingdom are too busy fighting each other to join Nergal and Heart war, they will still take the opportunity to bite the Heart kingdom if given a chance.

Therefore, the Heart kingdom must not show weakness like having large casualties in this battle. After the lengthy narration of Nergal's army from the detection unit, everyone became silent, waiting for Jade's command.

"How is the movement of the Nergal's army?" asked Jade.

"They are divided into many groups led by fifth-grade generals while the sixth-grade combatant is advanced along with a force consisting of a large number of four-grade elite knights." explained the detection unit.

The Windshire Fort is a massive Fortress built in the span of a few kilometers wide to block the road from the Humnia Grassland completely. However, this enormous Fortress also has a few weak points.

Windshire Fort is a fort with a linear shape which makes it have weak points where its walls end. One of the endpoints is to stop at the massive tall rock cliff. The other end up near the Dark Forest before making a curve and entering the Heart kingdom area.

Most people thought the Dark Forest endpoint was the weakest link. However, it is the strongest link. Although it looks near the Dark Forest on the map, it is actually located hundreds of kilometers from it.

However, if the Nergal kingdom dares to attack from that side, it will be suicide since they will attract all the monsters in the Dark Forest. Battlefields between combatants will always produce large amounts of mana in the air, which draw monsters inside the Dark Forest.

Therefore, the Nergal army usually stayed as far as possible from the Dark Forest side and focused their attack on the huge cliff endpoint. The last thing they want is to fight Heart kingdom while their army gets flanked by hordes of monsters.

Seeing the hologram distribution of the Nergal army, everyone knows they will employ the same strategy as in the past.

After being silent for a while, "Any suggestion?" asked Jade towards the people in the room.

"I think we should just keep focusing on defense with our wall advantage. This way, we have a major advantage and reduce the casualties." said Duchess Sunarm.

"I disagree with the Duchess Sunarm's suggestion. Certainly, we have a major advantage with the wall, but it will prolong this battle, leading to more casualties." said Duke Crestflare.

"In my opinion, we should go out and fight them frontally as we did in the past war." added Duke Crestflare.