"Really? She's pretty twisted."
This is a story from the time when I told Bern Valou about Sylph's personality.
────Finally… We can finally put an end to this foolish war. No one will have to be killed anymore.
────The peace we cherish is right in front of us.
Sylph is not a warmonger.
She abhors killing and seeks peace.
"She's already long been on this side… wouldn't you agree?"
That's why, as the capture of the city of Josegrad became imminent, she couldn't help but express her overwhelming emotions at the prospect of the war ending.
However, we faced fierce resistance, and urban warfare turned into hell, causing Sylph to suffer.
"Do you really think there's a place for that woman in a peaceful world?"
When I conveyed her words to the devil Bern, he smirked, twisting his lips in mockery.
"What a pitiful little girl."
Bern Valou despised Sylph Nova.
He likely even held her in contempt.
Whatever Bern wanted to accomplish was thwarted by Sylph.
I wonder how much he regretted and lamented over this.
That's why Bern prepared such a scheme.
In the process of leading Austin to victory, he intended to make Sylph suffer the most.
His plot was filled with a frightening amount of malice towards Sylph.
"Remi. Austin will lose to the Alliance if things continue like this."
Bern Valou apparently left this message to his ally Remi Ulyakov shortly before his death.
"If Austin loses, then next will be the Sabbath. Probably both Flamel and Aerys will come to absorb Austin's fertile mainland and engage in intimidating negotiations."
"…If that happens, what should we do?"
"There'd be no choice but to comply. The Sabbath's national power has greatly diminished due to the chaos of the revolution. It can't compete with the two countries that absorbed Austin."
Bern Valou predicted the defeat of the nation of Austin.
It was a bleak future for the Sabbath's Workers' Council government as well.
"It pains me that they've elevated the people of the former Sabbatian government. They don't recognize the legitimacy of the Workers' Council."
"Then, perhaps…"
"If we oppose their demands, there's a chance the Workers' Council will be overthrown."
The Workers' Council is a pro-Austin party.
From the perspective of the Alliance, they are nothing but a nuisance.
There was a good possibility that the former government of the Sabbath could assert its legitimacy and return to the country backed by the Alliance.
"…But Bern must have a plan to deal with that, right? If not, you wouldn't bring up this topic with me."
"Ah, as expected of Remi. You get to the point quickly."
And what of the malice left behind by the hero who saved the nation, Bern Valou, in order to prevent such a possible future?
"30,000 people will do. Send reinforcements to Austin."
"…30,000 people? That's far too few."
"That will be enough."
It was directed solely at one person, Sylph Nova.
***
"The enemy has begun their invasion."
The final stage of the Defense of Winn.
Almost the entire Flamer-Aerys combined army launched a simultaneous charge.
If this were a typical multi-point simultaneous breakthrough strategy, we would retreat while abandoning the trenches, thereby hampering the enemy's momentum.
Lieutenant Colonel Verdi, the commander of the Austin Army, was also relaying such orders to each sector.
"We've been given permission to withdraw one layer on our own judgment."
"…Understood."
However, there's no way that Sylph would attempt a simple multiple-point simultaneous attack at this stage.
If we fail to see through her plan, Austin will be defeated and destroyed.
It is not difficult to imagine what will become of the people.
I gripped the communication device to Headquarters tightly, scanning the entire trench system while trembling with tension.
"What are you planning, Sylph Nova?"
After an hour of holding our breath and staring down the enemy, the operation suddenly began.
"Hey, the enemy is charging in!"
"They haven't even done the preparatory bombardment yet?!"
"Touri, what the hell is going on?"
Eventually, the Allied forces let out a roar and charged in with incredible force.
Typically, the rule is to break the enemy's defenses with artillery magic before an assault.
However, even though artillery was positioned right behind them on the front line, the Allied forces did not launch any preparatory bombardment.
…This is.
"…They're planning to bombard us as we retreated."
"Wha…"
Normally, artillery units are positioned in the rear.
This is because they don't want to lose valuable artillery mages at the front lines.
However, combining this with the multi-point simultaneous breakthrough changes things.
If the enemy attempts a multiple-point simultaneous breakthrough tactic, the defenders will likely choose to retreat and resort to a bait-and-switch tactic.
So, the artillery had come forward to bombard us as we retreat.
If you think about it that way, it makes perfect sense.
"Then, does that mean we can't retreat?"
"Let's start by fighting back normally. The enemy is charging without a preparatory bombardment; it should be easy to intercept them."
Sylph managed to seal off our retreat by showing us the artillery.
If this were to happen, most soldiers would think, "We're being attacked at multiple points at the same time, but it's better not to retreat."
Indeed, I was also sweating nervously, but I decided we shouldn't retreat.
"Hey, the artillery is moving forward!"
"Huh? Why are the artillerymen coming forward?"
"What's the enemy's aim? What are they planning?"
However, after I instructed a normal response, the artillery showed further movements forward even though they were already in range to shoot at us.
The artillery was charging forward, protected by many Allied soldiers deployed in the trenches in front of us.
"Oh, I see."
"Touri?"
Upon hearing that report, I realized the details of Sylph's plan.
Pushing the artillery forward means our defense line has already collapsed.
"Perhaps they're already using infiltration tactics."
"Huh?!"
It's likely that several key points have already been breached.
In other words, the collapse of this defense line is nearly certain.
"If we are breached at multiple points at the same time and our forces are disrupted by infiltration tactics, we'll have no choice but to retreat in a panic."
"…"
"And the enemy is probably sending artillery forward to shoot down the Austin soldiers as they retreat."
Just how murderous are they?
It seems we're already in a situation where we have no choice but to abandon this trench and retreat.
If they are advancing the artillery to attack us as we retreat…
"Notify Headquarters and ask for troops to withdraw immediately. If the enemy artillery advances, we will suffer tremendous casualties."
"…Understood."
With that, I thought I had discerned Sylph's plan…
If my prediction was correct, we'd be able to retreat before any major damage was done.
I'm sure Verdi will understand. There's still a future for us if we can get him to decide to withdraw quickly.
At least, that's what I thought.
Then, an earth-splitting explosion echoed near the trench.
"What's going on?!"
"We're being shelled!"
Suddenly, the ground erupted with explosions.
I looked and saw that artillery had advanced and were shelling our trench positions.
"…Huh?"
My mind went blank at this unexpected tactic.
The enemy artillery was not waiting for us to begin our retreat to attack.
Even though there were many Allied assault troops right in front of them, they fired artillery at close range.
"Wha-Wha-What?"
"The enemy is advancing while crawling through the artillery fire."
"They're using bombardment as bait to "infiltrate" with their entire force!!"
This is Sylph Nova's masterstroke.
Her "final tactic" devised for trench warfare.
"This can't be—"
***
"It's a plan to turn all of Flamel and Aerys' soldiers into an 'infiltration force.'"
"What do you mean by that?"
"The role of the infiltration unit is to take the enemy by surprise and quickly secure the trenches. Normally, this requires a high level of training, but wouldn't it be better to create an environment where any unit can easily secure a trench?"
"That's easier said than done. What do they intend to do?"
"That's what this 'Crawling Bombardment' is for…"
Sylph confidently declared this with a voice that was on the verge of tears during the Allied forces' meeting.
"We'll advance assault troops simultaneously with the artillery units and crawl toward the trenches almost simultaneously with the bombardment."
"I've never heard of such a tactic. Is that really possible?"
"It is possible. In a situation where bombardment is pouring down, there's no way they can deal with us creeping in while concealed."
Crawling Bombardment. This is the idea of utilizing artillery magic not just as an attack but as a smoke screen.
It would be difficult to deal with both the bombardment and the infiltration simultaneously.
This was a completely new tactic that made it possible for even poorly trained units to execute infiltration tactics.
"If we advance the artillery, we can conduct precise bombardment. We can create a thick wall with assault troops in front of the artillery, we won't have to worry about being attacked."
"Oh, that's a groundbreaking method."
"So there was a hidden card like this?"
"As expected of Sylph Nova."
This plan was approved by the Alliance Headquarters.
It was the secret strategy of Sylph Nova, who had continued to pile up various achievements up to that point.
It was a method that seemed to combine the best aspects of multi-point simultaneous breakthrough tactics and infiltration tactics.
The preliminary evaluation of this operation was said to be quite high.
────But really.
Is such a strategy effective?
***
Our chance of victory has come.
The moment I saw the bombardment, I was certain of it.
"Lieutenant Gavel, stop the message! Prepare for a counterattack!"
"Huh? Wait, Touri?!"
I've been waiting for this moment all along.
The slim chance of victory prepared by Bern Valou.
With Bern gone, there is no staff officer capable of defeating Sylph. This is the only way we can defeat her.
"Finally, the devil Bern has risen from hell."
This was his final struggle.
Bern's claws had pierced Sylph's throat.
Victory will never come again if we let this opportunity slip away.
My whole body was trembling with excitement as I prepared myself to charge.
***
…Crawling Bombardment.
It was the century's folly that had become synonymous with Sylph.
"W-What's happening over there?"
"What are they doing?"
At the front line, the Allied forces were screaming and falling into chaos.
It was only natural.
That's what happens when you rain artillery fire down on a living assault trooper.
"Aren't they burning their allies to death…?"
"Oh, a whole roasted Flamer came flying at me."
The artillery magic of this era was notoriously inaccurate. It was common for the aim to deviate by several dozen meters.
Even when they got closer, they couldn't make precise strikes, and many Allied soldiers burned to death caught up in their own bombardment.
"The enemy isn't making any progress at all."
"Are they stupid or what?"
To make matters worse, orders had been given to crawl forward.
After the artillery magic is fired, large craters form where the ground becomes superheated.
They would get burned if they crawled forward, so they had to bypass the craters.
As a result, the speed of the charge was lost, and it turned into a slow march.
In other words, they became easy targets.
"Shoot, shoot, kill them!"
"Punish these idiots thoroughly!"
We rained a hail of bullets down on these Allied soldiers.
Sylph's cunning scheme of "Crawling Bombardment" would go down in military history as a disaster.
It was said to be one of the extremes of theories devised by those who had never known the battlefield.
"Hey, the Allied forces are completely thrown off balance!"
"The enemy density is so high; it's open season!"
"Let's go!"
And the command that approved such a plan, the Allied command, remains a laughingstock to this day.
The operation was that meaningless, foolish, and incomprehensible.
"I don't understand their intent."
"Did they really just self-destruct?"
Verdi was skeptical of the Allied forces' sudden self-destruction, wondering if it was a trap.
However, Major Curley reportedly gave the order for the entire army to advance, saying, "Now is the opportunity."
"We will also advance forward. We will charge forward into the Sabbatian position."
"Wait, we're attacking?"
"Now is the only time to attack."
I held my rifle and stared at the trench ahead.
There stood a frozen artillery unit, standing stiff on the battlefield.
"If we strike the artillery here, even the Allied forces will have to give up continuing the war."
"…"
"Let's take out the 'weak spot' they offered and end the war."
Mages are extremely valuable. They cannot be easily replaced.
So, if we strike the defenseless artillery unit right in front of us, we should be able to force the Allied forces to retreat.
Surely, that is the path laid out for us.
"Charge!"
I targeted the Allied soldiers who had been half-destroyed and put on the chopping block by their own bombardment.
Leading my regiment, I charged forward and shot them down mercilessly.
***
Foolish, foolish Sylph Nova.
The most foolish commander in history, Sylph Nova.
The Allied forces were so close to victory.
Yet due to Sylph's unnecessary suggestion, they suffered tremendous losses.
This "Crawling Bombardment" resulted in one of the most significant defeats in history.
The Austin-Sabbath Alliance suffered almost no losses in this operation.
On the other hand, the Allied forces suffered around 50,000 casualties and retreated without capturing a single trench.
This blunder became so infamous that her name would be remembered in later generations.
The Flamer and Aerys' people curse her with intense hatred.
In both her homeland of the Sabbath and in Austin, Sylph is despised for the great damage she caused.
The name Sylph Nova became etched into history as a name held in contempt.
***
────Why did the genius Sylph do something so foolish?
"Was this the right thing to do, Touri?"
Sylph was in the trench I charged into.
After slaughtering the artillery, the Witch of the Trenches, Sylph Nova, stood at the secured base across from me.
"…Sylph Nova."
"It's been a while. I didn't want to see your face."
With her tattered Sabbatian uniform adorned with pristine Allied medals, she wore a strained smile as she watched the battlefield collapse.
"Hey. You feeling good, Touri?"
"…"
"I have lost everything: my homeland, my comrades, my position, and even my family's 'prestige.'"
None of the Sabbatian soldiers around her showed any sign of resistance.
As if they intended to surrender from the start, they immediately dropped their guns and raised their hands.
"Good for you, Touri Lowe."
"…"
"You've taken everything from me! It must feel wonderful, you!!"
She didn't flinch even as countless guns were pointed at her; she shouted at me with furious scorn.
It was a declaration filled with a clear hatred, different from her usual tantrums.
"You… demon!!"
That statement surely expressed her feelings more aptly than anything else.
"…Thank you for losing, Sylph Nova."
What kind of existence is a demon?
They are said to tempt, deceive, and sink people into the depths of depravity.
If that's the case, then Sylph must have seen me and Bern Valou as demons.
"Have you seen the photos of Josegrad that were enclosed in the letter from Remi?"
"Shut up."
The devil Bern kept whispering in Sylph's ear in an attempt to corrupt her.
Lose, lose. Lose on purpose.
"Josegrad has been rebuilt into a vibrant, lively city, hasn't it?"
"Stop it!"
Sylph Nova viewed the Workers' Council regime as something like a bubble.
The dreamer Remi Ulyakov, unrealistic ideas, and the absence of politicians to bring them together.
She believed that the Workers' Council regime would collapse within a few years, and the Sabbath would fall into chaos once again.
"Sylph, you once said that the Sabbath cannot be governed by the Workers' Council, and it will collapse soon."
"Just shut up!!"
That was the reason Sylph Nova took action.
With overflowing Sabbatian refugees and the impending civil unrest, she wanted to create a refuge within Austin's territory to save the citizens from chaos.
Thus, Sylph was fighting for a just cause.
A "righteous cause" to save the citizens of her homeland from chaos.
"Sylph, you were not wrong. If nothing had been done, the Workers' Council regime would have collapsed immediately."
"…Shut up, please."
Sylph was a good-natured, patriotic soldier who loved her country.
She was determined to follow in her father's footsteps and protect her country.
No matter how difficult the road may have been, she would have gritted her teeth and continued on for the sake of her country.
"That's why Bern Valou devoted himself with malice to the reconstruction and support of the Sabbath until his last breath."
"Please, just stop it already!!!"
But what if that righteous cause were to be taken away?
What if the premise that the Workers' Council couldn't govern the country and would soon fall into civil unrest crumbled?
────The envelope I gave to Sylph during the ceasefire negotiations contained a variety of photographs.
There were photos of a restored and beautiful street in Josegrad.
Photos of children playing in a square filled with laughter.
The main street was filled with many citizens, capturing the moment of them raising glasses of Vok in cheers.
Yes. The Workers' Council had defied Sylph's expectations and maintained a stable political system.
Therefore, the Sabbatian people no longer had any need for the former government forces.
Even if Sylph won this battle, the ones to benefit would only be the bureaucrats of the former government.
In order to regain power, they would want a civil war that would split the stable Sabbath in two.
Those photographs cornered Sylph Nova.
If that were true, her battle would have no meaning at all.
"Foolish, foolish, Sylph Nova."
The devil Bern whispered to the fool Sylph.
"Your righteous cause is already gone."
But Sylph could not accept this fact.
That would mean denying everything she had lived for until now.
'These photos must have been fabricated and just made to look that way.'
"Do you think this photo is a fake, and the real Josegrad is hell?"
'There's no way those people can do politics. The citizens of the Sabbath must still be suffering.'
She was convinced that the politics of the Workers' Council were chaotic and that the citizens were in agony.
"Will you refuse to accept reality and drag the Sabbath into a civil war to obtain victory?"
Yet the soldiers from the Sabbath who joined the battle were well-dressed, well-supplied, and had high morale.
The very people Sylph wanted to protect were now pointing their guns at her, making the former Sabbatian government forces their enemy, shouting, "Protect our homeland!"
"That's fine. You will gain power over the mountain of countless Sabbatian corpses."
Sylph Nova had realized it from the start.
That the wicked Bern Valou would undoubtedly come to stabilize the political situation and undermine Sylph's position.
"You will be treated well. You can become a hero of the former government. You can live a luxurious life."
So now, Sylph had no reason to fight.
Her wish for peace in her homeland had already been achieved.
────And then, the devil whispered.
"This battle is nothing more than you killing your own people for your own sake."
How did she respond to Bern's whisper?
***
This is the true nature of Bern's scheme.
He led Sylph Nova to self-destruct by taking away her reason to fight.
"Sylph Nova, I will be placing you under arrest."
"…Hey, how is it, Touri?"
"I will at least provide you with blankets and meals."
This is why Sylph came to be called the most foolish commander in history.
This was the chance of victory that Bern left for Austin.
Bern believed in Sylph's abilities.
If Sylph Nova is a genius at winning, then she could also achieve the most flawless defeat possible.
Whether she won or lost this battle, Sylph's future would be hell.
If that's the case, her nature would lead her to act in the interest of her homeland.
Knowing that this was his plan, feeling the sense of defeat that she had been successfully manipulated…
"How can you be so cruel…?"
Once the devil Bern had set his sights on her, Sylph's fate had already been sealed.