General Dardaniel stood on a rock jutting out from the mountaintop position, binoculars in hand, watching the Lampari Kingdom army's camp in the distance below with a grim expression.
The Lampari Kingdom's army had been camped at the foot of the mountain for two days without making any moves. It was decidedly strange.
But General Dardaniel dared not let his guard down. The corps he commanded was defending the most important pass leading into the former Candel Empire's North Province. If it fell, all the territory the Malo Empire controlled in the northern Candel Empire would be completely exposed to the Lampari Kingdom's army.
Given the relative strength of the two armies, if they could not stop the Lampari Kingdom's forces at a strategic pass so easy to defend and difficult to attack, allowing them to pour into the northern plains of the Candel Empire would mean losing all the territory the Malo Empire had taken such pains to secure.
But... could they hold?
General Dardaniel looked up at the sky and smiled bitterly.
The Lampari Kingdom's military combat Mana Airships were considerably superior to the Malo Empire's in virtually every respect. Whenever their armies faced off, the Lampari Kingdom always held air supremacy, leaving the Malo Empire constrained at every turn.
To reverse this disadvantage in the air, the empire had reportedly begun discussing the restoration of the Mage Corps system, bringing the powerful mages it had amassed over the years back onto the battlefield to counter the Lampari Kingdom's Mana Airship battalions.
On the surface, the proposal was not without merit.
Although Mana Airships were powerful, their sheer size ultimately limited their maneuverability.
If powerful mages were deployed against them, their current in-depth research and understanding of mana space should keep them from being left helpless by a