“General! Are you out of your mind!?”

“Yeah, but does this plan have any flaws?”

In the strategy meeting the next day, Daniel unveiled it.

That devilish scheme born from a mad flash of inspiration.

“It’s full of holes! Crossing the border? But… but…”

Yet the words wouldn’t come.

The renowned commanders who led the other units present at the meeting scrambled to pick it apart.

“There aren’t any. This insane idea that looks riddled with holes at first glance… it doesn’t have any clear flaws.”

“But sending them across the border is way too risky! If they break through here…”

“We won’t last another three days, though. Holding the line just means dying anyway.”

“Th-that’s true, but…”

“Then we do it. What’s the point of desperately defending these doomed bodies? If we’re going to die, let’s die fighting. You want to turn your back on the enemy and die?”

“…”

Then the man with the highest authority in the room, the supreme commander, spoke up.

“Daniel. Just to confirm… whose plan is this?”

“…My nephew’s. The creativity of children is truly terrifying.”

“What? You’re entrusting the future of the EU to a kid’s plan!?”

“Of course, we adults have to scrutinize it as thoroughly as possible and refine it. But I believe it’s solid.”

The supreme commander fell silent for a moment, deep in thought.

Then he looked up and spoke.

“Understood. Daniel, we’re going with this plan.”

…

“Huh? The enemy’s border defenses are super thin! Or did they already run away? Haha! Glory to the Earthguard Empire!”

The Earthguard Empire forces broke through the weakened border defenses with little resistance.

A short distance from the border, the commander in charge of those troops grinned and let out a gleeful laugh.

This would earn him a medal from His Majesty the Emperor—straight shot to promotion.

Imagining his bright future, he couldn’t stop drooling. He’d buy two or three top-tier sex slaves. Yeah, that sounded perfect.

“Colonel Kuzuna! Emergency call from base!”

“What is it? You’re ruining the moment.”

Kuzuna picked up the receiver, and his face drained of color at the report.

“Yes, this is Kuzuna. We’ve already crossed the border… What? No way! But the enemy… no way!”

What Kuzuna saw was the massive mountain range towering to the side.

If the enemy had come over that, they wouldn’t have tripped any scouts.

“F-full retreat! Protect the base now!”

(Bad, bad, bad. If the base falls, I’ll take the blame… Worst case… beheading?)

“What are you doing!? Everyone! Recall every unit that crossed the border! Formation doesn’t matter—get back to base at full speed!”

Kuzuna’s orders were the worst possible.

As a commander’s orders went, they were rock bottom—and for good reason. He was just a baron’s son.

A commander entrusted with troops solely due to his noble lineage.

Sure, he’d graduated from military academy with top marks.

But he was a green commander with no real battlefield experience, only able to issue by-the-book instructions.

So he panicked at the thought of execution, breaking formation to rush his units back.

Unaware that this would lead to the absolute worst outcome.

…

“Daniel! We’ve successfully raided the enemy base! We can hold it temporarily like this!”

“And the units that crossed the border are scattering back to base like frightened spiders—no formation at all!”

In the command room, Daniel received reports of the operation’s success over comms.

“Good! All forces, charge! Pincer them! Cut off their tails one by one!”

The border defense units switched to a full offensive.

They picked off the stretched-out, fleeing enemy rear units one after another through sheer numbers.

…

“Colonel Kuzuna! The rear units are under attack!”

“Ignore it! Once everyone’s back at base, we’ll have the advantage in forces! We can regroup!”

Kuzuna raced toward the base.

The Earthguard base had nearly all its troops committed to the front lines, leaving it virtually undefended.

They were caught off guard, with no interception preparations.

Some soldiers were even chugging booze.

The EU’s KOG units launched a surprise assault on that base.

The Earthguard forces there were annihilated in moments, not even given time to activate their KOGs.

But with the front-line units returning, they should have had the numbers to retake it easily.

“Is that… all? Why only this many from the front? We had at least a hundred!”

Yet the units under constant rear attack had lost nearly half by the time they reached base.

“Colonel Kuzuna… that’s…”

Before them loomed the occupied base.

The EU flag flying high, KOGs aiming guns their way.

And behind them, a massive EU force.

“Ah… ah… ah…”

The by-the-book man was frozen, unable to think beyond his manual.

No plan to turn this around came to him.

“Your Majesty… forgive me.”

And with that, his path to glory ended.

Along with a devastating blow to Earthguard—and his life.

…

“A total victory!! Well done, Road!!”

That night.

Having heard of the operation’s success, Daniel cracked open a rare bottle of wine and embraced Road and Scarlet in celebration.

“We won! Uncle!”

“Yeah, it’s all but over! I’ve never seen a win like that! I love you!!”

“Uncle, your beard hurts!! You reek of booze!!”

“Gimme a kiss, muah!! Haha!”

“Seriously, drinking this much… but I’m so glad…”

“Yeah, truly glad. Road, count on you again!”

“Yeah!”

Over the moon, Daniel ruffled Road’s hair and planted a kiss on him.

He downed the wine Scarlet had made like it was water, in high spirits.

It was a resounding victory, the greatest imaginable. They’d pushed back from the brink of losing the border, dealing massive damage to the enemy.

From that day, Daniel included Road in strategy meetings to hear his input.

Even the desperate supreme commander approved the boy’s presence, given he’d proposed that plan.

But everyone figured that plan was just a fluke—a child’s innocent whim.

They were wrong, and quickly corrected.

Road’s subsequent devilish ideas were all brilliantly insightful.

Daniel and the others built strategies around them.

Though rough around the edges, the veteran officers polished them into flawless plans.

They won every battle, refusing to yield an inch in this northern EU sector—in fact, pushing forward.

Through these days of combat, Road’s talents as a commander and strategist blossomed.

…

“Why are we suffering such repeated defeats in that one sector!?”

Earthguard Empire’s 99th Emperor, Orgord Earthguard, seethed with frustration.

Already past sixty, he was Earthguard’s supreme ruler.

The world’s most selfish man, hating anything beyond his control.

“W-we don’t know, Your Majesty. Reports say they’ve been overwhelmed by unconventional tactics…”

The reporting civil official sweated as he delivered the bad news.

He knew the slightest misstep could cost his head.

Everywhere else was total victory, yet this one sector kept losing—touching the emperor’s wrath.

(Some genius commander there…? But with tactics alone… what kind of prodigy…?)

“Excuse me. I have a report… Sorry, I’ll come back.”

Then a soldier entered.

It was Zeke in his late twenties, young and vigorous.

Seeing another report in progress, he started to leave.

“Oh! Zeke! Good to have you back. Come here! Heard you took another base. Another medal for you.”

“Thanks to everyone’s help, Your Majesty. I couldn’t have…”

The young Zeke, holder of the “strongest prodigy” title.

The emperor, who adored the strong, favored him greatly and trusted him implicitly.

“Yeah, yeah. You should be more arrogant—that’s your only flaw. Or maybe that’s why you’re so strong. Anyway, Zeke, I need your Holy Knights for something.”

“What is it?”

“Reorganize the Holy Knight units and head to a specific spot. Gather about a hundred Holy Knights.”

“That’s… enough to topple a nation. We’d need nearly every Holy Knight from the fronts…”

“Doesn’t matter. There’s a region with fierce resistance. Right around here on the map.”

The emperor pointed, and Zeke grimaced.

For a hundred elite Holy Knights—the empire’s finest—it was too small a target.

“It seems a bit excessive, but… if it’s Your Majesty’s command.”

“We need to show our power. Can’t have them getting cocky. So I’m counting on you, Zeke.”

“As you command.”

And so the empire’s strongest unit was assembled.

Zeke as ace, filled with equals in might—a powerhouse force.

The invincible legion of the world’s strongest nation’s elites mobilized.

“Target: EU northern border defenses! With all forces!”

The place one boy had defended.

The place he wanted to protect.

“Annihilate them!”

To seize it.