Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint
Chapter 320: Never War Again

After the golem’s warning, the Regressor immediately leaped to the top of the Catafract and activated her Seven Colored Eyes.

With her sixth eye, the far-seeing “Indigo Eyes,” she scanned the ridgeline and muttered.

“…I don’t see anything.”

As she just said, there were no signs of the enemy anywhere along the Catafract’s path.

The communication golem, D.G., responded.

[We believe they haven’t arrived yet!]

“I know. If I can’t see them, how are we supposed to prepare for an ambush? And how did you even know there’s going to be an attack?”

[We received a warning from another Signaller! We’re expecting an attack to happen soon!]

There was no doubt that the report was accurate—it came through the Signaller Network. The transparency of the network, devoid of suspicion, was one of the strengths of the Signallers.

Still, the golem, gripping the steering wheel, grumbled softly.

[However, according to the rules of engagement, the warning came too early. Based on the timing, we should’ve seen them by now… Just like the bridge earlier, their timing calculations are completely off. A.B. is terrible being at the helm, I guess.]

She even had the nerve to complain about Abbey.

Was this emotional expression in the communication due to Abbey’s influence?

No, emotions had always existed inside the system. It just hadn’t shown it until now.

Regardless, I responded casually.

“Well, mistakes happen sometimes.”

[How could such a simple thing go wrong… but I’ll try to understand… Wait, alert received! They’re coming!]

This time, the Regressor saw it too.

A brown cloud of dust rose from beyond the hill, gradually thickening as it came closer to our position.

We didn’t have to wait long.

Horse hooves pounded the ground, announcing their arrival. One of them shouted.

“Yah-ho! Found it!”

Their appearance was quite unusual.

Every single one of them wore patched-up clothes with no regard for aesthetics or pattern.

It was clear that they added and mended pieces whenever necessary, resulting in a complete lack of uniformity.

There was only one commonality among them—they were all riding something.

“I told you! The supply convoy would come eventually! Just wait and we’ll make a huge profit this time!”

The man who shouted was riding a large two-wheeled vehicle.

Despite its unstable appearance with just two wheels, he skillfully maintained balance by gripping a long steel bar that extended to the sides as he sped forward.

A man on horseback spurred his mount to follow him.

“That’s money, wrapped up and ready! All we have to do is pick it up!”

“No need to add wheels! It’s already got huge ones!”

“Hahaha! How much is that thing worth? Forget scrounging for small change, let’s hit it big!”

“If we’d gotten here earlier, I’d be riding that thing by now!”

The Catafract we were riding was a strategic weapon of the Military State.

A steel fortress weighing tens of tons.

How they planned to seize it was another question entirely, but whether they could haul it away was highly doubtful due to its sheer weight.

Not that they seemed to care.

In fact, the Catafract’s immense weight was exactly what they wanted.

In the Fallen Dominion, the concept of “money” was a little different.

The nation, once led by one of the descendants of the Five Sovereigns, had been known for its advanced technology and metallurgy, but all of it had been ruined by a single man.

Democrias, the Golden Lord.

His brilliance granted him the title of ‘Monster of Logic’.

He destroyed the Golden Empire with its own gold and plunged the continent into chaos.

Under his reign, gold lost its value in the Fallen Dominion.

The saying “treat gold like dirt” became common, not just as a moral lesson but also as an economic reality.

As a result, a unique economic system emerged in the Fallen Dominion.

“That’s some high-grade Alchemic Steel. It must weigh at least several tons! That much would set me up for life!”

Value in the Fallen Dominion was tied to weight, not rarity.

Their entire country had turned into a giant nomadic state, where transporting heavy goods was essential.

Their economic system, now only focused on the weight of an object, turned them into what they were now—nomadic thieves on the scale of a country.

Although it was called the Land of Alchemy, alchemy-infused currency had lost its value in Fallen Dominion.

However, the Golden Lord was the world’s greatest alchemist—he could even manufacture the alchemic cost itself.

“Tsk. As expected, they’re rushing at us greedily. Those scavengers…”

The Dholes, though each riding different mounts, were all charging toward us with relentless intensity.

Their eyes gleamed with greed, showing no shred of hesitation.

The Catafract wasn’t slow, but it wasn’t fast enough to outrun the hungry Dholes.

“What are you going to do? Are you going to let them get this close?”

The Regressor answered casually.

“Well, let them come for now. We need to gather some information.”

“What information? These guys are just rabble sent deep into the Military State for disruption. I doubt they know anything useful. Let’s just deal with them.”

“Then do you have any other suggestions?”

“Mr. Shei, have you forgotten what or rather who is driving the Catafract? It’s the communication golem. How long are you going to rely on primitive methods to gather information? Let’s use a more sophisticated approach.”

Agreeing, the Regressor drew Chun-aeng and aimed it at the oncoming enemies.

As the Catafract sped forward, the wind that had been rushing past suddenly began to funnel toward Chun-aeng.

The humming sound grew louder.

“Skyblade Art: Wind Thrust.”

Then, the Regressor thrust Chun-aeng forward.

A faint, distorted ripple extended from the blade like a warping of space.

The distortion reached the lead Dhole, who was thrown into the air as if hooked, and then crashed into the ground.

The riderless two-wheeler, now unbalanced, toppled over.

Both the rider and the vehicle rolled on the ground.

The fallen leader became an obstacle, causing the others behind him to crash.

One rider hastily turned and shouted in alarm.

“Did anyone see that?”

“I didn’t see anything!”

People who are ignorant of their own limits don’t believe what they can’t see or acknowledge.

If these were ordinary fools, they might have assumed the leader simply slipped and kept charging.

But the Dholes of the Fallen Dominion were different.

Used to ambush and escape, they instinctively sensed the level of their opponent.

“At this range? And nobody saw the attack? That means it’s a monster!”

“It wasn’t just some lowlife!”

“Run!”

The Dholes immediately turned their mounts around.

Hooves and wheels scraped the ground as they fled.

“Oops! I have to pick this up too!”

The last one to turn paused to pick up the fallen leader.

Though, I don’t know whether dragging him with a chain can be considered as “picking up”…

They bolted away, leaving the Catafract behind.

Tyr watched them retreat and murmured.

“They do not abandon their comrades. Despite their appearance, they seem to have some semblance of camaraderie.”

“Camaraderie? Not at all. They probably wish he were dead.”

“Why is that?”

“If he’s alive, they can’t sell him. Also, if that guy is still alive, he can run.”

The reason they gathered their fallen comrade was the same reason they wanted the Catafract—heavy steel was valuable.

And if it was a vehicle, it was even more valuable.

Even their own comrades weren’t exempt.

A comrade’s corpse was just as valuable as anything else.

“They were all riding something, like mounted raiders. Now I see why the flowing ground acts like a moat to keep them out.”

I nodded at Tyr’s comment.

“Exactly. They raid, load up with goods, and flee. The Meta Conveyor Belt is a major obstacle for them. Even if they try to cross it, they’d need to perform some risky stunts, whereas the Military State can use the belt to quickly move troops.”

“Bandits obsessed with theft… What troublesome neighbors.”

“Yeah, on a national scale. A group of this size is just a nuisance, but to disrupt your enemy’s rear lines, a nuisance is all you need.”

In the end, the first raid from the Fallen Dominion ended in vain.

Our strength was too overwhelming for a handful of Dholes.

On top of that, the Regressor’s Chun-aeng could handle both medium and long-range attacks with ease.

Even these Dholes, who weren’t afraid of bullets or arrows, were taken out in a single strike.

However, Hilde sighed as she watched them retreat.

“This is troublesome. It hasn’t even been that long since the war started and they’re already venturing this far? If we’re encountering them before even crossing the Meta Conveyor Belt, it means some cities have already been looted.”

Her comment caught the Regressor’s attention.

“The war has already started?”

Hilde, as if discussing something as trivial as a snack she ate the previous night, answered nonchalantly.

“Yes. Well, it’s more like a few skirmishes here and there than a full-blown war, but yes, it’s already begun.”

“When? How? Not long ago, the Military State’s forces were still moving along the Meta Conveyor Belt.”

“Aren’t you underestimating the Military State too much? Even with its size, their system allows them to mobilize and send troops to the Abyssal Plains in less than two days.”

“Exactly! Two days! So how could a war have already started?”

When I met Yuel, I’d already heard about sporadic battles happening.

A full day had passed since then, so it wasn’t surprising if a war had broken out.

But to the Regressor, this was brand new information.

｢War isn’t child’s play! It’s a grave affair where the fate of a nation is at stake! How could they start a war so soon after the Abyss vanished?｣

Logically, that’s how things should be.

But Regressor, you know that the Military State and the Fallen Dominion both defy logic.

“The Military State isn’t the only one sending forces to the Abyssal Plains, you know~.”

“What?”

“Well, I’d tell you to ask the communication golem, but I’d rather not distract it while it’s driving so let ‘me’ explain. Ahem. Listen closely.”

Before starting her explanation, Hilde cleared her throat.

Like an actor preparing for a one-woman show, she composed herself and began with a light tone, though the content of her words was heavy.

“When the advance party reached the Abyssal Plains, the Fallen Dominion was already attempting to seize control of Tantalus!”