The Lord Is Too Overbearing

Basil blinked his eyes lightly at Iliana’s unexpected display of Spell mastery. He knew that using [Teleportation] that way was already achievable for the current her, but he didn’t expect her to already master it.

For normal Mages, casting [Teleportation] while still being a Fifth Circle Mage alone was already a hard work. For Iliana who had five Grand Circles however, it was nothing but a breeze to her … That is, if she just cast it normally.

What Iliana had displayed, however, was similar to what only senior Sixth Circle Mages could do. One didn’t just cast [Teleportation] like her; a certain degree of mastery towards said Spell was needed.

For those who didn’t know Iliana’s identity as a genius on top of being a Pacifer, this was highly shocking—an unprecedented event. However for Basil, who knew of her insane comprehension ability towards Magic, it was not that shocking.

He had figured out what Iliana had actually done. Although it looked like she had cast [Teleportation] as flawless as senior Sixth Circle Mages, she had actually just brute forced her way.

Rather than counting on efficiency, she had counted on her monstrous amount of Mana to force herself to teleport. It did successfully teleport her, however it had drained her Mana more than necessary.

In Basil’s view, she had failed miserably at that. Iliana also seemed aware of this fact since she had never used it even once in battle.

Basil wouldn’t complain nonetheless; she had managed to impress the people she should impress. Still, it was slightly disappointing that none of the Legion Commanders had noticed it.

“She doesn’t look like she has the capability to stand to toe with any of you, but I can assure you, nine out of ten, you will never beat her in terms of Magic.” Basil looked at the crowd seriously.

Flash!

Iliana reappeared once again behind Basil using [Teleportation], further supporting the mysterious mood Basil had set. The Vice Commanders had now lost their intense gaze as they looked at Iliana in disbelief and wonder.

“Let us talk about how we should proceed in this war.” The moment Basil spoke, everyone gulped dryly. “I will leave behind the commanding to my vice, so I hope you can cooperate well.”

“Commander,” Iliana interjected, “I believe it is not the right choice to entrust the commanding right wholly to me. I am not confident I have the ability to do it.”

“It is not what you can do, but what you have to do, Iliana,” Basil answered simply. “You have the other Legion Commanders to help you, so I hope you can take care of the Legion while I fight the head of the enemy’s army.”

“That is right, Vice Commander Iliana.” Cassandra smiled. “For such a competent person like you, I believe you will not find commanding the army hard.”

Iliana frowned lightly at Cassandra and chose to not say anything. In truth, she was confident that she would be able to take on her role splendidly, however she was slightly irked by the way Basil had dragged her into the matter.

It is normal to take responsibility for something that one has done—she had believed Basil would fight alongside her after dragging her with him. She couldn’t just accept that he would be leaving her behind with his responsibility.

“Now that it is settled, I want you, the outstanding Mages to coordinate with Iliana to plan the best way to demolish the Monsters with the long ranged Spells you have at your disposal.”

“About that, Head Commander…” One of the Mage Legion Commanders looked at Basil hesitantly. “We only have around 3,000 Spellcasters left at our disposal… The remaining 8,000 are Battle Mages.”

“Hmph! Are you saying that Battle Mages won’t be able to cast a Spell properly?” Iliana scoffed coldly. “Have you forgotten what I am?”

The Mages inside the room widened their eyes in bewilderment as they looked at Iliana in disbelief. They had only realized that Iliana didn’t only chant the [Teleportation] Spell, but also didn’t use a Grimoire to help her.

Iliana was a Battle Mage, and she was still better than them in terms of Magic. They could only imagine how good she would have actually been, if she had pursued her career as a Spellcaster instead—it was jaw dropping.

“Battle Mages are just as capable as Spellcasters … In their own way. If that hadn’t been the case, the amount of the dead Spellcasters and the dead Battle Mages would have been the opposite.”

The Spellcasters in the room shook their head faintly with a bitter smile at Iliana’s words. It was something obvious that they didn’t want to admit.

“Still, I won’t say that they are just as good at casting Spells as Spellcasters. Luckily however, their amount will make up to their lack of efficiency.” Iliana gazed at Basil. “That is your plan, isn’t it, Commander?”

“Pardon? Did we miss something?” Glenn asked in confusion, representing the others.

Ignoring Glenn Basil said, “Tell me how many people left we have at our disposal.”

“It is around 30,000 people, Head Commander,” Cassandra answered. “25,000 of them are our subordinates,which means we have lost 23,000 of our comrades in the past week.” She shook her head bitterly.

“That is a huge number—the loss, I mean,” Basil remarked neutrally. “Assuming that all of those 25,000 are able bodies, that means, we have around 14,000 Knights at our disposal … Too many of you have sacrificed yourself for the Mages.”

Basil’s words came out filled with more dissatisfaction than he had intended—it shocked the people. He was too carried away in his role that he momentarily forgot this was not the Legion that he had used to lead in his past life.

“Allies shall never drag each other down. If a situation occurs when one’s sacrifice is needed to save the other, the more able one shall leave without hesitation.” Basil looked at them coldly.

Everyone gulped upon receiving Basil’s look. They could faintly see a shadow of someone great behind Basil—the shadow of a great general, looking over them with his unfathomably deep eyes.

“To think that other’s life is more important than one’s life and vice versa is detrimental to the army. Everyone has the same worth; there is no priority in the army. Once you are crippled you are as good as dead.” Basil leaned his body slightly to the front.

“There is also no such a thing as Mages are commodities that you should take extra care of. If you find a Mage who has used up his Mana and has no way to run, don’t sacrifice yourself to save him … You have more worth than him.”

Looking at each of the Legion Commanders in their eyes, he continued, “Make sure to relay it to your subordinates.”

The room descended into silence at Basil’s cold declaration. The way he viewed everyone equally while being so cold astonished them as much as it frightened them.

Basil was someone who held onto his principle—that they could easily tell. He was an efficient person that would either be hated or loved by people, and that made them glad he wasn’t an enemy.

One wouldn’t dare to imagine what would happen if a person with such a mindset became their enemy. Only nightmare would await them.

Tap.

“I have digressed too much.” Basil tapped the table with his finger, awakening the others from their thought. “I am supposed to talk about how we should move every Mage to the back, and send the Knights forward.”

“… Wouldn’t it be more efficient to let the Battle Mages aid the Knights in the front line, Head Commander?” One of the Mage Legion Commanders asked.

“That would indeed be the case, if the Spellcasters were more than 3,000 people. Only some exceptional Battle Mages can fight without being aided by Spellcasters from the back.” Basil glanced at Iliana.

“With how many Spellcasters we have left, sending the Battle Mages to the front line will be the same as sending many of them to their death. We don’t need useless death.”

“Is that the reason why we are going to let them fight in the back? Because they will be better at supporting us from afar?” Cassandra looked at Basil curiously.

“That, and also the fact that we won’t have to worry about the Spellcasters’ safety. I am sure the Battle Mages have enough competence to protect the 3,000 Spellcasters.”

“That is understandable.” One of the Mage Legion Commanders turned to Iliana, and beamed. “We will be looking forward to fight alongside you, Vice Commander Iliana.”

“Too bad that you won’t be able to join us.” Glenn snickered at the Mage Legion Commanders. “Have fun fighting in the back, while Head Commander Basil and us fighting in the front line.”

“I don’t need your assistance,” Basil coldly stated.

“Huh?” Was Glenn’s intelligent response.

“You will only get in my way.” Basil frowned lightly. “I just need you to take care of your Legions and face the Monsters that my blade can’t reach.”

“B-But… Head Commander, it is our chance to witness history…” Glenn sighed in disappointment. “Why does every one of the Commanders I respect always behave like that?” he lamented.

Iliana looked at the other Legion Commanders who were ridiculing Glenn for his unfortunate fate silently. Looking at their interaction, she could tell that they were expectant towards the upcoming battle.

She could still see the fatigue on their face, however it was hard to spot the weariness that she had seen when she had first met them. As she turned her eyes to Basil, she looked at the cause of their optimism.

Being in the presence of a reliable person in times of danger is a heaven for anyone. Just like everyone, the desperate Legion Commanders who had seen too many deaths for the past week, too, were relieved at Basil’s emergence.

Basil, however, wasn’t a reliable person. He was an extremely selfish person who only thought about the people he cared about, and was aloof towards the other.

Given the situation where he wasn’t given any choice to refuse a responsibility, instead of being everyone’s leader—being the pillar that supported everyone—he guided them.

Iliana was amazed at this quality of Basil, and this was also what had made the Legion Commanders expectant towards the outcome of the upcoming battle.

“Let us talk about the detail of the plan…”

As they resumed their meeting, the news about humanity’s first victory against Demons reached everyone’s ears. Many were elated at the news they had been waiting for, and because of that, Basil Pacifer was known by everyone.

That day was the day the day when the flow of the battle changed permanently, and much to the people’s pleasant surprise, that turned out to be not their last time of hearing Basil Pacifer being paired up with victory.