Rune Magecraft Fragmentation Grenades
Whoosh... whoosh...
The sound of the wind echoed in Takumi's ears. Around him was a vast expanse of blue.
Just by looking down slightly, he could easily see the tiny things below.
Complexes of buildings and soldiers in red attire all looked about the size of ants.
Takumi was currently riding a Wyvern, observing the enemy's troop deployment from the sky.
It was fortunate that Takumi wasn't afraid of heights; otherwise, just this altitude would be enough to make him suffer.
After the strategic meeting, Nero set the future combat policy, which was—
Defeat all enemies blocking the front head-on!
According to Nero, "Only in this way can my heroic figure be displayed, and can it be proven that I am the orthodox Emperor of Rome."
With multiple Servants assisting, this could indeed be called a decent strategy.
Anyway, if problems arose later, they could just adapt to the situation.
If even the Servants couldn't solve it... then probably no strategy would work.
The Allied Forces soldiers sharply spotted Takumi flying in the sky. Without thinking, they pulled out their bows and arrows and shot upwards.
The arrows rushed straight into the sky—then traced an arc in the air and fell down.
They didn't even reach half of Takumi's altitude.
"Idiots! At such a high position, can ordinary soldiers like you touch him?"
The Allied General, Julius Caesar, who was also once an outstanding ruler of Rome, punched this stupid soldier on the head, looking disappointed.
And didn't you see the falling arrows injuring our own troops?
"Yes... This subordinate was hot-headed for a moment and didn't notice..."
The soldier looked ashamed.
"You... Sigh, forget it."
Caesar rubbed his temples, too lazy to scold his subordinates anymore.
Probably because of that person's existence?
It made these soldiers act as if they had left their brains at home.
As one of the rulers of Rome, Caesar's attire was also a mix of gold and red.
Unlike in serious history, the Caesar appearing in the Allied camp was a fat man with a big belly.
"Really... that person's delusions should stop now, right?"
"A perfect commander, a perfect rule, will only create a group without self-awareness."
Caesar muttered to himself helplessly.
Just like the soldier in front of him, he had basically given up thinking.
Completely immersed under the majesty of the Divine Ancestor Romulus.
In contrast, the soldiers on the opposite side were much more outstanding!
Caesar recalled the performance of the opposing soldiers in previous battles and couldn't help nodding repeatedly.
"Next, let me take a good look at just what kind of beautiful existence the Emperor of this generation is!"
Caesar looked into the distance, waiting for Nero to rush in front of him.
In fact, thanks to the Divine Ancestor's terrifying charisma over Rome, the current Roman Allied Forces had already embarked on a twisted path.
Everyone was a soldier. All subjects joined the war in unison. Almost everyone was doing their part...
This sounded pretty good, but what if the Divine Ancestor could no longer protect them?
Caesar was eager to see Nero perform differently and brilliantly.
But he didn't want Nero to come over so easily, so he dispatched several teams of soldiers to circle around from the Mediterranean.
He even made them bring Caligula along.
Caesar just wanted to see if the exhausted Nero could still shine brightly in front of him under such high-intensity combat.
If she could, how dazzling would that light be?
---
On the other side.
After patrolling a circle and memorizing the Allied Forces' combat power deployment in his mind, Takumi was flying back on the Wyvern. Maintaining a normal speed, the Wyvern glided downwards. When approaching the ground, Takumi jumped off and landed steadily.
The Wyvern adjusted its direction and flew back into the sky.
Takumi trotted into the tent. Without talking to anyone, he hurriedly scribbled and drew on the map in the center.
Only after getting everything done did Takumi breathe a sigh of relief.
He couldn't help it; this kind of memory had a time limit. Takumi wasn't a genius, so he could only quickly transfer it to the map after memorizing it.
Waiting by the side until Takumi finished, Nero finally spoke:
"Umu! My Guard is indeed versatile! You actually have a way to fly into the sky for reconnaissance. What else do you have that I don't know?"
At the same time, she picked up the marked map on the table with satisfaction.
"My utility value ends here. Where would I hide anything else..."
Takumi looked burned out.
It had been several days since the war council.
During this time, Takumi practically held several jobs concurrently. Not only serving as Nero's guard.
He also undertook part of the logistics and part of the reconnaissance work.
In terms of reconnaissance, although Jing Ke had the Presence Concealment skill, her efficiency without flight ultimately couldn't compare to Takumi's.
So after learning that Takumi had the ability to fly, Nero added this job to Takumi.
As for logistics.
Rather than logistics, it was more like military supply logistics.
Nero disliked the slow speed of pushing the battle line normally, so she wanted to improve efficiency.
She just happened to remember that Takumi had used Black Key explosions to kill quite a few besieging Allied troops.
So Nero, with a flash of inspiration, asked Takumi if there were any limitations to making explosive Black Keys.
Takumi didn't quite understand Nero's meaning and casually said that as long as there were materials, they could be made freely.
Thus, the tragedy began.
For the next few days, apart from reconnaissance, Takumi spent his time soaking in the tent making various explosive weapons.
Theoretically, Rune Magecraft exerts its strongest power only when carved on wooden objects.
But Takumi found a different path. Anyway, with his magical strength, even carving on wood wouldn't increase the power much.
So why not carve directly onto iron weapons?
When exploding, it could also shatter the weapon itself, using the flying shrapnel to attack the enemy.
Thus, the Rune Magecraft version of fragmentation grenades appeared in Takumi's hands.
When not wanting to explode them, they were also good as melee weapons.
Takumi didn't have that many Black Keys, and a small amount of grenades couldn't affect the war situation.
So Nero sent people to collect broken and unused weapons—preferably rusty ones.
With the soldiers' operation, piles upon piles of weapons were placed in front of Takumi.
Takumi had to bitterly draw repetitive Runes on a pile of scrap weapons.
Another past he didn't want to recall.
Fortunately, the effect was indeed good. Ever since Nero used the magical fragmentation grenade tactic, the battle situation turned one-sidedly in Nero's favor.
Plus, Takumi occasionally rode the Wyvern to drop "airdrops" on the opposite side.
In just a few days, they reclaimed half of Rome's territory.
They forcefully pushed all the way to Gaul.
---
Back to the present.
"Is that so? But even so, the combination of you and me is simply a match made in heaven. How can the mere Roman False Emperor Alliance be our opponent?"
"Hehe, in just a few days, we'll almost be hitting the opponent's base camp!"
Nero patted Takumi on the back, looking proud.
"My Emperor, it indeed doesn't matter how many ordinary soldiers there are, but the key lies in the Servants. Having fought this far, the enemy will likely dispatch Servant units to the battlefield."
Takumi didn't think his magical grenades would work on Servants.
"Of course I know that. So from now on, you don't need to make those equipments anymore. Just follow honestly by my side!"
Nero said confidently.
"As they say, King against King, General against General. We've fought this far; it is time for me to personally take action."
"We must thoroughly defeat the False Emperor Allied Forces at the fastest speed, giving them no chance to react!"
With such sufficient combat power, Nero finally vented the anger of being suppressed and beaten before.