Smack!
With a crisp slap, Samael smacked Nero on the forehead, snapping the Rose Emperor out of her greedy stare at the plate of crystal grapes.
"Oh! Right, right. My view is the same as the Regent Prince's!"
Nero suddenly came back to her senses. She hurriedly wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, sat up straight, and echoed the decision with a few solemn words, putting on a show of proper seriousness and respect. She then signed the appointment with careful formality, preserving the appearance of due procedure.
Once the document had been sent to the Pantheon for transmission, the plate of grapes was placed in front of Nero.
The little girl immediately brightened, picked up the fruit plate, and stuffed her cheeks as she devoured them.
Seeing this, Samael could only shake his head helplessly. But he also knew Nero was still a child not yet ten years old. Expecting her to mature overnight was unrealistic. The fact that she could sit here patiently and learn how to handle state affairs was already commendable.
Still, both the strategic position of the Fifth Province and the importance of Scipio the Younger to the Roman Empire's overall strategy made the matter impossible to treat lightly.
Scipio the Younger, whose full name was Publius Cornelius Scipio, belonged to the Cornelius clan, one of the Six Great Clans, and was a renowned general and statesman of ancient Rome.
He had been one of Rome's principal commanders during the Second Punic War and became famous for defeating the Carthaginian commander Hannibal at the Battle of Zama.
Because of Scipio's victory, Rome concluded the Second Punic War under overwhelmingly favorable terms. As a result, he gained his famous title: "Conqueror of Africa."
Historically, Hannibal of Carthage had inflicted three devastating defeats upon Rome despite being in an overwhelmingly disadvantaged position. His strategic and tactical insight far surpassed that of his opponents, earning him the title "Father of Western Strategy."
Although the situation had now reversed and the Roman Empire was leaking from all sides, lacking a decisive advantage and unable to crush Carthage outright, the fact that Scipio the Younger ultimately defeated Hannibal proved he was far from ordinary.
Placing him in the Fifth Province could truly be called putting talent where it belonged.
More importantly, Carthage lay in North Africa and functioned as the forward outpost of the Egyptian Empire.
Now that the Divine Ancestor Romulus had fallen in battle, the entire Roman Empire was bound to be unstable and shaken by storms. If Egypt chose this moment to move north through Carthage...
Just as Samael sank into thought, waves of Ether tremors guided by solemn Magecraft arrays began arriving one after another from the Pantheon.
Immediately afterward, messenger after messenger rushed into the palace council chamber. Their expressions were tense, and their voices hurried as they reported.
"Urgent report! The Ninth and Tenth Provinces have discovered large numbers of Persian Immortals near the Persian border! At least two full legions! Behind them, the Meteor Legion has also been sighted!"
"Urgent dispatch from the Seventh and Eighth Provinces! Hun wolf cavalry have been spotted gathering along the routes toward the Golden Horde royal court! Their numbers have already exceeded ten thousand!"
"Latest news from the Pantheon! Carthage has begun unusual movements within the Fifth Province and appears to be reinforcing its defensive line! The Fifth Legion has entered full combat readiness!"
Everyone present changed expression at once.
"Understood," Samael said calmly. "His Majesty and I have already begun preparing for this. Go to the side hall and summon the three emperors. Have them come here to discuss countermeasures and await deployment."
He paused before continuing.
"From this moment forward, the entire Roman realm enters wartime readiness. Also assemble a team of Magi and priests to establish communication Magecraft arrays. Any military intelligence transmitted from the provinces will be sent directly to the palace."
Samael raised a hand in a steady gesture. His tone remained calm, his expression composed.
That steady composure carried a strange power that soothed everyone's panic. The atmosphere quickly returned to tense but orderly focus.
After the messengers departed, the Ancient Serpent set down his quill, pressed his fingers to his temple, sighed softly, and murmured to himself.
The situation I feared most has still arrived.
Although Samael had long anticipated that Rome's strategic situation would worsen after the death of the Divine Ancestor, he had not expected the crisis to come this quickly.
In just two days, the Huns, Egypt, and Persia had all revealed their fangs. They had truly left Rome no room to breathe.
Queen Boudica looked worriedly toward Samael as he sat in silence at the desk. Several times she tried to speak, only to stop herself.
"The map. The sand table."
Moments later, the Ancient Serpent opened his eyes. Boudica and Brynhildr immediately brought what he needed.
Samael drew piece after piece of different colors and materials from a Magecraft array and placed them across the sand table representing Rome. Little by little, the entire crisis came into focus.
"In the past two days, while Nero inherited the Spear of Nation-Building and I handled the administration, have those three emperors caused any trouble?"
"No. They've been very cooperative."
"Good. That means they're not fools. They know that internal conflict in a situation like this would be suicide."
Hearing Boudica's reply, Samael relaxed slightly and nodded.
Judging from that meaningful glance before his death, the Divine Ancestor had chosen to trust him likely because the Olympian gods had revealed something to him and he had vaguely understood part of Samael's identity.
But the fact that the three wounded Roman emperors could accept reality and submit to a subordinate position was admirable in its own way.
At the same time, it proved something else: those who had become emperors were intelligent enough to understand that a vast empire could not exist without at least one god standing above it.
Since Romulus's death, the only being these Roman emperors could rely on was likely him.
Otherwise, the moment he stepped away, Cyrus the Great could personally lead an army straight into Roman territory, and within days those emperors might be thrown into the Persian Gulf to feed the fish.
Since internal conflict had not surfaced, he could set that concern aside and concentrate fully on the external threat.
"Your Highness," Brynhildr said cautiously, stepping forward. "From what we've seen in previous engagements, the regular Roman legions stationed across the provinces are well trained, but if their numbers are equal they likely cannot defeat forces such as the Hun wolf cavalry, Persian Immortals, the Meteor Legion, or the Egyptian Anubis Guard. These are elites among elites created through secret arts. Perhaps…"
She proposed transferring the Viking fleet to the City of Seven Hills.
"No need," Samael replied, shaking his head slightly. "Rome may appear surrounded on three sides with war flaring everywhere, but if you analyze the situation calmly, it is not as dire as it seems."
He gestured for the three of them to gather around the sand table and began carefully unraveling the strategic picture.
"First, the Hun Empire relies mainly on light cavalry. Their mobility is strong, but their siege capabilities are weak. Their strategy of sustaining war through plunder also means that once their momentum stalls, logistics becomes a serious problem. If Altera truly intended a major campaign against Rome, she would not mobilize only wolf cavalry.
"Second, Egypt cannot simply march north through Carthage so easily. And inviting a god into your territory is easier than sending him away. Who can guarantee Ramesses II would truly withdraw from Carthaginian lands afterward? What if he refuses to leave? Hannibal is no ordinary figure. He refused to submit to Greece and Rome, and he may not blindly obey that Pharaoh either.
"So among these three forces, the Hun Empire and Egypt cannot shake Rome's foundation. At most they are here to apply pressure and tie us down. Only Persia is the true mortal enemy, the one genuinely seeking to conquer territory."
As the full strategic picture became clear, everyone felt as if fog had lifted. The unease in their hearts gradually eased.
"Even in the worst case, if Egypt truly convinces Hannibal to allow them passage north to divide Rome, the front line stretching from the Nile to Roman territory would become dangerously long.
"And do not forget, we also have allies. I have already instructed the Pantheon to contact Greece and our fleets. When the moment is right, they will coordinate with the Roman legions and launch a counterattack. When that happens, who ultimately wins is still uncertain.
"Unless…"
Samael stopped mid-sentence. His eyes flickered as he looked toward Greece.
At that exact moment, a messenger from the Pantheon rushed into the council chamber, raising a scroll marked with an olive branch.
"Emergency from the Areopagus! The Persian Empire has assembled 250,000 troops and more than one thousand warships! Led by the two Persian kings Darius I and Xerxes, they have launched a massive offensive against Greece and have already reached the Aegean coast!"
The Third Greco-Persian War had begun.
Greece and the Viking fleet were no longer reliable. The threat posed by the Huns, Egypt, and Carthage had instantly multiplied. If this triggered a chain reaction, their feints could turn into real invasions.
The muscles in Samael's face twitched violently. Remembering the word "unless" he had just spoken, his expression darkened completely.
Damn it...
...