Sword God in a World of Magic

"82 Apprentices, 137 Adepts, 12 True Mages, around 200 warriors of varying strengths, and over 800 normal people."

A black-haired woman stood in a cave-like room with several other people. All of them wore ostentatious robes filled to the brim with Magic Circles.

Right now, she was looking at a blonde man who looked to be on the younger side. The blonde man kept his arms behind him to seem dignified, but his fists were clenched in rage and frustration.

"How do you explain these heavy losses, Duke Mithril?" the Head of the Council asked as she looked at him.

Duke Mithril, the blonde man, seemed cold on the outside, but a deep hatred and rage were rampaging inside of him.

He had just lost his home, a huge part of his wealth, and a large portion of his forces.

And now, after all of this, he still had to justify everything in front of the Council.

"I believe this has been a strike aimed specifically at me," Duke Mithril said coldly.

"By whom?" one of the Council asked.

Duke Mithril looked to his left.

A green-haired, charismatic man stood a couple of meters to the left of Duke Mithril.

"It's Duke Whirlwind," he said.

"What is your response to these accusations, Duke Whirlwind?" the Head of the Council asked.

Duke Whirlwind only smiled charismatically. "They are only an attempt to shift blame onto me," Duke Whirlwind said as if it weren't a big deal. "I called him over to trade. We had a trade. He left. The timing was just very unfortunate."

Duke Mithril wanted to snort, but he kept himself in check. "Yes, very unfortunate," he repeated. "I rarely leave my castle, and the one time I do, and the one time it is you who calls me, a never-before-seen attack of the Abominations appears in my territory."

"Duke Mithril, please don't make such claims without the relevant information," Duke Whirlwind said. "The only witness to these events is a merchant that was on his way to the Storm Eagle Zone from the Volcano Wyrm Zone. He saw an army of Abominations, but his estimates range from 100 to 1000, which is not very reliable."

"We all know that most Abomination invasions consist of 100 to 400 Abominations, which is well within his estimated range. The chances are overwhelmingly in favor of this just being a regular Abomination invasion," Duke Whirlwind explained.

This time, Duke Mithril couldn't stop himself from snorting. "If this were a normal-sized invasion, my defenses would have been able to take care of them."

The Council remained silent as they watched the two Dukes bicker with each other.

"Would they?" Duke Whirlwind asked.

"Yes, they would have," Duke Mithril confirmed.

"Duke Mithril, you seem to forget that we are neighbors, and it is common for neighbors to look at their neighbors' houses," Duke Whirlwind said with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you accusing me of something?" Duke Mithril asked with a dark tone.

Duke Whirlwind

atmosphere shifted a bit after Duke Whirlwind

the updated defense mandates, this

based on the report of losses, we can easily deduce how many

died, but a town with over 1,000 people living in it

that," Duke Mithril answered, "which is why there also were hundreds of warriors stationed near my

Duke Whirlwind repeated

"That's a lie."

Council furrowed their brows at Duke

have proof to

this Light Vision Array for a moment," Duke Whirlwind said as he took out a plate

shouted in outrage. "This is a breach of privacy! This is proof that you were planning on

a distinct lack of heavy ballistae on the walls, and I feared that there would be troubles. I wanted to bring this to the Council's

pictures,"

and activated the Light

that Shang had taken were there for all

five heavy ballistae

heavy ballista armed by a Commander Stage warrior counts as one True Mage in terms of defensive power," the Head of the Council said. "With the twelve True Mages we've lost, this would come to 17 True Mages in terms of defensive force. If we

you explain these

I haven't left my castle in several weeks, and I

Council nodded, and the Head of the Council looked

now, Duke Whirlwind could see a cold, complex, and threatening glare

obviously

a cold voice. "Do you have anything to

only looked

be enough to

"However, he wasn't there."

Mithril gritted his teeth and glared at Duke Whirlwind while

away! This was all your plan!" Duke Mithril shouted while pointing

answered. "However, defending your towns

long. You have a territory

an

tried

about Duke Whirlwind's biggest city, Warrior's

that, he immediately threw that argument to

was probably the most fortified location in the entire Kingdom, except for

"I've heard enough."

immediately stopped everything that they were doing and looked at the

King Skythunder said as he cleaned his nails with a long piece of metal.

my King," Duke Whirlwind

was too preoccupied with cleaning the dirt out

"At the time of the assault,