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.

am," Duke

a bit after Duke

with you present, your castle exceeded the updated defense mandates, this is not the case if you are

report of losses, we can easily deduce how many

a town with over 1,000 people living in it must be defended by a collective force of 30 True Mages," Duke

"which is why there also were hundreds of warriors stationed near my castle with

Whirlwind

"That's a lie."

their brows at

better have proof to

could direct your attention to this Light Vision Array for a moment," Duke Whirlwind

privacy! This is proof that

said. "I've noticed that there is 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 attention earlier, but I've been held up in the Storm Eagle Zone. The Zone has become a bit more difficult to manage in the last couple

the pictures," the

activated

later, the images that Shang had taken were there

were only five heavy ballistae on

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.

you explain these pictures to

castle in several weeks, and I found the constant presence of over 30 True Mages, while I

Council nodded, and the Head of the

a cold, complex, and

obviously threatening

with a cold voice.

only looked at the

would be enough to defend a

"However, he wasn't there."

and glared at Duke Whirlwind while the

This was all your plan!" Duke Mithril

yes," Duke Whirlwind answered. "However, defending your

for a day while you left? That couldn't have taken very long. You have a territory and force equivalent to two Dukes. Are

was an

Mithril quickly tried to

about Duke Whirlwind's biggest city,

soon as Duke Mithril thought of that, he immediately threw that argument to

about as fortified as it got. It was probably the most fortified location in the entire Kingdom, except for the Skythunder Zone. 2,000 Abominations could appear there, and

"I've heard enough."

that they were doing and

his nails with a long piece of metal. "Did

my King," Duke

at him. He was too preoccupied with cleaning the

Skythunder continued. "At the time of the assault, your castle did not fulfill the defense mandate. Is that