"The war is going badly," said my father, sitting at the oval table, with my brothers and I at the table.
"The most worrying thing is the Gewalt front, their forces are relentlessly sweeping through army after army. Soon they will take relevant industrial zones and most worryingly, they will take the capital. That is why I have decided that Frederick and Tanya will go to that front. You have to stop their advance at any cost".
I nodded, I was expecting something like that. The war was really starting to go badly and sending Frederick who was a Field Marshall of great renown and me who was the best mathematical mage in Krieg was a reasonable thing to do.
Frederick lit a Lho-stick, smoking slowly.
"I've read the reports and they seem inconclusive, most of the time the survivors have barely seen anything. A lot of times it's as if out of nowhere an area of the front line completely disappears. I will see what I can do but I ask for more support. My brothers Rommel and Erich.
My brothers Rommel and Erich nodded. Showing their intention to accept my older brother's request.
"Be careful, I wouldn't want to tell Kurt that he has lost his mother and uncles" My younger sister Zelinda said jokingly. With a soothing smile. I laughed. Followed by my brothers.
"Oh come on, we've been through worse, a century ago they almost took the capital. This is nothing yet" Said Frederick.
I could only nod. Looks like I have to do this the hard way, I just had to use all my power and destroy the enemy. I liked this world and, more importantly, I liked my son. It would be a shame to die before I saw him grow up.
I laughed internally. So many reincarnations, many times I limited my power just to fight longer. When you are immortal in practice, few things could give you dopamine. But war and combat for some reason always gave dopamine. There were worlds that their people or their situation made me use all my power for the sake of my own. But that was rarely, usually it was indifference.
I remembered the first time I ended up in a communist Germany. I wanted to kill myself but I didn't have time for that, I starved to death first. I thought with irony.
"Tanya?" Frederick asked. I came back to real life and looked at him.
"Yes?" I said.
"I trust in your magical abilities for this battle that befalls us."
I gave a sympathetic smile, standing up and grabbing a glass of wine. I then walked over to the window, drinking the glass and looking out at the academy. Where Kurt was.
"You know, I think I want to end this war before it affects Kurt, once we defeat that scum we'll move on to end their damn rogue country."
—-
The sound of the car's engine sounded as the beautiful sights passed by. I had gone to pick up Kurt and now we were both waiting to arrive at our destination.
"Kurt... Son, I have to tell you something."
Kurt looked at me with a smile, I sighed. What I was going to tell him was surely not going to please him.
"The war is going badly, I have to leave for the front, today will be the last day we will have dinner together".
Kurt changed his face immediately. From a smile to a grimace. As if I had told him that I would leave him.
"I will go to war with you," he said decisively. However I put my hand on his shoulder.
"Son, you have the gift of knowledge, you love to create, take charge of creating. I already convinced big industries to support you, keep doing what you love and make me proud."
Kurt looked at me with concern and then down at the floor of the car.
"Are you coming back?" he asked in a sad voice.
"What a stupid question son, of course I will come back, I am the most powerful magician in this world, no one will stop me from coming back, now stop worrying about nonsense and cheer up, I have ordered a banquet for tonight".
Rarely have I ever cared so personally about someone. Of course, I have never had a child before. Even if it wasn't by blood.
I laughed a little, I felt stupid.
I wonder what the first me would have thought.
—-
I looked at the train, it was 6am and this train was going to bring my entire stormtrooper division to the front.
Then I noticed how something picked me up and squeezed me. Kurt had given me such a tight hug that I felt my organs were squeezing together.
"Now, now, son, I'll be back from the war in a few weeks or months and everything will be the same.
Kurt let go of me, setting me down. I looked at the boy who was now nearly six feet tall. It was amazing the difference between his physical and mental maturity.
"I love you mom."
I gave a smile and hugged him.
"I love you too son"
—-
I looked at the map, my 3 brothers and 4 other generals were arguing. We had created a new defensive line made up of a million men, the mountains prevented us from being outflanked except by sea. So it was a good bottleneck to defend against the enemy army.
"If we lose here, the next front line will be almost at our capital," said Frederick. It was true that the enemy had advanced hundreds of miles.
"How many casualties so far?" I asked. To which Rommel sighed.
"In the last year we have already lost 10 million soldiers against Gewalt alone."
I nodded and looked at the map again.
"Me and the Stromtroopers division will take the enemy, usually the enemy mages outnumber us but it's never a problem," I said confidently. I had fought the enemy mages several times before. They were much worse than me and a little worse than my troops. So their numerical superiority did not worry me.
Frederick lit a Lho-stick, starting to smoke and looking at the map as if expecting to see something new.
"Three times the front disappeared, according to witnesses, out of nowhere a part of the front would disappear and all the enemy troops would pass that way, surrounding the troops that didn't manage to flee in time. I wonder if they have some kind of super weapon".
A weapon capable of destroying a section of the front so quickly and so anonymously?
"Maybe they have a huge accumulation of mages, they all attack at once, destroy the front line and the rest of the troops come in".
Erich drank some water, adjusting his military suit, as if it was choking him.
"How many mages are we talking about?" he asked.
"100,000 to 200,000," I said.
"Can you take them?" Erich asked again.
"Behind me is Krieg and my son, is that even a question? Of course I can."
—-
The sound of artillery hammering the earth, the cries of men seeking victory or suffering in the mud. This was the sound of war and it was wonderful.
"Do we know anything about enemy mages?" I asked, my second in command shook his head.
"Nothing, they are hiding their presence," said my second in command.
I nodded, looking at my 20,000 soldiers, the best of the best that Krieg had. Personally trained by myself.
Using my magic, I began to communicate telepathically with each one.
"Soldiers, the enemy surely outnumbers us ten to one, however that is no surprise to anyone, we are always outnumbered. However, today I do not come to talk to you about how powerful we are, but why we use our power.
We use our power to protect the people of Krieg, their lands and their property. We use our power to protect our children, our siblings, our parents and our friends.
We use our power to protect all that we love and will love.
Our lives are at risk today for what we believe in and what we love. So today I ask you to use your power to once again protect what is ours. Raise the flag! Glory to Krieg! Glory to our own!"
All the soldiers shouted the same insignia.
"GLORY TO KRIEG, GLORY TO OUR OWN!"
I nodded and continued walking across the green field that had not yet been destroyed by artillery. When I noticed it. I noticed how the presence of tens of thousands appeared out of nowhere. My estimates were correct as I noticed over 150,000 mages. Had they put all the mages of their nation on this front? It seemed to be.
"WE ARE UNDER ATTACK, FLY MY SOLDIERS!" I shouted, beginning to fly using mathematical magic.
—-
A swarm of individuals flew over the trenches. Gewalt's mages fired their spells into the enemy trenches. The amount of accumulated fire blew the earth apart, destroying 20 kilometers of the frontline.
However, out of nowhere, in the middle of the mass of Gewalt mages an explosion occurred, an explosion so large that it took hundreds with it.
The leader of this force of mages, Erich von Gewalt, who was completely hidden by a cloak, smiled at the sight of the one who created the spell.
"Tanya von Krieg, everything is going according to plan."
Krieg and Gewalt's force of mages clashed violently, Gewalt's disorganized mob used their great mass of mages to create a great barrier of fire to keep Krieg's mages from advancing. However due to their disorganization this wall of death had unprotected points. Krieg's mages, organized in groups of 1000 mages, took advantage of this to break through.
Quickly the Gewalt mages tried to react, however the Krieg mages went into melee, using shovels as sharp as swords as a melee weapon.
The tactic of the shovel. For that was what Tanya called it. It was to take advantage of how bad mathematical magic was in melee, granting almost no protection or weaponry that wouldn't get you killed in the process.
The best way to exploit that weakness was to train your men in maneuverability and speed. By cutting through the wall of fire into the melee and destroying their formations from the inside.
This tactic always led to the Krieg supremacy in the field of magical battle in the last decade.
And it proved to be efficient, as for every Krieg killed, 20 Gewalt died in this moment.
Erich von Gewalt, using his power, communicated psychically with all his mages.
"Get as far away as you can and fire even if there are allies fighting."
Following their leader's orders, as many mages as they could moved away, firing at their comrades fighting the Krieg. However, these groups began to die. As large explosions occurred at their position.
Erich von Gewalt looked at the cause. In the middle of the field, unattacked, stood Tanya von Krieg. With a smug smile and almost looking as if this battle was easy.
Erich von Gewalt smiled, pulling out a book with ancient inscriptions in it.
"O great god Tzeentch, I ask you to give me your blessing and grant me the power of those whose will is weaker than that of a god. In return I will give you my undying loyalty," he said, his voice fanatical and mad.
—-
The battle was going entirely as I planned, for centuries combat mages were based on thousands of mages fighting each other in disarray, like unorganized masses. That is why when I asked my father to give me control of 20,000 mages and create a division and he accepted, I knew I was going to dominate this world.
After years of arduous training, I had my first trial by fire. With an absolute victory I proved that my doctrine and idea were functional.
And now here I saw my soldiers, with years of experience and near-perfect organisation, sweeping aside a totally superior enemy. There were few better feelings.
Out of nowhere, I felt a great pain, as if someone was trying to rip my heart out, but it wasn't my heart. As if he was trying to grab my soul directly.
However, the pain passed quickly. But when I looked back at the battlefield I saw thousands of bodies plummeting to the ground. All my troops and my enemy's troops were down.
"What the fuck?" I shouted, however great blue lines were generated, like rivers flowing towards one person. The only person left flying other than me. These bright blue streams flowed into the individual.
"I have no time to waste, whatever happens, I have to kill the only one left."
I threw a great bolt of lightning, capable of destroying mountains at the remaining mage. However this bolt of lightning was parried.
I pulled out my sharpened shovel with a maniacal grin.
"If long range doesn't work, we'll have to go for plan B."
—-
Erich von Gewalt laughed maniacally as he felt his power increased by more than a hundred thousand souls.
However, his laughter was stopped when he was hit by a blow that sent him flying, taking him a while to stabilize.
"Tanya von Krieg, you have more will than a god?" asked Erich, in surprise. Tanya, however, moving so fast that she could barely be seen, began to try to hit Erich with the shovel with the intention of killing him quickly.
Erich quickly raised a shield that stopped all the blows. Attempting to explode Tanya's heart with his magic however failing at every attempt.
Erich, with no other option began to fly low to the ground, being followed and harassed by Tanya, with no other option he began to throw lightning bolts from his hands, all of them failing as Tanya dodged them.
Feeling the mutations in his flesh begin to happen Erich stopped in the middle of the field. Summoning psychic chains he trapped Tanya. Putting millions of them on Tanya.
Erich then accumulated magic and power, throwing the power similar to a nuclear bomb at Tanya.
"I'm finally free of her," he said, as the mutations destroyed his clothes. However in that same instant another blow struck the shield.
"How are you alive?" Erich asked.
"You only caught one of my illusions," said Tanya. With a smile. She was having fun with this fight, for it was a challenge. However, at the moment of pause she noticed the mutations visible in Erich.
"What are you?" she asked. However Erich shot a lightning bolt at Tanya. It went right through Tanya. Almost ironically at the same instant another hit the shield.
"That was another illusion!" shouted Tanya from a totally new position.
Erich started hunting Tanya again, but each time he destroying her it was another illusion. For more than ten minutes Erich fought against illusions. While the real Tanya prepared a spell above cloud level.
"Let's see if you survive this," said Tanya. Firing a blue beam of pure energy above Erich. Pushing him to the ground and making a huge hole in the earth, which was once green and now destroyed by the battle.
"I don't feel his presence anymore," Tanya said, climbing down into the hole and sighing.
"That was fun mutant boy, but it's over now" Tanya said, seeing nothing in the hole.
"I think I disintegrated his body," Tanya said. To then see something blue next to her. Reacting in time she moved but the blue thing cut her right arm off.
With a ghoulish laugh Tanya broke away and turned to see Erich. Who was now a monter, his body was covered in blue and purple feathers, with a lot of eyes randomly scattered in his body, a malformed beak and blue wings ending in a pinkish-red colour
"You rejected your humanity for power by some chance? What a shame it would be for me to be you, that you ended up like this in your quest for power and yet you are outmatched by me."
Erich laughed.
"You are still using mathematical magic while I now use real magic, you are still bound to that magic created to make us weaker and not access real magic. I have now reached my real potential. I am the most powerful mage in the world!"-he shouted, with great enthusiasm-"However, it is true that your power and apparent knowledge is incredible, which is why I have decided that it is best not to kill you" He finished, throwing a large bolt of lightning aimed at Tanya's other arm. As if to prove his point.
However Tanya dodged the shot with ease.
"Once I'm done with you, I can go home with my son, so do me a favor and die quickly." Answered Tanya.
—-
For three days and nights Tanya and Erich fought, the land was dead along with the armies of both countries. There was only one thing left and that was Tanya and Erich.
"I can't take it anymore," said Tanya, who after so many days of fighting was in a pitiful state, barely able to stay conscious. She had not eaten anything for three days and during the battle she had to take advantage of the battle to get close to the rivers and drink water, otherwise she would have died of dehydration.
"Will you give up now?" asked Erich. He was in no better condition, despite his new power he could never clearly overcome Tanya, keeping up with her. However, unlike Tanya, his new demonic appearance gave him incredible stamina, both physically and mentally.
"I have never given up, I have never asked for mercy and that will never change," Tanya said, creating a huge explosion around Erich. However, for a few seconds her vision went black. Losing control of her fly. Erich took the moment to break all three of Tanya's remaining limbs along with destroying her eyes, finally breaking her after so many days of combat.
Tanya began to fall but Erich stopped her in flight, approaching Tanya, who was in the most pitiful state she had been in for over a hundred lifetimes.
"You will become my property, you are too powerful and interesting to be killed" Said Erich. but Tanya didn't hear him.
"I'm sorry Kurt"-Tanya coughed blood violently-"for not coming back home." Ended Tanya, as she lost consciousness, leaving her at the mercy of the once human, but now demon Erich von Gewalt.