Earth’s Doom Starts with… Me?

"Headmaster, I'm afraid I have another bad news to deliver." Owen said after general Zhang finished pushing the poor girl into the painting.

"Oh? Do tell~" The headmaster took a sip out of his wine glass until it was empty. Gabriel then swiftly poured another glass for him.

"It seems that our prediction is correct. The new mission, the mission to occupy a cardinal throne, refers to the monster kingdom in the north, east, south, and west, respectively."

Owen opened his mission window that said "Claim One of the Cardinal Thrones" before continuing with his report.

"And as we have predicted, the north one is probably the kingdom of the orcs, while the south one is the kingdom of the minotaurs. And as for the other two, we still have no idea." He continued.

"Good, good. So, what is the problem?" The headmaster asked.

"Well, we decided that the kingdom of the orcs might be the best option, and so we have started to prepare for that raid, but..."

Owen clenched his fists.

"The kingdom of the orcs have fallen."

"Fallen? How did you know? Who took them out?" The headmaster's gaze became sharp.

"So, this happened yesterday--"

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Yesterday morning, Owen gathered the special squad that he had chosen for the next operation. They were required to overthrow a monster kingdom, something they haven't done before. So it was understandable that some of them couldn't stop their trembling limbs, even though their hearts were eager to fight for the sake of their own kind.

"Soldiers! We march today to the north! We will scout the kingdom of the orcs, and come back with information! Prioritize getting back unharmed and not getting noticed! Understood!?" Owen's command echoed throughout the entire courtyard, alerting every soldier present.

"Understood, general Owen!" They shouted back enthusiastically.

"For the glory of humankind! Onwards!" Owen howled, and the sound of horses clopping and carts rolling soon followed.

They had chosen the kingdom of the orcs because their power was considerably lower compared to the minotaurs. A normal orc was just probably as strong as a normal adult with magic. Even though there were elites like ice orcs, which required lots of soldiers to take down, but Minotaurs were on a different level.

General Owen had prepared for this raid the moment they came back to Alistair and a new mission window popped up in front of everyone.

It was around midnight on the day they returned from the serpent's lair raid. The silent town suddenly went loud with cheers of joy, screams of excitement, and tears of despair.

Some may felt like they were one step closer to discovering the truth, to finally end this ordeal and live peacefully. But to others who had accepted their fate, a new mission just meant a new threat.

People stopped their activities and even postponed their sleeping schedule to throw a large banquet in celebration of humanity's progress. The banquet was held in the town hall, and luckily, the soldiers hadn't gone to sleep yet as they were busy cleaning up after the raid.

General Owen and general Jeanne were the two main figures in that banquet, while the other general, the white-haired one, went missing. They received praises and people thanked them for their valor. But the most important part was that they received a new order from the headmaster.

The order was to start preparing for the conquest of the kingdom of the orcs. General Jeanne was tasked to prepare the logistics, while general Owen shall train the squad and lead them to scout the terrain before commencing the raid, which was the reason why they were raiding today.

"Halt! On your feet!" After several hours of horse-riding, general Owen cried out a command to stop and ditch the horses.

Everyone pulled on their leash to stop their horses and jumped down.

"We shall progress on feet from this point onward! Use signals to communicate!" General Owen shouted.

The soldiers nodded and marched on while spreading out in an organized formation. They advanced in groups of 5, and each group held a binocular and a flare.

Slowly but surely, they advanced through the terrain without making too much noise. Some of them could occasionally be seen taking notes about the terrain and the weather.

"There it is, general Owen! I can see their kingdom!" A soldier that was in Owen's group exclaimed while pointing out towards the horizon.

"Hand me the binocular." Owen opened his hand, and the soldier placed a binocular on his palm.

Owen brought the binocular to his eyes, when suddenly...

"What... Is that floating above the orc's castle?" Owen's mouth fell open as countless scenarios went through his head.

There, above the kingdom of the orc, was a huge screen floating around, saying,

[North Throne: Occupied]

[Owner: Elf Alliance]

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"--and that's how we found out we were too late to take the throne." Owen concluded his report.

"Hmm... Now that's troublesome. Why would the elves invade the orcs? The timing is just too perfect for a simple feud between races. Perhaps they received the same mission as us?" The headmaster stroked his beard and an amused grin appeared on his face.

"Now this is a first, to compete with monsters..." He chuckled.

"That's not a problem. We'll just invade the minotaurs then." General Zhang chimed in while he leaned on the wall, yawning.

"That won't be an easy feat. Our army is not in a good condition after the serpent's lair raid," the headmaster tapped his fingers on the table, "Owen, how many soldiers have faced a minotaur before?"

"Not a lot, sir. Maybe less than a hundred or so." Owen replied.

"Do you think it's possible for us to invade the minotaur's kingdom?" The headmaster asked.

"...The chance is small, sir."

"Great, that means we have a chance!" General Zhang clapped his hands together in delight.

"If you come, then maybe we could." Owen looked at the white-haired general who was busy eating a cherry-flavored lollipop to keep him awake.

"Nah. I'll be busy for a few days, right, gramps?" General Zhang smiled at the headmaster.

"He has his own mission for now. General Owen, I entrust you with this mission. I will also contact the third and fourth general." The headmaster gave his order and stood up from his seat.

"Yes, sir!" General Owen bowed, even though he was frowning and sweat started to form on his forehead.

"Prepare a scout team to monitor the minotaur's kingdom, just in case another group is trying to invade them. Take your time to prepare, train, and form a plan. But, make sure to be ready to strike at all times in case there's a raid on the minotaur's kingdom." The headmaster continued.

"Yes, sir!"

"I hereby declare a war against the kingdom of the minotaurs."