Odysseus saw this message and sneered derisively. He tossed it aside and ordered coldly for double the number of troops as before to be sent, and then a contingent of TRIPLE the amount right after in order to catch this strange machine spirit off guard.
His decision was well praised by the other Demigod of Elysium who were simply waiting for their turn to be deployed. They did not take Theseus's warnings and admonishments to heart.
After all, Theseus' team had been small and not tightly knit. Pyrrha was a poor combatant and Medea was some weakling no one regarded. Theseus himself was seen as more of a thinker than a fighter.
It was only the loss of Achilles and Hercules that made many solemn, and was why they hadn't rushed forward to fight anyway. If even such geniuses of combat could be beaten, then they would not even be the phlegm in the throats of their foes.
Elysium was in a state of action, which startled Armadon, their eternal enemies. The Demons initially thought they were about to be invaded, but soon found through their own channels that the Gods were rushing to claim Pokterr that was free from the insects.
This news caused the demons and Devils to go mad with lust and greed, also gathering troops to invade the continent and take it for themselves. However, unlike Elysium which supported human life, Armadon only had demons.
Their numbers were also less than 1% of that of even Fallon, much less Elysium. Of course, the trade-off was that each and every one of them, even the lowest Demon, was not something a city of mortals could handle.
They could only gather 30,000 Amateur Demons/Devils and 500 Journeyman Demons/Devils. However, when both Elysium and Miranda heard of this number, their faces became black.
It was the same as being told that 30,000 Amateur Dragons or Phoenixes were being sent over. While Demons were not proportionally strong compared to such legendary races, they were far above the rest.
What was worse, since they used Demonic Energy, Miranda theorized that they could not only harm her troops, but they could destroy them much like the Demigods had.
Luckily, their numbers were small enough that she could handle them, but this represented a bad change of various parties were simply going to involve themselves in this battle for the fun of it.
Soon, Houto and Pan got wind of the activities and sent their warriors to join.
The Onmyoji of Houto with their talisman and special energy, the Shrine maidens who could heal or curse, and the Samurai who could wield a katana like thunder.
The Immortals of Pan with their Immortal Arts and Spirit Energy, the Body cultivators and their augmented bodies that were tougher than steel, and the Buddhist Cultivators who used their Buddhism arts to edify evil and strengthen their bodies.
When these two groups joined the fray, it seemed like Miranda had fallen into a quagmire. However, due to her ability to keep tabs on Faust, she could see everything and anything she wanted, as well as develop countermeasures long before they arrived.
When the warriors from both Houto and Pan set out, Miranda didn't do much. She just sent out hundreds of thousands of planes loaded with thermobaric bombs that traveled to the home continent of the two groups.
She then bombarded all factions and forces' homebases that had involved themselves in this fight, either aright wiping them off the face of the map or dealing them such a severe blow that they were crippled.
Hearing this news, the oncoming forces were shocked and horrified, then enraged. However, they were still forced to turn back to go and put out the fire at home before thinking about what to do next.
They swore vengeance upon Miranda as well as many other things, but she didn't care. She only wanted to engage a limited set of forces in this first round in order to adhere to Darius's plan.
However, a problem developed from all this. You see, war was ever-changing, and plans never went as one would expect. In this case, it was Miranda's own actions that harmed her.
When Odysseus received the news, his expression darkened. He then put it aside and closed his eyes to think, before opening them with a strange glint.
"We are being played!" he roared as he banged the desk!
"If that Machine Spirit could simply unleash devastation upon the homes of others, she could have long sent her metal birds here and bombard the entire continent! However, it chose not to, rather goading us to send more mortals to fight head-on!" Odysseus was livid at being tricked like this.
He wouldn't have realized it too had the Machine Spirit not miscalculated in its haste to correct the situation! However, now that he knew, he would not fall for this trick anymore.
"Send in the most powerful forces we have! All of them! Since that is what they were asking for, it must be what they fear the most! We will catch the offgaurd and destroy them in one fell swoop!"
Just like that, what should have been a battle that lasted years was condensed into one final battle of life and death. When Miranda saw the troops being shipped out, she calculated her mistake and immediately reported to Darius.
Darius, still in his lab at this time as he was working on the Elite troops with Achilles, received this message and smiled softly.
"No need to fret my dear. No plan ever survives first contact and the situation I explained to you was only the ideal one. We have countless options to take, and so, we shall take all of them."
"First, initiate hundreds of thousands of bombing runs over Elysium. Now that they know you can do this, they will prepare countermeasures, but can they last against hundred of nukes? We'll see."
"Secondly, send your aquatic units to destroy the vessels of the oncoming troops while at sea. Make sure they are extremely well cloaked, for they will be trying to one-up Demigods and grandmasters."
"Thirdly, barricade the entire continent. Those who survive to make it there should not have the ease of docking their ships in any regard whatsoever. Either they jump onto the land, fly onto it or swim towards it, all of which open them to various forms of attack."
