Another Worldly Summons

Chapter 57: Esthirant Referendum

"What in the.... This is Emperor Ludius?."

The Secretary-General of ASEAN gasped upon seeing the actual death of their presumed KIA and MIA Emperor of Parpaldia. He was immediately given notice after a week since the decapitation strike in Arde's stronghold and the recovery of the dead bodies of the leader and members of the Imperial remnants.

The ASEAN indeed located and fully verified that Arde was staying at the mansion in one of the strongholds in Junariam, but never heard a thing about the Emperor being alive and residing there too. They just unknowingly included the Emperor as collateral damage in the strike."Why didn't we know that the Emperor is still alive? And now got killed by our attack?."

''We're completely clueless. The same goes for the survivors of our attacks. It seems Arde cleverly hid the Emperor and the fact that none of the imperial rescuers reacted to the death of their Emperor. We believe they are also oblivious to the death of Ludius."

''Only a few knew that Ludius survived and was sheltered by Arde, so none of the Imperials suspected that one of the bodies they recovered was actually their missing Emperor. Furthermore, most of them are basically from the countryside, so they don't recognize their emperor's face at all."

"I see... So with the death of the leader of the largest faction in the Parpaldia and the confirmed death of the Emperor, what is the current situation there?"

"Upon the confirmation of the death of Arde, which has now spiraled and accelerated the defections of Imperials on our side, and the highest ranking officials remaining on the loyalist faction, General Dakker, is asking for negotiations."

"Finally? After 6 months?."

"Yes Your Excellency. We could finally take a breather and we should cancel the incoming divisions from the mainland. The TDG's is expanding enough to garrison the cities and towns, which gave us some spare battalions to take over several hostile settlements."

Ahmad, who could finally relax after hearing the incoming end of war, smiled as he leant his back on the seat. "Casualties... How many casualties has this war brought?."

"Our side or Parpaldian side?."

"Report both."

"Yes, the Southeast Asian Defense Force reported 513 deaths, 1509 wounded, and 19 missing; material lost, 26 trucks and light vehicles, 8 armored vehicles, 1 disabled main battle tank, and over a hundred reported damage to our arsenals from varying degrees of scratches, dents, and bullet holes. Non-combat losses amounted to 4 helicopters down, 2 fixed wing aircraft crash landed and beyond repair, one depot explosion by accident, 25 deaths of friendly fire, and 4 due to natural causes. "

"That's a lot." caressing his falling hairline due to stress and old age. He heaved a sigh after hearing that over 500 had died in this conflict. That's a lot in a modern sense. Compared to the fairly modern nations of Mu, the Holy Milishial Empire, and the Gra Valkas Empire, that number could be replaced overnight by their mass conscription to the point they become irrelevant. Even losing 10,000 men won't itch a bit. "Continue''

"Yes, Your Excellency. For the Parpaldians, if we include the casualties dealt by Altaran, it would be somewhere from half a million to over nine hundred thousand combatants lost in the conflicts they waged this year. Civilian loss is ranging from fifty-to-eighty thousand dead and still counting. Approximately 3 to 4 million people were displaced, and about a million became refugees, with unknown numbers leaving the country or going missing. Regardless, about 6 million people were directly affected by the war, and an estimated another 10 to 30 million were indirectly affected by our infighting. 80% of their industrial complexes were razed to the ground or abandoned, with 20% of their settlements lost for varying reasons, and their armed forces were only reduced to less than 10% of their prewar numbers."