Chapter 27
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[City of Lumitania, Barracks]
The men in his platoon were gearing up. They put on the uncomfortable chain mail, tightening their boots and picking up their weapons.
Intel had come in which stated that a large criminal organisation called 'Black Scythe' was attacking a city on the edge of Genesis' territory. It was not really a city but rather a frontier to ward of dangerous monsters.
It was rumoured that 1 regiment of 2,000 men were headed to the frontier city, 'Castle'. Although not confirmed, it was said that the Arial Sage companies were going as well, including the ace unit which had been nicknamed 'Cleaver' due to their ruthlessness and swiftness when completing tasks.
Darius was a platoon commander, he was well known for being a successful tactician but not good enough to be promoted. Either way, he was content with his pay but it was every tactician's dream to command an army of hundreds of thousands.
He often had dreams where he was the King's right hand man, leading the kingdom's armies into glorious battle. But in the end, that was just a dream.
He sighed in disappointment whilst stroking his shirt black beard. Pulling out a shiny metal hand mirror, he began tidying his appearance. Darius always did this before battle. It helped calm his nerves.
He had a long face, wrinkles around his eyes were proof of his age. He had a wife who was pregnant, due to give birth anytime soon, it had been almost 9 months. He hoped that he would be there to cradle his child in his arms. Darius almost felt the warmth of the newborn child.
His short black hair was spiky, pointing outwards like he had been struck by lightning, minus the burnt smell. He turned to his men, each holding a sword and a kite shield.
"50 leave!" He yelled, pumping out his right hand with the sword in it.
"And 50 return!" They finished the motto, faces grim.
This was because they knew that it was highly unlikely.
"Form up!" Darius shouted.
The men quickly filed into five ranks of ten, Darius in front.
"By the left, quick march!"
They marched out of the barracks to meet up with the rest of the army, in front of the city gates. He always felt a sense of pride when he received looks of respect from the civilians that he marched by. Standing taller, chest pumped out, a posture befitting a platoon leader.
"Halt!" The platoon stopped when they were in line with the other platoons, stamping on the ground in perfect time.
Then, at the command of their superior, they made their ranks neater and in line with their neighbors.
"Darius, it's been a while!" Jeremy greeted him.
Darius and Jeremy had been part of the same section in recruit school and had taken part in several campaigns together, somehow managing to survive.
"It has, hasn't it?" He grinned in response.
"When was the last time we marched out together?"
"I think it was during the Icarus campaign."
"Ah, good times. Those harpies were real nightmares." Jeremy reminisced.
"Don't bring that up again please, I still have that scar down my back from when I was bombarded with rocks!" He joked.
After a while, the battalion commander walked to the front. He began informing them about enemy numbers, the importance of the frontier city and finally the time it would take to march to Castle.
The commander shouted and got onto his white stallion. The other important members, Darius included were given a temporary mount of their own. The battalion soon marched out, the citizens showering them with praise and applause.
Darius grinned under his bucket helmet at the sight of Jeremy standing up in his steed whilst bowing towards the citizens. Many other officers did similar action.
...
[The Wastes]
The estimated time to arrive at Castle was a full week, not including monster attacks. They had traveled for five days, setting up camp at night and building spiked fences to defend themselves.
The line of troops stretched further than Darius could see.
"Shit, this is killing my arse." He complained to himself.
He had pins and needles all over his buttocks. The trotting of his horse caused a numb pain to spread, making him feel like he was sitting in a bed of nettles.
"Attack!" Someone shouted.
The ranks turned into chaos. This was the first time they had been attacked during the journey. Weaker creatures usually stayed away whilst stronger ones knew that they would injure themselves if they tried to kill any humans, probably making the creature a cripple and essentially unable to hunt.
"ORDER! Trireme formation! Elites to the front, reserves are to switch to ranged!"
Darius was familiar with this formation. It was essentially a square formation but there were three rows of men at the sides. The front Rank holding tower shields, the men behind them held piles and the innermost ranks held military grade crossbows.
The soldiers quickly gathered themselves and got into formation.
"Crossbows!" Darius commanded his troops whilst leading them to the 'safe' side of the formation.
The battalion commander stood tall, hefting two long blades. Each was like an axe at the end but had the width of a broadsword. They gleamed in the sunlight.
A horde of Demi humans appeared over the horizon. They were goblins, small nasty green creatures. Although they lacked quality, quantity was a quality all in itself.
"Bow men, FIRE!" The battalion commander yelled out.
The sound of the tension in the crossbows was like a creaking wooden floor before it ejected the arrow. It sounded like an Achilles' tendon snapping.
A whistling sound was released from the arrows as they flew through the air before burying their barbed heads in the chest of their enemies.
There was no need to aim as the goblins were so bunched together that a single arrow would end up killing five at a time. This allowed the archers to fire quicker. The enemies were now 500 meters away.
"Bowmen, fire at will! Shields link up!"
The organised volley changed in to a constant barrage of wood and metal. A loud 'clank' sounded out as the tower shields were put together, creating an impenetrable iron wall.
Although the soldiers kept on firing and firing, the goblin's advanced actually began to speed up. The pikemen readied themselves, weapons in the air.
The goblins let out a war cry which the men returned. The enemies were dwarfed by the size of the shields yet they continued to advance regardless. Whenever a goblin fell, another would take it's place.
There was a grating metal sound hitting something soft and squidgy every time the soldiers brought down their pikes. The battle was bloody and ruthless.
Suddenly, a war horn sounded. Blue and red goblins appeared in the green ranks, yelling a primal language before shooting out a spray of ice or a spurt of fire.
"Goblin mages! Bowmen, pick your targets!"
Every single goblin mage was killed as soon as he appeared in the enemy ranks, giving them no chance to retaliate with magic. The banging sound of the goblins hitting the tower shields with their wooden clubs was loud, it dwarfed out any other noise.
When one goblin died, it's corpse became a step. Thousands of goblins died in a single minute, their viscous brethren using their corpses to climb over the top of the tower shields.
"They climbed over!"
"Someone save me!" The men screamed.
"Break ranks! Prepare for melee combat!"
The bowmen tossed their crossbows aside and unsheathed swords and shields.
"SHIELD MEN, PUSH!"
The shields instantly unlinked and shot forward, a metal on metal sound grated in everyone's ears. Goblins were flung high into the sky, landing on their comrades.
"For the king"
"FOR THE KING!"
The soldiers yelled before running into battle, colliding with monsters that didn't even reach their waists. Knights strode forward in their plate mail.
"Blessing: Heart of Steel!" A grey aura shrouded the soldiers, making them several times braver than before.
"Blessing: All for the King!" Suddenly, the aches and wounds of the soldiers vanished, replaced with infinite stamina.
Other knights charged forward, smashing into the green Demi humans.
"Sword Art: Dimensional Slash!" A tear in space and time annihilated a hundred goblins in a single attack.
"War Art: Bloodthirst!" The attacks of all soldiers became several times more ferocious, felling the goblins like farmers harvesting wheat.
More and more knights and soldiers joined the fray, the knights activating a multitude of arts whilst the soldiers fought with reckless abandon.
Finally, the enemy numbers lessened visibly. The battalion commander stood in the middle of the enemy, swinging his blades like a butcher yet twirling them gracefully like a dancer.
They had won. The enemy numbered a few hundred, every soldier yelling in glee.
Suddenly, a booming sound woke everyone from their glorious stupor. The grins faded as everyone looked at their new foe.
"WAR TROLL!"
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[City of Lumitania, Barracks]
The men in his platoon were gearing up. They put on the uncomfortable chain mail, tightening their boots and picking up their weapons.
Intel had come in which stated that a large criminal organisation called 'Black Scythe' was attacking a city on the edge of Genesis' territory. It was not really a city but rather a frontier to ward of dangerous monsters.
It was rumoured that 1 regiment of 2,000 men were headed to the frontier city, 'Castle'. Although not confirmed, it was said that the Arial Sage companies were going as well, including the ace unit which had been nicknamed 'Cleaver' due to their ruthlessness and swiftness when completing tasks.
Darius was a platoon commander, he was well known for being a successful tactician but not good enough to be promoted. Either way, he was content with his pay but it was every tactician's dream to command an army of hundreds of thousands.
He often had dreams where he was the King's right hand man, leading the kingdom's armies into glorious battle. But in the end, that was just a dream.
He sighed in disappointment whilst stroking his shirt black beard. Pulling out a shiny metal hand mirror, he began tidying his appearance. Darius always did this before battle. It helped calm his nerves.
He had a long face, wrinkles around his eyes were proof of his age. He had a wife who was pregnant, due to give birth anytime soon, it had been almost 9 months. He hoped that he would be there to cradle his child in his arms. Darius almost felt the warmth of the newborn child.
His short black hair was spiky, pointing outwards like he had been struck by lightning, minus the burnt smell. He turned to his men, each holding a sword and a kite shield.
"50 leave!" He yelled, pumping out his right hand with the sword in it.
"And 50 return!" They finished the motto, faces grim.
This was because they knew that it was highly unlikely.
"Form up!" Darius shouted.
The men quickly filed into five ranks of ten, Darius in front.
"By the left, quick march!"
They marched out of the barracks to meet up with the rest of the army, in front of the city gates. He always felt a sense of pride when he received looks of respect from the civilians that he marched by. Standing taller, chest pumped out, a posture befitting a platoon leader.
"Halt!" The platoon stopped when they were in line with the other platoons, stamping on the ground in perfect time.
Then, at the command of their superior, they made their ranks neater and in line with their neighbors.
"Darius, it's been a while!" Jeremy greeted him.
Darius and Jeremy had been part of the same section in recruit school and had taken part in several campaigns together, somehow managing to survive.
"It has, hasn't it?" He grinned in response.
"When was the last time we marched out together?"
"I think it was during the Icarus campaign."
"Ah, good times. Those harpies were real nightmares." Jeremy reminisced.
"Don't bring that up again please, I still have that scar down my back from when I was bombarded with rocks!" He joked.
After a while, the battalion commander walked to the front. He began informing them about enemy numbers, the importance of the frontier city and finally the time it would take to march to Castle.
The commander shouted and got onto his white stallion. The other important members, Darius included were given a temporary mount of their own. The battalion soon marched out, the citizens showering them with praise and applause.
Darius grinned under his bucket helmet at the sight of Jeremy standing up in his steed whilst bowing towards the citizens. Many other officers did similar action.
...
[The Wastes]
The estimated time to arrive at Castle was a full week, not including monster attacks. They had traveled for five days, setting up camp at night and building spiked fences to defend themselves.
The line of troops stretched further than Darius could see.
"Shit, this is killing my arse." He complained to himself.
He had pins and needles all over his buttocks. The trotting of his horse caused a numb pain to spread, making him feel like he was sitting in a bed of nettles.
"Attack!" Someone shouted.
The ranks turned into chaos. This was the first time they had been attacked during the journey. Weaker creatures usually stayed away whilst stronger ones knew that they would injure themselves if they tried to kill any humans, probably making the creature a cripple and essentially unable to hunt.
"ORDER! Trireme formation! Elites to the front, reserves are to switch to ranged!"
Darius was familiar with this formation. It was essentially a square formation but there were three rows of men at the sides. The front Rank holding tower shields, the men behind them held piles and the innermost ranks held military grade crossbows.
The soldiers quickly gathered themselves and got into formation.
"Crossbows!" Darius commanded his troops whilst leading them to the 'safe' side of the formation.
The battalion commander stood tall, hefting two long blades. Each was like an axe at the end but had the width of a broadsword. They gleamed in the sunlight.
A horde of Demi humans appeared over the horizon. They were goblins, small nasty green creatures. Although they lacked quality, quantity was a quality all in itself.
"Bow men, FIRE!" The battalion commander yelled out.
The sound of the tension in the crossbows was like a creaking wooden floor before it ejected the arrow. It sounded like an Achilles' tendon snapping.
A whistling sound was released from the arrows as they flew through the air before burying their barbed heads in the chest of their enemies.
There was no need to aim as the goblins were so bunched together that a single arrow would end up killing five at a time. This allowed the archers to fire quicker. The enemies were now 500 meters away.
"Bowmen, fire at will! Shields link up!"
The organised volley changed in to a constant barrage of wood and metal. A loud 'clank' sounded out as the tower shields were put together, creating an impenetrable iron wall.
Although the soldiers kept on firing and firing, the goblin's advanced actually began to speed up. The pikemen readied themselves, weapons in the air.
The goblins let out a war cry which the men returned. The enemies were dwarfed by the size of the shields yet they continued to advance regardless. Whenever a goblin fell, another would take it's place.
There was a grating metal sound hitting something soft and squidgy every time the soldiers brought down their pikes. The battle was bloody and ruthless.
Suddenly, a war horn sounded. Blue and red goblins appeared in the green ranks, yelling a primal language before shooting out a spray of ice or a spurt of fire.
"Goblin mages! Bowmen, pick your targets!"
Every single goblin mage was killed as soon as he appeared in the enemy ranks, giving them no chance to retaliate with magic. The banging sound of the goblins hitting the tower shields with their wooden clubs was loud, it dwarfed out any other noise.
When one goblin died, it's corpse became a step. Thousands of goblins died in a single minute, their viscous brethren using their corpses to climb over the top of the tower shields.
"They climbed over!"
"Someone save me!" The men screamed.
"Break ranks! Prepare for melee combat!"
The bowmen tossed their crossbows aside and unsheathed swords and shields.
"SHIELD MEN, PUSH!"
The shields instantly unlinked and shot forward, a metal on metal sound grated in everyone's ears. Goblins were flung high into the sky, landing on their comrades.
"For the king"
"FOR THE KING!"
The soldiers yelled before running into battle, colliding with monsters that didn't even reach their waists. Knights strode forward in their plate mail.
"Blessing: Heart of Steel!" A grey aura shrouded the soldiers, making them several times braver than before.
"Blessing: All for the King!" Suddenly, the aches and wounds of the soldiers vanished, replaced with infinite stamina.
Other knights charged forward, smashing into the green Demi humans.
"Sword Art: Dimensional Slash!" A tear in space and time annihilated a hundred goblins in a single attack.
"War Art: Bloodthirst!" The attacks of all soldiers became several times more ferocious, felling the goblins like farmers harvesting wheat.
More and more knights and soldiers joined the fray, the knights activating a multitude of arts whilst the soldiers fought with reckless abandon.
Finally, the enemy numbers lessened visibly. The battalion commander stood in the middle of the enemy, swinging his blades like a butcher yet twirling them gracefully like a dancer.
They had won. The enemy numbered a few hundred, every soldier yelling in glee.
Suddenly, a booming sound woke everyone from their glorious stupor. The grins faded as everyone looked at their new foe.
"WAR TROLL!"
City of Lumitania, Barracks The men in his platoon were gearing up. They put on the uncomfortable chain mail, tightening their boots and picking up their weapons. Intel had come in which stated that a large criminal organisation called 'Black Scythe' was attacking a city on the edge of Genesis' territory. It was not really a city but rather a frontier to ward of dangerous monsters. It was rumoured that 1 regiment of 2,000 men were headed to the frontier city, 'Castle'. Although not confirmed, it was said that the Arial Sage companies were going as well, including the ace unit which had been nicknamed 'Cleaver' due to their ruthlessness and swiftness when completing tasks. Darius was a platoon commander, he was well known for being a successful tactician but not good enough to be promoted. Either way, he was content with his pay but it was every tactician's dream to command an army of hundreds of thousands. He often had dreams where he was the King's right hand man, leading the kingdom's armies into glorious battle. But in the end, that was just a dream. He sighed in disappointment whilst stroking his shirt black beard. Pulling out a shiny metal hand mirror, he began tidying his appearance. Darius always did this before battle. It helped calm his nerves. He had a long face, wrinkles around his eyes were proof of his age. He had a wife who was pregnant, due to give birth anytime soon, it had been almost 9 months. He hoped that he would be there to cradle his child in his arms. Darius almost felt the warmth of the newborn child. His short black hair was spiky, pointing outwards like he had been struck by lightning, minus the burnt smell. He turned to his men, each holding a sword and a kite shield. "50 leave!" He yelled, pumping out his right hand with the sword in it. "And 50 return!" They finished the motto, faces grim. This was because they knew that it was highly unlikely. "Form up!" Darius shouted. The men quickly filed into five ranks of ten, Darius in front. "By the left, quick march!" They marched out of the barracks to meet up with the rest of the army, in front of the city gates. He always felt a sense of pride when he received looks of respect from the civilians that he marched by. Standing taller, chest pumped out, a posture befitting a platoon leader. "Halt!" The platoon stopped when they were in line with the other platoons, stamping on the ground in perfect time. Then, at the command of their superior, they made their ranks neater and in line with their neighbors. "Darius, it's been a while!" Jeremy greeted him. Darius and Jeremy had been part of the same section in recruit school and had taken part in several campaigns together, somehow managing to survive. "It has, hasn't it?" He grinned in response. "When was the last time we marched out together?" "I think it was during the Icarus campaign." "Ah, good times. Those harpies were real nightmares." Jeremy reminisced. "Don't bring that up again please, I still have that scar down my back from when I was bombarded with rocks!" He joked. After a while, the battalion commander walked to the front. He began informing them about enemy numbers, the importance of the frontier city and finally the time it would take to march to Castle. The commander shouted and got onto his white stallion. The other important members, Darius included were given a temporary mount of their own. The battalion soon marched out, the citizens showering them with praise and applause. Darius grinned under his bucket helmet at the sight of Jeremy standing up in his steed whilst bowing towards the citizens. Many other officers did similar action. ... The Wastes The estimated time to arrive at Castle was a full week, not including monster attacks. They had traveled for five days, setting up camp at night and building spiked fences to defend themselves. The line of troops stretched further than Darius could see. "Shit, this is killing my arse." He complained to himself. He had pins and needles all over his buttocks. The trotting of his horse caused a numb pain to spread, making him feel like he was sitting in a bed of nettles. "Attack!" Someone shouted. The ranks turned into chaos. This was the first time they had been attacked during the journey. Weaker creatures usually stayed away whilst stronger ones knew that they would injure themselves if they tried to kill any humans, probably making the creature a cripple and essentially unable to hunt. "ORDER! Trireme formation! Elites to the front, reserves are to switch to ranged!" Darius was familiar with this formation. It was essentially a square formation but there were three rows of men at the sides. The front Rank holding tower shields, the men behind them held piles and the innermost ranks held military grade crossbows. The soldiers quickly gathered themselves and got into formation. "Crossbows!" Darius commanded his troops whilst leading them to the 'safe' side of the formation. The battalion commander stood tall, hefting two long blades. Each was like an axe at the end but had the width of a broadsword. They gleamed in the sunlight. A horde of Demi humans appeared over the horizon. They were goblins, small nasty green creatures. Although they lacked quality, quantity was a quality all in itself. "Bow men, FIRE!" The battalion commander yelled out. The sound of the tension in the crossbows was like a creaking wooden floor before it ejected the arrow. It sounded like an Achilles' tendon snapping. A whistling sound was released from the arrows as they flew through the air before burying their barbed heads in the chest of their enemies. There was no need to aim as the goblins were so bunched together that a single arrow would end up killing five at a time. This allowed the archers to fire quicker. The enemies were now 500 meters away. "Bowmen, fire at will! Shields link up!" The organised volley changed in to a constant barrage of wood and metal. A loud 'clank' sounded out as the tower shields were put together, creating an impenetrable iron wall. Although the soldiers kept on firing and firing, the goblin's advanced actually began to speed up. The pikemen readied themselves, weapons in the air. The goblins let out a war cry which the men returned. The enemies were dwarfed by the size of the shields yet they continued to advance regardless. Whenever a goblin fell, another would take it's place. There was a grating metal sound hitting something soft and squidgy every time the soldiers brought down their pikes. The battle was bloody and ruthless. Suddenly, a war horn sounded. Blue and red goblins appeared in the green ranks, yelling a primal language before shooting out a spray of ice or a spurt of fire. "Goblin mages! Bowmen, pick your targets!" Every single goblin mage was killed as soon as he appeared in the enemy ranks, giving them no chance to retaliate with magic. The banging sound of the goblins hitting the tower shields with their wooden clubs was loud, it dwarfed out any other noise. When one goblin died, it's corpse became a step. Thousands of goblins died in a single minute, their viscous brethren using their corpses to climb over the top of the tower shields. "They climbed over!" "Someone save me!" The men screamed. "Break ranks! Prepare for melee combat!" The bowmen tossed their crossbows aside and unsheathed swords and shields. "SHIELD MEN, PUSH!" The shields instantly unlinked and shot forward, a metal on metal sound grated in everyone's ears. Goblins were flung high into the sky, landing on their comrades. "For the king" "FOR THE KING!" The soldiers yelled before running into battle, colliding with monsters that didn't even reach their waists. Knights strode forward in their plate mail. "Blessing: Heart of Steel!" A grey aura shrouded the soldiers, making them several times braver than before. "Blessing: All for the King!" Suddenly, the aches and wounds of the soldiers vanished, replaced with infinite stamina. Other knights charged forward, smashing into the green Demi humans. "Sword Art: Dimensional Slash!" A tear in space and time annihilated a hundred goblins in a single attack. "War Art: Bloodthirst!" The attacks of all soldiers became several times more ferocious, felling the goblins like farmers harvesting wheat. More and more knights and soldiers joined the fray, the knights activating a multitude of arts whilst the soldiers fought with reckless abandon. Finally, the enemy numbers lessened visibly. The battalion commander stood in the middle of the enemy, swinging his blades like a butcher yet twirling them gracefully like a dancer. They had won. The enemy numbered a few hundred, every soldier yelling in glee. Suddenly, a booming sound woke everyone from their glorious stupor. The grins faded as everyone looked at their new foe. "WAR TROLL!"
