Lydia smiled inside her stupid clunky armor as she saw the advancing mercenaries retreat down the hill. Trusting in her husband to defend their core was the best choice. Those mercenaries were more skilled than any other person in Lord Edmund’s army from what she saw. It seems that their first battle is concluded with this.
“Support the main army until the opposing army is dealt with. Once Lord Edmund realizes the mercenaries, he’s hired failed to do their job, he should order a retreat.” Lydia shared.
“Understood, Boss!” The golden snakes took aim with their superior longbows and began to fire into the enemy ranks.
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Leo and the other golden snakes massacred their way through Lord Edmund’s soldiers. Even the most skilled of soldiers were helpless in the face of their skills and inhuman training. The only thing that was slowing them down was the fact that there weren’t that many golden snakes! If they were numbered in the hundreds instead of the dozens, they probably would’ve won this war by now. Unfortunately, not many snakes had the strength necessary to withstand the Boss’s training despite its obvious results.
The handsome rogue and fame-hungry bandit used his spinning blades to unleash an unstoppable whirlwind of offense. Swift, agile, and always deadly, Leo’s attacks never missed a weak spot! Any knight going against him would find themselves outmatched in terms of speed and skill. After all, it was the only way to survive when training against someone like John. You can’t stand against a man like John without being able to avoid his powerful natural strength.
“What kind of man brings a knife to the battlefield?” The commander of Lord Edmund’s army looked down on Leo.
“These knives are better than you think. Wanna see?” Leo tossed one of his spinning blades at the knight.
The blade flew at an incredible speed toward the knight’s neck. He barely managed to raise his shield in time to save his life! A look of disbelief and surprise appeared on the knight’s face as the spinning blade went flying off somewhere. Leo chuckled as he caught the returning spinning blade and ran forward toward the mounted knight.
He tossed his other spinning blade into the air and leaped up to take the knight’s life with his remaining blade folded up into a triple-layered knife. The knight met his knife with his sword before grunting in shock. Leo grinned as he managed to surprise the knight with his strength. The hellish training and medicinal baths given by his Boss were really amazing when used in combination, you know? Although Leo had the advantage in strength, his position just wasn’t good enough to take the commander’s neck as well. He was pushed back to the ground, and the knight rushed forward to take advantage of it.
“I wouldn’t do that if I was you.” Leo looked up at the swinging knight with a maniacal grin on his face.
“Die, you overconfident fool!” The knight commander swung down.
The only result that came from their fight was a head falling to the ground. Leo caught his previously thrown spinning blade with ease, and cheers erupted from the sea of men. The victor soaked in all the praise. It was the start of his legend! No longer would he just be John’s sidekick any longer but his own man! He took down a noble knight commander all by himself!
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With the cheers of the bandits, the morale of Lord Edmund’s soldiers fell quickly. Pete had a small smile on his face as he recognized those cheers. Might as well finish up his side of things as well. He and his men were head-to-head with Lord Edmund’s strongest knights. For some reason, he kept them hidden in the back to protect himself.
“It’s time to surrender, Lord Edmund. You won’t be able to escape our pursuit even if you sacrifice your skilled knights and try to leave them behind.” Pete chatted.
“Who are you?! How could a group of no-good peasants possibly defeat my men!?” Lord Edmund refused to accept reality.
“I’d like to think we got lucky. A bunch of no-good peasants can get lucky sometimes, too. The nobles can’t hoard everything.” Pete chuckled. “Now, will you make this easy or difficult on us, Lord Edmund? We could return with your head or you alive. I’m sure either will be fine with our employer.”
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“You’re mercenaries!? How come I've never heard of you then?! Why would you work for Rohan instead of someone more worthy? I just don’t get it!”
“Lord Edmund, quit thinking so hard. You might just kill over asking so many questions. You’ll learn all about us back in Lord Rohan’s territory. Drop your weapons, and we’ll make sure you don’t die on the way.” Pete advised kindly.
“Fine!” Lord Edmund knew he had no way out of this. He lost this battle completely.
“Thank you so much, Lord Edmund.” Pete’s voice took on a friendly, submissive tone. Edmund only reacted in disgust to it.
With Lord Rohan taking the credit for the victory over Lord Edmund to all the surrounding nobles and the king, Lydia, and Pete had to do some extra work to make sure that everyone knew that victory was only possible because of their merry band of mercenaries. That extra work entailed paying minstrels and carriage drivers to spread stories of Hydra’s might and prowess to their future customers and patrons in all locations. This also put Lord Rohan on the shit list of most of the snakes because of how he tried to claim everything for himself sneakily.
“Pete, my son-in-law, isn’t what I gain basically yours anyway when I pass away? What’s the big problem with enjoying things while I'm still alive?” Lord Rohan laughed as he drank some wine at the victory party hosted by Hydra.
“Father-in-law, let’s not talk about such an unpleasant topic in such a festive setting. I’m just going to tell you once and once only, alright?” Pete had an amiable smile on his face, as usual.
The former bandit leader pulled Lord Rohan by the shoulder till his breath could be felt on the man’s ear. It was at this realization that Rohan remembered that just because he was a noble didn’t mean he was invincible! Pete didn’t even have to say anything for Rohan to understand that his people were experienced killers and hated to be cheated, even if it was something as insignificant as victory in battle!
“I don’t like being fucked over,” Pete whispered into the noble’s ear but kept smiling all the way in case anyone else saw them.
Pete’s menacing nature as a former bandit willing to kill the country’s knights and loot them without fear bared down on the chubby noble in full force. Lord Rohan shivered like a leaf in a storm as he rapidly shook his jowls up and down in understanding. “Keep a smile on your fucking face before someone gets the wrong idea.” Pete’s previously friendly voice was gone. An unnatural smile plastered itself on Lord Rohan’s face while his wine swished and sloshed in his shaking hand.
“I’m glad we could come to an understanding, father. Don’t let it happen again.” Pete playfully patted his shoulder before walking away.
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“I’m not wearing that oversized suit of armor again,” Lydia told her husband in clear terms.
“I had it resized. It’ll fit you now. You’ll be able to see, move, and even defend yourself if it ever came to that.” John responded back.
“If that’s true, I guess I could give it another shot.” Lydia wasn’t against protection for herself.
It was just that the stupid armor was too big and literally stifled her in every way! Sight, smell, hearing, touch, mobility, and reactions. All vital things on a battlefield that should not be limited in any way! She would also get more respect in the armor from the soldiers and enemies. They wouldn’t know she was a woman in the armor since it covered every inch of her body.
“Boss! We did great for our first battle, right!?” Dante, one of the youngest golden snakes, asked excitedly.
“It was an acceptable performance from you all. The others need to step up their training if they wish to survive in future battles.” Lydia thought back to what she saw after taking her helmet off in the battle.
The other snakes from the other Heads didn’t respond to Lydia’s words nor did they look bothered by them. John was eyeing them like a hawk, basically daring them to say something negative regarding his wife’s words. So, they all just nervously laughed and turned away. It wasn’t worth getting on the bad side of the strongest man in their group by insulting his wife. Just let the woman talk. It wouldn’t hurt them nearly as much as John could. If she wanted to play knight commander, who were they to stop her? That was Pete or John’s job. A job that they seem more than content to let her play out.
“Something tells me we still got plenty to work on tomorrow, Boss.” Leo laughed, with the rest of the Golden Snakes joining in.
“Well, of course! Don’t think I didn’t see some of you tiring out halfway through the battle. We need to work on endurance next. War is a tiring process. Even I got tired somehow despite only giving orders and not fighting at all. So, I can’t imagine how tired you all were actually putting your lives on the line.” Lydia was happy to have a solid goal to work on with her snakes.
To this cheery voice, the golden snakes could only cheer in distress for the hell they were going to go through tomorrow.