POV: Clair

While flying to Turonis I thought about the possible ways to do what is about to come.

It would be easy to simply eradicate the army with a spell, but that would not go well with my intentions of learning something about strategies. It would also be fairly boring, I mean one attack and it ends? Sure it would look epic but that's it.

As far as I can see, I have three choices.

The first would be to simply kill them with my golems before they reach Turonis. That would save a few villages on the way to Turonis. They will surely get raided. The memories of the clone said that not only Turonis wants to join Aeron, the surrounding villages, and small towns are also against the alliance of Kirk and Raska.

However, that won't do. The effect on the people wouldn't be as strong. They won't feel the fear of the army, only a slight joy of not getting really affected. They would still join me, but it's simply not good material for an epic story.

The second choice would be to let the army attack Turonis and save them during the raid. The effect would be the strongest. But the people might start to question why I wasn't able to save them in time when I'm able to do so much else.

It would also kill a lot of people, which would go against my image of the saviour. So it has to be choice three.

I'll fly to Turonis and meet the current leaders. I'm almost sure that the old leader got overthrown. He was a noble of Kirk and either fled or was apprehended by the folk. He hasn't any backing as we left and it surely got worse.

After meeting them and getting a briefing, I'll tell them that an army of mine will be here in a few days, depending on the time, the allied army will need to reach Turonis.

I'll then let them siege the city for a few days and then take out the golems from my inventory. They aren't alive and as such can be put inside.

The problem is the following fight, I'll have to create a strategy. But need more knowledge about the enemy and the terrain, as well as the defence systems.

Yeah, the third plan might work with the best possible outcome, I'm currently able to think of.

So the plan will be as followed.

1. Search the enemy and scout their forces.

2. Fly to Turonis and meet the current leaders, after that get a briefing about the situation at place.

3. Tell them that rescue is on the way, but they have to hold out for a few days.

4. Help them to organise and strengthen the defences

5. Create a strategy for the following fight.

6. Fight, win and have a big feast with lots of chicken.

What to do in case of prisoners and injured? I think I'll ask the leaders about their opinions. This world hasn't a Geneva conversion or human rights to begin with. Still, it wouldn't look good to kill them all. Again it would work against my image.

°Sigh° this image is annoying, maybe I should walk as Dex inside one of their encampments and create havoc for a bit? This would also be the perfect opportunity to test a power of mine I've never used.

Maybe next time, a force of 300.000 is too large to fully crush. They might loose the will to fight if I destroy them. I mean 300.000 is a little less than a tenth of their full force. And 300.000 is still way too much for Turonis. Maybe they gamble about my presence and think that such a force will be enough to kill me? Hilarious!

True, I wouldn't be able to fight them without the power I got from god. Even if I only got the gamer setting. I would have never been able to rise in levels without [Apokalypse] or the ability to be immune to any harmful magic. The immunity to harmful magic alone saves me. My runes and my spells wouldn't work without it, if I step into their magic barrier.

Good thing I placed an inhibitor into my golems, or they would also get either strongly weakened or simply destroyed by a mana-inhibitor-field. It was fairly easy to create a countermeasure.

Each golem has its core clad in a layer of orichalcum.

The thing is, orichalcum is able to get programmed on a specific mana signature. Any other mana will then be blocked by it. It can be overcome with a lot of mana, but that's unlikely by these normal mages. There has to come a SS-Rank mage to do that.

Okay, that would normally not be possible, as orichalcum uses the first mana it comes into contact to get its program. Normally that would be fire or earth mana, as orichalcum gets produced inside the ground, near hot places. But I'm able to create “clean” orichalcum and infused it with void mana. No one should be trained in this affinity to create a mana-inhibitor-field. And if they manage, than it's a deserved win and I will kill them by myself.

So these golems aren't creatable by the people of this world and they surely are Tier 4 and after the war Tier 5. I mean, even if they win a battle, I don't intend to let them really win said battle. Hehehe, lets see, maybe they will be able to win a fight.

Okay, enough of that, I have to search the allied forces. They will come from either the north-west, west or south-west.

My leader golems have all a rune set, that allows me to use them from a distance. It kinda is like a FPS-game. I have a monitor and a suit for controlling them. This way, I'm able to fight as one of my golems. It raises the fighting power by a lot. I mean the golems don't have any skills and as such are weaker than a soldier with a skill. Their strength lies in the ability to not get tired and not having morale. They are also equipped with a listening device for commands and a sound box for battle music.

I have to test the waters if I want to know how strong one of my golems is in comparison to one soldier.

I found the trek in the north-west, they might have grouped up near the border of Raska. Most of their insignias are showing houses from Raska.

I have to ask someone as which kind these armies work. Are they led by one general or are they only under a main general and each troop is under their own leader?

The first possibility would mean that they work as a whole and attack in large-scale strategies.

Each part of the army only listens to the general and his subordinates. They are able to perform grand plans and have an overall higher attack power. However, they are easier put into disorder. You just have to kill the line of command and the troops are blind and most likely in panic. It's easy to do that in a medieval time, the higher ups are mostly in better armour.

The second possibility would be better for me, it would mean that they do have a general and an overall strategic, however, each earl, duke and so on, who has send troops is also present and out for glory. This can mean that they hinder themselves and make it easier to outmanoeuvre them.

They don't get hit as strong as the first option if you kill the command. That's because there are a lot of independent commanding lines. However, it's still possible and it's even easier to kill the head of a troop in this case. They are often in the middle or back of the army and surrounded by the best soldiers. Sometimes even inside their tents.

Anyway, I'm currently not able to clarify which kind they are. It's a giant trek of more than half a million people. There are the 300.000 soldiers and then their entourage. The entourage is a group of people who are supporting the army. It often consists out of prostitutes, blacksmiths, cooks, leather worker, hunter or even constructors for siege weapons. There might even be a merchant who's selling his wares. This entourage is often times larger than the army and the whole thing needs enormous amounts of supplies.

The army itself consists mostly out of foot soldiers. There is no cavalry, at most there are enough horses for their commanders. They have a lot of mages. This is understandable. They don't expect a clash on the field. Solo is too weak to help Turonis, that and it wouldn't help Solo if they try.

Tragon is too far away and Aeron never established a real army. They might have thought about the possibility of me using my guards. But I don't think so, Kyli stated during the meeting of kingdoms that they won't be used outside of Aeron. She even fed them the lie about the disability of going out of the forest.

So they either bet on me not helping Turonis or not being strong enough against an army of 300.000. In both cases horses aren't useful. A cavalry is used to smash the front lines or even better flanks of an infantry army. They can't be used against a single opponent or in a siege.

There are a lot of wagons, they might want to build siege weapons at place. This is the common tactic during medieval times. It wasn't really possible to move large siege weapons to the besieged fortress. They simply build them with the wood from local forests.

I spotted a scout troop beforehand and am now trying to sneak up on them. They are only 20 and I deployed 30 scouts, with me “inside” a leader golem.

We're inside a forest and the hostile scouts will cross us in a few seconds. They are clad in brown leather clothes and not really wary of their surroundings. They are speaking with each other and one of them is even eating while walking. Bad for them and perfect for us.

Strangely I'm able to use my skills, well, those who are only active. Passives like [Heat Resistance] aren't active. This might have something to do with my memories of said active skill and the functions of my body with the passive skill.

The scouts are not directly in the middle of me and the other golems, so it's time to act. I gave the order for the attack and 30 scout golems let their arrows lose. They aren't allowed to hit the guy with the best armour. But each of the remaining 19 people got at least hit by one arrow. 10 even died.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“ENEMY ATTACK!” Screamed the guy in the best armour. I suppose he's the leader of them.

I gave the command to draw the swords and each of my golems put the bow away, at the same time and one °schling° was heard as they all drew their sword at the same time.

“That sounds like only one guy,” said one of the remaining scouts. They already have drawn their sword and moved together into a circle formation.

I walked out of my bush, the scouts are still hiding.

“Who're you?” The leader asked as they noticed me. Their eyes were wide and mouths open. I might look intimidating in my well-decorated form.

“Doesn't matter to you, I only want this guy,” I said and pointed at the supposed leader, “the others are allowed to leave”. My voice was that of a young man. Not extremely deep but also not too high.

“Fuck off and die!” Screamed one of the wounded. He had an arrow in the knee. Really, right in the knee. Too bad that he isn't an adventurer.

“So I take that as a no?” I asked. And they got ready to attack me. So I raised my hand and gave the command to attack them and don't let them escape. It'll be a one on one while the rest will hinder them from fleeing.

The enemy scouts acted swiftly and parried the incoming attacks and a skirmish arose.

I hit the nail on the head, as I set the status of my golems. They are almost equal in strength. There are obviously differences between each enemy soldier, but all in all the two sides are equal in strength. There was a 45/55 chance for my soldiers to loose. This must be the result of their skills. They shouldn't be too high in their skill LV if it's only this much. Maybe 1 or 2.

And as I predicted, there was a guy who was better than the others. It was the supposed leader.

I walked up to him and let him attack me. His sword was slow, he might only have an agility stat of a couple thousand. This is way higher than his soldiers, but still way to less for a leader golem.

So I simply hit the side of his sword with my palm and forced it out of his hands. I then hit his chin with an upper-cut and send him into the lands of dreams. He also got a heavy concussion.

This fight was too easier, but this guy wasn't one of the strongest. His lack of awareness showed his weakness. I picked him up and waited for my soldiers to finish the rest of them. At the end, I lost 5 while 19 of them were dead. 5 died before the skirmish started and most of the rest were wounded.

I might have to change the stats of my soldiers, they lost with such high advantages. Well, they aren't made for close combat fights. Their strength is not high enough to hit hard and their real effectiveness lies with the bow.

So this might be good enough.

I cut the link to my golem and walked to them, where I activated the regeneration rune and the previously destroyed golems rebuild themselves.

After that, I burned the remains of the enemy scouts, put the golems back in my inventory and picked the unconsciousness leader up.

The next hours were used to spy on the enemy forces. Their current speed will bring them to Turonis in a week. This further indicates that they don't think that I'm able to send enough forces to support. We need better surveillance and information. The news simply are travelling too slow.

I waited until they set camp and then flew to Turonis.

The sun already started to set as I arrived at my mansion in Turonis. The town was hectic, the gates were already closed and the walls were highly guarded. People were running here and there and the construction of barricades in front of the walls was in full work.

I landed at the entrance and walked inside. Someone must've heard the door because I was able to hear footsteps and shortly after a woman in a maid outfit came down from the first floor.

“Miss Clair!” She said in shock as she saw me and my luggage.

“Hi, what's up?” I asked and waved at her.

“What's up? You and the others vanished after a courier told us about the coming army.

The whole town is in shock, they anticipated some consequences by declaring their independence. But they didn't imagined that a whole army will come. They think the army will arrive in a few weeks and a lot of people already fled. My husband also wanted to flee, but I convinced him to stay. I was sure that you'll save us and then you vanished. I was frightened to death,” she said and started to sob at the end.

“Yeah, the person who vanished was a clone produced by magic. It informed me about the current situation as it vanished. So I came as I heard of it. Sorry, I was in Nahar and had to do something before I come. That's the reason why I'm here only now,” I said and patted her head to reason her.

“Nahar? But that is two-month travel by horse away. And your... clone vanished this morning,” she asked in confusion and then followed me to the kitchen, where I gave her a coke.

“Yes, I hurried. Can you tell me who is in command?” I asked as she calmed down.

“The headmaster of the magic academy and the newly elected mayor,” she said and put the now empty glass down.

“Do you know where I can find them? I think I'll need to speak with them,” I said.

“They should be either in the magic academy or in the mansion of the old baron. It's now used as the towns hall.” Renè

“What happened with the baron?” I asked.

“He fled from the city a year ago. The townsfolk wasn't on his side anymore and he risked a riot if he had stayed.” Renè

“Thanks, can you watch over him while I'll see the headmaster? I said and put my already cuffed luggage down and walked out. Renè looked between me and the luggage and then nodded.

Outside I instructed two of my mansion guards to follow me and then walked to the magic academy.

A lot of guards were on the streets and most of them stopped moving as they saw me.

I reached the office of the headmaster and smiled at the secretary, before simply walking inside.

Inside were three people, the headmaster, and two other men.

One wore a soldier uniform, while the other wore simple clothes. They looked better than the worst but still not too expensive.

“Who?... Clair?” Arthur (headmaster) asked as I came in and then looked relieved.

“Your maid informed us that you've vanished, what happened?” He then asked.

“Hi, that was a clone, it informed me about the coming army and I came from Nahar,” I simply said and walked up to them.

“A clone? Doesn't matter, these here are Rick,” he said and pointed at the man in a soldier's uniform,” and Walt,” he then pointed at the other man.

“Rick is the guard captain and Walt is the major. Rick and Walt, this is Clair. I think you already know her,” Arthur.

“Yes, it's an honour to meet you My Goddess,” Rick said and bowed.

“Nice to meet you,” Walt said and also gave me a bow.

“Hi, as Arthur said, I'm Clair. I heard you've declared independence from Kirk?” Me

“Indeed, we couldn't stand their declaration of war and the behaviour of these nobles any longer. We hoped to get an alliance with Solo and Aeron, but information about an army reached us before we were able to get a reply from our envoys,” Walt.

“They must've anticipated that we will rebel, otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to send troops so fast,” Rick said.

“It must've been the work of the ex-baron,” Walt added and both looked angry.

“Well, what are you doing here?” I asked and looked at the desk behind them. On it was a map of the surroundings from Turonis. It was okay, not really good but detailed enough.

“We think of a strategy to evacuate the people, we thought we might be able to get time if we let it look like we are defending the city. They might have a lot of troops, but they aren't enough to surround the whole city. We might be able to evacuate a small group each night,” Arthur said.

“We think we'll be able to evacuate most of the people in three weeks,” Rick added.

“Hmm, well the enemy will be here in a week,” I simply said and they got pale.

“A week? That's too soon, they'll notice our plan if they have so much time,” Rick said in shock.

“I can suggest a different plan,” I said and they looked at me, eager to hear my plan.

“I'm able to create a few more defences and troops will be here in 8 to 9 days. These troops are from Aeron and will be enough to force the enemy back,” I said.

“Are you sure that they'll be here in time? We won't be able to hold out for long,” Arthur asked unconvinced.

“I'm sure of it,” I said with a resolute smile.

“Okay..., I trust Clair, what do you say?” Arthur then asked the other two.

“Everything for my goddess,” Rick said and Walt also agreed.

“Good, how many do believe in The Church of Carring?” I then asked.

“Almost the whole town,” Arthur said with a wry smile.

“Then let me hold a speech, tomorrow afternoon, it might raise the moral. I'll start with the defence after that,” I said.

“That will help, the moral is low,” Rick.

“Inform the people to come to the towns square at afternoon. I have to go back to my mansion, see you tomorrow,” I said and left after they said goodbye.

This will be fun....

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAUwbOt3N0o

This time, it's a better one^^. The evil side convinced me with chicken. I know I'm weak, but it's good chicken.