Clair's POV:
We were flying towards the approaching army. Drull and I had our wings out, while Crypto was standing on a flying piece of rock. He made himself and the rock lighter than the surrounding air and used wind magic to propel himself forward.
(ED: What does he need the rock for if he's reduced both his own and the rocks weight? If the answer is: "To look cool". That's a perfectly valid point btw.)
“So these runes give me the ability to regenerate wounds and mana, as well as a giant boost in all stats? They look interesting. And this is so cheat like,” Crypto said while inspecting the runes on his left arm.
“They do, I can teach you. I'm also intending to teach you the summoning skill. This way you can travel between worlds. There are all kinds of worlds, you just need enough patience to find them,” I said from the side.
“That or spamming the worlds with your clones,” said Drull from the other side.
“Would be cool. I could search for a One Piece world,” Crypto said.
“Already found one, it's currently in the middle of the great war between White Beard and the Navy. I pretty much fucked the story line up, but it's possible to send you there before it happened. Time is relative,” I said.
(ED: Bad idea...)
“What did you do?” Crypto asked.
“Well at first I was all; Cool a One Piece world and it's even during the great war. I thought of helping the pirates or the Navy. Deciding which side would be more fun. In the end I decided on playing a third party. Let's just say, Pacifista aren't the only golems with lasers anymore. One Piece is such a good manga, the clone dispersed itself and I went personally and even brought five of my new golem creations. They are a combination of runes and a lot of different world information,” I said with a smile.
“Yeah, I think I would also play as a third party. Always more fun that way,” Crypto said.
“So Master what's the plan?” Drull asked.
“Hmm, there is this one darkness spell, that let's your enemy attack you in a frenzy. What was it called again?” I said.
“[Wilde Rage],” answered Drull.
“Yes, that Spell. I intended to use it against the army. This way they will attack us without a strategy and won't flee, once we killed too many of them,” I said.
“But wouldn't that be boring? I mean, they won't use any cool maneuvers or possibly even spells,” Crypto said.
“True, what now?” I said in realisation.
“You could trap them. Just raise a giant wall to their sides and behind them and they won't have any choice besides attacking us. We will stay in front of the only exit. You could even close the exit, it won't matter. Either way we're going to have our death match,” Drull said while grinning maliciously.
“Okay, I'll send a few hundred light cavalry golems. They will act as scouts and inform the enemy of our presence,” I said and descended to take the golems out of my inventory. The golems begin moving towards the army and I fly back up again.
“Let's see their reaction,” I said and we followed the golems.
Soon after we found the rising dust cloud of the enemies cavalry scouts. They had more horses and already noticed our golems.
I simply let our army stop a few kilometers away from them and we waited for their response, which came soon enough. A couple of riders broke away from their group and rode back to the main army, while the rest got in formation.
“Seems like they want to fight,” said Crypto.
“Yeah, I'll send them in a head clash. They won't win, but it's still interesting to see,” I said and gave the command to get into position.
Both sides were light cavalry and as such had only normal spears and swords. So their weapons and armor were pretty much at the same level. It came down to numbers and skill. The enemy had the numbers and it was balanced, or slightly in their favor in a clash of skill.
The enemy used trumpets as their attack command and three lines composed of 50 cavalry units began to ride towards our golems. Who also began picking up speed. Our side only had one line of 50 units in front.
“Popcorn?” I asked and pulled a bowl of popcorn out of my storage.
“Thanks,” Crypto said and took some.
“The fight will be over in an instant if you attack like that,” Drull complained while taking a bucket of chips out of his dimensional pocket.
“Do you think I'm stupid?” I said and gave the mental command for the first tactical maneuver.
Our riders veered outwards on both sides. The enemy wasn't able to follow so quickly and rode through the now produced hole, while my golems threw their spears at them.
Around two dozen were hit and fell, they hindered their neighbors and made them fall as well.
The riders fell down from a height of around 1,5 meters, this resulted in a painful reunion with the ground. The luckier ones only broke a bone, while the unlucky ones were trampled to death by the horses of their comrades.
All in all, approximately 50 riders were killed or became unable to fight. The enemy turned around and dashed back.
“What now? They don't have their spears anymore,” Drull said while raising one of his eyebrows in an odd fashion. He was probably trying to predict my next move.
(ED: I couldn't resist the temptation to include this little reference, kudos to you if you figure out where it's from btw. Also, losing your spear as a knight puts you at an enormous disadvantage, so he has to at least question her move.)
“Nothing, now I will let them run into each other and we will watch a battle without any tactics,” I said and Drull face palmed while Crypto began to laugh.
And like I said, both parties ran into each other and a wild battle without any strategy began. Just plain and simple killing and trying to survive.
The spears of the enemy were pointed at the torso of my golems. But they were mostly taken by an arm of said golems. The golems then took the spear out of their arm and threw them at their opponents horses. This resulted in a lot of wounded horses that threw their riders off.
The now useless arm was simply cut off.
“Wouldn't the loss of an arm impact their balance?” Crypto asked.
“Yeah, but it looks cool when they do that simultaneously and it destroys enemy morale,” I said and watched as most riders came down from their horses.
Cavalry is only effective as long as they have momentum, kill the momentum and you've destroyed the advantage of the cavalry.
They then proceeded with close combat. I tried to use the remaining golem horses as barricades, so that the weakness in numbers gets a little downgraded. It helped. They were only able to fight 2 on 1 rather than 3 or 4. However, my golems still lost and were destroyed one after the other. The result was that 37 enemies survived battle ready with around 70 more wounded. The rest was dead.
They helped those who were savable and released the rest from their suffering.
“They are killing their own comrades,” commented Drull.
“They have no choice, they are probably a day or two away from the main unit and they aren't able to take them with them. They are even less able to give them needed medication or help. They kill them so that we aren't able to interrogate them, if we find them,” I said.
“Do you want to kill them?” Asked Crypto.
“No, let them be. They will report their win. It's going to boost their morale a bit. This way it will be funnier when they realize they haven't had a chance from the start.
It took them an hour but they managed to put the wounded on their horses and then rode back, following their comrades who escaped at the beginning.
“Let me guess, now we're going to take the golems out and start to march?” Crypto asked.
“Almost right, now we're going to fly in the same direction and wait for them to catch up with us. But before that let me get our units back,” I said and activated the regeneration rune. The golems assembled themselves and got back in line.
“Oh, this is so unfair, those poor HAS troops. I almost pity them,” said Crypto and then began to laugh.
“I know what you mean,” I said and put the golems back, before we followed the horses.
“Took them 2 days to reach the main army,” Drull said and pointed to a group of horse riders. The same group that survived the battle against my golems.
The army of the HAS troops is high in numbers and this time also balanced. They came for conquest. Troops of every kind stood in their ranks, from mages to heavy cavalry. They even had a small monster unit. Nothing really troublesome, bred rank 3 monsters. A lot weaker than their free counterparts.
“Ready to start? They probably need an hour or two to get ready,” I said.
“Yes, let's go,” Crypto.
“Sure,” Drull.
“Good, I'll fight as Clair this time. There won't be survivors to tell off this battle,” I said and we flew closer until we were two kilometers away from the enemy camp.
Our army consisted of 150k mixed infantry units, 50k heavy infantry golems, 50k light cavalry units, 50k cavalry golems, 50k heavy cavalry golems, 75k mages, 25k leader golems, and 50k scouts.
“That's an army, how many do you have left?” asked Crypto from a vantage point.
“I think I have 9.5 million golems left,” I said absent-mindedly and gave the command to march. The ground shook from the force of half a million simultaneously placed feet.
I showed them my arms and said, “look, goosebumps from anticipation.”
“Know what you mean,” said Crypto.
We flew up and watched as the enemy hurriedly tried to get into position. I let my golems stop and we flew to the front our army, where we started casually walking to the point between the opposing armies.
A group of horsemen came shortly after.
“I'm Vulga von Franken, general of the Holy Army of Siria,” said the leader of the group. He was inside a full body plate armor and had stats somewhere around 30k.
“Hi, I'm Clair,” I simply said and gave him a lazy wave.
“Y... you are the demon god, the reason for this war? You don't look so menacing,” he said back and his entourage laughed mockingly.
“Yeah, I often hear that. Say, would you surrender?” I countered, and the laughter stopped.
“Surrender? Why should we? You only have half a million soldiers, while we have over a million. We also know that your golems aren't invincible, one of our scout units beat a small cavalry unit. So why should WE surrender to YOU?” He said and emphasized the words.
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“Okay, your death,” I simply said.
“Heh, it will be fun to have my way with you after this battle,” he said and rode back.
“Poor guy,” said Crypto.
“Yeah, Master will kill him,” said Drull.
“We will kill everyone. Our position is on the right side of the army. I will raise the wall the moment they begin to march. Clones will kill everyone outside,” I said and we got into position.
It took them another thirty minutes to get ready. They began to march forward with something akin to a battle song. A good thing, increases your own moral and often decreases the moral of your enemy. Sad for them that we don't have any need for moral.
“Okay, here it comes. One trapped army to go!” I shouted and began casting the spell.
Not even five seconds later and the ground began to shake. The army stopped singing. Another three seconds later and a wall began to rise gen sky. The wall stopped at 200 meters of height, 50 meters thick and encased both armies.
“Good, now attack!” I said and the golems started to march or ride forwards. While Drull, Crypto and I simply ran alongside them.
A few trumpets were blown and the enemy got into a counter position against cavalry.
“Crypto, Drull, a few fireballs would surely be a nice welcome gift,” I said with a smirk and produced a couple thousand small fireballs. Drull made a few hundred larger ones and Crypto settled down to one giant fireball. We shoot them all at the same time and hell rained down on our enemies. My smaller fireballs pierced them before it set them one fire like napalm. Drulls fireballs exploded between their ranks and set ten or more soldiers at once on fire, while Cryptos fireball exploded over their heads and mimicked a small nuke. The heat turned them into burned and crippled corpses.
“It's good that there are so many, otherwise it would already be over!” Shouted Crypto and drew his Nodachi.
“Yeah, but stop when our golem army gets decimated. I have something planned for later,” I said and took a large battle scythe out.
“Yes Master,” said Drull. He took two two-handed axes out and used each in one hand.
The following fight is only describable as a massacre. Each of our hits cut limps off or whole bodies in two. Our spells burned, rotted or maimed their bodies, while our fists or weapons ripped them into shreds.
At first they tried to attack us in small groups, which didn't work. We simply cut through the shields and then through them. After that they tried to overwhelm us with numbers and surrounded us. That didn't work as well, we just started throwing spells behind us and they were fried or burned to crisps.
The last thing they tried was to throw their weapons at us or shoot us with arrows and spells.
This would have worked, if we wouldn't regenerate every wound they inflicted on us.
They then simply began to beg for mercy or run. It took us an hour and we reached the wall on the back side of the army. Those who were already there tried to climb it, so that they could flee from us. I don't have to say it, but it didn't work. A few reached a couple meters high, but were impaled by us with their own swords.
Our golem army didn't fight as well as we did. They started with a full dash against the enemy infantry lines. Heavy cavalry at the front and normal cavalry at the back, while the bowman cavalry shot their arrows at the enemy cavalry. The initial clash went well. Our cavalry crashed through their lines like a hot knife through butter.
But they had to lose their momentum with all these soldiers in their way and finally they stopped completely. They were then easy game and quickly fell under the attack of countless spears and spells.
The enemy cavalry was better placed. They were held back and started their attack the moment our infantry units hit their front line. They then rode alongside our line and made a turn directly into our left and right side. The bowman golems at the back fell like domino bricks. They simply weren't made for fighting against this kind of enemy. And I wasn't in the mood to coordinate them. I was having too much fun killing my own share of soldiers.
Anyway, our bowmen were destroyed and the mages used suicide spells to kill their cavalry. It worked, but only with the loss of our mages and bowmen. The now support less infantry units had to fight on two sides at the same time. They fought hard and brave, in all their mindless nature.
The numbers weren't on their side and they only managed to kill in a three to one ratio. The leader golems on the other side were something different. They literally jumped over the battlefield and killed left and right. Their high agility and strength made them strong enough to kill countless enemies before they were taken down. However, they were still taken down and their numbers dwindled constantly. The whole battle took two hours before the last golem fell.
I signaled Drull and Crypto to stop and we waited for their reaction. We stood in a field of corpses and blood. A truly beautiful sight for a war artist.
We all bathed in their blood and looked more red than anything else.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, a lone soldier came to the front and shouted, “ Surrender! Your army is beaten and we are superior in numbers.”
“Do they really think we will surrender? Didn't they seen what we did?” Asked Crypto in normal volume.
“I think they are just stupid,” said Drull and flicked some brain matter away from his shoulder.
“No you surrender!” I shouted back.
“I think you didn't listen demon god, we are so generous and offer you a quick death. So surrender now!” Was shouted back.
“I'm going to count to three, I will exterminate every last one of you, if you haven't surrendered by then!” I shouted and some of them began to laugh.
“1!...2!...3!..., okay now you are going to die!” I shouted and contacted the clones hidden behind the wall. Each clone then transformed into my dragon form.
I might have not used it before, but I'm sure it will be big and badass looking.
And sure enough, each clone turned into a dragon. A 500 meters long, 200 meters high and 50 meters wide western style dragon. The head had two menacing horns, while the scales were black as the night, with red lines going from the top of the head to the end of the tail. The tail was formed like a double ax at the end. The wings were folded and looked like bat wings, including the dagger-like finger.
The hands still had fingers but with razor sharp nails, while the feet looked like deadly claws. They also had red lines which connected with the lines that went along the body.
Each dragon looked over the wall and made a fear-inducing roar.
“We surrender!” and similar screams suddenly emerged from countless points on the battlefield.
“I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am,” I said with a grin and picked Crypto and Drull up and took to the sky.
They began to plead for mercy. I said nothing, so they started to attack the dragons with arrows and spells. The attacks simply bounced off the scales, so they started to run to the walls in hope to get away, but before they could reach them I gave the command to attack.
I didn't know if I was able to spit fire, so the clones simply conjured a long lasting fire attack in front of their mouths. The fire was white and lasted a few minutes.
I gave the command to stop the attack and the clones began to cancel themselves. We were then able to see down and the view was breathtaking. The marsh that was green before the battle and turned red during the battle was now a giant field of molten rock. The fire turned the whole battlefield into hell. It kinda looked like an active Volcano.
“That was overkill,” Crypto said while scratching his nose.
(ED: Ok, I know, but the dude never does anything while saying something.)
“Yeah, my golems are completely destroyed,” I said.
“So that was Master's dragon form? It was as large as the Tier 5 dragon,” said Drull in awe of the destruction.
“I liked it,” said Crypto while laughing. I followed suit and also started laughing.
“So that's the kind of stuff that happens when Master is together with you?” Asked Drull with a happy grin.
“Yes, this is one of the more 'normal' fantasies we had,” I said after a moment.
“Oh, I like fooling around together with you again. What's next?” Asked Crypto.
“Now we will fly back to the Tragonian fortress and tell them about our win. After that we fly back to Nahar and you'll meet Lilia and Ilza,” I said.
“Who are Lilia and Ilza?” Crypto asked me.
“Lilia is Masters girlfriend and Ilza is a friend of Master,” said Drull.
“WHAT?! You have a girlfriend? Are you sure you're ok?” Asked Crypto completely shocked.
“No, my reason for not having a girlfriend back on earth, was that they are annoying with all the technology. Too much contact and all that shit. This world doesn't have that and I kinda thought, why not? One thing led to the next and now I have Lilia as something that resembles a girlfriend,” I said.
“With you loving her and stuff?” Crypto asked in disbelief.
“Not really love, I see her as nothing more than a friend. A friend I also sleep with. The whole loving thing is still foreign to me,” I said.
“And Ilza?” Asked Crypto.
“She is something that resembles a lost puppy or a little sister that is overly attached to her older sibling. I don't have any desire to sleep with her,” I said.
“Okay...,” Crypto said, still not entirely sure what to think of it.
“Hurry up, it's boring here,” I said and we flew to the fortress.
ED: Wise old penguin
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You might think that the battle of Clair, Drull and Crypto was too short, but I think it would be boring if I describe it in length. I mean each enemy of them was a small fry and there was no logical reason to describe a one-sided battle. It would only get boring and that fast. Or do you think otherwise?
Did I describe the dragon form figuratively enough? And did you think I made its entrance good enough? I couldn't think of any other use for it^^.