YEAR: 1724. AUGUST 10TH. LOCATION: SOMEWHERE BETWEEN EAST AND SOUTH OF THE PLAIN OF JADE.

“Lady Lily, we can’t keep up!” Brigadier General Lily’s aide, First Lieutenant Mira shouted with a desperate face. “We are breaking in formation!”

“I know!” Lily shouted back, shooting another arrow that pierced one Imperial soldier. “Tell the archers to cover for the soldiers who are retreating and have the shields block any incoming arrows that are aimed for the archers.”

“We don’t have any shield left! They are all in the front line!”

“Damn it!”

Currently, Brigadier General Lily of the 1st Brigadier was battling 7,500 enemies with 4,000. They had managed to kill 500, but their loss was greater as they lost 1,000.

Worse, there was a rumor going around that the enemy general himself was here which lowered the morale of Lily’s soldiers. If an enemy commander was here, there was little chance of surviving in the battle, much less retreating and regrouping.

However, Lily wasn't really sure about that. Sure, the enemies were all well-disciplined and moved like well oiled-warmachines, but they were making many reckless moves, so much that Lily wondered if the enemy general was really there.

The enemy who looked like the commander himself charged at the battle in the front while the other enemies were doing their best to cover their commander. Really, Lily couldn’t help but doubt if that enemy was the commander.

Though she hadn’t got any time to think about that. They were trying their best to retreat and regroup, but the enemy didn’t allow them as they attacked them with great ferocity. It was becoming harder to keep the line together as the casualties started to rise.

“Where are the reinforcements?” Lily asked Mira who was shooting arrows after arrows. “We sent a wind bird three hours ago! We need them or we will lose!”

“There’s no news about them!” Mira shouted back, blocking an incoming arrow with her dagger.

Lily couldn’t help but groan as she kept ordering her tired soldiers to retreat. If this kept up, they would surely lose so the only thing they could do now was to retreat back to the forest. However, the trees were getting in the way too much for the soldiers as some kept bumping into them, making them lose balance and break the formation. It made them easy targets for both the enemy archers and soldiers.

The 1st Brigade continued to retreat until the line was on the brink of collapsing. The number had become 3,500 as they lost 500 soldiers and more than 1,000 were wounded. It didn’t take a genius to figure out their lines would soon collapse.

Lily gritted her teeths as she kept issuing orders to her soldiers hoping to have as many survivors as possible. Just then, however, something above her head dropped to her forehead. Feeling slightly disgusting, Lily quickly touched the black sticky liquid.

It was a small amount of oil. When Lily looked up, she could see that many parts of the trees were covered in the same sticky oil that had dropped on her. Because of the battlefield, not many soldiers could have discovered them. Just then. a shout came out of nowhere.

“Run Lady Lily! Run!”

It was a familiar voice. When Lily looked and found its source, she saw Major Lyra waving her hand as arrows started to fire behind her, hitting the enemy soldiers. Trusting her, Lily immediately relied on her orders.

“RETREAT! Abandon your post and run!”

The soldiers all looked at her in disbelief, Mira included, but she didn’t give an explanation as she retreated on her own. This prompted the rest of the soldiers to flee as they abandoned their post.

“Hahahaha” One of the Imperial soldiers laughed as he watched their enemy fleeing. “Look, the enemy are flee-”

Before he could finish his sentence however, something occurred. All around the Imperial soldiers, fire started to spread around them. Soon, the entire place was on fire as fire spread like crazy. It wasn’t just the trees that were burning.

“Help!”

“Water! Water!!!”

“Medics!”

Imperial soldiers were also burning as they couldn’t find their chance to escape from the grasp of hell. Soon, large smokes started to rise from the place as the place that was used to fill with nature and beauty turned into a living hell.

[(0)]

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

YEAR: 1724. AUGUST 10TH. LOCATION: SOMEWHERE BETWEEN EAST AND SOUTH OF THE PLAIN OF JADE.

I laughed as I stared at the living hell I made. If somebody else saw me, they might have mistaken me for a girl laughing with her family, but it was not as if fire was burning in front of me, making me a perfect picture of a devil.

Other soldiers watched in horror as they witnessed the Imperial soldiers; all either getting burned alive or fleeing for their life. The smell of burning flesh was so strong that those smells kept lingering to my nose, but I didn’t care. The important thing was the trap was successful.

The small oil bottle had given me an idea of starting a fire to burn the Imperials. Usually, these kind of traps called for a suicide. Sure, fire was one of the most dangerous weapons, but if it was used wrong, it could also be used to harm allies.

Especially in a place like this, it was hard to control the flame due to the trees. The trees could just burn and spread around, killing everywhere. However, there was a catch. Common sense no longer worked in a place like this.

The trees were also infused with mana so their body was strong. They couldn’t catch a fire without any kind of special equipment. However, those special equipment meant for artifacts or enchanted weapons, but it was an unfair trade as one enchanted weapon was needed to start a fire per tree.

This was ineffective and the enemy could just put out the fire. That was why this method of trap was forgotten, but humanity forgot about one thing; the unenchanted items such as oils. The oil might not be as effective as the artifacts, but they still helped fire burn brightly.

I had a plan to use oil around the trees where the Imperial soldiers would be and then set them on fire. With the 1st Company and others arriving, we had more than enough oil to cover the area where the Imperial soldiers were likely to attack. We would also cover the trees in the high ground with oil, making sure it was hidden from view.

At first, Captain Deryk thought my plan was crazy. But I insisted, explaining all the details and benefits. After a whole minute of convincing, he finally accepted the proposal. However, it took longer to get Major Lyra on board. She found the plan risky and didn’t want to trust a girl who hadn’t even hit her growth spurt, fearing it would lead to disaster.

Thankfully, Deryk spoke to her and she agreed, but only if he took full responsibility for any failure. It was harsh but fair.

I was surprised when Deryk suggested taking all the responsibility since it could even lead to his execution if things went completely wrong. It was very noble of him, or maybe he just trusted me that much.

Lyra wanted to notify Brigadier General Lily about the trap, but I refused. This almost got me executed by her aide because he found it unacceptable that a mere footsoldier spoke up to her. Thankfully, Deryk came to my rescue and pleaded with Lyra to hear my plan. I explained that we shouldn’t inform them until the last possible moment, as acting too quickly could raise suspicion from the Imperial soldiers.

At first, Lyra refused my request, but she eventually agreed when several other officers, including Deryk, supported my plan. To trick the enemy, I had to trick my own allies first.

It took some time for the trees to catch fire, but both sides were too busy fighting to notice. By the time everyone realized what was happening, it was too late. The trees where we had put the oil burst into flames, and the fire spread quickly. Soon, the flames were so intense that even the trees without oil caught fire. However, our side wasn't as bad as the Imperial side as there was no oil to burn and the fire was quickly put out by our soldiers when it reached us.

“I knew you were thinking of something big, but I never imagined this big.” Deryk said, trying his best to hide his surprise. “I would have never thought of using oil as a fuel to set the whole forest on fire.”

“Well, that is what I call a smart tactic.” I said, grinning ear to ear as screams of soldiers kept bursting into flames throughout the forest. “But we should retreat. The flame is getting closer to us.”

“You’re right.” Deryk agreed, turning to the runner who was trying his best not to vomit due to the smell. “Please give a message to Major Lyra and Brigadier General Lily about a request to retreat.”

“...Yes sir.” The runner said, running to find two female officers who were behind the line of 1st to 5th Company, discussing their situation and treating their wounds.

“So what now?” Deryk asked, “Now that the 8,000 Imperial soldiers were set in flame and the whole rank in panic, do we attack?”

“Isn’t this usually your part?” I asked, sighing inside.

While it was a good thing that I was receiving so much trust from a superior, it was becoming a heavy burden. Some of our allies had been caught in the flames and needed treatment. This meant that my decisions could harm not only the enemy but also my own allies. I needed to be careful, as every word I spoke could determine whether a soldier lived or died.

I never really cared about the soldiers, though. They had families, friends, and loved ones back home, but that was their problem, not mine. I didn’t have enough kindness in my heart to think of every single soldier. The only thing I cared about was how their survival affected our chances of victory.

I needed to win, and to win, I needed as many soldiers as possible. I must have made some strange expression because Deryk looked slightly uncomfortable when he saw my face.

“Captain Deryk, sir!” Suddenly, a runner appeared, delivering news from Lily. “Brigadier General Lily requests a meeting with whoever is responsible for this trap.”

I slightly widened my eyes when I heard this. Usually, it was common for the officers to steal whatever achievements their soldiers made. Deryk didn’t seem like the person I mentioned, but I wasn’t so sure about Lyra. I was worried about what would happen if Lyra stole the achievements for me, and I planned some ways in case that happened. It seemed that, however, I was mistaken as Lyra seemed to tell the truth to Lily about the whole trap operation.

If she hadn’t told the truth, there was no way that Lily, who was a high ranking officer, wanted to see me, a mere foot soldier.

"Operation was planned by me. Sergeant Aria, reporting in." I said, standing up from my position.

“Sergeant Aria, you are to report to Brigadier General Lily once we have made the camp.” With that, the runner quickly ordered the retreat.

Concerned in his eyes, Deryk spoke up, “Just you know, Brigadier General Lily is a good person at heart, but she could be cold sometimes. Also she has some… unique personalities so be careful.”

I looked at him, expecting him to speak more but Deryk avoided me looking in the eye. Losing my patience, I slightly nodded as I made my way with the runner to the direction of Brigadier General Lily.

Something told me that I made myself a little popular and drawn to the conflicts.