“Have you cooled down your head now?” Gaius asked, already knowing that it probably wasn’t the best time to ask that.

Zairus knew that as well, but then he saw the third army fast approaching. The second army was almost done thanks to their fighting spirit. They had to retreat. While they had dealt with most of the enemies that could target them, they were too far away from their allies.

“Please don’t tell your mother that you were kind of forced to come here to pull me back,” Zairus said as he began to run toward their line. “She is way scarier than the enemies we are facing. She will skin me alive if she hears that you had to do this.”

“First, let’s survive this ordeal, then you can think about the next one,” Gaius said while following his father.

Although Gaius confirmed that he could fare pretty well with melee combat, once he returned to his allies, he picked up the bow again. It was faster to get rid of the enemies that way. The real problem was the issue with the arrows, but thanks to the situation, he had an idea of how he should solve that problem.

As soon as the third army of enemies reached them, the second army had been wiped out. Thanks to exhaustion and wounds, more than twenty villagers had fallen, but the wounded guards kept going despite their injuries, fighting like berserkers.

"Some of my soldiers have fallen as well, and their loyalty has decreased. I guess the plan isn't going perfectly," Gaius thought while checking everyone's parameters and allocating the status points. "It can't be helped, though. The survivors are gaining massive amounts of experience."

The slime and the desert wolf were gaining a lot of experience. They had leveled up more than ten times already, and their power only increased when he improved their Wisdom and Magic.

In any case, Gaius forgot about that and kept firing his arrows at the enemies even faster than before. His Wisdom had more than doubled in that battle alone, as had his ability to recover mana, so he was killing enemies even faster.

After fighting for so long, even Gaius was getting tired. The smell of death, blood, piss, and shit wasn’t helping either. It was only a matter of time before the villagers would have to fight the fourth army on that flank as well. Much to his surprise, when Gaius looked ahead on the battlefield, he saw the remaining enemies returning to their camps. When he looked in the other direction, he confirmed that the same thing was happening. It seemed the enemies realized that the back attack launched by Gaius's minions had cost them a lot.

"Little master, we are retreating since the forces that were close to the camps are searching for us, and we will be in a dire situation if a fight breaks out like this," Relia said.

"Move away as much as possible. They won't chase you all, but it is better to be safe than sorry," Gaius said and then sighed in relief.

It didn’t take long for the news about the right flank to spread. They were wiped out, but instead of following and attacking the right side of the main army, they retreated since their side also suffered some losses and their camp was mostly on fire. The other sides gave the same order. Things would have been different if their right flank had obtained some results, but they didn’t. Still, Gaius didn’t have any chance to rest since cries and sobs began to spread on their side. Many people on their side had died, and many more were dying. The kids who were seeing their fathers and grandfathers couldn’t accept that they were going to lose them after surviving that hell.

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After a long sigh, Gaius approached to help those who could be saved. Zairus would be fine, and he was already tending his wounds, so Gaius left him alone. It was time to work on the side of the war that made him feel very conflicted...

"Status report," Gaius thought while he was working on the wounded.

"We lost some soldiers, but their main warehouses of food and weapons were destroyed," Rein declared. "They can still continue with the war, but they will need supplies in less than a week."

For them to ask for supplies and receive them will take more than two weeks. According to Relia's report, their territory was ten days away. While the lords shared borders, they didn’t live that close to each other. At the same time, they lost almost one-third of their forces, around fifteen thousand soldiers, while the defending side lost ten. If things continue like this while their morale is low, they will face total annihilation.

"Defeating all of them was impossible, but I guess I achieved my goal. If they continue with this nonsense, they will lose more than they will gain," Gaius thought. "Relia, gather everyone who didn’t get hurt and make them rest throughout the night. You guys might have to fight soon enough. Keep a close watch on the backs of the enemies and get rid of anyone who might try to return to their territories."

"Roger that," Relia declared. "That being said, I think you achieved your goal. Congratulations, little master. You have a good head for war."

Gaius wasn’t pleased to hear that when people around him were dying left and right. Losing half of their forces in three days of fighting had been too much, and some had been crippled for life. It was expected that he was in a dark mood. Still, there was no point in complaining to Relia. For someone like her who had plenty of experience in situations like this, suffering losses was unavoidable... in a way, she had a much better head for war. It was annoying for Gaius to admit that, but he could learn a thing or two in that aspect from her.

When morning came, Gaius was exhausted. He truly needed to learn some healing magic because tending wounds the old way was too tiresome, and he wasn’t a doctor—no one there was one, so sometimes their treatment didn’t help at all. Alongside the morning, Gaius and his father saw about fifty bodies ready to be cremated. They survived another night, but they didn’t feel like winners at all. They had only made it too costly for the enemies to pursue the battle.

Still, their sacrifices apparently had meaning. Around noon, the enemies began to move away from the area after gathering their things. It could be that they were plotting something, but it would be hard for them to try to be smart after losing three nights in a row.

“Keep an eye on them and eliminate those who drop their guards,” Gaius said.

“Yes, sir,” Relia said after she sensed the seriousness in Gaius’s voice.

Gaius didn’t know how many soldiers the main army had lost, but they roared in excitement as they watched the enemies move away. They were acting like they had won the war, and perhaps they did—they defended their homeland. But they sacrificed hundreds of people from Gaius’s village, and he didn’t like that one bit.

In the end, everyone stayed in that area for one week and confirmed that the enemies had returned to their territory. During that time, everyone tended their wounds and said goodbye to the allies they had lost. Also, during that time, Gaius thought about many things, mainly regarding the future. He thought that he was being too passive about many things. He was making progress, and he was doing a lot for his age, but he still didn't feel satisfied.

"We are going home, Gaius," Zairus declared after he had a meeting with the commander of the army. "Unfortunately, it looks like we will have to stop at their capital for a short while since they want to reward us for our work."

Gaius furrowed his eyebrows when he heard that. Considering Ekireton's reputation, he assumed that he wouldn’t even say thanks. But after such battles, certain things have to happen, apparently. A long celebration and rewards for all the soldiers. People from many places had come to join the war, and they needed that kind of thing to remain loyal. Since a lot of soldiers were lost, the territory was weakened, and that was what the lord had to do to avoid more problems. At least that was what Herac said when Gaius talked with him.

"Your mother should have received the word about the victory by now. We just need to return as fast as possible to make her rest easy," Zairus added. "We probably won't stay in the capital for long, but we can buy some horses to return to the village faster. In the end, we will save time with this nonsense."

"You also think that this is a sham?" Gaius asked.