Chapter 7 – Execution of Mannoroth Bandits
Execution of Mannoroth Bandits. This was the famous event that's now known all over the nubian kingdom as the fall of the notorious Mannoroth Bandits. It all happened two years ago when the king of Nubia Valentine Arcadius decided that the Mannoroth Bandits should be destroyed before they grow large enough to be a threat to Nubia. They can go to war with bandits and win but it will only be a Pyrrhic victory, a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it's tantamount to defeat. It's because of the existence of the Mannoroth forest. If we create a disturbance inside the mannoroth forest beasts from inside the forest would swarm out and at that time it will turn to be a disaster. So the only possible option is a kind of attrition warfare with attack and run strategy. He called in three of his heavenly generals where two of which are known for defensive and attrition warfare. The last one was the most vicious of the all the 12 heavenly generals and is known for her psychological and cunning warfare. Also he called in all the archdukes and grand dukes of his kingdom. They all came together to decide the best war strategy and it took months to deliberate and finally come up with a good one. It was something that would perhaps span multiple years but so far seemed to be the best option available.
For this plan to work well they needed cooperation of the mages. The kingdom might not have enough in that regards. After all Nubia was not known for her mages but her warriors. Nubia boasted the best warriors and mercenaries among the human kingdoms but mediocre mages. The king requested the aid of the headmaster of the Iolus Academy. It was decided that he would send in his advanced students to help Nubia out at regular intervals as part of their graduation assignments. They would of course be supervised by their teachers and every single one of the teachers at Iolus academy were archmages and pretty famous around the continent. After all to teach at Iolus academy you had to be an exceptional magician.
The mannoroth bandits even though looked unruly they had solid organisational structure. It was headed by the corrupted hero Reylin the bloodthirsty. Reylin was once regarded as a hero by the people as he was an exceptional swordsman and adventurer. But he was arrogant and wanted power perhaps a little too much. He decided to join the mannoroth bandits and very soon became the head of it. After he became the leader of the bandits their infamy grew by leaps and bounds and they entered a phase of rapid expansion and consolidation which is still going on. They are about 15000 men strong which is not a small number. They had not yet built a permanent stronghold inside the Mannoroth forest which is an advantage on the kingdom's side.
The attack strategy was simple. All they had to do is attack and retreat. There be different sections of about 2000 strong armies controlled by different people each. Each member of the army was the elites of the elites and they will headed into battle by either the three heavenly generals or one archduke or two granddukes, and all of them were much more powerful than reylin. There are two ways to become an archduke or grandduke of nubia. Either you have to belong to one of the ancient families or you have to be conferred dukedom which happens in case of extremely strong warriors or mages. Even if you became a duke by using family heritage if you cannot consolidate your power then sooner or later you will replaced. The archduke Victor who is part of the strategy was a SS ranked adventurer in the past. Whereas the granddukes both were S ranked adventurers. As such they were pretty strong and also had their own private army.
The first move was to be done by the 2000 strong army of the heavenly general Vera. She was known for her defensive battle techniques. She marched her army into the forest and she was accompanied by a team Iolus academy advanced students and an archmage. The army mainly considered of shield bearers and some archers. The shields used were premium dwarven mithril equipment which were enchanted for powerful protection. It had costed the kingdom a fortune to procure these from the dwarves for all these warriors but it had to be done. The shield bearers role was to provide maximum defense to the mages who will bombard the enemy with magic from the back.
Experienced hunters and scouts were used to do the reconnaissance. The army marched towards the bandit encampment. All these powerful soldiers carrying towering mythril shields and spears while marching forward created an awe inspiring feeling. You would feel like anything that dares to stand in their path would be razed down. Soon they met up with the bandits. The bandits were an unruly bunch. They had no military strategies, calm mentalities or order among them. All they had was their bloodthirst. Even with a capable leader it was total anarchy. When they saw the soldiers everyone of them without any thought started charging towards the army.
But the army never intended to fight it out with the bandits. All they had to do was defend the mages and they would rainin magic from the rear towards the bandits. The bandits despite having numerical advantage could really do nothing. There was no mage among them and they had nothing to protect against the mages. Their arrows couldn't touch the mages past their mana barrier and they even had an archmage among them. Reylin became mad that soldiers along with mages where attacking but he couldn't do anything as he was being contained by the general herself. She was way more powerful than him but didn't bother to kill him. And after a few moments into the battle she gave the orders to withdraw. Even though there where no mages among the bandits they were still very strong. The soldiers might be defending well but it will fall soon and then they will be overrun by the bandits. Moreover some uninvited beings might have noticed this battle by now.
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The mages and the guards took their turns in retreating. The bandits didn't dare to chase as they truly feared the cover fire from the mages. After the army gained considerable distance from the battle camp they heard howling in the distance and they started retreating faster. It was the wind wolves from the forest. They might have been attracted by the fight and came in after it. Sure enough the bandits where attacked by the wolves as soon as the soldiers retreated. Reylin had to kill the alpha as quickly as possible to scatter the medium sized pack before they attracted further trouble. Even though it ended quickly they had to suffer some mild casualties from the fight with the soldiers and then the wolves afterwards.
This trend continued. The bandits were attacked by the soldiers for about two to three times a month. It would be a quick skirmish and retreat by the soldiers. Even though there wasn't any serious casualties it started to affect the morale of the bandits. The mages were the really troublesome ones as they did some serious damages. Also the forest border patrol was increased. Some of their raiding troops had met with the army of general Aelina the witch. She is known for being cruel, cunning and manipulative and she is the worst enemy anybody could ever have. Those who had the misfortune to run into her were skinned and they were planted across the forest in pikes. All the bandit scouts had to tell was the tale of skinned bandit corpses all over the forest. It was psychological warfare at best. Some of them were already deserting the group due to fear and all these caused further morale drop. The future looked bleak for the mannoroth bandits and it was only a matter of time before they either surrender or is completely annihilated. Then that happened.
The princess Agnes was always a trouble maker. She was tomboyish in her ways and always wanted to be an adventurer and perhaps be renowned as a hero, an idea which was frowned upon by the king. He didn't like her going out on adventures as it was dangerous out there and she could be dead anytime. Also anything she might do will affect him and the reputation of the kingdom. When the Bandit execution was planned and initiated agnes asked her father for permission to participate which he promptly denied. Finally she decided to take things into her own hands and participate in it. She decided to sneak with the troop of the Archduke without anybody else knowing. When the battle started she found herself fighting with Reylin himself. Even though she was a princess she was a capable fighter herself. But soon she found herself outclassed and was in a difficult position. The Archduke did know about the presence of the princess among his soldiers and he didn't seem to mind it that much. After all he could protect her if the need arises. But he had never thought that she would seek out a fight with Reylin himself and was nearly killed in it. So he had to intervene and while saving her he had to kill Reylin. The Archduke and the party soon retreated.
The death of Reylin might seem like a good thing but it was not. He was the only thing that was keeping the bandits together. If he dies they will scatter in the forest or even seep into the cities which would not be good. The plan was to keep him alive till the bandits were destroyed. But now that he is dead they scattered all over the place. The kingdom had to abandon their magnanimous plans completely. All the bandits were scattered around the forest in small groups and most of them might have migrated into other countries or entered the Nubia without notice.
The king was really angry about what had happened. All their plans had to stopped while half finished and all this was due to his daughter. In order to punish her he ordered her to destroy all the bandits scattered all over the forest in any way possible and until then she is revoked of her status as the princess
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Mina: “And that's what happened.”
So that was why the mannoroth bandits I met was just a motley camp of idiots.
Mina: “You know anybody trying to enter into the forest and not from around here will be told of these tales so that they would be careful about the bandits by the adventurers guild and how come you didn't know of it?”
Lucas: “That would be because I haven't yet registered at the guild. I just starightaway came into the forest after leaving home.”
Mina: “You haven't even registered into the adventurers guild yet. Hmmm.... there's something really strange about you.”
She was staring intensely at me and the fact that I had to keep lying continuously made me nervous and then Martha came to my rescue.
Martha: “It's rude to question your savior too much dear”
Mina: “Oh sorry Martha. It's just that I'm pretty curious about things”
Lucas: “It's okay, my grandparents were kind of recluses and they raised me away from people. So I might not have any common sense.”
Martha: “Ah, finally we have arrived at Souldonis.”
I could see the silhouette of towering walls of a city up ahead of me. It seems that we have arrived at our destination.