Chapter *: The Battle Part A.
The human army marches in formation towards their intended goal, the elf village of Wyst Fylola. The sound of footsteps of the knights, mages and horses combining together to make cacophony of intimidation.
“Everyone keep moving! We have to reach Mor’s Point by nightfall or else we won’t catch those long-eared bastards by surprise!” A soldier at the front of the ranks start to command the others. Earning their ire.
“Easy for you to say! You’re on a horse.”
“Shut up or else I’ll have you arrested for treason.” The man on the horse rubs his moustache, with a narcissist look on his face.
“Damn bastard…” The soldier who complained earlier muttered under his breath.
“What did I hear?”
“Nothing, oh Grand General Jacolius, The Slayer of Dragons and Demons.”
“That’s right. Indeed! I am Grand General Jacolius, The Slayer of Dragons and Demons.”
While this was happening, unbeknownst to them two pairs of eyes were spying on them using a so-called human technology known as binoculars.
“We have to warn captain Hasegawa”
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“Jacolius! Long-time no see!” Ivan comes up to Jacolius.
“Oh, if it isn’t Ivan. Still just a captain I see. What happened to my rival?” The man, brazen in his statement.
“I was never really one for promotions. I see you’ve made good for yourself.”
“It was easy, someone of my caliber? Of course, I would rise up fast.” Jacolius boasted. “I see you got yourself a page.”
“Reginald? Oh, he’s a good lad. Quite a handful though.”
“I knew kids were trouble. I guess I’ll have to prepare for another battlefield soon.” Jacolius sits down on a crate, the veteran soldier starts to sigh.
“Oh? You and Edith are expecting?”
“Yeah, for about six months now.”
“That’s great! You better come back alive to her though.”
“Hah? Me die? Preposterous.”
“Don’t talk like that. They say that pride is the downfall of man.” Ivan punches his rival’s armor-plated shoulder. “Come now let’s go plan in the strategic tent.”
“Everyone get in line! Use the smaller shields, there won’t be any heavy cavalry in this place.” Ivan commands his small band of soldiers of around thirty men. It was now early in the morning and day was about to break, the plan would now commence. There are seven mages in this group, ten swordsmen, two scouts, five bowmen and six axe men. Their mission, to infiltrate and set fire to the forest in order to flush out the elves.
“Remember, this should be quick and easy. In and out. No one of needs to die ok?”
“Whatever you ask us to do captain we’ll do it.” One of the knights salute him.
“Well let’s go in.”
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“Are the spearmen ready?” Jacolius asks Reginald who is holding his registration crystal.
“More or less Grand General Jacolius, The Slayer of Dragons and Demons. Although…”
“Although?” This piqued his interest. Ivan did say that Reginald’s job was a scouting type. He didn’t say to what extent though.
“The forest seems a little too quiet doesn’t it.” Reginald pointed out.
Indeed. It has been around two hours since Ivan and his group entered the forest and nothing seemed to be set ablaze yet. It was quite alarming that the only sound that can be heard apart from the ruffling and shuffling of the soldiers in the ranks before him is the sound of birds chirping.
“You’re…”
“…right.”
Maybe there was something to Reginald’s statement. This didn’t sound too good to the general.
“Order the men to fallback slightly.”
“But sir! They’re just elves.”
“Just elves? They’re not just elves. They’re the enemy, you’re not supposed to underestimate the enemy.”
‘This old man.’ Reginald thought to himself.
A few minutes later captain rides up to them, dismounting from his horse. “Jacolius. Why are you requesting the troops to fallback?”
“Something not right here. I know it.” That’s when the final piece is completes itself to fulfill his doubt. The sun is starting to rise, its rays creeping upon the camp.
“That’s it. Ivan was supposed to comeback before sunrise, having fulfilled his duty.” His nerves getting the better of him. He turns to the captain.
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“Go to the mage unit, get twenty inferno-mancers tell them to light up the place.”
“Yes sir!” The captain rides off just as another one arrives.
“What is it?”
“Sir we found some strange tracks in the fields to the left of our army, it looks like there’s two nagas in the area. They seem to follow each other side by side all the way.” The scouting captain informs them.
“I don’t seem to remember it being mating season for these beasts.” Jacolius offhandedly comments.
“Maybe all the elves were eaten?” Reginald gives his opinion.
“I highly doubt it.” Then Jacolius steels his resolve.
“Here men listen up.”
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The army divides itself into three long sections, one facing the forest center. Another one facing the left of the field, and the third one staying back as rearguard and support. A separate light cavalry unit is placed on the right of the entire unit. The formation looking like an arrowhead.
“Halt! Inferno-mancers ready on my command!”
“Cast your spells!”
“Oh, Nuarin goddess of light and justice. Please set upon thine enemies thy blaze of glory.” All of them shouted, an exceptionally large magic circle appears right above them as their robes start to float and flutter about.
“Ka-Layo Haphtus Scholas!” They casted the dreaded flame of the scholar Haphtus.
A large fireball looms over the army, its heat increasing as is its magnitude. Suddenly it launches itself towards the trees crashing and burning a large chunk of it, scorching the earth.
“Let’s see if they get lured out by that. Pride always gets the better of them.” Reginald lamented, the cinders still floating in the air.
The trees around the blast site started to rustle, shake and tremble.
“Everybody get ready!” At that the soldiers tightened themselves.
An entire elf militia burst out from the trees at full force, their speed greatly outmatches a normal human. Around a 200 elves charge at the enemy. Blades ready to smite the invaders. The soldiers reciprocated this by hailing a storm of arrows into the elves.
The arrows hit some targets but were only effective at slowing down the charge. Bracing for impact, the militia rams into the first section of around 500 soldiers, the soldiers and elves clash.
Blade meeting blade. Blade meeting shield. Blade meeting flesh.
The first casualties occur. An elf warrior falls here while a human soldier gets impaled. Blood waters the field on that day. The archers providing support with indirect fire into the back of the elves, only being countered by elf archers with their longbows.
“Quick! send the cavalry!” Jacolius ordered.
The light cavalry swerves around the army reaching the rearguard of the elves. Knights on horseback slashing and stabbing their victims, ripping off limbs and cutting of heads.
The cavalry was only repelled when elf mages casted their spells.
“Sweep our opponents away! Fluvial Munson!”
“Crush them under the weight! Petram Moh!”
Horses and men were crushed and swept away by rocks and water; at the same time a barrier was erected. The elves started to shout for a retreat as they ran back into the forest.
“Quick follow them!” a small group of soldiers started to chase after the fleeing elves.
Seeing this Jacolius ordered “No! Don’t chase after them!”
but this fell onto deaf ears. Hot on their trail they almost caught the elves, but it was a fatal mistake.
“WE got you kno- HUaagh--”
They fell into pit traps lined with spikes.
“Damn it! where’s Hasegawa and his merry band of misfits?!” Gaspar shouted. They were tending to their wounded, the healers frantically running around without rest jumping from one patient to another.
“They almost got us surrounded with in a forest fire. But it’s a good thing that their plan was foiled and they were captured.” Erlen arrived at the scene. The smell of explosives surrounding his clothes.
“Do you know where Hasegawa went?” Gaspar asked the alchemist.
“No, he left earlier. Didn’t even bother to tell me where they were going.”
“I fucking knew it. He ran off.”
“Probably.” Their ears start twitching. Picking up small vibrations in the air and feeling mana disturbances in the trees.
“Shit they’re coming!” Gaspar shouted. Picking up his swords he stands out in the crowd.
“Fall back to the first defensive lines!”
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“We’re almost there.” Jacolius remarked seeing a large trench dugout around six meters deep and ten meters wide. The other side covered in large spikes and rocks. Constantly they were being harassed by bowmen who would take potshots every now and then.
“Make bridges!” He ordered. Minutes later makeshift but sturdy plank bridges were made. They were rough on the outside but it was the best they could work with.
Shield-men were the first to cross tanking the majority of the arrows fired at them. Using their shields, they used one of the shield-men only skills.
“The best offence is defense, Aurus Stryk!”
A gold force sweeps and clears the obstacles in front of them in one fell swoop. As they started to charge in, that’s when they decided to strike.
A small object with a fuse, around the size of a can goes above the heads of one of the shield-men. His eyes widen in realization and fear of what was to happen.
It promptly explodes. Ripping him to shreds. Shield-men were strong against conventional weapons in this alternate world, but only if the attack is actually received by the shield.
“They’ve got bombs!”
“Get away from the bridges.”
Another bomb was thrown onto the bridge collapsing the entire framework. It falls into the dugout alongside the people on top of it. Some were injured in the fall, but it wasn’t the cause of their demise.
Rather it was the small lump of metal going at extremely high speeds into their vital organs. Attack Infantry One decided to counterattack.
Under Hasegawa’s tutelage they became a mediocre fighting force in his home world, but in this place, their power was unrivaled in lethality and speed even though they were only trained for about two weeks.
“James no!” One mage shouted as his friend was hit in the sternum by a bullet.
“What kind of sorcery is this?!” A captain questioned no one but himself, his eyes delirious, seeing his men die as if an angel of death was just sweeping through the ranks.
“General! Something surrounded us!” A captain from the rear suddenly appeared. His appearance was murky, red and bruised. Clutching his arm as if he were impaled. “A large creature with a menacing roar wearing metal arrived. It casted chantless magic at rapid succession.”
“Many of us were killed. Many were also injured.”
“What?!” Jacolius grew more terrified, first men at the front line falling limp as if Nuarin herself had her angels smite them. Now there was something else that managed to mangle the rearguards.
‘Edith… I don’t think I’m coming home.’
“We need to assume that the elves are trying to surround us. I need the majority of the army to rush towards the right fields. Assuming that the beast is behind us, those naga tracks are on the left and the elves- you know what I mean.”
He continues.
“I need a group of 110 volunteers to stay behind to try to stall them.”
His heart beats faster. It’s been a long time since the slayer of dragons and demons have tasted defeat before. That was just a sparring match now this- this is the real deal.
“Bring me Jormunlied.”
A secured crate is brought out before him, kicking the lock open, it reveals the slayer in his name.
Jormunlied, a beast of a greatsword, the hilt is around a meter long, with the blade being two meters in length and half a meter in width. It has a nice and beautiful curved edge used for cleaving opponents in half.
He grips it in two hands with ease.
“It’s been a long time.”
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“Haaa!” He easily slices the advancing elves, ripping them in half. An hour has passed already since he and his group of volunteers separated from the main army to stall a crushing defeat.
“DIE!” Slamming Jormunlied into a tree, he fells the tree onto the pathway before him, blocking the attack.
“Quick run for the plains!” They dashed, they don’t know how much time has passed, but as the trees start to clear and the fields were laid before them, he saw it.
The Panzerkampfwagen I Ausfurum A. with its guns still smoking.