“That is the main strategic point.” Mei said pointing to a broken part of the path to the right gate.
The path dipped at the part where it broke, causing anyone who approached from that side to be required to climb a wall, creating a point where the defenders can easily pick out enemies from a safe distance using spears and bows, which just so happened to be the plan. Many of the troops would fight at the frontline while Kesshō provides support from the wall with her bow, for the first part of the battle. Then, once some of the troops suffered injuries, Kesshō would head out and fight at the frontline, while the troops recover and provide support in any way they can.
Kesshō nodded her understanding and agreement as Mei crouched down to be on eye level with her. "I have only known for about a week, but you are still one of the nicest people I have ever known," Mei smiled “Please, be careful, and fall back if you are being overwhelmed, okay?”
Kesshō nodded as she smiled reassuringly.
“Good, be careful, I will go and help the others." Mei sighed as she got back up.
As Mei left, Kesshō took a few practice shots, making sure she wouldn’t accidentally hit one of her own side's troops. Her shots were precise, reaching the target only due to the wind. The curving mountain caused the wind to blow from the fort’s left to its right, carrying Kesshō’s arrows much farther than they would otherwise, allowing her to use a normal and more accurate style.
She turned her attention to the front gate as the king’s armies arrived. The red flag with the lion’s head being carried by many troops as they marched towards the fort, completely unaware of the ambush. A horn was blown, causing the king’s armies to stop in their tracks in alarm and confusion, but they were already too late.
Arrows hailed on the army, injuring and killing many. Some arrows were lit on fire but extinguished mid-flight, still managing to deal the intended damage. The king’s armies panicked and broke formation, just as expected. Cannons were fired along with arrows, taking out large sections of the army. About of fifth of the army was destroyed by the time the highly explosive, mana-packed cannonballs were all used up. Arrows still hailed from the sky however, like snow, the icy arrows hitting the a troop each time, not allowing the army to reach the fort without major losses.
Kesshō heard the shouts from inside the fort as the first round of arrows ran out and the first battalion of troops assembled at the front gate in formation to attack the enemies while archers recovered and restocked. By now, the enemies figured what was happening and divided themselves to attack the fort from all three sides. The army was distributed unequally, half of the remaining on the front gate, a bit less than a third to the left, and the remaining nearly a fifth to the right.
The progress was slow on the right due to the uneven icy terrain, making them sitting ducks for archers. The progress was also hindered on the left by arrow fire, where Mei happened to be. At the front is where the battle raged in all its glory however. Both sides clashed, sword to sword, blood staining the white ice and bodies fell left and right. Even from that far Kesshō could tell all the deaths as spots of emptiness occurred in the large sea of white and black for a moment, before again being filled.
From the top of the high wall, Kesshō possessed a clear view of her enemies, perfect for an archer. There were several archers further ahead as well, which were waiting for her first arrow to begin. Taking a deep breath, Kesshō nocked an arrow and pulled the string, releasing it and watching as the arrow soared through the air, like a bird gliding with the wind, and hit its target between the eyes. The enemies attempted to hide instantly, blowing a cloud of snow to shield themselves, but Kessho’s vision was not restricted by such thin physical barriers. As long as she knew the rough distance of the target, her eyes showed her their patterns, outlining their body, just what she needed.
Kesshō and other archers continued to shoot their arrows as the enemies reached the ambush point, when the archers abandoned their bows and picked up spears which were lying at their feet. A large part of the army fell to the arrows, the majority yet to fall to the ambush. The troops, hidden under piles of snow sprung up and thrust their spears at the unsuspecting enemies climbing the sunken path. A few were quick to react and fell on their backs as they released their arms, not being badly wounded, but most were not as lucky. The spears impaled through the chests of many, killing them instantly or leaving them to bleed out slowly.
Kesshō continued the covering fire without any wait to give them time to retaliate. Half the enemy army retreated to the other sides as the other half pushed ahead. As she glanced at them a glint of steel caught her eye from far away. It was a knight on horseback, retreating through the same road Kesshō and Kurai had arrived many days ago. Kesshō understood that it only meant one thing, an even bigger army would arrive here soon, once the horseman reaches back to the castle.
Taking a deep breath she clenched her teeth, raising one of her legs and placing her bow on it as she pulled on the string, causing the bow to bend greatly from the force she applied, her tails helping her pill further. Closing one eye she aimed the arrow towards the horseman, just slightly ahead due to him being on the move. The arrow soared through the air and hit the horseman on his shoulder, missing any vitals. He clenched his shoulder as he sped ahead, out of her range almost instantly.
After a few moments of rest to her arms she continued killing off the remainder of the army. Three had already fallen on her side as Kesshō realised she didn’t have many arrows left. At the same time, two more were hit in their chests by arrows of enemy archers. The remainder of the ambush troops carried the wounded back to the fort as fast as they could. Kesshō also fired all the remaining arrows as fast as she could manage to provide them some time, but the enemies charged forward.
Discarding her bow, Kesshō jumped into the air, spreading her wings and gliding, her tails hanging behind her. She descended from the air as the enemies were gaining on the allies that carried the wounded. Landing at a high speed, she bent her knees to absorb the impact and spun on her heels as she slid forward. Unsheathing her katana and wakizashi she sliced through the enemies that were at the front, causing the others to stop in their path as she stood back in her feet.
She walked some distance back, standing in the center of the narrow path, not allowing any enemies to pass ahead. The troops made it safely to the fort and the gate closed behind them, leaving Kesshō to face the enemies, whose numbers were much more than she ever expected to fight against at once. She estimated there to be about ten thousand on her side, meaning there were nearly a hundred thousand on the enemy side. Being needed to face more than three thousand enemies all by herself, she wondered how long she would last, and if she would even.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
An arrow flew right by the head of one of the enemy troops standing at the front and hit Kesshō on her forehead, her head being knocked backwards from the force. The enemy troops laughed as their brave enemy was killed as soon as the battle begun, however, they were mistaken.
One of them approached Kesshō without any caution, stopping a few steps from her as the broken shaft of the arrow landed at his feet, with the other half landing behind Kesshō. The enemy warrior took a step back and stopped, bleeding from his chest as Kesshō’s tail impaled him. Straightening herself, Kesshō eyed her enemies that were starting to second guess their choice to fight. She spotted the archers at the back along with some people that carried staffs, mages as anyone could guess.
Lifting her katana and wakizashi in a guard, Kesshō charged straight at her enemies. She burst through their front troops, slicing and killing everyone that dared to stand in her way, the narrow path allowing her to leave very few unharmed as she charged ahead. Her tails impaled and flung people all around, protecting her from any attacks as well. Many arrows still landed on her however, bouncing right off due to her tough scales.
Every slash targeted at her missed or bounced right off, unable to slice through her scales. Seizing the opportunity as the enemies backed off a little, creating some distance between them and her, she inhaled a large amount of air through her mouth and blasted a large inferno at them. They panicked and many fell or jumped off the side of the mountain.
Her flames spread from one to another, claiming lives here and there, reducing them to ashes, even melting the armor. Seizing the opportunity of panic, she sprayed half the venom she carried over a long distance. The droplets rained on everyone and they screamed as their bodies melted and many were blinded. Kesshō tore through the ones still standing with ease, her tails finishing off any that were in pain.
Even through all her deadly abilities, her sword skills claimed the most kills. No one stood any chance against her as she sliced through them, even those who attempted to block or parry easily being sliced. The archers, warriors, and the people with staffs at the back rushed down the mountain, hoping to escape the carnage, but that wasn’t going to be that easy.
Not anticipating the enemies to turn tail and run, there was no ambush set for them. Finishing those that remained Kesshō gave chase, slicing down any she encountered that were still alive. Any that pretended to be dead didn’t survive either, only those alive possessed patterns, the dead didn’t, meaning Kesshō could to tell with ease, and so could hear tails, who finished off the ones that sunk in despair and pretended to be dead.
She chased the remainder of the enemy down the mountain, throwing a shuriken at an archer that was trying to take aim at her, hitting him at his neck. He fell to the ground, choking and slowly dying as he bled out. She jumped over her dying victim and was met by ten swordsmen with their swords raised to battle her. She stopped in her tracks and pointed her katana at them, daring them to make a move.
A red circle appeared around her as the air turned unnaturally hot before bursting into flames. She was surrounded by flames that threatened to burn her to ashes, but didn’t succeed. She was completely fireproof, and using her vision she followed the enemies as they reached a part that was directly to her side, the only thing stopping people from using the shortcut being the drop. It didn’t matter much to Kesshō still, her body being more than capable of surviving the drop with no effects.
As soon as they reached close she jumped off the side of the cliff, landing cat-like right in front of them. Using her strong legs she launched herself at her enemies, slicing all of them without any chance to retaliate. With all the enemies dead before long, she prepared to return, only to realize how far she truly was from the fort.
She stood close to the point where the enemy army was attacked with arrows and cannons, the craters, bodies, and arrows, making it very obvious. She looked further up to see the battle still continuing, giving her another opportunity to help the people who helped her.
Camouflaging to turn nearly invisible she approached the battle, identifying all the allies. She approached the gate as the horn was blown, signaling them to retreat. The allies retreated, the archers at the fort providing covering fire. Just as all the allies passed by the gate she prepared to unleash another inferno.
Turning back to her normal colors, she opened her jaws. She felt the flames surging from inside her body, traveling from near her heart through her neck and to her jaws, causing her neck to glow in a dark pink hue as they traveled. She sprayed the flames on her enemies. This time, they were unusually pink and caught on to anyone they came in contact with like a serpent constricting around its prey.
The enemies screamed and scattered as the flames burnt them, not even leaving ashes behind, the pieces of armor and equipment being unscathed. The army was destroyed by the flames, leaving less than a hundred alive at the end. A cheer broke from the fort as everyone noticed the army disappear in a matter of seconds. The remaining enemies still stood unyielding, even when knowing there was no chance of victory.
Kesshō admired their bravery and took a fighting stance, wanting to fight them fair and square, no non-human abilities. She ordered her tails to not attack either, and they acknowledged her word, hesitantly. She approached her enemies slowly, not letting her guard down. Their weapons were raised, but they showed no urgency to attack.
Suddenly, a man with a battleaxe in hand, wearing knight armor materialized behind Kesshō. He swung his axe at her, nearly chopping her head clean off. Kesshō bent her body backwards, dodging the attack and then slicing the man’s chest with a horizontal slash. He reeled back, bleeding, but Kesshō didn’t allow him to recover. With an upwards diagonal slash she finished him off before turning to the others, all in a singular fluid motion.
A cold stormy wind started to blow, blurring everyone’s vision. Kesshō caught a glimpse of something shining in the air, with a closer look it became clear what they were. Several icicles floated in the air, aimed at the remaining enemies. At once, all the icicles impaled the remaining enemies, killing all of them. Kesshō turned to the fort to see what the cause of this could have been.
Yuki stood on the top of the wall, her right arm held out. She waved as she spotted Kesshō looking directly at her. Unsheathing her katana and wakizashi Kesshō entered the fort through the gate, everyone looking at her when she did, some in pure admiration, but some in pure terror. She walked ahead, keeping her head low to avoid the gaze of all the people.
She hit her head on something soft, causing her to look up. She had walked right into Kurai, causing him to stumble backwards, clutching his stomach. It was unnatural that someone would be hurt from that, unless they were already hurt. Kurai wasn’t wearing any visible bandages, but the wound was clear to Kesshō. The black and white appearing more turbulent at the wound, a slash on his stomach.
Yuki, Mei and Hori were on his side, Yuki supporting him. Kesshō tilted her head, meaning to ask what had happened. "It’s nothing serious, nothing for you to worry about.” Mei informed, gently placing her hand on Kesshō’s shoulder.
“Just a small injury, it would heal in a few days," Kurai reassured.
On the mention of ‘in a few days’, Kesshō remembered the retreating horseman. She pointed outside the fort, jumping up and down, pointing towards the king’s castle but no one understood what she was trying to say, none of them being capable of understanding her.
Even Kurai failed to understand the complex message, not even from her frantic but professional hand gestures and finger pointing. She took in a deep breath as she racked her brain, attempting to think of how to relay the message using as few words as possible.