Chapter 183: Battle of Caerleon

"Sound the horn!"

The long, resounding bellow of the horn acted as a signal for a group of warriors to gather in front of the Arcadian town Caerleon. As they congregated in front of the town gate, various types of warriors could be seen. Some were bare chested, bulging muscles shining with oil, while others were armed to the teeth with long swords, wooden shields, and horned helmets.

Despite their varying appearances, these warriors had one thing in common; all of them bore the emblem of a two-headed snake on their yellow-green flags and shields.

The barbarian Viper Tribe had brought their forces together about two months ago. Since then, they have joined the battle with the orcs and the Arcadians. 

When the invasion was held last month, it resulted in the brutal defeat of Jarl Sigurd and Tornseten. The Viper Tribe led by Jarl Utsu was left running to the shore, prepared to return back home. 

The situation first started as a result of their ships running late because of poor weather conditions, which forced them to set up camp near the abandoned port. A few days later, they noticed that their presence was mostly left undisturbed by the Arcadian forces, at which point they realized that it would be a good opportunity to continue raiding.

Being the last tribe that was still residing on the plains, they found more places to raid and more loot to plunder.

Now that a month had passed by and their ship had finally arrived to come pick them up, the Jarl was suddenly paid a visit by a strange man. 

With a little 'persuasion' from the man, alongside the promise of conquering a town with less than 200 guards protecting it, the Jarl then decided to announce to his captains that the tribe would conduct one last raid. The biggest one to date, right before they left for home. 

It was then that 1000 warriors broke out of the camp, excited by this announcement by their leader, marching in a single mass towards the Arcadian town of Caerleon. 

By the time they had arrived at the town gate, the group stopped in their tracks at the sight before them. Far off, the barbarians saw them; hundreds of citizens armed with makeshift weapons, hastily shambled together out of spare mining and farming tools. 

"My Lord Jarl, it was just like you said, there are barely any fighters among them! The city is dying!" 

The tribe was satisfied upon seeing how insufficient the town's security was, as well as the weak state that its citizens were in. 

"Is that a pitchfork and a pickaxe?!" 

Said one of the tribe's warriors, laughing in incredulity as they saw the people guarding the town

Another captain then turned back to the Jarl. 

"My Lord, should we send scouts to reconfirm the state of the town's residents? About their preparedness to fight?"

Lord Utsu shook his head deftly.. 

"No. That would be a waste of time. We should begin the attack before the Arcadian forces from the other towns arrive here." 

"My Lord, the gate is open!"

"These civilians, they wish to fight outside the wall?! How stupid!" 

Several warriors began to scoff, but Lord Utsu did not join them. Instead, he squinted his eyes, trying to make out the large, looming figures that had suddenly emerged from the distance. He raised his hand in a swift motion to silence them, and with his other hand, he pointed forward. 

"Hold on! What is that?!" 

A moment of silence had descended upon them before one of his captains then replied. "My Lord, there are orcs among them!"

"Humans fighting together with orcs? That's weird."

Utsu huffed. "I don't care about humans or orcs. It's all the same to us. When we finish raiding the town, the Viper Tribe will go home rich."

The same captain from before nodded enthusiastically. His eyes were gleaming, prepared for the carnage that would ensue. He had a hand gripped tightly on his weapon. 

"Then, my Lord, let me, Fixen, have the honor of leading the vanguard!"

The Jarl looked him in the eyes and nodded curtly.

"Thank you my Lord!"

Fixen was the strongest captain in the Viper Tribe and had much experience on the battlefield. Knowing that this would be one of their biggest raids to date, he eagerly approached the wall of warriors that were readily standing in front of the gates, and started chanting their thunderous, booming battle cry.

300 men gathered into a shielded wall formation and began to trudge towards the town. As they marched, they slammed the flat side of their swords into their shields, making a kind of fearsome rhythm that reverberated throughout the rolling hills that lead towards Caerleon.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

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On the other side, thousands of civilians were forced out of their homes to join the fight against the barbarians. Unprepared and untrained, many of them arrived on the battlefield completely terrified.

"We are going outside the wall!"

"The mayor is crazy!"

It took almost half an hour of herding just for these people to form four separate layers of defensive lines. 

Some of them began to scream hysterically when the barbarians across from them started thumping at their shields. Each thump of sword to shield made them quiver uncontrollably, as though the sword had already thrust through their bodies.

"Please, we are not going to win this!"

"The mayor is sending us to our certain death!"

"I have a kid, please, don't let them hurt me!"

"Who doesn't! But I am not going to let those barbarians raid my home and take our women!"

"We are doomed!!!"

At this moment, a loud, booming sound can be heard from across the battlefield. It was the barbarians' horn being blown, echoing all around like a resounding call of death that was descending quickly.

"They are coming! They are coming!"

All of sudden, a figure rode across the line on a red horse. The man was an elf with white hair. He was the mayor of the town. Their leader. 

Behind him were two dozen orcs following his every move as his bodyguards. Four of these forces were more ferocious than the other.

"The Mayor has come to fight with us!"

"The orcs are joining as well!

"Where are the other orcs?!"

"I think the Mayor has a plan for that!"

"A plan? It's a plan to kill us all!"

"Shut up! I actually feel much safer knowing those monsters are fighting with us."

"Safer? Huh! That devil does not care for our lives!"

Among the chatter of the townspeople, the barbarians had sent their first wave of attackers, and now Tristan must stand and fight.