Chapter 261: Joy And Grieving

The soldiers of the Inanis family looked around with shock on their faces. They couldn't believe that one moment they were in the jaws of death, being squeezed on three sides, but now they were free and alive.

"Is… is this real?" someone questioned.

"It is… they're dead… THEY'RE ALL DEAD!" another soldier replied.

"WE WON!!!!"

"THE INANIS FAMILY WON!"

"THE DREW ARMY IS DEAD!"

Shouts of joy were heard all over the battlefield as the soldiers took breaths of relief. They were under great stress and didn't know if they would be dying today just a few minutes ago.

The battle was fierce, and they were overpowered rather quickly. The three pronged attacks of the Drew army was not something that they had expected at all, more so the strong gifted that had arrived too.

The barrage of the gifted was what had mainly suppressed them and made it hard for them to move and retaliate. Their numbers were then whittled down, and they had lost over forty percent of their companions.

Once their joy passed, they noticed their fallen companions as well. Their dead bodies and blood were hard to miss, making their hearts ache.

Some of them broke down crying while some silently sobbed. Both the guards that directly belonged Inanis family, and the hired mercenaries had lost people and had to grieve for them.

The only thing that gave them relief at this moment was that they didn't need to battle anymore and that all of the enemies were dead.

"Wait… all are dead?" The commander that was within the army said after taking a look around.

Usually in a battle or war, not all of the enemies would be killed. When forty or even thirty percent of the fighting soldiers were lost or killed on one side, that would be considered the end of the battle.

Thus, there were almost always enemies left behind, but they would usually surrender at this point. They would then be considered as prisoners of war and could then be bargained with later on.

The prisoners of war were good tools for diplomatic transactions and could bring a lot of fortune to the winning side, even more than what they would get from the battle directly. Thus, the prisoners of war were almost always considered to be valuable.

It was not often that an enemy army was wiped out completely. Cases such as these only happened when the battle was one to the death, against someone that had done heinous crimes.

There were very few instances of it happening and it had almost never happened in a battle between nobles. This was also the point that the commander was now worrying about.

The name of the commander was Taylor, and he was one of the highest ranked guards in the Inanis city after Donald. He was in his forties and had been a guard for a long time. He was even part of the royal army at the start and retired from it when his wife got sick and he had to stay in the city to take care of her.

The Count knew of his capabilities and directly gave him the rank of a lieutenant among the city guards. Taylor didn't really have a strong gift. His gift was merely at the common rank, but it was his leadership skills that had allowed him to be the commander in the battle today.

And with these leadership skills came the ability to think further and predict what could happen. That was exactly why he was worried about how the other nobles and the king would react.

Killing all of the soldiers of the opposing side would make the Inanis family appear cruel and unkind. It would bring in question their integrity and ability to rule as well. If the nobles took the opportunity to spoil the name further, things could get problematic rather fast.

They didn't know just what kind of a situation they were truly in with the gifted that were attacking them, and neither did they know just how outnumbered they truly were. The nobles would not listen and even if they knew the truth, they would just try to turn it against them.

"Oh, Etara… what do we do now? We have overcome one tribulation and now another one will come." Taylor muttered.

~clip~clop~clip~clip~

It was now that the sound of horses could be heard and Taylor saw three people approaching on horseback.

"Count Gabriel! Young Lord Asher! Captain Donald!" The commander called out.

The surrounding soldiers heard it too and immediately became alert.

"ATTENTION!" The injured deputy commander on the side shouted.

All of the soldiers assembled themselves into files while the mercenaries simply came together to the side. The Count approached the commander and sighed to himself, seeing his appearance.

The commander was actually injured and blood could be seen dripping out of several points on his armor. Multiple plates have been broken off as well, and it was obvious that the man had been fighting fiercely.

His helmet was nowhere to be seen either, leaving his rugged face bare that was also splattered with blood.

~step~step~

Taylor kneeled on one leg respectfully, and the rest of the soldiers followed.

"At ease! No need for this!" Gabriel said right away.

To him, the soldiers had already done enough and there was no need for them to trouble themselves anymore.

The soldiers looked at each other before looking at their commander, who nodded his head. Only after getting that confirmation did they stand up, feeling a bit awkward.

Gabriel, Lucius, and Donald got down from their horses and looked at the soldiers as well. They looked at the ones that had fallen and the ones that were injured. There was blood and guts on the battlefield, some from their own men and some from the enemies.

But one thing was for sure, there was plenty of death that had occurred today and some words would need to be said.

"My soldiers, my comrades, my friends…" the Count spoke out loud.