Chapter 78 - Desperate

Viscount Sitena was still standing next to General Edgar... 

her mouth opened, shocked, as she saw this familiar scene... An army is being slain before the battle officially begins.

No... at least her soldiers in the previous battle defended themselves a little with their shields as they raised them against the arrows coming down on their heads, or used them to protect themselves from the near explosions... this certainly did not happen this time ...

The first wave of explosions destroyed the soldiers from under their feet without a barrier between the explosion and their bodies ... 

and the second wave, the explosions came down upon them from the sky while their shields were still under their feet... 

Both times the army swallowed the full force of the explosions thoroughly

if they raised their shields they will get destroyed by the underground explosions, if they stood on the shields they will get destroyed by the arrows

Even the choice to stay where they are was taken away from them.

Only now did everyone understand what General Edward meant when he talked about a *game*, this was really cruel ... 

The straw that broke the camel's back was when they saw the enemy's archers preparing for the next shot ...

General Edgar couldn't stand the pressure any longer, he gave a loud yell and shouted "AAAAAAAAh!! Raise your shields and run toward that castle, don't stop no matter what!!"

they had to run over explosive traps and under a rain of explosive arrows? With this shout, every officer and sup-general sighed... they all knew that the *waterproof plan* had completely collapsed.

But this was indeed the best solution, if he tried to find a way to retreat slowly until he came out of the range of the underground explosions, he would still be exposed to rains of arrows and the losses would be horrific,

but the number of deaths wouldn't be the worst outcome in this situation, but the decisive blow to the army's morale!

If a huge army like this retreats after it takes a few steps, how can he raise their morale to attack again? 

what would the world say when they hear that a 170,000 army fled from a battle against an army of less than 60,000?

so the turning back option is absolutely unacceptable.

And of course, they would still get destroyed if he tried to slowly maintain the formations and march in military order...

All that remains is to rush and try to win through human sacrifice, using the numerical advantage to the fullest.

The soldiers raised their shields and started running at full speed towards the castle randomly, they abandoned their rows and chain of command, they just... started running for their lives.

and as soon as they started running, the explosions from under their feet returned to work as well...

The difference is that the explosions were much more intense than the first round, there were at least ten explosions at a time in random places of the army in any given second. 

The army could not advance another 100 meters before the formations turned into what looked like a herd of frightened cows.

Some of them even started running sideways so that they can stay away from the center and reduce the chance they get exploded to pieces, but this act causes entire rows to collide and fall.

While the army was still floundering due to the explosions coming from under their feet, the second wave of arrows descended from the sky, making matters worse.

"Arghhh!"

"General! Save us!"

Saint Edgar's features turned very ugly. 

Tens of thousands of victims fell from his army so far, including dead and severely injured, and most of these injuries were not due to explosions... 

but were due to the stampede!

Whether it is the soldiers who are moving sideways, or because of the flying body parts by explosions, or the high speed running in the midst of all of this... 

All of this caused a lot of trips and falls, and whoever falls while an army is running towards him... will not rise from his fall ever again.

However, Saint Edgar didn't try to find a solution for this, because there isn't any. he continued shouting, "Go ahead! There's only so little left, when we reach that wall it will all be over, victory will be our side!"

Although he had lost a few tens of thousands so far, he still had far more soldiers than his opponent! Only if he gets to that damn wall ...

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he looked at his side, maybe he could ask for help from his saints, but as soon he did he shook his head and forgot about it 

after the Black Sun saints attack, a huge fight broke between the two parties.

And this battle between the saints has already become a deadlock, although it is a battle of 20 against 15, the saints of Dolivar have not yet been able to deter their opponents.

Cooperative big battles of this caliper can not be decided by individual strength like a one against one battle, but rather tend to be more random. 

A saint can attack and defend against 4 or 5 at the same time, it also depends on coordination and teamwork more, so even if the side of the Saints of Dolivar wins individually.. they won't win anytime soon.

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Dolivar's huge army followed orders and continued its run, the explosions from under their feet, and the rain of fire above their heads did not stop them.

1 km before reaching the enemy heavy infantry in front of the castle...

The explosions from under their feet are getting more and more intense the closer they get, till this point, the sound of 1500 underground explosions was heard and the number is still increasing

700 meters before reaching the enemy infantry in front of the castle...

During the short distance - 300 meters - another 1500 explosions were heard! 

The explosions became so intense that the army basically stopped, no one was able to take another step forward without dying horrific death by exploding and his body turns into flying pieces, 

rain of blood and body parts overwhelmed those who have escaped the near-death and planted more fear within them

600 meters before reaching the enemy infantry in front of the castle...

Because the officers and knights were pushing them, and because they were already so close... the army somehow managed to advance an additional 100 meters

in just this 100 meters the explosions coming from underground were heard a thousand times more and rain of arrows descended upon them twice!

'If all these explosions happen now, then what about the rest of the distance? there will still be any of us left when we reach that wall?' The question was in the mind of every Dolivarian infinitary, 

the motive collapsed, the will to defend the kingdom was overwhelmed by fear, the reason behind their presence here disappeared...

"That is it, I quit!"

It was not known who said it, but soon the army began to disintegrate, some started to run towards the side, and some of them took it to another level by just turning around and going straight back towards the rear.

What helped this more is that the underground explosions and the arrows did not target those who tried to escape.

"What are you doing? We are so close, when we arrive we will be victorious!"

"Traitors! Go back to your positions!!"

"He who disobeys orders will be beheaded!"

The officers tried to regroup their battalions but to no avail...

the fear of death in this horrible form overshadowed their thoughts of anything else.

Saint Edgar was still standing at the back trying to comprehend what was going on... 

more than half of the army had turned around and had already deserted the battle completely, most of the rest were standing still undecided to continue or turn back... they were too afraid to make a decision.

just a few thousands around the knights were still trying to advance step by step...

No matter how he thought, he couldn't find a single way to reorganize his scattered army and push them forward again

"Cavalry..." Saint Edgar muttered

"What did you say, your grace?" His assistant did not know what the general meant by his words

"Cavalry... they were previously sent to the far right so that the ground explosions would not affect them, gather them and send them all to strike the enemy's heavy infantry from the side and open the gate, this is the only solution to restore hope to the army and direct it towards the castle again."

The assistant was surprised by what he heard, and quickly responded "But...but this will make the cavalry exposed to the enemy's archers with explosive arrows and even ordinary archers, even if the mission is completed successfully, we will lose most of the 20 thousand cavalries!!"

"It's better than losing the war! DO IT NOW!!" Saint Edgar cried

".....Yes."