Book 2: Chapter 2 (7/7)

After being walked in front of General Verardi, Sergeant Ithruen kneel and bow down to him to show his respect. General Verardi said, “Fallon, you may stand.”

“Thank you, General Verardi.”

“I received reports from your scout groups last night. It was very different compared to what Sergeant Nalsir Fiiliadir’s scout groups have discovered.”

“Hoh? How different?”

“Very different. The Demi-Humans didn’t just come with two million, but ten million.”

“What? That many?”

“The good thing is we still have more than fifteen million warriors stationed in Aureshield city. Therefore we don’t need to request more troops from the Great General. General Richard Coyle sent us a letter stating there were also ten million Demi-Humans were spotted at the borderline of Dravew city. He and seventeen million warriors will have to be stationed there longer than expected.”

“I… I’m sorry, General Verardi. I have sent out three scout groups to make sure that they can gather the best information possible. This was all my fault, I will take full responsibility for it.”

“Take it as a lesson. Next time send the whole ten thousand troops that you have instead of just several hundred. Your job was also to scout and gather information, not just patrolling, understand?”

“Yes, General Verardi.”

“Uhm. You can leave now. Tell your warriors to take some time to rest now because the battle could start at any time.”

“Yes, sir.”

Before Sergeant Ithruen could exit the General's room, a warrior ran in to report, “General Verardi, ten million Demi-Humans are attacking our city. Their commander is King Nerius Pacuvius Denter.”

General Verardi said, “Get the archers ready. I will personally direct this battle. Fallon, looks like your warriors won’t be able to rest now. Get them ready and follow me.”

“Certainly, General Verardi.” Fallon quickly left to inform his warriors to prepare for battle.

Nerius laughed out loud while flexing his dragon wings when he saw how the enemies were easily frightened by his large army, “Hahaha… mere humans are no better than cockroaches. My army will crush your little city!”

“King Denter, our job is to keep them occupied while our Emperor invades the Shota Empire. We shouldn’t launch a full-scale attack but rather keep them occupied as long as we can.” War Advisor Ranulf Frohlich said.

“I know that! You can just shut your mouth and don’t have to nag me every five minutes about it.”

“Emperor Acilianus sent me to constantly remind you about this, dear King Denter.”

“You are so annoying. I should have stayed in the other army that is attacking Dravew city.”

“I have to follow you to any battle, King Denter.”

“Grgrgrgrgr! Send out a hundred thousand warriors to attack the East gate of Aureshield city!” King Denter screamed in Advisor Frohlich’s ear.

“Right away, dear King Denter.”

War Advisor Ranulf Frohlich, an Eagle-kin man. His mind is full of battle tactics that could turn a losing battle into victory. Even though Ranulf is a Second Stage Saint Warlord, he rarely joins any army in fighting but rather stays in the back to give commands.

“General Verardi, a hundred thousand Demi-Humans are attacking the East gate.” A warrior reported.

“What about the other gates?”

"No signs of being attacked, sir."

"They only sent a hundred thousand troops?"

“Yes, I am positive about this.”

“The East gate is fine then. We have three hundred thousand warriors stationed there. Let me know if anything changes.”

“Right away, sir.”

Ten hours later. “General Verardi, the Demi-Humans withdrew their troops from the East gate after losing more than fifty thousand troops.”

“What about the casualty on our side?”

“About twenty thousand.”

“Good. Increase guards at night time just in case they launch a surprise attack.”

“That’s clear, sir.”

Jandar thought to himself, “What are the Demi-Humans thinking? They can’t take down the East gate by sending out only a hundred thousand troops. Here I was planning all types of strategies on how to drive back their ten million troops without costing us more than six million warriors.”

Jandar turned toward the Intermediate-tier magic casters who served the President’s Office and asked, “Honorable Mages, what do you think the Demi-Humans are planning?”

Celedor Gwealon, a male Intermediate Thunder Mage said, “General Verardi, perhaps they are just testing our strength before launching for a full-scale battle.”

Adrie Starnar, a female Intermediate Conjurer Mage said, “From my point of view, they could be trying to cause a distraction.”

Celedor said, “Adrie, what kind of distraction are you suspecting?”

“I believed they are stalling us here for their other army to launch a full-scale attack on Dravew city. Just in case if they lose at Dravew city, their remaining troops can escape back to Grironbu city while the army here heads for Dravew.”

Grironbu city belongs to the Dryardian Empire. It is approximately a hundred eighty miles toward the East of Shadowmere city.

General Verardi asked, “Mrs. Starnar, are you saying the ten million Demi-Humans here are just backup troops?”

“Yes, General Verardi.”

“Hmm… Mr. Gwealon, what do you think?”

“I think Adrie's thinking is very logical. She could be right.”

“Mr. Gwealon, would you mind going to Dravew city to check with General Coyle to see if they needed our assistance or not?”

“No problem. I will head out now.” Celedor casted [Thunder Step] and started running toward Dravew city.

“Wait-” General Verardi was too late, Celedor was long gone before he could ask him to do another mission.

No, Celedor wasn’t using [Thunder Step] all the way from Aureshield to Dravew. Because Celedor will have to stop every twenty minutes to rest for four hours, which eventually would take longer due to mana depletion. Celedor used [Thunder Step] to get to the stables to pick a horse and ride it toward Dravew. The path from Aureshield city to Dravew city was defended by a long gigantic wall that has military towers built every twenty miles and has hundreds of millions of guards spread out to defend along the way. Consequently, Celedor wasn’t afraid of being ambushed on his way toward Dravew city.

The next day, King Denter sent out another a hundred thousand warriors to attack the West gate. Similarly, General Verardi didn’t have to send any troops to assist since there were three hundred thousand warriors already stationed in the West gate. A day after that, General Verardi was waiting all day but King Denter didn’t launch any attack. Celedor came back to report that the same thing happened at Dravew city, there were only small scale battles, no full-scale attack from the Demi-Humans.

“There is no way they wanted to waste their time fighting such as small-scale battles. They must be planning something. But what is it?” Jandar asked himself trying to figure out the Demi-Humans’ plans.

“Could it be...? Are they stopping us here to attack the Grand Duchy of Macmalian? Have we receive any aid requests from that nation?” Jandar asked his Vice-Generals.

One of the female Vice-Generals said, “No, dear General Verardi.”

“Seaway… How about our Navy? Have they requested any assistance from the Army?”

“No, sir. At least not yet, General Verardi.”

“Send words to the Great General, ask him about what we should do concerning the Demi-Humans stalling us. Should we attack them to drive them off or continue defending like this?”

“Right away, sir.”

“Demi-Humans… what are you really planning?”