Chapter 29: The Battle of the Melting Mist Plains 3

As the battle of both flanks furiously accelerated toward their bloody climax, the center was still trapped in the quagmire of brutal struggle and merciless slaughter!

And the reason for that was the battle mages. Since unlike Georgios who fractured the strength of his battle mages, by dispersing them across the whole battle field, Alexander consolidated their strength in the center.

So instead of the three thousand Eclipse battle mages desperately wrestling against the five thousand Luminous battle mages in a hopeless struggle, they are now leisurely dominating against a mere splinter of their original strength, which didn't include more than two thousand foes.

But even with such a great advantage, they couldn't stop the advance of tens of thousands of elite Luminous soldiers!

***Scene Change***

I stood calmly atop the camp palisade as I listened to the report of the anxious messenger saying "Our battle mages have completely overwhelmed the enemy battle mages, and inflicted disastrous damage to them!

But the Luminous Empire has now deployed their infantry in a fast and loose formation, that greatly decreased our mages' effectiveness! It won't be long before they reach us, my liege!"

A murderous glint flashes through Hamilcar's eyes upon hearing this as he emotionlessly says "It's time, your majesty. We can't delay the usage of our trump card any longer."

My lips are etched into a ruthless smile as I nod in agreement to Hamilcar's words, as I quickly order "Withdraw the battle mages, and have them rest for now. Also tell Horus to ready his men to charge."

Then I turned to a tall, bald man, with an intimidating physique that was clearly sculpted after years of intense labor, and a thick grey beard, wearing a simple, yet dirty white linen shirt, brown pants and boots that reach just below his knees, and chillingly asked "Are you done with the preparations, Cannon-Master Orhan?"

Orhan cackles maniacally as his black eyes turn into bottomless pits of obsession, intelligence, madness and intrigue, as he eerily says "Of course!

You just need to give the word, and my darlings will finally begin their serenade, boss-man!" All the surrounding men showed uncomfortable expressions, upon hearing the way he addressed me, while I completely disregarded it, since I honestly found it refreshing.

I ignore the men's dissatisfaction as I amusedly say "Then begin your symphony, Cannon-Master. I'm sure the Luminous soldiers are eager to hear it." Orhan once again creepily cackled as he deeply bowed, before swiftly dashing to his position in unmasked euphoria.

As the officers gazed at his departing figure from the corner of their eyes, one of them asked in utter confusion "Why did you promote that mad imbecile to a position as important, and crucial as the Cannon-Master, my liege?"

I softly chuckle, before seriously replying "Do not be fooled by his odd demeanor. He may be mad, but he is no imbecile. In reality, Orhan is a true diamond in the rough! And I assure you, that he will become an indispensable part of our military in the future."

All the officers showed a confused, and unconvinced expression as another said "I felt nothing like that from him, when I looked at him earlier."

I calmly say with an amused expression "That's because you looked at him through the lens of a warrior and a general, and in that regard he would indeed fail, since his martial talent is basically non-existent.

But the moment you see him through the eyes of a monarch, you would be blinded by his radiant talent! But if you still remain unconvinced, then just wait for a little while, and behold his ability and worth with your own eyes."

Hearing this most of them were satisfied, but a few still wanted to argue, but before they could, Hamilcar glanced at them from the corner of his eye, and all of them without exception fell to their knees, as they felt death's cold embrace tightly hold them, as it quietly whispered their tragic demise with it's putrid breathe.

The Luminous soldiers in the center originally believed that this battle would a simple walk in the park for them, and why wouldn't they? After all they had more men, and were fully rested and fed, meanwhile the enemy should be on their last few supplies, and will barely even put up a fight.

But reality proved to be far different!

After the crushing defeat of their battle mages, they were subjected to a literal downpour of terrifying spells, that reaped the souls of hundreds if not thousands of elite Luminous soldiers. But that was merely the opening act, to a far more tragic play!

When the Eclipse battle mages withdrew the Luminous soldiers initially celebrated, believing that victory was close at hand, but how wrong they were, since this was the herald to an even greater calamity that was about to descend upon them!

Soon after the retreat of their enemy, they heard the echoing sound of thunder, which perplexed them since there wasn't even a single cloud in the sky.

Which prompted many of them to look at their comrades and ask uncertainly "Cloudless Thunder?"

But before they could come to an answer, an object that was undistinguishable by the naked eye, due to it's ridiculous speed, cratered into the earth, pulverizing everything that stood in it's way, and creating a haunting yet beautiful painting of brown and red.

And this happened again and again, with each time becoming more dreadful than the last.

But this still was not the end of their harrowing experience.

Because as soon as the bombardment stopped, and the Luminous soldiers could once again feel the flower of hope blooming in their chests, it was mercilessly crushed, when Horus led his ten thousand men into a ruthless charge, of their now destroyed front line!

The Luminous soldiers tried to hold the enemy back, but they were nothing more than a pebble thrown into a ragging river, and were swept away by the merciless tide.

Meanwhile the Eclipse soldiers led by Horus became wolves amongst helpless sheep, as they wantonly killed all they saw, and whenever the Luminous soldiers would start to offer them a sibilance of resistance, they would withdraw, causing the furious Luminous soldiers to recklessly chase after them, only to be met with the spells and projectiles of the battle mages, and the Basilisk Cannons, and after a while Horus would once again lead his men to charge, causing this horrific loop of slaughter to never end!

Georgios still stood in his camp, worriedly staring at the endless white mist that obstructed his vision, but did nothing to hide the mortifying screams of his men, and causing his anxiety and worry to reach new heights with each passing second, and each disastrous report he received, as he thought 'This is a disaster!

If even the center is being slaughtered in such a one sided manner, then I can only assume the worst for the situation on the flanks!'

Reaching this point in his thoughts, he looked at Lucas and asked urgently "Still no report from the Vanar brothers?"

Lucas simply shook his head, with a very uneasy expression. Seeing this Georgios sighed heavily as he began donning his armor and weapons. Seeing this Lucas quickly exclaimed "My lord, what are you doing?"

Georgios calmly replied "It's clear now that the Eclipse emperor has played us for fools, and our only hope now would be for me to defeat Hamilcar as fast as possible, and capture their monster of an emperor." Lucas was not shocked by Georgios's words, since he has also come to the same conclusion.

Georgios then looked at Lucas and seriously said "If I'm unable to defeat Hamilcar, or you still don't receive any news from either Luthor or Heinrich in the next half an hour, then you are to immediately order the whole army to withdraw back to the safety of the camp, understood?"

Lucas seriously saluted and said resolutely "Understood, my lord."

Georgios nodded to him as he saluted back and dashed to the battlefield as he unleashed the full might of his aura, as he thunderously roared "HAMILCAAAARRR!"