章 42: Aureus Astrea (9)
As Aureus waited on the command platform for the scouts to return with the intelligence, he planned contingencies upon how the enemy would counter.
While the beasts were possessed of an intelligence that were never seen before, in terms of employing complex battle tactics and strategy, they were still far inferior to a cunning racial opponent.
The issue was their sheer weight in numbers which could compensate for their lack of strategy as a form of strength.
Aureus thought that if he were not handicapped by the fact that he was outnumbered nearly four to one, he would have launched the decisive blow against the beast hordes days ago.
As matters now stood, as long as he took the field- he would either land a crippling blow on the enemy hordes or he would decapitate the enemy leadership.
The fact that the demon beasts did not know they were already in such a precarious position pleased Aureus.
Were he the enemy commander, he would not have hesitated in cutting his losses and calling a retreat. Staying on even for the purposes of probing was an inefficient move.
If he had not learnt enough about the enemy after a week of probing attacks of such nature and intensity, he would not learn what is relevant until it was too late anyway.
While Aureus was pleased with the current state of affairs, he was under no illusions that such a state would continue on in the future. Never underestimate one's enemies and Aureus was always confident in his judgment of never overestimating one's enemy.
---
Lendar was born a peasant and managed to get into the Aureus army by sheer dint of effort. He was proud to be a legionary of the Aureus army not simply because he was a soldier of a Prince's army but because he truly believes that Aureus was a gifted leader who would never waste his soldiers lives.
As the gates rumbled open, a dense company of horsemen came thundering out.
Lendar was confused, there was no mention in the battle briefing prior that there would be significant reinforcements during this battle.
He wondered whether the battle was progressing badly to the point that Prince Aureus had to send heavy reinforcements.
From his experienced eye, he could not see any signs of the battle progressing negatively.
As the company fully cleared the gates, a standard bearing the motif of a Suanni upon an indigo sea shot towards the heavens.
Lendar felt as if a surge of energy just entered his body for he now knew that Prince Aureus himself was leading this company.
If Prince Aureus is taking to the field, it must mean that he is here to achieve the killing blow.
Lendar fought with renewed vigor as he hacked and hewed at the enemy demon beasts with his blade.
The coming of Aureus's company was akin to that of a storm. It approached from afar and after gathering momentum, it crashed onto the thickest concentration of enemy beasts.
In the first contact, the enemy beasts died in droves. The elite troops of Aureus rarely took a second swing with their glaives as they reaped a bloody path across the battlefield.
As first, Lendar thought that Aureus was here to thin the enemy horde down to the point that they can no longer effectively wage war.
However as time passed, Lendar saw that instead of spreading out to clear out pockets of resistance, Aureus appeared to be aiming for something specific behind the enemy lines.
As Lendar put two and two together, he realized that Aureus was moving to decapitate the enemy leadership.
Lendar wondered why Aureus would go for the harder task when the easier one is present but acknowledged that such matters were far too weighty for him to consider. He was merely a grunt and hacking down the enemies in front of him was what he does best.
As Lendar took a break from an overlooking hill, he saw Aureus cutting his path forward on the front lines. No matter how many times Lendar has witnessed this, he always thought that Aureus's movements carried a combination of grace and lethality.
The men closest to Aureus fought as if possessed by demons themselves. The way they hurled themselves at anything that appeared remotely like a threat that neared Aureus.
As Aureus reached the back of the demon horde, he shot a green globe of light straight into the sky.
Immediately, a team of roughly fifty assembled around him. Within a few minutes, Aureus and said team charged forth and broke through the enemy ranks.
Aureus immediately headed for a forest located to the northeast of where he broke out from.
As Lendar prepared to return back to his company after his break, he wondered how long the enemy demon beast would last against Aureus. One minute would be a good time, Lendar thought as he chuckled and jogged down the hill to rejoin the battle.
---
As the eastern wall's demon beast hordes fell in disarray after Aureus took down the enemy leadership, the troops closest to the northern and southern walls formed into companies and made their way to assist their allies.
This was all part of Aureus's plan to land a killing blow on the beast horde. Regardless of whether he succeeded or not in incapacitating the eastern wall enemy leadership , he would ensure that the horde would either retreat or suffer complete annihilation if they were to stay for another day of battle.
Finishing off the demon beast leadership simply made things easier.
As expected, the beasts routed and ran for the hills as it became clear that there was no way they were going to win the battle.
-
The night was filled with riotous cheers and celebrations as the barbarians and the Aureus army celebrated their victory.
Mugs of beer and ale were passed and drunk as the night deepened.
The stores of meat and grain were broken open and the aromatic scent of various meats being skewered and cooked floated across the fort.
While the rank and file celebrated, the mood was grim the building that housed the leadership of the two forces.
Aureus displayed the grisly heads of the two werewolves he slew. They were the leaders of the demon beast hordes on the eastern wall. The other assumed enemy leaders of the other walls made a clean escape.
While it was suspected prior that the demon beasts were being led by a being with higher intelligence, Aureus has now procured proof.
Unfortunately, it was only one type of leadership that he has uncovered- and it was likely only the middle level.
Nevertheless, as Aureus conjured an orb of flame and incinerated the heads, he cautioned his officers to never let their guard down when confronting the demon beasts.
"We need to be aware that the reality is that the demon beasts now are not like those of the past. They are far more dangerous and cunning."
"Underestimating them will only result in further losses."
As Boulder looked at the ash gathering and how the officers took to Aureus's statements, he was secretly glad that the barbarian tribes were no longer hostile to the Astrea Empire. For one thing, going up against a figure such as Aureus was certainly a proposition that had a hundred losses and not one gain.
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