Chương 27: Never Fear, Gan Ning is here!

"What are your orders Lord?" This question rang in Dom's head as he looked ahead at the 50 Villagers and their leader. It took him back to the initial tutorial mission that was only 4 in game days ago. In that mission he had to protect the village from an incoming force of bandits.

Now he was in the real game, and he had quests to complete, but he didn't want to be a bandit, but a successful leader that would conquer the game with tactics and might, not cruelty. He knew there would be bloodshed on that journey, but he couldn't bring himself to order his men to attack the villager NPC's.

"What are your orders Lord?" he heard again from Alexander. He looked at him, and saw that the leader of his Hoplite would do what ever he ordered him to do. This was a lot of power for someone of his age, leading warriors of this calibre in to a fight. Warriors that would advice him, but would not deny his orders. If he wanted to massacre the entire village, they would.

"Put down your weapons and surrender!" Dom ordered the Village chief. He wasn't going to be a slaughterer. That wasn't who he was, he would give them a chance first.

The Chief looked at Dom with a smile on his face, whilst the Villagers behind him all looked ahead at the members of Riverside with anger on their faces. Disgust at the foreign force that had attacked their quiet village. They wouldn't surrender easily, not even after their warriors had been slaughtered. They had the looks of people that would fight to the last.

"HAHAHAHA!" The Chief laughed at him, "Puny man, I will first kill your men in front of you and then boil you alive. Then I will use your skull as a goblet for my next drink!"

There were cheers from behind the Chief by the band of villagers that were braying for Dom and the warriors from Riverside's blood.

"Tonight we feast!" The Chief roared. "We feast our victory!"

"You've given them a chance." Tomyris whispered to Dom in the ears, understanding where he was coming from. She was a champion when it came to revenge, but this was a mission for resource and expansion. She appreciated that Dom had given them a chance to surrender first.

Before Dom had chance to respond to the Chief or give orders to the men, the Chief and the villagers charged. The Chief was slower on the run due to his weight, so the other villagers sped past him, carrying clubs or fishing spears as they charged at the Hoplite unit.

"Hoplite, lock shields!" Alexander ordered, as the Hoplite got themselves in position and braced themselves for the incoming rush. They were now outnumbered over 2 to 1, but they were an elite unit against an army of badly armoured villagers. They should win this, the main worry was when the Chief got involved.

The first row of villagers ran straight in to the stabbing spears of the Hoplite, impaling themselves as they tried to push the first row of spears aside. The hoplite continued to stab and march forwards as the second row of villagers were soon upon them, the first row majority falling to the floor as the second wave of spears took out any stragglers.

"Extend the line!" Subutai suddenly ordered from the side. The order was quickly followed as the line grew wide by an extra Hoplite, with the second one on the right of the first row taking a step to the side as the hoplite behind him took his space. This continued until the formation was now 6 wide and 3 deep, with the additional two Hoplite stood in the centre of the back in reserve.

The slight extension helped as the line grew in length, slightly reducing a flanking attack from the remaining 30 plus Villagers that were coming at them. Subutai was shooting arrows and taking down any that attempting to flank on his side, whilst Tomyris and Dom were stood on the other side stabbing in to the flanks of the Villagers that were now piling up in front of the wall of spears and shields.

Suddenly there was a large gap appearing as the Chief finally made his way to the line, angrily swiping his heavy club at the spears. His swipe shattered a couple of the flexible tips, whilst the rest shook and wobbled away. Still the Hoplite stabbed on, with the second rank stabbing forwards in to the still oncoming foe. The third rank following, dispatching any that still moved.

"Face me!" The Chief shouted angrily, looking at the death around him but with none of his enemy fallen. "Fight me!"

"Keep pushing!" Alexander shouted in response, as the group continued their pace forwards. Subutai launched some arrows at the chief, one catching him in the upper arm whilst another he deflected with his giant club.

"Face me!" The Chief shouted again, angrily pushing villagers out of his was as he made his way to the flank where Gan Ning and Subutai were located. Some villagers he pushed fell in to the oncoming spears that were making their way towards them. "Fight me!"

At this stage the majority of the villagers had fallen. Dom and Tomyris had kept their flank secure, both covered in splashes of blood from the stabs and slashes their own swords had made to protect the Hoplite to their sides. The Hoplite spears were dripping with blood as they stabbed and crunched their way forwards over the bodies of their fallen foe, sweat dripping from their foreheads.

Some Villagers at this point had dropped their weapons and sat on the floor in desolation. A clear sign of giving up, the loss and death around them suddenly becoming too much for them. The Chief however didn't care as he smashed his club in the face of the nearest villager, making him fly away from him, his face now a mush of bone and tore flesh.

"Only the weak lay down! You all deserve to die!" He yelled at the surrendered villagers, they were all weak in his eyes, everyone was weak. "Face me!"

The chief had locked eyes with Subutai at this point, who launched a few more arrows in his direction. One hit him in the chest, but the extra layers of fat seemed to reduce the serious damage, with only a grunt of pain escaping the Chiefs lips. Another hit him in the thigh, which slowed his approach, any that neared his face or vitals were swiftly dealt with by his large club.

As the Chief finally reached Subutai and was about to swing down, he suddenly stopped, dropping the club to the ground. Soon he followed and fell face first to the ground, attempting to put his hands down as he fell, but his own weight being his biggest weakness. Behind him stood a smiling Gan Ning, his dagger and sword dripping with blood as he stood there. Whilst the Chief had seen red and charged at the archer who kept targeting him, Gan Ning had casually walked behind him and slashed him at the bottom of his feet, cutting through his tendons and making him fall to the ground.

"Never fear, Gan Ning is here." Gan Ning said to Subutai with a huge grin.

"I had him." Subutai said back in hurt, well aware of what Gan Ning was doing as the Chief approached. "Look, he's covered in my arrows, definitely my kill."

Gan Ning walked towards the chief, who was lay on the floor face down, struggling to roll himself over in the pain he was in.

"Fight me." He grumbled on the floor, as Gan Ning stepped up to him and drove his sword in to the Chiefs neck, cutting his head loose.

"Nope. Definitely my kill." Gan Ning laughed to Subutai, who had a fake look of hurt on his face.

Dom watched all of this, his emotions in turmoil as he didn't know if he should be happy or saddened. He was looking at the trail of dead bodies that came from the initial fight against the warriors as they entered the village to the centre where they were stood now. It's only a game he reminded himself.

"Any injuries?" Alexander shouted towards his Hoplite and the rest of the Riverside group that had come with them. No one replied, which was a positive as everyone was still stood. There may have been minor injuries, but no one wanted to be the first to shout about it. "Good, then round up this sorry bunch!"

The Hoplite quickly surrounded the remaining villagers, there were only 3 left of the starting amount. 2 women and 1 man. The women only wore very little clothing, their bottom half's covered with short fur skirts, with their top half's covered in a very tight bandaged wrap, they both had fishing spears near their feat and looked very similar to one another. The man wore just a fur skirt and had a large stab wound to his stomach, which he grabbed tightly.

"I don't think he's going to make it." Tomyris mumbled next to Dom. "That wound looks like it will fester. It's pierced him too deeply."

"If only they had surrendered." Dom mumbled back, the smell of the dead soon hitting his nose as the bowels of the fallen foes emptied and the stench of the blood reached him. The Granary was still ablaze, and didn't seem to have any intention of slowing down.

"Get some buckets from the river and put the Granary fire out! Be careful to avoid any left over animal fat, it should be gone by now!" Tomyris ordered Alexander, who pointed at several Hoplite, including Hector and Homer, to do it. "The rest of you, search the houses and buildings for any survivors."

"Also search for any resources and take note." Subutai ordered, "We will take what we can and gather the rest over the next couple of days."

"I'm going to explore the key buildings." Dom shouted to Subutai. "I'm assuming that large hut is the town centre."

"Good Idea!" Subutai replied, "Gan Ning, follow the Lord and protect him. Tomyris, please direct the fire fighting and the prisoners, see if you can save the man. I'll search the houses with the others."

Tomyris and Gan Ning nodded in response to their orders. Happy to follow Subutai's lead as the overall commander of their military force. Tomyris wondered off towards Alexander and started discussing with him some plans, whilst Gan Ning headed towards Dom and patted him hard on the back.

"You fought well Sir." Gan Ning commented merrily, "I was very impressed, I think I could teach you a couple of tricks when we get back."

"Thanks Gan Ning." Dom replied, "I'd like that."

At this point the runner who had been following them had been ordered by Subutai to run back to Riverside and inform them of the victory. Hopefully he wouldn't get there too much later than the one Gan Ning had dispatched earlier. His orders to ask Lucius to send a small group of Villagers down the river to help transport any key resources back.

Dom stood and looked around once more, this time looking past the death and instead smiling at a resounding victory for Riverside's first battle on World Conquest Online.

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