Chương 23: Two Rivels Meet

"They say that after the fall of the Kingdom of Plurus, there was one man who kept their sense of nation alive."

"A man of cunning whom only our best and most legendary figures of Chavaria could defeat.

"General Bardornus Asharm."

"A man defeated by the great traitor of the empire Lucius Aurellion."

"Who would lay the foundations for the rebirth of a kingdom."

Tiberius Pollius, chronicler of the Conflict of Nations.

….

In front of the main Plurian force rode Bardornus, behind him, 50 of the best Plurian knights acted as a bodyguard riding vigilantly by their general's side, tightly clutching at the lances and shields in their hands, waiting for the Chavarian force, which he knew would come this way, wary of any schemes which Lucius may try to pull.

Bardornus' steel-plated armour was gilded in gold, shining slightly in the torchlight, giving off an air of majesty. In one hand, he held a curved steel glaive with a shield attached to the side of his saddle. Hidden in a sheath lying across the man's lower back was an ornate steel dagger and a steel sword hung sheathed from the left side of his body.

The forty-odd-year-old man looked with a slight smile as he saw the crimson pelican banner in the distance, rain dripping from the edges of his helmet as he saw what remained of the Chavarian force in front of him, wet, tired and dripping Bardornus was confident in his ability to win the coming fight and deal a large number of casualties to the Chavarians.

Lucius was at first surprised to see the main Plurain force with armoured knights and light cavalry; however, after experiencing the skill of the general in front of him, the one who helped to save the allied armies water supplies, the one to give his crossbows horses so that they could kill his knights then quickly retreat. If it were not for the magical array protecting the Chavarians when they first attacked, far more men would have died, for only a fool underestimates the piercing power of crossbow bolts, even if plate armour is involved.

Riding up with Leon and his own contingent of knights, Lucius reared his horse in front of Bardonus, the faint sound of lightning crackling could be heard in the distance as if to announce the meeting of these two rivels.

"General Bardornus, I trust you have been well."

Lucius greeted the middle-aged plate-armoured man in front of him, cupping his fists in respect to his rival.

"Very well, thank ye, I hope you have eaten enough, General Lucius, or maybe ye also want me men behind me for dessert."

Bardonus replied, also cupping his fists in respect, for even if they were out to kill each other, at least they would do it in a respectful manner.

"No need! No need! I have already eaten enough! Your men would just lead to indigestion. I can feel my digestive system working overtime. Those orcs can be really bony sometimes."

Lucius said, commenting on the strong resilience of the orcs indirectly.

"Tell me, have you heard of that monstrosity of an orc who wields a 6 ft long club? He even managed to crush 20 of my knights under it, not to mention those skin and muscles as tough as dragon scales! I wonder if you have heard of such a thing, my good General Bardornus?"

Lucius asked, carefully studying the facial expression of the enemy in front of him, trying to gain any reaction from the face of the middle-aged man and trying to sow suspicions between the two allies and put the attention of the general in front of him away from engaging his wet and slightly exhausted force.

Lucius, however, was disappointed as the experienced middle-aged general gave nothing away and kept the same casual smile that had graced his face since Lucius had arrived, as he commented in his mind.

'Damn old fox.'

While on the outside, Bardornus was as calm as still, water inside his mind was working overtime, slightly annoyed that such an abnormality had managed to evade him, surprised at the ability of the orcs to hide such a creature.

'Seems that orcish general can do something right, at least and managed to keep something secret.'

Bardornus thought to himself, unimpressed by the performance of the orcs under Wurgoth, who seemed just to become target practice for the Chavarian horse archers, the sound of the rain relaxing him slightly as he focused on the earlier part of the conversation to glean some insight into the state of the Chavarian raiding force.

"So, will you allow me to pass, or will I be forced to eat dessert? The choice is up to you, General Bardornus. Though I would like to remind you to be careful, you hold ¼ of the remaining Plurian knights in this world. Is it really worth it to sacrifice them in a skirmish with only half of my cavalry? Not to mention that we are just a detachment of the vast Chavarian army."

Lucius interrupted the man's thoughts as he did not want him to think too long.

'If I give him too much time to think, he will realise the bad position I am in right now. Maybe I can get through without a fight if I play my cards right.'

Lucius thought, however, he was underestimating Bardornus too much despite Lucius' best efforts to distract the man from the current situation Bardornus had experienced too much for such lowly tricks to work. When Lucius saw the smile on Bardornus' face get slightly bigger, he knew that he would have a fight on his hands, giving a hand signal to Leon for him to pass along to the army to notify them that a fight was incoming.

"No wonder they call you the shameless spider of Chavaria; if I was a younger and more reckless man, I might have been off-put by what you said or attacked you relentlessly, allowing you to set up a formation to break our lines, but alas, it is not a young, reckless general you face but this old worn thing though we can have a good talk if you like. It is rare to meet an opponent like you."

Lucius laughed when he heard that, not deceived in the slightest by the words of the man in front of him as he replied back to his rival.

"You praise me too much, and as nice as a conversation would be right now, it would lead to my death, so I would apricate being let through though I know that this is likely not going to happen, so I can only take my leave and breakthrough by force."

"Farewell!"

Lucius finished turning his horse around and returning to the Chavarian lines.

'As cunning as ever, Lucius, you realised quickly that I was only delaying time so that Alden and I could pincer you. Why do you have to be such a pain to defeat?'

Bardornus thought to himself, becoming more respectful of his opponent as he also rode towards his men and called out to them.

"Prepare for battle!"

Bardornus shouted, clutching his ornate golden-rimmed steel glaive tighter as his knights and light cavalry got into lines in preparation to charge at the Chavarians.

Lucius looked at the enemies to his front and the red flair that had flown into the sky just a few seconds after he had left felt like the turning of a sand timer as pressure mounted on Lucius to break through the Plurian cavalry and retreat to the Chavarian camp.

'Will only take 5, maybe 10 minutes max for Alden to come and attack us from behind now that they know where we are, so we need to breakthrough in one go and keep on riding while holding off the light cavalry, which will inevitably pursue us to the end.'

'If only my men did not need to sleep and be fresh for the battle tomorrow, then I could have used some as reinforcements to help us to retreat, but I did not expect the Plurian army to have such good instincts.'

'At least all of their men will be exhausted having to deal with us harassing them constantly.'

'That's something helpful in the long run at least, as all of the enemy's men had responded to the raid as the allied army could not afford to be careless even if they have a numbers advantage.'

Lucius thought, consoling himself.

'lose the battle to win the war, eh.'

Lucius thought, finishing this little conversation with his mind as he raised his spear, leading to the Chavarians creating a line of cavalry ready to engage and break through the Plurian lines.

"Diamond formation. Don't stop no matter what, and those dismounted will be left behind! We must quickly break through the enemy lines, or the god of death will take us all to our graves tonight."

"Horse archers in front initially aim for the light cavalry! Not only will they be the ones who will be able to keep up with us, harassing us, but they also are protected by lighter armour and do not hold as strong or as big shields but are armed with javelins, so be careful one of those will reap your life easily!"

"30 seconds before we enter javelin range, the horse archers will turn and go towards the back of the formation, allowing the knights to take the front and brunt of the enemy charge."

"The horse archers will then go to the back and middle of the formation to stay as protected as possible the ones on the outside of the formation will need to use their swords and small shields attached to their saddles to defend themselves."

"When we break through, the knights will stay behind to fight the enemy for a bit to ensure that everyone on horseback got out, then act as a rear guard to protect against the Plurian cavalry."

"Do you understand!"

"Yes, General!"

Lucius quickly explained his plan to his men as they roared out their acknowledgement of his orders, trying to get their blood up while the horse archers took the front of the formation, the knights just behind, ready to take their place when they heard the horn to change the make-up of the formation.

"What's your name?"

Lucius asked, turning to the older man who accompanied and protected Archtorius and had performed well in the last skirmish.

"Sorrell Bethell, General."

The old white-haired man said. A closed metal-encased fist clanged against his armour as he saluted Lucius respectfully.

"Your main objective is the protection of your young master Archtorius, is it not?

Lucius asked, using the man's past actions to predict his intentions. Even though Reginald, who was playing Lucius, did not have good combat skills, his mind was sound and unaffected soon. His enemies would realise that compared to his skill in direct 1-1 combat, it was Lucius and his descendant's minds which were the most frightening, coming up with mad convoluted schemes.

"That would be correct, General as such, I request to be allowed to stay close to my young master in order to do that. I could not explain to my lord if his most loved son and heir died."

Sorrell requested mainly as a formality. His loyalties lay steadfastly with Archtorius, and ensuring his safety right now was paramount, so if he had to be beaten when they got back to camp for disobeying the general, so be it. Sorrell would disobey orders in the blink of an eye if it meant that Archtorius could return alive.

"Your talents are needed elsewhere! If the formation holds and your young master is in the centre, he will surely be protected. I will even have the knight captain stay by my side while I personally look after your young master."

"How can I be sure that you won't leave my young master to die!"

Sorrell said, his voice raising slightly and his suspicious eyes glaring into Lucius as the old man put a hand on his sword. Seeing this, Leon, who followed Lucius like a shadow, also readied the spear in his hands as he stared at the old man radiating killing intent, the bow that he was using before lay in its leather pouch at the side of his saddle.

"You don't!"

Lucius said, telling the truth as he continued to persuade the stubborn old man in front of him.

"However, I will give you my word of honour that I will not leave him. He is too valuable to my future plans for the battle, and every minute we argue about this is another minute we give that damn ambush squad time to catch up and pincer us."

"So be a good old dog and follow my orders so I can get us out of this problematic situation, please."

Lucius said, making it a request and not a command as he glared coldly at the old man who took a step back, making Reginald, the player who was currently in control of Lucius, surprised as he did not expect that he was capable of such a thing.

"How about this? Keep an eye on your young master, and if you think he is in danger, you can rush to his side to defend him! This is how we work, isn't it, Leon."

Lucius said in a kinder, more diplomatic tone, gesturing to Leon, who just nodded to Sorrell, confirming Lucius' words trying to put the man's worries at ease.

"But!"

Lucius said a little louder, emphasising every word in his next sentence.

"You must follow my commands."

"Agreed?"

Lucius asked, throwing the old dog a bone, knowing that without such an agreement, this old man would not budge and right now, Lucius really needed another master to hold the rear while Leon led from the front and broke through the enemy.

After a few seconds of thought, Sorrell nodded, the hand on his golden-rimmed sword hilt relaxed, leading to Leon relaxing his own.

"Excellent! Leon! I want you at the front of the formation, and once we break through, you will then shift to the back to help deal with the cavalry, which will harass us as we try to retreat."

"Do you understand?"

"Understood, my Lord!"

Leon shouted, riding to the front of the formation as instructed and began to get the men in formation.

"Sorrell Bethell!"

"General!"

"You are to stay at the back of the formation and help them to break through if, for any reason, the front and back of the formation get separated, then work with Leon to secure our rear from any pursuing enemies once everyone regroups, do you understand?

"Understood, General!"

Sorrell cried as he rode to take up his position in the back of the formation.

"Knight-Captain! You are to accompany me and protect Archtorius, as he is in no position to defend himself right now! Remember, he is needed for future battles! Do not let anything bad happen to him?"

"Is that understood, knight captain?"

Lucius said in his usual cold and commanding tone, making it clear just how much he valued Archtorius.

"Yes, General! Are you not going to take the front yourself?"

"No, I need to stay at the centre of the formation to make adjustments and command the overall battle."

Lucius said, seamlessly changing the topic while making an excuse for him not to be in the front of the fight. He remembered what happened in the first skirmish with the orc and does not want that to be repeated, especially when time and momentum were essential to escaping and successfully retreating from the raid. Lucius could imagine the countless number of men who would die if he got dismounted and had to be saved.

The morale boost for the General fighting on the front lines with his men was not worth the risk, of course, if he had the ability of an expert fighter and not just the game skill, then he would not be afraid, but he did not and so chose to be in the safest place in the formation and not drag down his own men by his incompetent fighting skills.

'System, is there any way to have an expert-level AI fight on my behalf?'

Lucius thought, asking the system a question.

The system's cold voice then replied in his mind.

"No, this is what you could call a special feature of the game, and a way to make true martial skill a vital part of the combat system as someone can acquire the skill expert swordsmanship without having the ability of an AI expert swordsman, of course, in most cases without the sufficient skill then the chances of you getting such skills are extremely low, but the dynasty history system is a way for players to have an experience of higher level skills, so they know the gaps between them and the NPCs of the game and not to have them killed stupidly."

"of course, those who do not experience this due to picking an easier start and do not take these warnings will ignore it and most likely destroy their first dynasty."

The system said mechanically in Lucius' mind before becoming quite happy that it had explained enough and seemed to disappear.

Seeing that his men were in formation, Lucius raised his long spear, pointed it towards the enemy and roared.

"Children of Chavaria!"

"CHARGE!"