Chapter 17: Surprise Attack
Two months later.
Baron Elrio's POV:
My name is Elrio. In my past life in Ashan, I was a proud marksman of the Unicorn Duchy. Now, I am a baron of the Holy Falcon Kingdom. The trials to arrive here were hard, as the king designed them to be. Contrary to my belief, being a noble in this kingdom required competence and, most importantly, the ability to adapt to every situation.
Nobles in this kingdom served the masses more than the pompous figures back in Ashan. When I obtained this title, I was given the reins of Rosemary village, situated north of Lumen. This village played a crucial role for Lumen, as the majority of cattle and food were produced here, directly shipped to Lumen for consumption or sale to other villages and towns.
Entering my office, I lit up a light crystal lamp, an invention of His Majesty. Seating myself at the desk, I gazed at the numerous papers accumulated on it.
'So much paperwork,' I sighed defeatingly, offering a silent prayer to the Dukes or His Majesty. If a humble baron like me had so much paperwork, a duke must be overwhelmed by it.
I quickly perused all the reports detailing the harvests and gains from the month's harvest of local plants. Three golden angels and seven silver were the profits for this month after the redistribution to all the farmers and harvesters. It was a successful month. I utilized the three golden angels to request one hundred harvester golems and five guardian golems to Falcon's Reach. The latter were a new type of golem created by Magus Ooto—humongous behemoths standing at five meters in height, wielding swords of ordinary men's size.
During their creation, each village was provided with two guardian golems, one radiant glory, and two griffins, ensuring air support in case of any issues.
"With the addition of one hundred harvesters, we could initiate the plan to clear a part of the forest for more farmland," I pondered as I gazed out the window towards the village below. The walls stood proud, a blend of stone and wood creating a beautiful sight.
A sudden knock on my door interrupted my thoughts. I turned toward the door and responded, "My Lord, Lady Elmina is here to see you," one of the guards announced.
"You can let her in, Friedrich," I replied, taking my seat once again in front of my desk.
As the door opened, my wife, Elmina, entered with a smile on her face. Her beautiful blond hair cascaded down her back as she sat in the chair opposite my desk.
"Are you well, Elrio?" she asked with care, placing her hands on the desk. "Not tired after all this paperwork?"
I scoffed with a smile, handing her one of the papers. "Of course not. I knew what I signed up for. If I'm tired after three mere months, I'd be a disgrace to the trust that His Majesty placed in me," I replied. She started to read the document I gave her.
"You want me to take the noble exam too?" she asked in shock as she read the letter of recommendation I presented to His Majesty. I knew that my word had limited credibility, especially being her husband. Naturally, His Majesty would be skeptical about my recommendation, fearing bias. Yet, I was aware of her land management skills, easily on par with mine.
Despite the potential skepticism, I sent the recommendation letter through a messenger. One month later, a letter from His Majesty arrived, inviting my wife to Falcon's Reach in three months for further proceedings.
"But I am not ready!" she cried out, reading the letter once again to ensure she hadn't missed anything.
"You are far more than ready, my love," I reassured with a smile. "You have remarkable adaptability to any situation, you are kind, and you possess extremely good management skills. I promise you will pass without any problem."
She looked at me with a smile, but I could still see the underlying stress in her expression, despite her attempts to hide it.
"I will help you prepare for the trials, but I cannot divulge anything—I promised His Majesty," I told her. Suddenly, a cry from outside my window caught my attention. I saw a blood-covered crossbowman running through the gates, and my eyes widened.
"Friedrich, deploy the garrison!" I shouted to the door guards as they hurriedly left. Soon, the sound of the bell rang, signifying an attack. I felt a void in my stomach—fear.I took hold of the arm of Elmina as she started to feel fear too.
"Eliana, I have a mission for you. Take one of the griffins and go to Lumen to ask for reinforcements," I told her. From the window, I observed around twenty Praetorians sprinting from the town hall toward the gate, urging civilians to don the armor stored in their houses. Despite being a small village of around 100 souls, we were all seasoned warriors.
My wife looked at me for a moment before nodding and sprinting toward the stables where the two griffins were located. In a corner, I saw the Marksmen loading their bolts, indicating that the enemies were rushing us.
"Loria!" I cried out as the Radiant Glory appeared in front of me. "How many enemies?" I asked as I started to don my armor.
"Around five hundred, my Lord," she replied gravely, causing my eyes to widen. We were outnumbered five to one. "Some of them are mounted on what seem to be little basilisks, commanding the others. I detected three mages."
"How are the people who were outside, the farmer and the patrol?" I inquired as I finished securing my armor and took hold of my sword imbued with the power of Elrath himself.
"As I scouted, it seems they captured the farmer, but the patrol was not spared. All the Praetorians were killed," she reported, her gaze fixed on the unfolding scene. "Thomas was fortunate enough to have gone to take a piss as the beasts slaughtered his patrol. They didn't detect him as he ran back to the village."
I took my helmet and put it on as I turned to look at the Glory. "Who are our enemies?" I asked as I promptly left the office toward the outside.
"Some unknown beastmen, a lot of varieties, but it seems that the commanders are the lizard-men. I counted goatmen, snakemen, and some other kinds that I don't recognize. All of them seem naturally born, unlike the beastmen and orcs created by the Seven Cities back in Ashan," she replied as I gripped my sword harder. We just had to survive around one hour, as the flying time between Lumen and Rosemary was thirty minutes, and there was always a flying brigade scouting outside Lumen. Perhaps Elmina could encounter them, reducing even more the time the reinforcements would need to come.
Then suddenly, the door exploded in an inferno, as if a Pit Lord had just launched his spell. Splinters of wood and stones fell toward our guards. Seeing this, Loria teleported and created a forcefield of light, protecting the troops from the falling projectiles.
I activated the two Guardian Golems, their humongous bodies greeting the first waves of beastmen. One of the Guardians swung its sword, sending around eight beastmen flying. Their bodies burst due to the sheer strength of the strike, raining gore onto the rest of the invaders. However, this display of power didn't seem to deter them as they continued to charge at us.
The two Guardians continued to cleave and send attackers flying, but in an instant, another bolt of fire crashed onto the head of one of the golems. It did a bit of damage to the helmet but didn't destroy the golem.
"Marksmen, kill those mages!" I cried out as I drew my sword. The first wave of enemies that made their way through the golems rushed at us, their metallic clubs raised. However, I knew that their poor armor would never stop my blade or a Praetorian spear.
"Hold the line!" I shouted as the collision between us occurred, with the Praetorians decimating the enemies with quick spear thrusts. I cleaved two beastmen with a large swipe of my blade, holy fire burning due to my usage of the mana contained in the sword from the light gem.
I heard the buzz as bolts were fired from the Marksmen, slaughtering a lot of the incoming beastmen. Despite being absolutely slaughtered each second, the beastmen still charged toward us. Then, an enormous explosion occurred as one of the golems was destroyed by an enormous fire bolt.
"I witnessed this level of power from the Magus back at Falcon's Reach," I thought as I looked at the lizard-man mage who started to cast his magic toward the other golem.
"Kill this mage!" I cried out as Loria teleported behind the lizard-man, ready to strike. However, the mage seemed to anticipate her move, directing his magic toward her and producing another deafening explosion.
"Loria!" I cried out as I saw the radiant glory being pulverized by the fireball, her body dissolving into golden light. The body of the lizard-man was burned too, his scales all pulverized from his body.
"Argh!" I heard cries of pain near me as some Praetorians started to get killed by the rushing beastmen. One sister was torn to shreds as her pacification ability didn't work on a beastman.
I cleaved another beastman with my sword, and another volley of bolts claimed the lives of dozens of beastmen. Despite our efforts, we were losing ground. The tide of beastmen didn't stop, and the only Guardian Golem continued to cleave through the entire horde. Our last Griffin flew, a Marksman shot down the enemy mages. A volley of enemy arrows flew toward us, finding their mark on some Praetorians, rendering them useless or outright killing them. I saw an unlucky Praetorian take an arrow through the opening in his helmet.
I continued to cleave and cleave, slaughtering so much that the ground around me resembled a lake of blood, with dismembered bodies scattered. I felt a shake as the last guardian golem found itself on the ground, its head exploded by the final fireball from a mage before its demise at the hands of the marksman on the griffin.
'I am sorry, Elmina. I am sorry, Your Majesty. It seems that I will go see Elrath,' I thought as I cleaved more beastmen. My sword started to dim down as the mana in the crystal was depleted. The soldiers and guards became thin as more and more of us died.
Thud
"Argh," I grunted as one of the beastmen hit me in the torso with his club. I replied to his attack by impaling him with my sword, pushing his body off my blade as I cleaved two more beastmen in half in a single swing, their bodies burnt by the flickering golden flame.
A dozen beastmen rushed at me, my sword ready. I cleaved the first two, but my swing became my doom as four beastmen used the opportunity to strike me with their clubs. I grunted as I recoiled, taking my sword and beheading three more beastmen as two arrows found their marks on my shoulders, causing me to stagger. One of the beastmen used the spear he took from a Praetorian's corpse to impale me in the torso.
"Urghh!" I grunted, but I wasn't done yet. I broke the spear shaft with a punch, then punched another beastman and impaled another with my sword.
Suddenly, as I stumbled, I saw an enormous iron axe coming for me. I parried the strike, but my body was still sent flying from the collision. As I tried to rise, I saw the enormous behemoth raise his axe to strike me down, and then darkness enveloped me.
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Hope you enjoyed, a little battle to start a far bigger conflict.
See you soon :)
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