Both the human and orc army divided their armies into four sections. Center vanguard, left-wing, right-wing, and reserve. The one that had moved out to clash was the center vanguard from both armies.
When the two vanguard armies clashed. The sand cloud that followed the human army also slam into the orc army, while the sand cloud caused by the orc army was blown further back as the wind was blowing westward in this area. Since the orcs were facing against the wind, the sand hit their eyes and caused them a short term of blindness.
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The human army capitalized on their enemy’s sudden loss of visibility and get the first strike. Even after the orcs had removed the sand and managed to open their eyes, another wave of sand cloud hit them again as the wind continued to blow. John had instructed the rear part of the advancing vanguard to keep moving to churn the sand up into the air.
On sparse occasions when the orcs’ eyes were spared from the sand harassment, they were blinded by the morning sun. Even the orc archers and mages at the back were having difficulty as the sunlight was shining right into their eyes.
Even though the orc vanguard numbered twice more than the human’s, they were forced into a passive state. Not giving quarter, John advised the commander who then commanded the right-wing to advance and flank the orc troops.
The already passive orc vanguard was given more pressure with the addition of the human army’s right-wing troops. Seeing his vanguard army at such a disadvantage, warlord Abashi frowned. His aide, an Overseer-ranked named Badu Thickskull, said, “the human had picked an advantageous position.”
Warlord Abashi harrumphed, “I never expected for them to be able to work out the most suitable location under such a short time in this foreign terrain, and used the elements against us. I have truly underestimated them. Send both the wings out! Tell them to do their best to avoid facing directly to the East.”
John used his binoculars to keep tabs on the Orc’s remaining army.
“What’s that?” Commander Quintus asked.
“Magic eyes,” John replied wantonly. “They are finally getting serious. Have the left-wing intercept theirs. You, the duke, and the others should get ready soon.”
Due to the battle took place close to where the human army’s original position was, it took the orc left and right-wing some time to get to the battlefield. Commander Quintus commanded their left-wing to intercept the enemy’s right-wing. While the human right-wing which was harassing the orc’s vanguard broke off and engage the orc’s left-wing.
Both the human left and right-wing were already drilled to always position themselves so as the enemy would always face East. With how crude the orcs were fighting, they had trouble escaping from getting blinded by the sand and the sun, as the human army had already occupied the advantageous position. Unless the orcs decided to disengage completely and maneuver in a large circling route, it would be difficult for them to resolve their current disadvantages.
Still, the orcs outnumbered the humans by more than twice, and their ferociousness was not affected even with the disadvantages. Hence, the warlord had his army continued to push forward.
When John saw that the orcs’ attention was fully on the battlefield, he at last, gave Jack and the others the command to begin.
Jack and the others started to creep forward stealthily. They moved slowly and separately in small teams and without mount, to avoid creating dust clouds that would betray their positions. They had been using dust clouds in their tactics, it would be ironic if the same dust cloud became the thing that ruined their plan.
They moved from one sand dune to another, making sure that they were always undercover. Their progress was excruciatingly slow, while the battle between the armies continued to rage on.
In conjunction with the advancing of the shock troop teams, the duke and the others began to take action. Captain Salem was left with John to command the army as they made their way forward. They rode on their mounts as they cut straight through the battlefield.
Some orc soldiers thought they had found some easy targets who had broken off from the human soldiers and wandered too deep into their line. They immediately went over to besiege these stragglers.
While they were on their way, happily thinking about the glory they could claim from these easy targets. One of these easy targets started to form a spell formation. A magic caster? This revelation made them unconsciously slow down their advance. But after seeing their own numbers, their confidence was reaffirmed and they put on pace again. Some of their own mages also started to prepare their spells.
To their consternation, the runes in the spell formation continued to add until there were five of them. At this time, they finally realized this group was not stragglers that had accidentally blundered into their ranks. However, it was already too late.
The spell took effect as hundreds of magic spears shot out and impaled the surrounding orcs. A large portion of the ones hit by the spell was killed upon impact. The rests who were lucky enough or swift enough to perform defensive maneuvers were thrown far away and fell into a critical state.
The mana fluctuation caused by the spell did not escape the warlord’s and his aide’s attention.
A high-level individual was in the fight? So early at this stage? The warlord immediately called over his retinue as he went over the direction where the spell had been cast. He soon saw a group of humans on mounts coming over. He immediately recognized the lead human as they got nearer. Although he had never met the human personally, he had read some reports about this individual.
“Duke Alfredo!” Warlord Abasi called out. “Are your confidence in your army so low that you had decided to interfere already?”
“Warlord Abasi,” the duke called out in reply. “I am in a hurry, and honestly speaking, your obstruction had pissed me off. I don’t have the time to play around with you and I will appreciate it if you pull your force away at once, or else, I will not be courteous.”
The warlord laughed heartily, “courteous? Do you think there is still a need for that between us at this stage? Do not liken me to a human, duke! I am not your kind who likes to say one thing but mean another. Do you want to fight? Then let’s fight!”
“Good! Then that makes this simple,” the duke said. “This place is too close with the battlefield. Our fight will cause many unnecessary casualties to the others. Let’s head over there.” The duke pointed at a faraway empty part of the desert and steered his mount in that direction without waiting for the warlord’s approval.
Warlord Abasi harrumphed as he watched the duke. Overseer Badu warned him, “this must be the human’s trick, my lord. He must know that his army will not survive ours for long, so he was hoping to gamble in this personal fight to secure victory.”
“Even if it is so, do you think it is honorable for me to decline this challenge?” The warlord asked.
The Overseer lowered down his head as he realized his blunder.
“He was just one level higher than me. I have heard much about this human. It is time for me to verify the reports. Do not worry, I will bring a glorious victory back, along with his head!”
With these words, he summoned his giant lizard mount and rode off after the duke.
When they were off, Overseer Badu noticed with a confused feeling the rest of the humans that had come with the duke. They were still standing there after their duke had gone. One of these humans suddenly called out, “I am Commander Quintus of the human army from Themisphere kingdom. Is there any orc of Verremor nation that is brave enough to accept my challenge?!”
The orc’s leaders were furious as they heard the call. There was another challenger? The tone that the human used had even carry a tint of arrogance as if he was looking down at the orcs. Even Overseer Badu felt discontent with the challenge. The orc leaders behind him were getting restless as they all volunteered themselves to accept the challenge, but Badu stopped them. They also had the report on this Commander Quintus and his level and grade were higher than all that present here.
Badu was the strongest amongst the orcs after the warlord, thus he would be the one that should accept this challenge, but he knew he would have little chance of victory. The commander was a Special Elite level 60. He was a whole five levels higher than him. Unlike his warlord, he was more of a prudent kind of orc, which was rare amongst his kind.
Seeing the hesitation in the orcs’ countenances, Commander Quintus chuckled and said, “I don’t mind taking on two or more challengers if you orcs have no confidence.”
