“Charge! Kill the traitor!”
War horns and drums played loudly through the field as thousands of soldiers shouted in unison. The sound became louder and louder each moment. Jinpok, who had been watching it from a distance with binoculars, gave the command.
“FIRE!”
The sniper rifles all fired at once, each of them killing their targets with ease. All the commanders and knights on the battlefield fell and the soldiers instantly began slowing down.
“Ar-arrows?! Shields!”
“Shields up!”
It was too late. They couldn’t react quickly enough without their commanders and became vulnerable to arrows. Their formation began breaking down.
“They are confused! Gerekstals! Attack the middle!”
The Magnos charged in on Gerekstals, right into the middle of the enemy formation. Marquis Jaron, who had stayed in the rear, panicked as he saw his army going frantic. It was just moments ago that he arrogantly predicted victory over less than seven hundred enemies with his thousands of soldiers. He did not heed the warnings to be careful as he was too confident that there was no way he would lose. However, the Gerekstal squad coming straight toward him destroyed all his confidence.
“NO! HELP!”
The Krakul destroyed everything in their path. Whether it was human or horse, it didn’t matter. It was when the marquis thought of the impending doom, his head suddenly jerked back and blood poured out.
Soon, there were no more sounds of war drums or horns. The battlefield became silent, with only crows and rats gathering on the bodies to have a feast.
“It’s brutal. But I don’t think there’s a lot.”
“We let them run away. They will surrender to us soon enough. We could’ve killed them all though.”
Jinpok commented as he glanced through the field.
*
“Commander Torres! This is Daira Canyon. It’s the best place to ambush us on the way to Khalodian land. Our scouts report no danger in the surroundings, but we should tread carefully. I suggest we slow our advance and move carefully.”
Baron Jeere, Lieutenant to Count Torres, reported in. The count turned to the long canyon with high cliffs on either side. It was like his lieutenant mentioned: the best place to ambush.
‘I don’t have enough food though.’
He had taken two months to travel to this war and it required a large amount of food.
‘Dammit. Those bastards…’
The neighboring lands around Khalodian were not eager to help out the troops. Count Khalodian was known for his generous and calm nature. The neighboring nobles didn’t fear Khalodian becoming strong in the first place as they were given all sorts of help. They chose to stand neutral in the war to avoid any conflicts.
‘Staying neutral… that will get back to you all…’
Torres suddenly grew annoyed.
‘I hope they hang in there until I arrive. They won against the empire, so they shouldn’t lose too quickly.’
Torres was worried that his competition had become victorious again as they had departed earlier. It was Viscount Hesson. He was the son-in-law of Marquis Atua, who pushed for this war. It was obvious that the marquis wanted to take the mines for his son-in-law who had skilled miners and smiths.
‘If I win… it will grant me a fortune!’
Torres smiled at the thought.
“We should prepare the troops formation and tread carefully. Send out more scouts!”
“Yes, milord.”
All the soldiers slowed down their pace at the order.
“Form a defensive formation!”
The knights ran through the soldiers and began ordering for a defensive formation. Torres looked at the moving soldiers with pride. And there were others who were also watching them from a distance.
“He’s really careful. He checked the area with scouts already, but he sends more scouts and slows down?”
Doral commented and Joonbum nodded. It was as Brant told him. Count Torres was a very careful man. It seemed some of the knights and nobles were displeased by Count Torres’ orders.
‘To control such an army…’
It was amazing that he managed to train and control such a well-coordinated army through a time of crisis. But it also meant that the noble did not care about his people’s hardships in order to maintain his army.
‘But it ends today.’
Joonbum’s eyes grew cold. After a short while, the scouts returned to their base and reported no signs of an ambush, making the army feel relieved.
“Shall we start?” Doral asked. All the Ainos snipers were ready, andthey now turned to Joonbum to give the signal to kill.
‘I must do this for my family.’
Joonbum also took up his rifle.
“We should start. For our family.”
Doral and all the Ainos nodded and turned to their scopes.
“Fire in order!”
Doral shouted and Joonbum pulled the trigger. The man he was looking at through the scope fell down immediately.
“Lord Hasper! He’s down!”
Then more gunshots were heard, killing nobles and knights with it. Some dropped from their horses while some fell while walking. The continuous deaths of their commanders made the army panic as they couldn’t decide how to react.
‘War in this world is too easy. They’re all falling,’ Joonbum thought as he finished off his seventh target. With modern weapons, there was no need to massacre everyone. All that was needed was to kill the commanders and it was over.
“Defensive formations…!”
“Hurry! Commander is…”
Some of the older soldiers tried to restore order, but they were not nobles. They couldn’t command everyone to follow them.
“Should we send the signal?” Doral asked, and Joonbum nodded. A yellow light was fired into the sky and the faint sound of horns spread through the skies.
