Ancient Empire Calendar, Year 1838
Unlike Ricardo, who had flown to the battlefield, the armies had only been able to reach the battlefield after months of marching.
Heinricht, appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the army, arranged a quick meeting and discussed the battle plans with his commanders.
Among the hundreds of commanders present in the meeting hall, the words of twelve commanders were listened to the most, and throughout the war, these twelve commanders would be at the forefront.
A few weeks later, ten million invading Sapharos soldiers came face to face with the Kislavein armies.
Heinricht I Fraus commanded the center of the army with two million soldiers. His assistant commanders were Marilin Kislavein, Jamier Kislavein, and Arael I Karel.
The left flank of the army was commanded by Lucius I Eduvali. His assistant commanders were Xavier Xanros V, Jack Johanson I, and Osiris Isman I.
The right flank of the army was commanded by Xiao Meiran Ashterah. Her assistant commanders were Darwyn Terwyn I, Rogan Arlac I, and Barmung Payrist VII.
The army was ready for battle. Commander-in-Chief Heinricht was testing the Sapharos' pulse.
"They're not attacking."
Despite the Sapharos' numerical advantage, their hesitation made Heinricht suspicious.
"Shall we attack?" asked Marilin.
Heinricht thought for a moment and refused.
"Let's wait a little longer, Lady Marilin. If they don't attack, we'll launch harassment attacks."
The two armies waited motionlessly for an hour. The prolonged standoff was applying psychological pressure on both sides.
Heinricht was one of the first to realize the Sapharos' intent.
"So that was their aim. To psychologically intimidate us and force us to attack or retreat."
Marilin prepared to attack.
"Lord Heinricht, allow me to make the first attack."
Heinricht hesitated for a moment.
"This seems to be the only move we can make right now. But I cannot risk your life."
Heinricht knew why he was worried. If Marilin was injured or, worst case, killed in battle, he would not be able to answer to Ricardo.
"I understand your concerns, Heinricht. But don't worry. I have survived even the worst battles. I will survive this one too."
Heinricht took a deep breath.
"Very well. But I cannot send you with ordinary soldiers. Take the Hybrids with you. Only then, as Commander-in-Chief, will I approve your attack."
Marilin objected.
"The Hybrids are our strongest soldiers. Wouldn't it be better to use them for the final blow?"
"That is precisely why we should use them in the first attack. If the Sapharos see the strength of the soldiers attacking them first, they will realize that the remaining soldiers are even stronger and will be gripped by fear. We will seize the psychological advantage."
Marilin found the plan logical.
"A logical plan. Now I understand why the Dynasty Lord made you his Chief Advisor."
Marilin went to the Hybrid Legions. Jamier Kislavein, Heinricht's other assistant commander, rode his horse towards Heinricht.
"Why is Lady Marilin leading the attack? Wouldn't it be more logical for someone old and finished like me, from the older generation, to do it?"
Heinricht looked at Jamier.
"I wonder if Jacop would have looked like this if he had lived to this age?" he thought.
"Lady Marilin is our strongest. She can kill a hundred thousand by herself. To gain the psychological advantage and inflict heavy losses on the enemy in the first attack, there is no better option than Lady Marilin."
Jamier said nothing more. He rode his horse back and took his position at the head of his legion.
Marilin, with ten Hybrid Legions behind her, launched the attack towards the Sapharos.
"HURRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Led by Marilin, the Hybrid soldiers charged towards the Sapharos lines.
Buktunnasir Sapharos, the Commander-in-Chief of the Sapharos army, examined the strange-looking, distorted soldiers galloping towards his army.
"What in the world are these?"
His assistant commanders were at least as astonished as Buktunnasir.
"Commander Esterrion, take 300,000 soldiers and attack them."
"As you command, Commander-in-Chief."
Esterrion, with 300,000 soldiers behind him, attacked the Hybrids. But this was the worst possible move.
When the Sapharos soldiers clashed with the Hybrids, they were slaughtered by the Hybrids using unimaginable methods, without even being able to swing their swords three times.
Marilin single-handedly slaughtered a hundred thousand Sapharos. Continuing to kill, she killed Esterrion in a single stroke as well.
With Esterrion's death, the Sapharos' formation broke. They were surrounded by the Hybrids and were all slaughtered shortly after.
The morale of the Kislavein soldiers, who had witnessed the first clash, soared, while the morale of the Sapharos soldiers plummeted.
Heinricht, with the joy of achieving his goal, drew his sword.
"ATTACK!"
When the Kislavein soldiers attacked, the Sapharos soldiers panicked. Each awaited an order from their Commander-in-Chief.
"THEY'RE ATTACKING! COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, WHAT DO WE DO?"
"COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, GIVE AN ORDER!"
"COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF!"
Buktunnasir broke out in a cold sweat. A single wrong word from his mouth could cause the loss of millions of his soldiers and the defeat of their army.
"Damn it, my Queen. Why did you choose me as Commander-in-Chief? In this situation, if someone else were in my place, they could act with cold blood. Why did you trust me?"
"COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF!"
All the screams, piercing Buktunnasir's ears, finally exhausted his patience.
"ENOUGH! RAISE YOUR SHIELDS! TIGHTEN YOUR RANKS! HOLD YOUR POSITIONS! WE WILL WIN! DO NOT SHAME YOUR KINSMEN WHO DIED IN THE PREVIOUS WAR, OTHERWISE I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF!"
The Sapharos soldiers immediately carried out their orders.
Seeing this, Heinricht gave an order to the Hybrids.
"LADY MARILIN, BREAK THEIR DEFENSES WITH ALL THE HYBRIDS!"
"ALRIGHT."
Marilin, with 20 Legions of Hybrids, led the assault.
"I am so tired, but I must fight. I cannot withdraw from the war just because I am tired while so many of my kinsmen are fighting tooth and nail."
The Hybrid Legions under Marilin's command shattered the Sapharos defense wall as if breaking glass.
With their defenses broken, the Sapharos panicked again.
"There's the opportunity! ATTACK!"
At Heinricht's command, the soldiers attacked the broken lines, slaughtering anyone in their path.
In the first few hours, both sides lost half of their armies.
Jamier Kislavein, exhausted as the battle continued, was killed in his weakened state by a poisoned arrow shot into his chest by a Sapharos soldier.
Arael's units, especially the archer units, were targeting enemy archers. The Sapharos soldier who killed Jamier was killed by Arael during their assault.
All of Lucius Eduvali's legions were slaughtered. Surrounded, Lucius, severely wounded by attacks from all directions, breathed his last.
In his final moments, his only thought was of his one and only daughter, Luna.
"My Luna, my only daughter... farewell."
When the news of his father-in-law Lucius's death reached Heinricht, he was mad with rage, but he maintained his composure and focused on the battle.
"Father-in-law, I promise you. We will win this war, and we will avenge you."
The legions that suffered the fewest losses throughout the battle were those under the command of Xiao Meiran.
Throughout the battle, Meiran tirelessly cast healing spells, minimizing casualties.
Rogan Arlac was worried about Meiran's non-stop casting of healing spells.
"My Lady, I beg you, stop. If you continue like this, you will fall into a coma."
Ignoring Rogan's concerns, Meiran continued her healing spells while calming him.
"Do not worry, Lord Rogan. Nothing will happen to me. And even if it does, I don't care."
"HOW CAN YOU NOT CARE? WHAT ABOUT YOUR DAUGHTER, LADY IONA, WHO IS WAITING FOR YOU? WON'T YOU MARRY HER OFF? WON'T YOU SEE YOUR GRANDCHILDREN?"
Rogan had struck Meiran at her most vulnerable point. Already on the verge of fainting, Meiran stopped casting spells.
"Very well. I will stop here. Go, Rogan. Those I cannot save from now on, you save."
"As you command, My Lady," said Rogan.
Rogan spurred his horse rapidly, slaughtering every Sapharos in his path with a single stroke.
Barmung, with his immense ice spells, turned tens of thousands of Sapharos soldiers into ice statues in a single go.
"Wow, Lord Barmung's ice spells are even stronger than his father's," said Rogan.
The Kislavein mages shattered the statues of the Sapharos with their ice spells.
Rogan, accelerating even more, was making the Sapharos experience hell on earth on the battlefield. But as the proverb says, the fast-running horse's droppings are sparse.
While galloping at full speed, Rogan was struck by a mace blow and fell hard from his horse. His ribs were shattered when he crashed to the ground.
"AAAAAAARRRGH!"
As Rogan writhed in pain, Sapharos soldiers attacked to kill him.
"So this is the end," thought Rogan.
As Rogan awaited his death, Darwyn appeared at that moment, cutting down the Sapharos soldiers.
"Lord Rogan, are you alright?"
Rogan was happy to have survived.
"Yes, Lord Darwyn. I am in your debt."
While Darwyn's attention was on Rogan, a sword blow pierced his heart.
"LORD DARWYN!"
Before dying, Darwyn turned around and realized he had been killed by a Sapharos Commander.
"If I die now, Rogan dies too. At least I should take this bastard with me."
Just as the Sapharos Commander was about to pull his sword, Darwyn turned around.
"I have only one chance."
Darwyn expelled his mana in its raw form, without converting it into a spell, towards the Sapharos Commander.
"SON OF A BITCH!"
The Sapharos Commander and the thousands of Sapharos behind him could do nothing against the raw mana that washed over them and shattered them to pieces. They were all destroyed down to their ashes.
In just a few seconds, Darwyn had killed thousands of Sapharos. He collapsed and breathed his last.
Darwyn's lifeless body and Rogan's severely wounded, half-conscious body lay side by side.
"Lord Darwyn..."
In his final seconds before losing consciousness, Rogan apologized to Darwyn with tearful eyes.
"I am so sorry..."
A few seconds later, he lost consciousness. It was unclear whether he was dead or alive.
The battle continued for hours. The Kislavein had lost three and a half million soldiers.
The Sapharos had lost their entire army. Their Commander-in-Chief, Buktunnasir, was one of the few Sapharos commanders to survive until the end of the battle.
He was tired, severely wounded, and face to face with the Commander-in-Chief of the Kislavein armies, Heinricht Fraus, Dynasty Lord of Fraus, who was equally exhausted.
"How did you win?"
Heinricht was surprised.
"What kind of question is that? If you are about to lose and die, and—"
Buktunnasir cut Heinricht off.
"TELL ME HOW YOU WON! WE HAD TWICE AS MANY SOLDIERS AS YOU! HOW?"
Heinricht advanced slowly towards his enemy.
"Firstly, I have powerful commanders. Each of them are powerful Warriors and Mages from superior, chosen bloodlines. The second reason is my Hybrid soldiers. Each of them is an unusually powerful and unpredictable being. Thirdly, psychological superiority. Fourth and most importantly, my soldiers have fought non-stop for years. Yours clearly have no battle experience. But I must give them credit; they fought very well. With all this, we had won the battle before it even began, Buktunnasir."
Buktunnasir spat on the ground. His spit contained coagulated blood.
"Damn it. I was planning to win this war and marry Queen Seraphine."
Heinricht, hearing the mention of a queen, asked curiously.
"A woman sits on the Sapharos throne?"
Buktunnasir attacked in rage.
"AFTER YOU KILLED ALL OUR PRINCES, YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO ASK THIS?"
Even in their wounded and exhausted state, Heinricht and Buktunnasir clashed swords for 300 rounds. In the end, Heinricht emerged victorious.
Heinricht wanted to declare his victory, but he fainted from exhaustion.
"THE ENEMY COMMANDER HAS FAINTED! KILL HIM! AVENGE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF BUKTUNNASIR!"
The Sapharos soldiers attacked to kill Heinricht. Just then, Marilin and Arael emerged from the crowd, slaughtering all the Sapharos attacking Heinricht. Then they went to Heinricht's severely wounded, unconscious body and began administering first aid.
"His condition is very bad," said Marilin, worried.
Arael was afraid of the death of someone he respected. He wanted to save him, but there was nothing he could do.
"What should we do, My Lady? I beg you, save him!"
Marilin gave the order with cold composure.
"You protect me, Arael. I am taking Heinricht to the first aid tent."
After applying some quick first aid, Marilin hoisted Heinricht onto her back and mounted her horse.
"I trust you, Arael."
Arael replied with a serious expression.
"I will protect you, My Lady. Go."
As Marilin and Arael left the front, the Kislavein soldiers who saw their departure and the severely wounded Heinricht suffered a loss of morale.
Just at that moment, Barmung let out the victory cry that Heinricht, due to his unconsciousness, could not.
He cut off Buktunnasir's head, impaled it on the tip of a spear, raised it high, channeled his remaining mana into his vocal cords, and roared in a voice loud enough to ring in the ears of the last surviving soldiers on the entire battlefield.
"COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF HEINRICHT HAS TAKEN THE HEAD OF SAPHAROS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF BUKTUNNASIR!"
Barmung's voice instilled confidence in friend and fear in foe. The Kislavein fought stronger, while the Sapharos fought in terror.
When the last remaining Sapharos soldiers were slaughtered a few hours later, the battle ended.
That night, the survivors gathered in the Commander-in-Chief's tent.
Everyone was wounded, tired, and exhausted. None of them wanted to talk; they only wanted to rest.
Having not yet shaken off the ashes of the years-long Second Great Lands War, they had now entered another large-scale war and suffered many losses.
Marilin was sitting at the Commander-in-Chief's table. To begin the meeting, she reviewed the situation report.
"All the Sapharos have been slaughtered. We have only 300,000 soldiers left."
No one said anything. The silence was broken by a soldier's voice.
"My Lady, there is an urgent situation report. May I enter?"
Marilin approved.
"Enter."
The soldier entered the tent, knelt, and bowed his head. His voice trembled.
"Commander-in-Chief Heinricht is dead, My Lady."
Everyone in the tent froze. No one knew what to say.
"Heinricht..."
No one had come out of the shock. While this shock persisted, another soldier requested permission to enter the tent.
"My Lady, may I enter?"
Marilin did not answer. The soldier asked again.
"My Lady, may I enter?"
Marilin did not answer again. The soldier asked once more.
"My Lady, I have good news. May I enter?"
When Marilin heard the word "good," she momentarily broke free from the shock.
"Enter."
The soldier waiting outside the tent entered, knelt, bowed his head, and delivered the good news he had mentioned.
"Commander Lord Rogan Arlac I, whose ribs were broken, has recovered. He can return to his duties soon."
Marilin was relieved to hear that her injured commander was well. She didn't know Rogan closely, but everyone needed to hear some good news.
"You both may leave."
When the bad news messenger and the good news messenger left the tent, Marilin took a deep breath.
"Alright, let's not continue talking. We are all very tired, both mentally and physically. Rest will do everyone good."
No one objected. On the contrary, they left the tent as if they had been waiting for this moment.
Marilin also went to her own tent. She removed her armor, put on comfortable clothes, lay down on her soft, comfortable bed, and closed her eyes.
"Ricardo, I miss you so much. I'm tired. Heinricht, I wish you hadn't died. We had made so many plans. Our friendship was supposed to last for years. I'm tired... so tired."
As Marilin tried to sleep, tears flowed like a river. After a while, she fell asleep. Everyone's spirits were very low that night, and they would not improve for a long time.