The day had finally come. It was two days after Lunan had composed his plan.
***
"An insider we placed inside of Anore forces relayed some information to us. Based on what was told to us, the army will try and fool us, presenting a smaller army, and then attacking us either from the sky or the ground."
***
General Vulisk Haster thought quietly about the information he was given.
A red-haired man, with pitch-black eyes, and an extremely dull expression. His youthful face was riddled with scars, showing that he had much more experience in battles than his young appearance showed.
"..."
⏤ Do they think they're going against inferior creatures? Even if that information wasn't relayed to me, I wouldn't have fallen for a trick like that.
He sat atop his Aelatian warhorse, a breed of horse that was made specifically for strength and surviving strong impacts.
His soldiers rode into battle, behind him. Being a general, he felt that he was supposed to be at the front of everything. Well, for at least until they reached the actual army.
Like the information that was given to them, there was a small army in front of him, with only 300 people or so, while his army had 1100 people, roughly.
"Defense mages!" Vulisk yelled out, raising his right hand.
The mages, soldiers equipped with staffs, tapped their staffs to the ground.
[Cast: Energy Hexashield]
Unseen shields of energy were formed underneath the feet of the soldiers, and a few meters above the soldiers as well.
⏤ I've created a closed space. Nothing can enter, nothing can escape. Even if someone had spatial magic, they couldn't enter this barrier. Yet, I still feel a little bit uneasy.
Vulisk was the only one outside of the hexagon-shaped shield.
He squinted, trying to see who the general of the army he was facing was.
Lunan's regular-sized horse trotted forward, as he stood on top of it, instead of sitting down on it like a regular person would.
"Lunan de Mumixir..." Vulisk cursed his name, muttering quietly to himself. Lunan came forward, 10 meters away from him, with a cocky smile on his face.
"This little barrier of yours. Are you just gonna stay in there forever?" Lunan called out to Vulisk, cupping his hands to increase the volume of his voice.
Unaffected by his taunting, he watched intently. Looking for any changes in muscle movements. Or changes in expressions.
⏤ Out of all people... it had to be Lunan de Mumixir.
He kept a poker face, but in his heart, he was a little worried. Lunan de Mumixir wasn't a well-known individual, but Vulisk had met him before.
***
"Checkmate..." Lunan yawned, placing the horse in a position that would cause him to say that.
Empty wooden chairs circled the two chairs and tables that were placed in the middle of the room.
It was a room held for a chess tournament, but the tournament had not started yet. The early morning sun peered through the dusty windows, casting light on the Vulisk's loss.
"N-no... way?"
Lunan's last ten moves were a sequence that would guarantee him a check, that Vulisk didn't even perceive until the last 3 moves.
His shaky hand moved further away from the chessboard, falling toward his lap, hopelessly.
⏤ To be so... utterly defeated...!
"Who... who are you?"
Seeing that he had no lanyard around his neck that indicated he was joining the tournament, he couldn't have been a part of it. He was just some random boy.
Lunan stretched, his arms far back.
"My family's not famous in this kingdom. Well, it's not that famous in it's respective kingdom, either. My name's Lunan."
He got up from his seat, leaving the empty room with just Vulisk inside of it.
***
⏤ I won the tournament, but still. To be defeated... so thoroughly and utterly. I can't slip up at all.
"You're trying to find some openings, but you won't. I'm not the same boy that you went against all those years ago."
Lunan scratched his chin, raising one brow.
"Who are you again?"
⏤ Insolent....!
Vulisk did not show any emotion on his face. He tightened the black scarf around his neck, raising it to his mouth.
The two armies stood still, as the generals glared at each other from a distance.
"I'm sorry, but I don't remember you. Y'know, we could really stand here and talk forever. My soldiers seem to have no problem with that. But, won't the mages that are casting that flimsy shield spell, aren't they going to eventually run out of mana?" Lunan yelled out.
"..."
Vulisk was thinking about whether he would answer that question or not. He laughed, realizing that whether Lunan knew or not, would not change anything.
"My soldiers have mana potions, enough to last them a week."
"Wow. You really came prepared, huh?"