Note: Thanks for reading! Don't forget to drop Power Stones and leave a comment to help the story reach more readers.
-------------------------------------------
The end was near.
What began as Logner's advantage turned decisively in Gandia's favor.
Logner's early loss of their right wing was a crippling blow not just in numbers, but in its sheer abnormality.
Evaporated, almost.
A sudden crimson inferno had swept through the right wing, obliterating it in an instant. The work of a Gandian Armed Summoner, no doubt, but knowing that changed nothing. Lost soldiers wouldn't return, nor would the spreading panic be quelled.
The shock rippled through Logner's ranks like waves, eroding their already fragile morale. General Geo Gilbars, meant to steady them, only worsened the collapse with his foolish actions.
Panic ensued.
"Ugh… it's over," Wayne Belsein Teuros sighed lightly. A Logner knight clad in azure armor, he sat astride his horse, lance in hand, his cold gaze fixed on the chaotic battlefield.
The soldiers' dwindling will was shattered by Gandia's frontal assault, a flanking attack from the left, and the devastating incursion from the right-wing's destroyer.
Leongand Rei Gandia, in his silver lion armor, rampaged through the front lines with such valor that even enemies admired him while fearing him more.
"Giving up?" Grard Clyde, Wayne's respected senior, spoke softly beside him. A giant in crimson armor, astride his equally red-armored steed Scarlet, he was Logner's "Red Knight," his fiery nature mirrored in his title.
Wayne, dubbed the "Blue Knight" for his azure armor, embraced the name proudly.
"It's hopeless. Look at that," Wayne said, pointing his lance toward Leongand's left rear. There, the legendary Gandian general Algazard Balgazal, the "White Elder," moved with youthful vigor despite his age.
"The White Elder…" Grard muttered.
"That old man's thriving," Wayne quipped.
"So what?" Grard's gaze, sharp enough to unnerve even Wayne, was a habit from youth, one that often bred resentment.
"It's the soldiers' will. Look there," Wayne said, redirecting his lance. Its tip passed over the heads of desperate soldiers, locked in combat, to the far rear where Geo Gilbars and his elite guards stood. The general's flailing commands and shouts were comical from afar.
Grard sighed. "…The Incompetent General."
When had that scornful title stuck? Appointed a general in his late twenties, Geo had been Logner's hope, hailed as its future. Yet, with no notable achievements or exceptional talent, his rise in a small nation like Logner was baffling.
Had Logner crushed its own potential by elevating him?
Geo's string of failures was staggering, alienating soldiers and civilians alike. Self-inflicted, unworthy of pity. Yet his mistakes had cost Logner dearly, fueling Wayne's murderous rage.
"See?" Wayne suppressed his urge to charge, glancing at Grard. The older knight's fiery presence oddly calmed him.
"I get you," Grard said bitterly. "As the general said?"
"Exactly. Geo Gilbars can't turn this around."
Grard's words echoed a universal truth on the battlefield. Wayne felt it, and surely Gandia's forces did too. Geo's leadership was that poor not the worst, but in this dire situation, his focus on self-preservation was unforgivable. A general's life mattered, but to soldiers risking theirs on the front, his cowardice crushed morale.
If it were General Astar Lanadees, the "Soaring General," the outcome might've differed. His dynamic leadership could've rallied the troops, perhaps saving the day.
But Wayne knew such thoughts were futile fantasies. Dwelling on them changed nothing.
"I miss the general," Wayne said.
"Survive this, and you'll see him," Grard replied.
"If we survive."
"We won't die here, will we?"
"Nope."
Wayne narrowed his eyes at the collapsed front. No one wanted to die in this farce—not for Geo Gilbars. They had to act swiftly to stop the senseless bloodshed and end the battle.
"Shall we go?" Wayne asked.
"Yeah," Grard answered, steeling Wayne's resolve.
"We've won," Halberk Reus Lucion muttered boredly, a comment Rinoncrea Reive Lucion caught despite being on horseback. Typical of him, she thought, unbothered.
Halberk disliked overwhelming victories, preferring desperate struggles. As a future leader, he couldn't pick his battles, and his campaigns often ended in decisive triumphs, with Rinoncrea always by his side, her greatest joy being to fight as he envisioned.
Leading the White Holy Knights, Rinoncrea's cavalry devastated Logner's left wing. The terror and chaos from Setsuna's inferno had paved the way for their charge.
No need to flank—the enemy's lines were already crumbling.
The cavalry's sheer mobility mowed down countless foes. Lucion's main force, arriving later, finished off the survivors, effectively annihilating Logner's left wing. Only their main force remained, holding most of their troops.
Rinoncrea's unit planned to join the main force and charge the central battlefield.
"Let's revel in my brother-in-law's first victory by his side," Rinoncrea said, stifling a laugh at Halberk's ambiguous words. He was likely too shy to admit his true feelings.
She loved that about him.
"Hraaaagh!"
Sigurd Folia's mighty swing sent three enemy soldiers flying. His massive war hammer crushed even sturdy armor effortlessly.
From the right wing to the center, his mercenaries advanced.
Leongand's Gandian main force had breached the front, engaging Logner's core in the center. Lucion's cavalry dominated the left wing. Sigurd's mercenaries were now storming the main battlefield.
"Almost too easy," Jin Clair remarked, his short sword beheading a lightly armored foe without a drop of blood, thanks to his deft skill.
Sigurd, blood-free himself, owed it to his bludgeoning weapon, though a different strike might've splattered him.
"Don't complain. Setsuna made this a breeze. Be grateful," Sigurd said.
"I'd rather not fight on a battlefield haunted by a summoner's flames," Jin replied.
"Same here," Sigurd said flatly, reacting to a sudden killing intent behind him. He leaped forward, spun, and smashed his hammer into an enemy's temple. The helmeted soldier's head caved in, dead instantly.
"Where's our summoner, anyway?" Sigurd scanned the battlefield for Setsuna. Enemy soldiers, gripped by fear of the flames, still clung to the fight, desperate to survive. Sigurd felt no pity.
They shouldn't have taken up swords, become soldiers, or chased glory.
(Though not everyone lives as they wish.)
Setsuna Kamiya proved that. His pivotal role in Gandia's victory would spread his name across Gandia and beyond, earning him infamy and hatred in Logner. Whether he wanted it or not, a harsh fate awaited.
He'd wielded his power by choice.
"Captain, I'm right here!" Lux waved, prompting a deep sigh from Sigurd.
"I ain't looking for you."