After Jack had slain the dilato, the troops were in high spirits and spend a good while celebrating their lord before the entire camp went silent.
Five hours of sleep they got, before the black night sky began to brighten over the mountains.
The calm river surface began to ripple.
Many eyes, small and some very large, began to break the surface.
They starred directly at the human camp near the water, spanning about one kilometres of the rivers edge.
These eyes and the ripples in the water, began to silently approach the river edge and sleeping soldiers.
A few guards where on duty around the army. They rested against their shields and spears while the rytmn of insects, the high grass and calm breeze made them too relaxed.
A guard disappeared beneath the grass, silently dragged to the river and below.
Then a second, a third, then a couple more...
Dilators, small and large alike, creeped into the camp and swallowed sleeping troops whole.
But these reptiles, especially the larger 20-30 meters long ones, were critically build for water ambush and not stealthy sneak attacks on land.
Jacks troops didn't have tents and littered everywhere in the grass where they had bent it in circles for a comforting rest.
It didn't take long before these giant dilatos simply stepped on them...
"WAKE UP!"
"INTRUDERS!"
"ALARM!"
The troops were not trash rank, but improved comman rank and quickly formed countless small squads, back-to-back, to counter the dilatos surprisingly huge numbers.
One kilometres of river edge quickly became an all out battle with no lines whatsoever.
The dilatos crashed everywhere and the group leaders of Jack troops tried to inspire and gather forces around them.
However Jack was already mounted on Blackmane and could see huge dilatos in death-rolls, arrows flying, spears swaying and loud battleclamour all over his camp.
But he didn't move. He simply waited and starred into the river 20 meters ahead.
From his fixed point the rivers surface calmly broke and a monster that made the young Gusha pale in comparison, appeared.
'What a monster....' Jack had never seen anything like this before.
The boss creeped slowly onto the beach, eyes fixed directly into Jack's.
It stopped 5 meters before Jack and looked down on him.
'It's more than 5 meters tall, maybe double that if it rises up on those huge reptile legs..'
Jack weren't scared, but he he knew a worthy adversary when he saw one.
'The boss isn't even entirely up the river yet. Which means it could easily be 50 meters long. Maybe even more.'
In the boss-dilatos perspective, the reason it hadn't attacked yet was simple.
It was confused.
The killing intent it had felt hours before had been extreme.
So potent that it had even awoken it from its slumber.
It had thought that the wyverns, or maybe even a special member of the smaller drakes from the blood fall mountains had appeared.
But instead what it found, was this tiny insect born upon an appetiser...
'You're not worth my time'...
The boss watched as the insect withdrew a long branch with a shiny tip, before it began to open it's giant maw.
'I'll just remove this nuisance and go back to slumber..' the boss scoffed inwardly.
Jack withdrew his 'dilato's tooth' as the giant boss slowly opened its jaw.
'You underestimate me, and it will be your downfall!' Jack saw his opening.
Blackmane neighed and rose on its hind legs and Jack quickly ran to its head and set off.
Two quick thrashes with his spear quickly became four, as his special spear had procced on both is stabs.
Both eyes of the boss were doubly pierced with force and length, before the boss could even open it's jaws more than one meter.
The boss hissed with overwordly force that wasn't loud for the ears, but the vibrations in the air made every troop in a wide area numb and dissy, as the sound waves hit them.
[Prime Dilato, Epic Rank]
[Boss Monster]
[Fortitude: 167]
[Spirit Power: 85]
'I never forget a lesson!'
Jack quickly jumped further up and grabbed a huge scale upen the dilatos head, for a firm hold while the boss trashed about.
He reminisced the 'Gusha' encounter and solidified that 'stats' truly wasn't 'all'!
'Body type. Environment. Match-up. Everything else needs to be accounted for!'
Jack had purposely aimed for the eyes.
His army lost troops in the hundreds every few seconds, as they watched how Jack engaged the boss.
Lee, the captain of the archers saw this heroic and extremely inspiring display from his lord and understood immediately!
'Archers! Aim for the heads and eyes! Fire volleys! No free-fire, draw together as you've trained for!'
His voice boomed across the battlefield and the other captains and group leaders quickly adapted by creating walls of spears and swords, such as the archers could volley a stream of arrows and blind every dilator on field.
Meanwhile the boss was beyond furious, this insect had actually wounded it and audaciously crawled untop of its head!
The boss did not have any 'godly' ability, but it's shear size could kill anything that came between it's monstrous jaws.
Jack knew this.
'I can't get caught in those jaws.. A single bite from those huge and countless razer-teeth with gut me on the spot...'
He withdrew a war-dagger, forged proudly by the dwarfs in black mountain, in one hand, and his cutlery knife with the other.
With these he jammed them into the scales of the boss while it began to death-roll to throw him off.
Jacks body was repeatedly slammed and crushed against the earth, so it broke and trempled.
'This pain is nothing I can't endure! And you're just giving me the ammunition I need!' Jack still held on with closed eyes.
His fight were no longer physical.
He had learned from the Gusha.
All the earth the boss trashed up into piles and dust, he gathered.
He formed countless hardened tubes of needle-thin earth-stone, which I guided into the small cracks of the scales, aiming for any and all vital spots.
The boss's death-roll turned increasingly fast.
Then it weakened.
Slower...
Slower yet it turned...
Untill the last twist of its body made it crash belly-first into the ground and it stopped moving completely.
Jack rose up on top of the boss's head while his troops finished the last few dilatos that didn't retreat into the water.
[You have slain the boss of the Dilatos]
[You have gained: Ability Book: Aura sense(uncommon). Spirit Power Core(uncommon)]
[Dilato Fields is merging with your territory]
[Conquest mission completed. Reward: Treasure: Pink Salmon Pool, Epic Rank]
In the following hours Jack received intel on his gains and losses.
About 4000 out of his 5000 archers where left.
8500 out of 10.000 swordsmen.
And 12.000 out of 15.000 spearmen.
His 5000 cavalry had not been present for the fight, as they were scouting the vast Northern grassland area in the dilato fields.
Almost 2000 dilatos, big and small, had been slain, certainly the majority of the entire river population had been erased in a single night.
'I didn't expect to complete this conquest in a mere day...' Jack pondered, while disregarding his losses.
He had quickly adjusted to pain, suffering and loss during his time with Sha'ri.
These matters were simply a number in his mind, as long as it didn't include his personal family and friends.
'I value my soldiers, but they did their part bravely.'
Jack's gaze went over the field where his troops stacked both his dead troops and slain dilatos.
"Captain gather here!" Jack yelled from atop Highmane.
Quickly Lee, captain of the archers. William, captain of the swordsmen. Ruben, captain of the spearmen and lastly Gunnar, captain of the riders, all assembled.
Gunnar had rejoined the army not long after the battle had ended.
His riders had easily heard the battle clamour over the bare grasslands.
"Gunnar, I leave you and your riders in charge of the slain dilatos, inclusive the big fellow here!' Jack kicked the jaw of the boss while he spoke.
"I want them brought to Lake-Town for processing. Send a messenger to Governor Xena so she has time to get manpower from Black Mountain if she needs it."
Gunnar, the robust and serious natured captain, simply replied with a salute on his horse.
"It will be done my lord!"
However as he turned to carry out the orders, Jack quickly threw him a small orb.
"Send a party of riders and deliver this spirit core to Cochi."
Gunnar caught it in the air. "At once my lord!"
He then began to gather his riders and bark orders. A detachment of 50 riders were sent to Lake-Town to inform Xena, and onwards to the south plains and Cochi's hold.
'I still have more than 24.000 troops. It would be a shame to return so quickly.'
Jack now had a chance to advance quickly.
But where to turn?
To the large lake in the middle? Confront Sha'ri's main town?
To the beach between the northern mountains?
'I already know the answer. I have a mission, and I won't leave holes in my territory that can bite me in the back.'
"William and Ruben, step forward."
They both moved before Jack and knelt down on one knee.
"You two will be my new commanders. Split the army in two, equal numbers of each branch in each."
They quickly gave eachother a pleased smile by the promotion while Lee, who stood in the background, had a quick gasp.
But it only lasted a minute. He trusted his lord, and didn't actually think that he was being reprimanded since he had lost power over the archers.
Surely the Lord had a reason for this.
"2000 archers, about 4000 swordsmen and 6000 spearmen each, under our two new commanders, will take controle of the Silver Mountains from both sides simultaneously."
Jack watched as the captains, now commanders, and Lee's faces turned serious, devoid of any other thoughts.
Even all the troops and riders listened closely.
"But before we go. Lee, step in front of me!"
'I'm truly not cut out to command armies... But I heard Lee step up while I was fighting the boss. I recognise value when I see it!'
Jack knew this his military expertise was limited. Extremely so, actually.
But that doesn't mean that, as a man, he doesn't recognise a rally point when he see it.
And Lee, during the fight, had truly stood out. Even if Jack had only heard a single rallying command, he felt the trust and hope that the entire army had felt at that point.
Ambushed by hundreds of huge beasts and thrown into a mess, this man had retained order of the army, addressed the fight and critically yelled out the order of attack.
Every man felt it. Deep inside. They could follow this person, and they had done it willingly and quickly.
For every dilator, some even 20-30 meters long, they had only lost 3-5 troops themselves. An acceptable loss considering the adversary.
Jack knew all this, and actually admired Lee as he was kneeling before him.
"You will be my strategist. Stay by my side and help me conquer the Silver Mountains. But not only as a troop, you will now be my new Hero!"
Jack had previously gained another Hero Token, and he chose to use it here.
[Hero: Lee]
[Fortitude: 34]
[Spirit Power: 12]
[Ability: Critical Thinking]
Lee, an earth-asian human. His hight slightly shorter than Jack, refined muscle, and very pleasing features, turned his deep-black eyes towards the bulky Silver Mountains.
A wide smile forming on his lips and lightning intelligence flashed in his eyes.