Arc 4 Chapter 43 : Two Armies

[Raul PoV]

It turned out I really did have to adapt to my significantly reduced field of vision.

— Swoosh!

Right now, my eyes could barely keep up with Elena's movements as she activated one of her Profound Codices—Almario del Relampago.

She spun around me, making it difficult to predict where her next attack would come from.

Looking to my left and right, all I could see was an afterimage produced by the blonde-haired woman.

— Bam!

My body was sent flying sideways as something suddenly struck my left cheek.

Even so, I could still see Elena continuing to circle around me.

She's faster than the last time we fought...

I need to focus even more.

As Elena continued running in circles around me, the dust on the ground was kicked into the air.

It felt as though I were standing inside a powerful tornado.

— BAAAM!!!

Elena attacked again.

This time, however, I managed to block it by raising my right arm to protect my head from her fist.

After failing to land her attack, Elena jumped backward.

She then deactivated her Profound Codex.

I also lowered my guard and relaxed my stance.

"So it really is true. Since your left eye isn't functioning, your blind spot has become much wider on your left side," Elena remarked as she approached me.

"You're right. I need to adapt quickly if I don't want this to cause problems during the battle later," I replied.

I needed to get used to this weakness as soon as possible.

There was still one more battle I had to fight against her.

"Why are you so insistent on fighting in your current condition? Haven't you already proven yourself enough during the war?" Elena asked, looking curious.

"There's still something I have to do... I think," I answered ambiguously.

"I think? You're really strange, Raul," Elena said with a smile. "All right, I won't force you. We'd better hurry and get ready. The troops should be gathering in the city square soon."

I nodded and followed Elena from behind.

To be honest, I hadn't received much information regarding the development of the war on the Western Front.

However, based on what Elena had told me, it seemed that the Empire was currently at a disadvantage.

Previously, they had lost nearly 40,000 soldiers thanks to the brilliant maneuver conducted by the forces of the Venetia Republic.

There was no doubt that Siena was the one behind their unusual movements.

In the history of warfare in this world, this was the first time a military operation had ever used river routes to relocate troops.

She must have gotten the idea from Liana's knowledge of the history of warfare in our world.

Not long afterward, the two of us arrived at the stables.

Elena took a spear and helmet before mounting the yellowish-brown horse she rode.

I did the same and mounted a black horse.

After parting ways with the unit I had originally commanded and ending up here, I had asked Elena to assign me to the Cavalry Unit under her command so that I could participate in the battle.

Once everything was ready, Elena and I rode toward the city square.

When we arrived, tens of thousands of soldiers were already lined up and preparing to move out to rescue the 5,000 troops surrounded by the Alliance forces.

"My brothers and sisters! I know we were forced to make a difficult decision earlier and leave 20,000 of our comrades surrounded by the enemy!"

Marshal Salazar was standing before the soldiers, delivering a speech to raise their morale.

"But this time, things are different! We will rescue our 5,000 comrades who are currently being blocked by the Alliance forces! We will avenge our previous defeat and win this war!"

The Marshal shouted while raising his clenched fist into the air.

"OHHHH!"

"OUUUHHH!"

The soldiers roared in response.

It seemed that they were all eager to avenge their previous defeat.

By making this decision, Marshal Salazar had managed to restore the army's morale.

"Now, let us move out and show them the might of the Aragonian people!"

With that, 50,000 soldiers of the Aragon Empire began marching out of Regium Fortress City toward Bitola Village.

Elena's Cavalry Unit was positioned on the right flank of the formation.

On this side, there were ten Cavalry Squadrons, totaling 2,000 mounted soldiers.

Elena's Squadron was positioned at the farthest end of the right flank.

I told her to take routes that would be difficult to spot from a distance.

There was a fifty-fifty chance that the Alliance had already prepared an ambush there.

After all, they were the ones holding the initiative in this battle.

But there was a reason why the Aragon Empire was known as the strongest nation in this world in the game I had created.

And that reason was...

I looked toward the blonde-haired woman.

"What is it?" Elena asked, noticing that I was staring at her.

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"Nothing. Have you ever participated in an open-field battle before?" I asked her.

Unlike conventional medieval battles, large-scale battles in this world were completely different from those in my original world.

That was because magic existed here, meaning the outcome of a battle could depend heavily on which side was more creative in utilizing its magic.

"Never," Elena answered. "I didn't even participate in the assault on Regium Fortress City."

"I suppose that's understandable, considering Cavalry Units are only truly effective in open terrain," I remarked.

After nearly three hours of marching, we finally reached an open area.

To our left, the Tuscan Forest stretched as far as the eye could see.

Meanwhile, several hills ranging from one hundred to two hundred meters in height stood to our right.

Following my advice, Elena's Cavalry Squadron moved behind the hills.

The blonde-haired woman climbed to the top of one of them and surveyed the surrounding area.

Not long afterward, she came back down and approached me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I spotted an Alliance camp about two kilometers from here," she replied. "I also saw 5,000 of our soldiers being blocked by two Alliance forces."

The Reconnaissance Units of both sides must have already detected each other at such a close distance.

If the Alliance forces weren't immediately retreating after realizing our arrival, then that meant they were prepared to face our army here.

However, it seemed obvious that they had set up an ambush somewhere nearby, using the 5,000 Imperial soldiers retreating from Bitola Village as bait to lure our main forces here.

If that was indeed the case...

After stopping to rest briefly following our long march, the entire army advanced toward the Alliance camp.

I climbed the hill together with Elena so we could observe the battlefield.

From a distance, the Alliance forces in the far east began advancing to engage the 5,000 Imperial soldiers who were surrounded.

Meanwhile, the Alliance forces closest to us turned around and prepared defensive positions.

It seemed they intended to hold our forces back while their other troops fought the 5,000 surrounded soldiers.

— Boom! Boom! Boom!

The drums signaling an advance began to sound.

Our forces slowly moved toward the enemy.

A flag bearing the symbol of a golden lion fluttered in the center of the army.

The proud banner of the Aragon Empire.

The distance between the two armies was now only about one kilometer.

The battle would begin soon.

---

[Siena PoV]

Our Reconnaissance Unit had just returned from scouting the plains outside the forest.

They reported that the Imperial forces had arrived and were advancing toward the 15,000 Alliance soldiers blocking the 5,000 Imperial troops.

"Major Siena, are we going to move out immediately and surround them?" one of the military officers asked me.

"No. We need to wait until they've deployed all of their units before leaving this forest," I answered.

If we emerged from the forest now, the Imperial forces would most likely still have time to alter their formation and adapt to the situation once we revealed ourselves.

At present, the 20,000 troops positioned at the easternmost part of the battlefield were fighting the 5,000 Imperial soldiers.

I estimated that our forces there would win within roughly half an hour.

As their comrades were slaughtered one after another, I believed the Empire would be even more likely to deploy every unit they had in order to quickly overwhelm the 15,000 Alliance soldiers waiting to intercept them.

"What about the enemy? Have they realized we're here?" I asked.

"So far, we've successfully intercepted their Reconnaissance Units whenever they attempted to approach the forest," the officer replied.

"Good. Don't let them suspect that we're hiding in here."

We had to win this battle.

However, the most difficult opponents would be the Grand Espada.

The Empire had sent three Grand Espada to assist their forces in fighting us.

I could fight and perhaps even defeat one of them if I gave it everything I had.

But fighting two of them would put me in a difficult position, and I would likely die if I wasn't careful.

Therefore, the Kingdom of Draconia and the Greco Republic had already agreed to have their strongest fighters each face one of the Grand Espada who appeared on the battlefield.

We would definitely succeed.

I would guarantee our victory in this battle.

---

[Raul PoV]

The sound of trumpets echoed across the battlefield as our Infantry slowly advanced toward the enemy lines ahead.

The flags of each army fluttered in the wind.

The Aragon Empire carried the Golden Lion against a red background.

The Venetia Republic's banner depicted two golden seahorses against a sea-blue background. Between them stood a mermaid holding a trident and wearing a crown.

The Kingdom of Draconia carried a white banner bearing the symbol of a two-headed Black Raven. Its feet grasped a ribbon bearing the words, 'Fear And Blood'—the motto of the Dracus family.

Lastly, there was the Greco Republic.

Their banner bore the image of the Goddess Diana, holding a set of scales in her right hand and a sword in her left.

Once the two armies were approximately 500 meters apart, the Alliance archers moved forward and raised their bows toward the sky.

When our Infantry reached a distance of 300 meters, the Alliance archers released their arrows.

The sky above the battlefield was soon filled with thousands of projectiles.

Seeing this, ten Imperial mages activated an Earth Element spell, creating enormous earthen bamboo propellers before launching them toward the arrows in the sky.

The massive propellers, formed entirely from earth, spun rapidly as they soared upward.

Their rotations deflected some of the thousands of arrows aimed at our advancing Infantry.

— BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The giant earthen propellers eventually crashed back down, striking a small portion of the Alliance forces.

Not long afterward, our Infantry had advanced to within 200 meters of the Alliance army.

After failing to rain arrows upon our forces, the Alliance withdrew their archers and replaced them with lines of Musketeers.

The first line took a kneeling position to fire, while the second line remained standing, aiming over the heads of the Musketeers in front of them.

— BANG! BANG! BANG!

The sound of gunfire rang out simultaneously.

Smoke filled the Musketeer formation after they fired their weapons.

I could see large numbers of soldiers in the first line of our Infantry collapse under the Volley fired by the Venetian Musketeers.

Meanwhile, our Cavalry had already made contact with the enemy Cavalry.

A tremendous amount of dust spread across the battlefield where the left-wing Cavalry was fighting, making it difficult for me to determine what was happening there.

At the same time, Elena's Cavalry Squadron and several other Squadrons remained hidden behind the hills, waiting for the right moment to descend and launch a surprise attack.

— BANG! BANG! BANG!

More gunshots rang out.

Almost the entire first line of our Infantry had fallen.

Even soldiers in the second line were beginning to collapse under the Volley fired by the Venetian Musketeers.

This time, it was much more difficult for our Infantry to reach within 100 meters of the enemy because the Musketeers' gunfire was slowing their advance.

Furthermore, the Alliance forces appeared to be gradually retreating away from our Infantry.

Suddenly, however, a cluster of black clouds appeared above the Alliance forces.

It seemed the Imperial mages were preparing to attack them with Thunder Bolt Ultima!

But then, a powerful gust of wind suddenly appeared, pushing the black clouds away from above the Alliance army.

Their mages hurriedly attempted to disperse the clouds before the lightning struck their forces.

However...

— DUUUUAAARRRR!!!

A bolt of lightning struck before the Alliance mages could completely move the clouds away.

A small portion of the Alliance forces was struck by the lightning generated from the black clouds, slightly slowing their retreat.

"Attack them!"

"Glory to the Empire!"

The distance between the two armies was now only a few dozen meters.

The Alliance forces withdrew their Musketeers from the front line.

Not long afterward, the two Infantry formations finally clashed.

The real battle had begun.

Everything that had happened before this had merely been a skirmish.

The clash of swords and the screams of soldiers echoed all the way to where I stood.

The Imperial Infantry formation was arranged into a long column.

The purpose was to allow soldiers to rotate more quickly, replacing those who had grown exhausted on the front line.

Meanwhile, the Alliance Infantry formation was shaped like a crescent, with extremely thin columns.

It seemed they had done this to prevent the Empire from executing a flanking maneuver using their vastly superior numbers.

On another part of the battlefield, two individuals from each side suddenly leaped into the air and faced one another.

They then separated themselves from the battle being fought by the Infantry.

It seemed that, with the exception of Raymond de Chatelon, the Grand Espada had already engaged the strongest fighters the Alliance had to offer.

However, I still hadn't found any sign of Siena.

"Hey, Raul. Isn't this the right time for us to reveal ourselves and attack the enemy's flank?" Elena asked me.

"No. Not yet," I replied.

On the other side of the battlefield, I saw our 5,000 soldiers being pushed further and further into a corner by the 20,000 Alliance troops pursuing them.

They would be annihilated if we didn't destroy the Alliance forces blocking us here.

— Dum! Badum! Badum!

Suddenly, I heard the sound of war drums coming from behind the Imperial forces.

A new formation of soldiers had just emerged from the Tuscan Forest.

"About twenty thousand..." I muttered as I looked toward the newly arrived forces.

"No... It's more than thirty thousand."

"Raul! This is bad! There are still enemy forces hiding!" Elena said, visibly worried.

"This isn't surprising. We had the same idea as they did, didn't we?" I replied.

The newly arrived forces came to a halt.

Their Musketeers moved forward and took up firing positions, aiming at our forces from behind.

— BANG! BANG! BANG!

Thousands of bullets tore through the air toward the Imperial forces, causing hundreds of soldiers to fall instantly in a single volley.

"This place is going to become a sea of blood..."