Chapter 433 - 401: Escape At The Right Moment...

(A/N):

Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.

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The exchange lasted only a short while, yet the result was unmistakable.

Drona’s opponents had expected to overwhelm him through numbers and coordinated attacks.

Instead, they found themselves unable to create a single opening that he could not recognise and exploit.

"You have trained for war,"

Drona told them as they retreated, his voice carrying above the surrounding noise.

"But you have mistaken the ability to attack together for the ability to fight together. Until you understand the difference, you will continue to lose."

The words followed the defeated commanders as they withdrew towards their own formations, while Drona returned his attention to the larger battle.

Karna’s engagement proved equally decisive.

A Vrishabhapura commander riding a chariot advanced towards him, accompanied by archers who attempted to pin Karna in place while their leader manoeuvred into position for a direct attack.

Arrows descended around Karna’s chariot, striking the ground and clattering against its sides, but he remained composed, answering the volley with a series of carefully aimed shots that forced the opposing archers to seek cover behind their shields.

The enemy chariot then charged towards him, its wheels throwing up dust as the warrior standing upon it prepared to strike.

Karna waited until the distance had narrowed before releasing an arrow that struck the chariot’s wooden framework, forcing the driver to alter its course.

A second arrow cut through the fastening that held part of the warrior’s equipment in place, disrupting his balance at the worst possible moment.

Karna seized the opening and his next shot struck the opposing warrior’s weapon and knocked it from his grasp, while another arrow lodged in the ground directly before the chariot’s horses, making the driver pull sharply to avoid a collision.

The vehicle lurched sideways, and its commander struggled to recover his footing.

Before he could do so, Karna had already drawn another arrow and aimed it at the man’s chest.

"Your soldiers are fighting hard,"

Karna called out,

"but sending them to challenge warriors beyond their ability will not repair the mistakes made by their commanders. Take your men back before you lose more than your pride."

The commander glanced at the arrow trained upon him, then at the soldiers who had been unable to provide the support he expected.

He finally ordered his chariot to withdraw, leaving Karna standing amid the dust with his bow still ready.

Ashwatthama, in contrast, showed considerably less patience with the men who came looking for him.

The Vrishabhapura warriors who approached him believed that his aggression could be exploited.

They had heard of his formidable abilities, but they assumed that a sufficiently coordinated assault might provoke him into abandoning caution and making mistakes.

Their commander directed his men to attack from several sides, hoping to keep Ashwatthama occupied long enough for a second group to strike from behind.

The plan failed almost immediately.

Ashwatthama met the first attack with a forceful counter that sent the leading warrior stumbling away.

He turned towards the next opponent before the man could complete his swing, struck aside his weapon, and drove him backwards with a succession of attacks that left little room for retaliation.

When another warrior attempted to approach from behind, Ashwatthama sensed the movement and pivoted, catching the man’s weapon before it could land.

His expression darkened as more opponents crowded around him.

"Did your king send you here believing that numbers alone would make you capable of defeating us?"

he demanded, knocking another sword aside.

"If this is the best challenge Vrishabhapura can offer, then I begin to understand why your commanders are so desperate to recover their lost ground."

The taunt angered the opposing warriors, but anger did nothing to improve their fighting.

Ashwatthama continued to repel their attacks until their commander realised that the engagement was rapidly turning into a humiliating defeat.

He called for his men to withdraw, and the surviving warriors retreated under Ashwatthama’s watchful gaze.

Yet the fighting was far from over.

Across the battlefield, more commanders had entered the struggle, and several allied officers were now engaged in difficult contests against Vrishabhapura’s remaining elite warriors.

The appearance of the senior commanders had transformed parts of the battlefield into a series of fierce individual engagements, each one capable of influencing the movement of the soldiers nearby.

Some of Devara’s allies were gaining ground, while others were being forced to defend their positions against determined counterattacks.

From his chariot, Vrishasena observed the situation with growing frustration.

The commanders he had expected to restore order were being driven back by Bhishma, Drona, Karna, and Ashwatthama.

Worse, the sight of their retreat was beginning to affect the confidence of the soldiers around them.

Warriors who had been advancing only moments earlier were now glancing over their shoulders, trying to understand why their senior officers were withdrawing while the allied army continued to press forward.

Vrishasena could not allow that uncertainty to spread.

His gaze settled upon the four formidable warriors whose presence had become the greatest obstacle to his army’s progress.

He understood that sending additional commanders against them would accomplish little if they continued to be defeated individually.

At the same time, committing his entire reserve force to a direct confrontation would leave other sections of the battlefield dangerously exposed.

He needed an interruption, something powerful enough to disrupt the fighting and give his commanders the opportunity to escape without allowing the allied army to exploit their retreat.

His hand moved towards the weapon prepared for such a moment.

"Let them see that Vrishabhapura has not exhausted its strength,"

Vrishasena declared, his voice hardening as he raised the astra.

"If they believe they can dictate the course of this battle simply because a few of our commanders have been forced to retreat, then we shall remind them that this war is far from decided."

He began invoking the weapon’s mantra, and the atmosphere around his chariot changed.

The wind, which had been moving gently across the battlefield, suddenly gathered with unnatural force.

Dust spiralled upwards from the trampled ground, first in small twisting columns and then in enormous swirling clouds that swept across the front lines.

Loose banners snapped violently against their poles, and the horses pulling nearby chariots reared as the gusts struck them.

Within moments, a tremendous storm had erupted across the battlefield, its roaring winds obscuring the opposing formations and forcing warriors to shield their faces against the flying dirt.

The sudden change caught even experienced fighters by surprise.

Soldiers who had been engaged in close combat struggled to maintain their footing as the wind swept between them.

Archers lowered their bows because they could no longer see their targets clearly, while charioteers fought to control their horses amid the swirling dust.

The great clouds rolled across the battlefield, hiding the movements of individual units and turning familiar landmarks into vague silhouettes.

Bhishma immediately recognised that the storm was not a natural occurrence.

He planted his feet firmly and raised an arm to shield his face, his gaze searching through the dust for the source of the disturbance.

Drona did the same, quickly understanding that the sudden loss of visibility had created an opportunity for the enemy commanders who had been forced to retreat.

"An astra!"

Drona called out to the warriors nearest him.

"Hold your positions! Do not pursue anyone into this storm unless you can clearly identify your target. The enemy will use this confusion to withdraw."

Karna tightened his grip upon his bow, keeping his weapon lowered while the winds battered his clothing and sent dust across his face.

Ashwatthama, who had been preparing to advance after the retreating warriors, stopped with an irritated expression as the storm swallowed the ground ahead of him.

"Convenient timing,"

he muttered, glaring towards the vague silhouette of Vrishasena’s chariot.

"His commanders cannot defeat us, so now he has decided that the weather should fight on their behalf."

Despite his irritation, Ashwatthama obeyed Drona’s warning.

The rules agreed upon by both armies did not require the allied warriors to stand helplessly within the storm, but neither could they recklessly pursue opponents they could no longer see.

A warrior charging blindly into such conditions might strike an ally, lose his formation, or expose himself to an ambush.

The storm raged for only a brief period, but its effect was immediate.

Vrishabhapura’s commanders seized the opportunity, abandoning their engagements and retreating towards the safer positions behind their infantry.

Their attendants and surviving guards helped them withdraw through the swirling dust, while nearby soldiers moved to cover their retreat.

By the time the wind began to weaken, several of the commanders who had been forced back by the allied warriors had already disappeared into the obscured formations of their own army.

Then, almost as suddenly as it had begun, the storm subsided.

The powerful gusts faded, the towering clouds of dust gradually settled, and the battlefield emerged once more beneath the afternoon sun.

Warriors lowered their arms and looked around, trying to understand what had happened.

Chariots and infantry formations slowly came back into view, while the banners that had been whipped violently by the wind began to settle.

Bhishma scanned the ground before him, searching for the commanders he had been fighting. They were gone.

Drona’s expression hardened as he confirmed the same result elsewhere.

Karna looked towards the place where his opponent’s chariot had been standing, only to find that the warrior had successfully retreated behind Vrishabhapura’s front line.

Ashwatthama let out a sharp breath, visibly displeased that an engagement he had been winning had been interrupted before he could bring it to a proper conclusion.

"They have escaped,"

Karna observed, lowering his bow slightly.

"The storm was brief, but it gave them exactly the opening they needed."

"That was its purpose," Drona replied.

"Vrishasena did not summon it to defeat us directly. He summoned it to prevent his commanders from being captured or driven further back. He recognised that their retreat was beginning to affect the morale of his army, and he acted before the damage could spread."

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(Author note:)

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