II
A black wind sliced across the plain, silver hair and red cloak dazzling as they billowed under the cerulean sky. The first to observe that a lone enemy rider was approaching, kicking up clouds of dust in their wake, was Major Redmond Hein, as he observed the Royal Army through his spyglass.
“What the hell?!” he blurted out. He lowered the spyglass, blinking repeatedly, then pointed it directly ahead of himself once more. The scene it reflected had not changed. What he really ought to have done was immediately raise the alarm that the enemy was advancing. However, this enemy was acting so contrary to reason that Redmond did something foolish—he only stood there, staring through his spyglass. By the time he realized that the rider was Death God Olivia, the scourge of the imperial army, it was all over.
Olivia wielded a great black spear, and with every swing she sent the supposedly elite Azure Knights flying. It was almost comical, in a way. As he watched her, Redmond couldn’t help but see the spear as a great scythe wielded by a God of Death. Was this really happening, or was it just a terrible nightmare? He couldn’t tell. Unfamiliar fear spread through the surrounding troops like a virus. The Azure Knights might have been the empire’s strongest, but they were not all-powerful.
“But you will not see me quail!” As Olivia bore down on him, Redmond put all the strength he could into the spear in his hand. A moment later, the spear he was supposed to have been gripping had fallen without resistance to the ground.
“How...?” he said. No one answered him, but instead, he felt a tepid warmth spreading from his neck. A light touch allowed him to answer his own question.
Now I see... So this was how the glorious Crimson and Helios Knights were forced to yield to the girl they called Death God. By the time this dawned on Redmond, he had already crumpled to the ground.
“Do whatever you have to do! Stop the Death God at all costs!!!” bellowed a mounted soldier who appeared to be the commander. Olivia raked him with her ebony spear, sending him hurtling off into the distance, his eyeballs bulging, until at last he disappeared into the ground.
A scarlet pennant was fastened to where the head met the shaft of Olivia’s spear, marked with the Valedstorm crest. Anyone who knew their weapons would have recognized it at once as a splendid piece of craftsmanship. Ashton had gone back to Hans, the master blacksmith in the Emaleid Citadel who had made Olivia’s armor, and requested him to forge it. The spear took three strong men to lift, yet it gave Olivia no difficulty as she whirled it about her. Little by little, the Azure Knights’ forces began to split in two.
Lieutenant Gile Marion watched this unfold from the Royal Army’s camp. Bloodcurdling smiles spread over the faces of his inner circle of soldiers as he turned to the remaining two thousand who marched under his banner and said with dignity, “The valkyrie has forged for us a shining path. Now, we have only to follow where she leads us.” He then bellowed, “Forward, you scallywags!”
A roar went up from the soldiers in response to Gile’s exhortation as they poured down the path Olivia had opened for them. The Azure Knights were thrown further into confusion, but for all that, they remained the greatest soldiers in the imperial army and quickly mounted a counterattack. But Gile’s forces fought like wild animals sinking tooth and claw into their prey, spilling no small amount of imperial blood as they went.
And thus, the Eighth Legion dominated the early stages of the battle. But there was more to come.
We’ve come as far as we can, Olivia thought. Wasting no time, she decided that it was time to withdraw.
“Gile,” she said. “When I give my signal, get the soldiers to retreat in their ranks.”
“To retreat?!” Gile exclaimed. “Not to challenge your orders, Captain, but we have full control of the battle right now. Even assuming we must retreat eventually, surely not yet...”
He continued to shoot off arrows even as he made his appeal. Olivia too never missed a beat, sweeping aside both the spear that stabbed out at her and the soldier holding it with ease as she replied.
“If we keep pushing forward, we’ll end up facing a costly counterattack. I’d bet all the sweets I brought with me on it, if you like.”
The plan had worked, and they had struck a blow to the Azure Knights. That much she acknowledged, but the disorder in the enemy ranks was already being brought under control—not only that, but they appeared to be trying to lure the Royal Army deeper behind their lines. Olivia was sure that if they continued to advance, they would be walking into the mouth of a giant snake, ready to swallow them all whole.
Gile cast a swift glance over their surroundings, then clicked his tongue.
“Please forgive me, Captain,” he apologized. “As your right hand, I am ashamed of myself.”
“Even just being able to see it so quickly is amazing, you know. I know I can count on you,” Olivia said with a smile, even as privately she was trying to puzzle out when Gile had become her “right hand.” But it was no good trying to get an answer out of Gile. He would surely only reply with something incomprehensible.
“Ready and willing, ser!” Gile barked back, his face flushed with excitement. His arrows exhausted, he returned his bow to his back, and with enthusiasm, drew his sword.
Olivia’s ebony spear danced in her hands, but even as she fought, she was watching for their moment to retreat.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login