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Herdrin’s Outskirts
Frederick Von Neumann’s POV
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"We’re finally here!"
Frederick proclaimed, sword unsheathed as he rode out with his men, all of them forty in number, prepared to burn down a village.
"Loose formation! cause as much destruction as needed!"
Frederick sped up, utilizing his horse’s full speed as they planned a quick operation, fast enough that they wouldn’t get caught or attacked.
But of course, that’s already too late.
SLASH.
"Ackkk!"
A sudden shout of pain alerted Frederick to the back of his formation, caught by surprise at what could have caused it.
"What the hell is going on back there!?"
Frederick’s mouth froze as he saw something shocking: Lucan, the duke’s marshal, behind his formation and slaughtering his men from behind.
"Long time no see, Frederick! How’s Elberich treating you!?"
Lucan laughed before quickly retreating, turning swiftly and forcing his horse to gallop at full speed, his main goal being to direct Frederick’s cavalry to an ambush location prepared in advance by Justinian.
"Men! Chase that bastard down!"
Frederick commanded, tugging on his horse’s reins as he forced a quick turn, chasing down Lucan, his horse versus the other.
The entirety of Frederick’s force was now distracted; instead of heading to Herdrin, they were now planning to take out Lucan, a higher-value target than a simple town.
’I can’t believe the duke came up with this plan so quickly!’
Lucan laughed inwardly before raising his sword high.
"Ignis!"
As his sword ignited into flames, the signal had been raised; total encirclement from two different sides had now commenced.
"The Marshal has given the signal! Everyone! Advance!"
Justinian shouted from a nearby hilltop, his eighty elite men with him, along with Cassia.
"For House Thirell!"
Cassia raised her own sword, leading the charge as Justinian followed closely next to her.
Meanwhile, Lucan’s thirty men were on the other side, focused on taking out stragglers.
Vermont observed the situation closely, calculating where the enemy would possibly retreat after it had noticed Justinian’s cavalry charge.
"Split into two! Charles! lead the other, two-pronged assault!"
Vermont commanded, before moving as well, moving to the left, while Charles handled the right.
It was a full-on cavalry encirclement against another cavalry force, but Elberich’s men were at a total disadvantage.
Two legends, quantity and quality advantage, and Justinian’s modern view, led to the most brutal ambush this fantasy world had ever experienced.
"My lord! Three other cavalry are approaching from all sides!"
One of Frederick’s men yelled out, riding next to him to deliver his message clearly, the strong winds making communication near impossible.
"What!?"
Frederick grumbled, looking at the plains they were led to, and his men were right, Justinian leading eighty men straight toward him, with two others removing their escape.
"We were tricked!?"
Frederick quickly turned, deciding to take the risk on the two smaller cavalry forces that Charles and Vermont led, but that was his exact mistake.
SLASH.
Lucan saw the hunt being reversed, deciding to attack again instead of running as he massacred Frederick’s back lines.
"Run! Coward!"
Lucan laughed from behind, his steed being superior to the rest of Frederick’s men.
Charles and Vermont caught onto it immediately, diverging their two formations to now attack directly, causing Frederick to turn to the other direction once more.
"Shit!"
But Justinian was already there, his full force already on them.
"Blood shall spill across Herdrin!"
SLASH.
THRUST.
CRASH.
Frederick’s entire force was now being attacked all at once, all his men losing cohesion and breaking formation as one by one they got picked off.
"Shit, shit, shit! Lord Elberich didn’t tell me they would respond so fast!"
"Sad to say, but your lord didn’t know this would happen as well."
Justinian laughed, riding next to Frederick, his steed, Kalos, outpacing his by a drastic amount.
Justinian rode diagonally, purposefully bumping into Frederick’s less armored horse, causing him to fly out of his steed due to the impact.
THUD.
Before Frederick could even recover from his fall, Cassia was already there, on horseback and pointing his sword right at Frederick’s neck.
"You’re going nowhere, traitor."
Frederick froze once more, seeing the familiar face.
"Lady Cassia!?"
Frederick looked around him, hoping for a possible rescue, but everywhere around him was blood and slaughter, all his men completely overwhelmed by Justinian’s overequipped cavalry.
"Damn you!"
He yelled out, quickly deflecting Cassia’s blade that was pointed at his neck as he stood up quickly, sword in hand and ready to attack.
But while he was tense, Cassia was fully calm.
"Think you’re better than me, pale witch!?"
"I think you should be more aware of your surroundings..."
Cassia chuckled.
"What!?"
THUD.
Frederick didn’t even notice it before his helmet cracked and he collapsed, dazed, barely conscious, but what had happened was Justinian using Kalos to kick Frederick straight in the head just behind.
Knocking him out to be used as a hostage.
"This was... more successful than I thought."
Justinian laughed anxiously, his hands trembling; he himself had killed four soldiers today, but that didn’t bother him; the potential for dying did.
But now that he had experienced a decisive victory.
That fear had now faded slightly.
"Hurrah!"
Lucan yelled out, sword raised in the air as he signalled to the rest of the men the battle that had been won.
"Glory to the Duke!"
[The Book of War Responds]
+100 Prestige