In total darkness, a small light appears in the distance. They gradually increase in number and grow larger and larger.
It is midnight on the shore. Dozens of boats have landed there, one after another, without a sound. It was not a normal situation to have a ship come alongside in such strong winds and high waves. However, even though the waves were high and the wind was blowing strongly, it was a tailwind, so they decided to launch the ship onto the beach and forced it to come alongside.
The boats arrived one after another as they were launched onto the beach. Immediately after that, a great number of soldiers appeared on the battlefield and went ashore. Needless to say, this was the army of the Church of Crimea, led by Cassel himself, numbering about 70,000 men.
"......"
Cassel appeared on the ship, blocking the wind with his hand and looking at the soldiers assembled below. He nods his head in satisfaction, then quickly raises his gaze and looks into the distance. This was an area called Army in the Kingdom of Thana, where there was a small fishing village. There was a reason why they had landed 70,000 soldiers in such a place.
He wanted to use this army to raid the capital of the Kingdom of Tana. Sister Vieille is definitely in the capital. He could not take his time if he did not want her to escape. We must raid the capital and surround it at a speed she would not expect. So he took advantage of this stormy weather to move his army.
He was originally good at "check and improve" and had studied the tactics of King Ville of Tana. He had accurately analyzed its strength as a lightning-fast blitzkrieg. However, this strategy was only possible with the help of the transfer technique of the fox Haze, aka Octa, and under normal circumstances, it would have been extremely difficult to keep the marching soldiers hidden, no matter how hard they tried.
Cassel's plan was to hide in the shadows of the night and to increase the speed of the march to the utmost limit. In this area, stormy winds always blow at the right time of the year. Knowing that they often blow toward the east, he had hidden his soldiers on the continent just to the west of the continent where the kingdom of Tana was located, looking for an opportunity to launch a sortie. As expected, the winds began to pick up two days prior to the attack, and a storm blew in the day before.
It was expected to be extremely difficult to sail at night in the storm and high waves, but the excellent soldiers overcame these difficulties with their excellent maneuvering skills. Thanks to this, the operation was carried out unexpectedly smoothly, with only one ship being sunk.
Cassel slowly disembarks from the ship. At that moment, he suddenly saw a pinkish color in the eastern direction. He gets off the boat and watches the scene for a while.
The wind is strong, but it is going to be bright. It is ...... auspicious to see such a rare sight."
That's the sunrise. It will probably rain today.
Fran, Cassel's squire, is muttering. He does not respond to the sound of his voice, but turns to the soldiers around him and gives them an order.
Prepare to go into battle at once. We will cross the pass in front of us and head for the capital. Hurry!"
Cassel was growing confident in his plan. Perhaps Sister Vieille would not have expected the army of Crimiana to have landed in an army village near the capital. In fact, they have been able to land there without any attack from Tana's side and without bloodshed. So far, the situation is as expected. Then we will raid the capital and surround it so that not even an ant can get out, and capture the sister. After capturing her, we can go to .......
Cassel waited for the preparations to be made.
Soon they were ready and Crimiana's army was slowly advancing toward the hill in front of them.
"Master Cassel, look!
I looked in the direction of the voice, and saw one of the apprentices pointing in front of me. I looked to follow him and saw an army deployed on top of the hill. Cassel can't help but smile.
"That's my sister, you noticed my plan ......?"
He mutters something like that and quickly gives orders to those around him.
"Halt your march and check out the troops on that hill. Probably Tana's army ....... No, it is definitely my sister's army. Hey, what is the perimeter of that hill?"
Cassel's surroundings suddenly become noisy when he receives the order. Then a young warrior in shining armor steps in front of his horse and drops to one knee.
"I am telling you..." he says. The road to that hill...... is nothing but a field of soot on the way to the Bulgarian hills. At the foot of that hill there is only a small lake called Rience.
Cassel nodded broadly at these words. A few moments later, the scouts returned and reported that the army in front was the one led by Vieille herself.
"So it is my sister after all. ......"
As Cassel had predicted, it was the army of the New Climiana cult that was encamped on the hill, and it was Vieille who was leading it. The enemy had only about half the number of men of the Crimiana army, but they were deployed in a formation on both sides, as if they were surrounding Cassel and his men.
......They dared to make a frontal assault.
Cassel's decision was quick. The strategy he chose was a risky one, daring to put his army in the middle of the enemy's encirclement, but Cassel had a chance to win.
The attack will not work on me.
He was certain of one thing. Confidence that he would never die. ....... Cassel had been attacked many times before. One time he was stabbed with a sword, another time he was shot through with a bow and arrow. But each time, his body has healed and kept him alive. It was thanks to the wards put up by the king of Agartha, Linos, and Cassel was not unaware of them, but he had survived so many near-death experiences that his fear of death had become less intense.
He stared at Vieille's troops encamped on the hill and gave a loud order.
"Charge the enemy in front of you, charge!"
At the sound of his voice, Crimiana's army began to move. As Cassel watched, he was convinced of victory, and already in his mind he began to think about what would happen after Vieille's capture.
"What? What is it? Why aren't we advancing?"
From the main camp, it appeared that the troops who had been charging at the enemy suddenly stopped moving. At that moment, a messenger arrived and fell to his knees.
"Sir! In front of that hill, there is a deep mud pond!"
In front of the hill where Vieille's main camp was located, there was a field of soot, but underneath the field was a pond of deep mud. The soldiers were stuck there, soaked in mud up to their waists, and unable to move. When Cassel heard this report, he clicked his tongue and immediately gave an order to his followers.
"Take all remaining troops and direct them to your sister's camp.
"Mr. Cassel, it's ......."
"If we fill that muddy pond with soldiers, we can proceed. We'll only lose 10,000 men and we'll be able to advance soon! We must capture my sister at all costs.
The attendants gasped at Cassel's words, but then replied with a huff and left. After watching them, he mounted his horse and gave the order to march.
However, contrary to Cassel's expectation, the army of Crimiana could not reach the main camp of Vieille, no matter how hard they attacked. Whenever they tried to attack the main line, Vieille's army would try to break the formation by attacking their flanks, and Cassel and his men had to fight their way forward against these enemies.
Still, Cassel and his men were one step closer to Vieille's position. As arrows and magic rained down on them, Cassel saw a woman.
"My sister ......"
It was indeed, indeed, Vieille. She was a few dozen meters away from Cassel and the others. She was wearing the same white robe as Kassel and a thin tiara-like thing on her head. She seemed to be staring at Cassel.
"Sister!"
Ignoring the restraining order, Cassel mounted his horse. At his feet were the corpses of many soldiers. The horse runs over them. The figure of Vieille grows little by little: ....... Yes, it is my sister after all. My sister.
The sister I have admired and followed since I was a child. My sister who is wise, kind, and beautiful. The night she married Duke Koenig of Lamarone and Kassel himself was adopted by the Emperor of the Empire, she promised me that we would always work together to make the religion of Klimiana prosperous. She was so beautiful then. How did this happen? ....... It's all because of that King Agartha. The minions of that evil god made her the way she was. ....... We must get her back again. I must have her again, the sister I had then. .......
Just as he was thinking of this, he noticed that Vieille had her bow at the ready. The arrow was aimed at himself, and Vieille's eyes were the coldest, most contemptuous eyes I had ever seen.
Who are you? Not the sister I know. ......"
As Cassel was muttering this much, an arrow shot out from Vieille's hand. The arrow came toward Cassel's forehead as if in slow motion. As soon as his head hit the ground, arrows poured down on him like a hail of bullets, hitting him all over and throwing him into the mud.
...... I can see the sky. It is a clear blue sky. ...... ears are ringing. This is the sound you hear when you are attacked. When I don't hear it anymore, my body is healed. ......I'm sure it will this time, too. ...... this time too. As soon as my wounds are healed, I will get up and go to my sister ....... She's right there. Take her in my arms. ....... I will never let you go. ....... I'm going to take her with me back to the ship. ....... And I'll strip her naked and keep on torturing her until she becomes my slave with all my heart. ....... I'll never rest, I'll never sleep, I'll never stop torturing her. ....... I'm going to make my sister ...... my own sister ....... My sister .......
Vieille's arrow had pierced precisely between Cassel's eyes. She slowly handed her bow to one of the soldiers and silently cupped her chin to the surrounding soldiers. Then more arrows and magic rained down on the army of Klimiana from the troops stationed on top of the hill.
"Master Vieille, we are coming for the head of the enemy general!
At the soldier's voice, Vieille slowly shakes her head.
"No need. You all saw how Cassel was shot, didn't you? That is enough. The first thing we must do is to destroy Crimiana's army. We must destroy the enemy's army. And after that, ...... immediately turn the army against Aphrodite."
At her words, the soldiers slowly bowed their heads.
The soldiers of Crimiana's army, their feet caught in the deep mud, are helplessly falling down. Vieille, who had been watching with a look of satisfaction on her face, suddenly looked at the place where Cassel, whom she had just killed, had fallen. He continues to stare at Vieille with his eyes wide open. But there was no light in his eyes anymore.
"Good-bye, Cassel. And thank you."
Vieille smiled a sly smile, but eventually returned to her usual expression and turned her gaze back to the battlefield again. .......