At the main siege camp of the Rhankish forces, the duke’s command tent was as busy as ever. Soldiers and servants went in and first inner layer of the tent, but there was another room within the tent. In there, Duke Villbrod coordinated his war efforts in privacy.

“Send a warband to the eastern side of the ramparts. We’ll need to get their attention there to keep the defenders distracted and away from our tunnelers,” Villbrod ordered.

“Your Highness, may I have a company of bowmen to deal with the northmen rangers?” a nobleman requested.

“You’ve already seen the contraptions they used! They outrange us with those… things they use to let loose their arrows!” one of the knights argued.

“But once we get in range, we could finally trade blows with them!”

“That is if you manage to get in range!”

Villbrod slammed his fist against the table and shouted, “Enough! You will get a company of levies instead. Use them to haul the large shields for cover.”

“Yes, Your Highness!” the nobleman bowed.

Just as they were about to move on to the next issue, a group of armored men entered the room. They wore full chainmail and their veiled helmets made it hard to determine their identities. Their appearance caused Villbrod to scowl, and a sweat fell from his forehead.

“Everyone, leave!” Villbrod commanded.

Once the noblemen had left the room, the armored men bowed their heads at Villbrod. The leader of mysterious men removed his helmet and reported, “Lord, the western and eastern camps are under attack by a combination of northmen and Vyssian forces. The northern camp is entirely annihilated.”

“What?! Why didn’t anyone arrive to tell me that the northern camp was under attack?!”

“We were on the way to you, but by then, the enemies had moved deeper. It seemed that this isn’t a small army.”

“Damn! I thought we still had a few weeks! Where did the Vyssians come from?! Why didn’t my scouts report anything?”

The man coughed then said, “We… didn’t receive anything from the scouts. It is either they all died or…”

“They deliberately chose not to report to me,” Villbrod groaned. “So, now the true colors of the bastards are showing. The king was really out for my blood from the beginning.”

“Who were the scouts you sent?”

“I sent some of my own men, but I entrusted the scouting to two other barons. Bah, to think nobles would be less reliable than serjents!” Villbrod cursed. “I want you to find out what happened to the barons and the scouts.”

“What will you do, Lord?” the man asked.

“I mustn’t be seen here. I am riding all the way back to Castle Kilothar.”

“Let some of the men escort you, lord,” the man offered.

“Yes, yes. Just don’t slow me down!” Villbrod said as he prepared for his leave. Though haughty, the duke was also cautious at all times. He was already prepared to leave at any time, with his items all packed and close to each other.

The siege lines of the Rhankish army was embroiled in the flames of battle, and the Vyssians continued to inject more and more men into the frontlines. Instead of haphazardly charging into any group of Rhanks they saw, the Vyssian warlords were approached by the drones before they entered combat.

“See that spot there?” a drone talked to a Vyssian captain who was bringing his warband out of the wrecked northern Rhankish camp.

“Aye? What’s in that way?” the captain asked.

“Go there. Fight there.”

“Wha’? Why’s there? I see the fighting ahead’s of us!” the captain pointed out.

The drone shook his head then explained, “Small company of serjents. Fight them… good chance of winning. Many good loot.”

The captain’s eyes went wide as he heard of the prospect of great gains for low risk. With a voice of doubt, he asked, “Are ye sure we can win? My men ain’t that much. Somewhere less than a ‘oondred.”

“Thirty-six light bowmen. Twenty-eight serjents. Good chance of winning,” the drone clarified. “Follow me and fight them, yes?”

“The number’s good! Strangely exact, but good! If you’re right, northman, then Humanos bless ye!” the captain rejoiced. “Let’s move, lads! Follow the northman!”

The drones efficiently divided the Vyssian warbands into different areas, usually enticing them with good rewards or telling them how little resistance they would face. The hardest tasks were usually taken by the largest and most courageous warbands while the drones remained mostly in reserve. With this, organization wasn’t lost too much as the combined Vyssian-Drone force moved deeper into Rhankish lines.

Castle Marcoir wasn’t silent as well as they started launching attacks at any nearby groups using their elite cavalry. Aerial drones as well as spider drones ramped up their attacks. After a few days of preparation, Smith was finally able to begin his counter-attack in earnest. He committed his entire defense force into the fray from every direction, and the Rhanks were pushed back from the surroundings.

Within minutes, the western and eastern camps were destroyed and the Rhankish soldiers retreated to the main siege camp. More prepared and bolstered with greater numbers, the Rhanks had finally begun to offer resistance.

‘Smith, reorganize your force. Even with the newly arrived reinforcements, you are still outnumbered two to one,’ Custodian advised.

‘Not a problem,’ Smith nodded.

Just as the drone army started to group up, the Rhanks answered the incoming threat with their own army. The Rhanks had realized that the drones were going for one decisive strike against them so they decided to return the gesture directly. Though Villbrod had left, he put the task of commanding the army to his close aide.

“Count Thorinn, His Highness has left the area,” one of the knights reported to the Rhankish commander.

“Right. Let’s not disappointed the duke and win this, then,” Thorinn nodded then turned to his army. “Men of Rhankia! The northmen scourge has thrown the scorched branch and has challenged us! Let us finish this battle today, and show them what it means to be Humanos’ chosen!”

“Hear, hear!” the Rhanks shouted.

At the Rhankish center, right behind the bowmen, were the strongest serjent companies. Their heavy infantries were supported by lightly armored yet heavily armed Rhankish axemen from the sides. In reserve were the levies, mostly armed with spears, light axes, or seaxes. Of course, their flanks were guarded by the renowned Rhankish knights.

Directly opposing the belligerent Rhanks was the combined forces of the drones and the Vyssians. Though reinforcements were slowly streaming into their side, they still had to be wary about their inferior numbers when compared to the Rhankish army.

At the center were the warrior drones of Custodian. Behind them were squadrons of spider drones meant for sneaking underneath the legs of the enemies, theoretically allowing the drones to flank the enemy from every direction. On the sides were Vyssian warbands of varying qualities. Some warbands consisted of personal retinues of a warlord while some were just light raiders each armed with short weapons and a round shield.

The Vyssians knew they wouldn’t be able to contest the Rhankish cavalry so they were mostly relegated to supporting the heavier and more renowned drone cavalry, or as they were starting to call them, the ‘black riders’.

The Vyssian skirmishers and drone crossbowmen were placed at their respective fronts.

The first ones to move were the Rhanks, moving forward in a wedge formation. Count Thorinn determined that the left flank of the Vyssian-Varangian side contained more Vyssian heavy infantry so he decided to focus his attacks against the center and the enemy’s right flank.

Realizing this move, some of the Vyssian horsemen moved away from stronger allied left flank towards the right flank. Meanwhile, the drone crossbowmen had already started raining bolts against the helpless Rhankish bowmen and slingers who broke within minutes before they could even launch their own attacks.

“Lord, the skirmishers are retreating,” a Rhankish knight pointed out.

“The infantry will suffer for this. Keep marching!” Thorinn ordered.

Encouraged by the immediate collapse of the Rhankish skirmishers, the Vyssians started to move up front to harass the Rhankish serjents and axemen. Because of the lack of a good response to the ranged harassers, Count Thorinn was forced to move his cavalry forward far earlier than he expected. Luckily for him, the Vyssian skirmishers were barely protected from any cavalry attacks.

The Vyssian cavalry, now mostly concentrated towards the allied right, moved to engage the enemy cavalry and to hopefully soften them enough for the drone cavalry. The drones were slower to realize this, but followed behind not shortly after. Despite the fact that both sides of the Rhankish cavalry charged ahead, the left-most drone cavalry didn’t move, which made the Rhanks uneasy.

Although technically the weaker side of the human-drone army, the Vyssian right flank started moving forward without warning, perhaps to protect their skirmishers from the incoming cavalry. Not long after, the Rhankish cavalry smashed directly against the retreating Rhankish skirmishers. The Rhankish left side and the Vyssian-Varangian right side collided into a huge brawl as light infantry from both sides broke off and steered towards the cavalry fields.

Meanwhile, at the center, the warrior drones began marching forward to face off the serjents who were still being pelted by the crossbow drones. Rhankish men of various ages fell one by one onto the blood-soaked fields as the vanguards trampled the grass under their feet. All they could hope was that they could reach melee distance before they all get slaughtered by the enemy’s ranged attacks.

Although the Vyssian skirmishers on their left side of the field got caught by the enemy cavalry, most of them managed to get away in time to continue harassing the Rhankish center.

The battle had reached its greatest intensity when the heavy cavalry and the heavy infantry of the Rhanks and the drones collided. From the cavalry side, drones were ripped away from their mounts, and men flew off from their horses. Lances shattered with great impact, knocking even their wielders off. The sheer weight of the drone lancers were too much for the humans, but the speed of the Rhankish horsemen managed to outmaneuver their drone counterparts and allowed them to exploit weaknesses.

At the center of the battle, shields collided with each other, javelins were thrown, and spears impaled the unlucky victims who were on the pointy ends. The serjents buckled hard against the incoming warrior drones and pushed them back a few times only to be stopped and countered. Although the warrior drones were generally shorter and somewhat weaker, they were flexible, able to coordinate faster, and had the luxury of not caring about stamina or morale.

‘Alert: Vyssians losing ground. Location: right flank,’ an announcement shouted in hivemind.

‘Plug the holes, Smith,’ Custodian ordered.

‘Negative. We push for maximum exploit! Drones, forward!’ Smith commanded instead.

The spider drones, which were mostly scout and construction drones, made their ways towards the weaker Rhankish right side to prepare a devastating counter-attack.

‘The humans will fall soon!’ Custodian pointed out.

‘I only need them to buy time,’ Smith replied.

The Rhankish cavalry broke off from the fight and unexpectedly turned, riding towards the other side of the battlefield to support the opposite flank. It seemed that they noticed that the Rhanks were pushing their reserves towards the weaker Vyssian right flank, but the drones were going in aggressively, attacking the weaker Rhankish side instead.

The spider drones, joined by the remaining unused heavy drone cavalry, charged at the Rhankish axemen. It was bad enough that they were dealing with the Vyssian elites, they also had to deal with the incoming drone units! The Rhankish knights didn’t dare idle around while their comrades get massacred, so they also committed into battle, directly facing the incoming drone cavalry.

“This way to death and glooorrrryyy!”

“Die! Die!”

“Humanos witness me!”

The battle had turned into a slug fest, going back and forth. Soldiers hacked, stabbed, and sliced each other apart. Half-corpses limped away, moaning in pain, while those unlucky enough to die in the thick of battle got trampled until they were one with the dirt, mud, and blood.

No matter who they were, rich or poor, old or young, trained or untrained, they all became the same once they hit the ground lifeless. Of course, that mostly applied to the humans only. Warrior drones which were damaged but had their core still intact were moved towards the back of the line where a mini-Custodian was deployed. Smith was putting a gamble in this, but he was willing to risk the chance of losing such an expensive unit if it meant increasing the amount of bodies he could throw at the enemy.

[Alert: Sudden surge of mana detected.]

Just as the spider drones wreaked havoc among the Rhankish lines, a new threat had emerged. Black dots clotted the skies for a few seconds as the mysterious objected arced up into the air, only to fall back down violently onto the Vyssian lines. Black misty swords rained upon the already faltering Vyssian right flank, causing the drone’s allies to break.

“Mages! The Rhanks have mages!” a Vyssian warlord screamed. “Retreat!”

[Alert: Sudden surge of mana detected.]

‘There you are, I’ve been expecting you!’ Smith exclaimed as the alert popped in. ‘Move!’

Spider drones latched away from their targets and directly ran to the backlines of the Rhanks. Far from the carnage that was the front lines, there were groups of armored men with their swords stabbed against the ground. When they saw the spider drones, they turned their attention towards the incoming drones.

Their swords glowed until transparent blue fists appeared from the ground. The mages directed their spells with their hands, and the fists swarmed the drones. Unfortunately for the mages, Custodian and its forces were the ultimate anti-mage.

As the fists got close, their effect became weaker, though they still managed to cause some damage against the encroaching attack drones. Instead of panicking, the mages summoned more and more blue fists.

“We’re winning, brothers! These foul beasts are no match to our-” a mage was suddenly cut off when his head exploded.

Aerial drones finally entered the fray once Smith had confirmed the location of the mages. Although the mages could have countered the aerial drones in some ways, they were distracted by the spider drones.

With their attention divided, the mages were shortly swarmed by bolts and metallic spiders. Despite their ability to also fight at close combat, there were still too many spider drones and too little mages.

With the threat of the expected mages gone, Smith ordered his remaining unused aerial drones, ‘I need airstrikes at Point Alpha, Point Beta, and Point Zeta.’

Both of the sides’ respective left flanks collapsed almost at the same time, though the Rhanks were slower in capturing the momentum as they were bombarded by aerial drones with bolts and, occasionally, explosives.

The battle line slowly danced and tilted like a tango as each side tried to outmaneuver the other. The center came to a stalemate as the serjents were viciously and stubbornly holding their group even as companies were slowly whittled down to a handful of men left.

Still, as much as the drones hated to admit it, the battle was going to be decided when the Vyssians finally break through the gaping hole in the Rhankish lines. Their light cavalry rushed as fast as they could while their infantry lines smashed against the side of the Rhankish center. Meanwhile, the Vyssian light infantry tried their best to hold off the advancing Rhankish left flank, but their inferior numbers didn’t help much.

Suddenly, from the forests, birds started to fly away in fear. Stomping hooves were heard by both sides, and they both felt a chill in their spine, not knowing whether these new guests would be on their side or not.

Unexpectedly, there wasn’t just one set of new arrivals, but two.

Emerging from the Varangian lines, a hulking minotaur-like giant charged down the grassfields with lightning speed. He was moving so fast and so brutishly that it almost felt like the ground had to keep up with creating craters in the minotaur’s wake.

Next, from the side of the forests, a large group of riders, numbering less than a dozen, emerged. The front of the horsemen held up a flag with the mark of a winged wolf.

“More Rhanks! Reinforcements!” a Rhankish knight cried with enthusiasm, but his expression changed suddenly. “Why are they pointing their lances towards us?!”

Sure enough, the newly arrived Rhankish riders steered away from the Vyssian-Varangian lines and towards the Rhankish lines. Before the Vyssian light cavalry or the rampaging hulking minotaur could reach the Rhanks, the new arrivals slammed directly into the back of the serjents, all screaming “For the princess!”. The Vyssian horsemen, noticing this, avoided attacking them when they managed to at last outflank the enemy and joined the onslaught of the Rhankish serjents and levies.

'The Rhankish princess?!' Smith exclaimed. 'How did she get here so fast?!'

'There's a detailed report about that. You can read it after you're done with that battle,' Custodian said.

'Affirmative.'

The Rhankish knights were the first one to rout and break away from the battle. With their better horses, they outpaced the Vyssian footmen and the drone cavalry. The rest of the Rhankish infantry fought desperately to break off from the fight, and the center finally broke when the large minotaur monster reached the Rhankish vanguard.

As much as the allied forces wanted to encircle the enemy to destroy them completely, it was simply impossible as their numbers were still inferior to their foes. Thus, most of the Rhanks managed to scatter, and the opposing force couldn’t do much except, of course, for the tireless drone cavalry.

Count Thorinn was nowhere to be found, having escaped the battle with the rest of the routed knights. With that, the Rhanks ceased resisting and surrendered.

The Battle of Castle Marcoir was over.