Proofread by: Daylius and Vikingstad

The Lithinian Kingdom was considered as a gateway to prosperity and the Lithinian king to be the gatekeeper. This was not due to the kingdom being the richest or greatest kingdom but due to its geography.

The continent of Aslain was divided into northern Aslain and southern Aslain and the middle of these two halves was Lithinia. The only way to cross from one half to another was through Lithinia. From time immemorial Lithinia had prohibited the crossing of the borders. The south and north remained without contact. The other kingdoms knew that the one who could conquer Lithinia would become the strongest in the continent. So whenever a country tried to invade Lithinia, the others aided Lithinia to withstand the attacks.

This always happened, no matter which country tried to attack and this made all others realize that it was impossible to conquer Lithinia, and had given up.

Now the Verunisian Empire had set its eyes on Lithinia and had sent a large army to conquer it before the allies could arrive. In the past, every country which tried to attack Lithinia, had always amassed its entire army for the invasion. This usually gave Lithinia and her allies’ time to gather their armies too.

But now the situation was different. The Verunisian Empire did not even try to send quarter of its army. The total army count of the empire had was near 900,000. The empire knew that by the time all their soldiers gathered up, their enemies would have already been waiting for them with an army of equal strength. So the empire decided to do a surprise attack with 100000 soldiers and decided to move the army after the fall of the Lithinian Empire.

The empire also knew that the fort of Linford was the key to conquering the empire. The fort of Linford was well defended by its surrounding mountain range and passing Linford was the only way to reach the rest of Lithinia. The empire knew that once Linford fell the rest of the continent would fall easily.

They were so sure of their victory in the war that they did not even bother sending any reinforcements. They thought that they would mobilize the main army only when Linford fell, thus letting the main army have enough time to prepare.

But what awaited them was nothing but disaster.

---***---

Half a day had passed. Shiv was waiting in his room. He had done everything that the situation had called for.

‘Now the only thing I can do is trust my soldiers and wait for the result.’

Shiv had given all the heads specific missions to accomplish. The assassins, like he had ordered ,had brought a single survivor from the enemy spies. They had also brought everything the spies had, including the Verunisian empire’s armor and weapons. Shiv then ordered them to use any means necessary to extract information from the spy.

The assassins had kept one they thought would break easily, and they were proved correct. The spy talked after a little torture. To make sure that it was the truth that he had told he was tortured a little more. The information was then delivered to Shiv and what he heard made him speechless.

The Verunisian Empire had intently leaked the arrival of the army. But there was a minor difference. Instead of 7 days the army would reach the fort in just 4 days. He also got information about the remaining 900,000 strong main army.

He froze. All his calculations had gone wrong. He began to panic.

‘No Ryu, don’t panic. Everything is a part of a carefully laid script. There must be something I can manipulate.’

“Trrrng”

The true plot of the Verunisian empire has been uncovered by your assassins. You have found out about the treacherous plans of the empire. You are now able to prepare countermeasures against the enemy army. Your allies have been notified and they have dispatched a much larger army for your aid.

First reinforcements will reach you faster than before.

Days left till army arrives: 6days

Second reinforcement has been dispatched

Army strength: 200,000 each from five allied countries

Days left till army arrives: 9 days[/tds]

‘6 days? The enemy will reach here by 4 days. I have to withstand the attack for more than 2 days with 10,000 soldiers. No there must be something I can do.’.

“Did the spy tell you the route? Do you know from which side the enemies will come from.”

“Yes Sire. We know. There are two paths that the enemies can come from. One is from the south of here, crossing the dark forest, the other is by crossing through Elden Mountain pass.”

‘Two ways, a dark forest, a mountain pass. Hmm, interesting!’

“OF the two, the mountain pass is shorter and less dangerous than the dark forest.

Crossing the dark forest is time consuming as the army has to travel an extra 2 days. The dark forest is believed to have dangerous beasts.”

“Dangerous beast? Why are they not attacking us then?.”

“They hate light and do not come out of the forest during day time. At night the magical spells cast a barrier to any intruders.”

“We have a barrier?”, Shiv was amused, “Why was I not told about this before.”

“Forgive our foolishness Sire. The barrier is effective against monsters.But against humans it won't stand for too long. The barrier may stop them for almost 1 hour.”

“Hmm I see. Summon Borin!”

The assassin bowed and left.

A few minutes later, Borin was kneeling in front of Shiv.

“Borin have you heard the new information?”

“Yes Sire. Those bastards and their evil plans!”

“At this rate we will be annihilated before our reinforcements arrive. We must do something. Summon the mages who

specialize in earth and large area offensive magic. Summon the archer unit commander and his best archers. I need them here now!”.

“Yes Sire!”, Borin ran out like the wind and after almost an hour, returning with him there were almost a hundred mages. Behind them the archers entered. Since the room was not large enough for all of them only the archer commander entered.

“These are the 43 who specialize in earth magic. However, all of these 97 mages are capable of large scale magic, Sire.

There’s 470 archers including the commander. He chose the rest personally and guarantees that they are among the best in the country”.

“I hope you have been informed about the enemy’s true plans” Shiv looked at the people in front of him.

All of them nodded, their face went pale. They knew that they would lose their kingdom. They did not care for their lives, they wanted the kingdom to survive and they were ready to throw away their life for that.

“We are going to push back the army. Me and you, we are going to block the mountain pass and buy us the much needed time and here is how we will do it!”.

Everyone brightened up. They had thought this as a lost cause. Even Borin had given up. Now the king said he was going to buy them time by blocking the mountain pass. They knew that if the mountain pass was blocked the enemies would have no other choice but to pass through the dark forest.

“Our life is yours to command Sire”, the answer was the same for everyone that was present

---***---

Day 4!

Lithinian army

Shiv was in a tent made for him near the mountain pass. He had been here for the last 3 days ever since he knew the true objective of his enemy. He had been planning many things, ordering his men various things to setup.

‘So they come today! Let us see how well things go, but before that!’

“Show Status!”

[td4]STATS WINDOWCharacter NameShivAlignmentNeutralLevel501ProfessionKingTitleKing of LithiniaFame250000Health: 15000+1000Mana: 25000+1000Strength: 436+75Agility: 401+75Stamina: 419+75Vitality:404+75Wisdom: 320+75Intelligence:330+75Luck: 0+75Perseverance: 255+75Offence: 384+420Defense:400+250Magic Resistance: 65%Affinity to Elements: 40%Dragon roars(Beginner- level 1)

Heavenly elements(Beginner –Level 1)

“When did I get perseverance stats? Was it during the training? Yeah! I had ignored all tabs when I was training.”

The black sword on his waist had always been a source of shock for Shiv. He had identified the sword a million times by now. Every time he did, he was shocked. No matter how many times he saw it he could not get used to it.

“Identify”

BLACK DRAGON(Level-???)A black colored sword which evolves with the wielder! This sword was forged by the greatest dwarven blacksmith Aslain had ever known! The sword has been the family heirloom of the Lithinian kingdom and the source of envy from many!

The sword carries the strength and experience of all its previous wielders

Durability: 8000

Attack : 2000

+500 levels to wielder

+75 to all status

+1000 to HP and mana

+25000 fame

“What is this ‘OP’ sword? 500 levels from just wielding a sword, that means 2500 stats points from just the sword. And what are these stats boosts, 75 to all the stats? Not to mention the incredible fame boost.” Shiv’s eyes were sparkling. He was rubbing his cheeks on the sword with puppy eyes. Shiv could not adore his sword for long. He heard footsteps outside his tent. He sheathed the sword and waited for the person to appear.

“Sire!” a man in red armor with a cross on it rushed inside the tent. It was Borin, his face sweating. There was panic in his voice.

“So the army has arrived!”, Shiv understood Borin’s cause of panic. He rose and walked out. He had camped at one of the short peaks near the pass. He had placed half of his army at the same peak as he was. The others were at the other side of the pass. All of them were hiding perfectly. Shiv had brought 10 assassins with him and had sent them out to scout the area ahead.

He looked at the vast stretch of land ahead of him. He could see the land being covered by something blue. As every minute passed the blue spread around. It was like the land was being devoured.

‘So that is a 100,000 strong army huh. Let us give them a warm welcome!’

“Men! Shall we party!” Shiv smirked.

The men laughed too. Even though they were afraid initially, the king’s presence had eased their hearts. They began moving, hidden.

---***---

Verunisian army

“Today we conquer Linford! Today we do what no other kingdom could ever do! Today we do what others said was impossible!”, the Verunisian general, Ghir Khan shouted”

Roar! The Verunisian army roared! Even though they were tired their morale was very high. They were sure that today their Empire would grow even more.

When the mountain pass came into view the army increased their pace. Within hours they had closed in on the pass. Suddenly the army stopped.

“Why have you stopped without my order?” Ghir Khan was furious.

“There is a man standing on one of the peaks Sir. He is wearing the Lithinian armor! He says he wants to speak to the general.”

“Must be some deserter or maybe a messenger! Men, looks like the Lithian king has decided to surrender!” Ghir laughed and made his horse pace forward. When he reached the front he saw the man just like his men had reported. Ghir Khan kept moving forward, smiling, confident. But then he stopped abruptly. His face no longer smiling. Fear struck him from deep! In front of him was a man in red armor with a white dragon embedded on it and a black sword on his waist.

‘Why is he here. Why him of all people?’

Ghir Khan knew the man in front of him. He had heard terrible rumors about the man. Hailed as the strongest man in the world, the man who was called Maheswara the destroyer, the King of Lithinia, Orrinshire!

“W.. Wh..,Why are you here, Orrinshire?”

The general’s voice had fear embedded in it, one of the most basic emotions of a human, fear for a superior being.

---***---

Lithinian army

“W.. Wh..,Why are you here, Orrinshire?”

‘Orrinshire? Why is he calling me Orrinshire? So here I am called Orrinshire huh. Now where have I heard that name? well whatever!’.

Shiv spoke, “I assume you are from Verunisia! By what name are you known general?”

“I..i am called Ghir, Ghir Khan, great general of the empire and loyal vassal of his majesty, Mithron the fourth!”

“I see, general Ghir, I suggest you stop here. This mountain pass is under the banner of Lithinia, under my rule and I have

not given permission to anyone to walk into my territory,” Shiv was calm, too calm.

This calmness caused Ghir Khan to panic even more. He had an army of 100,000 behind him and yet the man in front of him was calm, Ghir saw no fear in the man’s eyes

‘What is he? Does he not know any fear?’

“I refuse, King of Lithinia! I am here under the order of his majesty, to lay waste to your land and seize the fort of Linford for his majesty, the great!”

“Is that so general! Very well. For the crime of encroachment and insult to the King of Lithinia, I hereby judge you guilty”. Saying so Shiv raised his right hand above his head.

“Justice shall prevail. Let judgment be done.” With those words he swung his lifted right hand down and then a bright light erupted from where the king was, blinding the Verunisian army.

---***---

Verunisian Army

The great army panicked, their formation collapsed. Being robbed of their vision the army was in disorder. Ghir Khan was lucky as he had closed his eyes before he was affected. He got down from his horse as that too was affected. He then began running towards his army, trying to get away from Shiv.

He was now deep within his disordered army. ‘I must take command immediately, else I will lose my men.’ When he reached the position where he had been in the start, he was provided a horse by his subordinates. He got on the horse and was about to give his order to attack when he noticed something flying towards them from the sky!

“Arrows, equip your shields, take cover”, but to it was all in vain. The army was still blinded, even though the light had

faded away. The sea of arrows struck the soldiers accurately.

Ghir was about to give another command when an arrow grazed his face.

Ghir was taken aback, how could they hit so accurately from that far away. He then felt his throat going dry! His body felt like it was on fire! His breathing got rough! His hands went numb! Slowly he began losing control over his body! ”Poison”, this was the last word of his life! Thus the general fell, even before the war began!

---***---

Lithinian army

“Sire! The general has fallen just like you predicted! ”Borin was ecstatic. They had just shot down the enemy general itself. To boost the situation they had not suffered even a single death on their side!

He was truly overjoyed! His king had just turned the tides of the war in an instant!

“Not yet Borin! There are things to do! They won’t give up that easily! The second in command will think of this as an opportunity to rise in ranks. So he will surely march forward. And that stupid greed of his will lead us to victory when the main battle begins!”

“Yes Sire! Forgive my behavior!”

“Borin, give the order for the mages! Mobilize the assassins! Let the archers retreat, they have done enough for now!”

“Yes Sire, as you command!”

---***---

Lithinian army

“Lady Amber, the king has ordered the mages to begin.”

“Right away Sir Borin!”

Amber then turned back and ordered her subordinates to mobilize.

Amber was the head of the magic unit, an archmage herself! She had served the kingdom for more than 20 years now. When she first heard of the possibility of a war she was scared! She had never been in a war before! Nobody she knew had ever been in a war! The country had been in peace for hundreds of years!

Even though she had been in the Private army of the king she had never met him! All she heard were rumors about him, which she never believed! But today she had no other choice but to acknowledge the truth!

The truth that all the rumors of the king’s power and intelligence were proved true with a single attack!

When the king had first ordered that he wanted to delay the enemies with just 500 men she had laughed inside! ‘What an idiot! 500 against 100,000? Why is he even a king!’ was what she thought. She had reluctantly followed him!

She was on watch when the enemy arrived! The sheer vastness of the enemy had made her tremble! She had waited there to see what the king would do!

She saw the king walk out of his tent, he was giving orders to Borin. She smirked at the foolish king who was now walking towards the enemy! He could hear him shout for their general! She saw a well-built man on a horse coming out of the army!

‘Here comes the general! Now are you going to beg before him?’ Amber was full of mockery towards the king! Suddenly the king looked at her and smiled! Amber was taken aback but returned the smile. ‘Moron!’ was what she said in her mind!

She kept witnessing the events and was surprised when she saw the general trembling!

“W.. Wh..,Why are you here, Orrinshire?”

She heard the general stammering. She was amused. She wondered why a general with 100,000 soldiers would stammer just by the king’s name? she was not ready to believe that the king was strong!

“Justice shall prevail. Let judgment be done.” She could hear the king’s voice!

‘Judgment? Yeah, we all will die!’ she thought but was surprised by the sudden bright light!

“What is this light? Why was I not told about this?” She roared at her subordinates when the light faded. She was about

to rush towards the king to kill him herself when she saw something raining down from the sky! ‘what use are arrows

from 400 archers! The opponents are 100,000 str…’her thoughts stopped!

She saw the enemy in disorder. She saw the frontline fall, then she had the shock of her life! She saw the general Ghir,

who had moments ago challenged the king falling from his horse!

She then looked at the king! He was looking at her with a smile! She understood that look!

‘How was that? Am I not great?’, that was what those eyes were saying. She smiled, she admitted defeat! She kneeled and bowed at her king, pledging her life to him.

It was then that Borin had delivered the king’s order to begin!

She stood and looked back at her subordinates!

“You heard the king! Let judgment be done!”. Then there were chanting all over! The mages had begun their mission! They had witnessed the archer’s feat and now it was their turn!

---***---

Erwin Grigod was happy! Even though his army was under attack, he was happy! He had finally achieved what he had waited 5 years for. He was now the commander of a 100,000 soldiers. Well, maybe 1000 or 2000 soldiers less. Erwin took command!

Once Ghir had died the stream of arrows had stopped! Erwin then commanded “All arms to the front! March”. The army began its march! They were now nearing the place where Shiv had stood earlier. The army was searching the mountain peaks carefully for any traces of enemies!

Erwin was cautious too! He did not want to die like Ghir! The army then began crossing the pass! It was then that they heard a thunder like sound! Which was then followed by the screams of his men!

“What is going on?” Erwin asked looking at the direction of the screams. He froze! From the mountains he saw huge spiked balls rolling down! The sheer number that came down made Erwin lose his sanity.

The spikes crushed anything that was in their way! The army was once again in disorder! But this time the army began

running in random directions to escape the spike balls.

The balls kept coming down from the mountain! Those which had already reached down were now rolling towards the

army as the mountain pass was slanting!

“Where are the mages! Bring them here! Now!” Erwin roared with anger.

“Sir, we can’t!”

“What do you mean you can’t?”

“The mages and priests are stuck!”

“Stuck? In what?”

“They are stuck to the ground.”

“Ground? No no no! Quagmires!”, Erwin now understood that everything was a trap! The king’s appearance and the arrows were all bait! Bait to lure him towards the trap and he had fallen into it so easily! Erwin was mad, infuriated!

“Retreat! Everyone retreat! Save as many mages as you can.” He roared turning away from the mountain pass! He looked back and he could see a pool of blood! He knew he had lost a lot and this loss was not negligible like the one they suffered due to the arrows.

‘I will have my revenge Orrinshire, I swear.’

That day the Verunisian army suffered a loss of 15000 soldiers and almost all their mages and priests which was another 5000. The army lost 20000 even before the war had begun! This day was later known as the ‘Mountain Death’ incident!

---***---

Lithinian army

“Sire they have retreated!”

“The death toll?”

“We think that 20000 have died, including all of their mages and priests”.

“Good! What about the assassins?”

“They have started their operation.”

“Wonderful. Now Borin shall we obliterate them?”

“Of course Sire! Wild dogs should be taken down.”

‘Guhuhuhu’

The two were now laughing, an evil laugh!

Amber who was behind the two flinched! ‘These two are devils, devils!’

---***---

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