56 days after the explosion - battle ground

Everyone was in their position

The Griffon army in one side while the Zergeit army in the other

Soldiers up front, knights a little behind and mages in the zone with biggest mana density, while been protected from all sides

The battleground was an open field with similar mana density from both sides, so there wasn't any kind of tactical advantage on the terrain

The day was clear, without a cloud in the sky. It was near autumn, so the temperature wasn't either cold or hot

Basically, it was a perfect day for a battle

And general Rexford couldn't be gladder

It was like the gods were blessing him for a perfect victory

The troops were ready, the speeches were given(by both him, the prince and his future wife) and the morale was all time high

All he had to do was say the word, and the massacre would start

He could wait until the other side started, or until the sun was at the top, but the anxiety won over. He decided to start the sooner the better since both armies were ready

"Are you maggots ready?"(Rexford)

"Yes, sir!"(all)

"Then go and crush them!!!"(Rexford)

And with a shout, the soldiers started to move, marking the start of the battle that would go down in history as one of the most important battles in the history of the continent, and maybe the world

It must be said that the predictions of general Rexford were pretty accurate. Not only was he right about how unbalance was the proportion of the battle forces between both sides, he was also right about this battle going down in history, that he would be forever remembered in the history books, he would get "properly rewarded" by the royalty afterwards, and that the battle would be a compleat and absolute massacre that would cause almost no loss to the winning side

Sadly for him, his only mistake was who would be the winning side

He watched as all his forces and dreams were crushed like a bug, without any way to retaliate or change his fate. All he could do, while seen his worst nightmare coming to life, was scream, shout and cry, nothing else

It only took a few moments after sending his command for everything to go downhill until he hit rock bottom, ending his military career and sending him to history as one of the biggest fools ever known to man

Not like things would have ended much different if he made different choices actually. The game was rigged from the start, but he did make everything easier to the other side by accepting an open battle in a showdown of forces, making the battle an absolute victory to the Griffon empire. The only thing he did right was not taking all his forces from the forts(this saved his life, but only that), but every other choice he made was absolutely wrong

Since he didn't put traps, ambushed or took advantage of the forts he took, he lost a great number of opportunities to improve the hell he was put on, dooming himself forever

It could be said he had no chance from the start, but handing over everything in a silver plate, by mistake, isn't the right attitude a General of an army should have

His ambition, underestimation of his enemy, lack of insight, greed and cockiness cost his kingdom the war

And if you are wondering exactly why it was such an unfair battle when the difference in quantity and quality was so great, let's just say the prince had a couple of aces under his sleeve

The first obvious one was his sister of course. She was a monster, simple

The moment the battle started, she put to sleep every single mage on the opposite side, costing the enemy of magic shields, cover fire, and all kind of different supports they may have supplied if they weren't put down instantly

Rebecca could have done a lot more stuff afterwards, but she disappeared after dong that, with the blessing of the prince. It is true that she may have cause mayhem on the battlefield if she stayed, but it was a pointless risk. Not only did they had enough forces to crush them, but even though she had the best damage potential in the world probably, she had a great weakness, she still could be killed by normal means. She may have gotten the potion from the prince, but she was still a novice, making her vulnerable to any kind of attack, so it was better to take her from the battlefield after helping a little and leave her for future battles(basically the forts)

Besides, the Prince didn't want to show his trump card yet, since he could act like the attack to the mages was some kind of trap, leaving Rebecca's battle power a secret

So, he showed his other cards instead

The first obvious one were the incredible accurate archers that instantly sniped all 200 slave masters that controlled the enslaved soldiers, and later helped with the dragons

Basically, this meant that the opposite side had to deal with the no longer enslaved soldiers, 500 gryphons, and the mysterious extremely accurate archers without the aid of the mages while the other side had them intact

And te icing on the cake? 20 death golems came out from the "supply waggons", massacring the enemy side while they all panicked in the confusion

Those death golems were a known force of the dwarfs that helped them many times during war times, and how they managed to keep their lands to date. They were gigantic mechanical metal armours that dwarf controlled from the inside. they were pretty costly to make and maintain, so they didn't have a great number, but their battle strength was undeniable. Not only were a 5m metal thing that moved pretty fast and would crush you with their fist, it could also use the user inner mana

Thanks to all this, the battle reached such extremes that the enemy side didn't even notice the unbelievable strength of the infantry, that could be compared to young warriors or knights, and both sides didn't notice how the 500 mercenaries easily took care of the mercenaries on the other side, and even managed to make them surrender and empty their pockets

In the end, it was an absolute victory from the Griffon empire

Not only did they completely obliterated the enemy side but also rescued half the enslaved soldiers in the process(they still have to rescue the ones in the forts)

They even managed to surround the enemy main tent, where all the important people should be

With special orders from the prince to not enter they still haven't gotten inside with the excuse that he wanted to negotiate with the people inside and was afraid that the soldiers may do something stupid

Still, the real reason was a different one....