Side Story 7 – Views

(This is recounting during the battle, right after the hero charged into the Demon Lord’s army)

(Forward general’s POV)

What recklessness the hero has? His overconfidence due to recent successes with the smaller contingent of Demon Lord’s army has gone up to his head. I would definitely be in a difficult position. General Gramont is known for his ruthlessness. Our situation is dire, as we have been switched from an attacking position into a defending position. Many of our men died on the battlefield, and we are in need of a change in strategy.

The sudden surge of magic phenomena that give rise to our once fallen comrades is a great help for us, but the hero’s blind charge against the formation of the Demon Lord’s army is going to lead to a heavy loss on our side. I saw the fallen mage, Adam. He’s totally out cold, and for some time, I thought I have lost him for sure. Luckily, he started breathing again after he stopped doing so for several minutes. I got one of the field healer to help check on him. Earlier, I notice that he started casting a large-scale spell that I’m not familiar with, and I ordered my troops to rally in and cover for him. They did their best, and many of them have fallen. After he managed to invoke the magical phenomena, the hero’s party and all the army around that had fallen have risen again. It must have been the forbidden spell of Resurrection, a magic phenomenon that gives rise to those that have just recently fallen in battle.

This is a good chance to reverse the situation, but I’m afraid that chance will never turn to fruition because of the hero’s actions. He just wants to gain bravery points by showing up and rallying the soldiers behind him. The army in this situation will just be an easy target to large-scale magical phenomena, since we will be lacking coordination and charge in like a mob, not having the right weapon to fight back and hurting ourselves when moving around. I try to coordinate the soldiers that didn’t follow the hero into a group that focuses on supporting the hero’s charge from the rear.

The hero’s strength is unquestionable, as he injures a minotaur that is coming at us. The Lamias and Nagas equipped with Aegis shields are extremely powerful as forward guards. Many soldiers tried to swarm in to kill the injured minotaur, but their attacks are too weak, and their piled up bodies make fighting in a melee cumbersome and disadvantageous. The hero knew this, and he jumped into the middle of the enemy’s forward rank and unleashes a mighty barrage of sword skills and magic phenomena. Many enemy attacks hit him, but it seems he has a strong defense and can hold the attacks well enough on his own. His defense is probably second only to the shielder when he uses all his defensive skills and weapons.

The hero managed to fell two more minotaurs after that, and the rest of the army followed him. At the cost of many men, the hero managed to charge in and reach the Demon general. Equipped with his heavy sword Caliburn, and taken an Aegis shield from a fallen Lamia, the hero charge and attacks the Demon general. The Demon general is a magic expert, so he can’t use direct magic on the hero when he’s equipped with the Aegis shield. It instead cast a rock punch on the ground and hit the hero behind the shield. The hero managed to resist that attack, and jump forward to avoid ground attacks. This time, the air blew and the hero fell in a different location from intended, and he got surrounded. The hero turns the tide of his battle by activating a skill.

The hero then fought well with the Demon general. He must have used his unique skill to balance the power difference between them both. The Hero is slowly inching nearer and nearer to the Demon general, slaying more demonic shamans, as he got closer. When the Demon general is pushed out of the ritual circle, it fled and the demons withdraw back. The hero pursues the army, intending to kill the Demon general, but couldn’t do so as the demons have returned to their entrenched position. Even the unique skill of the hero couldn’t help the hero much, as barrages of projectile attacks that are very quick and powerful hit the hero until his armour is broken in many places. The demons focus their magic attacks at those that are near their position, and I got the archers and ballista operators to fire it at the demons’ entrenched position if they can get a clear shot.

The rallying of the army by hero Aaron has mixed effects and results. The soldiers generally gain great morale as the hero is leading a charge against the demons. They fought more ferocious under the leadership of the hero, but they also suffer more casualties as they are now tactically at a disadvantage. Our objective is to crush the demons with as little human casualties as possible, and we have a long term plan to actualize the objectives of the battle. We definitely can’t get to storm the demon capital overnight.

The presence of the hero’s party and soldiers at the very front position makes the support group very precarious. This is because it may cause friendly fire. We waited for the forward group to retreat to get a clear line of sight. The archers fired several volleys of elemental arrows at the demons’ entrenched lines because the arrow can be fired at an angle. When the hero, his party, and the soldiers retreat, we fired the large ballistae and pummel their entrenchment. Even with their stats and fortified position, we managed to put the demons in their rightful place, the underworld. It’s ironically thanks to the hero, his party, and the army full-time engagement with the demons that we managed to properly place the heavy weapons in place without getting destroyed by the demons’ attacks. The hero doesn’t look impressed with what has happened though. We can’t confirm the death of the demon general, as when we tried approaching the entrenched location, the demons begin pouring out and are pushing us back. The hero and the troops are too weary to continue the battle, so the battle ended with a draw, and we got back to the safety of our border station.

The true problem arises when we return back to the kingdom. I put in the battle report to the king that we have managed to only draw with the demons. They managed to hold out our attack, and we attacked with almost three times their estimated numbers. We lost nearly half of our troops that we recruited in this campaign, and this will hamper our future campaign to push north and claim back the part of the fertile land that can solve our food problem and secure our land from potential demon threats.

Initially, we did well in the battle and the scout of the hero’s party managed to discover large buildup of demon forces near the border. The hero’s party managed to scuttle their attempts to invade the villages located near the border, and the king rallied sufficient forces behind it and now send them forward to repel back the demon forces and to start a campaign of conquest to recoup back the lands lost during the demon invasion 15 years ago. But now all this comes to a standstill and may incur the wrath of important people from many positions. The king will definitely shoot back the report, as we have the hero to assist us in the battle, and we have also relayed the early victories that the hero achieved to the king and the populace. I don’t dare to alter my report, as it may incur serious punishment if my altered report now is brought up in future meetings.

“General Sueza of the forward army, please come in” (royal announcer)

I entered the room nervously. All the main generals were lined up inside. The king always meets the main generals first because they are the main planner of any military campaign, and we, the forward generals are the executor of those plans. The king calls out to me to explain my report, and I did just that.

“In the report, you said that the demons have managed to hold back our advancement, and our losses are close to 40% of all our committed troops, am I correct?” (King Silgemuth)

“Yes” (General Sueza)

“An the cause you mentioned is because of a tactical error, am I correct?” (King Silgemuth)

“Yes” (General Sueza)

“I find it hard to believe your report, General Sueza. Hero’s party got cursed? Resurrection of the troops? Troops failed to regroup because they joined the Hero’s offensive. This is the first report that ever comes out like that” (King Silgemuth)

It seems that the news about the resurrection of our troops never reaches the ears of the king. The king doesn’t know anything at all of what happened on the battlefield. How can he be in the dark of all this if he’s to run the kingdom?

“If you want to write a report to cover your mistakes, try writing a better one, next life” (General Gramont)

“Wait, your majesty. I’m truly sorry for not writing a proper report. But what I wrote there is the truth” (General Sueza)

“Prove it” ” (King Silgemuth)

The royal announcer called out for witnesses to come forward and explain their story. The soldiers asked to come forward and tell what has happened had all conspired with the main generals, and even the hero and the hero’s party have all said the same thing, things that favour the report by the main generals and General Gramont.

“Enough. You would have to take the trial” (General Gramont)

“Anyone found writing a false claim or report to the king and couldn’t prove the truth, would have to take the trial” (royal lawmaker)

“Before that, may I know the report the others give to his majesty?” (General Sueza)

The king allowed it, and General Sueza read their report in his heart.

They reported that they were about to win the battle of pushing back the demon, and the missing of the mage’s sniping attack on the Demon general in the party cause the Hero to take over his duty to kill the Demon general, and in turn causing the demons to gain grounds and fight back the successful invasion of the human army. They also claim that the forward general’s poor command didn’t bring out the support from the rear quick enough and also the forward general has relinquished command of all troops in front to the hero, making the hero busy. The number of soldiers reported dead is also much lower, probably made up, and some are also resurrected earlier and joined the army back.

The trial is a test of luck, where there was two glass of wine, one laced with poison and one not. The poison is tasteless and colourless, and won’t show up in appraisal status when placed in trace quantity.

“Have a cup to prove your word and loyalty” (royal cup pourer)

Both cups and contents look the same to me. I tried using my low-level appraisal skill to at least give me a hint, but I get no difference. I felt nervous, as my life and honour are on the line here. I take the one on the right. I put it on my lips and drank a little of it. I feel nothing. They ask me to drink it all, and I was forced to do so. I felt bad about this. The soldiers shove the rest of the drink into my throat. I begin to feel nauseous, and throw out the content of the drink, together with some blood. It seems today I can’t meet my wife again. I will miss her face. I haven’t given anything yet to my baby boy who’s just learning to walk.

(Third Party’s POV)

During the hero’s fight with the Demon general, the other hero’s party members and the soldiers of the kingdom fought against the attacking demons. Many of the common soldiers lose their lives because the demons generally are better at combat skills and have higher stats. Ester the cleric couldn’t take it anymore and starts healing the soldiers together with her injured party members, against the wishes of hero Aaron. She tried to look for Adam the mage, but he’s now out of view.

Some of the fallen cavalries have also revived and is currently engaging the demon lord’s army at the flank. Battles are now engaged in a melee everywhere. The magical shield set up by the demon general and the blue light of mage’s Resurrection magic phenomena has settled and they all resumed their battle as if the previous battle is rewind and resumed. The orders of the forward generals to pull back and regroup are ignored, and everyone just continues with their battle.

(Hero Aarons’s POV, right after jumping in to fight Demon general)

I used my dash and quick movement skills to avoid getting hit from all sides and slay all my attackers. I use appraisal on the Demon general and noticed his stats and overall power is more than mine. It’s vexing, but if I train hard and level up more, I can overcome his overall power in the future if I want to face against the Demon Lord. For now, I use my semi-active skill “Against All Odds” to even the scales. The minatour, Lamias and Nagas are definitely strong foes, but this is another class on its own. Its magic is powerful, so I use the Aegis Shield against it. It’s smart that it uses magic indirectly where the Aegis shield couldn’t block and made me fall into his group of minions.

In a rush to defend myself, I activate the time-limited unique skill of “Against All Odds” and turn the table against the ambush. I killed all the demons that surround me, and I quickly dash forward to kill the demon general. Using this skill has some drawbacks and is limited in time, so I must make full use of it. I steadily gained my foothold on the Demon general, but it ran away last minute and uses his subordinates to hinder my chase. I bisect them all and continue to chase after the Demon general that ran out of some circles on the ground. That coward then ran back so fast to its stronghold and hide there like a worm. I intend to chase after him, but the attacks from the magic of the demons entrenched there is too strong that I can’t even move forward. My armour begins to crack and split under the heavy barrage, even though my resistance to magic is very strong, and is enhanced by my unique skill. Soon, my unique skill’s time is out, and I almost get to kill the Demon general. I was forced to retreat, and when I retreated away from the entrenchment, several large poles hit the entrenchment, killing or injuring the demons. The Demon general is probably dead, but somebody tried to steal my credit. I look at the support army, and a forward general I know commandeers it. There will be a repercussion.

I cannot let people think that I have any weaknesses. As a hero that aspires hope, I need to always be strong. That’s why this time, I would need someone to take the fall for me, and I would prefer the mage to be that person.

(Main General @ Gramont’s POV)

Finally, the battle continues in our favour. I never expect that someone from the hero’s party hold such a powerful card in their hands. Now that the tide has changed, we would be able to proceed with the battle without revealing any of our trump cards this time. Some of the support clerics are from the church so they may have some instruction from the Pope. HE did mention that the mage in the hero’s party is too dangerous, but I just see him as a loyal officer so far. He’s useful so far, and I can use him as a lynchpin to get the hero on my side.

General Sueza is quite a strong head righteous officer, though efficient. Too bad that he would have to go. Lacing both the cups with poison is easy, as many servants here listen to the queen. Replacing him with one that follows our orders obediently is possible, and makes our job easier. Making him the fall officer so that we can quell the anger of the public by putting the responsibility on his shoulder is also a good thing

Since getting on the good side of the hero and the Pope coincides, I will proceed to make the best use of the mage in the hero’s party for this purpose. If he has anything to blame, it would be his luck.