The clash of swords and shields kept going between the Djinn Kingdom and the Lorope Empire north of the Castle of Remna.

The hands of the remaining two Elites trembled. Their feet were also afraid to take any step further against their foe, Vizier Kaljar.

The Vizier had beaten three Elites despite being outnumbered four to one. His body was covered in exhaustion, sweat, and blood, but his spirit shined.

"Hurry up," said the Vizier. "Do you want to fight me or not?"

Vizier Kaljar was not in the best position either. He was too exhausted to fight the remaining two Elites. Sure he could beat them. But at this point, Kaljar would rather save his energy for the rest of the conflict.

The two Elites wanted to run away from Kaljar as fast as they could. But Lustratous had ordered them to kill the Vizier at any cost. If they could not, then he would kill them instead.

If they attacked Kaljar, they would probably die, and if they ran away from him, then Lustratous would still kill them. Both routes lead to their death. What could the two Elites do? Is there a third option?

The two remaining Elites looked at one another, nodded, and tossed both their weapons on the ground at the same time.

"We surrender," said the two Elites.

The words took seconds to process in Kaljar's brain.

Surrender? He thought. What a surprise...

"I did not expect this," Kaljar said with a grin. "So you realized that fighting me is futile."

"I hate to admit it," said the shield Elite Ritra. "But you are correct."

"This is our only option to stay alive," said the sword Elite Ivra.

"You have also tossed your weapons down..." said Kaljar. "That is the correct way indeed to surrender."

"Tell that to our Emperor," said the sword Elite Ivra. "He does not know the basics of surrender."

"Do not blame the emperor," said the shield Elite Ritra. "I blame myself for serving someone like him."

Kaljar laughed.

So there is a great division within the Lorope Empire, he thought.

"Come with me," said Kaljar as he pulled up his axe from the head of the deceased mace Elite Lurt. Kaljar had drilled it into his head a while ago.

Kaljar climbed into a horse and ordered the surrendered Elites to do the same. The Elites followed obediently. They had no choice since returning to the Lorope army would result in their deaths.

Lustratous you have made another mistake, Kaljar thought. You gave me two of our best men for free. You should not have threatened to kill them.

Kaljar got a sense of how the battle had unfolded thus far as he rode his horse to reach the banner holder of the Djinn army. Very few Djinn soldiers were slain compared to Lorope, yet the size of the Lorope army was still higher.

The armies were barely clashing one another at present. Instead, each army gathered itself up to form a single large formation. The Djinn army was quicker with its formation since it was smaller and already organized in small cohort groups.

Kaljar noticed that the Djinn army followed the normal formation; shield cohorts at the front, sword cohort at the middle, and bow cohort at the back.

So far so good it seems, Kaljar thought.

Things were different on the Lorope side. While they gathered themselves in a single formation, it was unlike anything Kaljar had seen before. The shield cohort was at the front, but it did not form a horizontal line.

Instead, the shield cohorts formed two diagonal lines to create a V-shape in front of their army. Thus, looking at the Lorope army from a birdseye view would make it look like two sides of a triangle. In it, the shield cohorts occupy the two horizontal legs of the triangle. Behind the shield cohorts were the sword cohorts and the bow cohorts in the usual formation.

What is Lustratous planning? Kaljar thought.

Kaljar had obviously read about Lustratous strategies. Lustratious liked to create new army formations that were never seen before in previous conflicts.

Even fifteen years ago during the Three-Year-War Lustratous divided his whole army into thin, separated lines ordered them to intercept the Djinn enemy. It did not work out, which made it quite a laughable idea.

The current shape of the two armies would thus be triangle shaped for the Lorope army, with its tip aimed at the standard square-shaped Djinn army.

Lustratous is planning something new once again, Kaljar thought. I hope that it is not something devastating like the cannons that he used to topple the Castle of Remna. And if that is the case, I will have to quickly command the army for Lajek is still inexperienced.

Kaljar reached the back of his army. The bow cohorts were cheerful on seeing him alive.

"It is Vizier Kaljar!" shouted a Djinn soldier.

"He got two Elites with him?" wondered another.

"He beat those invincible Elites?"

"Our Vizier is unbeatable!"

After about a minute Kaljar reached the banner holder of the Djinn army. The banner looked the same as the Djinn flag.

It is normal for soldiers sometimes to lose the location of their army. The tall banners exist to guide those lost within the conflict to where their core army is located.

Beside the banner holder was the lion statue holder and the top commanders with Lajek leading them.

The lion statue is a sign of good luck. It has been in use ever since the first campaign of King Justinian the Second thirty years ago.

If the banner holder and the lion statue holder were captured by the enemy, then it meant that the whole Djinn army is in terrible shape. Thus, the banner and statue holders must be protected at all costs.

"Vizier," said Lajek with a subtle kneel. "It is great to see you alive. I will bring someone to treat your wounds."

"Thanks, but too bad I could not kill Lustratous," said Kaljar.

"Are you mad?" shouted Lajek. "Why did you fight alone? What could have happened to our army if you died?"

"Sometimes one has to go mad," said Kaljar. "I managed to kill three and capture two of The Six Elites. Look behind you, look at their sad faces. Also, bring someone to chain them."

The two Elites looked at Lajek and the rest of the Djinn army with ashamed eyes as if they have never done something right in their whole lives.

Lajek looked glad but was pissed off. He wanted to lecture his Vizier about not fighting alone like this ever again. But he could not deny that Kaljar had delivered a major blow to the Lorope army. Beating five of the six Elites will ruin the morale of the whole Lorope army."

"Now what is the war condition?" asked Kaljar.

"Better than expected," replied Lajek. "After the surprise stab I swiftly organized our army into small groups, but theirs was scattered. I think it is because Lustratous was busy with you. That gave us a large advantage to kill a few thousand. While they currently outsize us by just a half army, it is way better than when they tripled our army size."

"Good," said Kaljar. "But do you have any idea what is that?"

Kaljar pointed at the unusual triangle formation of the Lorope army.

"This is what I have been discussing with the rest of the strategists beside me," said Lajek. "We think it is a formation designed to break up our own formation into two separate groups."

The tip of a sword can separate a stone into two. Lajek likewise assumed that the tip of the Lorope triangle formation is also meant to separate the Djinn army into two. Doing so would put the Djinn army at a much weaker position.

But achieving such a feat is difficult and quite risky.

The tip of the Lorope army has to be unshakable to be able to divide all the Djinn forces into two. If the Djinn army managed to create a single crack in the tip of the Lorope formation, then the Lorope army would end up in a huge mess. Lorope may even end up losing the conflict.

"Can they achieve that?" asked Kaljar. "Can they split us into two?"

"That is unclear," said Lajek. "They used this unusual weapon called the cannon to overthrow the Castle of Remna. So they may have another unusual weapon in their sleeves."

"If that is the case then we are doomed," said Kaljar.

On the Lorope side, Lustratous shouted orders about the new triangle formation. It was almost complete.

"What is left now is Elite Manu?" said Lustratous. "Where is he?"

Elite Manu is the last Elite under Lustratous. The rest have either surrendered or got killed by Vizier Kaljar.

Manu is always off somewhere, Lustratous thought. I wanted to demote him, but he is the key to this formation.

Suddenly large foot was heard shaking the ground. Most of the Lorope army turned left toward the sound, including Lustratous.

Calling Manu a giant would not be an overestimation, for his body was double the size of a large human. Putting Manu side by side to normal adults would make them look like children.

"Aaah, Manu slept well," said the giant Elite Manu while rubbing his belly. "But next time lower your voices."

"Manu where have you been?" shouted Lustratous. "Do not you know we are in a war?"

"Manu knows, but Manu was sleepy. He slept behind a large stone over there," Manu pointed at a large stone far away from the war.

"Whip him thrice," said Lustratous to a soldier named Balkan beside him.

"Yes sir," replied Balkan as if he got used to it. He untied a very thick black whip from his shoulder and whipped Manu three times as Lustratous had ordered.

Manu can only be disciplined by a very thick whip, thought Lustratous. A regular human-sized whip cannot harm him.

"Ouch, no, ouch," Manu complained. "Manu is sorry. Manu never sleeps again."

"All the better," said Lustratous. "Give him the Link Shield."

"Yes sir," answered Balkan.

After a minute, Balkan came with three other soldiers holding a huge V-shaped shield. They dropped the Link Shield near Manu like a large stone.

It was huge, designed to cover most of Manu's oversized body. It was also thick, about four times the width of a standard shield. It can withstand a lot of punishment from the enemy.

The Link shield was essentially two large metal plates welded together to form a V-shape, or two legs of a triangle.

"Oh Manu's old toy," Manu said with a joyful face. "Can I keep it Lusto?"

"It is Lustratous," said the Emperor. "Whip him twice."

"Ouch, sorry Manu never forgets your name again," said Manu while rubbing his swollen back. "Lustratous, Lustratous, Lustratous..."

It is as if am babysitting a kid, Lustratous thought.

"Train on saying my name elsewhere and wear your armor," said Lustratous. "Then head to the front of the army and attach the Link Shield to the cohort shields."