Tobias Sletten the king of Aregard looked like he was in his late-twenties now. He had erased over twenty years from his appearance and physical condition but this couldn't help him to calm the anxiety in his heart.
In this era of Planet Victus, militaries were handled differently than modern Earth. On Earth, each country had a standing army which was always ready to defend its interests. This was not the case on Planet Victus. The population was too small and there wasn't enough money to keep a large army. In times of war, recruiters would be sent out to the outlying towns and around the Capital to draft men of a certain age to fight for their kingdom.
Currently, this plan was in effect and the king had his recruiters combing the kingdom for able-bodied men to defend against the Trareniel Kingdom invasion. He had just received reports they had recruited approximately 2100 men who were in the capital or en route to it.
The Trareniel Kingdom had over three thousand men invading and he had not heard any reports in the past couple days on Duke King, his daughter Princess Alessandra, and Royal Cultivator Brom Duven. As time went by he began to worry. Are they still fighting the invaders or were they wiped out? If so were they able to escape?
The king began to curse himself for allowing his cherished daughter the heir to his throne to travel into such a risky battle. As these thoughts ate away at his confidence he looked up to see someone had entered the throne room.
It was Princess Alessandra and Royal Cultivator Duven who had just been dropped off outside the Royal Palace and they went straight to the throne room to report the situation to the king.
The king jumped off his throne when he saw them walking toward him.
"Your back so soon?! Did the invaders breakthrough then?! How much time do we have?!"
He nervously began questioning them before they had even reached him.
The princess and the royal cultivator almost didn't recognize him until he spoke out. The king looked like he could be Alessandra's older brother now and not her father. She decided not to mention it and chose to ease his worries first.
Alessandra flashed a reassuring smile as she answered him.
"Calm down father it is over already. Duke King's plan was a success, we were able to stop the invasion!"
"WHAT!?" The king couldn't believe what he heard and turned to Brom Duven who wore a wry smile as he nodded in agreement.
"It is just as the princesses have said, your highness. We waited at the southern bridge over the Sandy River and were able to defeat them all!"
"Defeated them all? What became of the three thousand troops, the royal cultivator's, and the mage?" The king was so shocked at the news all the tension was released from his body and he fell back onto the throne as his leg gave out under him.
Princess Alessandra and Duven began to explain the events that transpired. They told the king about the strange spell Ben used to create a fortification out of dirt that guarded the bridge crossing.
Duven began by describing the beginning of the battle to the king.
"The Duke had placed three hundred archers on top of a fifteen-foot earthen wall overlooking the bridge crossing. Below them, on the ground, he formed a line of just over one hundred men wearing armor that covered every inch of their bodies to guard against the enemy assault. The Trareniel army sent out a force of around one thousand men on their first wave against us which was a mix of archers and swordsmen. They had plans to use a ranged attack to dislodge us from our position. They would assume like most that since they sent out more archers this would be a feasible task. The problem for them was Duke King's archers were wielding a strange bow that allowed them to shoot at a distance much further than the enemy. As the enemy attempted to march into range to attack us our archers shot down over 80% of the attacking wave before they retreated back to their lines."
The princess nodding along picked up the explanation from there.
"When their first wave failed they decided to throw their entire force of two thousand plus soldiers at us. The royal cultivators and the mage had remained undiscovered as they approached the bridge. Once again Duke kings archers mercilessly began to rain arrows down on the enemy army. They began to lose shocking numbers of men and this forced the cultivators to make a move. We believe they had thoughts of breaking away from their troops to race into our lines and disrupt the archers as their troops continued forward, but Duke King raced out across the bridge faster than I ever seen anything move before. In a flash, he was across the bridge and waiting for royal cultivator Duven who joined him moments later. When the enemy cultivators saw the speed of Duke King they stopped obviously shocked to learn we had such a strong cultivator ready to confront them. When Brom had joined him Duke king launched a magical attack with lightning and fire that stopped the enemy cultivators in their tracks."
Royal cultivator Duven began to talk about what happened in the cultivator fight next.
"I could feel that Duke King was using his aura to suppress the two cultivators movements. When he found the weaker of the two he instantly attacked with a glowing fist that seemed to amplify his strength greatly. In a short weaponless fight, he knocked out his opponent. He then turned and attacked the cultivator I was engaged with from behind. I think his attack had snapped the enemy cultivator's spine. It was such a severe blow I could hear bones breaking from his strike. While the enemy was immobilized I stepped around him and broke his neck from behind. I still can't believe how quick the fight ended. Fights between cultivators are awe-inspiring duels that shake the heavens for hours on end. Duke King harmoniously blended magic and cultivation together and annihilated two royal cultivators in under five minutes and this is including the time it took him to cross that bridge and engage them!"
The princess once again spoke up.
"If that wasn't impressive enough just as the battle between the cultivators was beginning the invading army had reached the bridge and they were squeezing tightly together to cross it and attack our side. When the front of the tightly packed mass stepped onto the bridge they triggered a spell that Duke King had set to trap them. Hundreds of enemy men were suddenly thrown to incredible heights into the air. Those men plummeted to the ground and slammed down with such force that they died on impact. This unnerved the enemy and they took a long time to cross the bridge in fear of more of those traps. During this time our archers had not let up and continued to fire volley after volley of arrows into them. Once they reached the Duke King's armored men the enemy mage who remained hidden began to attack with columns of fire. He had killed a few of our defenders and would have done serious damage to our numbers. Just as the enemy mage began attacking twenty beautiful women also wearing black armor ran forward and launched lightning and fire into the enemy lines. The men protecting the mage fell quickly and the exposed mage was almost turned to ash by Duke King's magi squad."
Duven spoke up once again.
"When Duke King saw his men being attacked he left the area we had defeated the royal cultivators and charged into the rear of the enemy force and fought his way back to where his men were fighting." Duven explained.
"Yes, and when he reached our side he called me down to him from the wall and led me into the thick of battle. He remained close to me and allowed me to fight while watching my back for any hidden dangers. As we waded into the enemy he yelled out a command to his men and they ran behind the wall to mount these large creatures wearing black metal armor as well. When his men rode into the enemy on the bridge they were trampled or thrown into the fast currents of the Sandy River to drown." Alessandra related.
Duven nodded and spoke again, "While Duke King's mounted men drove the men into the center of the bridge, I moved to block the other end as best I could. The remaining enemy was quickly routed once they were surrounded. Those that chose to jump in the river sank with the weight they had on them those enemies who were able to get past me or make it to the shoreline soon were run down and killed by the mounted armored men with long metal spears." The royal cultivator Duven said.
The princess took over the story, "When the battle ended Duke King and Duven took the heads of the royal cultivators and the mage, Duke King also made an enormous funeral pyre to burn the enemy bodies. We thought that he was paying tribute to the fallen enemy but when I asked him about it he said it was called Psychological Warfare. When the enemy found out that everyone they sent into our kingdom has simply vanished it would scare the hell out of them he said. They would then begin to wonder what type of force existed in our kingdom that could wipe out their army so quickly and tremble in fear at the thought of us sending that frightening force against their kingdom." Princess Alessandra explained.
The king sank back into his throne after hearing the retelling of the battle, "By the gods! If it was not the two of you telling me this I would never believe such a tale. Just who is Duke King, he claims to be nineteen years old but he is so powerful and knows more about war than any of our military officers. We were lucky he had shown up in the city with his troops when he did. As of right now, our drafted men are headed to the capital but it will still be a couple days until they all arrive. Even with Scarlet's warning, we wouldn't have raised an army in time to defend the capital and the only reason we had this early warning was from what Duke King had said that morning outside the throne room. I can truly say if it wasn't for him we would be captured or dead right now. Duke King has saved the entire kingdom."
"Indeed sire he did save the kingdom but we did take some losses. The southernmost town on our border was sacked. The Trareniel bastards killed off most of the townspeople only a few were able to hide during the attack. We brought along the survivors after the town was purged of enemy troops." Royal cultivator Duven explained.
The princess then corrected him. "Well not everyone was brought back to Goldcrest. Duke King had saved a little girl who was hiding under her house. Four soldiers had tortured and killed her family and were staying in the house when the Duke found them. From what we heard outside the house the enemy inside did not meet a good end. The pain filled screams we heard will haunt my dreams for weeks I think. The Duke took it upon himself to rescue and foster the young girl. He plans to train her to become a cultivator and a mage like himself."
The king nodded while looking impressed by Ben's actions. He did not mind Ben caring for the girl even if she were a subject of his kingdom it would only be a long life of hardships for an orphaned girl on her own. She would now have a better life than her parents could ever have wished for her, it was only a shame she had to lose them for it to happen.
The king looked up from his thoughts toward his daughter and the royal cultivator and asked, "So how do we reward the savior of Aregard? A young man who saved everyone in the kingdom from certain death or enslavement?" The king asked unsure of what to do on such an occasion.
"That is a good question father. For starters maybe start by announcing to the kingdom that he is its savior. I know you try to avoid giving one noble more power than the others for fear of their faction growing too strong and having them get ideas of taking the crown. After seeing that battle though if Duke King had only twice the number of men he has now there would be no stopping him. One day he will be an unstoppable force and I am grateful that I can call him a friend and not an enemy today." Princess Alessandra responded.
The three of them all grew quiet as they began to think of what the future held for them with Duke King on their side.