Cyrus, now in an extremely familiar position, waited a distance away from where the main battlefield would take place. He was crouched low on a hill using his trusty spyglass to view the fight ahead of him. At his side were two of the Miles, in place to help him kill the inevitable stragglers that would come his way when the enemy breaks.
The battlefield was an open area just a mile or two in front of the start of a series of small forests that dotted the inner southern region landscape of the Empire. The deer, in their newfound lust for anything alive, ended up chasing the scouts quite far out of their natural habitat. Cyrus looked to his companions side, currently broken into two groups that were about to begin circling the enemy, with interest as the battle began.
---(Battle POV)
With a roar Gabriel led his men in a charge towards the mutated deer, breaking off at the last moment to instead circle around them while reaching for his Javelins. With an eagle eye, he spotted and memorized the positions of each of the large bucks (male deer) as he reached for his projectiles of choice. With inhuman speed, he launched each heavy piece of sharpened steel towards his targets. With a small burst of sound each time, the javelins hurtled towards the bucks with accuracy that may lead any uniformed observers to believe that Gabriel was in fact an Aero mage. As the javelins met their targets, a sickening crunch could be heard as it pierced through the bucks enlarged and deformed head. In the javelin went one end, out the javelin came the other with the buck dropping dead without fail.
Not only did each throw guarantee the death of the first buck it came into contact with, but the projectile was thrown with such strength and skill that each and every one also scored at least two collateral hits. One javelin even scored four kills at once, which made the spectating Cyrus ponder if Gabriel could match a siege weapon if he were throwing from the ground. Behind Gabriel was his three battle brothers: Unas, Tribum, and Deus who were also displaying godly accuracy and instantly killing bucks left and right, scoring collaterals that were only a little inferior to Gabriels'. Not wanting to be outdone, the scouts with their experience and pride sped up their rate of fire as well. While they did not have the superhuman ability of the Legionaries they made up for that with their numbers while also maintaining near perfect accuracy amidst the heat of battle. While they did not score collateral after collateral, they were able to almost maintain pace with their sheer force of numbers. Beside them were the now 10 Miles, while they were not skilled enough to launch javelins on horseback still contributed by skewering any deer that strayed to close with their spears.
Perhaps the most surprising out of them all, however, was Fauve the Venator who had produced a short bow with visible rune carving, that were currently glowing a dim mystical light. Fauve took impossible shot after impossible shot, with each arrow he fired seeming to have a will of its own as it slotted perfectly through the eye of buck after buck killing them instantly. As if showing off, he began rapid firing the arrows only aiming for a fraction of a second. Noticing how cool Gabriel and his battle brothers looked, Fauve took it as a personal challenge as he started shooting multiple arrows at once with each zipping in the air. A few missed here and there, but overall his rate of killing was far outperforming any other single combatant. As they began to run out of ammunition, Gabriel raised one of his hands while giving another war cry, signaling the next phase of the plan.
With the next phase starting, Adara released an immense spell that was also her unique personal spell she had created, Valkyrie. The spell affected each and every allied combatant on the field, completely refreshing them of their tiredness, healing any wounds they may have acquired, while also granting them a powerful energy reserve that they could tap into. Cyrus had learned of this from Adara and he knew that this energy reserve was not something as simple as allowing them to exhibit strength greater than normal, instead it was as if the Emperor himself was granting them the power of war incarnate.
They could heal their wounds as they received them, they could strengthen each and every one of their blow, or they could burn it all in a burst which temporarily rendered them into what could only be described as the mythological Valkyrie: an unstoppable human war machine that knew no fear, no retreat, and no mercy. With the spell cast, the formation gained some distance from the now greatly damaged herd before equipping themselves with their spears. With one last charge, they collided with the herd with unfathomable force and evident strength. Cato's old retinue led the charge, with the reduction of Adara who fell back after casting her spell. Cato's close friends and companions were the most eye catching of all, easily slaughtering the herd wherever which they want. With a long polearm that never even budged, they ran through deer after deer easily skewering them. With a small motion at the end of every piercing, they expertly shoved the fallen off the end of the weapon so as to readily slaughter the next. With the rest of the troop behind them, also joining in on the slaughter but not quite as effective as the Legionaries and Venator, they easily smashed right through the herd leaving nothing but trampled corpses in their wake.
With two more charges of similar effect, the herd was utterly broken. Not having been completely mutated yet, they still had some semblance of the emotion known as 'fear' within them. When faced with the war incarnate in front of them, they finally broke and fled in various directions. With a quick cheer, the riders also split into smaller groups chasing down each and every one of the deer possible. One of the groups of fleeing deer inevitably ended up fleeing towards Cyrus, as Gabriel had predicted.
Cyrus beckoned the two Miles towards him and quickly used his small will reserves to apply liquid death essence to the tips of their spears.
"This will ensure even the smallest of cuts will kill. This should allow you to spend less effort and easily take on that group by yourselves." The two Miles looked at Cyrus in surprise, as they had not expected someone as green as him to be able to provide such a useful tool for them. With thanks they charged off on their horses, to have their share of the fun and steering the enemy away from Cyrus.
"I would also like to join in and practice fighting these Brutum, alas, I have no idea how to fight on horseback. One of the many things I need to rectify in the future…" thought Cyrus slightly downcast.
Nevertheless, the slaughter of the shattered mutated herd continued until all but a few that had luckily escaped were taken care of.
With that, the battle had concluded. Those who partook in the fighting gathered together and rode their now dead tired mounts towards Cyrus. They quickly and silently starting setting up camp, before each and everyone one of them almost immediately fell asleep from exhaustion. Exempt from this were the Legionaries, who had long conditioned themselves to be able to fight in battle after battle; Adara, who only used a little over half of her will reserves; and finally Fauve, who was noticeably tired but that was perhaps not due to his overall stamina but his almost reckless use of an extremely taxing weapon in his efforts to show off.
Regardless, camp was made and the horses were led to feast and rest. After which, they all relaxed and rested themselves… trying not to think about the massive battlefield cleanup they would have to undergo when they awoke. As all fell asleep, only Cyrus and Gabriel were still awake. The latter awake as he was the first on watch while the former was opening up a bottle of wine and downing some in his tent.
"I had thought that I had long grown accustomed to violent events. Today's bloody affair resurfaces memories I had not thought on for awhile, such as the feeling of personally ending a mans life. The crunch as I broke their ribs, the sound of slicing through flesh, and the sight of witnessing a man slowly die…" Cyrus put on the mask for a moment before continuing his thoughts, "but such thinking is ultimately pointless. When someone wishes to harm or kill me then I must respond in kind, it is as simple as that. While I may not become fully numb to it, I will eventually become acclimated towards it. If some of my guesses are correct, a bloody path is waiting for me." Cyrus then took off the mask, with barely a change in his tension due to the short duration, before downing the rest of the wine he had poured himself. Cato's teachings proving effective once more, Cyrus slowly drifted off to sleep.