We trekked through the forest for almost thirty more minutes. However, as I marched my army through the dense vegetation, I noticed some movement in the distance.
"I think I saw a Cloak," said Chloe.
"Do you think you can take them down?"
"If there's only one then it'll be easy."
It took a step back as Chloe summoned her {Platinum Sword} and ran towards the figure in the distance. It didn't seem like I was going to need to do anything for the time being. My three Elite Minions were standing by my side and my army of over 300 Minions was scattered behind me in between the trees.
A few moments later, Chloe returned with her blade slightly stained with red.
"I assumed we're getting quite close if there are Cloaks moving around here."
We continued our march forwards and I followed my Scout Minions which were leading the way.
Just a few minutes later, we caught sight of another Cloak walking around in the distance. Once again, I sent Chloe over to take them out. With a little miniature commotion and a few swings of her sword, the Cloak was defeated and she returned with what little spoils of war she managed to get from them.
"These guys barely have anything," she said.
"Well, I guess it's hard to split resources between so many people."
There was much I didn't know about the social structure of the Cloak society. Just based on my previous encounters, it seemed that the normal Cloak hardly had anything on their body at all times. A step up from that, the soldiers had only some wood and rocks and a few other random resources. Only when you got to the leaders, where you finally receive some decent loot from their death.
As we travelled forwards, we killed a few more stray Cloaks who were hanging around the forest. Around ten minutes later, there was a very large clearing at the end of the path we were walking. Behind the row of trees, there lay a large open space, just a little bit ahead of that, was a huge village, with people walking around everywhere.
"Are you ready?" I asked.
"I'm always ready~"
I moved all of my Archery Scout Minions and positioned them all on the edge of the forest, looking down at the settlement. I left Knight, with the {Minion Leadership} ability, to control them and provide supporting fire for the main troops.
Suddenly, it appeared that we had been noticed by the Cloaks and they were now frantically preparing to fight. They rushed around the settlement, grabbing weapons and forming units. In turn, I began bringing my main force to the front in preparation for the push.
On my command, all of my archery-oriented Minions began firing down at the settlement. Arrows rained down like a thunderstorm and the entire area was coated with an endless number of arrows. It was a scene right out of a medieval battle. The arrows fell upon the Cloaks who began dropping like flies as the arrows stabbed into their bodies.
Not long after however, they began making counter-preparations to defend themselves from my arrow rain. From shields to defensive systems, my attacks were getting less and less effective.
"It's about time to push."
I drew [Mayuri-Luc-Ei] and looked down at the Cloak settlement. They were very quickly adapting against my archers so I decided that it was time to enter. With my command, all of my Minions began charging down the hill at the same time. It was like an ant hill had been stood on and ants were flowing out of it like a waterfall.
Down the hill, my forces began scattering as combat broke out between our two sides.
Chloe had separated from me and was going in a different direction, I guess I'd be pushing straight through the middle as she took care of the sides. Bishop and Rook were still beside me so I sent them into the action.
Swords clashed on the boundary of their settlement. None of my Minions had made it into their village or their huts as they had a very large number of humans outside defending against my attack. Swords clashed as the entire area was filled with the sounds of shouting and fighting. It was so chaotic I could hardly tell what was going on.
I ordered several of my Minions nearby to push through a small gap in their line. With the help of Rook, I manage to create a small opening in their front line where I began funnelling troops into their village. They quickly sent more reinforcements over to try to push us back but I managed to make it through and I had now made it into their village.
I weaved around their huts as several Cloaks chased me through their settlement. I hid behind a hut as several Cloaks ran by. In one swing of my sword, I cut down three cloaks, and the people fell to the ground, holding their bodies in pain. I had no time to dwell on my kills however, there were already more people coming after me.
I was now in a position where I wasn't able to directly control my Minions. I sent a general command for them to increase their aggression and I also reactivated my Standard Flux.
{Standard Flux ACTIVATED - Duration: 30 seconds}
With no time to stand around, I continued to run between their huts. I was trying to find Callum and their main elite force. If I was able to take them down, then the entire battle would be as good as over. However, as I searched around the area, I was not able to find any sign of their existence.
Was it possible that they weren't situated here?
They definitely were, it was stated on the map and also just the pure number of people in this settlement should have implied that this was their main base. If they had another base with even more people, there would be no chance I would be able to defeat them.
I took out the Cloaks who were chasing me and continued to look around the area.