Even so, the difference in the number of the deceased was not too much of a difference, so it didn't weaken the Esel too much. The fact that the Mariz force was defeated, even though they were able to retreat while suffering from little casualties is the more sensational news.
The spread of the news resulted in most of the cities of the Marirz Barony suffering from riots, as the populace feared for their life and asked the leader of their towns and cities to surrender when the invasion force came knocking on their doors.
The attempt of the leaders to calm down their subjects was often met with failure, no thanks to several spies and saboteurs of the Esel Barony making things even worse. Some of the leaders were even swayed by the Esel Barony, hoping to change sides and not lose their power in case the Esel Barony won the war.
While the first engagement was not significant in the grand scheme of things, it was the one that set the mood, with the Esel emerging victorious over the Mariz. In other words, it made the Mariz suffer an overwhelming disadvantage despite the two forces being equal.
-x-
"Those sheep truly believe in everything that is spread by the news," the ancestor of the Maza Family complained, annoyed by the news that he heard. The Maza family has businesses all across the barony so they are the ones to receive information of what happening in the barony the fastest among the Great Families, comparable to even the intelligence network of the Baron himself.
"Don't blame them, most of them were regular people, with most of them didn't even have cultivation, so they would worry about such things. We should focus on how to make sure the leaders of the towns and cities from turning against us instead," the ancestor of the Hal Family reprimanded his old friend, the ancestor of Maza Family letting out a begrudged agreement.
"He is correct. We should make sure the town and city lords did not defect to our enemies' side. But first, what is the report from the battlefield?" the Baron said, before looking at the ancestor of the Gurdon Family, the one in charge of making sure the higher-ups would receive the news at the frontline.
"It remained the same, our side slowly losing ground while inflicting more and more casualties on the enemy's army. However, the increasing number of reinforcement had made the effect of the skirmishes become significant as the number of their dead was constantly replaced with new soldiers while we did not send in reinforcement except for soldiers coming in from different parts of the territory,"
Hearing the report, the Baron couldn't help but frown. "They must be receiving support from the other forces under the Moras Kingdom. Or they had already increased their armies for a long time to prepare for this invasion,"
The Baron's speculation caused the group to let out a worried sigh. If it was the former, it would be the best as the other nations would not send too many soldiers in fear of weakening themselves. If it was the latter, however-
Nonetheless, they needed to do their best to win this war or all their efforts in the past 4 decades would go to waste. While their opponent is a nation founded a century ago and has a lot of means, doesn't mean a young nation like them didn't have a trick or two, especially with the resources extracted from the secret realm.
"We wait for a little longer, see if they have any secret weapons. If not, then we would unleash our own," the Baron decided, the other ancestor giving their leader a nod.
-x-
On the 4th day of the war, it remained the same, as soldiers engaged in small skirmishes with some more intense battles occurring in the middle and later part of the day. This resulted in the early part of the day being slightly peaceful, at least compared to the other times during this war.
Even so, no side dropped their guard down, resulting in a patrolling squadron of the Mariz Barony spotting something out of the ordinary. The squad leader was barely able to sound the alarm, as he was killed quickly, along with the rest of his group.
Similar things happened all across the frontline, making the Mariz Barony frontline waver slightly due to the unexpected attack.
-x-
"What!? A powerful beast suddenly attacked our patrol units?" one of the generals of the Mariz Barony asked, looking at the man reporting the incident.
"Yes, general. We received a quick message before the patrol squad went down," the man nodded, making the general realize the gravity of the situation.
"Make sure the rest of our forces knew about it now. This is likely a tactic used by the Esel force," the man nodded before he contacted the rest of the higher-ups, warning them of the fate of the patrolling soldiers.
"What are those bastards planning?"
-x-
The Mariz Barony forces decided to reduce the distance of the patrol, not wanting to lose more soldiers to the beast's assault. While this would result in them being blinded in terms of reconnaissance, it would result in fewer deaths, as well as getting some info on the beast's attack.
One of the patrol units soon moved outside their patrol route. These sudden changes resulted in the beast's converging towards the group, though the result was something that the Esel forces did not expect.
-x-
When the beasts reached the patrolling squad, they only found a single person looking around, akin to a lost person more than a soldier patrolling. The beasts didn't care, however, as they converged on the person.
As for the young man, he merely gazed at them before spikes of earth impaled most of the beasts, ending their lives immediately. The beasts that managed to escape from being impaled meet the fate of having plants growing from the ground and strangling them.
The beasts tried to vainly escape, only to have their bodies impaled by the thorns growing from the plants, along with some of the plants absorbing their blood akin to a tick. The young man merely looked at the massacres without a care, before he found something more interesting.
"How about that?" he said as he quickly tore one of the beasts apart, revealing a soldier of the Esel Barony. He did the same to the others, though there were no other soldiers.
"Looks like I found some interesting thing, I hope it would be some use to those guys," Ryker said before leaving the battlefield, heading towards the headquarters of the Mariz Barony.