As the battle of both flanks furiously accelerated toward their bloody climax, the center was still trapped in the quagmire of brutal struggle and merciless slaughter!
And the reason for that was the battle mages. Since unlike Georgios who fractured the strength of his battle mages, by dispersing them across the whole battle field, Alexander consolidated their strength in the center.
So instead of the three thousand Eclipse battle mages desperately wrestling against the five thousand Luminous battle mages in a hopeless struggle, they are now leisurely dominating against a mere splinter of their original strength, which didn't include more than two thousand foes.
But even with such a great advantage, they couldn't stop the advance of tens of thousands of elite Luminous soldiers!
***Scene Change***
I stood calmly atop the camp palisade as I listened to the report of the anxious messenger saying "Our battle mages have completely overwhelmed the enemy battle mages, and inflicted disastrous damage to them! But the Luminous Empire has now deployed their infantry in a fast and loose formation, that greatly decreased our mages' effectiveness! It won't be long before they reach us, my liege!"
A murderous glint flashes through Hamilcar's eyes upon hearing this as he emotionlessly says "It's time, your majesty. We can't delay the usage of our trump card any longer."
My lips are etched into a ruthless smile as I nod in agreement to Hamilcar's words, as I quickly order "Withdraw the battle mages, and have them rest for now. Also tell Horus to ready his men to charge."
Then I turned to a tall, bald man, with an intimidating physique that was clearly sculpted after years of intense labor, and a thick grey beard, wearing a simple, yet dirty white linen shirt, brown pants and boots that reach just below his knees, and chillingly asked "Are you done with the preparations, Cannon-Master Orhan?"
Orhan cackles maniacally as his black eyes turn into bottomless pits of obsession, intelligence, madness and intrigue, as he eerily says "Of course! You just need to give the word, and my darlings will finally begin their serenade, boss-man!" All the surrounding men showed uncomfortable expressions, upon hearing the way he addressed me, while I completely disregarded it, since I honestly found it refreshing.
I ignore the men's dissatisfaction as I amusedly say "Then begin your symphony, Cannon-Master. I'm sure the Luminous soldiers are eager to hear it." Orhan once again creepily cackled as he deeply bowed, before swiftly dashing to his position in unmasked euphoria.
As the officers gazed at his departing figure from the corner of their eyes, one of them asked in utter confusion "Why did you promote that mad imbecile to a position as important, and crucial as the Cannon-Master, my liege?"
I softly chuckle, before seriously replying "Do not be fooled by his odd demeanor. He may be mad, but he is no imbecile. In reality, Orhan is a true diamond in the rough! And I assure you, that he will become an indispensable part of our military in the future."
All the officers showed a confused, and unconvinced expression as another said "I felt nothing like that from him, when I looked at him earlier."
I calmly say with an amused expression "That's because you looked at him through the lens of a warrior and a general, and in that regard he would indeed fail, since his martial talent is basically non-existent. But the moment you see him through the eyes of a monarch, you would be blinded by his radiant talent! But if you still remain unconvinced, then just wait for a little while, and behold his ability and worth with your own eyes."
Hearing this most of them were satisfied, but a few still wanted to argue, but before they could, Hamilcar glanced at them from the corner of his eye, and all of them without exception fell to their knees, as they felt death's cold embrace tightly hold them, as it quietly whispered their tragic demise with it's putrid breathe.
***Scene Change***
Orhan ran like a man possessed to the far side of the camp, where he spotted his men laughing merrily as they lazily sat on the ground. Seeing this he furiously roared "What the hell are you doing?! Get up! Get up now, you sloths! The boss finally allowed my darlings to begin their melodious chorus, and you're all just sitting there?! Quickly ready my beauties, and don't you dare do anything that will hinder their performance!"
The men quickly scattered in all directions, as they hurried to load the massive cannons, that have stayed dormant since the beginning of the campaign. Very quickly the stench of alchemical potions, herbs and metal permeated through the air, as the men loaded the great metal behemoths.
Orhan deeply breathed in the smell, creating a large satisfied grin on his face. Seconds later, his right hand man, who also happened to be his eldest son, arrived and loudly said "Father, all the Basilisk Cannons are ready."
As soon as Orhan heard his son's words, he replied "Perfect! We shall start off slow today, lad. FIRE THE FIRST VOLLEY!"
Hearing this the gun crews immediately complained by saying "But sir, what are we shooting at? We can't see a thing through this damn fog!"
Hearing this Orhan angerly yelled back "JUST FIRE!"
Terrified by Orhan's mighty roar, they didn't dare to dally any longer as they quickly lit the fuse, and unleashed the Basilisk Cannons' might! Eighty metal orbs wreathed in fire and heralded by thunder, majestically tore through the sky, before violently smashing the earth, and decorating it with the haunting howls of the dead, and the crimson blood of the injured.
As soon as the cannons finished, Orhan stomped his foot furiously on the ground as he said "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! It's all WRONG! Cannon team one, my spit has more destructive power than your cannon! Fix it immediately!"
"Yes, sir!" Cannon team one quickly replied.
Orhan continued "Cannon team two! Did you think I won't notice? You obviously only oiled my darling twice, not three times! Oil it again this instant! And until we return home from this war, you are punished by oiling every cannon we have!"
"But sir..." Before Cannon team two could even continue, Orhan wrathfully interrupted "If you dare give excuses, I will have you flogged!" Which immediately shut them up.
"Cannon team three..." Orhan kept giving instructions to all eighty cannon teams, as his son ran around to supervise them. And a few minutes later the Basilisk Cannons once again spewed their hellish attack upon the Luminous soldiers, and causing their nightmarish screams to echo across the plains.
But even then Orhan shook his head in displeasure as he again began to instruct "Cannon team one, change your aim thirty two degrees to the right. Cannon team two... Cannon team three..."
"Yes, sir." The men replied enthusiastically.
And this situation kept on repeating until the fifth salvo, when finally Orhan nodded in satisfaction. Causing the men under him to cheer loudly, but it was quickly stopped when Orhan loudly ordered "Reload!"
Hearing this, his men quickly asked "We're going to fire again, sir?"
Orhan shook his head and cryptically said with a mysterious smile "We will, but not right now. After all, we can't hog all the fun, now can we?"
***Scene Change***
The Luminous soldiers in the center originally believed that this battle would a simple walk in the park for them, and why wouldn't they? After all they had more men, and were fully rested and fed, meanwhile the enemy should be on their last few supplies, and will barely even put up a fight. But reality proved to be far different!
After the crushing defeat of their battle mages, they were subjected to a literal downpour of terrifying spells, that reaped the souls of hundreds if not thousands of elite Luminous soldiers. But that was merely the opening act, to a far more tragic play!
When the Eclipse battle mages withdrew the Luminous soldiers initially celebrated, believing that victory was close at hand, but how wrong they were, since this was the herald to an even greater calamity that was about to descend upon them!
Soon after the retreat of their enemy, they heard the echoing sound of thunder, which perplexed them since there wasn't even a single cloud in the sky.
Which prompted many of them to look at their comrades and ask uncertainly "Cloudless Thunder?"
But before they could come to an answer, an object that was undistinguishable by the naked eye, due to it's ridiculous speed, cratered into the earth, pulverizing everything that stood in it's way, and creating a haunting yet beautiful painting of brown and red. And this happened again and again, with each time becoming more dreadful than the last.
But this still was not the end of their harrowing experience. Because as soon as the bombardment stopped, and the Luminous soldiers could once again feel the flower of hope blooming in their chests, it was mercilessly crushed, when Horus led his ten thousand men into a ruthless charge, of their now destroyed front line!
The Luminous soldiers tried to hold the enemy back, but they were nothing more than a pebble thrown into a ragging river, and were swept away by the merciless tide.
Meanwhile the Eclipse soldiers led by Horus became wolves amongst helpless sheep, as they wantonly killed all they saw, and whenever the Luminous soldiers would start to offer them a sibilance of resistance, they would withdraw, causing the furious Luminous soldiers to recklessly chase after them, only to be met with the spells and projectiles of the battle mages, and the Basilisk Cannons, and after a while Horus would once again lead his men to charge, causing this horrific loop of slaughter to never end!
***Scene Change***
Georgios still stood in his camp, worriedly staring at the endless white mist that obstructed his vision, but did nothing to hide the mortifying screams of his men, and causing his anxiety and worry to reach new heights with each passing second, and each disastrous report he received, as he thought 'This is a disaster! If even the center is being slaughtered in such a one sided manner, then I can only assume the worst for the situation on the flanks!'
Reaching this point in his thoughts, he looked at Lucas and asked urgently "Still no report from the Vanar brothers?"
Lucas simply shook his head, with a very uneasy expression. Seeing this Georgios sighed heavily as he began donning his armor and weapons. Seeing this Lucas quickly exclaimed "My lord, what are you doing?"
Georgios calmly replied "It's clear now that the Eclipse emperor has played us for fools, and our only hope now would be for me to defeat Hamilcar as fast as possible, and capture their monster of an emperor." Lucas was not shocked by Georgios's words, since he has also come to the same conclusion.
Georgios then looked at Lucas and seriously said "If I'm unable to defeat Hamilcar, or you still don't receive any news from either Luthor or Heinrich in the next half an hour, then you are to immediately order the whole army to withdraw back to the safety of the camp, understood?"
Lucas seriously saluted and said resolutely "Understood, my lord."
Georgios nodded to him as he saluted back and dashed to the battlefield as he unleashed the full might of his aura, as he thunderously roared "HAMILCAAAARRR!"