One Week Later
Margrave Empire
Northern Military Outpost
In a Military Outpost on the border of Tevron , the Northern State of Margrave.
Supreme General of Margrave, Varrion Coridion had called his four Generals to a meeting.
General of Torrion, Drogo
General of Tartion, Faustus
General of Tamron, Maria
General of Tevron, Torin
"It's been a while since we've all been in one room together." Drogo said. He had his feet up on the table and his arms behind his head. "It's nice. It means something fun will happen."
"This is different from all those stupid battles you cause in the south Drogo. This is war!" Maria said.
"Oh trust me, I know! That's why it's fun." Drogo said and snickered.
"You should learn to differentiate between work and fun Drogo." Torin said in a condescending manner.
"Huhn. Look who's talking!" Drogo exclaimed and banged his hand on the table. "If I was General of Tevron, I would have taken most of Minora before they had the chance to put up their stupid wall!"
"Which is exactly why you are not the General of the North. Do you really think the Amazons you face in the south are the same as the Monsters in the north? Monsters would eat you up before you could even take a single grain of sand from their land."
"Is that the excuse you like to tell yourself, Torin?!"
"Enough! General Varrion called us all here. Let him speak!" Faustus declared.
"It's okay Faustus." Varrion said. "It has been a while. Let them catch up. Let them get it out of their system. Because after this, I don't want any more arguments. Understood?"
"Yes sir!" They all replied.
"And are you done arguing?"
"Yes sir!"
"Then let us begin. I brought one million soldiers north from the capital. And I expect you all did the same as I ordered."
"Yes General. We brought a million soldiers each to this outpost as you ordered."
"Good." Varrion said and nodded. "Officially, Prince Theo is leading the war. But as he is still too inexperienced, so we will have to support him."
"Of course General." The Generals affirmed.
"We will begin our march north today, but we will split up our forces. Prince Theo, Torin and I will take a million soldiers ahead first. The rest of you will follow with the remaining four million soldiers two days march behind us."
"Then how do you plan on handling the wall? Will the fight be a siege or...?" Faustus asked.
"It depend on how the monsters decide to face us. If they will stay holed up behind their wall or come out to face us. Our spies have reported that the wall is thick and reinforced with metal and magic. So it would be better if they came out and faced us."
"They will." Torin said. "Monsters are like that."
"Hmm. Then that will be good. We will face them with half a million forces. And after defeating them, will bring the remaining army forward and take the fort. Then we march forward and take as much land as we can. Any village or town on our path will be destroyed and once we have occupied enough land, we can begin to erect our own defensive structures. After that we continue to attack and take as much land as we can until the king is satisfied."
"Will half a million soldiers be enough to handle the soldiers they will bring out to face us? How many defend the fort?" Maria asked.
"Spies report only about ten thousand for now, but once they know we are coming, the will increase their numbers to at least a million." Torin reported. "As the monsters were always separated, we do not know their population at all. But we can guess that their fighting force is as much as ours. Maybe even more. Since after their unification, their empire is now the largest in the whole continent."
"Hehehe! I wish I could be with the main force that takes the fort. I haven't had a decent battle in a long time." Drogo complained.
"Once the fort is taken, you can have as many battles as you want." Varrion said.
"But first we have to take it. And I don't think half a million is enough General."
"Don't worry too much Torin. We have a special weapon coming. One that no monster can touch."
"Alright. Then I will only say this. No matter what you think you know about monsters, one thing is true. They are strong. Regardless of what realm of power a human is, a monster one level below may still win. And even the exceptional ones can win against warriors two levels above them. Do not underestimate them. I have scars to prove it. And those scars are from warriors of their minor clans. The major clans are even stronger."
"If you say that, then we will have to listen. We know how strong you are and how long you have spent fighting them. We will listen to your warnings." Faustus said.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
A knock was heard at the door.
"Generals. The army is ready." A soldier came in and reported.
"Let us depart." Varrion announced.
The generals stood up and went outside the building.
Lined up neatly into their different divisions were the five million soldiers were all standing at attention.
Prince Theo who was given his own quarters in the outpost came out from the building after the generals and faced the soldiers. He was dressed in full gold plated armour.
Theo looked around and started. "Many, many years ago, this land and all that was north of it belonged to us. But during the Great War of Seven Flags, many of us were forced to run and abandon our land. And after the war, the lands were lost. Our ancestors tried for many years to regain their lands but failed. And now the north has decided to unite against us on our land. But we will not accept that! We will not accept defeat! We will fight! We will retake our lands and we will drive the monsters back to the Northern mountains where they belong!"
The soldiers cheered loudly at their prince as he raised his right fist up in the air.
Theo turned to Varrion and said. "Lets go."
*
*
*
Northern Empire
The White Palace
It had been ten days since Ash and I visited all the fun spots in Millis. After that we came back to the palace and have been working since.
We have been preparing for war. We made sure weapons were enough, armours were enough, and food more than enough. All that was left was the plan to defeat them.
But to plan for war, you must not only know yourself, but you must also know your enemy well.
I know everything I need about us, now I need detailed information about my enemies.
That was why I asked Grey who was head of my information gathering squad to go south of the wall and check on movements of the Margrave army. That was two days ago.
Grey took his fastest and stealthiest soldiers with him. And they just returned.
Ash came into my personal study with Grey by his side.
"Your majesty." Grey said as he knelt down with his head bowed.
"Get up." I said. "Give me your report."
"The Margrave army have departed and they will get to the wall in about a week. They are headed straight to the Black Fort. The army is divided into two. The smaller force is ahead and is just over a million. The rest is two days march behind them. That on is maybe five million strong."
"And who leads the smaller force?" Ash asked.
"Three men. The younger prince, Theo, Supreme General Varrion and one we identified as the General of Tevron, Torin." Grey answered.
"The younger prince huhn? Perfect." I said.
"Perfect? Why?" Ash asked.
"I have a plan." I said and turned to Grey. "Grey, you may go. As head captain, I trust you know what to do?"
"Yes your majesty." Grey said and left the room.
"So, will you tell me this great plan?" Ash said.
"I will tell everyone. We will have a war council in two days and the army will depart. Let's make sure all preparations are done before then."
*
*
*
Headquarters of the Imperial Military
Training Ground 1
Ace was alone, training.
He held his broadsword and imagined himself back at the dungeon, surrounded by beasts. As they came at him he moved in response to their attacks, dodging and slashing. Punching and stabbing.
This was the method he adopted after returning from the dungeon.
Then he heard Jade call out his name. "Ace!"
He stopped. Returned his weapon into his ring and turned. He saw Jade and Grey walking towards him.
"What's the head of the royal guards doing here? Why aren't you guarding His majesty?" Grey asked.
"King Jordan gives me a few hours to train everyday. And he's not the easiest person to guard. He disappears all the time when I am not looking for just a second. And sometimes he just tells me to go play, that he needs some alone time. It's hard guarding someone who doesn't want guards."
Grey and Jade burst into laughter.
"Haha. I heard something like that happened a few days ago." Jade said. "He disappeared with Lord Ash. And when they returned hours later, they had already defeated all the generals and captains present in the HQ at the time."
"Don't laugh. It actually happened. He suddenly disappeared while I was guarding him. Few hours later he came back and told me to take a doctor to the headquarters. I was confused but I took a doctor there. Guess what I saw."
"What did you see?" Grey asked
"All fourteen of them beaten to a pulp. Anyway. Grey, how was your mission?"
"Fine. I just came from reporting to King Jordan. And there will be a war council in two days"