Chereads / Manifest Minion / Chapter 21 - Tactical Retreat

Chapter 21 - Tactical Retreat

Souls: 137 -> 274

During their two weeks spent at the frontlines, the direct disciples did their best to keep their troops alive. But in the battlefield, life cannot be guaranteed even by the strongest soldiers. Garnesh and Tarik seem to bicker less and less, Paul's knight-like smile was nowhere to be found and Hektor had visible dark circles under his eyes. The battle was taking it's toll on everyone, even the direct disciples themselves were beginning to falter. 

Dozens of drafted soldiers were lost and most of the survivors barely held on to their morale. The reality of their fight against the green-skinned monsters was a harsh one to live through, a near endless sea of green monsters. Nearly every time the orcs arrived a few casualties would follow, no matter how flawless a formation is they were still only human. Cracks in their defenses and the overall lower energy levels were becoming apparent. 

Hektor could feel and visibly watched his aura grow over the course of combat but even he knew that they were being overworked. They were being fed slop and news of reinforcements arriving would often come but Hektor knew that they were no longer coming. 'We Were the last of the reinforcements... what are they gonna do next? Send children to the battlefield?'

Their dojo and the drafted soldiers that arrived with them were some of the last signs of the kingdom's aid to the frontlines. Fiefs and their nobles have been running to the castle walls, those with enough resources are taking a stand but what about the random farmer? Nothing, they were meant to die like the rest of the soldiers that were present with Hektor and the others.

'At the rate things are going, it is only a matter of time before the wall cracks and the kingdom inevitably falls.' Hektor thought to himself as he pierced through the heart of another goblin, his original troop of fifteen was now at 10 with a heavily injured one staying at the camp behind them. 

'And when that wall cracks, I fear that I will relive the horrors of that excursion with Commander Wallace.' He spun around cleaving through a group of three of them.

Squawk. Squawk. The crows and ravens circled around their battlefield, making more noise than usual.

At this point the soldiers and disciples in the area knew this sign. Hektor didn't even need to call it out.

"ORCS! TO THE BARRICADES!" A soldier shouted out.

Hektor's eyes drooped down and from behind him the three other direct disciples raised their weapons. "No matter how big they are… they still give me the same amount of souls." The spearman sighed before springing into action.

Contrary to popular Markluzian belief, Orcs are far more intelligent than they initially thought. Among their leaders are aura users, spellcasters and even scholars. Which is why the first prince was not surprised by the scene before him.

The orcs were using magic that has long since been banned in the Markluzian Kingdom, a form of black magic that involves the summoning of demons. The troops before him more than doubled in size and as if that wasn't enough he saw a large complicated magic circle appear in front of a black-robed orc, sensing that a large spell was on its way the First prince gave out the orders to retreat.

A large burst of blue energy, an amount of mana that was gathered through live sacrifice. The thick walls that stood for two hundred years fell in just one move. The ground rumbled and those who heard him, headed the call of the first prince.

It was time to abandon this region, the walls of Sangraya fell and with a mix of green-skins and demonic creatures the prince rallied his most loyal soldiers as they rode their steeds away from the battle. Leaving most of the drafted soldiers and civilians as lambs for their green adversaries to slaughter.

The region that Master Bungcao himself defended was more densely populated by the Green army to begin with, with the influx of demonic forces that joined them it was only a matter of time before they fell.

"I'm too old for this." Master Bungcao managed to breathe out. "Faisal, take the books to our disciples and lead them to the eastern jungles."

"But Master the--" Bungcao shoved the books onto Faisal's hands, cutting him off from speaking.

"The time has come Faisal." He then placed his left hand onto the shoulders of the dagger-wielding Nakt. "Join him, those boys will need the guidance of two of my best instructors."

"Master, I wish to join you in this last stand." Nakt replied.

"Our teachings must go on Nakt, I'm sure you know of this." Bungcao replied, the master pushed him towards Faisal.

"Now, go." Vast amounts of aura poured out of the Master's body. This blue energy manifested in the form of a glowing tiger.

Nakt and Faisal gave their last bows to their Master, bidding farewell to the man who taught them everything that they knew.

The two instructors ran at breakneck speeds, rushing to the region that the direct disciples were defending. "The walls have fallen! The prince has issued a tactical retreat!"

"The WALLS HAVE FALLEN!"

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Faisal got behind Paul and Garnesh before pulling them both onto his large shoulders. "We must go, the master has given us the chance to escape!"

Nakt caught the exhausted Hektor mid-air and motioned for Tarik to follow. "To everyone that wants to survive, follow us."

"I don't care whether you're a disciple or not. Just follow our lead." Nakt barked out.

Hektor was placed down as he watched the chaos unfold from the camp itself. He knew that if he wanted to get out of this situation alive, then placing his bets on the instructors was not a bad idea.

And so their small group ran. Running towards the harsh jungles of the east. Demons, Orcs and goblins were hot on their tail. Adrenaline fueled Hektor as a familiar feeling welled up in his chest.

'I see… I'm still too weak after all.' He thought to himself, aura began to wrap around his legs.

He soon dashed forward to keep up with the rest of their small group.

Souls: 274 -> 285