On the mountaintop, General Kaine looked at Zephiron in horror. "A divine elemental mage!"
"And one with the rare purple thunder element! No... no way. Aren't there only seven of them in the entire world?"
He looked at Hadrian for an answer, but Hadrian was also staring at Zephiron, his fist clenched. He had thought that anyone involved with the Valerius family wouldn't be simple. But this powerful?
He answered without looking at Kaine, "Note it down, General. There is another powerhouse in the Valerius family. The Emperor needs to worry about him."
In front of the Emperor's men, he had to show his loyalty. But in his heart, every Red Cloak and he himself felt happy for Aleric.
Below, General Veymar sneered at his own soldiers. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "No one! No one should flee! If you flee here, the humans will laugh at us! They'll kill your families and friends later... what will you do then?"
He leapt from his mount and charged toward Zephiron. As a level 80 warrior himself, he refused to be shamed in front of so many soldiers.
He clashed with Zephiron, and their fight took over the sky.
Meanwhile, on the ground, General Brakkar shouted, "Kill! Kill the enemies!" The beastmen stopped retreating and surged toward the red wall.
Aleric smiled mischievously on the wall. "Even if we die, we won't die by your hands. We'll wait for someone truly powerful to appear."
He shouted like a true lord, "Soldiers of Valerius! Soldiers of Aleric! And soldiers of Aetherion! Charge... charge along with your generals!"
General Varrus, General Corvin, and General Lucan moved out with their armies. In a few seconds, the two sides clashed.
One after another, beast after beast fell to the swords of the Valerius army and Aleric's personal army. The Aetherion soldiers also killed many beasts in just a few minutes.
The battlefield erupted.
Corvin Wolfsbane was like a storm. As Aleric's personal general, he carried the Valerius Sword Art — "Flowing Steel". It was a style passed down only to Valerius generals. There are no wasted movement, every slash designed to kill in one strike.
He cut through the beastmen like a reaper. His blade flashed silver, and heads flew. A wolfman lunged at him, Corvin sidestepped and his sword drew a clean line across its throat before the beast even landed.
A hyena-kin swung a crude axe at him when Corvin's blade met it, slid along the shaft, and took the arm off at the elbow, then reversed to pierce the heart. With huge screams, even the body struggled a few seconds before dying...a horrific death.
Then General Brakkar saw him. The level 70 kobold general roared and charged, his furry body slamming through his own soldiers to reach Corvin. "Human whelp!"
Their blades met with a deafening clang. Brakkar's jagged greatsword vs Corvin's Valerius longsword. The ground cracked beneath them.
But Corvin didn't lose ground. He fought Brakkar toe to toe. Every time Brakkar swung with brute strength, Corvin redirected it with Flowing Steel using the kobold's own force against him. Sparks flew.
For five full exchanges, neither gained an inch. The beastmen around them backed away, terrified by the clash. A level 70 human general was matching their level 70 kobold general.
On the other side, General Varrus lived up to the Valerius name. Alongside General Lucan, he carved a path through the enemy. Varrus fought with the "Iron Mountain Style". His sword is heavy, unyielding strikes that broke weapons and bones alike.
He shattered a kobold's skull with his pommel, then cut three wolves in half with one sweep. General Lucan fought beside him with Aetherion's "Swift Wind Sword", his blade is like a blur that left nothing but throats and arteries open.
The soldiers fought in formation. Three distinct battle formations dominated the field,
Aleric's personal army used a formation that aleric developed himself , " Davouring circle formation. " .
They moved as one. They would surge forward, let a chunk of beastmen push in, then suddenly collapse inward. In seconds, 200 to 300 beastmen would find themselves trapped inside a perfect circle of shields and spears.
There was no escape. From the outside, spears thrust in. From the inside, swords finished the work. The circle would tighten until nothing was left but corpses. Then it would open, swallow more enemies, and close again. Clean, efficient and merciless.
What Valerius soldiers used is a formation for defence called , " Iron Back formation."
They formed the second ring outside the first one. Their job wasn't to kill it was to protect. They locked shields behind Aleric's army, creating an impenetrable wall.
Any beastmen who tried to flank the Devouring Circle ran straight into Valerius steel. The guards didn't advance. They held. And anything that touched their line died.
Lucan's men broke into small squads of 20. Like wolves, they would dart in, tear apart a group of enemies, and dart out before they could be surrounded. Their speed and coordination let them kill far more than their numbers...they called this formation , " wolf's strategy formation. "
The beastmen had one fatal disadvantage, weapons. As beasts, their blacksmithing was crude. They swung crooked swords, chipped axes, and clubs studded with rocks.
Against the master-forged steel of the human armies, their weapons shattered. A kobold would block a Valerius blade and his sword would snap in half, the human blade continuing on to take his head.
For every human soldier that fell, ten beastmen lay dead. The ground turned red. The air reeked of blood and burnt flesh from Zephiron's earlier attack.
The war continued for a few hours.
At that moment, a charred body suddenly slammed into the ground with such force that it left a deep crater. His whole body was black from burns. It was General Veymar. During his fight with Zephiron, he had been struck by high-voltage thunder and was turned into charcoal in seconds.
The atmosphere on the battlefield turned grim.
On the other side, General Brakkar was already at a disadvantage against General Corvin. Corvin was young, but his swordsmanship and his perfect weapon made him invincible within the same realm. He swung his sword, and General Brakkar's right arm was cut clean off at the shoulder.
"AHHHHHHHH!" With a huge scream, Brakkar clutched his shoulder with his other hand and stumbled back a few steps. But Corvin didn't let him recover. He moved fast and cut one of his legs in half.
"Ahhhh... No! It's... it's impossible!" With a crying voice, Brakkar collapsed to the ground, kneeling — one arm and one leg gone in a matter of seconds.
Corvin didn't stop. He pointed his sword at Brakkar's neck, looking at him coldly. "Margrave Aleric is my master. You wanted to take his life. Did you even ask me if I agree or not?"
General Brakkar sneered. "So what if you kill me and Veymar?" He glanced toward the blackened body in the crater, then looked back at Corvin. "Wait for your death. Two of our most powerful generals are heading here. They'll reach this area soon... with a huge army..."
Corvin didn't let him finish. He cut his head clean from his body.
The severed head uttered one last word before dying completely... "Six..."
Corvin rejoined the battle.
By now, almost half of the beastmen were dead, and their two powerful generals were gone. On the human side, many were injured, and perhaps around 5,000 soldiers had died — far, far fewer than on the beastmen's side.
Zephiron's voice boomed across the field, "Surrender! Or we will kill you to the last man. Whoever surrenders will be spared!"
One by one, the beastmen started lowering their weapons, then surrendered to the human army.
A huge uproar erupted among the soldiers. They had won.
Torin immediately jumped up in happiness and hugged Aleric hard without thinking. Aleric took the chance and squeezed Torin tight. Torin froze, realizing what he'd just done. Aleric chuckled.
Torin stammered, "I... I'm sorry. I was just too happy that we won..."
Aleric put his finger on Torin's lips to stop him. He rubbed it gently over his lips and said, "I already told you not to be formal with me... or else..."
Torin looked at Aleric. Even with his tiger eyes, he couldn't see through what this man was thinking. He asked, "Or else what, my lord?"
Aleric kept his gaze on Torin's lips. "Or else... I'll punish you."
He then looked away, turning his gaze back to the battlefield. Torin felt turmoil in his heart. His heart started beating loudly. He also avoided Aleric's gaze and looked toward the battlefield, where soldiers were tying the beastmen with rope and leading them as hostages into Red Wall in a long line.
General Kaine had already lost all hope in the beastmen army. When the beastmen surrendered, the captains and soldiers at his side all cheered for Aleric.
General Kaine gritted his teeth and scolded them.
On the other side, Hadrian felt happy in his heart, but he couldn't show it. The Emperor's men were still there.
He sneered, "So what if they won the battle against scouts? I think the real battle will be tonight, when the real force attacks Red Fort."
General Kaine's eyes lit up immediately. He looked smug as he commented, "Yes! Hmph! Let me see, you filthy Aleric Valerius, how you handle the real war... Hahaha! No matter what, you need to die today..."
The soldiers and the Red Cloaks all looked at him in utter disgust. How could a general from the humans want his own people to die? Shameless. Utterly shameless!
General Lucan, General Varrus, and General Corvin all came up the wall and kneeled before Aleric. "My lord, we won the first battle."
Aleric nodded at them, then said, "Stand up, my generals. You are the heroes of Red Fort. You don't need to kneel."
The three of them stood up together. Then General Lucan spoke, "My lord, many of my soldiers are dead. We have already taken their bodies to send them back to their families... but..."
General Varrus continued on Lucan's behalf, "But, my lord, there are many soldiers who are heavily injured. We need medicine to treat their wounds."
Aleric took out his own space pouch. There were many medicines inside, but not enough for all the soldiers. He felt a headache coming on. He couldn't contact his family for more ,he had already been disowned.