99 (IN) Chapter 21 - Saving The Lord Commander

As the battle raged on in front of him, Duke remembered a specific letter he had received from Vivian while they were on march, the letter's words were quite fitting for the situation Duke was in right now:

{Dear Duke, the coal and iron mines you wanted to survey has recently started operation, and the expected minerals extracted...

Our sheep herds have grown lately, from 2000 to 3600 in under...

The cow dung mixed with chicken dung we've been experimenting on the crops have successfully...}

[No no not that part! I meant the last part!... Sheesh, Vivian should really cut back on these business reports... They're even started messing with my mind now.... huh] Duke sighed as he involuntarily remembered the numerous economic reports Vivian writes to him...

[No no no, I'm sure she said something really important... Aghh, what was it again? Cow dung? Was it cow dung?! Ah! No It was]:

{P.S. Duke, I know nothing I write now will convince you to comeback...

So please...

Whatever you do, just stay safe.

Don't do anything stupid,

don't do anything that would catch people's attention,

and please please please don't try to be a hero...

Instead of some trophy or award, your life is more important to me... and to Maine of course! Not just me, but to Maine too!

And another P.S. stop sending me every little detail about Bran's daily life dammit, I don't care!}

[Gahahaha! See that Bran, guess Vivian doesn't care all too much about ya eh?... She likes economic reports more!...] Duke tried to think of it as a positive for a while, then he suddenly felt a little depressed. (Looked like Vivian cared more for economic reports than all of them lol)

{Don't be a hero ok? Just come back alive} The last words on the letter Vivian wrote, read.

Yes, don't be a hero and don't draw attention.

There was a reason why Vivian had survived such a toxic and venomous environment like the Imperial Palace with much of her life and innocence intact.

Although Vivian was indeed hurt, and her talents suppressed by the neglect she had experienced in the Imperial Palace, it would be a mistake to believe that Vivian was powerless to change her situation back then.

If Vivian really wanted to, she could've easily showed her talents in many fields, garnering everyone's attention.

But instead, Vivian simply hid herself.

Sadly, the young but already wisened Vivian learned early on that the more she studied, worked hard, made herself pretty to look at, or even just excel at a certain subject, and the more attention she got, the more enemies she would accumulate, threatened by her undeniable talents.

And so, the young Vivian at the time had no choice but to mature early, hiding her beauty, her talents, and even herself from the world.

She even used make up to dull her more beautiful prominent features, she used dye to paint her conspicuous scarlet red hair a dull shade of brakish brown, and finally, she used the excuse of being born to a dead and powerless commoner mother to make herself look dumb and uncultured. Just so people would leave her alone in peace.

"Don't be a hero, huh. And come back alive" Duke said to himself in a self-deappreciating manner as he watched the Tarasque enter his line of sight.

Duke had suddenly gotten a chance to show himself off in front of the Heroes and Veterans he had admired so much in the past.

Though he might've been quite loved in Maine, Duke was still relatively known by other people as some fat small time Count that had been gaining wealth, and subjugated a couple of bandits...

And that was it, an above average Noble no different from the rest...

But Duke didn't want to stay above average... No, Duke wanted to prove himself to the rest of the world (Or more specifically to Vivian), that he was more than that, that he wasn't a disappointment to his Grandfather's legacy! That he too could achieve something special, something that differentiated him from the rest!

So to Duke, this was his first chance to show the world that he wasn't just someone who's was enough.

He was more than that.

This was Duke's chance to show he really was special.

That he was a hero.

"I'm sorry Vivian..." Duke gulped as he continued his inner dialogue.

"I'd rather die a hero capable of protecting you, than to live live life as some fat fool... Shoving all the hard work to his wife" Duke whispered to himself one last time before mustering all his damned courage to shout:

"To those not afraid of death! Follow me into it's bowels as we ride as out as heroes!"

"HYA!" Raising his torch up while giddying up old Netsie, Duke rode out into the fray like some great general filled with confidence and vigor... Sadly his mismatching armor and old horse somewhat diminished his coolness at that time...

Duke's shout went un-understood for a while, but as Duke's figure, riding that tired looking horse, was seen by the old Knights, Byran in particular, an almost forgotten feeling swelled up inside them as they saw the back of their old commander Gwaine, even if it was just for a split second.

It was enough to convince the old Knights to ride behind Duke.

"PENDRAGON DRAGOONS! BEHIND OUR LORD, WE RIDE!!!" Byran shouted to the top of his lungs filled with excitement and thrill!

Of course, most of the new Knights, Mercenaries, and other soldiers didn't follow behind Duke since no order was given to them. And since they didn't want to die by returning to the obviously loosing fight.

"What are they doing???" One of the Pendragon Soldiers even asked, confused as to why Duke and the old Knights returned to battle when they had only recently just escaped.

But nevertheless there were still some men who loyally and un-questioningly followed behind Duke.

Duke: "Only the ones riding horses and not afraid of Death follow us!"

"Those riding horses, follow our Lord!" Bran shouted, following Duke along with the other younger Knights.

"All Hunters riding horses! Follow me!" Rudon shouted as their horsed scouts also followed behind Duke.

"Anyone with horses! F-Follow them!" Galleo shouted as he was followed by other people; some mercenaries, some just simple merchants, anybody who was riding a horse and was courageous enough started to follow suit.

Even Caleb surprisingly followed Duke despite his brother, Derek's protest.

"C-Caleb?! The fuck you doing brother?! You're a field doctor!" Derek uncharacteristically cried out in confusion.

As Duke felt the presence of the people following behind him, he swiftly gave his orders one by one: "Rudon! Take your fastest riders and make the Tarasque chase after you!

"Waxer! You go ahead to where the Tarasque might ram into our Vanguard... And redirect it's charge towards the enemy!" Duke ordered the most dangerous and almost suicidal job to Waxer. Waxer on the other hand surprisingly just nodded as if accepting Duke's crazy plan.

"Rudon! Get all the Knights to follow Waxer, and when he gets the beast to chase after him, get the surviving veterans from the vanguard to step out of the Tarasque's way!"

"YES MILORD!" Rudon roared with all his might.

After finishing the flurry of orders, Duke rode up to the Lord Commander, Alexei. Telling him:

"S-Sir! I am Duke Pendragon, reporting for duty, sir! Me and my men are currently getting the Tarasque's attention, and we'll divert it towards the enemy's main forces... Please order the Vanguard to step out of the way and retreat from here!" Duke laid out his full plan to Alexei.

A streak of hope flashed on the old man's eyes as he ordered the Vanguard in a loud voice: "VANGUARD! MAKE WAY FOR THE TARASQUE!"

"Hmph, it looks like Gwaine's legacy wasn't wasted after all..." Alexei looked at Duke with stern eyes. Stern eyes that had a ray of pride for that fat young man in front of him.

The Tarasque was being led by a few barbarian scouts towards the vanguard. Luckily for Rudon and his Hunters, the enemy scouts didn't expect a group of enemies attacking them whilst being chased by the mighty Tarasque, and so using their arrows, the mounted Hunters managed to successfully ambush the enemy scouts, firing at the Tarasque next and successfully managing to redirect it's ire towards them.

Even if the Arrows did almost no damage, they were still incredibly annoying to the beast after all...

Seeing that the beast was about to head to Waxer's group, Alexei the Lord Commander told Duke and the other Knights around them: "Carry me out of battle after I pass out..."

Ordering to everybody in the battlefield:

"VANGUARDDD!!!! MAKE WAY!!!!!!"

Hearing the old man's orders, the group of Knights in their ordered formation split in half making a large gap in the middle of their bulwark-like formation.

"From now on! Follow The Count of Pendragon's orders!" Alexei made his final order as a heavy steel-like Aura began to emit from his sword.

The Aura felt so sharp that even Duke who was behind the old man felt his throat being cut.

*SHWWIIIIINGGGG!!!*

A sharp silver blade-like Aura was released from the old man's sword swing, followed by a faint reddish glow afterwards, as that one single slash quickly reached the barbarian's main forces almost a kilometer and a half away.

The sharp yet staunch Aura that felt like heavy steel reached the bulk of the enemy forces, turning blood red as it massacred and split everything it touched, and everything in it's path was relieved of life, killing a thousand or more men with only a single strike.

[Waaa...]

Chaos quickly descended within the barbarian ranks as if a large bomb was detonated in the middle of their camp.

Such was the power of the Fallen Sword Emperor. Even in his old decrepit age he was able to release one swing that devastated one-tenth of the enemy forces... Of course, just as the rumors stated, old man Alexei's body was indeed not in good health. And with only one strike his seemingly endless Aura was fully depleted, and his consciousness quickly fell.

With the chance Alexei made, Duke's forces was able to redirect the Tarasque's anger on the Barbarians crushing those who stood in it's way.

Waxer substituted for Rudon in redirecting the Tarasque in front of the enemy forces, despite its suicidal danger, Waxer managed to escape with his quick reflexes and unwavering will.

With the bulk of the enemy Barbarians being distracted by the Tarasque, the rest of the veteran Knights and Soldiers of Brune within the vanguard managed to successfully escape, hitching a ride on the mounted forces Duke had brought with him.

Although there were a few casualties here and there, most of the men managed to escape the pursuit of the enemy Beast Riders thanks to the sacrifice of a few Knights who decided to stay and stall the enemy.

In the end, most of Duke's forces were safe, along with the veterans of the Household Troops of some Noble families, some of the Holy Knights of the Church, a few Golden Denari, and finally the Lord Commander of the Army.

That night, on the evening of the 25th day of Craving, Duke Pendragon a once small time count in Maine managed to salvage the close to impossible situation the Reinforcement Army found itself in...

Saving the Army from its total destruction... And ushering in start of Duke Pendragon's timeless and heroic epic.