The Grand War (1)

The war finally began on the 24th without any warning. Thousands of trebuchets lined up from the northern to the southern border, hurling flaming stones into the Oziloth forest.

Fireballs soared and fell, creating a rain of fire in the western part of the central continent.

The Arkmenom didn't remain idle; they used their signature weapon, the giant bow. The bow was so massive that its arrows looked like tree trunks, each measuring three meters long, with a string made of special rubber material. Five Arkmenom individuals drew each bow, aiming and releasing them afterward.

The thick tree trunk used as a bow sailed far toward the human troops. The mages quickly moved to destroy the attack. Some mages without offensive powers created defenses to withstand the assault.

However, casualties were inevitable. The thick, pointed-tipped tree trunks decimated the bodies of the humans they hit.

The soldiers were terrified, but the generals and officers immediately warned them to stand their ground. Under this threat, the human forces' morale was maintained.

The Arkmenom themselves weren't without losses, but their race was adept at jumping; they could leap between trees to avoid the fireballs.

The Oziloth forest itself had many towering trees, so the human attacks didn't cause much damage.

By midday, after bombarding the Oziloth Forest with fire stones for six consecutive hours, the Otheni forces led by Aylox Rextozos, accompanied by Jeanne leading the Mage Association forces, marched into the forest.

The total Otheni forces amounted to about 540,000, including soldiers and logistics carriers. The Mage Association forces numbered around 150,000. Meanwhile, under General Orkan, there were 20,000 people, combining Adam's loyalists and recruits from the Reon Federation.

With such a massive force, the marching speed of the human forces was destined to be slow.

In this regard, the Reon Federation had an advantage over its neighbor, Florent. The border forest area of Florent was filled with swamps, making it very difficult for horses, horse-drawn carriages, and wagons to pass through. In contrast, the forest on the Reon Federation's border had a flat and sturdy terrain, making it very comfortable for cavalry to traverse.

One strange thing was the Arkmenom not attacking humans; they even retreated without conflict. This made the leaders of the Otheni combined forces suspicious.

However, there was nothing they could do. This war needed to be launched and resolved as quickly as possible, even if the Arkmenom set traps; their forces had to enter those traps and attempt to destroy them.

As evening approached, the Otheni forces stopped marching and began preparing for the night. They erected large tents for the generals and officers while letting the soldiers sleep on simple mats. They also built thousands of bonfires and began preparing food.

First, wheat grains needed to be ground into flour. Then, water and salt were added to the flour to make dough for bread. The dough was shaped into small loaves and baked over an open fire or using portable baking tools.

The portable baking tools used consisted of metal or clay containers that could be heated over an open flame. These containers served as a vessel for baking bread over the bonfire. Some groups even used heated stones as baking tools.

Certainly, besides bread, they also fetched water from the nearest spring and then boiled it before serving.

The mages, especially those with detection abilities, took turns keeping watch over the combined Otheni forces' camp throughout the night.

Until sunrise, the Arkmenom never launched any sneak attacks. While this was a good thing, their silence made people uneasy.

On the 25th, the combined Otheni forces once again marched into the depths of the forest. This time, the Arkmenom attacked, but their assaults were minor. They sent small groups to attack soldiers separated from the main forces.

All the Arkmenom attacking were rider-types. They rode wolf-like creatures, using the speed and agility of these animals to attack isolated human soldiers, eliminating them, and then fleeing.

The human cavalry couldn't catch up. Not only were the horses afraid of the Arkmenom-mounted wolves, but they were also slower than the wolves.

To handle this, finally, the mages deployed their forces to guard all four sides of the combined Otheni forces. This way, if the Arkmenom rider groups attacked, the mages could mount a counter-attack.

The Arkmenom rider group inflicted a considerable loss of life. Nearly 8,000 soldiers died, while another 20,000 were injured. For those lightly wounded, the situation might not have been too dire; Adam's group's medical unit could help them. However, for the severely wounded, they would become a burden.

The second day of the war was spent in guerrilla warfare against the Arkmenom rider group. Fortunately, after the Mage Association forces guarded the outermost sides, the casualties among the combined Otheni forces due to the Arkmenom rider group's guerrilla attacks decreased.

However, the mage forces also suffered casualties. Around 100 mages were injured, and 30 mages died due to arrow attacks from the Arkmenom.

The guerrilla warfare continued until the end of the second day, the 25th day of 9th month. The combined Otheni forces set up camp again and rested.

In an exceedingly large tent, some important figures in the combined Otheni forces gathered.

Jeanne, Orkan, Aylox Rextozos assembled to discuss the attack plan.

"According to the grand war plan, the combined Otheni forces are required to attack the city of Elzoron in the forest, estimated to have around 3 million Arkmenom. The City of Elzoron is deep in the Oziloth forest, an area with numerous tall trees, giving the Arkmenom a natural advantage there."

"If so, what's the solution? We can't just go there knowing the Arkmenom have the upper hand in that terrain," Aylox asked the small assistant beside Jeanne, who had just spoken.

"We'll send a group of S class mages to destroy that forest area so your forces can fight more freely," Jeanne replied calmly.

"They must be aware of that. Are you confident in defeating the Arkmenom generals? As far as I know, Arkmenom generals are very difficult to defeat; even the Florent Mage Association hasn't managed to defeat a single Arkmenom general in over 10 years," Orkan questioned.

Similar to humans having mages, Arkmenom also have their own strong individuals. There are about 10 levels of Arkmenom. The lowest are common, similar to ordinary humans. The highest are Emperors, equivalent to SSS level mages.