The Battle of the Melting Mist Plains 5

As I swiftly rushed to the frontlines with the Palace Guard, I ignore all the grotesque scenes, vile stenches, and sorrowful wails before me, as I sink deeper into my raging thoughts 'Unlike my past life, my blade alone can't twist and shape the course of battles and wars, to single handedly etch the bloody words of triumph in the annuls of human history, but that doesn't mean my hands are completely tied! My strength as a demigod who's unlocked his first gate, combined with my extensive battle experience gives me the ability to face second and third level martial artists, but that meager amount of might is irrelevant in a battle of this magnitude! Thankfully my other two advantages aren't so easily ignored, which are my status as an emperor, that will greatly bolster the men's morale upon seeing me out on the front lines with them. And the other one, is my ever loyal one hundred Palace Guard, who are all elite fourth and fifth level martial artists!'

"My liege, Lord Horus is over there." One of my Palace Guards snaps me out of my thoughts, as he points towards a man in blood stained silver armor in the distance, loudly urging his men to speed up their preparations.

Seeing this I quickly bolt in the direction Horus was in, which greatly surprised him, as he uttered in disbelief "My liege?! What are you doing here?"

"My Palace Guard, and I are your reinforcements." I seriously reply.

An expression of horror and shock covers Horus's face as he says in a panicked tone "Wait sire, are you intending to fight as well?"

"Obviously." I curtly reply.

"But it's too dangerous, my emperor! If something..." Horus tried to persuade me with a pleading voice, but I interrupted him, in a rebuking tone.

"Silence Horus. I will not cower behind you and await victory for fear of struggle and pain like a spoiled brat! This is not the time for sentiment to cloud your judgement."

Hearing this Horus's eyes widen even more as his eyes show his still lingering hesitation, so I light heartedly joked with a relaxed expression to ease his tension "You can rebuke my decision all you want after this is over."

Horus's concerned expression eased as he chuckled, but then he suddenly closed his eyes as he took in a deep breath, and after a few seconds of foreboding silence, he once again reopened them, showcasing the cold gleam that now settled in his eyes, as well as an indomitable will, having finally subdued his worries and concerns, and said in a tone devoid of all emotion bar respect "Of course, my emperor."

A large satisfied grin appears on my face, as I begin to issue commands "Order all the men to immediately finish all preparations, we can't dally any longer. And make sure to inform the battle mages that they must not stop their bombardment of the enemy no matter what!"

"Right away, sire." Horus and his officers quickly salute me as they ran frantically to accelerate the deployment of the men. And after only a few minutes everything was complete, and I stood calmly before nearly ten thousand battle hardened warriors, as the countless magical spells of the battle mages constantly rung in my ear, followed shortly by the harrowing sound of anguished screams! But that only served to further fuel my warrior spirit, which has grown impatient by my previous idle disposition!

Knowing this wasn't the time for long and elaborate speeches, but the time of resolute action, I simply turn toward the enemy and activate my power as I dauntlessly charge before all of them, as my Palace Guard, and Horus follow close behind. Causing many of my men to show stupefied expression, since they felt their entire world view collapse, because they still didn't believe that an emperor, no matter how powerful, great or compassionate he was, would ever fight side by side with them. But no matter how much they rubbed their eyes, the scene in front of them wouldn't change, and they had to believe in the fantastical sight before them, which caused the image of their young emperor to once again enlarge to titanic heights, as they felt their blood rush from enthusiasm and their aura flare wildly from excitement, and then in one spontaneous act of fanatical loyalty, they all simultaneously roared as they charged "FOR THE EMPEROR!!!"

I couldn't contain the massive grin that appeared on my face as I listened to my men's thunderous war cry, that was followed by their fearsome charge that resembled an endless stampede! But I quickly controlled my emotions as I finally saw the rear guard of the retreating Luminous soldiers, wearing their glorious white armor, that was now stained with brilliant splashes of red and brown, and carrying their massive shields in an impressive shield wall, looking like an impregnable fortress of flesh and steel.

"Rip it open!" I loudly command as I glance at Horus and my Palace Guard.

"Yes, sire." Horus and three other Palace Guards say in the same moment, as they dash toward the Luminous soldiers with their blades in hand, and ruthlessly cleave through the Luminous formation.

A twisted and savage gleam flashes through my eyes upon seeing this, as I rush to the gap that they formed, while powerfully yelling "After me." Which prompted the men to loudly bellow "Follow his majesty!" As they flooded into the tiny opening in the Luminous Empire's formation.

The Luminous formation began to disintegrate, just like a mighty dam with an insignificant crack upon it, that slowly erodes it's integrity until it finally comes violently crumbling down!

And I was in the middle of this scarlet maelstrom of mortal carnage and feral slaughter, wildly yet precisely swinging my curved blade, as it tore through steel, flesh, and bone, leaving headless, limbless bodies strewn across the blood soaked ground.

***Scene Change***

"WHAT?! What do you mean the enemy is halting our withdrawal?!" Lucas uncharacteristically raised his voice as he looked in blinding rage at the messenger, who brought him this disastrous news.

The messenger loudly swallowed as he stutteringly said "I-I'm afraid it's true, my lord! They suddenly switched tactics, and seem to have launched an assault with all their might!"

Lucas tried to take a deep breath to calm his nerves but it seemed to be useless, as his raging thoughts became more and more depressing, but at that moment a second messenger bursts into the tent and loudly says "My lord! We have confirmed reports that the Eclipse emperor is personally leading the assault in the center, and he's even on the front lines!"

Lucas's eyes glow with the spark of hope, and ambition as he finally sees a way to turn this hopeless battle around, and he resolutely commands "Order the battle mages to cease their retreat, and to immediately provide aid for the front line, also tell them to focus the bulk of their fire power on the position of the emperor! And have all the officers and high ranking martial artists to form a kill squad, and butcher that bastard emperor!"

The messengers were all stupefied by what they heard, but before they could even open their mouths to talk Lucas angrily roared at them "What are you doing standing in place you fools! WE DON'T HAVE TIME! GOOO!"

The messengers bolted out of the tent as if their lives depended on it, as Lucas venously thought 'You've finally made a mistake you bastard. A mistake that you will pay dearly for. And one that will not only safe guard my lord Georgios's honor and prestige, but also pave the way for me, Lucas, to become the hero of the Empire!'

***Scene Change***

A Luminous soldier raised his sword high and swiftly brought it down to cleave my head in half, but I quickly swung my saber blocking his powerful strike that managed to push me away slightly. Seeing this the man, who seemed to be a third level martial artist, smiled triumphantly as if he's already won, and attacked me again, and I once again swung my blade in defiance, but this time contrary to his expectations I didn't aim at his blade, but instead at his defenseless wrist.

"Argghhh!" The man released a muffled scream as he held his now bleeding stump, but I wasn't fazed as I effortlessly released his head from the confines of his shoulders.

After dispatching the man to his eternal slumber, I pant in absolute exhaustion, as I curse my pitiful strength, and turn around and bear witness to the miserable state of my soldiers as exhaustion has finally caught up with them after fighting all day long, and now having to face the constant bombardment of the enemy battle mages; even my Palace Guard are becoming short of breath as they focused most of their energy on blocking the magic spells that were aimed at me.

I turn to one of the newly arrived messengers by my side and say with frustration apparent in my voice "Where the hell are our battle mages?! How come they have yet to silence the enemy attacks?"

The messenger quickly replies "There's nothing we can do, sire! The enemy has deployed their mages in an extremely loose formation, and they constantly change their locations, it's nearly impossible to hit them!"

"Damn it!" I quietly curse under my breath, as my mind begins to think of any solutions I have, when suddenly one of my guards points to the right, and loudly yells out "My liege! Look over there!"

I turn in the direction he was pointing in, and see a great disturbance in that direction as I question, if Abraham has finally arrived, which was quickly answered as I heard his booming voice in the distance ruthlessly proclaiming "Butcher his majesty's enemies, warriors of the Eclipse Empire! Your emperor is watching, so don't you dare fall with a clean sword!"

Hearing this the men all roar in happiness as they knew that reinforcements had finally arrived, but i looked at the messengers and urgently asked "Where's Hasdrubal?"

But before they could answer I once again heard a loud roar, but this time from the left "For his majesty!"

Knowing it was Hasdrubal I gather all my remaining power and let out only two words "HASDRUBAL! MAGES!" before I collapse on my knees as my black tattoos disappear, and my eyes return to normal, with blood profusely rushing out my noise!

The men all surrounded me with mortified expressions and horrified voices and say "My liege? My liege! Are you alright?"

"Are you injured, sire?" They asked in terror, and worry.

"CALL THE HEALERS NOW! QUICKLY!" Another yelled in rage.

"Enough! I'm fine. I just over exerted myself." I say as I wipe the blood with my hand, while thinking 'It seems that this is my limit. I don't think I can even lift my sword anymore. I guess that my body is still too week. To think that my once indestructible flesh is in such a pitiful state after using my powers for less than an hour!' But it was at that exact moment that the men around me scrambled as they carried their weapons, and my ears became instantly filled with the sounds of battle, but before I could even lift my head to see, a bloodied boot slams on my left shoulder, completely crushing my armor and pulverizing my bones with it! But I did not scream, nor did I whimper, since a broken bone or two could hardly match the pain I've already experienced in both my life times!

"DIE YOU SCOURGE!" The man who's foot was still pinning me to the ground roared with his blood shot eyes, but I merely smile at him as I say amusedly, with a mocking grin across my face "You should've arrived sooner if you wanted to kill me!"

The man didn't have enough time to even think of the meaning of my cryptic words, before a large hand covered in golden armor clutches his head from behind, and pops it like an overfilled water balloon.

Abraham said nothing to me, as his eyes burned with hellish rage, as he tossed the man's corpse to the side and unleashed his titanic aura, before he proceeded to ruthlessly massacre and maim all the Luminous soldiers around me, which he did by first chopping off their feet, and then by crushing their heads in with his boots!

Soon after Abraham returned to my side and bowing deeply he said "My apologies, sire. Your servant was too slow to perform his duty. I accept any punishment!"

I weakly shake my head as I say "There's nothing to forgive. After all, I was the one who sent you away, and I was the one who chose to do battle."

Abraham seemed to be relieved by my words as he said resolutely "Thank you, sire. But we must get you to the healers and the priests to heal you immediately."

"No, not yet." I reply.

"But, sire..." Abraham tried to convince me, but I vehemently shut it down, until he finally relented.

And after a few grueling minutes of waiting, the sun finally reached it's peak in the sky, and started to burn the mist away. Seeing this I quickly ask Abraham to tell me the state of the battlefield, and that of the two armies.

Abraham nimbly jumps high into the sky, and falls back down a few seconds later with the same grace and agility he did before, and says seriously "The battle is in it's final stages, sire, and the advantage is completely ours. The enemy can't do anything anymore. At this rate this will become nothing more than a massacre!"

Hearing this I say "I see. Then it's time to fall back."

All those who heard me, were shocked beyond words, even Abraham shared their shock, so I decided to elaborate "It's because of the same annoying reason that I ordered Hamilcar to not injure or be injured in his duel with Georgios."

Hearing this Abraham shows an expression of understanding, but the rest didn't so I sighed and glanced at Abraham, who understood my meaning and started to explain "It's because of politics. His majesty simply wants to weaken the Luminous Empire, but not completely cripple it, since it's a useful counter balance to the other powers of the world." The men finally understand, as they issued the orders to withdraw.

***Scene Change***

As the battle on the ground finally ground to a halt, the aerial battle under Sodarus, and Leonid was non existent as they both simply waited for the victor to be decided in the land battle, since both parties realized that a battle between them would be meaningless, and would only lead to the loss of more lives.

So as the mist began to slowly melt away, and the sounds of battle and carnage slowly seemed to vanish, and both armies withdrew to their respective camps, leaving behind a field of desolation, it was clear who would taste the sweet nectar of victory, and who would suffer the bitter taste of defeat.

But Leonid seemed entirely unbothered by this terrible turn of events, as he calmly turned his gryphon around to leave, when suddenly he heard Sodarus loudly call to him "Leonid Koschei!"

Leonid turned to see what he wanted, only to see him tossing a golden object towards him, before calmly turning his chimera around and leaving!