20 – In A Town

The air is still cold. Troops with black flags and white dragon heads entered a small town. Some of them walked, but there were also those who rode horses.

They should have met troops from the Celestenia kingdom in an empty land before that town. But their opponents did not show up.

Their commander, having a well-defined face with scars, looked at the buildings there. He doesn't understand. He and his men discovered nobody. Is this an ambush?

If they using arrows, precise aim is necessary for targeting exposed areas like the neck, face, and joints. Only expert marksman was capable of achieving the difficult task. Not to mention when they have to make another aim. First, they took the arrow and placed it on the bow.

With spells? The light will only attract attention. The magic user might succeed in one attack, but then he becomes vulnerable.

Melee combat is out of the question because of the abundance of Zashrend troops. Even if someone succeeds in killing one, he will then become the target of another's wrath.

Adding to the commander's confusion was another thing. They searched but found no signs of traps.

He was a long-time member of the Zashrend kingdom's military. This was new for him.

Did the Celestenia troops abandon this area and choose to evacuate the residents?

Suddenly, a loud explosion hit his ears. He looked at one house his men had just entered.

"What happened!?" One of the other soldiers came in to check.

The explosion appeared again and the soldier's voice disappeared.

Then, more explosions echoed from other houses the Zashrend soldiers inspected.

"What the fuck…." Before the commander came to his senses, he heard an explosion from above.

A second later, a soldier in front of him collapsed with a fatal head injury.

The commander turned his gaze to the second floor of a house, finding someone pointing a metal rod at him.

His trained instincts told him to dodge. Yet, just as he was about to change the direction of his horse, a blazing sensation grazed his waist. He fell onto the road while his horse ran away.

The explosions became more and more frequent. The soldiers fell without knowing what happened to them.

A mage approached the commander and tended to his wounds with a magic staff.

"What happened!?" the commander asked.

"We don't know, Sir Desmond! We…" The medical mage didn't have time to finish his words because a bullet penetrated the back of his head, killing him in an instant.

"Shit!" The commander got up and ran while holding his waist, which had not yet fully healed. "Retreat!!! We don't have a chance!!!"

Yes, they don't know what they're getting into. There's no point in continuing this.

They have weapons that can kill instantly, and they can use them quickly with each attack.

Chaos ensued. The Celestenia soldiers left their hiding place. Not only did they use rifles, some of them also slashed their opponents with swords.

The commander slipped into a hallway. It's useless to lead an army that is already in such disarray. It would be better if he did something else, something that could still be useful for his country.

He waited in the alley. And when a rifle-wielding soldier passed by on the main road, he grabbed him and slashed him with his sword.

As the soldier died, the commander seized the rifle, then looked for escape from the town.

***

Only a few Zashrend soldiers survived and made it back to their camp. One of them is the commander. He had to report to the general in the main tent.

"You're saying, just because of metal rods like this, they annihilated your troops, Desmond!?" The general, who had a bushy mustache, looked at the rifle on his table.

Commander Desmond could only look straight ahead, according to military protocol, which he had to obey. "Yes, sir! Those things shoot small objects with great force! They can penetrate our armor!"

The general took the item in question from the table. It resembled a tube, smaller than a human thumb, with a sharp tip.

"What is this, actually?" The general hissed.

"The small ones are bullets. Then, they called this rod a rifle." Desmond explained.

"This is impossible…" The general leaned back in his chair, took a deep breath, then continued. "Other countries fear our military strength. You are one of our best people. I still can't comprehend that we just lost like that."

Desmond struggled to hold back his tears. Even since he first entered the army, he had never seen Zashrend's troops lose, especially in this way.

This is embarrassing. Perhaps returning to camp was a mistake; dying with his comrades might be more respectable.

"You will suffer punishment for running away from battle…. Honestly, I didn't expect you to be like this, Desmond." The general continued. "But I get it. You want to take this thing for research, right? So, we can anticipate it in the future."

Desmond doubted whether that was the main reason. Maybe he was afraid because he had never experienced defeat. Even so, he still answered. "Yes, sir!"

"I don't like this, but we must return…."

Several consecutive explosions echoed from a distance, followed by trumpet blasts signaling the danger. The general stood up, while Desmond widened his eyes.

"Impossible! They attack at night!?" The general ran outside.

Desmond also went outside, but before that, he took the rifle from the table.

The Zashrend soldiers could do nothing against the shooters from Celestenia. Desmond hid from tent to tent to get closer to the chaos. He wanted to know what happened.

Celestenia's soldiers installed small tubes emitting light on the tips. Those things allow them to move freely in the dark of night.

In his entire life, Desmond had seen nothing like that. Maybe a magic staff could provide light, but it was big, and you had to hold it.

Meanwhile, those tubes are very compact and are mounted on the helmet. The soldiers had full freedom with their hands.

"Damn you, Celestenians." Desmond hissed, seeing the remaining Zashrend soldiers fall.

But all he could do was run away and hide.