Elderwood Plains Battle (1)

Northward, John was leading the main army, composed of 5 knights and 50 elite soldiers on the Northern Stallions' back.

For his charge to be decisive, two key roles had been given to Victor and Arthur, who were tasked of 'keeping the elves' distracted and busy. If acolytes' attention is focused on Arthur, and the elven swordsmen fighting and dying under Victor's charge, then John would be able to lead a critical hit to the elven army.

It didn't matter if they were hit by arrows. Both his men and horses were armoured with heavy armour. It was made on purpose to deflect arrows, and while it greatly reduced the mobility of a cavalry unit, the same couldn't be said since the Northern Stallions were trained and powerful unlike average armies. And even though it was heavy armour, it was quite light in comparison to bronze or poor-quality iron. These armours were made by an intermediate blacksmith after all.

Victor was not exactly brilliant. He had no exceptional talent, unlike his brother John who had graduated from the Royal Academy with brio, receiving acknowledgement from figures as powerful as Grand Knights. He didn't have Arthur's magical talent either. Acolyte or not, the fact that he had overpowered their father, Viscount Frederick Landragon, was no small feat. Dozens had tried in the past, yet none suceeded. After merely four years of study in the [Ivory Tower], not only did Arthur survive, but he also managed to return as an incredibly strong mage.

Victor couldn't let this opportunity to prove himself go by. Anything he did had been for the sake of destroying John's perfect image. However, his interactions with Arthur had changed something in him. His pride could accept his younger brother being stronger than him. But Arthur's training sparked something in him.

Victor had a special perk. It wasn't a martial talent, but rather, a keen eye. He could see the defects in people, and he often saw the worst in them. More importantly, he had been caught in an inferiority complex for many years already, as he was constantly compared to the Landragon Heir, head of the Landragon Cavalry unit that had wiped out bandits from the fief, the rising hero and sword of the commoners.

Arthur's training had allowed Victor to feel confident for the first time in his life.

Despite his beginner knight cultivation, he could only take up to 4 preparatory knights at the same time before training. Now, he had no trouble fending off thrice this number. This was how much of a qualitative change Victor went through.

He only saw John as a goal, setting him as someone he had to destroy. Now, however...his warrior spirit was completely fired up.

'Perhaps...Just perhaps...', Victor thought as he reminisced of his childishness of wanting to surpass his father, 'I will achieve it'

"CHARGE", Victor shouted, for the first time focusing one hundred percent of his will towards something else than his petty revenge.

For the first time in his life, Victor unsheathed his sword and directed it towards enemies. They weren't weak either. Their father had talked long enough about elves and their supernatural abilities.

However, Victor didn't care.

'With this, I can die without regrets', Victor thought as he led the army through the elven swordsmen.

Seeing the Landragon Heirs putting themselves at the forefront of the incoming battle, the Dragon Army and the knights' morale couldn't be any higher. Since their lord had entered the battlefield with the confidence and courage to put themselves at risk, why would they show a weak spirit?

Victor was resolved to die.

He knew it, inwardly, that this battlefield was incredibly dangerous.

Even if they had the advantage thanks to John's tactics, it would all for nothing if the druids were to act freely.

Arthur encouraged John in this plan, as he was confident in himself. And John, who had witnessed Arthur's overwhelming victory against Viscount Frederick Landragon, accepted Arthur's promises and took his self-proclaimed strength without even doubting him for a second.

John had invested eight years in the [Knight Royal Academy] in order to raise a fund necessary to fund his private army, and he spent the twelve following years slowly grinding, training his army so that it would be on par with Viscount Frederick Landragon's Heavy Infantry Elite Guard, the [Dark Legion].

In the process, he met many strong men, and gathered some knight subordinates. They subjugated bandits, killed monstrous beings such as goblins and werewolves, giving a sense of peace to the commoners.

However, John had willingly staked it all in a suicidal battle against an army twice their number, with 4 intermediate-rank powerhouses. Even if they were druids secluded from the human world and with little fighting experience, it didn't change the fact that they were intermediate druids still, not to mention that there were over 10 beginner-rank druids capable of wielding strange and unforeseen spells.

Yet, Victor could only smile as he entered the battlefield. Elven swordsmen had tried to put some resistance. However, elven warriors were only strong because of their high agility. If their opponents were on horseback, even elven warriors could not outrun them.

As a result, Victor thrust forward, his thrust being lightning fast. The sword pierced the elven swordsman's heart with ease.

It was too easy.

Quickly followed by his knight subordinates, Victor had opened a hole in the elven army. Swordsmen tried to put a resistance, but elven warriors were not very resistant or used to block enemies. Their fighting style was relying on dodging and feints. Faced with a heavy cavalry charge, the elven army collapsed almost instantly.

Not even a minute after the battle began, more than thirty elven swordsmen had fallen already.

The charge had been deadly.