Chapter 42:Battle of Klaverya

"The army of the mighty Asina kingdom is fleeing from us. The former kings of the Asina kingdom must be turning in their graves right now. Hahaha!" Cedric mocked the Asina kingdom, continuing on his way without resting his army. They had been chasing the Asina kingdom's army for about two days, and during this time, the army had become exhausted due to all the wells they passed being poisoned. However, King Cedric, thinking that the Asina army was fleeing, continued to pursue the enemy without considering the condition of his own army.

A few hours later, the scout units of the Avarya kingdom returned to King Cedric to report on the enemy army's situation. " Your Majesty, the enemy army has begun to wait and camp beyond the river Klaverya. At first we thought they were getting water for their army, but they have been camped there for a long time."

"Is that so? So, the little rabbit finally accepted its fate, huh?" King Cedric joyfully led his army across the river and established a camp there. Since it was nighttime, the soldiers, despite being tired, had to take turns standing guard. The next day, Cedric woke up to bad news.

"Your Majesty, the river is poisoned. Many soldiers drank from the river last night to avoid dying of thirst, and as a result, we estimate that about 4 or 5 thousand soldiers have died. Additionally, Many horses also perished after drinking from the river" the general explained fearfully. Cedric jumped up in anger. King Cedric's anger was blazing from his eyes. "How is this possible?!" he grumbled. They probably poisoned the river before we arrived," the general said shakily. After calming down a few minutes later, Cedric gave orders to his general.

"What we need to do now is to gather our surviving soldiers and immediately start the battle. Also, check if there is a clean water source nearby," he said. "Your command will be obeyed," the general said, rushing out. They soon found a few wells nearby and managed to supply some of the army's needs.

-----On the morning of September 25, 891, the army of the kingdom of Asina and the army of the kingdom of Avarya faced each other.-----

Ethan was currently observing the location of the enemy army. The Avarya kingdom's soldiers had formed up and were waiting for orders to attack. Similarly, the Asina kingdom's army was positioned on the slope of the hill. After observing the enemy army for a while, Ethan left the area.

An hour later, King Cedric had given the order for all his cavalry to charge. The cavalry soldiers rushed towards the enemy at full speed. Minutes later, the Avarya cavalry attacked the infantry. Princess Isabella commanded the infantry.

Under the sudden attack of the cavalry, the Asina kingdom's infantry suffered heavy losses. As the cavalry's swords cut the infantry soldiers down, they began to retreat. The battle continued to go against the Asina kingdom. Thinking they were close to victory, the Avarya kingdom's cavalry began to attack even more fiercely. Watching the battle closely, Ethan ordered his army, located behind the infantry, to retreat backwards and to the sides. On the other side of the hill, the Asina kingdom's army stood ready in a crescent formation.

Unaware of all this, the Avarya kingdom's cavalry, thinking they had won, advanced even further. With the thirst for victory, the cavalry rushed downhill, but when the infantry retreated, the cavalry noticed thousands of long and sharp stakes in front of them. Struggling to change their direction, the charging cavalry had a hard time avoiding the stakes, and many horses stumbled. Chaos ensued. The agonizing screams of the horses and the intense shouting of the soldiers were quite disturbing. The cavalrymen who found themselves among the stakes had to dismount from their horses.

During this time, the Asina Kingdom had surrounded its mounted cavalry and deployed its infantry. Suddenly, thousands of arrows began descending from the sky towards the mounted cavalry of the Avarya Kingdom. The sheer number of arrows was so overwhelming that it seemed like nightfall for the Avarya Kingdom's mounted cavalry. These arrow volleys had inflicted significant losses upon the mounted cavalry. Then, King Richard gave the order to his army to deliver the final blow.

With their mounted cavalry surrounded by Asina Kingdom's soldiers on all sides, the Avarya Kingdom's mounted cavalry soon suffered significant losses and was on the brink of destruction. Meanwhile, King Cedric ordered the infantry on the left flank to attack in order to find out the status of the cavalry, which was nowhere to be seen on the hill. However, the mounted units of the Asina Kingdom swiftly launched an attack to halt this unit. Duchess Theodora was on the right flank of the mounted cavalry, while General Roland was on the left. The two commanders quickly attacked the Avarya Kingdom's infantry using the slope on the other side of the hill and annihilated them in no time.

The battle was barely two hours old when the Kingdom of Avarya lost cavalry and infantry on its left flank. Some of the defeated soldiers died and some were captured. King Cedric was chewing his finger anxiously, having received no news from the cavalry they thought had won.

Having won the first battle, King Richard led his whole army up the hill. Seeing the soldiers of the kingdom of Asina on the hill in increasing numbers, the soldiers of the kingdom of Avarya looked towards the enemy in fear. King Cedric, realizing that the kingdom of Asina had defeated his cavalry, began to bleed from his gnawed finger. King Richard ordered his entire army to charge for the last attack.

In a last-ditch effort to resist the Asina Kingdom, King Cedric also committed his entire army to the battle. However, the psychological advantage lies with the Asina Kingdom. Soon, many of the Avarya Kingdom's soldiers, especially on the right flank, panicked and started to flee. Witnessing this, the remaining soldiers' morale shattered.

As the defeat of the Avarya Kingdom became evident, other soldiers also began to withdraw from the battle. Those who couldn't escape were either killed or captured. While attempting to retreat, the soldiers under Cedric's command in the center drowned in the Klaverya River. King Cedric managed to save his life with the effort of his guards. He hastily mounted a packhorse and quickly rode away from the battlefield with a few guards.

Previously, with his large army approaching the Klaverya River, King Cedric, mocking and disparaging the Asina Kingdom, had said, "The army of the mighty Asina kingdom is fleeing from us. The former kings of the Asina kingdom must be turning in their graves right now." Barely escaping with his life, King Cedric rode away on a packhorse. The Klaverya Battle, which ended in the decisive victory of the Asina Kingdom, resulted in many nobles and generals of the Avarya Kingdom being captured or killed.

The entire Avarya army had been prepared to achieve victory, but it had been annihilated by King Richard and Prince Ethan.