1 Prologue

On the border region of the Hitoarym Kingdom, a huge battle is happening, the attacker side is the army of the united Orc clan from Domor Bagola numbering around 40,000 facing them is the defending army of Hitoarym, a punitive force of 25,000.

The host of the Orc is physically strong as compared to their adversary, their numbers alone can ensure victory. The Delmoni region battle was not the first major conflict between the two nations, the Orcs launched a major offensive against the three neighboring kingdoms 3 years ago, as a response to the impending threats, and the three Kingdom of Hitoarym, Pols, and Vieseron ceased hostility and formed a defensive alliance, their military might alone isn't enough to halt the strong army of the Orcs, especially now that they are united under one banner.

5 years ago, a demon proclaimed himself, King of Domor Bagola, he united the Orcish Clans under one rule their goal is to eradicate every worshipper of the Goddess Venisya for they believe that only Devo can clench the sin of the world and cover it into darkness under the control of the ruler of Dark himself.

The Delmoni Region is the least inhabited land of Hitoarym, located in the east of the kingdom boundary to Domor Bagola, it is a land of marshes, hills, and lakes including the largest forest in the east, the Delmon Forest, named after the region itself. The defending army holds the geographical advantage, positioning themselves atop the hill beside the only road leading to the capital of the kingdom from the east.

"In front of us is the great host of Orcs, on our left is the marshes, and below to our right is the only passable way to Hitoar and beyond that is the Delmon forest, one can easily get lost in that maze-like forest." Pordan, the baron of Delmoni and commander of the defending army said to his aide. Pordan has no battle experience, considering him the lord of Delmoni region and all the other kingdom's finest are deployed elsewhere, he was the last logical choice. He is not a war veteran, he is not a great warrior, and he is not even considered a great lord among his peers when it comes to war, but his defensive tactics are among the best in the land, and his theories of defensive lines and positioning are on the advance stage, his choice of position in this battle proves of his tactical prowess. "Half of our army is holding the passage; those marshes will cover for any flank attack from the left. Order the plain platoon to hold the line at all cost." The aide bowed his head and hurries to the army holding the road by the commander's order.

Pordan has no experience as a soldier which invalidates his empathy for the soldiers below his rank, their death means victory to him, and their sacrifice is his achievement making his battle tactics ruthless among the army, which equates to the low morale of the soldiers defending their land.

"Bullocks his orders!" said the soldier, "why won't he fight in the vanguard!" said the other, "a coward of a lord he is!" said the third after hearing the orders from the squire of the lord, "Shut your mouth!" shout the aide, "his lordship has given the orders, it is treason if disobeyed!"

The squire, feeling mighty mounting on his horse looks at the soldiers holding nothing but spears, rusty swords, axes, and leather armor and wooden shield assigned to the vanguard, this is a punitive force, after all, a hurriedly conscripted peasants and laborers on the nearest towns to counter any invading army, that is a mix of commoners, lowborn's they are called and that includes a mixture of men, beastmen, dwarfs, even elves are among the ranks, and these races that are not of human are discriminated in every human kingdom, but out of desperate, these races of lowborn status are called to arms to defend their homeland by order of the King, as such they are assigned at the vanguard, with the human knights and footmen, archers and horsemen hold their position atop the hill where it is safe, the lowborns became the meat grinder, a bait to lure the bulk of the enemy to their side and flank them to diminish their numbers. The disgruntled plain platoon, as the commander called them, is justified for this is the fourth day of the battle, and half of their numbers have already perished, either dead at the hands of the enemy or at the hands of the knights killing them for retreating as it is treason to disobey the commander, so as to the enemy force, they struggled to climb the slope of the hill and the treacherous marshes, the enemies only way is the road below the hill.

Every time the Orc launch their attacks, they are met with volleys of arrows from the hilltop, the slope is watered from time to time to generate a muddy terrain, hampering any blitz attack from the enemy leaving them one logical option, and that is to attack the bottom of the slope where the weakest part of the army holds.

"Hold your ground!" the squire cried, holding his sword upward, shouting the orders of his commander, and running towards the hilltop to avoid the incoming onslaught.

"Ferden! A squire of the coward becomes a coward himself!" said one soldier referring to the name of the squire.

The wave of Orcish infantry rushed straight to the shivering army blocking the passageway, the defending army believes orcs are mindless creatures heading straight to their death, and that they are also about to meet their end, the morale is at all-time low, before the wave reached the wooden shield, men in the front started to run, fearing the might of their foe shouting their battle cry as they rushed towards them, and a cry was heard in the vanguard, "Run!" cried the soldiers to the front, amidst the confusion the soldiers started to scatter, running toward the maze-like Delmon forest hoping to avoid the death by steel and took their chance to death by hunger.

"Not again!" muttered the commander, "Goll!" Shouts Pordon, "take your knights, divide them into two, charge the enemy and eliminate the traitors!" the commander issued his command, annoyed.

Goll has his 1,000 knights under his command, the knights are the most elite soldier of the kingdom, they gallop downhill towards the struggling militia,

"Pris!" Order Goll, "take a hundred men and punish the traitors! Kill these demi's and be done with it."

Men refer to other creatures of intellect as demi-human, a humanoid form but of different body structure, beastmen are half-beast half-human, dwarfs are shorter than any average human height, elves have pointy ears and never age after reaching their mid-twenties, every kingdom has different races, they have concurring policies with regards to humanoid treatments, some are persecuted, some have the same rights as a commoner and nobles and some are even slaves, but one is certain, there are countries that these creatures rule, and treatment of cruelty is a common occurrence in these lands, be it humanoid, human, divine, or evil, the mortal sin is absolute.

"A thousand knights can only do so much damage against a thousand more their size, descend the infantry, and we will show these mindless orcs the superior human strategy!" muttered Pordon. The reserve infantry atop has descended below to assist the knights fighting hillside.

By sending his infantry, the commander has made themselves vulnerable to the left, a fog has covered the right flank, and visibility is nay, but the commander's confidence in leaving the right flank of the hill is because of the deadly marshes, a marsh as big as the eyes can see, which makes any platoon nor an army to cross unnoticed and unspoiled.

"Reinforcement from the capital is days away, it seems we can destroy this army here before they arrive."

The commander lowered his guard, focusing his attention on the ascending enemy soldier, the knights fighting on the foothill flanking the enemy also has the advantage, with footmen following them from behind, it seems victory is inevitable, and the unexpected happened. "ENEMY!" cried a scout to the right, an enemy host, numbering around 5,000 strong soldiers marches the marshes in a stealth manner using the cover of the fog which seems to be made by the magic of the Orcish shamans, and by this miscalculated or should we say misjudgment of the orc's strength by the commander has cost him his army or his life, even.

"What?!" Pordon's first impression upon hearing the cry of the soldiers, and not a moment later a war cry was heard throughout the hilltop, the armies seem confused, and upon hearing the echoed cry of their comrade, the ascending force responded in an even stronger war cry, giving a sudden boost to their confidence and morale and their attack has become even more fierce.

"My Lord!" said the aide, "we are surrounded, we must retreat!"

"Damn that Gurok! Rumors of his wits being on par with us humans are true." An angry voice from the commander, "We still have the advantage, recall the infantry!"

"But they have pinned down milord, the enemy number is too great" replied Ferden.

"Then Reposition the archers, give them a volley of arrows!"

"It is too late milord!" a shivering voice of the squire, "we…we…we should run!" he cried, he gallops his horse away from Pordon, his attitude displaying a coward's act.

"I'll have his head for that. Archers! Position yourself to the right, loose arrows at will!" the commander's panicked voice only gave more confusion to the soldiers on the hilltop.

As confused as the soldiers at the hilltop were, so as the soldiers on the foothills of the battlefield.

"What the hell is going on in there." A confused Goll as no arrows flew to the enemy's side supporting them from the incoming wave of Orcs. "Milord, Ser Ferden is heading straight this way." A knight at the back informed Goll and he quickly rushed towards the incoming squire to receive a new order, if any.

"What is going on-" he was interrupted by the looked on Ferden's face, he was afraid of something, and his face tells that he is running away from death.

"ENEMY! ENEMY! ENEMY FROM THE SWAMP!" the aide cries. "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

"Enemy? From the right?" thoughts run through Goll's mind, given his experience as a war veteran and a slight knowledge of tactical warfare, he immediately analyzes the situation, the infantry guarding the right is pinned on his end, a volley of arrows halted in the center and confused soldiers only added the fire to their fear. "Retre-" *BANG!* as he was about to shout the retreat, a huge explosion was heard inside the Delmon Forest, a shockwave travels through the air and halted in a moment the ongoing battle.

The origin of the explosion comes from the direction of where he sent his Lieutenant, Pris.

"Knights of Hitor! Follow me!" Goll's shout was heard within the 50-meter radius, his action was logical, the only way to survive death is to hope for a way out of through the Delmon Forest, their horses will give them an advantage in terms of speed, "the battle is lost," he thought, his only option now is to live and fight another day, and though the commander refuses to call the horn of retreat, he has the full command of his knights, "the elite of the kingdom must survive!" and so he rushed towards the Delmon Forest at full speed, he was followed by the surviving knights, leaving the commander and the battlefield to its fate.