Goblin Raid

The man, who wore a full set of silver knight armor, led the three of us into the guarded fortress. We walked past the training court, where different sorts of soldiers were running drills on the command of their leaders. Spearmen, swordsmen, and archers all practiced from day till night on their craft.

The man, with spiky hazel hair and cerulean-like eyes, led us up a set of stone stairs and into a building. Inside, a receptionist welcomed us and the man took us upstairs, into a chamber-like room with wooden planks and walls. The room, illuminated by a burning fireplace, was filled with tables and chairs for discussing strategic views, as well as a map of Vrusta Kingdom.

He urged us to sit on the comfortable couch made of springy cushions near the crackling fireplace. We did, and politely sat down. The man ushered a maidservant to bring us a cup of tea, as well as some sweet bread for his visitors.

"Well, I am most certainly glad to see that Vrusta's finest warriors have made it out alive," the man sat down on the couch, accompanying the three of us into a light discussion. Mareii nodded, as did I. It was only Iomene who replied.

"Sir, we are grateful that we may be in your company, but I have many questions regarding Vrusta Castle," Iomene had an ever so serious and composed expression on her face, with only a slight hint of confusion on her tone.

Did Iomene... not know what had happened? I know she wasn't there in the dining hall at the time, but surely she must've heard it from someone else, right?

To be fair, even I don't know what happened. After that voice yelled out that the Demon King had been reborn, the council began to immediately faint and drop to the floor. I was the last one awake... but after that, who knows what happened! I just suddenly woke up in a forest...

My main point was that I had many questions as well.

"No worries, Iomene, I'm sure I can answer most of your questions," the man reassured, breaking away from Iomene's glance and staring at me. "Ah, how rude of me! I have yet to make your acquaintance, Captain Vanguard," I exchanged eyes with the brown haired man.

"I am Commander Spark, leader of Fort Meridian's Garrison," the man, Spark, held out his hand for a handshake.

"I am Captain Vanguard... of Vrusta Kingdom," by this point, I had gotten used to being called Captain Vanguard. Iomene flinched at my words and I shook Commander Spark's hand.

"Hahaha! To think we would have a new Captain so soon!" Commander Spark boasted and had a hearty laugh. "And a big greeting to you, Mareii! But now, let's not waste any time. I think it'd be easier to give you three an explanation, so I might answer any questions left.

Around the same time the commander had finished his words, a group of maidservants came in and set the cups of tea and plate of bread on the square wooden table in front of us. The Commander told us to eat as he explained what happened. I took up a slice of bread and ate it, as well as a sip of the refreshing tea.

"Two weeks have passed since the incident at the Castle. At that time, it seems that the entire Vrusta Council, including the elders, have disappeared. You three are the first of the council to be found, as a matter of fact," he paused, allowing us to comprehend the information he had told us.

According to him... it's been a full two weeks since the Banquet? No, that can't be. There's not a chance such a thing happened. Not without at least one of the Council members returning.

"Continue," Iomene urged. And he did continue.

"That's not all. Not only has the King been brutally murdered, it's apparent who was behind the assasination. The accursed Demon King!"

"How do you know it was the Demon King?" Iomene sipped on the tea after asking her question.

"Oh, did you not hear the voice of the Demon King? And we thought it was a universal spell! Multiple accounts from different Kingdoms have also heard the same words..."

"I heard it," I joined in on the conversation.

"I also did," Mareii had also joined in, and for a split second I saw Iomene's face change from a sincere seriousness to an agitated disturbance, then back to her usual seriousness.

"Hmmm... Then how come Iomene didn't hear it?" Spark thought about it for a moment, but reached no conclusion. I shrugged.

A soldier in full plated armor barged into the room, his helmet off as he reported to his Commander.

"Commander! A rapidly approaching Goblin army has been spotted, approaching the Fortress! They have weapons and armor and we are in need your assistance, Commander Spark!" The soldier panicked and spoke in a hesitant tone.

"And? Can't you see I'm in the middle of something important right now?" Spark's response only made the soldier panic evermore.

"B-but... It's urgent! They heavily outnumber us and have gear!" The soldier no longer held back the panic in his voice. Spark sighed and our eyes met.

"Captain Vanguard... I'm terribly embarrassed to ask, but could you go and take care of this situation? I have something personal to talk with Mareii and Iomene about Council duties, anyway," Spark entrusted me with the task of defeating the Goblin army. However, the way he made it seem like gave me the impression that I didn't have a choice to reject him.

After a few seconds of thought, I hesitantly accepted. "I'll take care of it," I suppressed my hesitancy, but it might've slipped out of my tongue. "Excellent! Janshai will lead you to the battle grounds."

And with that, I followed the Soldier, Janshai, out of the main building and past the training court, into the fortress's main gate. The atmosphere suddenly felt... tense and heavy.

Just as we were about to exit, I stopped.

"What's the matter, Captain Vanguard?" Janshai stopped as soon as I did, wondering why I had stopped following him.

I pointed to the tower beside the Fortress gate. "Any chance I could climb up that and get a better view?"

"Y-Yes, Sir! But make haste, the Goblin army is not too far away now!" Janshai informed me.

I nodded and entered the tower, climbing up the dusty wooden ladders until I had reached atop. I poked my head out and looked at the vast meadow field, with numerous soldiers of different classes all spread out.

I activated 3rd Category of Power Ranking: Group Ranking. Instantly, a detailed description arose of the Fortress soldiers.

Units:

[Calvary] 250

[Archers] 300

[Swordsmen] 150

[Spearmen] 100

[Medics] 50

[Attack] 25374

[Speed] 15792

[Defense] 21960

[Total Units] 850

My power came with numerous categories, and from this I was able to determine a basis strength for the Fort Meridian units. They weren't insanely powerful, but for a small military regime, they were more than enough. That being said... were they enough to take down a whole army of armored Goblins, that greatly outnumbered them?

With that in mind, I headed back down after my analysis. There, Janshai awaited me patiently.

"Captain, let us make haste, before we run out of time!" Janshai ran out the Fortress, as did I. I tried to shake the tense shivers and goosebumps out of my system. After all, I wasn't exactly what you'd call a military leader.

Instantly, we were greeted by the sight of prepared medics, armored spear and swordsmen and the calvary on their horses. All spread out indefinitely, as the wind picked up violently.

"Captain, what shall we do with the forces?" Janshai didn't exactly see the same plan that I did. I was going to have to explain it to him after I made sure it was a good idea.

"Let, me think, please."

"Yes Sir!"

Now, about half of the battalion was made entirely up of calvary and archers. Speed wasn't a problem for the horsemen. However, it would take some time for the archers to reach out into the wilderness of the emerald grassland.

A plan was steadily forming in my mind. Now, the Goblins were prone to chasing around anything, and I mean absolutely anything, that had disturbed their peace. I learnt that the hard way back in Fort Meridian's Forest. Though, since it would take some time for the majority of the battalion to advance forward, it wouldn't be a bad idea for the calvary to advance ahead and lure in the Goblins for a surprise attack by the archers and other units. Right..! That wasn't too bad of an idea.

"Alright, Janshai, listen up," I faced Janshai and made sure he was listening. "I want the Calvary at the very front, spread up in the shape of an arch. I will lead them towards the Goblin army. However, we will not engage in conflict. Instead, we will retreat at the very last moment, and lure the Goblins back towards the rest of the militia. From there, the archers will be positioned at the very behind, with the swordsman and spearmen at the front. The calvary will split off, half will go to the right side and the other half will take the left side. The swordsman and spearman will attack the Goblin army head on, while the Calvary will attack at the sides. As soon as the Goblins are in sight, I want the archers to begin firing. Got it?"

Janshai took a moment to process what I had told him. After a short delay, he nodded and understood his duty. "May you please go and explain the plan to the rest of the battalion while I go up and take charge of the Calvary?" I silently wished that this idea wouldn't backfire on me.

"Sir... Yes, Captain, Sir! But wouldn't it be too risky to send you out along with the Calvary?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry about it, Janshai. Just focus on your duty. I want the rest of the army to follow up ahead the Calvary. Now do you understand, completely?"

Janshai nodded. I hope he understood the importance of his role. If he had failed to notify the leaders in time... the plan would be in disarray.

"One more thing... you know where I can find a horse?" I was going to need something to keep up with the Calvary, and, of course, what better than a horse?

"Right, Sir... over there," Janshai pointed a finger towards a Soldier keeping care of the Horses, with extra crates full of gear.

"Thanks, Janshai!" I shouted as I made my way to the horses, hoping to choose a lively one with top speed and stamina. Firstly, though, I took up a light broadsword, a healing potion, and a couple of throwing knifes.

One by one, I looked at every horse. Until I decided to choose the last one. It was a brown horse with chocolate eyes and a hazel mane. I grabbed onto its saddle and jumped on. I directed the horse to the frontline of the army, with the rest of the Calvary. The soldiers of the army all looked at me, whispering and talking to each other about something. I ignored it, but I swore I could've heard the phrase, 'Is that the new Captain?'

My eyes scourged for the Calvary commander. Typically they wore a different type of colored helmet, or had an armband on their elbow.

After a few minutes, I found a Soldier with a blue armband on his elbow. "Are you the leader of this Calvary unit?"

To which he responded with, "Yes, Captain Vanguard, I am."

I explained to him the plan in full detail. He assembled his units into an arch. Shortly after, all the preparations for the plan were set... now all that was left was to execute it.

"So... you ready?" I looked at the Calvary leader.

"Ready as I'll ever be, Captain." He had a look of determination on his face, his eyes sparkled with hope.

"Good. Sound the horn."

Instantly, a bellowing of a horn filled the entire battlefield, signaling that the plan was in action. The horsemen carried on at full speed, as I led the entire Calvary unit up ahead on my horse. I galloped at full speed as well. The rest of the army followed up behind us, but we lost sight of them quickly.

We rode for quite sometime. I lost count of how long it took before we were faced with the sight of the fiendish Goblins far away. As soon as they came up on sight, I activated 3rd Category: Group Ranking.

Goblin Hoard

Units:

[Horsemen] 400

[Undefined/No role] 2100

[Attack] 78924

[Speed] 11972

[Defense] 47302

[Total Units] 2500

Undoubtably, they greatly outnumbered us, in terms of both units, attack and defense. Speed was our only advantage. However, it would be easy for them to massacre us if we weren't careful.

In other words, it was up to fortunes blessing to see who would win this battle.

As we got closer, it was easier to make out the size of their hoard, as well as the disgusting features of the goblins. Their unit was large, especially compared to our units. This, along with many of the Goblins were covered with armor and had weapons, made it ever so difficult to tell how this battle would turn out.

We had gotten close enough. It was time to turn back to move onto the second phase of the plan.

"Hey... sound the horn so we can retreat!" I shouted out to the leader of the Calvary units, unaware of his name but wanting to catch his attention. Within seconds, he had blown the horn and we were turning back. The Calvary unit was careful not to get too close to the hoard, but not to outrun the Goblins.

So far, everything was going right. No one had fallen behind. As we got closer to the other units, the archers would have to position themselves perfectly. Most of their arrows had to hit, and the spear and swordsman units would require aid from nearly all units.

Finally, we had reached back to our units. The Calvary began to split up as the Goblin Hoard approached closer.

Pheeeew... Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, the arrows began to rain down heavily on the Goblin hoard, knocking out some of the Goblins off their captured horses. Another incoming air strike was on it's way, and if the Calvary didn't move fast enough, it was highly likely that some of the arrows would hit it's own allies.

Wheeew! An arrow almost fell right on top of me. If I had been a second late, it was over for me. Another batch of arrows hit the Goblins, and bit by bit they were starting to get knocked off and the goblins lost some of their allies.

Now came the hard part, though. Running away was no longer an option. Our forces had to come in contact sooner or later with the Goblin Hoard. The Calvary had successfully split up and began conflict on both sides of the Goblin hoard. Around the same time, the frontline infantry came in contact as well, the archers preparing their third batch of flying arrows.

I took out my Sword and began slashing at the Goblins below me. The easy ones to take care of were the under my horse. The harder ones were the smarter ones, the ones who had learned how to ride a horse and fight on it.

The archers kept up their fleet of arrows, assisting the front infantry with their attacks. The Calvary began to carve their way into the middle of the battle. After all, the Goblins lacked experience in fighting. That wasn't to say the battle wasn't bloody, though. The corpses of many gashed out goblins all sliced in half laid in the battlefield, with the disgusting, putrid odor of goblin blood overtaking the atmosphere.

A spear pierced my horse's leg, and the animal collapsed. I jabbed my sword at the Goblin who paralyzed the horse, killing it in a single attack. However, a nearby Goblin horseman came up and swung at me. I had barely managed to deflect it, but I wasn't going to let this chance slip away.

I took out a throwing knife from my pocket that I had grabbed earlier, and threw it at the horse-riding Goblin. Amazingly, it hit. The goblin fell and I took over it's horse.

Bit by bit, we were starting to push behind the Goblins. However, we couldn't hold on much longer. We were all doing our best. Either one side had to give up, or else the other would lose. Almost like a game of tug of war.

The Goblins wouldn't hold for much longer either. Eventually, the Calvary charged their way into the center of the battlefield, reconveying with the other group of Calvary and the frontline infantry. We had diminished their forces by over half, and the archers kept pestering the opposing group with their streaks of arrow rain.

After a gruesome couple more minutes, the Goblins were finally being pushed back. Until, they suddenly retreated, leaving behind their wounded comrades on the battlefield to die.

At the sight of this, the whole army cheered and roared.

The battle was over... with a fine victory scored by this army that I had led.

Now... this was something I could get used to.