Book 9, Chapter 24

First Contact

It wasn’t long before a completely dressed Gangdor charged into the dining hall, bugles resounding through the camp to summon his generals. They all charged into the room within a mere ten minutes, grabbing their own seats and starting to wolf down mouthfuls of meat in preparation for the impending march. They knew that an opportunity to eat at the table would be rare over the coming months.

“Send three more scouting units to the coastline and search northwards!” Gangdor ordered amidst loud chewing noises, “200 kilometre radius. I don’t feel good about this.”

As one of the generals headed out to pass on the order, another spoke up, “When will the wasps be here, my Lord? The path to the Frostcliff Kingdom is completely sealed, we cannot withdraw our troops there.”

Gangdor frowned, closing his eyes for a moment as he communicated with a cloned brain. His expression slowly turned to one of relief, “Two will be there this evening, and ten more will come over the next three days. That should be enough to take everyone out of there.”

Another bald general asked, “My Lord, this unprecedented enemy you were talking about, what are they like? Are they really that formidable?”

“How the hell should I know?” Gangdor glared at the man, “They’re unprecedented, I haven’t seen them before. All I know is we need to retreat to the Triangle and organise a defence.”

After breakfast, the generals went their separate ways. Some troops were already withdrawing, and most would be done within two days. They had set up a lot of things over their three years here, and they couldn’t simply leave without handling a number of crucial matters.

The troops of the Crimson Empire were always overstocked with supplies and equipment, but now that proved to be more of a problem than anything else. The wasps and chrysalides were flying out to scattered outposts to bring back any soldiers stationed in different kingdoms, but those detachments ended up having to abandon supplies to make it back quickly.

……

Another stressful day passed by. The grey ocean looked like an enormous beast that was ravaging the coast, but a dozen different regiments started their journey across the snow-white earth. Gangdor woke up this morning in a cold sweat as well, cursing once more at the noon sky that was dark as night before having his guards help him with his armour. The legendary set was extremely powerful defensively, but wearing it was a hassle and the helmet made him want to cut his own head off at times.

By noon, it was time for the troops from the headquarters to disperse. Those stationed in the Frostcliff Kingdom were already heading towards the castle on their wasps, planning to restock at base before joining the rest of the march.

The weather was not conducive to any troop movements, slowing down even the broodmother’s knights. Even wasps and chrysalides weren’t immune to snowstorms, and the astral chrysalis which could ignore weather was too busy with other important tasks. By all right there should have been no threat to the troops, but Gangdor still felt extremely restless as he headed outside.

By this point, the fortress was almost emptied into the caravan that would be accompanying them back. His generals were all sitting upon their horses, awaiting his orders to set off. Satisfied with one last sweeping glance across his troops, the brute grunted in relief and smiled.

However, his hair suddenly stood on end as the cloned brain accompanying him transmitted some grave news. The troops from the Frostcliff Kingdom had been attacked!

Fear immediately covered the brute’s face. It would have been bad enough for his soldiers to be attacked anywhere, but those from the Frostcliff Kingdom were on the wasps! If they were attacked in the sky and dropped, none would survive!

Richard’s wasps flew hundreds of metres in the sky, almost entering the clouds. Even level 12 archers couldn’t reach them at such a height, and no military in Faelor would dare to attack a symbol of the Crimson Empire  no matter how many saints they had. This was clearly an attack from the reapers, which meant the enemy was finally here.

The fact that the wasps were attacked implied the reapers had airborne troops, which meant the land force here would be chased down as well. Gangdor forced himself to calm down with a few deep breaths, asking the cloned brain, “Can we save them?”

“I have confirmed that the opponents are the reapers; I do not suggest such a course of action. The other wasps en route have already been returned.”

“Grr… Tell those still at Frostcliff to remain in their posts, just last as long as they can.”

“Yes, my Lord,” the cloned brain said softly. Its voice was no longer as mechanical as before; the broodmother had used some divinity to give it a soul so it could take decisions independently.

Gangdor then turned around and yelled at his generals, “Get ready to leave, prepare the infantry, archers, and rune knights for battle! We’re heading for the Bellowing Canyon!”

The generals paused in astonishment. The Bellowing Canyon was only the midpoint on their march today, but if the infantry had to be on guard the entire time it was a long march. If enemies were already approaching, it would be more logical to just hole up in the castle.

“DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?” Gangdor growled once more, prompting the large army to set off from the castle immediately.

……

A small yet intense skirmish was currently underway near the eastern coast. A wasp with a large number of soldiers upon it was slowly flying across the sky, but its path was crooked and it seemed about to drop at any time. Metallic machines were circling all around it at high speed, shooting out beams of light or even metal bullets that ripped through its body. The drone had already sustained heavy damage, white steam billowing out of the holes. It was trying to regenerate, but every wound closed up was met with many more being opened. The bullets especially had frightening power, tearing holes that were several metres wide into its body with every shot.

The drone fell faster and faster with time, but it managed to puff just before landing and soften the blow. A few hundred soldiers were shaken off by the impact, but they quickly gathered up in large formations and protected themselves with shields.

A dozen small warplanes the size of eagles whistled down towards them, shooting beams of light that could melt through the warriors’ shields in seconds. Soldier after soldier screamed and fell to the ground, almost a hundred casualties being sustained in record time.

“Move your shields, don’t stand in one spot!” a hulking officer screamed out, “Don’t let that damned spell focus on you! Bowmen, shoot down those damned things!”

The soldiers immediately obeyed orders and started to sprint, also moving their shields to prevent the attacks from focusing. The strategy worked immediately— the second wave was only hurt and not killed— but only one of the arrows shot up in counter managed to hit its target. The officer was about to commend the archer who struck, but he went wide-eyed as he realised the energy-imbued arrow hadn’t gone more than a few centimetres into the machine. The plane only shook a little before continuing to fly on like nothing had happened!

Without any ability to retaliate, the infantrymen could only do their best to survive the barrage. Soldier after soldier fell to the ground, and the officer’s eyes soon turned red with anguish and bloodlust. Grabbing a short spear, he bellowed and threw it out with all his might, sending it flying into the sky like lightning to impact a small warplane. Fortified with an enormous amount of energy, the spear exploded upon impact.

The warplane finally emitted a few sparks, shakily falling to the ground. However, this attack drew the attention of all the other warplanes, and one of them zoomed overhead and lit up in a red glow. A hail of golden bullets rained down on the officer like lightning.

The man’s hair stood on end as he lifted his shield to block, but his figure was soon obscured by explosions and smoke. Moments later, the fires faded to reveal a severed hand gripping tightly onto a warped shield; that was all that was left of him.

Within minutes, hundreds of soldiers and even the wasp lay motionless on the ground; even the drone couldn’t survive the damage. The war machines of the reapers continued to shuttle back and forth across the battlefield, a few clunky machines throwing a hundred beetles to the ground. These beetles immediately started to dissect the bodies of the wasp and soldiers, separating armour from flesh with the expertise of skilled hunters. The flesh was compressed into tiny portions that were piled up in a transport ship more than ten metres long, loading it completely before it started to fly back north.

……

Gangdor continued to spur his horse on, following the army in their advance. He had already given orders for all nearby troops to rendezvous ahead; it was already clear that there would be no outrunning the reapers so it was much better to retreat slowly than fall into pandemonium.

He caressed the huge axe that was slung to the left of his horse, also touching the seven javelins on the right before he could feel even a little better. Ever since he had found out that the reapers could fly, he had ordered all of his soldiers to be armed to fight towards the sky. However, that was little consolation to someone who knew that hundreds of soldiers had died while only managing to take out one opponent.

The road ahead would be tough.