Law of Space and Time

Chapter 103: Battle in the South (2)

It was a peaceful summer's day. The air on the outskirts of Tewadedan was particularly refreshing, and it seemed that the nearby mines hadn't affected the environment here in the slightest.

If we didn't need to go to battle, this would be a perfect time for a hike in nature, a soldier by the name of Ronnie thought to himself.

It was no wonder that he was still able to think of something so relaxing so close to a battle. He was one of the newbie soldiers who had only recently been recruited, and he had no idea what he was going to be facing. In fact, there were many new soldiers like Ronnie who were rather looking forward to the upcoming battle.

In contrast, all of the experienced soldiers of the camp wore grim expressions as if they were about to face a terrifying ordeal, and that was something that Ronnie couldn't understand.

Are the soldiers of Burmen really that strong? he thought to himself in a disdainful manner.

However, the pale complexion that he had seen on Gwen's face prior to setting off instilled a seed of doubt in his heart toward the outcome of the imminent battle.

In the end, he decided not to entertain these erratic thoughts any longer and tightened his grip around the shaft of his spear. With his spear in hand, he felt ready to take on the entire world.

...

Gwen didn't want to see the city that her father had worked so hard to create be destroyed during the battle, nor did she want to see all of the innocent citizens of Tewadedan lose their lives because of her. Thus, she chose to engage Aiden in a final showdown outside of the city.

The battle was to take place on Deer Antler Hill around 10 kilometers away from Tewadedan.

Looking at the massive army of Fooz spreading out before him, Aiden was struck by a hint of admiration toward Gwen, but that was far overshadowed by her contempt toward her stupidity.

Aiden knew what Gwen was thinking, and that was the reason for his contempt. One couldn't afford to let their softer emotions get in the way of battle. In order to give themselves the best chances of winning, they had to maximize all of the advantages at their disposal, and that included their geographic location. In Aiden's eyes, it was downright foolish for Gwen to abandon the sturdy defenses of the city just because she was afraid of civilian casualties and the city being damaged.

In Aiden's eyes, if Gwen were to stay in Tewadedan and order her army to defend with their lives, then there was a slight chance that they could weather this storm. After all, he had only brought 10,000 of his own elite troops with him. As for the remaining 40,000 troops, those had been gathered by the nobles of Sarus, and he didn't have any confidence in them. Furthermore, he had no plans to use the twin-foot flying dragons during this battle. After all, after conquering Fooz, he had to sway the citizens of the province to his side. If he were excessively barbaric and violent on the battlefield, then that could evoke a great deal of hostility toward him in the hearts of the people of Fooz. If that were to happen, future rebellions from Fooz would almost be inevitable.

Aiden was thinking to himself that if Onean were in Gwen's place, there was no way that she would've made such a decision. The fact that she was willing to destroy the royal palace that had been her home since birth was a clear indication of just how ruthless she could be. With the thought of Onean entering his mind, he couldn't help but think of his own sister again. Both of them were extraordinarily beautiful and talented women. In terms of strategic and tactical acumen, Aiden was confident that Lana wouldn't lose to Onean, but in his opinion, she wasn't quite as ruthless and decisive as Onean was.

Where could she have gone? Aiden's thoughts were still preoccupied with Lana, and he could barely even be bothered to take a glance at the opposing army of Fooz.

He couldn't shake the feeling that this incident had something to do with Erwin, and with that in mind, he was once again struck by a sense of remorse. He shouldn't have allowed Lana and Jeff to return to Sarus with their father. If they hadn't gone with him, then Jeff wouldn't haven't been crippled and disfigured, and Lana would've never met Erwin.

However, there was no way to turn back time, and regardless of how protective he was of Lana, she would eventually have to marry someone someday. If he had a choice in the matter, he naturally wanted to see Lana marry someone that she loved. He didn't want Lana to have to sacrifice her own happiness in a political marriage for the sake of their family. Hence, even though Aiden was very much in disapproval of Erwin, he wasn't strictly opposed to the idea of Erwin being Lana's future husband.

All he wanted was for Lana to be happy, so he would accept her choice as long as it was someone she loved.

Furthermore, it wasn't like Erwin was completely worthless in Aiden's eyes. Even he had to admit that Erwin's time and space magic was quite fearsome.

He must have something going for him if Lana's fallen for him so completely, Aiden thought to himself.

Of course, this was also the source of Aiden's displeasure. While it was true that Erwin was a young magician with great potential, he was extremely promiscuous and was hooking up with Onean, even though he already had Lana, much to Aiden's fury and chagrin.

In any case, even though there wasn't any evidence, Aiden was already blaming Lana's disappearance on Erwin.

Even though Erwin wasn't here, his closest friends were present on this battlefield.

For example, there was Kaiba standing next to Gwen in front of Fooz's forces.

On the night that Erwin and Onean had fled from Sarus, Aiden had seen Kaiba.

That night, Kaiba had received a kick from Aiden that had almost killed him on the spot. If the blow hadn't been cushioned by that suit of Falcon Beak Lizard armor, there was a good chance that he would've died that night.

Seeing as he couldn't vent his fury on Erwin, Aiden was planning to beat up this close friend of Erwin's instead.

...

The sound of rumbling war drums rang out, resembling explosive thunderclaps, and the battle of Deer Antler Hill finally commenced.

Due to the hilly terrain of the region, the battlefield wasn't very open and spacious, and it was only just barely large enough for the footsoldiers of both armies to spread out into their formations. The steep slopes on either side of the flat land weren't suited for travel on horseback, so the cavaliers of the two armies were unable to immediately enter the fray. It seemed that the cavaliers were going to be reserved for the endgame of this battle.

The footsoldiers on both sides were maintaining strict formations as they advanced at a steady pace, drawing closer and closer to one another.

As soon as the footsoldiers of the Atlas Empire entered the range of her archers, Gwen immediately waved her staff through the air, and a volley of arrows instantly shot forth from the rear of the Fooz army.

Countless arrows that were giving off a peculiar purple hue whistled through the air as they hurtled directly toward the enemy forces.

As the commander of the footsoldiers, Larwood took a glance at the oncoming storm of arrows with furrowed brows, then immediately roared, "Raise your shields!"

Upon entering the range of the enemy archers, it was always inevitable that they were going to come under fire, so Larwood wasn't panicked in the slightest. However, the sight of the eerie purple arrowheads evoked a sense of unease within him.

A string of loud clangs rang out from the ranks of the Atlas Empire's footsoldiers, and it was as if a barrage of heavy punches were being dealt upon the shields that they were holding.

The shield-bearing warriors were gradually being overcome by the tremendous force exerted upon the shields by the arrows, and they were forced to switch from a one-hand grip into a two-hand grip, then falling to one knee before eventually being flattened against the ground altogether.

The footsoldiers of Fooz were extremely excited to see the momentum of the enemy footsoldiers being halted, and they immediately stormed toward the enemy with renewed vigor.

Aiden's eyes narrowed slightly as he inspected the oncoming storm of purple arrowheads, and he found them to be quite intriguing.

The purple arrowheads were crafted from a certain type of special ore found in the mines of Fooz. This type of ore had a special property, which was that when propelled at high speeds, it would absorb the matter around it in order to increase its own mass.

Hence, after flying through the air for a while, they were able to completely flatten the shield-bearing footsoldiers like a storm of sledgehammers.

Looks like Jenkins left some stuff behind for his daughter, after all, Aiden thought to himself.

Right at this moment, Gwen rose up into the sky from the back of her steed before beginning to chant an incantation with the objective of applying further pressure to the Atlas Empire's ranks.

Snow and ice gradually began to fall from the heavens, but the magicians of the Atlas Empire certainly weren't just going to stand by idly and allow her to do as she pleased.

The magicians were led by Byron Shreesan, and they immediately conjured up an advanced magic dome to keep the storm of snow and ice at bay.

In terms of pure magic power, Byron and Gwen were at a similar level. Furthermore, both of them were among the top young magicians of Teedus Academy, so they knew each other's skillsets very well.

However, Byron had no intention of facing Gwen in a one-on-one battle. From the instant that Byron rose up to face Gwen, many advanced magicians appeared behind him for assistance. It was clear that Byron wasn't the only advanced magician among the young nobles of Sarus.

Countless spells of all types of dazzling colors began to clash in a frenzy, creating an incessant string of loud explosions.

Spells of all manners of different attributes collided violently, creating an enormous piece of vivid artwork in the sky.

It was clear that Gwen was struggling to deal with so many advanced magicians.

Right as she was doing everything in her power to ward off all of the oncoming spells, a scorching fireball suddenly shot forth from a certain direction before hurtling rapidly toward her back.

Right as the fireball was about to come into contact with Gwen's magician robes, a silver spear abruptly plunged through it, extinguishing it on the spot.

The wielder of the spear then rose up into the sky from behind Gwen, revealing himself to be none other than Kaiba.

Judging from the speed and power of that spear strike, it was clear that Kaiba had made great strides in his martial techniques during his time in Tewadedan.

Larwood and Chase were both already fighting on the battlefield, and their hearts were filled with mixed emotions at the sight of the familiar figure in the sky.

Meanwhile, Kaiba had positioned himself behind Gwen like an immovable guardian.

There was no verbal communication between the two, but Kaiba was extremely happy just to be by her side at a time like this. They weren't lovers, but at this moment, he was her most solid pillar of support.

It wasn't that there were no other magicians in Fooz, so Gwen could only fight on her own. Instead, this was a plan that Gwen had devised prior to the battle. She was going to draw the firepower of all of the Atlas Empire's magicians, thereby leaving all of the other magicians of Fooz free to attack the Atlas Empire's army as they pleased.

Of course, her plan had been far too simple and naive.

There was no way that Aiden would've simply allowed her to get her way and let the magicians of Fooz do as they pleased.

With a wave of his hand, the herald beside him immediately raised the corresponding flag.

Thus, all of the troops situated at the rear of the Atlas Empire's army immediately pulled out bows that were strapped to their backs.

"Fire!" Aiden ordered.

A volley of arrows was instantly fired from the rear of the Atlas Empire's army, and the arrowheads were glowing with white light, making the storm of arrows resemble a dazzling meteor shower.

The arrows were aimed at none other than the magicians of the Fooz army.

A string of agonized howls instantly rang out in the sky above Fooz's forces.

Hundreds of Fooz's magicians were felled by the storm of arrows before they even had a chance to break through the magic dome.

These soldiers of Burmen were constantly battling the magic beasts of the Terarody Mountain Ranges, and the arrows that the archers fired were quite effective even against those magic beasts, let alone these magicians who weren't even wearing any armor.

Even Gwen was almost unable to get out of the way in time and came within a hair's breadth of being shot down by the arrows. Thankfully, Kaiba's reflexes were sharp enough to grab her and pull her out of harm's way just in the nick of time.

Looking at the arrow that had only just barely flown past the tip of her nose, Gwen's inner garments were instantly drenched in cold sweat.

In the blink of an eye, Aiden had completely turned the tables on the battlefield, and this was only a brief display of power from the elite troops of Burmen. One could only imagine just how much of an impact these elite troops would have if they were to join the battle on the front lines. These were Aiden's most trusted and capable soldiers, and they had always been concealed in the barracks of Leeku. Even during the battle on the Marrod Plain, they hadn't made an appearance, and this was the first time they were being revealed in a large-scale battle.

The reason why Aiden was refraining from sending these elite troops into battle right away was because he wanted to give the new soldiers of Sarus some battle experience, and everything would end all too quickly if these elite troops were to enter the fray.

Gwen cast a furious gaze toward Aiden, and she pounced directly toward him like a scorned lioness.

Aiden remained completely unfazed, looking as calm and collected as ever. He was rather intrigued to see what Gwen was planning to do next.

Meanwhile, a brutal battle was taking place on the battlefield between the two armies.

The soldiers of Fooz had thought that the Atlas Empire's troops would be cast into complete disarray, but to their surprise, the Atlas Empire's army was slowly turning the tables, led by the likes of Larwood and Chase.

Finally, new soldiers like Ronnie were beginning to realize that the battlefield wasn't as fun a place as they had thought it to be, and that these young nobles weren't complete pushovers as they had expected.

Meanwhile, Byron and the other magicians were no longer preoccupied with Gwen, so they were able to launch fierce barrages of spells onto the soldiers of Fooz.

This was an unfair battle to begin with, but then again, fairness was never mandated in battles.

...

With support from the magicians in the sky, the Atlas Empire's troops commenced a ferocious assault.

Countless new soldiers of the Fooz army just like Ronnie were filled with despair at the sight of the storm of fireballs descending from the heavens.

All of their unfulfilled ambitions were blown away, much like dandelion seeds that were unable to stand the test of even a faint breeze.

One young and exuberant heart after another ceased beating in the blink of an eye.

Countless new soldiers just like Ronnie were being slaughtered on this cruel and merciless battlefield. They were like powerless prey that could do nothing but wait for their ferocious hunters to massacre them.

Larwood was leading from the front on horseback, plunging his way deep into the ranks of Fooz's army.

The troops of the Atlas Empire were greatly inspired to see their commander displaying such courage and dominance, and they all charged along behind Larwood with all their might.

At this point, the front section of the Fooz army had already completely collapsed, and they had suffered close to 10,000 deaths.

Aiden looked on as Larwood valiantly led the charge toward the enemy, and he was mildly impressed.

All of a sudden, a silver spear plummeted down like a shooting star, plunging directly into the ground in front of Larwood, stopping him cold in his tracks.

The wielder of the spear was an extremely familiar figure to Larwood, and neither of them would've ever imagined that they would face each other on the battlefield as enemies someday.

Larwood cast his gaze toward Kaiba with a cold expression as he asked, "Is it really worth it?"

A carefree smile appeared on Kaiba's face as he replied, "I've lived like a coward for too long. I want to be true to myself and truly live for once."

"You might not live much longer at this rate," Larwood said with tightly furrowed brows.

"Then I'll just have to die with her," Kaiba replied as he cast his gaze toward Gwen, who was situated elsewhere on the battlefield.

Larwood shook his head with a frustrated expression. "You must've had your head kicked in by Caster's donkey!"

For some reason, Larwood couldn't help but chuckle with amusement at his own statement, even though he still wore a frustrated scowl.

Kaiba also began to chuckle with amusement upon hearing this.

This was an inside joke between Erwin and his friends.

Caster was the name of a person, namely a renowned procurer back in Sarus.

He was not a scrupulous businessman, and he specialized in preying on nobles who had far more Loonies than brain cells, charging them exorbitant prices. Unfortunately, at the time, Erwin and his friends were still quite young, so they were unable to visit the red-light districts of Sarus. If they were to be caught visiting such places at such a young age, they would've been subjected to severe punishment from their families, so they had no choice but to support Caster's business.

As for the joke about Caster's donkey, that was from Chase. As aforementioned, the four of them had been quite young at the time, and they were severely lacking in general knowledge, so they were oblivious to the fact that it was very dangerous to stand behind animals like horses and donkeys as they could kick at any moment.

On one occasion, after they had just done the deed in one of Larwood's secret houses, the four of them were leaning against the wall, looking up at the sky in an absentminded manner while feeling the effects of post-nut clarity. For some reason, Chase was suddenly struck by a burst of inspiration and developed an interest in the voluptuous bottom of Caster's donkey. At the time, Caster was still in the room, gathering the women that he had procured, and Chase took the opportunity to play with the donkey's bottom.

While doing so, he was joking to the other three that its bottom was no less pleasant to the touch than the bottoms of the women that they had just enjoyed. Inevitably, the donkey eventually kicked with its rear hoof, sending Chase crashing to the ground.

Chase immediately began to roll around, howling with agony while holding onto his own head. The other three were terrified and immediately gathered around him to examine his condition. Thankfully, Chase possessed a sufficiently thick skull to weather the ordeal, and after lying in bed for a few days, he made a full recovery.

As the four of them grew older, they came to realize just how unscrupulous Caster had been, and just how much money they had spent on very mediocre hostesses. Hence, the inside joke of being kicked in the head by Caster's donkey remained a staple, and it was brought up whenever one of them did something stupid.

...

Standing on the battlefield, the two of them took a brief moment to reminisce about the past, then cast aside their sentimental feelings and prepared to face each other in battle.

Meanwhile, Chase had also spotted the confrontation that was taking place between Kaiba and Larwood, and he could only look on in silence with a complex expression.

Kaiba thrust his spear directly toward Larwood's chest with tremendous force, yet Larwood seemed to have anticipated this attack, sidestepping to easily evade it before sweeping his sword toward Kaiba's lower body.

Kaiba also reacted extremely quickly, leaping up from the ground to jump over Larwood's sweeping sword.

It seemed like Kaiba had also dodged the attack with ease, but in reality, he was already drenched in cold sweat.

He had only unleashed this spear technique in front of Larwood on one occasion, and that was back when they were battling those Falcon Beak Lizards in the Terarody Mountain Ranges. However, that one time was enough for Larwood to commit the technique to memory, thereby allowing him to evade the attack with such ease and composure.

At the time, Larwood had already been mentally prepared for this day, so he had been actively keeping tabs on his own friends even from back then. It was truly impressive and a little disturbing just how adept a schemer Larwood was.