Translated by Tianic, edited by Grammarly
Note 1: A full list of is provided. Please clic.k on the character name for their illustrations. if any.
Note 2: An of this chapter is provided in case of eye cancer.
Note 3: Comments and likes are appreciated.
Note 4: Correct Asmodian United Force's Marshal Verlaine → Valerian.
Note 5: Empire names mentioned in this chapter: Camp (adj. Cammish, the Cammish capital: Sellin), Wells (adj. Welsh), Elina (adj. Elinian), Brook (adj. Brookian, the Brookian capital: Foxburg), Swabia (adj. Swabian, the Swabian capital: Divine City), Tansey (Tansian)
A gust of coolish autumn wind went gently over the field. A mix of wild grass that just turned yellow wagged in the air.
The sky darkened. It was August already. Even for a place as warm as spring all year round, the wind of fall still brought a sense of cold for the Cammish people.
A colorfully-feathered bird flapped out of the grass as several wagons that passed by startled it. The birdie reached a quiet tree beside the road and gazed the stretched wagon fleet dissatisfied with its shiny black eyes.
The heavily-loaded wagons passed by in front of the bird's eyes to reach for a place not far away.
"Ignitionnnnnn!"
"Ignitionnnnnn!"
It was a Cammish transport station specially built for the general transition of the food supplied to the empire front line. All the army provisions for the war front will be diverted here. As the War was closing in, fleets that came in and out of the station added. The station soldiers usually needed to spend the whole day and night to finish their loading jobs. That was why the commanders' ignition order resounded one after another even before dark.
"Ignition… hey, don't you fucking sleep now!" On a solidly standing watch tower, there were two Cammish human soldiers. Among them, the taller kicked his comrade, "Dear me! You'll be dead if the captain sees you!"
"Go kick yourself! Just light up the damn fire." The shorter soldier picked up a torch beside him. He muttered spells then 'whoosh', the torch flamed.
The shorter soldier complained quietly while fixing the light on the wall, "Damn it, we don't get to sleep even though we stay up all night every day. I'd rather just fight the war and die!"
"Puff! Like you, go fight the war?" The taller soldier laughed, "PUF tools will cut your ass in less than a single turn!"
"Why don't you go then?" The shorter soldier said, "You'll wet your pants if you run into a Tansian rider!"
"I'll come back to this later. Watch, another fleet!" The tall soldier leaned forward to watch from the tower, then he turned over his head and said, "It's again the provisions for the 7th Legion. How many times now?"
"It's not surprising at all. Our 7th Legion riders are one-tops-three. No PUF riders can compare to them!" The short man said, "But I guess the 7th is facing a group of lousy enemies. Maybe it will be the main attack force this time again."
"How do you know that?"
"You know, they've replaced the wagons sent to the 7th Legion since yesterday, right?"
"Yeah, to lighter four-wheels."
"Watch and learn, kid. Only light four-wheel wagons are able to keep pace with the 7th Legion!" The short man said with joy, "There is no good roads on the Line, wagons that are too heavy will sink into the muddy ground."
"Huh, show off! You're only a few days more than… err!"
The tall soldier wanted to say more, however, a long arrow that penetrated his chest had him nailed to the center post in the watchtower.
Before the short soldier could react, a second arrow that followed pierced his neck. Fresh blood squirted.
"Puff", the shorter soldier fell by the fence. He breathed heavily and heard only the 'hiss' sounds of the air that came out of his neck. A moment later, his head tended deadly aside.
The taller one was spitting big swallows of blood. With all his strength that left, he trembled to reach for a string above his head. The chain that connected to the alarm.
He didn't expect a second arrow to come strongly and nailed his palm on the pillar as well before his hand leveled up to his ear.
Tears streamed down over the tall soldier's face and dropped on the blood-stained wooden floor. The next moment, more purplish red blood devoured the few drops of bright tears.
An enormous amount of dark shadows gushed from every corner of the supposedly empty field. They approached the station rapidly. It was the warehouse area in the camp. There were no additional guards except for a few watch towers.
"Enemies… from where?" Looked at the shadows who climbed over the fences under the towers, the tall soldier had given up reaching for the bell. He could not believe his eyes. This place was inland Camp, hundreds of miles away from the war front! Where did these people come from since both sides of the iron troops were gathering on the Line! No foreign birds should have crossed this far.
The tower's center pillar shook slightly. Those shadows were reaching for the top.
"If only I haven't dropped my spear." The tall soldier thought regretfully as it was definitely shameful to be spotted like this by the enemies.
One of the shadows reached the tower top. First, he checked the short soldier who lied beside then went for the tall soldier.
By the enchanted torch light, the tall soldier finally had a clear view of the enemy.
From his figure, the enemy should be a human being. He wore a helmet but his face under was behind a piece of black cloth. The tall soldier saw only a pair of grey-coloured eyes.
Being also a soldier, the tall soldier cannot find any identification marks on the enemy's body. There was no collar ornaments nor ranks on his armor. Besides, the enemy's armor was covered by a piece of colorful clothes. The bright patches of black and green blended like an area of kitchen floor that was stained by mixed sauces.
The tall soldier thought this enemy's wearings were even funnier than that of a clown.
This was also his last piece of thought. Because the next moment, someone snapped his neck.
More shadows gathered under the watch tower like moving ants before a storm. The 'ants' were currently sneaking in a seemingly messy formation.
One of the shadows traveled through the others and reached an illuminated tent. He took a sneak peek and returned. Then he made a series of gestures to the shadows that followed.
The shadows nodded and dispersed. They were crawling to that illuminated tent.
In the meanwhile, on a slope not far from the targeted camp, a dozen shadows were watching what was happening in the station. Among them, a man who was standing in the frontmost was not only covered with a black suit and black armor but equipped with a black blade and an extra-long black cape. As the gust blew, a few trace of black hair floated behind his head.
Even the hair was black! He was the blackest of all.
"It's good enough for me." He told another shadow beside him, "Initiate spell attack!"
Over the quiet night sky, a few lowered bird hummings spread. As one fell, another rose. The hummings traveled far until they reached the two doors at the station’s front and rear.
"Hey, did you hear anything?" At the gate, a werewolf soldier asked his companion.
"It’s just a bird." The other soldier replied, "What's wrong?"
The werewolf guard scratched his hairy head, "No way, it sounds like someone is enchanting spells. The tone is alike!"
Right before the other soldier was about to make some sarcastic comments on this oversensitive werewolf, a flash of light illuminated from afar. He widened his mouth while dozens of giant fireballs coming in closer to the gate!
"BOOM!"
The first few wagons that were entering the gate were the first to get hit. The magic fireballs exploded and ripped the entire wagon apart. Bundles of blazed forage were forced into the air as well.
"INCOMING ENEMIES!"
All of the gate guards were only allowed to yell out an whimpered alert before they were all swallowed by the flames that came tumbling. The fireballs not only crumbled the gate but also set the fences on fire. Quickly, the scattered raging fires connected to form a giant fire curtain.
Moments after the first wave of the fireballs exploded, the second wave traveled closely above the ground.
The second wave targeted the reinforcements that came to the rescue. They mobilized after the initial giant explosion. The poor guys merely saw the second fireballs that came directly through the fire curtain before their last breath.
The front and the rear gates were all sealed by fire in a blink of an eye. The station was thrilled in chaos.
At the commander's pavilion of the Cammish Garrison Troops located in the center of the station, an officer took only one look out of the camp to shout, "Incoming enemies! Guards, follow me!"
What replied him next was a blast of dark arrow rain. One ri-bodkin-arrow even penetrated his body and pierced another officer who stood behind him.
After the rain of arrows, several illumination-purposed magic spheres were created. The floating and glowing balls made the entire camp as bright as day. Many previous shadows that sneaked into the camp drew their sabers at once targeting the Cammish soldiers who were just able to exit the tents.
On one side was a plotted assault, on the other side was a hasty defense. Certainly the latter got unlucky.
"Wah-wah! Lah-lah! Wah-lah wah-lah!"
The shadows made sounds that no one could understand while chopped over one Cammish soldier after another with their long-tilted saber. Their robust movement enabled them almost to get one successful kill each time they swung the blade.
The local Cammish garrison was a group of either old or weak soldiers to begin with. The stronger ones were all deployed on the frontline. How could a barely full-membered regiment ward off these enemies from unknown places?
The enemies' blades can easily slash open the garrison's thin armor. However, the soldiers' weapons cannot do considerable damage to the enemies. Their swords can only slash open their opponents' colorful cover clothes.
A group of Cammish officers put their lives at stake. They successfully held a few horses out of the camp. However, one by one, they were immediately surrounded by teams of enemies, then fell into a struggle.
After the first round, several Cammish officers who haven’t had the time to put on armors were tipped over by enemies' pikemen. Oddly enough, the AUF's standard military round shield can be easily penetrated by the enemies’ long spears. Even the junior officers' armor with spell enchantments could not hold the enemy's attack. Usually, after a few glares, the enchantments were depleted.
On his horse, a Cammish officer slashed his heavy sword and successfully put down an enemy soldier for good. Who could expect that enemy soldier shook twice his head and rose again. He yelled and killed even harder than before.
"Retreat! You all!" Another officer from Camp entered a pure state of frenzy. He inserted his massive sword into the soil then with his fingers, he scratched his face until his head was drenched with fresh blood, "Blood of my blood, I'm calling you in the name of the dark creed, EBULLITION! Martyr's Aura!"
The previously red blood on the officer's face turned green. "Whoosh", a ball of green fire started flaming on his face. His whole body was shrouded in a layer of uncanny green light, yet his eyes turned slowly red.
The officer’s armor cracked and fell onto the ground piece by piece. His body enlarged twice as much distorted severely as if he was a demon from hell.
"D… DI… DIE!"
The muted Cammish officer regained his heavy sword inserted in the soil and rejoined the fight.
Several spears thrust to him at the same time.
"Puff! Puff, puff!" Although the spear all pierced into the demon officer's body, the sharp spear heads can no longer go any deeper after they punctured his skin. Green blood burst from the wound and dripped onto the spear body. The blood immediately set anything it touched on fire.
It was a dark spell, the last resort of evil fighters. The Martyr's Aura spell caster will have to offer his life in order to summon the Asmodian King's powerful energy. The energy will flame the caster's own blood, enhance his body strength temporarily and finally perish together with his enemies in the form of a blast. Before the explosion, the more his body was damaged, the more powerful the blast will be!
The Cammish officer's body was growing larger and larger and close to an explosion.
Then came a few yellings. The pikemen immediately drew back to empty the space for two soldiers that left to face the demon officer.
Both of them were unarmored. One with a war bow, the other with nothing in hand.
The marksman muttered while he drew the bow to its full length, the other empty-handed one leveled both hands in the front. Then they started glaring white light, the air around started flowing rapidly as well.
"TWANG!" Arrow away.
The demonized Cammish officer was far beyond being conscious as he had no notion to dodge.
The arrow, instead of forcing into the officer's body, exploded near him. The resulting blast instantly had the officer's figure frozen!
An intense wave of afterwinds blew over.
"BOOM!" The demon's body finally exploded, shocking the entire camp area.
Because of the cryostasis and the protection of several folds of wind barrier, the raiders did not suffer severe damage in essence except for a team of soldiers who were overthrown, but rather a few men from the Camp side lost their lives because they didn't dodge properly in time.
Seeing this, the local's garrison troop supreme commander who was an aged lieutenant colonel with a grizzled beard could not help but shook his head. At the moment the afterwinds blew, he saw clearly a pair of pointy ears under the two's hoods.
"I'll draw them away. You spread and break out!" The colonel told several young officers, "You must make it out alive! Inform the commander of the 5th war zone, the attackers are not ordinary roving bandits! They're a group of elite troops with mighty combat power!"
"Sir!"
"Go, now!" The colonel marched with a team of men, leaving a tough word, "That's an order!"
The colonel made the counterattack with their lives and successfully caused a short period of chaos on the battlefield.
The officers that followed forced out from the breach the colonel has created, and before they even reached the outer fence, three of them were already beaten down by enchanted wind blades, screamed and fell their horses.
The ones that lived urged their horses, they are not to pause for one second.
One more team of pikemen gathered up in front of them, the first officer yelled and rushed to fight. He wanted to make the road for his brothers that followed. However, almost all of them were soon killed and dangled on the long spears.
Only one officer made it out of the encirclement alive with the cover achieved so harshly by his comrades.
Seeing his dear brothers who once were so closely associated with each other died, the last officer welled his eyes but remained firmly ahead. He must run away from here. He must report the assault accident to the headquarter.
He was unaware that from the moment he was out of the fence, a pair of eyes has locked him in.
"Steven," Cohen Kheda, who has been staying on the slope out of the camp said with a sense of pity, "I have to trouble you now."
A wingman beside Cohen Kheda leaped to stretch his wings and flitted to the one rider that was marching crazily forward. Not long after, as a white flash went on and off in seconds, the rider was successfully intercepted by the wingman called 'Steven'.
"Hehhe, in such a short a while." Cohen chuckled, "Steven's enchanted arrow has improved once again!"
"Sir," A staff officer came from afar, "they've wrapped up the camp battle. LAD is entering the perimeter."
"The LAD?" Cohen Kheda froze for a second, "What have they discovered in the camp?"
"Sir, we've searched." The staff officer said, "It's all grain and much-dried meat. We're afraid the soldiers might be reluctant to set them on fire, so the LAD is pressing them to do so."
"Send my order," Cohen Kheda said, "take 10 kg dried meat for each trooper. Spread the remaining foodstuff evenly around the camp. Burn the others that are left!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
Groups of soldiers started checking each tent. For these Ninth Legion soldiers from the Protoss Alliance, nobody has seen so much foodstuff in his life. But nobody dared to take an extra piece of bread or meat except for the allowed 10 kg. They cared more about army laws than the food. There were currently many men lined at the temporary LAD office waiting to be slapped. They will be punished badly for talking languages by accident during the battle earlier.
In less than half an hour, all the tents in the camp have been set on fire. Two Ninth Legion's IGT regiments shielded themselves into the darkness. Because of the lack of stationed troops, total five crucial positions on the supply route were destroyed during that night. Countless goods and materials were lost. Foodstuff that abandoned on open grounds was enough to feed an army of 100, 000 for a month.
An hour later, several villages in the neighborhood area were assaulted as well. The attackers fired massive amount of blazed arrows while crying 'Rise and rebel! Kill the evil king!". But they did not prevent the villagers from running.
As countless people ran away from their villages as a whole, they have become refugees. Chased by the rebellion army onto the AUF's supply route, they have no time to bring any life necessities. Thus the tired and starved refugees fill their stomachs by the foodstuff abandoned on the supply route. Thrown army uniforms were good enough to keep warm. If one was lucky, he could find a broken sword or something.
The refugees kept on running as more joined. Before dawn, several refugee mobs populated by more than 100, 000 have been developed and rising.
The other transport route near the Cammish capital had an even worse result. The middle part of the route alone was wiped out by fire, not to mention all the villages along hundreds of miles were raided regardless big ones or small. Numerous people who lost their homes started pouring into the major cities on the transport route.
At a time like this, no one among the refugees will consider anything other than food.
After the sun came out, many rumors began to spread among them.
"Have you heard, someone started a rebellion!"
"The whole Camp empire is in a general mess! The rebels have grown to 300, 000…"
"They've had the Capital Sellin surrounded…"
"The imperial army has failed. They've conquered Sellin! His Majesty turned tail…"
"I heard His Majesty was dismembered! The rebels will slaughter virtually anyone…"
"Hundreds of villages have been overturned. The villagers were killed…"
"The rebels eat human flesh; they're taller than titans and stronger than mammoths…"
Affected by the rumors, the refugees were shuddered with fear and thrown in a constant state of anxiety. Thus each refugee mob has nominated its leader and armed themselves with the scrapped metals on the supply routes. A myriad of armed forces with weird names appeared overnight as a result such as 'Empire Restoration Army of Volunteers', 'Weafer Province Green Village and Red City Self-Defence Troops', 'Red Light District King Capture Army', to name a few.
There were plenty of schemers and people who dreamt of plunder, as well as the much feared and thin-skinned plain people that made the major part of the refugee mobs, the state of turmoil in Camp empire was starting to show.
Due to Cohen Kheda's elaborate plan on the assaulting target selection, one day after the event, the following transport fleets came from neighborhood Elina empire were still going on, on the other hand, the 5th warzone which has not received any incoming supply fleet thought the problem was a congested road. They sent only a rider regiment to check the situation.
After an uproar of chaos and instinctive fight, the next supply fleets were claimed by an army called 'Hard-working Appeal Corps'.
As for the investigation riders regiment that came from the 5th war zone, they were blocked by 2, 000 armed force called 'With a True Heart and a Backup Plan Duty Team’. Nobody knew who initiated the fight in the dark, though the 2, 000 riders have been entirely crushed.
Elina empire was the first to notice the things had gone wrong because it was already a whole day without any transport wagons to return. It was unimaginable under normal operations. Thus they alerted the AUF military headquarters.
Almost at the same time, a few remnant soldiers who claimed to be the riders from the 5th war zone reached Sellin, the Cammish capital. They alarmingly told their commanders about the annihilation of an AUF's mounted regiment which they served on the supply route not far from Sellin. They cannot make it clear about the enemy’s' identities except for its massive number.
The Cammish Emperor turned furious. This old man, who has been through two P/A Wars, was at his 60s. He was famous for his short fuse. The short-fuse immediately summoned his first son and gave him a good dressing down. The Cammish first prince was ordered to clean the rebellious refugees immediately. There were indeed numerous enemies within the empire, but no such thing as true enemies existed except for the many mobs! All sizable armies were stuck on the P/A Line!
The Cammish first prince was filled with pent-up anger. He led 30, 000 Imperial troops out of Sellin and headed for the largest transit city: Dirk!
The Camp Border, Xawin City, military headquarters of the Asmodian United Force 5th War Zone.
To differentiate itself from the Protoss United Forces instead of being considerate about commanding flexibility, the AUF has put one more admin level between the military headquarter and the legions: war zones.
The 5th war zone was in charge of the Cammish frontier. Three primary armies totaled 180, 000 soldiers were under its jurisdiction. Among which, 150, 000 faced directly the Protoss Allied empire, Swabia.
Currently, the 5th war zone supreme commander, Admiral Copper Field was walking toward his office while humming a light song.
Earlier than two months ago, Copper Field had received a classified intelligence from the military headquarter. In the letter wrote every detail about the PUF forces he faced.
He cannot believe his eyes at the letters written on the paper. The enemy united forces put an army of slaves that had at most 80, 000 to fight this side of the war. Copper Field was astonished to think the Protoss Alliance wanted to depend on a slave army to stop his 180, 000 elite soldiers. Were they playing jokes? More to that, the slaves' commander was a young rookie at his 20s. Even if Copper Field gained a complete victory, it was just too bashful to claim such an easy honor from the Dark Lord after the War.
But the following intelligence from the 5th war zone's private information system said differently. It stated the face Protoss Alliance army was not only rigorous but also equipped with a large number of cavalries.
Everyone knew riders was an expensive force style. The PUF will only deploy cavalries to the primary battle legions instead of an army of slaves.
More information came with more astonishment because the opposing army's commander was one of the new generation Knight of Protoss!
How could an honored Protoss Knight command a legion of slaves? Copper Field drew a conclusion according to the information he had in hand. The enemy commander was a deceiving mastermind. He let the information out on purpose to entice his enemies to attack prematurely.
Undoubtedly, Copper Field was a cautious admiral. He abandoned the original assault plan then replaced it with a two-way attacking route with 150, 000 soldiers. However, whichever plan required the supply to follow. Because if not, the whole army will be endangered once the marching encountered frustration.
The good thing was the supply work was running smoothly. Copper Field needed an extra half month to deploy the soldiers. On the strength of his forty years military experience, he could at least gain some victories from his enemies. He might as well reproduce the history when the AUF marched down to the Swabian capital twenty years ago.
Copper Field entered his room, then immediately followed by two more men, one behind another.
Needless to see for himself, the ones that came were the commanders of the 6th and the 7th Legion. These two men have been discontent with each other for long. The topic was always who will have the chance to be the primary attacking force from this war zone. They all consider this side of the enemy to be a rotten egg, fragile and stink.
"Admiral!" A thirtyish, vigorous-looking major saluted Copper Field. He was the Commander of the 7th Legion, Major Hampton.
"Major Hampton." Copper Field nodded to him, "Do you have any businesses other than demanding your army as the main force?"
"No, sir!" Major Hampton looked calm.
"How about you, Your Royal Highness?" Copper Field looked at the second commander without a military rank. He was Ike, the Cammish second prince, "You too?"
"Actually I'm here today not to demand the main force position." Prince Ike leaned forward and whispered, "I'm here to require that don't give that position to the 7th Legion."
Among the three legions in the 5th war zone, the 5th Legion had to assist the defense work in the 4th war zone, of course, it cannot assume the main force. Prince Ike's purpose was clear.
Copper Field sighed and looked away. This scheming prince was at his 30s, and the wrinkles that produced when he smiled was not so good-looking.
The two legion commanders started quarreling right in their supervisor's room
After silencing the two and compelled them to sit down, Copper Field fancied a cup of wine. Only at this moment did a staff officer bumped into the door.
"SIR!” The staff officer was sweaty and cried vaguely, "All of the supply routes were under assault by unknown enemies!"
"What did you say?" Copper Field felt his heart to rose to his throat, "Say it again!"
"All supply routes within Camp were attacked! Enemy identities are not clear, but we are having a massive amount of refugee mobs pouring in. The rumors came from them said it was the work of rebellion!"
"No way!" Copper Field slammed his fist on his desk, "You need at least 100, 000 men to attack all supply routes within Camp at the same time! Do you think the pariahs can do that? If it was the PUF army. How could 100, 000 men cross our frontier without a sound?"
The staff officer was Copper Field's old staff member. He has never seen him so angry. Thus he remained silent.
"The supply routes were the life of the 5th war zone!" Prince Ike stood up, "It happened within my home country, how could I do nothing! Commander, I demand to fix this with my 6th Legion!"
"Yeah, sure!" Hampton was certainly happy to hear it, "I should wish for your success!"
Copper Field's eyes remained closed, his hands crossed.
He knew the kind of man Prince Ike was. There was no simple reason for him to demand mobilization. There might be royal power dispute behind his act. But only Prince Ike's 6th Legion among the three was Cammish local army. If he wanted the restore the supply route, the 6th Legion was the best choice. But what if the second prince was really onto something.
Copper Field shook his head and decided to solve the current problem for now.
"Now order!" Copper Field clenched his fists and said vigorously, "The 6th Legion of the 5th war zone will set off immediately to restore transit line in the shortest time possible!"
"Yes, sir!" The second prince seldomly saluted Copper Field, "Congratulate Your Excellency, you've made a wise choice!"
On the other side of the Asmodian Alliance, in the AUF military headquarter located in Foxburg, the capital city of Brook Empire, as the Supreme Commander of the Asmodian United Forces, the fifty years old Marshal Valerian was devoting his heart and soul to the United Force's affairs, many hard choices were made.
Like now.
Once Valerian received the news about the mobs’ attacking the transit lines, he immediately had the General Staffs rework the battle plans. The plan excluded the three legions from the 5th war zone.
Then he issued multiple orders to direct the 5th war zone to suppress the riots within Camp empire and contain the riot, so it won't affect the war.
As several generals showed a sense of anxiety over the decision, Marshal Valerian's eyes dimmed and grew gloomy. The Marshal was crowned ‘the Cecilian Volcano’, and now he was erupting.
"I'm commanding an army of 900, 000, stop bothering me with nonsense, fuck off!!"
The generals were scared the hell out as they ran. Within the Asmodian Alliance, everyone knew Marshal Valerian was extremely bloodthirsty. Once he buried alive 3, 000 slaves for his beloved dog. A prince's funerary was nothing more than that.
Multiple orders issued from the AUF headquarters.
"The logistics department is instructed to stop issuing more supplies to Camp, provisions for the 5th war zone will be directed from Wells empire."
"The 5th war zone is instructed to initiate defense and stay put before the supply lines are restored."
"The Cammish army must start to eliminate domestic rebels immediately. The 5th war zone is directed to assist."
"Wells and Elina empires bordering Camp empire must strictly guard their borders in case of rebels trespassing and affect the War!"
The domestic uproar within Camp has been going on for days.
Cohen Kheda's temporary commanding center was set in a valley within the Cammish border.
From the first night assault until now, the enemies met were all wimps. Army depletion was extremely small. Cohen Kheda’s twenty regiments took turns to attack and resulted in only 200 wounded soldiers, 0 died, which was no more than those who caught a cold.
The soldiers were resting in a forest. Their throats and legs were all sore because they had to chase refugees day and night. Despite that, all were excited.
Team captains and their following sergeants were pacing between soldiers with a pamphlet.
"Soldier," A second lieutenant picked an orc trooper, "rise!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" The big orc rose and saluted the officer, "What can I do for you, sir?"
"Not imminently." The lieutenant was very pleased with the soldier's high morale. He tapped the orc's lower arm, "What's your name?"
"Sir, I'm Dirt, sir!"
"What is that?"
"Sir, my name is Dirt, sir!" The orc soldier repeated.
"Alright, Dirt…" The Lieutenant shook his head, "Now I announce you were killed in action!"
"K…KIA?" The orc widened his mouth, "When?"
"Yesterday!" The lieutenant said promptly, "When chasing the Asmodians, Private Dirt from the 22nd field regiment, first battalion, first platoon, 7th squadron, was killed in action!"
The officer aside found Dirt's name on the soldier list and crossed it.
"His Lord of Light! I… I…" Dirty looked at his commander and felt the world was spinning. He slumped on the ground powerlessly and muttered, "I'm dead… I'm dead…"
However, he was too sweaty to figure out how he could be dead since yesterday? He was just eating his lunch. But his commander was never wrong!
Dirty cried, he cried hard with tears and snots.
After the second lieutenant had left, a first lieutenant came for Dirt.
"Why are you crying?" The lieutenant who was also an orc helped 'dead' Dirt to rise, "Us orcs only bleed, no tears!"
"Big brother!" Dirt caught the lieutenant and wouldn’t let go, "Sir, they said I'm KIA!"
"Easy, now, aren't you just fine!" The officer said, "What's your name?"
"Boo… hoo! I… I am… hoo! I am… Private… Dirt! Boo hoo!"
"No way, you can't be Dirt!" The lieutenant said, "Dirt is dead!"
Dirt immediately fainted.
After Dirty woke up, the orc lieutenant spent almost an hour on explaining, and Dirty has finally understood, no, he has at last accepted that even though Dirt has died, but the orc lived.
And eventually, the kind-hearted lieutenant took him to find a graceful grand elf and asked her for a new name: Malphite!
He thought the name was great. It sounded mighty.
Another lieutenant who stood beside the grand elf immediately announced that Private Malphite was enlisted under Dark City Imperial Guarding Troops of Swabia empire, currently served in the PUF Legion No. 9
The lieutenant asked him to disregard the United Forces and only obey Viceroy Cohen's orders.
In the meantime, Malphite received a silver coin. He tore and wrapped the coin with a piece of cloth then carried it with him. Malphite had a sister. She was not pretty or lovely, but Malphite cannot live without her. Fifteen silver coins were enough to redeem his sister and bring her back from the landlord.
"My name is Malphite!" The words have become his pet phrase, "I'm Lord Cohen's soldier!"
During that day, there were 5, 000 live soldiers from the Ninth Legion 'died' on the paper.
Currently, Major Cohen Kheda was listening to his Chief Liaison officer's report. The Liaison Officer has brought very crucial information.
"The Cammish first prince is coming with 30, 000 Imperial Guards! They're heading for Dirk City; refugees already had that place surrounded." The all sweaty Marfa was too rush to swallow a cup of water, "The first prince was chosen to be the heir to the throne. Although he has no real talent, he was a man of his role. He was spoiled by the Cammish emperor, and the emperor has decided to let him succeed the crown after the War."
"So the first prince is at his 30s, right?" Cohen Kheda asked, "What about the second prince?"
"According to my men, the second prince is by nature a cruel, narrow-minded and vengeful man…"
"Oh?" Cohen Kheda asked, "What about his relationship with the first prince?"
"Oddly enough," Marfa said, "They get along very well!"
"Good, very good!" Cohen Kheda spat the grass out of his mouth, "Now, give my order, summon my war council!"
Two hours later, Cohen Kheda's army swarmed. Even the backup troops: the four regiments of Moya's third division mobilized as well.
Outside of Dirk City, the Cammish first prince was rectifying his army in preparation for continuing the restoration work.
Blood shed like a river on the field outside the city walls. 30, 000 Imperial guards kept busy for the whole morning. They slaughtered every mobbed refugee that surrounded the place. Nobody survived.
It was funny to think these pariahs were able to destroy the transit lines. But they did wear the AUF's uniforms and hold standard AUF weapons.
The Cammish first prince made his mind to rectify the riot in the shortest time possible, no matter what.
He led the imperial troops to chase along the former transit line and eliminated four more rebel forces during the afternoon. If it went well, the first transit line would restore within ten days.
By night all, the imperial troops took the liberty to just encamp on the supply line. They were certainly not afraid because their opponents were merely a bunch of harmless ugly farmers.
It was beyond the first prince's wildest imagination that an army of twenty regiments once again chased more than 100, 000 swarmed refugees toward his direction. They will be arriving by midnight at the earliest. Dirk City, which was just salvaged, was once again tightly packed.
The Cammish prince was wakened up by the news right after he fell asleep.
Thus he ordered the imperial troops to initiate the first strike. As the sentinel officer issued the order, the frontmost hundreds of member from 'No home No Career Pioneers' were shot by arrows. Immediately afterward, thousands 'Orphan and Widow Suicide Squad' rushed to take place.
The royal soldiers predominated the battlefield at first as the rebels begged for mercy. But not long after, the 30, 000 Imperial troops were surrounded by the rebels.
Since the left mobs were rushing rightward, the right crowds were rushing leftward, the front and the rear soldiers followed. They were too desperate to care for their lives as if the Protoss King was behind their asses. But if one listened carefully, you'll hear there were people giving orders amongst the rebels.
"Let's go! We can live once we rush over!"
"Run! Rebels are coming!"
"The rebels target only the imperial guards, we're safe once we rush over!"
"We have 200, 000! They're only 30, 000. They're shit to us!"
In truth, no single refugee has seen any rebels. The rebels’ image were all imagined out of no grounds. But affected by rumors, the mobs started to picture awful things.
The mobbed refugees held their various weapons, took turns to assault.
A team of archers came out of nowhere and initiated a round of fires toward the first prince's imperial troops. After the rain of arrows, the left wing of the royal soldiers started to crumble.
"Hensburg and Cock Village Self-Defence Troops have gone through! Brothers, let’s go!"
"Hail! We win! Let’s go!"
As the left wing was destroyed, the troop's middle part collapsed. Since the middle collapsed, it meant the right wing was encircled. The 5, 000 poor soldiers in the right wing were mostly stamped and killed.
"Crazy, they're all crazy!"
This was the last words from the first prince on the battlefield. A group of officers salvaged him. Due to the consistent incoming assault, the first prince winded up with several thousand remnants and headed to the 5th warzone.
The 6th Legion that came from the Asmodian 5th warzone was drawn by four regiments led by Moya. The two princes' troops were supposed to rendezvous on the second night.
But the plan changed, the first prince and his thousand troops who broke away from the battlefield were killed and body exposed on bare lands. There were no mobbed refugees in that area, and he was no more than ten miles from the second prince's army.
Years later, when mentioned, the next Cammish emperor will say sorely that he did not find his beloved big brother. But the 6th Legion under his command turned away and headed back to Sellin was an irrefutable fact.
When the second prince returned Sellin, there came a stunning news: the old emperor had gone mentally crazy!
Since the Emperor went crazy and the first Prince’s body was carried back to Sallin at the same time. The second prince naturally succeeded the throne.
Prince Ike wrote a letter to both the 5th war zone and the AUF military headquarter. No matter how intense the war was out there, he wanted to prepare his enthronement ceremony nevertheless. The supply route problem and the War were less important now.
When the news arrived at the AUF headquarters, Marshal Valerian, who has been waiting for more than ten days, said only two things.
"Initiate an all-out attack, except for the 5th war zone!"
"Hand down a regiment to defend the 5th war zone. Give me the rest armies and eliminate the rest domestic mobs!"
The Protoss/Asmodian War has finally broken out in full!
Several hundred thousand AUF troops threateningly entered the Line one legion after another and headed toward the PUF in four columns.
The PUF was already there and well-prepared for the battle. For a moment, the entire P/A Line went upheaval. However, there was a tiny place, a place both the AUF’s 5th war zone and the PUF’s Legion No.9 remained silent.
For an entire month.
As the riot in Camp has finally died down with a high cost. A total of several thousand hundred refugees were suppressed and killed. Refugees robbed hundreds of cities, thousands of villages were burned. There were even several depopulated zones extending hundreds of miles in radius!
Even Cohen Kheda, the evil initiator of this event did not anticipate such a horrifying result. His original idea was just to sabotage the transit lines. In fact, there were multiple other reasons for things to go this far.
As for the AUF senior officers who have been busying about the War for over a month, they have finally had some time to sit down and discuss what happened in Camp.
A young general was standing outside the meeting room.
He has blonde curly hair and exquisitely smooth skin. His face was incredibly graceful as if it was powdered. His manner and expressions were charmingly female-like. If he were a woman, there will be countless men who would go crazy for him. But in fact, even after knowing this general was a man, many people of the same sex still did the same.
Because he was the most unusual and beautiful Swiss Hepburn: the most beautiful person in the Asmodian Alliance! Attention, he was the prettiest person, not the prettiest male!
There was once a person who was crippled by smacking because he said Swiss Hepburn was the most good-looking man. Now people were addressing him secretly Audrey Hepburn!
Swiss Hepburn was not only a Brookian nobility high official but also the deputy officer of the AUF intelligence department. He was amiable, kind and careful to people and things.
"General Swiss, Marshal wants to see you." A staff officer opened the door.
"Thank you." Swiss smiled to him.
Seeing Swiss Hepburn smiled at him, the staff officer's mind went blank and almost fainted out of happiness. Everybody, no matter a man or a woman will be proud for life to have Swiss’ smile.
Swiss Hepburn went in the meeting room with a few of his fellow officers. The men left a pile of things on the table: a few broken weapons and armors and other stuff.
"Greetings, sir." Swiss said gently, "Let's make it short. The Camp riot was not a coincidence. These few pieces of evidence will prove that."
Swiss fetched a spearhead and showed, "This is a standard spearhead. The tip was broken and twisted. It seemed to have thrust on a hardened armor."
Spearhead dropped, Swiss fetched a battle blade, "This is a newly deployed war saber. The blade was curled but there's no blood on it. It means it was already a curved edge after the very first strike."
"Commanders, now I'm holding an enchanted armor which only regiment leaders and above are entitled to own. The armor has only a pair of penetrated holes, no other damages." Swiss said calmly, "We all know, the regiment leaders' gears are extremely sturdy. Ordinary weapons can never penetrate them. It was clearly not the work of the mobbed refugees."
"You mean, there were others who attacked our transit lines?" An admiral took over the subject, "Do you have other discoveries?"
"Yes, Admiral. I found this by accident in a forest." Swiss fetched a pocket on the table. The sack was long and loaded with powder. Swiss caught a fistful of powder and put them in a wooden bowl.
"I need hot water."
One of the Major presented stood up immediately and reached for the silver kettle on the table. He growled and surged his magic energy, the water in the kettle boiled very soon.
"Thank you!" Swiss said with a hint of a smile.
The Major froze and remained still for a good while.
Swiss poured the boiled water into the wooden bowl then started stirring the liquid with a wooden stick. He did it carefully, and his gentle and delicate gestures made the rest of the men in the room to swallow.
"Good," A smell of meat traveled over the meeting room as Swiss dropped the stick, "What I put in the bowl is dry meat powder. If a bowl of powder soup is a sufficient meal for an ordinary adult, this sack is capable for a soldier to last 15 days!"
"I've inquired many refugees; actually nobody was attacking the transit lines from the start of the riot! The mobs were driven out of their homes because someone set their houses on fire at night. They found heavily scattered goods on the supply route. Thus they merely picked up and salvaged them. They were the scapegoats…"
The group of senior commanders gazed at each other as the truth was a bit too sudden!
"It needs at least 100, 000 soldiers to attack both routes." A general said, "Do we have a local garrison trooper who lived to tell the story?"
Swiss Hepburn shook his head.
"Who were those people?" Another general asked, "All of the PUF armies are on the frontier. Where do they find another army of 100, 000 to do the job! And how did they get this far?"
Swiss shook his head again.
"Alright, don't focus on these details." Marshal Valerian roared, "Now order, arrest former Lieutenant General Copper Field of the 5th war zone for trial due to his severe maladministration! The former commander of the 7th Legion will assume Copper Field's position. He is to intercept these 100, 000 unknown enemies! Dismissed!"
Swiss wanted to add more though Marshal Valerian has left already.
Thus the former commander of the 7th Legion assumed his position. Ten thousand troopers marched into Camp empire under Hampton's command. The army transfer has left the 5th war zone an empty shell where only less than 30, 000 soldiers were keeping up the area.