The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 41 – Part 1
The current war between Calliper and Alvard was drawing attention from across the continent. This was partly because it was the only major conflict underway, but more importantly because Calliper faced potential destruction.
If Calliper were to fall, the continental power balance would drastically shift. As such, various kingdoms had dispatched spies to monitor the war’s progress.
When news spread that Wade had appeared near Setes intersection, there was anticipation that Calliper had finally drawn its sword.
Similarly, upon hearing this news, Sophia Veron, Beckavia’s general, frowned. “Wade… He seems to be the real deal this time.”
It was easy to guess that the Wade put forward by the Saleon faction had been a fake. While there was still a possibility this one could be fake too, it seemed unlikely Calliper would use an impersonator in such a dire situation.
‘As expected, Wade is connected to either Crossing or Calliper. Or perhaps both.’
While they had been narrowing down suspects based on available clues, there were too many Wade impersonators causing confusion. Since a helmet was enough to impersonate Wade, imposters were popping up everywhere, making it impossible to track his true movements.
‘That’s not all.’
Sophia firmly believed that Crossing or Calliper were intentionally spreading misinformation. Otherwise, his identity couldn’t have remained such a mystery.
“Princess, do you think Wade can change the tide of the war?” asked her aide, McCauley.
Sophia’s expression clouded. While she personally hoped Wade, who had once defeated her, wouldn’t lose, that would jeopardize their current operation.
“From our standpoint, we have to hope Wade fails.”
Only then would Crossing’s army, currently facing them, send reinforcements towards Calliper.
Facing Juras’s 50,000-strong army on Carrington Plains, Sophia felt a head-on battle was unwinnable.
“Then it should be fine, Princess. Julian Craig was known as the future of Alvard, after all.”
A military genius, one of Kaien’s top disciples alongside Gillias and Ushis, Julian had risen to the rank of Madon’s Grand General at an unprecedented speed.
Many praised him as a future member of the Ten Heroes.
Commentators described the confrontation between him and Wade as,
A clash between two stars.
* * *
Both sides entered into full-scale war.
Ars led an army of 24,000 towards the Setes intersection.
“Move quickly!”
“Get into formation! The enemy could attack at any moment!”
While the Calliper side was deploying their soldiers, Madon’s army appeared about 1km away.
Madon’s army of 30,000.
At the forefront was a man in golden armor, mounted on a horse. It was Julian Craig.
He looked at Calliper’s camp and grinned. “Oh ho, so this is what real quality looks like.”
He sensed a sharp aura from the Calliper camp. An intangible pressure that suggested reckless charging would leave no bones to pick up. “Let’s see their skills then.”
He was confident.
Connoisseurs called him and Wade stars, but Julian didn’t think much of it.
‘Mere mercenaries.’
Of course, he didn’t deny their skill. But he could never agree that they were his equals.
‘Defeating Gillias? Besting the genius princess of Beckavia? I could do that too.’
To Julian, who already considered himself on par with the Ten Heroes, facing Wade was merely a diversion.
There was a basis for his confidence.
It was his dense intelligence network.
Through his spies, he had a grasp on Calliper’s movements.
‘They’re selecting those skilled with bows and requisitioning war horses and bows from surrounding territories? Quite a flashy first move.’
Having easily read their intentions, Julian smirked and instructed his front-line soldiers. “Be prepared for enemy attacks. It would be good to polish your shields well.”
Though the soldiers were puzzled by his words, they obediently followed his instructions and got into formation, checking their shields.
An hour later.
When both armies had settled into position, something happened.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Suddenly, about 100 cavalry units began charging from the Calliper camp.
“Enemy raid! Cavalry approaching!”
To this, Julian’s adjutant, Roughneck, said, “What could be their intention? Charging in with just 100 cavalry units.”
“It’s not a charge, you fool.”
“Pardon?”
“Front line, raise your shields!”
As soon as Julian’s order fell, the cavalry’s movement changed.
Turning to move sideways, the cavalry took out their bows and began shooting arrows towards the Madon side.
Thunk! Thunk! Arrows hitting shields. However, with the momentum of the horses added to the arrow speed, some arrows pierced through shields and wounded soldiers.
Among them, Eonia’s archery could only be described as amazing.
“Hup!”
Thunk! An arrow imbued with a pure white aura precisely pierced the forehead of the officer leading the front-line unit with a thud!
One shot, one kill. Even the speed of her shooting was extraordinary.
By the time other archers had emptied half a quiver, Eonia had already emptied a full one and was attaching the next.
“General! The damage is quite significant!”
“So it seems. It wasn’t for nothing that they tried to employ mounted archers. They must have been confident. It looks like they have an extraordinary archer in their camp.”
“We need to counter! If this continues, our losses will increase!”
“Right. Demonic! Are you ready?”
Then, a man with a gloomy expression grinned and answered, “Of course, General. I’ll make them regret daring to strike first.”
“Hmph, don’t get overconfident.”
“Yes sir! 1st Archery Unit, prepare!”
Snap! Under Demonic’s command, Madon’s elite archers took aim at the mounted archers.
Eonia scoffed at this. “Hmph! Arrows incoming! Get out of range!”
The mounted archers quickly moved out of range.
“Fire!”
Madon’s army tried to predict this and create a kind of fire net to catch them, but the cavalry smoothly escaped the range.
However, Demonic’s bow was different.
Thuck! An arrow imbued with navy blue aura precisely pierced the head of a soldier on horseback.
Considering the horse’s speed was easily over 50km/h, it was an impossible accuracy.
“Did you see that, Calliper fools.”
Demonic raised the corner of his mouth.
“Predict their path and concentrate fire!” While saying this, Demonic this time aimed at the head of a horse running in the middle. “Hup!”
Thuck! Thud! The horse, with its head pierced, collapsed without even a cry, and as it fell noisily, eight riders tumbled down as their legs got caught.
Arrows rained down like a shower over their heads.
“Aaargh!”
“H-help…!”
There was no way to survive that rain of arrows. The cavalry of Eonia began to dwindle in numbers.
Under Demonic’s command, Madon’s archers were gaining momentum.
“We’ll wipe out the enemy like this! Don’t fear those flies!”
Demonic was Madon’s best archer and one of the most renowned on the continent.
One of the Ten Bows of the continent. In terms of archery skills alone, he was among the top ten on the entire continent.
“Hahaha! You came out strong, but you’re nothing special!”
However, that was as far as he could raise his voice.
Because the next arrow he shot didn’t pierce anything.
“What…?”
Demonic questioned his arrow that had disappeared mid-flight.
He dismissed it as a coincidence and shot arrows in succession, but thwack! His arrows were shot down mid-air.
“What the…!?”
Shooting down arrows mid-flight. It was a skill that even he, one of the Ten Bows, couldn’t dare to imitate.
Eonia did it with ease.
She even read the trajectory of the arrows and figured out Demonic’s position, as well as Julian’s location.
“…So that’s where you are.” Eonia gazed intently at where Demonic was.
At that moment, clang clang clang! With a loud bell sound, an arrow wrapped in red cloth was shot high into the sky from the Calliper main camp. It was Ars’s signal for retreat.
Eonia, seeing that, immediately shouted. “Retreat as planned! We’ll gather the wounded and return to our camp!”
The cavalry began to retreat, carrying the fallen soldiers who had been dismounted.
And at this moment, Eonia took an unexpected action. She alone turned her horse’s direction towards where the Madon army was.
“Hya!”
Clop clop clop! The horse increased its speed.
When the horse reached its peak speed, Eonia drew two arrows.
“Hah!”
Whoosh! The Aura’s arrows that Eonia shot with all her might tore through the air, aimed at Demonic, who was commanding the archers, and Julian, who was positioned at the center of the camp.
Demonic couldn’t react to this sudden attack. Even if he was a strong user of Aura, there was a difference in level with Eonia.
Moreover, the current arrows had the added momentum of the horse, so their speed was incredible. The arrow pierced through Demonic’s head with a thuck! like a bullet and even penetrated the armor of the soldier behind him, lodging in his heart.
Julian, who was at a distance, fared better.
“What!?”
Crash! Julian had to jump off his horse in shock and confusion.
Thuck! The arrow penetrated the head of the guard behind Julian and lodged in the armor of the soldier behind him.
“Tch, one missed, huh.” Eonia clicked her tongue as she retreated. Julian’s face, who had rolled on the ground, was bright red.
“Don’t let that one escape! All archers, fire at once! Dismount that fool who approached carelessly! Cavalry, chase after them quickly!”
Whoosh whoosh whoosh! A shower of arrows.
“Hya!”
Eonia showed mastery in horsemanship as well.
As she turned, her horse changed direction as if it was lying sideways while running. It was an even more dramatic situation as she would have been caught in the rain of arrows if she had gone just 1m further forward.
In this way, Eonia barely managed to retreat successfully, avoiding the arrows shot at her narrowly.
“Damn it!” Clang! Julian threw his helmet in frustration.
In this surprise cavalry archer attack, Madon suffered 162 casualties and lost Demonic, a key officer of the archer unit, leaving them with an uneasy feeling from the first skirmish.
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