Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Chapter 535: Grand strategy v

Further back the cavalry was slowly increasing their pace to reach the battleground after General Castile heard the order of General Ragar. 

Meanwhile on their rear, the civilians were shocked by a terrifying sight.

Fifty thousand men led by two people are riding towards them, dust flying behind these groups like heralding a coming storm. 

Since the civilians are not part of the army they moved slow and are at the back guarded only by a few. 

Some of them stayed in Leavenhill but not all of them could stay in Leavenhill and so they follow Lord Arial to move to Balhae, a large city near the Nuath Mountain.

One of the panicked civilian yelled. 

'Report this to the front! Our rear is being approached by that group.'

Some children cried as they could hear the panicked voice slowly infecting the minds of the civilians.

Usually they were brave but that was because they could see the back of their Lord. 

In their journey, the Lord has time and time again proved an able protector and guarded them through the Forest and fighting the Darkly Things.

As the rear was facing the fifty thousand men, Arial was in the frontlines as he drew the first blood. 

With the glaive in his hand, he cut down one of the fully armored men with one slash splitting him into two. 

The men internal organs bursted out and his blood splashed to the comrade behind him, making the person behind him stunned

Arial proceeded in swinging his glaive and this time imbued with his Divine Lightning the moment his glaive made contact with that soldier neck, the soldier head was attacked by an overbearing pressure causing the soldier head to explode into pieces of piecemeal meat.

This act shocked the men behind him and Arial did not let this opportunity go as he executed a horizontal slash cutting five head in one swing.

His prowess was fully displayed shocking the entire sortie unit that come out to halt his advance from the city gate. 

The red hair man on top of the castle slow had his expression turned worse. 

Not only this man called Arial managed to contend with his sortie unit but he could dispel the arrows even though he was fighting the sortie unit 

'An expert' he said to himself.

Then he transmits his order.

'Order the men to fire arrows and strengthen the defense on the gate. Pour oil on the walls. Use the whale oils we have stored in the storage and poured it down. Block the city gate and the gatehouse with logs'

Then looking at the slowly approaching Shield Formation towards their lord he added

'Throws stones too. Break that Shield Formation!' He shouted as he slowly understands the strategy of Arial. 

If he is an expert of this caliber could he be thinking on storming this castle on the first day?

If he is really confident in his skill, he might wanted to break the gate and allowed his soldiers to rush through.

This kind of tactic and strategy is truly uncommon and broke every common sense of attacking a castle.

But if this was his plan, then his arrangements of soldiers make sense. 

The red hair man could not see any missile projectiles. 

No mangonels or ballista. So, could it be this expert really thinks he could destroy the castle gate or scale the walls with his ability alone?

One of the officers then asked

'My lord, then how about our men trapped outside?' The red hair man looked at the pitiful figure of his sortie unit and sighed.

'Let the Gods determine their fates.' 

He said before he comes down from his place on top of the castle as he needs to don his battle armor.

On the ground, Arial keep cutting down men like they were grass. Not even one soldier can withstand a single blow from his attack.

Each one of them regardless of their steel armors was cut into two. 

Arial was like an unstoppable spear. 

Within the chaos, almost a hundred men were killed by him and limbs and body parts decorated the front gate of the city. 

Arial was about to cut another soldier when he senses danger and immediately jump from his horse and fly backwards as a large arrows the size of log shot towards him.

The momentum and velocity of that log sized arrow ripped the wind and when it shot towards Arial position it smashed Arial horses into a mush of red droplets of liquids.

On the battlements where this huge gigantic weapon is situated, the red haired man smiles a bit as he said.

'Do you really thinnk we have no measures against experts like you?'

Arial did not hear what he said but he was smiling.

'Now this would be a bit hard.' He said but this did not stop him defending from the barrage of arrows at all. 

As long as he could go inside the fate of this city is determined.

Inside the city the civilians are holed up in their homes, all shops are closed and no one was in the streets.

A gloomy atmosphere permeated through the entire city of Balhae. 

Arial swing his glaive again and another person was cleaved into two, the blood splashed through his Dragon Armor, making the black armor to sheen red when the sun covered it.

Arial could taste the saltines and metallic taste when blood splashed on his face. By now Arial was drenched in blood.

His eyes were bloodshot but not form killing but from absorbing energy. Arial is already on the Third Stage of Blood Heavenly technique. 

He has divine flexibility to control his muscles and any injury internal or external will be generated by the blood of other people. 

He was shot by arrows and he was slashed by swords but his injury regenerated almost instantly. 

To other people he seems to be without injuries and could manage being attacked in two front but the truth was his injuries was healing so fast that it looks like he was invincible and have no wounds. 

Arial did not use the power of his internal energy to bend the blood of the people he fought because Arial realize that the more he learns this technique the more his personality would change. 

Unless truly necessary he would not use the internal energy of the Blood Heavenly Technique which is insidiously cold and demonic.

It was then another shot of that log arrow shot towards him. It was the size of a huge log and it was now being used as arrows.

If Arial was not in battle right now he really wanted to praise the engineer that managed to think to create such weapons.

Vernium has truly mastered the art of defending a castle. If this was any other person, they would have been hopeless right now. 

It is unlucky that this city met Arial.

Arial then smirk then shouted.

'Do you truly think your weapon could halt me?!' Arial shouted in confidence, with no fear in his tone of voice as the arrows launched towards him, its shadow covered the battlefield. 

Ragar did not know what his lord is planning to do but seeing the log size arrows approaching he quickly shouted

'Protect the Lord!' And they broke their Shield Formation jumping over the dead to quickly reach their Lord.

In this charge, the arrows pierced their feet and their body but they did not stop as they wanted to reach their lord even a second faster.

Ragar was shot in his left shoulders; blood dripping but he run over the corpse of his soldiers to quickly reach his Lord. 

He is not sure whether his lord could withstand another attack of that arrow.

On the other hand, Arial activated his Divine Essence and thunders and lightning covered his body, coiling lightning flickered around his feet and the glaive he holds was bathed in Divine lightning.

The soldier in the battlements and Arial soldier who was on his back rushing to reach him was shocked and some even open their mouth in shock. 

It is one thing to manifest internal energy to the outside world but to control nature around one body this doesn't look like internal energy anymore. 

It was more like the Magic of Old.

'You underestimate me too much!' he yelled, smirking as he said this. 

Arial then stomp his feet and the land beneath his feet ripples and then launched himself towards the air.

The land beneath his feet exploded as he launched himself to meet the fast approaching log sized arrows. 

Then raising his glaive, he pointed forward and launched himself like he was a thrown spear.