Age of Heroes

Kyle who sees that Arial is riding down the hill is worried sick. Quickly he ordered one of the units that are ready lead by one of the lords to aid the Duke.

'Lord Eustace, go and support the Duke. He seems to be having some difficulties'

Eustace nodded and without a word, his unit begun moving to Arial to try to lessened the pressure on the Duke. 

To the other person eyes, the Duke look like he is overwhelmed and as such every lord of Arrandy that sees this is trying to broke the enemy lines and rush to their duke aids. 

But how could they do that? 

Arial since the beginning of the battle rushed forward, a one-man wedge formation that broke enemy lines in the front not caring whether the line reformed backs. 

In a way Arial is now cut off from his troop behind him. He is at the centre while the front and back is Vanguan soldiers with Arrandians trying to break in. 

West who is fighting bravely in the right flanks is also in a rush to broke the enemy lines.

But suddenly Arial yelled.

'RETREAT! RETREAT!'

With this one word, the whole battlefield is almost stunned. 

Did the dragon say retreat? What demon that possesses him to make him utter those words? 

Arrandian army morale sank but their duke words are law and quickly they retreated.

Arial had seen that his left flank in the hills, tried to retreat. 

'Better' he said. 

He and Somerton is planning a feigned retreat only to lure the shield wall corps who is near them to lower the probability of their shield wall becoming more powerful. 

And Arial also has to regroup and begin a concentrated attack to the shield wall.

In defiance of strict orders, those Shield Wall corps who is not hemmed within the human stockade of the shield-wall – perhaps the ones Harald had posted on his right flank, rushed after the running soldiers, thinking the battle already won, tempted by glory and promise of loot.

Then as the other lords tried to retreat in down in the hill suddenly the Duke and Lord Somerton wheeled around, smirking and smiling, and picked the pursuers who get too far ahead of their comrades and became easy meat.

Arial slash kill dozens with one strikes, an overwhelming might of an Immortal, revered and feared while Somerton precise attack kill as fast as Alexander the Diligent, as dozens of the defenders does not even have time to react. 

Where one could not block the Duke attack, in the case of Somerton they could not even realize that they have been stabbed.

They are laughing and throwing insults to the other defenders provoking them to come down and match strength with them.

Arrandians lords and their soldiers alike cheered with resounding deafening sound and their morale rise up.

Arial then yelled in the heat of battle, with blood all splattered around his armour, that his body itself is like being covered with red paint, his voice thundered around the battlefield.

'RETREAT? Are my soldier's madmen! Victory is in front of us. So close I could feel it my hands! Only death behind you and eternal glory in front of you! Break their defences! SECURE YOUR GLORY, MY BROTHERS!' 

The soldiers cheered and their attack becomes fiercer and harder and many more broke the enemy lines as they push forward to reach their charismatic commander and liege lord, to secure their name in the annals of history.

Arial begin amassing his forces down the hill as the shield wall corps all flee up the hill once again, regretting their short-sightedness and falling into such an obvious trap and the missile corps of Harald once again uses their arrows.

How could they have thought that the arrogant Duke would utter retreat? How could they not know of the stubbornness of the Duke? 

He would never retreat! 

Those that survived the onslaught of the Duke, some of the Shield Wall corps that hide behind their friends or unnoticed by the Duke glaive, regretted their judgement miserably. 

They should have remained in their formation. 

They should follow the order of the King and secure their fortification and now an irreversible mistake has been done.

So now they are focusing their attack using their limited supply of arrows. Most of it is from the loot they received from their battle at Venicia.

Arial army on the other hand has anticipated such stratagem and quickly employed tortoise formation to withstand the arrow attack.

Kyle then reached Arial, riding his horse swiftly.

'You have me fooled Arial!' Kyle said hitting lightly on Arial chest. Arial smile and chuckle.

'Do not worry about me friend. I have seen their force. Nothing I couldn't handle.' Arial had already made a plan for the next charge. 

He is speaking with Kyle under the tortoise formation of his knight while Kyle nodded after confirming that Arial is really fine and then he returns to his post and order their missile unit to try shoot at the hill.

Under the shield Arial took a deep breath, heaving his chest up and down, closing his eyes, and take another deep breath, like he could absorb anything, inhale and exhale everything, as he accessed that sea, that unboundless sea and his energy took a drastic leap, a burst of energy that can be feel all around his vicinity. 

'What!' Some of the duke unit is shocked seeing what happen to their lord. 

Of course Arial did not realize this but his body is shining for a while, like a luminescence of the Sun, its splendour and glory reflected into mortal eyes, and then slowly that golden divine light fades into after images as it is replaced by a black and red aura.

'LIGHT!' Some uttered, praying to the Lord Above. Many soldiers associated this miraculous transformation of their lord as divine intervention.

Of course this is not the case. Arial…. or to be more precise, his blood, has properties that made him half divine, one foot in the mortal world, another in godhood.

But to the soldiers seeing their lord shining like Angels of Old is enough to make even the most sceptics into believers, infidels to believers, and their conviction solidified as their morale rise up again with the knowledge that their cause is aid by a Divine Power, as the church had told them.

But is the red and black aura that usually appears when he activates Imposing Presence is active now?

No. 

It is not his Imposing presence but his internal energy. 

Why the same colour? 

Because the Imposing Presence has merged with the centre of Arial internal energy so even without activating it, his own internal energy will have some traces of that powerful technique he created.

The next time he charged will be the last time he charged. Harald is a good King. But Arial could not leave such potential enemy alive. 

He has given him chance to negotiate at every turn but Harald insisted to have this war. 

Arial might not seem overbearing in his last charge but that is mostly because he tried to ascertain his enemy numbers and their tactics. 

Now that he knows, he is fairly confident that combined with his strength and his army, the second charge will be the end for Harald.

'Say your prayers, King of Vangua because you're going to meet your god in a while.' Arial whispered