After dismounting and reaching the command post, Daemon asked to see the battle plans.

"When have you ever seen over ninety thousand soldiers on the same battlefield?" he smiled, handing the scroll back to Adrian

In fact, a clash of this magnitude had not been seen in all of western Erthea for at least a hundred years; not even the Flor War between Saedonia and Connelly or the eternal conflicts between Patria and Torian had ever moved so many soldiers.

The fate of two nations was at stake, and they had both put everything they had into play for this purpose.

"His reserves are stationed behind the hill." Daemon said while observing the enemy lines through his spyglass. "And until he deploys them, we won't know which flank he intends to hit us on."

"So what are we going to do?" asked Richard

"We'll go and provoke him, of course. We will begin the attack on the right with a massive shelling of his positions, then we will send the light cavalry. If he tries to pursue our knights or if, fearing an infantry attack, he sends reserves to reinforce that flank, we will strike in the center and break his formation in two."

A few minutes later the first cannon shots pierced the silence and the battle began.

The artillerymen were perhaps the units that had put most efforts in training to improve speed, precision and coordination, and they managed to fire at a rate of two or three shots per minute.

However, having to fire against a slope made the bullets lose their lethal ricocheting capacity, resulting in limited damage with few exceptions, also because Lefde had prudently ordered his troops to arrange themselves in wide formations.

The bombardment continued for several minutes producing modest results, then the time came for the Murat brigade.

Natuli and her horse archers charged, performing a wide arc that almost touched the enemy's front line, while launching hundreds of arrows that Eirinn's soldiers repelled, closing the formation and erecting shield walls.

The other half of the lancer brigade attacked soon after; the plan was to take advantage of the distraction provided by their companions to try to hit the flank of the enemy formation.

But Lefde had clearly chosen and prepared his officers quite well. While the targeted unit defended in an orderly manner from the archers, another positioned slightly higher advanced, covering the flank of its companions and intercepting the spearmen's charge, managing to repel them at the cost of some losses.

At that point, the siege weapons positioned on the Tourelle intervened and began to throw stones, darts and even wasp nests at the archers who continued to run in circles in front of the enemy, and who immediately began to suffer casualties.

Before the situation got further complicated, Daemon ordered a retreat, even though it didn't seem to worry him too much.



"Not bad."

"It's a shame the plan failed." Scalia said

"I certainly didn't expect him to fall into such a trivial trap."

"Then why did you do it?"

"To be sure that he has absolute control of decisions. He closed our maneuver with a minimal yet very well thought effort. Victor certainly doesn't have such a sharp mind."

"So what do we do now?"

Daemon then returned to the scribe and messengers to issue orders.

"Septimus and Adrian must advance with their Corps and engage the enemy at the base of the hill. Jack and Richard will attack the Tourelle. We will continue to target the center with artillery. Under no circumstances can we allow Lefde to coordinate the defenses of the two wings. Go. Send the orders."

"Yes sir!"

Shortly afterwards, preceded by trumpets, four of the five Free State infantry armies began to advance, and it was then that Lefde and Victor found themselves faced with something unexptected.

"What are they doing?" Victor asked

"I don't know, it seems like they're changing their formation."

It was perfectly normal for any army of Erthea to advance in more or less tight formations and as close together as possible, to create a human wall that would inspire fear and leave no gaps through which the enemy could slip.

The Free State armies not only began moving towards the enemy without following this rule, but their formation was like nothing Victor or Lefde had ever seen.

"Are those... columns!?"

They were like long serpents of men crawling across the ground at a marching pace, with banners and drums at their heads; the soldiers –monsters, humans and demi humans– advanced shoulder to shoulder, incessantly shouting things like "Long live the Revolution!", "Long live the Free State!", but above all "Long live Daemon!".

And the reason for such a formation became clear when the inaccurate and unreliable siege weapons on the Tourelle completely missed the target, allowing the rebel army to march practically unharmed across no man's land.

Then, once the ideal distance was reached, the lines opened up and re-assumed an expanded formation.

A perfect maneuver, especially because it was carried out under the fire of Eirinn's archers, yet the losses were minimal and in the blink of an eye the attack lines were reformed.

Meanwhile the incessant shelling had given results, and some enemy units had already escaped; nevertheless, the soldiers of the Free State front line felt obliged to precede their attack with a throw of grenades that opened gaps in Eirinn's ranks before the frontal assault.

Following Daemon's directives, at that point the guns shifted their attention towards that small portion of enemy infantry not engaged in combat that was between the bulk of the formation and the Tourelle, forcing them to remain seated on the ground and blocking them in place.

With their flank covered, the 4th and 5th Corps were able to launch the assault on the hill, from the top of which the besieged began to rain down everything they had to try to stop them.



On the side facing south, the hill was so steep that stairs were needed to climb it, while the only side from which one could access it more easily was unattainable without exposing oneself to attacks by the defenders.

As Daemon had predicted, the attack turned into a bloody siege that began to claim an exorbitant number of victims from the first moment.

But there was no other choice, both commanders knew that the fate of the battle depended on that clash; if Tourelle had held, Daemon would have sent a third of his army to massacre for nothing, but if it had fallen that flank would have been lost.

It didn't take long for Lefde to start receiving requests for reinforcements from both sides. The General still had his entire cavalry and two infantry units at his disposal, all hidden behind the hill out of reach of even Daemon's all-seeing eye.

Lefde, however, was torn, because his plan was to use them to hit the first of the two flanks that showed signs of giving way; but he certainly didn't expect that Daemon would be able to bring his army into direct battle while suffering so few losses during the advance.

The imbalance of forces had suddenly become irrelevant, and the number of soldiers engaged in combat was almost identical, with the result that the greater experience and resistance of the Free State army was creating serious problems for Eirinn's recruits and conscripts.

In the end, Lefde decided that the best thing to do was to launch an attack with the cavalry to try to overwhelm the enemy and thus be able to attack the batteries, to silence them and allow the center to go to the aid of the wings.

After all, Eirinn's heavy cavalry was one of the most powerful in Erthea, made up of the Grand Duchy's best nobles and their personal guards. The only reason why it had not yet been deployed in battle was that at the beginning no one had thought that it was necessary to disturb such an illustrious unit for a conflict that everyone had thought was destined to end in a short time.

The commander of the heavy cavalry was Lord Theunis, a good friend of General Lefde and hunting companion of the Grand Duke; a jovial fellow, who loved beer and meat, but who in battle was worth five of his best squires.

When he received the order to attack he couldn't wait and unsheated his sword calling his men to charge.

Daemon saw him and his men appear from behind the hill like a horde of demons, surrounded by such thick dust that it was almost difficult to see them precisely.

"Not bad, this Eirinn's cavalry. Really beautiful and powerful as they say." then he turned to the scribe. "Tell Athreia to intercept them."



Athreia had led dozens, hundreds of charges in her life, but when she read the message and saw the banner rise with the symbols of her army, she felt a knot close in her stomach.

When she handed herself over to Daemon, placing her life and her new dreams in his hands, she expected and hoped to be able to serve him in any way he saw fit. But she never expected him to suddenly appoint her general and commander of the entire heavy cavalry of the National Guard.

Seeing her tense as she had never been, not even at the time of her first charge, Kassia put a hand on her shoulder.

"You'll make it."

She smiled back, shortly clutching the small bag of dirt that hung around her neck like a pendant.

Then, she unsheathed her sword.

"Heavy cavalry Ney, charge!"

The knights of the Free State were neither noble nor rich, and theirs were mostly very ordinary mounts even if they came from Connelly, the promised land of horses.

But they were brave, very cohesive, and equipped with basic but very effective equipment consisting of simple steel armor and pointed helmets. This combined with brandishing swords and sabers instead of the usual, heavy wooden spears made them able to change direction in a much more agile way, without however affecting the devastating power of their charge.

And above all, they had received an excellent education from their teacher, who had immediately assimilated the revolutionary way in which Daemon conceived of heavy cavalry.

Their maneuver was so well coordinated that they managed to fall on the enemy knights not from the front, but from the flank, surprising them while they were preparing to charge the second line of guns after having swept away the first; as if that wasn't enough, the triangular shape of their armor meant that even if they were hit, the opposing spears almost always ended up sliding sideways, without breaking or producing an impact that would injure or unseat anyone.



Realizing that the spears did nothing but hinder movement and that the attack on the cannons could not continue, Theunis ordered them to switch to the swords themselves, in the hope at least of being able to seriously damage the enemy cavalry and prevent a counterattack.

Unlike the armor of Athreia's men, those of Eirinn's cavalry were ready-made armor that covered the knight from head to toe. They certainly protected very well, but no matter how much you got used to it, it was impossible to wear them for hours without starting to feel the burden, not to mention what happened when a knight fell off his horse.

The consequences did not take long to be seen; although more experienced and with better equipment, Eirinn's knights began to lose ground, gradually being overwhelmed by the less armored but more agile enemy knights.

And when Theunis himself was skewered several times, pulled off his horse and finished off by a hoof blow, his second in command understood that the only thing to do was to retreat; luckily for him, his adversaries had also suffered such losses that they considered it too risky to launch into pursuit, otherwise only a few of them would have returned to their lines.

"They did it!" Scalia said as she saw the enemy cavalry retreating

"Yes, but I fear Athreia got beaten up too. Order them to return to their positions and catch their breath."

"At your orders, Commander."



With the artillery attack repelled despite losses and the flank once again secure, Daemon ordered Oldrick to attack the center. And to make sure that the losses that his general would have suffered during the advance did not prevent the attack from taking place anyway, the young Commander decided to resort to one of his aces.

"Sapi?"

"Yes?"

"Go."

"Right away!"

The combined force of Sapi and the 3rd Corp fell violently on Eirinn's troops already put to the test by almost two hours of cannonade, taking the brunt and immediately giving the impression of not being able to hold on for long.



Meanwhile, the left flank of Eirinn's deployment was resisting despite the prolonged assault, with the mercenaries in particular giving an excellent performance on the front line.

Daemon, however, had noticed something strange in their attitude, as if they were more worried about what was behind them rather than the enemy.

That could have been a great place to push and gain an advantage.

"I have an idea."



Ignes had never killed so many enemies in a single day, but no matter how many she took out, there was no end in sight.

It was as if that mass of idiots made excited by the trumpets, the drums and the shouts didn't care at all about dying; she had even seen some of them, realizing they were doomed, go and commit suicide just to take their enemy with them, shouting nonsense like "Long live the Revolution" as they died.

For mercenaries accustomed to placing a monetary value on their lives, the idea of dying for an ideal was simply crazy, and she was the first to think so; what was the point of kicking the bucket over something you weren't going to enjoy anyway?

Yet now it seemed that very ideal was giving their adversaries the strength to go on fighting despite pain, wounds and losses.

"Damn it, how many more do we have to kill!"

"Boss, they're overwhelming us!"

"If only those bastards up there would come and give us a hand!"

But on the other hand, escape was impossible; with their presumed allies keeping an eye on them from above the slope and the enemy pressing them, attempting to disengage meant condemning themselves to death.

"Boss! Enemy heavy cavalry is returning! I think they want to charge us!"

"Damn it, get ready! If we really have to die, at least we'll take them with us!"

And instead, the attack was not aimed at them; Athreia and her cavalry in fact bypassed the first line attacking the second, which was caught completely off guard and suffered the full effect of the charge, resulting in confusion.

Once the moment of amazement passed, Ignes immediately understood the reason for such a choice; some would have called what she was about to do the quintessence of cowardice, an indelible stain on her honor as a mercenary. But in that moment, all she cared about was saving the lives of her men and her own.

"How far are we with the load of loot?"

"The ships are full, boss! They're waiting for us three miles from here!"

"Then blow the horn! We have done our part! This kingdom and that brat can handle themselves now!"

The sight of the Crimson Iron and his men retreating, very lightly hindered by the enemy, pushed almost all the other mercenaries to do the same, leaving the second line exposed to attack also by the infantry after that of the cavalry.

Seeing their companions who seemed one step away from the rout, the survivors of Eirinn's cavalry decided on their own to go to their aid, starting a brawl that in a few minutes involved the entire flank.



At that point Lefde attempted the move of desperation by ordering his last reserve to deviate to his right, go around the Tourelle and attempt an attack on the flank of the armies engaged in the assault on the hill, hoping to the siege.

Too bad that in all that hell neither he nor anyone else had noticed that after having had to stop shooting, part of the guns had quickly moved and rearranged on the left flank of Daemon's deployment.

In this way the infantry first suffered an unexpected and dramatic cannonade, and then the assault of the light cavalry which was just waiting for the right moment to attack; those poor people found themselves hit by so many arrows and cannon shots that in the end they had to retreat without even having really fought.

All they could do was guard the mouth of the Tourelle, out of range of the cannons, from where they could prevent Natuli and her men from assaulting the hill, or even worse from heading directly for the base camp.

"General, the left flank requests reinforcements!"

"I have nothing left to send!"

"General, the center won't hold out much longer!"

"Tell them to hold on! They absolutely must not give in! The real battle is fought on the hill! If we repel that assault, they will have to fall back!"

Daemon had also come to the same conclusion, and hoped that the massacre taking place at the foot of the Tourelle would bring the desired results.

But evidently Gaia was at his side that day too.

"Daemon, look!" Scalia exclaimed

The young man put an eye into the spyglass, just in time to see something appear on the top of the hill.



"It's the 4th corps' banner! We made it! We took the Tourelle! Now's our chance! Scalia, go!"

"With pleasure! Great Guard, attack!"

With the attack of the Great Guard which hit the center like a tsunami and the loss of the hill, everything was now decided.

Within half an hour every single front of Eirinn's lines began to retreat, fighting desperately just to try to gain time and give those who still could time to escape to safety.



"My Lord, it's over! We lost!"

"Damned incompetent! You had the largest army ever assembled in the history of this country, and you still managed to lose!"

Victor was so out of his mind that he almost didn't notice an arrow aimed right at him, emerging unscathed only because Lefde managed to put his arm in front of Victor's face and take it in his place.

"You must withdraw My Lord! Go back to Faria!"

"In your dreams! I don't intend to give that damned man the satisfaction of seeing me escape again!"

"My Lord, please! If you die today it will be the end for our country! You are the only one who can still save us!"

By now the enemy was a few dozen meters from the palisades, held back only by the soldiers left to guard the camp.

"Curse! Alright then!" and at that point Victor left, taking his personal guard with him.

Left alone, Lefde picked up the flag and called to him those who remained, who formed a square around him with shields and spears until they were completely surrounded.

The Battle of Alois was over.