Second Arc (His Art of War) - 54. Disguise

A few days had passed, the sun had set. After a long journey from Draconis Northern border, they arrived at the border between Dragon Cross City and Dragon Shield Town. Their journey was quite smooth as they only faced a few obstacles and all inspections could be passed well, all thanks to General Marshall's good reputation.

Currently, Angel was already wearing the blue military uniform of Draconis troops while riding his horse behind General Marshall. He had divided his army into two to take two cities before him at once. In addition, he had also spread the archers around it to prevent them from sending a Magic Messenger to King Esteve.

Attacking and capturing Dragon Cross City and Dragon Shield Town at the same time was a must if he wanted to conquer Draconis.

Dragon Shield Town was a satellite town of Draconis's capital which also acted as a military town, all Draconis military forces were centred there. Both of them were protecting each other and dependent on one another. If one of them was attacked or fallen then the other could help them as soon as possible while the civilians could be evacuated to the safer city, which also could be used as a temporary shelter to set their next strategy. That was why even though Draconis's territory was not as big as Asteria's, their military power could not be taken lightly.

He turned to Gale who was ready with his troops. But unlike Angel, Gale and his army wore Euphorion's military uniform.
"Gale, I entrust Dragon Shield Town's battle to you."

"Leave it to me! I'll deal with them quickly!" said Gale eagerly. He was just about to leave but Angel gave him another order.
"Remember this is an ambush, do not alarm them," he said again in an emphatic tone.

Gale grinned awkwardly when he understood what His Majesty meant was that he should not mess up like he did at Asteria's Southern Outpost.
"I understand, Your Majesty," he replied.

Angel gave him a slight nod as a sign to permit him to leave.

Upon seeing it, Gale swung the reins around his hand and kicked the side of his horse, followed by half of the army.

Then Angel glanced at General Marshall in front of him.
"General Marshall, let's go," he ordered.

"Yes, Your Majesty," answered General Marshall.

The sky was getting darker, the night was getting late and Dragon Cross City's gate was already closed. But on that lonely night, the guards were shocked by the sound of hooves from the north gate. They focused their eyes on the origin of the noise and could recognize General Marshall who was at the forefront of the army.
"General Marshall has returned! Report to General Jasper quickly!" said one of the guards. One of them immediately went to report it.

General Marshall and his army stopped in front of the gate.
"Open the gate!" he ordered. His face looked tired as well as the troops behind him.

"Please wait a moment, General. The king's order, we cannot open the gate to anyone without General Jasper's permission."

"Then hurry up! I have important news for His Highness, Prince Curtis! This is about the Kingdom of Euphorion!" said General Marshall in an irritated tone, his annoyance clearly on his face.

After a few minutes of waiting, General Jasper arrived in a hurry.
"Marshall, why did you suddenly return to the capital? What happened at the Northern Outpost?"

"Forget about the Northern Outpost, I have another important news! I must immediately report it to His Highness!"

"If there is important news why don't you send a Magic Messenger but leave your post without permission?" said General Jasper suspiciously.

"I can't explain it with a Magic Messenger because it's too complicated. After all, I'm sure after His Highness gets this news he will definitely call me along with my troops to come back!"

General Jasper frowned in confusion. He knew General Marshall was a disciplined person, although his sudden arrival to the capital made him confused, judging from him and his troops' condition they did look like they were returning in a hurry. But still, he had to be careful, the king assigned him to protect the capital and he did not want to fail at that important task.
"Tell me the news about what you want to convey!"

"I told you I can't explain it because it's complicated."

"Just say it in outline."

General Marshall clicked his tongue in annoyance then swept his gaze at the guards around the wall anxiously before he returned his gaze to General Jasper.
"The Euphorion army has entered our territory!"

After hearing his words, General Jasper gasped in shock, while all the guards immediately murmured each other with anxious expressions.

"Jasper, I don't want to cause a panic here. I have to report it immediately to His Highness!" continued General Marshall.

Seeing his troops panic if he asked General Marshall to spit out everything in the spot, finally, General Jasper ordered him to open the gate.
"Open the gate!"

The gate opened, General Marshall and his troops entered and headed straight for the Blue Rock castle. But in front of the gate, the royal elite forces blocked them.
"Tell His Highness I have to report something important to him!" said General Marshall.

Some royal troops immediately entered the castle and reported it. While General Marshall waited again, a minute later General Jasper approached him.
"Marshall, what happened?" he asked, looking at his troops that just arrived. It seemed strange to say that they lost the war because the troops' condition looked fine and only looked tired.
"Come with me to meet His Highness. You also must know about this."

General Jasper glanced at the troops behind him.
"But you can't bring this many troops to the castle."

"I just need a few of my trusted subordinates to come along. The rest can wait outside."

"Fine."

Before long, the guards opened the castle gate, General Jasper was just getting ready to enter but the entire General Marshall's army pulled out a white handkerchief with blood stains and tied it to their right arms.

- Brakkkk!

General Marshall's body suddenly fell from his horse with a slash on his back. Behind him, Angel was already holding his sword while his other hand which had emitted a dark aura had been extended towards General Jasper. Several of black lances had floated around the General ready to pierce him.

Once he saw the black lances and dark aura, General Jasper quickly knew who the person in front of him was. Because he was only one person on this continent that had a dark power as strong as this.
"Charge!" commanded Angel without taking his eyes from General Jasper.

Euphorion's troops rushed into the castle, attacking Draconis' troops who were not ready for their ambush in the courtyard.

General Jasper looked at Angel angrily.
"How dare you do dirty tricks like this!"

Angel responded with an evil smirk.
"Don't blame me on your negligence." Then in one move, his Demonic Arrow pierced General Jasper's hands and feet.

"Arrrrgghh!" General Jasper screamed in pain and fell from his horse.

Seeing General Marshall and Jasper unable to move because of their wounds, Angel spurred his horse into the castle. Without a leader, Draconis' army would be in chaos and had a hard time to counter their attacks. Therefore, even though he did not kill them, making these military leaders unable to move was very important to win this war.