(1 day earlier)

When Baron Geer returned to the north eastern capital unconscious and heavily wounded, the reaction of the people was so grim it could not be put into words.

The army, in particular, were quite shaken by the events. The absence of both their commander and vice-commander caused them to panic.

Of those present, some suggested to fight to the bitter end, while others suggested to open a path and let at least Baron Geer escape.

If the knight-commander, Dani, was still alive, the soldiers probably wouldn’t have fallen into such a state.

The platoon captains were well trained warriors in their own right, but they did not have the ability to bring everyone together. With that, Geer’s army could only fall into the crucible of discord.

It didn’t take long for the soldier’s unrest to spread to the people, but it wasn’t like they actually had a choice.

Even the rich merchants, who tried to run to another city, couldn’t because the soldiers, who wanted to fight to the death, stopped them. Like ripples rippling off each other, the city fell into chaos.

That chaos continued even after the fortress's reinforcements led by Viscount Lazar arrived.

***

After the beacon was lit up, the surrounding enemies dispersed.

Viscount Lazar and his elite knights took the chance to ride their horses to the capital.

The people were already panicking even with the beacon between the fortress and the capital lit, so they naturally cared little for their arrival.

“I take it messengers have been sent to the south?”

The man well known as the Ripper Noble, Viscount Lazar, stood in place of Geer, who was still unconscious.

Geer’s staff could only hang their heads in shame to Lazar’s question.

Immediately, a messenger was sent to the south.

For the whole night, he waited on the tallest building in the capital. He felt something amiss as the man who usually guarded the beacon building was not here. Even his family was gone without a trace.

Finally, many lights were seen from afar, probably torches used by the invaders.

Lazar watched the approaching invaders from the top of the spire and groaned.

“They sure are organized,” he said.

When the battalion was about a hundred meters from him, he could clearly see what the enemies were made of.

Most of the invaders don cuirasses. However, unlike usual cuirass, the panoply of plates is worn without any surcoat. 

Small plates of various forms and sizes were attached to the armour in front of the shoulders, to defend the otherwise vulnerable points where the plate defences of the upper-arms and the cuirass left a gap on each side. Limb armour was not always made in symmetrical pairs, the plate for the right or sword-arm often being smaller and lighter than its companion.

Instead of being formed of a single plate, the breastplate of the cuirass was made in two parts, the lower adjusted to overlap the upper, and contrived by means of a strap or sliding rivet to give flexibility to this defence.

In front of the battalion, a single figure donning a brigandine lined with small oblong steel plates riveted to the fabric. 

The cloth based fighting armour obviously meant that the wearer specialized in speed. 

There were obvious bulges on the chest area, indicating the person on the horse was a woman. 

Her sandstone coloured hair was in a random loose braids, tucked into a half-up knot.

Lazar's eyes traced her  muscular shoulder to the long sleeve until her gloved left hand that was holding a spear. 

"A beauty with muscles is  leading a cavalry batallion." Lazar commented.

The invaders advanced slowly but steadily.

His subordinate beside him also commented,

"Milord. They are not Dioral, not templars, not Ferelden. That insignia on the red flags was unknown." 

Standing at the vanguard was the tall woman with a spear.

Seeing the enemies move naturally with near perfect coordination left Lazar’s common sense in tatters.

As Lazar's curious eyes watched the approaching army, he noted another that stood out from the rest.

Her ears were slightly longer than humans. 

"Rheas? No. She is too tall to be a thea. Dark elf? No. Her skin is fair and her hair is brownish." Lazar commented.

His subordinate added, "Aside from dark elves and rhea, the only remaining descendants of great elves are Dalish from the land beyond Korcari Wilds."

"What Dalish is doing here. There seems a number of them."

Lazar brushed his golden hair up and wryly smiled.

“Demi human hunting is supposed to be Castall’s specialty… Sigh, did I end up pulling the short the end of the stick?”

Lazar grumbled as he smiled bitterly. Just a little, he was envious of Kant, who was probably currently buried in a mountain of documents.

"Anyway, the invaders need to be stopped. If not, this capital is hopeless.”

The citizens couldn’t just run and leave behind for fear that they would only starve to death without their livelihoods.

Because of that Lazar was forced to make a difficult decision.

He knew he was at a disadvantage, but there was no other choice but for him to go out himself. After all, the walls were short, there was literally nothing stopping the invading army from marching into the city.

He was a noble knight. It was his duty to protect the people.

“Gather everyone, we need to talk.”

The platoon captains stood before Lazar. Lazar declared,

“Just watch, I’ll show you the true power of the Ripper Noble. So, with that, the out army shall be taking on the riskier role. Dismissed!”

“Yes, sir!” The platoon captains hit their chest as they showed agreement.

"We’ll assume a 3-stage length and width formation in the following order: spears, cavalry, archers.”

The capital was surrounded mostly by level fields.

With the harvest still in season, the wheat fields stood tall.

A gust of wind blew from the south, passing over the bountiful wheat fields as the invaders and the defenders confronted each other.

“…Still beats not doing it.”

At Lazar’s signal, a beacon was lit in the capital.

“Please make it in time.”

Lazar fixed his iron helmet over his head and mounted a well-statured steed. 

“Spears at the ready!”

A sharp light reflected from the spears of the southern army. It sought to pierce the invaders itself.

“Cavalry, ready to charge!”

The invader's formations expanded toward the flanks, suggesting that they wanted to surround them. The female leader was at the center.

“Let’s show these invaders how the southern army fights! Spears, closed formation!”

The spears closed in on each other and hid behind their shields as they readied their spear.

“First is defense! Spears, advance one step!”

The curtains on the north eastern capital war was lifted at Lazar’s command.