The man stood up, holding the leg in the left hand as he took out his sabre... Yet all of his action stopped before compilation.

The temperature, around him, plunged while specks of ice condensed on the grass. His breaths turned white as the chill sent a shiver down his spine.

'There is no way it could originate from him.' The pressure was strong but not on the level of Varytita. Kinoya was first to react, however as soon as their eyes met the chill intensified. Everything around him stopped in a breath.

There was a smile behind the veil. It was chilling yet a beautiful smile. That mature smile was seductive and it was effective. Kinoya couldn’t control his body anymore. He could only look, as the woman in black moved towards the man.

“Issh!!!” Her beautiful face twisted in disgust as her eyes fell on the wet ground under the big man. He was the origin of the stink. The woman moved and patted on the cheek of the man. "You shouldn't bully a child."

The eyes of the man turned white, mouth foamed and he lost consciousness on his knees. Others might have missed it but there was a thin layer of frost over the body.

‘That is magic? An ice spell? Don’t they need incantation?’ He had many questions on his mind yet looking at the owner of the bewitching smile he dared not to ask.

"Here you go, boy." The chilly voice handed him the meat. Even under such pressure, Kinoya couldn’t control his eyes.

The shining blue armour was only there to increase the beauty. The symbol of ice-peak Mountain with three-star on it was shining on her mound. The more he looked the more he was dragged in.

A giggle broke his trance. "Do you like what you see, boy?" The voice whispered in the ear and with a peck on his cheek, everything around him turned silent again.

When the wind blew against the sweat-wet armour, Kinoya was forced back to his senses.

"If I were you I would have run away as far as possible." Kinoya turned to find it was Amogh.

"Captain, that is a 3 star general right?" That was what the three stars on the peak represent.

"That is General Andlat. She is also a Countess. The Countess of Death." Amogh said in a low voice. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Be aware, otherwise she might gobble you up in the middle of the night."

Kinoya was a little surprised. He didn't understand what Amogh meant by gobbling up, but he was sure that if she wanted she could kill him without even looking, unless...

***********

"What is the situation?" General Kirmac asked in a calm voice. In was not just his age, but also his experience was reflected in his eyes. The tile of one of the three great generals of the kingdom wasn’t just for show.

The messenger bowed and explained, "The number is as reported, about 180,000 strong. Led by the general of the West, one of the four cardinal generals of the empire. There are 3 more 3-star generals under him, The Red general Akai, Countess Andlat and General Vorn."

"The army is divided into 4 parts, excluding general camp. Two 60,000 strong units and two 30,000 strong units. The 60,000 units are at right and left slightly bent inwards. With the 30,000 units one in front and one at the back. And…"

"And what?" Official Nus was worried as always.
"And there is a gap of almost 400-500 meters between the front and back 30,000 units. Also, the army at left wing has 12 regiments of 5000 soldiers making 3 rows with four columns. But the army at the right has 4 rows with three columns."

Being a military scout the messenger was clear about the formation up to the last detail.

Two people in the tent were constantly arranging the pieces in the sand-made topography while another one was writing it down. They are from the ministry of war, under the command of official Nus.

"Why did they leave a space between the front and back unit?" Official Nus was the one to talk.

"You are just overly cautious." General Liyato spoke. Though general Kirmac, the commander-in-chief, had accepted him, still Liyato felt no goodwill towards the official in the military camp.

'The work of pen and sword is different. One works with ink, the other with blood. Blood can replace the ink but not the other way around. A scholar should never interfere in the war.'

“No matter how they arrange their army they won’t be able to outnumber us. The victory is already in our hands.” Listening to General’s words Nus couldn’t help but put up a frown.

‘Underestimating the enemy is a grave mistake.’ Official Nus swallowed the words down his throat. To him, the fate of the country is a lot more important than the petty argument.

"If they had used that space the formation would have been more stable. And the General of the West wouldn't do anything that will hinder his winning. Rather he is a person who would do everything for the sake of victory. There should be some meaning behind it." Alas, his argument wasn’t strong enough in the tent.

"Look at both sides of the troop. There is not enough space to create a line formation. So they have used such peculiar formation. Is there any other secret?"

"Yes, that is good for us. They were unable to exert all their force. It will be easier for us to break them." With the first word from the general Liyato other soon followed suits.

"If we use the wave after wave to attack, it will be just a matter of time before the war will be over."

Even official Nus wanted to believe that but couldn't. Somewhere in his heart, he felt something was wrong in the formation. "If it was really because of space they would have simply made a rectangular…"

Before Nus could complete his sentence general Kirmic raised his hand to stop it. "I think you are worrying too much." Without giving any chance to Nus, he continued. "With the drum, Liyato will lead the charge. Test the water first. If everything is okay then attack and kill as many of the empire's dogs before dusk."

"Thank you for your faith, general. I will take the head of the empire's general by the end of the day." Everybody knew that was an almost impossible task without the help of any miracle. But no one argued with Liyato, rather they cheered as he left the tent. Following which the first war began.

********

Thousands of soldiers, in red and blue armours, lined up in perfect arrays. The discipline of the army had been bored into their bones yet that wasn’t enough to dispel the tension in the air.

"Sergeant we heard that all the recruits are made into the vanguard."
"Does it matter?" Kinoya, with a smile on his face, continued. "This place is full of dangers but this is also the place that gave birth to most of the heroes."

It was not like there was no pressure, but for Kinoya, he felt it was more like excitement than fear.

"What a beautiful way to put it, no matter how odd it sounded you are true to the last words. Yet, never did I expect to hear that from such a young tongue." Kinoya looked up to find out it was the same old man whom he met at the time of the march.

"You are not a recruit."
"But the old bones aren't worth much."

"So you are saying they have sent us to death." Being just a sergeant, Kinoya had no idea how the formation was. But he knew they were the first one to rally out. So they have to be the vanguard.

‘Is it the vanguard? Only recruits and old?’ The strategy or tactic recorded in the books of Arviga academy library wasn’t so advanced but Kinoya felt something wasn't right. ‘They wouldn't want the front line to be broken so easily unless there was some catch’.

"Don't worry boy, it is not that easy. The general of the west is very accustomed to these types of tricks. If it is about tricks even the strongest of four, the general of the east, is no match for him."
"What is there to worry, we are here to fight, so we can just hope that the head behind us is doing the right thing."

*Boom* *Boom*.

The sound of the war drums increased continuously. The sun wasn't on the top yet. A light wind was blowing by the plane of Eale, yet the surrounding was becoming more and more suffocating. No matter how trained or how experienced the army is, there is always tension before the first blood is drawn. But…

"Brothers, the moment is here to fight, to fight for the empire, to protect the one that protected us till now. We have to repay the debts by protecting the old, woman and child, behind us in the cities. We have to stop the enemies at the doorsteps and push them back, so a child could have a sound sleep, so the old could have a peaceful last breath and" The voice paused for a moment then resounded in louder one, "So we could enjoy ourselves with ladies at both arms."

The last sentence came with a shock to Kinoya. For starters, he didn't expect the inspirational speech to end up with such a sexist line, yet it was effective.

It freed those inexperienced minds from the shackles of fear. Now they were excited, excited with the hope that they would survive to go back and enjoy the beauties. They were cheering, taunting the enemies, those were too far away to hear it, they were ready to fight.

‘Something is different about him, like an unsheathed sword…’ Now that Kinoya looked carefully there were many soldiers around him, who looked different from the others in the vanguard. No matter how experienced a soldier is, he can never exclude the aura of a general.

'I have never seen any flower marks or star on his armour. Who could he be?' Before he could look around he felt the old man whispered in his ear, "You are too young to enjoy the ladies but you have your things to do, so always stay on the right and never go in front of me. They are coming."

The rock bits on his legs were dancing with the vibration. He was small, and couldn't see much with the soldiers in front him, still, he could see black clouds were forming at the horizon. It was charging towards them at high speed.

"No one allowed to go in front of me, "Kinoya shouted.
"Don't worry sergeant we will protect you," Drow said with a shaky voice.
"No one, I mean no one is allowed to go in front of me." Kinoya's demeanour changed in a split second for a moment. Even the old man who was in front of him was surprised, much less his squad member.

"Am I clear?" Kinoya shouted again.
"Yes, sergeant." The squad members shouted in unison. It wasn't just Kinoya, all the others were assembling their own too.
"Boys, ready or not here they are."

[Shield Anchor]

The leader of the shield-bearer squad shouted the most basic skill of the shield-bearer. It was followed by another shout.

[Stab]

The line of spear wilder that formed a line just behind the shield-bearer. They used the skill at the order.

Kinoya wasn't where he could see all of them but he could feel everything. The constant galloping of the horse, the vibration from their momentum, the explosion of the collision with the shield wall, followed by the neighing of the horses or the cry of the human, who was stabbed or got run down by the cavalry charge.

Behind it, was the cry of the enemy infantry, that was greeted by the empire's infantry.

Though he didn’t face the sharp edge of the first wave, he wasn’t too far away from the front line. Soon enough some of the enemies passed through but were taken care of within a moment.

The old man didn't move from the place at all. Kinoya wanted to move but the aura around the old man was saying otherwise. He was like a crouching tiger waiting for the right moment to strike.

Not just him, there were other people too. Whether they were close or far, all was standing there like a statue with their squad waiting for the right moment. Yet the ground started to vibrate again.

'It must be another charge of cavalry.' Kinoya's mind was in disarray. With the wall of shield out of the equation, they have to face the sharp end of the charge. No matter how much he comforted himself that he couldn’t be killed, a sense of helplessness spread through his mind as he looked at the rolling waves of men and beasts.

'Best possible solution against the cavalry would have been the phalanx. But without enough spearmen, it will be impossible.'

In the current situation, he was unable to find a solution. Unconsciously, he looked at the old man whose vision was stuck at the enemy wave too.

‘They are all from the red front.’ The realization came a little too late. The old man moved.

"Don't move," he said under his breath and stepped forward. He pulled out two big sabres. The wind started to blow around him. A light green aura enveloped him in a moment. Kinoya could observe the excitement on the face of others who were waiting alongside the old man.

What happened next surprised him too much. He could count how many times he had seen it, in just one hand. So, Kinoya almost forgot about the presence of another variable of this world, The Magic.

It became hard to breathe but it was different from the general Andlet. She had frozen the surroundings but now… ‘The wind had stopped.’

There wasn't any green aura around the old man but the Sabres were bright green. The old man swung both the sabres horizontally. Two green crescent blades rushed towards the upcoming cavalry charge.

[Skill Check: The Host has observed [Death-Wind Blade]]