The Emperor Class

“And you believe the human possesses some dark powers?” Colet tried to steer the conversation back to the matter at hand. “The dark powers might be why these humans are sent to be slaughtered? They are performing some sort of ritual?”

“I wish I can provide you more information, chieftain.” Eupoos gestured to the battlefield. “Let’s end this battle first. I will see if I can dig up more information on this matter afterwards. I had hoped to never need to dig into this topic but it seems like fate has forced my hand. If we're not careful, digging into dark powers may be our own undoing.”

Seeing wisdom in the Magus’ words, the centaur chieftain returned his attention to the battle at hand. To speed up their enemies’ demise, the spear wielders attacked from the front as they chucked javelins at nearly point blank into the human ranks. Unlike arrows which were more likely stopped by shields and armor, the javelins proved far deadlier as they punched right through everything wounding, if not killing outright, the humans. To achieve such effectiveness, the centaur spear wielders had to get within 20 meters of the humans. Due to their agility, the centaurs easily withdrew before the humans could respond, not that the humans had the morale nor stamina to retaliate anymore. After a series of rinse and repeats, numerous humans were dead or badly wounded leaving the center of the human formation badly depleted of able-bodied soldiers. Death was merciful for those who were still breathing.

The flanks were nearly wiped out too. The Uxlut appeared and disappeared into the shadows making them elusive as they picked off the humans on one of the flanks. The goblins went for the most direct but equally effective method of brute forcing through what was left of the other flank. Their wolves tore apart the fatigued and demoralized humans who no longer resisted. The battle ended shortly after Colet’s arrival marking the first victory for the coalition.

“That was a boring battle,” said Actolio. “I expected them to put up more of a fight. Now that half of their garrison lies dead here, Torpin Stronghold will be easy to take. We should march towards there now!”

Putting aside his thoughts on what to do about the stronghold, Colet studied the carnage before him. Tolien, always the keen one, approached him.

“What’s on your mind, chieftain?”

“Those soldiers we fought. There’s something I can’t put my finger on but something felt off.”

“I felt the same thing,” replied Tolien. “I had some time to study them. They appeared to lack discipline and were disorganized compared to the elite human soldiers I heard about. All of these are indications that we fought their common soldiers. Losing these soldiers no doubt hurt the defenses of Torpin Stronghold. However, their loss may not be not be as critical to humans as we originally believed. The fight at the stronghold will remain a bloody affair.”

“Common soldiers?” Actolio overheard the conversation. “Now that you mentioned it, they put up no fight. I heard Holy Knights would give any opponent a hard time, maybe even Konstite’s shieldbreakers. I wonder if I'll ever face one of them in combat.”

“Let’s be grateful we suffered no losses,” said Colet. “We will bury the dead and return to our camp. We need to be properly rested for tomorrow.”

After ordering some centaurs to assist the Uxlut and goblins in burying the dead in mass graves, Colet met with Ruazk and Gabs.

"I thank you both for your assistance," said Colet. "While the enemy proved far weaker than expected, a win here will help our morale once our siege of Torpin Stronghold begins."

"I cannot shake the feeling this was either a trap or intended by the humans," said Ruazk.

Colet was hesitant to share his suspicions so he suggested all parties to head back to their camp to rest. Ruazk and Gabs agreed, parting ways once the dead was all buried. Casualties for the coalition were relatively low and those were only the centaurs under Ides. As Kallosa reported earlier, the wounded were treated and returned to combat before Colet’s arrival. During the initial engagement, human archers returned fire and some of the arrows found their mark. In the next couple of volleys, Ides specifically ordered his bow wielders to target the enemy archers until the humans no longer had ranged support. Without their archers, the rest of the humans were at the mercy of the centaur bow wielders and their morale dropped as their losses mounted. Once more centaurs and eventually their allies participated in the battle, the humans could only hold their position until they were annihilated.

Colet led the centaurs back to their camp. The supposed victory only filled the centaur chieftain with dread. Eupoos was already deep in thought but Colet feared the Magus might find the truth too late. Once they returned to the camp, Colet ordered the other centaurs to get some rest before he returned to his tent where he stayed until morning. He failed to get any sleep because the battle on the previous night bothered him. Until the Torpin Stronghold was taken and the human said to possess dark powers was defeated, he doubted he could get any proper sleep and would rely on short naps. The centaur chieftain was accustomed to using short naps to recharge during his travels. Currently, worry and the weight of his race's extinction weighed heavily on his mind. Upon giving up on sleep, Colet exited his tent to see a centaur messenger arriving.

“Chieftain, the dwarven leader has sent out an invite to all the coalition leaders. He says he has urgent matters to discuss and needs your presence as soon as possible.”

What now? Skostaer must be plotting something.

Unwilling to show disrespect to the dwarven leader, Colet ate a quick breakfast before he headed out with Notelis and a handful of handpicked centaurs. Their uneventful journey brought them to the dwarven camp ahead of the other coalition leaders. Like the previous night, the centaur chieftain was escorted to Skostaer’s tent. For once, the dwarves, including their leaders, weren't drinking. The serious atmosphere felt like a welcomed change to what the centaur chieftain experienced the night before.