Chapter 66

"......Birds, huh?"

It was the sight of a few birds taking flight from the forest to the east of the enemy's camp.

Just ordinary birds, often seen around here, nothing out of the ordinary.

Yet, for some reason, it stuck in Darius's mind.

"Sir? Is something wrong?"

One of the guards, noticing Darius staring intently at the birds taking flight, called out to him.

"No... just the birds."

Even as he spoke, not understanding why it bothered him so much, the guard turned to look in the same direction as Darius.

"......Ah. The birds are taking off from the forest, aren't they?"

As he spoke, a few more birds took flight.

"Probably startled by the imposing presence of our regiment."

The guard's lighthearted comment struck Darius like a blow to the head.

"W-What did you say!?"

Leaning out of the chariot, Darius fixed his gaze on the enemy camp, now far behind.

"What's the situation with the enemy camp? What's happening!?"

"Hmm... From here, it's hard to see through the smoke."

As the guard spoke, Darius turned his attention to the Zoan ambush force approaching from the plain.

Straining his eyes, Darius focused on the dust, but his eyes suddenly widened.

"......We've been tricked!"

As if in response to Darius's shock, the chariot's wheels hit a rock, causing it to jolt. Darius, momentarily stunned, stumbled but managed to steady himself by gripping the armrest of his seat.

"Quickly, send the troops back! Messenger! Inform the heavy spear regiment and the right-wing infantry battalion to prepare for the enemy's ambush! Drum! Beat the drum!"

"What's wrong, sir!?"

Startled by Darius's sudden panic, the guard asked, pointing to the dust raised by the Zoan ambush force.

"Look closely! The dust is rising, but there's no sign of the Zoans at all!"

Indeed, the dust was swirling, but there was still no sign of the Zoans. Given their speed, they should have been much closer by now, which was strange.

Darius, spitting out the bitter taste of regret in his mouth, said:

"That's a decoy! They're making a few soldiers look like many!"

His assessment was correct.

The dust was raised by only a dozen or so Zoans led by Banuka. They had attached bundles of brush to the ends of ropes tied around their waists and dragged them while zigzagging left and right, creating a large cloud of dust to make it seem like a large force was present.

"Decoy? But why!?"

To the surprised guard, Darius turned and pointed towards the enemy camp.

"The forest! The birds are taking off from the forest one after another!"

If birds were taking off, it meant something was startling them.

However, it wasn't because the heavy spear regiment was approaching, as the guard suggested. If that were the case, the birds would have already flown away. The white smoke from the rebels might have been a factor, but the wind direction made that unlikely.

Thus, there was only one possible explanation for what was startling the birds in the forest at this moment.

"The real ambush force was in the enemy camp! The white smoke was a distraction, but not to hide a trap in front of the camp! It was to hide the movement of part of the troops to the forest behind the camp!"

The officers and guards around him were speechless.

"If we don't act, the right-wing infantry battalion will be attacked from the right rear by the enemy's ambush force! Quickly, inform the right-wing infantry battalion that the enemy is coming from behind the forest, not from within it!"

As if waiting for Darius's words, a group of Zoans emerged from the other side of the forest, shouting war cries.

"Impossible! It's too early, no matter what!"

Darius was no fool.

If there was a forest near the enemy camp, he would have been cautious.

However, it was a deep, densely wooded forest. Such a forest, where soldiers could hardly move, served only as a wall to the east of the camp. Otherwise, Darius would have formed a unit to attack the enemy camp from the forest.

Yet, the rebels had somehow managed to move their forces from the camp as if by magic, even though the smoke screen had been set up not long ago.

And the group that emerged from the other side of the forest consisted of about eight hundred Zoan warriors.

Their number was almost equal to all the Zoans in the enemy camp.

The officers shouted in disbelief.

"Unbelievable! They're not ambushers, but the main force in the camp!?"

"Are they crazy! To face a large enemy force and split their already small numbers to flank us! It's like suicide!"

It was a completely unconventional strategy.

However, no matter how much they cursed, the Zoans would not stop.

As the officers, with bloodshot eyes, watched in rage, the Zoans first attacked the right-wing infantry battalion from the right rear, which was supposed to protect the flank of the heavy spear regiment.

The right-wing infantry battalion, which was supposed to stop the enemy from attacking the flank of the heavy spear regiment, was expecting a small number of ambushers in the forest.

However, the actual attackers were not ambushers but a much larger number of Zoans. Moreover, the attack came from their right rear, not from the forest, completely catching them off guard. The right-wing infantry battalion was scattered without a chance to fight back.

Emboldened by this, the Zoans finally attacked the flank of the heavy spear regiment.

"Are you going to stand there! Quickly, turn the troops around! Reorganize the formation!!"

Darius shouted at the officers, who were floundering in the unexpected situation. Finally, the officers and messengers began to give orders to the troops.

However, no matter how much they shouted, once a unit started moving, it was hard to stop. Despite the officers and messengers' desperate commands, the troops did not move as intended, and Darius could only grind his teeth in frustration.

◆◇◆◇◆

A little earlier, the story returns.

"Garam, fall back! Dovarin, Jahangir!"

As the white smoke rose from the brush set on fire by Dovarin, the Zoans led by Garam and Zugg retreated from the fence at Cangma's command, leaving the scene to the dwarves and dinosauroids.

"Alright! Put your back into it! Raise your spirits!"

They lined up in front of the fence to hide the Zoans and, at Dovarin's call, struck the ground with the stone-tipped poles in their hands and shouted to draw the attention of the approaching heavy spear regiment.

"「Roar!」"

Amid the loud noise, Garam and Zugg led their fellow Zoans to the rear of the camp.

Garam and his group headed for the entrance to a shortcut through the forest.

This path was cut by all the dwarves who followed Cangma, except for the hundred or so who were building the camp.

The path was barely more than a trail. Most of it was a trail used by animals. It was so narrow that two grown men could barely walk side by side, and branches and leaves would hit them as they walked. The path itself was solidified by the dwarves dropping rocks multiple times, but there were still large rocks and thick roots that made it uneven.

There was no way a chariot could pass through.

Even if the path was leveled, a chariot would tip over if it tried to drive through such a path. The path was too narrow to even enter.

And it was not passable by horseback.

If they tried to ride through, they would be knocked off by branches or entangled by vines.

However, even if they could pass, it would not be fast enough for regular infantry.

Even with a path, they would have to cross the forest on foot and then circle around to the enemy's rear. If they took their time, the weakened camp would be overrun by the enemy.

A chariot or horseback was not an option. Nor could infantry make it in time.

But the Zoans were different.

Initially, Cangma thought of the Zoans, who could run like horses, as cavalry. Therefore, he only considered fighting on the plain to maximize their mobility.

However, as Shemul demonstrated, the agility to run through the narrow alleys of a town was not that of cavalry but of light infantry.

In other words, the Zoans possessed the speed of cavalry and the agility of light infantry.

Such Zoans could pass through the shortcut. Only such Zoans could make it in time.

This was a path cut by Cangma to take advantage of the Zoans' characteristics.

Garam, who raced through the shortcut like a gust of wind, stopped to wait for the following warriors after crossing the forest. Soon, all the warriors gathered, and Garam, speaking in a clear but not loud voice, said:

"The enemy is many times our number. There is no shortage of opponents to fight. And the outcome of this battle rests entirely on us. If we do not rise to the challenge, we are not Zoan warriors. —Is there anyone here who is not a warrior?"

In response to Garam's question, everyone replied with a sly smile.

Nodding in satisfaction, Garam turned to Zugg nearby and thrust out his fist.

"I leave this to you, Zugg."

"Aye, I'll take care of it."

Zugg thrust his fist against Garam's.

Then, Garam turned to the warriors he led and declared:

"Let's go! Follow me!!"

◆◇◆◇◆

Just a little more to the enemy camp.

All that remained was to order the heavy spear regiment to charge.

Kadmos, the regiment commander, felt a letdown at the lack of traps he had been wary of, but he could not stop the blood rushing to his head as he prepared to give the final order to charge, which would end the battle.

Just as he was about to give the command, he noticed a commotion from the right rear. Listening closely, it seemed that cries and shouts were coming from the direction of the right-wing infantry battalion.

"What's going on!?"

Kadmos turned his horse to the right rear and shouted.

"What's happening!?"

The soldiers of the infantry battalion, seemingly preoccupied with something, did not turn to answer.

"Bravus, what are you doing..."

Kadmos cursed his comrade, who was supposed to command the right-wing infantry battalion.

At that moment, the Zoans burst through the ranks of the infantry battalion.

Before Kadmos, who was stunned by the unexpected event, the soldiers of the infantry battalion were cut down one after another. The soldiers, unable to escape the Zoans on foot, fled towards him, but were all cut down.

"Why! Why are the Zoans behind us!?"

Confused and unable to grasp the situation, Kadmos was approached by a black-furred Zoan with a magnificent physique, who leaped out from the group of Zoans that had scattered the infantry battalion. The Zoan, wielding machetes in both hands, announced himself to Kadmos.

"I am Garam, son of the Garguz clan, one of the twelve Zoan clans! I come to challenge you!"

"What!?"

Kadmos instinctively thrust his sword. As he avoided the blade, Garam leaped onto the horse and swung his two machetes. Kadmos's body, cut in half at the neck, fell from the horse, spraying blood.

Kadmos, who fell to the ground, tried to form Darius's name with his lips, but it was too late.

Garam, who had defeated Kadmos, ran towards the panicked heavy spear regiment.

"Come to me, those who wish to die!"

As Garam and his Zoan warriors charged into the tight formation, fierce shouts and blood splattered everywhere.

◆◇◆◇◆

Bravus, the battalion commander, felt intense frustration.

The order from General Darius to his battalion was to threaten the rebels' camp from the west and support the heavy spear regiment attacking from the south.

However, it was not having the desired effect.

The cause was the elven archers, who were still shooting arrows at them.

As soon as they entered range, the elves would shoot with astonishing accuracy. As a result, they could only advance slowly, using rocks as cover.

Normally, when facing elven archers, the strategy would be to advance with large shields. However, they had only brought small, sturdy round shields to protect against projectiles, as they expected to face only Zoans. He regretted not bringing large shields, but it was too late.

The soldiers were already showing signs of hesitation, and Bravus let out a sigh.

"You! Look at the enemy camp!"

Bravus, a skilled commander chosen to support the heavy spear regiment, knew how to boost morale.

"Those over there are elven women! Do you hear me? Elven women! Women that even nobles can't obtain are right there! If we break into the camp, you can do as you please with them! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

For the soldiers, driven mad by the battlefield, there was no better stimulant. Their eyes gleamed with lust.

Bravus, relieved that the morale had been restored, was only momentarily at ease.

Without waiting for his command