The Art of War Part 3

After the Pyrrhic victory against the bee monsters, the Aleria soldiers were nowhere in sight. Disheartened and demoralized, the Draconis soldiers trudged back to their temporary command center, their spirits low after losing sight of their quarry.

"What did you say? How many soldiers have you lost? And you even let those enemy soldiers escape?" Jared roared, his face contorted with anger, when he learned that despite sending more than thirty thousand soldiers after merely hundreds of Aleria soldiers, they had lost ten thousand men without capturing a single one.

"Lieutenant Jared, as I explained, we were attacked by bee monsters. The Aleria soldiers used them as a distraction to escape. We lost many men to those creatures. When we tried to retreat, the bees kept pursuing and attacking us. We had no choice but to fight back and kill them all, which is why we suffered such heavy losses," Cody, the surviving extraordinary, responded with a measured tone.

"I have no interest in your excuses. Once we return to the kingdom, you can expect a court-martial," Jared spat, his fury barely contained.

Cody's eyes narrowed as he replied, "Lieutenant Jared, if you've forgotten, let me remind you that I am not one of your soldiers. I am a mercenary hired by your kingdom."

"How dare you, a commoner, speak to a noble-born with that tone!" Jared's face reddened with rage.

Cody, unperturbed, turned and left the command tent without another word, ignoring Jared's furious yells behind him. As he stepped out, a woman, one of his guildmates, joined him.

"Paige, how many guild members are remaining?" Cody asked, his voice tinged with concern.

"Guild master, we are down to only a few hundred members. The rest died to the bees and now have to wait two days to resurrect and play again," Paige replied, her tone heavy with the weight of their losses. Their numbers had dwindled from over two thousand to just a few hundred.

Cody sighed, feeling the burden of leadership weighed even heavier. "Tell them to stay back and avoid the front lines. Let those NPCs charge ahead," he ordered. "Also, try to recruit those soldiers or mercenaries injured in the fight. Focus especially on the ten thousand soldiers who were seriously injured. Most of them are so badly hurt they're practically ruined. They're all commoners who can't afford treatment, and the kingdom won't spare the resources to heal them. They'll just conscript more commoners instead."

"Yes, guild master," Paige said, nodding in understanding.

They heard a chorus of roaring voices as they made their way to the remaining guild members. Everyone immediately went on high alert. They spotted a man running atop the trees, looking hurried.

"He's the one who was with the Aleria soldiers that destroyed our outposts!" a player shouted, recognizing Drake from a previous encounter where he had died during the outpost assault.

Yes, that was Drake. He didn't bother fighting anyone even as a rain of arrows was fired at him. He either dodged or blocked the arrows while running through the trees. The roar they heard earlier was growing louder.

Finally, everyone saw the source of those roars. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of gorilla monsters jumped atop the trees, pursuing Drake fiercely. The gorillas, mistaking the soldiers for Drake's allies, shifted their focus and attacked the soldiers with ferocity.

The soldiers no longer had time to focus on Drake as they fought off the gorillas. Drake smirked as he watched the chaos unfold. He continued running until the gorillas fully engaged with the soldiers, but one rank 1 gorilla monster followed him with red, enraged eyes.

The gorilla rapidly closed the distance in the dense forest, tearing through anyone in its path. Drake remained calm, his mind calculating his next move. He spotted a rank 1 mercenary and sprinted towards him.

The mercenary, ready with his sword, prepared to strike. As Drake neared, he parried the mercenary's attack. The gorilla was now just a meter behind Drake, but he suddenly veered sharply to the right and continued running.

The gorilla, now face-to-face with the mercenary, roared in fury. The mercenary's face turned white with fear. The gorilla attacked, and the mercenary barely blocked the blow with his sword. Enraged by the resistance, the gorilla forgot about Drake and focused on the mercenary.

The mercenary cast a hateful glare in the direction Drake had run but quickly returned his attention to the gorilla. Losing focus for even a moment against such a powerful monster could be fatal.

Drake took advantage of the commotion and disappeared into the forest's depths.

After the battle with the bee monsters, the gorilla monsters surrounded the soldiers under Jared's command. Unfortunately, the injured soldiers positioned at the edge were the first to fall under the attack onslaught.

Unlike the bee monsters, the gorilla monsters were large and heavily built. They boasted immense strength and formidable defenses, making them exceptionally difficult to kill. Casualties quickly mounted on both sides.

The rank 1 gorilla monster, after dispatching the rank 1 mercenary it was fighting, searched for Drake. Unable to find him, it redirected its rage towards the other soldiers.

It took the combined efforts of five rank 1 fighters, with support from gunners, to hold their ground against the beast. The gorilla's thick hide made it nearly impervious to bullets, rendering the gunners' efforts largely ineffective. The monster managed to kill another three of the rank 1 fighters and half of the gunners before it was finally brought down.

As the last gorilla monster fell, a grim silence settled over the battlefield. The soldiers were far from celebrating their victory. They had lost another fifteen thousand men and four rank 1 fighters.

Of the fifty-thousand-strong army, only half remained. More than eight thousand were too injured to continue fighting, and the rest bore various degrees of injuries. Among the five rank 1 fighters who survived, one was the injured player, along with his guild members, who had stayed back during the fight. Another was a mercenary; the remaining three were Lieutenant Jared and his adjutants.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and the sounds of groaning wounded. The battlefield, once a dense forest, was now littered with bodies and the remains of fallen monsters. Jared looked around, his face a mask of frustration and anger.

"This is a disaster," one of his adjutants muttered, looking at the decimated ranks. Jared's scowl deepened, but he said nothing, his mind racing with the implications of their losses.

The remaining soldiers gathered what supplies they could and tended to the wounded, knowing they had no choice but to press on despite their diminished numbers.

…

The soldiers under Otto's command faced a similar fate. After two continuous assaults, they were mentally exhausted. Just as they were beginning to recover, they were attacked by a wolf pack from one side and a hyena pack from the other. Each pack contained thousands of members led by a rank 1 leader.

The two-sided attack devastated the army. Despite their best efforts to fight back, the cost of victory was steep. The soldiers dwindled to twenty thousand. Among the survivors, five thousand were disabled, and the rest had varying injuries. Four rank 1 fighters also lost their lives.

…

Jared and Otto once again spoke over the radio, sharing the harrowing experiences their forces had faced. Jared's earlier haughtiness was gone, replaced by a somber understanding of their dire situation. He no longer criticized Otto for losing so many soldiers, having experienced similar losses.

"I think we should regroup," Otto proposed solemnly. "They're using the forest against us. If we stay separated, they might even annihilate us."

Jared hesitated but ultimately agreed. "I think you're right. Let's do it."

They discussed their plan further, deciding to move towards each other and meet at a middle point. The decision was difficult, but it was clear that staying divided would only lead to further devastation.

…

"Hey losers, where do you think you are running?" Drake shouted, his voice amplified by a loudspeaker so that everyone in the camp could hear him. The soldiers and mercenaries, hurriedly packing up to move, froze at the sound. Boiling with anger, they turned to see Drake standing defiantly. Weapons were drawn, and tensions ran high.

"Lieutenant Jared, it may be a trap," warned a young woman in her twenties, Jared's second adjutant.

"I know," Jared replied. "But we can't stop them. We have only superficial control over those mercenaries. If they attack, the soldiers will follow."

While Jared discussed with his adjutants, Drake continued to provoke the camp. Finally, one soldier could no longer hold back and charged at Drake. Soon, a wave of mercenaries followed, succumbing to herd mentality.

Drake grinned as he cut down one attacker after another. Whether it was a warrior, knight, archer, or rogue, they fell effortlessly before him.

Suddenly, Drake sensed danger. He pivoted sharply, but not quickly enough to altogether avoid a stabbing pain in his back, but still saved his spine. Turning swiftly, he faced the rank 1 rogue mercenary responsible for the attack.

BANG.

The rogue was momentarily stunned that Drake hadn't fallen from the initial hit. Drake seized the opportunity, firing a shot into the rogue's stomach and another into his head, killing him instantly.

Seeing this, the remaining rank 1 fighters grew solemn. They realized they had to take Drake down quickly to prevent further catastrophic losses for their side.

The remaining rank 1 fighters charged into the fray simultaneously. Jared and his adjutants led the assault while Cody hung back. The gunners took their positions, adding to the intensity of the assault.

Drake now faced a storm of bullets from multiple gunners, attacks from four rank 1 fighters, and strikes from occasional mortal fighters. Yet, instead of showing fear, he smiled.

Jared, puzzled by Drake's smile, quickly realized why. Shouts erupted from the back of their formation. The Aleria soldiers had launched a surprise attack, targeting their rear while Drake held the attention of all the heavy hitters.

"Where do you think you are going?" Drake laughed, spotting one of Jared's adjutants attempting to break away. With precise aim, he shot the adjutant in the leg, forcing him to the ground.

Swords clanged as Drake engaged his opponents, skillfully parrying and countering their strikes. He occasionally fired shots at gunners, trying to distance themselves, ensuring they remained within the fight. Even the rank 1 fighters found disengagement impossible, as Drake's relentless assault kept them pinned.

Despite his injury and the relentless pressure from four rank 1 fighters, Drake held his ground. He knew he needed to reduce the number of opponents to manage the fight better. Identifying the weakest link, he set his sights on Cody.

Cody felt a sudden chill as Drake's eyes locked onto him, accompanied by a sinister smile. In a swift motion, Drake parried the incoming swords, delivered a powerful kick to one of Jared's adjutants, and shot Cody. Cody's body crumpled to the ground, a bullet hole in his head.

Drake's tactical maneuver disrupted the enemy's plans and significantly shifted the battle's momentum. The Aleria soldiers, seeing their leader's prowess, fought with renewed vigor, closing in on their enemies from both sides.

Everyone became even more scared of Drake as he killed another extraordinary despite being a mortal.

"You must be a mercenary hired by the Aleria Kingdom. How about you follow me? I am a noble, and my father is one of the commanders in the war. I promise that as long as you join my family, you will be given a rank 1 potion immediately. Become my subordinate, and you can have money, status, women—everything you want," Jared enticed Drake. He was very impressed with him, especially his strength, and wanted Drake to work for him. As for the dead soldiers, who cared about some dead commoners?

Drake laughed wildly at his offer but didn't stop fighting. His answer was clear to Jared.

"Since you don't appreciate my good intentions, you can die," Jared growled. Since Drake refused to be his subordinate, he decided to kill Drake so that he would not become a problem in the future.

The fight continued for more than an hour. All the gunners were dead, and one of Jared's adjutants had also fallen. As for the mortal soldiers, Drake didn't bother counting. The remaining two rank 1 fighters were covered in multiple injuries, as was Drake. The only ones still fighting were Drake and the two rank 1 fighters.

Isolde and her soldiers had finished defeating the rest of the Draconis soldiers. They watched Drake's fight with enthusiasm and concern but didn't interfere. They wouldn't intervene unless Drake asked, as doing otherwise would insult him.

Drake felt the weight of his exhaustion, every muscle screaming in protest, but he pushed on. His sword clashed against the remaining adjutant's blade, sparks flying. He could see the desperation in his opponent's eyes.

"Let me go, and I promise that my family will reward you greatly and will not hold you accountable for your actions," Jared begged, his voice trembling with desperation.

Drake's response was swift and merciless. His sword sliced through Jared's throat in one clean motion. The last rank 1 fighter barely had time to react before a bullet from Drake's gun pierced his skull, ending his life instantly.

Exhausted, Drake sank to the forest floor, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The adrenaline that had fueled him during the fight was now ebbing away, leaving a heavy fatigue in its wake.

Yumi appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "Young master," she said softly, feeding him a healing potion with practiced care.

Isolde and her soldiers hurried over, their faces alight with admiration. They looked like fangirls gazing at their favorite idol, their eyes shining excitedly and respectfully.

"Clean the battlefield. We have one more fight remaining," Drake instructed, his voice firm despite his weariness.

"Yes, my lord," Isolde replied without hesitation.

Isolde and her sisters quickly cleaned the battlefield, gathering anything of value. Meanwhile, Yumi tended to Drake, ensuring he was comfortable and administering further healing potions as needed. He rested for half an hour, feeling his strength gradually return. The system shop's healing potions worked quickly, knitting most of his injuries back remarkably.

A few of Isolde's soldiers were also injured, but they too, took the potions and were mostly healed by the time the cleanup was finished.

Once everyone was ready, Drake stood, feeling rejuvenated. They left quickly, moving with purpose toward their next target: intercepting the second army.

They followed the same plan while fighting Otto's army. Drake didn't prolong the fight with the rank 1 soldiers this time. Unlike Jared's army, which effectively had only four rank 1 soldiers due to Cody's severe injuries, Otto's army had six rank 1 fighters. Drake decided to dispatch them quickly rather than using the opportunity to train his skills.

Within twenty minutes, Drake had eliminated the rank 1 soldiers and joined Isolde and her subordinates in defeating the rest of the soldiers. The entire battle was over in less than an hour. After cleaning the battlefield, they returned to their meeting place.

The atmosphere was jubilant as they rested after the long fight. Isolde and her soldiers were thrilled by their victory over an army of more than a hundred thousand soldiers. Their gazes toward Drake were filled with reverence and admiration.

Drake smirked slightly at their reactions. His plan had been a success. They had dinner together and then sat around, chatting and sharing battle stories.

After some time, Drake suddenly stood up, causing everyone to quiet down and turn their attention to him. He looked at Isolde and her sisters, who stood up as well, ready to listen to him.

"Can you girls do something for me?" Drake asked, his tone calm and serious.

"My lord, you just need to order. We will do anything you ask," Isolde said with conviction. Her sisters mirrored her seriousness, nodding in agreement.

Drake smiled brightly upon hearing that and said, "Then, please die."