Zectas Volume IV: The Salubrious City of Centzo (24 page)

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It was hard to see inside Smoke's deep tunnel system, which was why he had Baldaquin, the Vigilantez's Light Wizard, line it with several light runes and illuminated their temporary dwelling.
It had been an hour since Sierra and the Vigilantez's strike force arrived. Smoke asked his core members to huddle in a circle for their meeting. Despite having several people in the meeting, Smoke made sure that Sierra sat next to him. 
"...So, that's the plan?" he asked his group of strategists.
"Yes. Basically, our main attack will be these eight teams and have the special teams support them by moving around them," replied Thyrsus confidently.
Smoke had no problem with Thyrsus’ plan and promptly asked his followup question. "And the special teams are me and the Maneators, Sierra's Therianthropes, Mamelon's Elemental Knights, Ledur's Tikbalangs, Adder's Warriors and Centaur Rangers and Guro with her selected Ranseurs?"
"That's correct," added Adder. "And the eight teams will be led by Thyrsus, Vijaya, Sharanga, Ichaival, Sharur, Jinggu, Laernea and Gandiva."
A smiling Smoke looked at his core members proudly. This would be the first time in a long time that most of his core members would participate in one battle. Except for Espion who was left to gather more intelligence in Centzo.
Then, Thyrsus continued on with their battle strategy.
"Each of our teams will be composed of five to six Acolytes and three to four Shamans. They will be our support. Since all eight teams will be scattered, any of the special teams could come to them for healing," he began to explain. "Next, we'll have thirty-five to thirty-six Iron Knights fully dedicated to defending the support members."
Thyrus looked around the circle of leaders. "However, our main offensive power will be from the Ranseurs and Arcus’ war chariots. Each group will have one twenty five Ranseurs and ninety Arcus. Of course, with three Arcus to a war chariot we’ll only have thirty of them per team."
As soon as Thyrsus finished talking, Sharanga interjected.
"Most teams will be comprised like that except for mine. Because I'll take command of all the Banalite Archers," she said with finality for everyone to hear.
Everyone looked to Ichaival, but saw no resistance from him.
Thyrsus then gave Ledur a nod. The winged Tikbalang then created a three-dimensional map of Braucht Hilfe village and the landforms around it. A small plain of over five-hundred meters  surrounded the village which made surprise attacks nearly impossible. There were three main roads that led to the village. The one from the north was what the Brandals used to carry the supplies from Coatl city, while the ones on the east and south were the ones they used to disperse the supplies.
Before Thyrsus could continue, Smoke intervened. "Wait. Regardless of what the final plan will be, Prosjak told me one vital information that could increase our chances by 70%."
"And what did the Duke's adviser say?" asked Sierra curiously.
"He said that no matter what day or how we decide to attack, we should only launch our operation at exactly three in the afternoon. I asked how it could improve our success rate, but he didn't give me any specific explanations," said Smoke and shrugged.
Sierra then asked him what everyone else was thinking. "Do you think that Prosjak character is reliable?"
Smoke nodded without hesitation.
Even though everyone agreed with him, Mamelon still voiced out her concern. “Still, we should reinforce the escape plan all the same.”
“Agreed, and I already have that covered,” replied Sierra reassuringly.  “I plan to have four of my Werewolves stay with Baldaquin and station them here on our escape route,” she said as she pointed to a forest patch south west of the village. “The forest patch is about one kilometer, and was the best scouted location. Baldaquin and the Werewolves have already left. He should be able to set up his camera runes in that area soon.”
“That’s good. But can I also send Earat and Louche after him?” inquired the Aqua Knight. “Don’t get me wrong. Their useful for reconnaissance missions, but fighting isn’t really their forte.”
“I don’t have a problem with that,” said Sierra energetically as she came upon a realization. “In fact, I think it’s a great idea. They could also help scout the escape path.”
“So, if there’s nothing else?” asked Sierra. “We should get back to Smoke’s proposed time.”
“I’m good with that,” quickly replied Mamelon.
Sierra looked around and saw no one else question the time to attack. "Then, it's settled. We'll commence the operation at three," she said with finality. She then looked to Thyrsus. "Please go on with the rest of the proposed plan."
"Now, I'll discuss the specific locations and duties of each teams..." continued Thyrsus pragmatically.
Their meeting lasted for another thirty minutes before they set off on their special mission.
 

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In less than an hour, Smoke and the Vigilantez strike force got into position. He used his Telefax Vision and Twin Vision abilities simulateneouosly, and shared what he saw by displaying them on two round shields next to him. He found the Brandals camped right inside the village entrance.
As he scrutinized the place, he noticed black and silver metallic rocks similar to the ones in Mount Foudre.
"Everyone, check out those big rocks. Do you think they could be golems?" Smoke asked his core members.
Sierra addressed the Vigilantez's leaders. "It's best if we treat them as golems. The special teams will target those metallic rocks right at the start."
Everyone of the core members were in agreement. With the final discussion finished, they only waited for fifteen more minutes before Prosjak's designated time to attack.
The moment Smoke's timer went off, all of the Vigilantez teams charged simultaneously. They made loud battlecries as they ran towards the village's main entrance.
Immediately, the Brandals stationed in the Braucht Hilfe ran out to meet them. It was apparent from the number of bandits charging that they suffered several losses from Smoke's dam trap.
Only two thousand of the bandits were riding on black ctenosaurs while they rest ran on foot. The Vigilantez's forces numbered a little over four thousand people while the bandits slightly held an advantage in numbers as they were six thousand strong.
The Maneators’ three war elephants paved a clear path for the Vigilantez as they trampled their way through the bandits’ formations. The special teams followed behind the war elephants, and avoided any unnecessary confrontations. The over confident Brandals did nothing to stop them as they were focused on the Ranseurs on foot.
The bandits assumed that the Farmers only got upgraded equipment, and only came to realize that this was not the case as soon as they crossed weapons with them.
The Ranseurs' tridents skillfully parried the thrown knives by the Brandal Captains. They then locked their tridents with the common bandits' short swords and disarmed them before stabbing their three-pronged tridents into the bandits’ torso. The average Ranseur easily took on two to three common bandits without much injury.
After Mamelon and her Elemental Knights galloped with the special teams, they broke off and went after the Brandals. They specifically targeted the ones mounted on black ctenosaurs. They pierced them with their elemental lances, knocking them off to the ground. They then stabbed the black ctenosaurs legs and drove away the lizard mounts for the rest of the battle.
"Good job, Knights!" shouted Mamelon after they efficiently dismounted thirty bandits. She searched around for their next target and pointed her blue Charnel lance. "Let's head right!"
All sixty-one Elemental Knights rode as one, and headed for their next victims. They didn't finish off the injured bandits, but left them to the mercy of their main attack force.
Meanwhile, Guro and her selected Ranseurs made their presence well known. Whenever she arrived near one of the main groups, her Phalanx and Battle auras increased both defense and offense attributes of all Vigilantez's members. Their battle morale were raised even higher as only the dead bodies of bandits were left in their wake.
Encouraged by the prowess shown by the Ranseurs, the Arcus also demonstrated the results of their training. A constant rain of arrows poured down on the Brandals and greatly reduced their life bars. They expertly fired their bows on top of fast moving war chariots.
Thyrsus, Vijaya, Ichaival, Sharanga, Sharur, Jinggu, Laernea and Gandiva took charge of their main attack teams with the safety and survival of each of their team members in mind.
Thyrsus used his Falcon Vision to get an aerial perspective of the battle. With this information, he constantly shifted the positions of his Acolytes and Shamans who were protected by the Iron Knights. This enabled them to heal all the team members. He also had the Arcus move their war chariots to their maximum effective range and deliver a torrent of arrows. With the bandits damaged from their ranged attacks, he then ordered the Ranseurs on foot to rush forward with their tridents. This allowed his melee members to finish off the heavily injured bandits swiftly. He efficiently controlled his team by personally calling out the first names of key members. This simple gesture demonstrated how he individually cared for all of them.
Vijaya, the WoodElf Huntress, followed a similar strategy but relied on her Falcon Tongue as she listened to the shrills from all of her six falcons. However, she subdivided her team into six more groups. She ordered each sub-group to follow after her falcons lead and focus on the area where her falcons would attack. Her falcons' feathers turned to steel and dove down on the Brandal Captains, distracting them from using their whips and allowed her sub-teams to rush the bandits. Although, her battle tactics closely relied on her falcons, she still did her part and targeted the bandits that were overwhelming her teammates with her arrows.
Sharanga had her falcon drop her patented three-trap systems on the Brandal Captains she and her team were facing. With the bandits' leaders immobilized, they simply fell out of order and were picked off by Sharanga's Ranseurs. The Banalite Archers, under Sympa's command, proved to be worthy members as they snappily snuffed out the life bars of their targets. Sharanga noticed this, and was pleased with their performance. However, she kept staring back and forth between Sympa and Ichaival as she scrutinized whether the two were keeping tabs on each other. Yet, she saw no such glances between them. Instead, she kept meeting Ichaival's gaze. Each time she checked on him, she saw him smiling at her.
Ichaival had his falcon fly over his healers. Even though they were protected by Iron Knights, he felt more secure with Ichai watching over them. He did not order his team members to make any unnecessary risks. Instead, he had them slowly advance against the bandits with the Ranseurs in front and the Arcus close behind them. Outside of battle he was well known to be a goofball, but he took the role of a trusted commander seriously. The only thing that surprised him during this battle was Sharanga constantly gawking at him. He wasn't sure if he did something to offend her but smiled each time their eyes met.
Sharur's and Jinggu's teams worked closely together. The joint OrkElves teams picked on sections of the bandits that should have been taken by one team alone. They focused their ballista on Brandal Captains. They blasted them off of their mounts with a volley of their spiral piercing bolts. Their shared ability cleanly passed through the bandit leaders and rendered their leather armors useless. Sharur originally did not want to team up with his twin brother as he planned for his team to move closer to Sierra, but Jinggu insisted on this plan as he thought they could undoubtedly pull it off as they knew each other's battle instincts very well.
While the Hunters and Range Siegers focused on the center, Laernea and Gandiva went for the sides opposite each other. Even before Jinggu told Sharur of his plan to merge their teams into one, Gandiva had already thought of using the exact same strategy with Laernea. Yet, she did not tell her of the plan as she knew that they could no longer perform well together. Although they were still close friends, she felt a wide gap had appear in between them. Laernea's constant need for Smoke's attention did not sit well with her, but she never told her lioness friend about it.
From the other end of the battlefield, Laernea saw how well the OrkElves worked together and envied them. She felt that Gandiva and herself could have given the OrkElves a run for their money with the same strategy. Yet, she wondered why Gandiva never brought up such a battle plan to her. Normally, Gandiva was the one that would talk to her about tactics in the battlefield, but this time she said no such thing. She only claimed her team be assigned the right side of the battle field. Laernea responded by taking the spot right next to her, but Thyrsus suggested that Laernea take the left side. The reason being was because of their stag moose and durcules beetles. Their fast mobility needed a freer space to be efficient, which was only applicable in the sides.
With the positive progress from their main strike force, the Vigilantez quickly overcame the difference in numbers between them and the Brandals.
The reason for their main strike force's success was not only based on the leadership of the core members or the Job change of their Armored Farmers and Bowed Fishermen, but also because of the efficiency of Mamelon’s and Guro’s special teams weaving in and out of the battlegrounds.
Except for those two teams, the rest of the special teams scattered through the Brandals and vigilantly went after the metallic rocks. They stabbed it and slashed their weapons against the stones. After a few attacks, they found that they were ordinary stones and left them be.
Adder's and Ledur's team stayed behind and focused on the surviving Brandal Captains, while Smoke's and Sierra's teams charged straight for the gates and made sure that none of the bandits could make a hasty retreat.
On top of Weise’s war elephant, Smoke equipped his power chainsaw bow and released a profusion of poison arrows at the bandits. In retaliation, some of the targeted Brandals sprinted towards him. However, they were only running towards their death as Sierra, Phen and Rear finished them off before they could even reach him.
Smoke got off the war elephant and got closer to Sierra. "I don't know what Horrabelle is planning, but we better finish off the Brandals before she arrives," he said out loud to her while he kept firing his arrows. It bugged him why the bandits were out here alone.
‘Was Prosjak’s advice really that effective?‘ he wondered to himself. ‘Or is Horrabelle up to something?’
Sierra looked back at him and nodded. "I know! This feels way too easy that I'm kind of afraid of what she's gonna do next."
After Smoke and his Maneators secured the village entrance, Sierra's Werewolf pack was led by Ardu and Vrai. They ravaged through the bandits as they made their way back into the fray. Only Sierra, Phen and Rear were left behind from her team and guarded the gates with Smoke and his Maneators.
Ardu and Vrai took on the roles of sub-leaders for Sierra's Werewolves quite well. As the two of them were male and female, the attack bonus from being led by two alpha Werebears applied to the Werewolves. The two of them attacked with their claws and teeth, allowing their feral nature to come out. Yet, despite this, they also kept a close eye on one another as the two of them now shared a special bond.
In less than ten minutes, the Brandals' forces were left with 30% of their original numbers. However, fortune would not smile on the Vigilantez throughout the entire battle.
Suddenly, a lightning bolt surged from within the gates and blasted Smoke high up in the air. He was damaged for 25% of his total life bar.
A pale Witch, dressed in a slender black robe, rode out of the village on top of her black Nightmare. Horrabelle was accompanied with an army of two thousand Therianthropes and two Gargantuan Goblins.
"You cowards dare attack me, while I was still speaking with my High General!" she shouted angrily and blasted several more lightning bolts towards the Vigilantez.
Ledur quickly blocked all of them with earth pillars and dissipated the electrical charge to the ground.
As soon as the lightning attacks were over, Horrabelle's monstrous personal army stormed out the village towards them.
The Vigilantez's special teams were composed of two-thousand Ranseurs, ninety-seven Tikbalangs, sixty-two Werewolves, sixty-one Elemental Knights, thirty Centaur Rangers, fifteen Condortlian Warriors, four Maneators, three Werebears and a single DarkElf.
Although Guro's trained Ranseurs were well adept in fighting, Horrabelle's Werewolves proved to be slightly stronger as they were clearly overpowering them. It became even  worse when they faced against the bigger Werebears. Their tridents tried to parry their massive claws, but were quickly knocked out of the way. The Werebears then grabbed them by their shoulders and gnawed on their necks. They stood no chance against Horrabelle's Werebears as they were slaughtered when they faced against them.
Along with Adder and Ledur, Ardu and Vrai faced off against the enemy Therianthropes. The Vigilantez’s Warriors, Rangers, Tikbalangs and Werewolves made sure to protect their comrades from suffering any more losses.
“Ardu, Vrai, don’t let your guard down against the Werebears,” said Adder who passed by their way.
The young Werebears gave him a small bow in affirmation and roared out their fears. Finishing off Horrabelle was the only thing that was in their minds as they fought against her minions.
Adder and Ledur each took on Werebears by themselves while Ardu and Vrai teamed up to face one of them on their own.
The speedy response from Smoke’s most trusted second-in-commands saved the main strike teams from completely being decimated, but the Vigilantez’s Tikbalangs and Werewolves were about to face something even bigger than them.
Two Gargantuan Goblins rampaged through their forces and effortlessly knocked back the Vigilantez's monster divisions. Tikbalangs and Werewolves alike were seen flying through the air as a pair of three-meter giant goblins advanced through their ranks.
Smoke, who was busy firing his power chainsaw bow, immediately ordered his Maneators to take care of the Gargantuan Goblins.
The Maneators dismounted from their war elephants and had them help the main attack force finish off the bandits, while they went to face the monstrous goblins.
Adelige, Rasant, Stark and Weise met with the goblins head on. The four Maneators made sure to stay close to one another in order to utilize the Asterian Aura, unique only to them.
Adelige paired off with Rasant to face one of the goblins while Stark and Weise joined together to challenge the other monster.