BBYW Vol. 1 Interlude 11
Interlude 11 – The Dragon Soars to the Heavens
“So this is the battlefield. What a majestic sight.”
The imperial army to the right, the eastern province’s forces to the left.
Our horses advanced proudly exactly in the middle of the two unmoving forces.
I was carrying a spear wrapped in cloth. My new trusted blade, 【Siegfried】, was safe in the scabbard at my waist.
“Hahaha, this is awesome!! Both armies are huge!!”
“A few thousands of soldiers, simply standing there…that is enough to make them an intimidating sight. Phew…His Lordship is going to scold us again…”
To my right and left, I was accompanied by Ladd and Salm. They were half excited, half shaken by the large armies surrounding us, but followed me nonetheless.
“Let’s start, then. For the victory of the margrave army!”
When we arrived at the exact center of the battlefield, I proclaimed loudly to the armies to my right and left.
“Hear, hear!! O proud soldiers of the eastern province, o lowly barbarians of the imperial army!”
Still riding on my horse, I thrust the spear I was carrying into the ground.
Both armies, unable to decide on how to deal with our sudden appearance, simply listened.
“The empire’s despicable scheme to send troops through the mountains to ambush the eastern province forces from the rear has been crushed! The empire’s hero, Bjorc Zagann, has fallen before my blade!!”
The two armies started buzzing loudly. The imperial forces, especially, expressed their anger and doubt towards the supposed defeat of their war hero.
“I speak nothing but the truth!! And this spear is proof!!”
I removed the cloth wrapping the spear and held it high. It was 【Seiten Taisei】, the halberd Zagann wielded.
What the cloth concealed, however, was not the spear itself, rather what was thrust on its tip: as soon as they saw “it”, the imperial forces started wailing.
“G-general!!”
“General Zagann!? It cannot be…!!”
“It can’t be…!! General Zagann’s head….?”
Indeed, thrust on the halberd’s tip was the head of Bjorc Zagann, the empire’s hero.
The imperial forces wailed and screamed in despair at the sight of what became of their hero.
“Ooh, it’s true!!”
“He took down Bjorc Zagann in his first battle…!!”
“Viva Lord Dyngir!! Viva Maxwell!!”
On the other hand, the eastern province’s forces cheered in triumph.
I raised Zagann’s head towards my allied forces.
“O proud warriors of the eastern province!! It is time to annihilate the vile invaders!! It is time to uphold our justice!!”
“WOOOOHHHHH!!!!”
The eastern province forces’ war cries roared through the battlefield. The soldiers started rushing out of the camp, charging towards the imperial army.
◯ ◯ ◯
“It’s…over…”
On the other side, in the imperial camp, many soldiers were crawling on the ground, despairing.
Some were weeping at the demise of their hero: they certainly were not in any state to face the eastern province’s assault.
“Gghh…what are you doing!! Prepare to meet Maxwell’s attack!!”
Lars barked orders loudly, but there was no one who would obey him. Most of the imperial troops were either paralyzed by despair or were fleeing already. Probably less than one tenth of the imperial forces retained any fighting spirit.
“No good…this is not good at all. We won’t be able to stop them.”
Eis Halphas, while lamenting the death of his comrade, realized the battle was lost. As well as what he was supposed to do next.
“Soldiers!! Take His Highness and retreat immediately!! Those who can still fight, follow me!! We will protect His Highness with our lives!!”
“Halphas!! You…!!”
“Your Highness. The reason for our defeat lies completely in the plan I conceived. Allow me to take responsibility.”
“W-wait!! Let go!!”
“Forgive us, Your Highness!!”
Several imperial soldiers dragged Lars away.
Lars stretched his right arm towards Halphas, a desperate look on his face.
“I will never forgive you, Halphas!! You fool!!!”
Halphas looked at his lord as he was carried away by the troops and made his resolve: this battlefield was going to be his last.
“I shall come to your side, general Bjorc…let us go!! Do not let even one of them through!!”
Halphas gathered the remaining soldiers and faced the eastern province forces’ attack.
~
In this battle, the first division of the imperial army lost the two famed generals known as the “Twin Wings”. At the same time, more than half of the soldiers who invaded the Lamperouge kingdom were killed or taken prisoner.
As a consequence prince Lars lost much of his power and influence, falling behind the other princes in the succession conflicts.
◯ ◯ ◯
“Hey, old man. Come on, you can praise me.”
“………………”
After looking at the imperial forces fall, I returned to the eastern province forces’ camp, where my father was.
The soldiers I passed by all sang my praises, so I got rather excited.
“Right…well done, Dyn.”
“Yeah, yeah, go on!”
“Right…..I suppose I could pat your head for the first time in a while!!”
“Gwah!?”
My skull was then struck by an angry fist.
It was much more powerful than the blow I received several days prior: I was flattened to the floor.
“YOU BLASTED FOOOOOOOOL!!!!”
Shouts of rage echoed throughout Margrave Maxwell’s camp.
The following lecture spanned over five hours, setting the record for longest lecture I received in my life.
◯ ◯ ◯
Dyngir Maxwell’s first battle thus ended, carrying his name far and wide throughout both the kingdom and the empire.
The man who would later be called “Maxwell Prodigy”, the dragon cub, started soaring towards the heavens.
It all happened five years before the series of incidents triggered by Dyngir Maxwell’s broken engagement.
Five years before the start of an all-out war between the kingdom and the empire.