( Meanwhile Jhonny )
While the Bloodfall Clan were holding their own in a fierce battle against the Mercenary legions in the Light Faction territory.
Sir Johnny had set out on a mission in the Dark Faction.
The contrast couldn't have been more stark - a brutal battlefield on one end, and Johnny's comedic caper on the other.
What was supposed to be a field mission with thousands of support troops to help him, was actually being done by Jhonny alone as he had prepared to take down six enemy orbs as if going on a stroll to buy groceries.
His first target: The Ocean Leviathans' camp!
His objective: Their power orb
A normal individual would find it a formidable task. The camp was a well-fortified maze, designed to keep out intruders. High walls shielded the camp from view, and at strategic points, armed guards patrolled with vigilance.
Even if one managed to penetrate the outer defences, the orb itself was stationed at the very centre, protected by the camp's elite forces.
It would require an army quite the effort to breach the defences, or so it was thought.
But Johnny was anything but normal.
Approaching the camp, he gave a theatrical sigh. "Such a bore," he muttered, sauntering up to the entrance.
Holding a scroll in his hands as if delivering a message, Jhonny walked up with confidence towards the guards, maintaining eye contact with both the nereids stationed at the entrance.
The guarding nereids eyed him suspiciously, their hands inching towards their weapons. Johnny, in response, drew his walking cane, revealing the sharp blade hidden within, and gave them a cheeky salute before slipping past the walls to their left, leaving behind a trail of confused guards.
The guards rushed towards the wall and touched it to make sure the wall was solid as they wondered if they were hallucinating midday at the job.
Within the camp, he navigated the labyrinthine pathways with ease, whistling a light-hearted tune, as though he was out for an evening stroll. Guards that stood in his way were swiftly and silently incapacitated, their bodies crumpling to the ground before they even knew what hit them.
Within a few short minutes, Jhonny was at the centre where the floating blue orb was kept as he scanned the room and mundanely looked at the few elite nereids all tier5 at the minimum walked in rhythmic paces around the room, not even noticing that an intruder had entered the space.
Walking right next to the orb, Jhonny cleared his throat and said " May I have your attention please? "
The few elite guards present turned to see Jhonny and were frozen, torn between disbelief and shock.
They watched with horrid expressions as Johnny twirled his sword-cane like a baton and touched the orb. The once bright blue light flickered and died, plunging the camp into darkness.
"Quack quack!" he quipped, tossing a friendly wave over his shoulder as he sauntered away, leaving the guards scrambling in panic. His mission was complete - the first orb was down and he only had five more to go.
**********
( Meanwhile Max )
With the god's protecting the legions dead, the rest of the troops could not stand against the combined might of the elites and the Bloodfall clan for too long.
They died by the thousands every passing minute and once their numbers had dwindled to under 100,000 men, they unanimously threw their weapons and surrendered.
A victorious cry erupted from the Bloodfall and Elite troops as they looked towards their respective leaders for the final judgement.
Should the surrender be accepted or should they be ruthless and kill all those who had laid down their weapons?
Feeding 100,000 mouths within an active war setting, looking over their security and making sure no rebellions broke out was a strategic and logistic mess.
Killing them would be easier, but it would not be the morale choice to make.
The enemy had surrendered, killing unarmed men would go against the pride of any honest warrior.
Max looked towards Neatwit for a decision but the guildmaster of the elites just raised his hands and said " It's your war Lord Ravan"
He pushed the decision making process on Max who thought long and hard but in the end decided to spare their lives.
" Take them captive- make them empty their inventory, loot all their weapons and wealth and bind them with system contracts " Max commanded as he accepted the surrender but did so at a price and under the security of a system contract.
Neatwit quickly suggested that if he was going down this path he should add a clause of bonded labour for the surrendered prisoners for 2-3 years, so that they could be safely shipped back to the Bloodfall territory and actually earn the grain they were being fed.
This suggestion made sense to Max and it was quickly implemented as every surrendered soldier was made to sign a bonded labour contract for 3 years.
**********
( On the southern battlefront )
A much different scene could be observed on the southern battlefront compared to the northern one as the nereids refused to surrender until the bitter end even when their numbers dwindled and it was clear that they could not win.
Their leader had been killed and in their culture returning home defeated and leaderless was the greatest taboo.
Rather than being remembered as deserters, they would be remembered as Martyrs who died fighting, which was the reason behind why the battle on the southern end lasted about an hour more than the north side as it only ended when the very last nereid had been killed.
DarkSorrow had to respect the resolve of the Ocean Leviathans, of all the Mercenary legions he fought, they were the bravest and the one legion that dealt the maximum damage to the Bloodfall clan.
Under a different scenario, they were the troops that could have won today's battle as they surely did not lack the resolve or strength to do so but were only beaten back due to good strategy on the part of the Bloodfall clan.
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/// A/N - Chapter 10/20, halfway done ///