Legend of the Arch Magus_The Upheaval

by Michael Sisa

  “You’ve come.” General Urkawi, a beastman resembling a gorilla, broke the ice.

  Fior closed the flap of the tent, went towards the opposite end of the table, and bowed his head. “Yes. You called for me, Sir?”

  “We plan on mobilizing the army soon.” General Urkawi went straight to the point. “But as the one who drafted this plan of capturing that town, I wish to hear your thoughts.”

  Fior was inwardly relieved. At the very least, he would be able to convey his conjectures and findings.

  The Rabbit looked at all the high-ranking officers in the room, breathed in and said, “I suggest that we wait for several days more before marching out.”

  Upon that statement, the adjutants immediately went into clamor.

  “This damn coward!”

  “As expected of a Rabbit!”

  “And to think that he’s the one who proposed this plan! And now, he wants to stop?!”

  “—Enough!” snarled General Urkawi. He slammed his hand on the table, creating numerous cracks upon impact. He stared at the Rabbit beastman. “You must have your reasons. Tell us why.”

  Fior took out a small piece of parchment from his pocket. “I’m sure you’ve all received this message from Vice Commander Lauro of the Vanguard Army.” He raised the hand holding the letter. “This is the last message we received before we lost contact with the Vanguard.”

  Everyone silently listened. They all knew of the letter’s contents.

  “The Vice Commander is a prudent beastman. I know this more than anyone here since we were under the tutelage of the same master.” Fior adjusted his glasses. His two large teeth were conspicuous as he spoke. “I’ve never met him before, since he’d left the school several years before I’ve enrolled. But my master would frequently speak fondly of him every now and then.”

  “Get straight to the point,” Panthomim, the right hand man of Urkawi, spat.

  Fior momentarily closed his eyes. “A tactician as good as him would have sent a last minute message even on the brink of death. But instead, the last message we received was a request for reinforcements.”

  Fior breathed in. “I believe that the Vanguard Army has been totally annihilated.”

  The entire room froze after the bold declaration. Cold sweat ran down the adjutants’ faces.

  “A-Absurd! Everyone knows of Commander Azura’s strength!”

  “That’s right! A monster like that wouldn’t easily die even if he was surrounded by a hundred humans!”

  Fior wanted to shake his head in dismay. These beastmen were feeble-minded. After analyzing the last message from the Vice Commander of the Vanguard, there was no other suitable conclusion to come up with other than this.

  “Lauro would have sent another message if they suddenly found themselves in great peril,” said Fior. “But we received nothing but a request for a thousand more soldiers.” He looked straight into the eyes of the General. “The Vanguard was probably annihilated in an instant. General, please reconsider.”

  General Urkawi was clearly in distraught. The time limit imposed by the Beast King was looming closer. Should he listen to his adjutants and mobilize the entire army to capture that town, or should he listen to this Rabbit? Unlike his men, he could see the implications of this single decision.

  The General looked at everyone in the room. Silence befell the group. Everyone awaited the General’s final decision.

  Eventually, he said, “We’re moving out.”

  The adjutants broke into suppressed cheers. They looked at Fior, their eyes those of the victor’s.

  “Finally!”

  “I’ve been itching to crush those damn humans!”

  “We’ll finally reclaim the Eastern Region back!”

  General Urkawi growled. “Disseminate the news! We will move out in an hour!”

  The adjutants stood up and made their salutes. “Yes, General!”

  Before going out of the tent, General Urkawi touched the shoulder of Fior. He softly said, “I understand your worries, but it’s too late to fall back now. The will of the Beast King is absolute. We shall offer that region to his Majesty.”

  Urkawi opened the flap to the tent, allowing the sun to seep through. “Come. We march to Blackstone Town.”

  Following the General, Fior went out of the tent. Chatters resounded as horses neighed and armors clanked. Thousands of soldiers started preparing for the march.

  Although he’d seen it numerous times before, Fior could not help but be in awe of this grand sight.

  A legion.

  An army numbering more than ten thousand.

  General Urkawi grinned. “Even if the Vanguard was indeed annihilated, there’s no stopping this massive army.”

  Fior knew this was somehow true. Indeed, in front of such massive numbers, enemies would be unable to do anything but crumble.

  But somehow, the last message of Lauro before they lost contact bothered him.

  Fior shook his head. The General had made his decision. There was no stopping this army now.

  Several beastmen approached the General.

  “Sir, we’re almost done loading the rations!”

  “The infantry is ready to move out any time! At your command!”

  “The archers are ready, General!”

  “Good work,” said the General. He breathed in a gust of air, and without warning, shouted, “Warriors!”

  His shout seemed to shake the ground itself. The clamors around them immediately stopped. Even the horses froze on their spot. Everyone’s eyes were fixated on the General.

  “This mission was personally entrusted to me by the Beast King! Capturing Blackstone Town is just the first step! A stepping stone! Listen, warriors of the Beastmen Race! Failure is not an option! We shall grasp victory with our own hands!”

  He roared, “An hour from now, we shall move out!”

  The entire Legion saluted, creating a mellifluous crisp sound. “Yes, General!”

  ***

  Commander Daltos was baffled by how things unfolded these fast few days. After his defeat, the authority over the entire army fell to the hands of the young noble.

  He firmly believed this would cause an uproar, especially since the young noble’s first order was for the soldiers to dig through the ground. An order for manual labor.

  But to his surprise, Big Mona stepped in and announced: “Aside from the promised one gold coin, an additional fifty silvers per soldier will be given as compensation for this construction work.”

  The power of money.

  Just that single statement alone quelled all discontent within the soldiers. Just that statement alone unified the soldiers and made them passionate about the mundane task.

  Fifty silvers were equivalent to almost half a year of salary for the soldiers. And the chance to earn them in just a single week was suddenly presented before their very eyes. Instead of despising the Young Master for making them do such mundane task, they were filled with gratefulness instead. Coming to this small town was indeed like coming across a gold mine.

  Commander Daltos realized that Lark had talked with Big Mona beforehand, as though the young noble had foreseen his victory against him and his hand-picked elites.

  But why was the Head Merchant going to such lengths just to please this young noble? He even went out of the solace of Lion City just to meet him personally. This, Daltos could not understand.

  On the first day, everyone was tasked to dig through the ground. The strength of a thousand soldiers proved its worth in performing this task. In just a single day, they were able to create a trench around the perimeter of the entire town, with some open, undug spots where carts could pass through.

  On the second day, more than half of the soldiers were sent out to cut the trees in the Endless Forest, while the remaining ones were tasked to cut and transport the logs.

  As though the Young Master had foreseen everything, dozens of large axes and saws were handed out to the soldiers. This enabled everyone to im
mediately proceed with their tasks. After cutting the trees, the logs were placed on saw pits. And under the guidance of the Mason and several of his men, the timbers were cut into the same sizes. They were not perfectly cut, but at least they were all of the same height. Immediately after this, the timbers were then carried towards the town.

  But what puzzled Daltos the most was the sharpness of those tools. Even after the soldiers used them for several hours nonstop, there were still no chips nor dents at their edges, as though each of them were made by a well-known blacksmith from the Capital.

  On the fourth day, the Young Master made a preposterous order: “While the other half of this army continues to procure more wood for us, I want the rest of the soldiers to start erecting posts – make a palisade – make a wooden wall. I want this done within the next few days. Understood?”

  That time, Daltos firmly believed that the Young Master had gone delusional. It was impossible to create a wooden wall surrounding the entire town in just a couple of days. Each of those logs were around eight meters in length, and it would need at least four men to carry one of them. Carrying them from the forest to this town was one thing, but erecting them to form walls was a different matter entirely.

  As Daltos silently mocked the young noble, a stunning sight greeted his eyes.

  What are those guys?!

  Three men wearing full plate armors suddenly came out of nowhere and began lifting the logs and erecting them on the ground one by one. The young master immediately ordered the soldiers to tie hemp ropes to each poles, creating fortifications.

  The men in full plate armors were monsters. Even after several hours of lifting logs, they showed no signs of needing rest. With their help, the tasks proceeded at a faster rate.

  Daltos was sure that those three were Knights. Probably low-ranking ones capable of body strengthening magic.

  He did not expect that such men would be serving the Young Master, in this desolated territory. The rate of how logs were transported from the forest and then made into palisades bordered the absurd. Had Daltos not seen it with his own eyes, he would have not believed it.

  On the sixth day, the wooden wall was almost complete. Combined with the trenches in front of it, the town started to resemble a fortress. The Mason and his men even started building a wooden bridge.

  Underneath the trenches, numerous spikes of hard earth covered the ground. He could imagine what would happen to the enemies that would fall on it. Daltos had not seen how it was made, but he heard from the soldiers that the Young Master was the one who cast earth magic and made those traps.

  With such a dangerous trench in front of the wooden wall, it would take sacrifices just to capture this small town.

  But that was not enough for the Lord of this Town.

  When Daltos met Lark, the young noble casually remarked, “The wooden walls are almost done. We can now proceed in building the real one.”

  “Real one?” Daltos was stunned.

  “Stonewalls,” said Lark. “Those beastmen could attack us at any time, that’s why I prioritized the construction of these wooden walls. We need at least a barricade to protect ourselves, don’t you think? Unexpected things could happen. This war could last a long time, Commander.”

  “Wait!” Daltos almost shouted. “Based on your statement, an army of beastmen could come and attack this town at any time! And you still plan on building stonewalls despite that?!”

  As a war veteran, this was something Daltos could not comprehend. Normally, under such circumstances wherein war could break out at any moment, the Supreme Commander would task his soldiers to prepare for battle.

  Looking around, all of the soldiers were still busy with their mundane tasks. If an enemy attacked them now, they would be unable to put up any proper resistance.

  Lark seemed to have read his mind. “It’s fine. The enemies are still several days away from this town. It’ll take them five days to a week to reach that forest over there. If we add the time it would take for them to do reconnaissance, then we surely have ample time.”

  “How are you so sure of these things?” Daltos was grim. “If your speculations are wrong—”

  “—They’re not speculations,” said Lark. He sighed, “It’s useless arguing about this matter. It seems that those things I’ve asked of my men have been completed. I'll show you something interesting. Come with me.”

  Daltos followed Lark and they boarded a cart. Under Lark’s instructions, they went deep into the nearby forest.

  “This place should be good enough,” said Lark. “Stop.”

  The cart stopped and several soldiers pulled out large sacks from the back of the cart.

  “What are we doing here?” asked Daltos.

  “You’ll know soon enough.” Lark nodded at the soldier next to him. “Five trees apart. Do it.”

  On cue, the soldiers opened the bags and putrid stench leaked out. Daltos’ eyes widened upon seeing the heads inside. All of them were beastmen.

  Peculiarly, each of their ears have holes and strings tied to it. Daltos wondered what they were for. He soon found the answer to his question.

  “What are they doing?!” he breathed, his body shuddering from what he saw.

  The soldiers were tying the severed heads of the beastmen to the branches of the trees, each of them spaced evenly apart from each other.

  Soon, the forest started giving out an ominous feeling, with unbearable stench permeating the surrounding.

  This act was barbaric. It did not hold any hint of pride in it, at all. Daltos stared at the young noble. Despite his innocent face, he was a demon.

  How could a human stoop so low as to use the severed heads of his enemies like this? It was repulsive.

  Lark stared straight into Daltos’ eyes. He did not utter a single word. He merely smiled.

  After the soldiers were done, they returned to Blackstone Town.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The air seemed to tremble as the army of beastmen marched through the plains. Their footsteps made the ground quiver as metals clanked and horses neighed. It had been two days since they resumed their advance.

  The army numbering ten thousand soon entered a dead forest.

  “Phantomim.” General Urkawi summoned his most trusted subordinate. “This forest. It was not mentioned in the report.”

  Phantomim quickly looked around. All of the trees had withered away. Dried leaves blanketed the ground. There were no signs of life anywhere and even the birds hovering above refused to approach the area.

  “According to our intel, there's no dead forest in this area.” Phantomim’s voice trailed off. He started doubting the credibility of the report. After all, a dead forest with innumerable withered trees couldn’t have sprouted overnight.

  “Those lizardmen again, huh?” snorted Generak Urkawi. “They kept bragging of how good their reconnaissance abilities are, but look at this!”

  An officer approached the General. “Sir, it’s midnight. Should we continue with our march? We might be able to reach those hills over there in the next three hours.”

  General Urkawi squinted and looked at the hills beyond. Although this forest was dead and it would be impossible to procure any food from it, he judged that it would still be better to camp here than at the hills over there. After all, his army was the size of a legion.

  “No. We’ll camp here for the night. Disseminate it to everyone.”

  “Understood!”

  After receiving their orders, the entire army stopped. Warriors pitched tents and several others started handing out the rations. Numerous campfires were quickly made left and right, lighting up the forest in the middle of the night.

  A couple of hours passed.

  Just when General Urkawi was about to go to sleep, a commotion broke outside his tent.

  “H-Hey! What are you doing?!”

  “He’ll wake up the General! Grab him!”

  General Urkawi went out to see what it was about. He was immediately gr
eeted by the sight of an elderly beastman kneeling on the ground. Several guards were pinning him down, but the old beastman still continued to struggle nonstop.

  “Let go! I told you! I need to see the General!” shouted the beastman.

  “Shut up!” one of the guards angrily spat. “You know the General’s temperament! He’ll kill you if you wake him up!”

  “I know! But it doesn’t matter! The fate of the entire army depends on this one! Let me see the General!”

  Urkawi’s ear twitched upon hearing this. “Let him go.”

  The guards didn’t realize that the General had been standing there for quite some time now. Upon seeing him, they froze, then quickly let go of the old beastman.

  Grabbing this chance, the old beastman ran towards the General. He stopped right before Urkawi, and with moist eyes, knelt down, huffing.

  “General!” he cried. “This is a mistake! This forest! We should get out of this forest!”

  General Urkawi frowned. Although he did not know this beastman’s name, he was sure that he was part of the group of shamans tasked to heal the wounded ones.

  “What do you mean?” said General Urkawi.

  The shaman took out a small, dead bird from his robe. “Look! One of my messenger birds died! It died!”

  There was silence.

  “General, the beastmen’s physique is naturally stronger than humans. I’m sure none of you notices this, but this forest is filled with poison fog! It wouldn’t be noticeable by now, but the poison would eventually sap away the strength of this entire Legion!”

  The General decided that there was no harm in listening to this old beastman. “Show me proof. You’re part of the shamans, right? Bring everyone here. Tell them it is an order from the General.”

  The old beastman nodded several times. He scurried away and disappeared from sight. In less than ten minutes, he came back, bringing with him almost a dozen grim-looking beastmen.

  “Falma! What is this about?!” one of them snarled. The moment he saw the General standing outside the tent, he froze and stared at the old beastman in shock. “Y-You! What did you do?! Why did you have to spout nonsense in front of the General!”