Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

Later that day, an urgent meeting was held and all of the Astanian military officers in Midgard were invited.

The atmosphere was solemn despite their victory. This was because of the losses they incurred from the battle.

“We lost forty thousand warriors,” Alaric announced the number of deaths and it made everyone’s face turn dark.

“It’s my fault, Your Highness. If I hadn’t been so selfish, we wouldn’t have lost…” Christon spoke with remorse, but he was cut off by Alaric.

“I am not looking for someone to blame here. Just promise me that we won’t be making the same mistake again.” Alaric sent him a cold look.

The Gryphon Knights Order lost half of their men. If Caecus hadn’t been there, they would have lost more people.

“I understand. I will be more careful.” Christon lowered his head.

“Now let us discuss our next steps. Remondin’s army still has over three hundred thousand soldiers. They may have lost several of their commanders, but they are still a huge threat to us. We must make thorough preparations before their next attack.” Alaric stated the main agenda of the meeting.

They were only lucky enough to win because Caecus succeeded in killing Remondin. Otherwise, things would have gone differently.

There was a long discussion and it took them over two hours to come up with a proper solution for the situation.

After the meeting concluded, the military officers left the meeting location with grim faces.

“Will this be enough?” Giovanni asked.

They only had a little more than a hundred thousand warriors left, including those who were still recovering. Among them, only half could fight and the rest were not even in the condition to lift their weapons.

Their Venerable, Ignatius, was also not in the condition to help them since he had taken some serious damage from his battle with Remondin.

Alaric frowned as he leaned on his seat. “To tell you the truth, I am not sure.”

The residents of Midgard were dissatisfied with them and they might cause them trouble soon. They also had to be wary of Remondin’s troops who could attack them at any moment.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Suddenly, a series of knocks on the door interrupted their conversation.

Giovanni sent Alaric a look before he said. “You may come inside.”

Creak.

Derrek stepped in, his face lighting up with excitement.

“Your Highnesses! I have good news! We received word from His Highness, Prince Leighnard!”

Hearing this, Alaric and Giovanni sat up straight.

“Bring it here.” Giovanni beckoned to him impatiently.

Derrek didn’t make him wait and handed him the letter while making his report.

“According to His Highness, they have already retaken Atarkan. He also said that there were survivors from Mount Tirad who came to Halona…”

Alaric was surprised to hear this. He thought that everyone in Mount Tirad had perished.

“That’s good to hear!”

“Hold on… It says here reinforcements are coming and the person leading them is Lord Lucas.” Giovanni looked at Derrek in disbelief.

Only a few days had passed since Atarkan had been recaptured by Remondin’s troops, but it had already been conquered by Leighnard again. He couldn’t believe it.

“The letter has His Highness’s seal so it’s definitely true.” Derrek smiled.

“Great! We can defeat Remondin’s troops now!” Giovanni laughed heartily. The gloominess from earlier vanished and was replaced with joy.

Alaric was also relieved.

“Leighnard is truly amazing.”

***

Two days later…

“My lord, we spotted the enemy’s camp!”

Lucas furrowed his eyebrows. “Where is it?”

The scout pointed in a certain direction and said. “About two miles from that direction, there is a hill. The enemy’s camp is beneath that hill.”

Two miles? It would take us half a day to get there at our current pace.

Lucas pondered for a moment.

He had already received a report on the situation in Midgard so he knew that things were dire on their side.

I must make a move now before they attack Midgard.

Thinking about this, Lucas shouted to his troops.

“Warriors of Astania, the enemies have been located! Our allies in Midgard are still recovering from the recent battle so we must attack the enemies before it’s too late!”

“We are running now!”

“Vanguard troops, clear the path! Make sure that our army will move unhindered!”

He issued a series of commands.

…

Meanwhile, beneath a hill several miles from Midgard, a simple camp was built by the surviving soldiers of Remondin’s troops.

The whole mood around the camp was dreadfully tense. Everyone was shaking with anxiety due to the deaths of their commanders.

At this moment, the five surviving Transcendent Knights gathered to discuss their next course of action.

“What should we do now? Lord Remondin has fallen and many of our skilled warriors have died.” One of them spoke with a stern look.

“We should retreat further and head south. Astania had already taken control of three key cities. With the current state of our troops, we no longer have enough strength to recapture the cities they had conquered.”

“You want to give up just like that?! Haven’t you seen what they did to Lord Remondin?! Those bastards sent an assassin to kill him in the middle of a duel! They deserve to die!”

The five of them argued back and forth which almost escalated into a fistfight.

“Enough all of you! There are only five of us left and you are still arguing here like whining kids!” Spoke a white-haired old warrior wearing an eyepatch.

He had the most seniority among them so they all quieted down the moment he spoke.

“Sir, what do you think we should do then?”

Everyone stared at the old warrior, hoping to hear some kind of solution from him.

With a helpless sigh, he shook his head. “I suggest that we surrender.”

“What?!”

“There are only five of us left while the enemies still have many Transcendent Knights. Moreover, the morale of our troops is low. Fighting in this situation would only get all of us killed.” The old warrior explained.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps approaching them.

“Commanders! Enemies are coming! It’s them! The Astanian troops are coming!”