I awoke to someone shaking me very roughly to the point that I was nearly pushed out of the cot I was lying in. Then I heard Bronti’s voice urging me to wake up.
"Hey, wake up. Come on, man. Arthur. Arthur. Hey, wake up. Wake the fuck up!" Bronti urgently pushes and slaps my body, forcing me to get up, to which I finally oblige.
Sitting up, I see the place is absolutely chaotic, with nearly a hundred people rushing every which way, carrying stuff or just getting ready for a day’s work. It felt weird getting up so early when there still weren’t any rays of sunlight peeking through as of yet.
"The Knights are already starting to form up, so you need to hurry it up and get out there before you are executed for desertion," Bronti says casually, as if I wasn’t about to be killed for not showing up on time.
’Fucking hell, I slept so good I forgot I was in a strict imperial society.’ My groggy body quickly wakes up at those words, as I shuffle to put on my boots and the new pair of gauntlets.
The gauntlets themselves slide on well as I pull and button the strap at the end to hold them tightly to my arm. They felt pretty comfortable, and I decided to test the sharpness on the nearby wooden beam supporting the tent. I just pressed a single finger claw forward, and it penetrated into the wood like butter!
"Oh yeah! I am gonna love these babies," I muttered lightly under my breath with visible excitement as I stared at the clawed gauntlets before me.
Anyway, Bronti already took off, as he also had work he needed to get done, so I quickly asked for directions toward the front of the tent and made my way there. Luckily, it didn’t take long for me to make my way out, and I could see a mass of Knights all running toward the northernmost side of the camp. The same direction in which the battle took place yesterday.
This time, there was no need to follow directions, as I could simply follow the mass of armored black steel Knights. ’Wow, I really can’t get over how fast these guys are moving in all that supposed two-hundred-pound armor. I really need to find a way to get to the Foundation Stage of mana cultivation.’
Overhead, I would occasionally see a few black-robed individuals fly past toward the north, where I assumed we were all meeting up to prep for battle. This entire situation is quite surreal to me, as it was just yesterday that I was walking down a street in a modern city, and now here I am, about to partake in a medieval magical war. There are literal magic cultivators flying above me.
Since I was running, it didn’t take nearly as long as the other day to cover the distance between the logistics tent and the platform at the very front. I was even more thankful I wasn’t amongst the last to arrive, since I would rather not stick out negatively already.
Well, my wish wasn’t fully realized, as I still stuck out like a sore thumb since I was literally the only person in the formation of Knights that wasn’t wearing pitch-black steel armor and had on just some black linen clothes. The only part of me that somewhat blended in was the pair of gauntlets that I wore.
Still, I was at least thankful that no one full-on stared. At most, I only got a few curious glances from those who probably didn’t hear about me yesterday. Well, other than the large formations of Knights that looked like they numbered nearly a whole million, there were a few thousand black-robed Sentinels floating calmly in the sky above.
Then, with a loud boom that sounded like the sound barrier breaking, the general from yesterday appeared upon the platform, without so much as causing it to tremble. He seemed to have much better control over his strength and power than the blondie from before.
"Men of the Imperium! Women of the Imperium!" The General’s voice verberated out, and when he said men, his right fist was brought forth; then, when he said women, his left fist came next. "Today we fight for our Emperor! Today we die for our Emperor! TODAY WE BRING VICTORY TO OUR EMPEROR!"
The man’s voice grew so loud that I was sure even the enemy encampment could fully hear what the General was yelling. And, well, the Knights responded in kind to the general’s enthusiasm.
"UUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!" The Knights thrust their assortment of weapons to the sky as they roared with all their strength! Even I couldn’t help but join in a bit, feeling the blood rush to my head as my heart started to thump wildly in anticipation.
However, the next thing the general did absolutely shook me to my core! General Ataras backhanded the empty space beside him with such force that it cracked. Yes, the very empty air beside him cracked like fractured glass before it broke into small shards that fell and dissolved like dust in the wind. Then a large double-headed axe fell out, and the man grabbed it with that same hand. This axe was nearly the same size as the man himself!
He then swung the axe, hefting it over his shoulder. "Face your enemy!" He yelled, and the Knights complied. Immediately, all the Knights, close to a million, pivoted and turned to face their soon-to-be foe. The pure sound of all that metal moving together at once sounded almost euphoric to the ears. I had also followed the command and turned with the Knights around me.
Still, I was curious, so I glanced over my shoulder to see the general raise his left hand this time, aiming it forward. "March!" As he said that, a blue hue of colored runes appeared in front of his left hand before they abruptly dissipated, and a large, bright orange fireball appeared. It was the size of a house, and when it shot forth as we marched ahead, it moved like a fighter jet, rapidly approaching the other side of the field where I assumed our enemies amassed.
Even I could feel the blistering heat it radiated as it zoomed overhead, the heat passing just as quickly as the fireball. However, it seems like our foes also had some capable individuals, since a giant of a man flew forth to meet the fireball head-on. That man brought forth an enormous tower shield as large as himself, hefting it in front of him, intending to power through the oncoming magic.
I was actually someone surprised to see that the man withstood the fireball, mostly. Although the fireball faded and there was no clear fire damage to the shield, it still flung the man into the distance, where a loud, thundering crash could be heard as he cannonball’d into the trees.
Then the booming voice of the general behind us sounded out once more. "Now!" In that instant, the few thousand black-robed Sentinels in the sky on our side shot forth in the sky at rapid speeds, with over half of them dive-bombing the enemy soldiers below, and many others flinging various spells outward.
They must have caused massive casualties on the enemy’s side, although it didn’t last long enough; a few thousand silver-robed individuals from the enemy’s side flew out to meet our own, black-robed Sentinels in combat, both on the ground and in the sky.
That was when the last command was given, and as I glanced over my shoulder, I saw the general disappear and then reappear right next to a silver-robed enemy, cleaving him in two.
"CHARGE!" The voice finally reached our ears.