CHAPTER 7: KONKA'S OFFENSIVE

***Two days later, at the Outer Walls***

The Outer Walls was a system of deep moats and tall, magically-infused stone walls erected by the human settlers back in the aftermath of the Fall (and subsequent massacre) of Telessaria. Not only it was to serve as the defenses of the colony against the marauding monster hordes; it was also designed to keep the rebellious beastmen of Konka’s away, who eventually settled in the lands east of the Grand Marshes—the eastern end of the wall. A testament to its invincibility was that it was only breached once, back when the human armies of the Duchess of Malvette retreated to the inner defenses of the ‘Enclave’ and it was left untended.

Now, it was manned by a combined beastman and human army, who fixed the breach and reinforced the barriers once again with magic. Besides its defenses were the several artillery companies stationed along its entire stretch, as well as several ‘wings’ of the Red Feathers on standby. The commanders of the forces garrisoning the Outer Walls were the orphan dog-siblings Rumia and Luka, who divided their area of responsibility into the west and east sections for better management of resources.

The older Rumia was in charge of the east, while Luka commanded the west. However, as his sister and her men were summoned to join the southern expedition of the king, Luka became the top officer of the wall forces.

Until his sister came back, the dog-boy opted to transfer his main camp to the east, where the threat of Konka’s attack was more imminent. Two days ago, the falcon scouts reported that the rebel armies were descending the Wessen mountains, before they lost sight of it because of a sudden and widespread fog that appeared and covered the plains of Cherwind…up to the immediate vicinity of the Outer Walls.

Luka highly-suspects that the fog was caused by Konka, to conceal the movement of her men. That would justify his move to the east…

“…”

Everything would’ve been smooth-sailing from there, had it not for some disturbing reports they received about a huge beastman rebellion that was underway, engulfing several cities and towns with violence and death throughout the entire kingdom. Messengers from the affected settlements nearby repeatedly came to plead to them for help, only for Luka to reluctantly turn them away. He feared of diluting the strength of his forces by tying down some of the men in dealing with the rebels. But then, while it may be the logical step, his decision to deny assistance affected the morale of his army, especially the humans, whose families left behind were obvious targets of the enemy.

“Any news about the uprising?” he asked one of his orderlies.

“Sir, the situation remained the same, according to our scouts,” the man answered. “There were cities and town that beaten back the rebel onslaught, while a good number of regions were still being hotly-contested.”

“What about Her Majesty the Queen?”

“Her camp is a day’s ride away from here, sir. She’s bringing in a small army with her, probably several companies of the Royal Guards.”

“Damn…” Luka unconsciously started to chew on his nails, “I guess that’s all that she could spare.”

“Well, Her Majesty also requested the unaffected cities and towns to send some men to help in the suppression of the rebels.”

“Hopefully that can make a difference…let’s be hopeful,” was all the dog-boy could say. He was well-aware that his words amounted to nothing, for the rebels struck suddenly and in force. However, that’s the only thing that he could do to keep the morale of his men intact.

“Yes, sir…” the orderly answered. “I…I have my family at Netevren. I hope they’re fine…”

Luka found himself unable to say anything further to the soldier. For what he could recall, Netevren was the town where the uprising began. And for two days, the fighting there still raged, or so the scouts told them. Though it’s only a couple of leagues away to their south, Luka had to remain in his post, and so were the garrisons.

His only hope of redeeming himself in the eyes of his men lie in Konka, ironically. If she wouldn’t attack in the coming days, the army might cause a mutiny, and everything they had worked so hard would come crashing down.

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***The main camp of Konka’s army***

Amidst the swirling mass of mist and clouds, the beastmen forces under Konka of the Insetus continued on their preparations for the assault they’ve been planning against the Outer Walls. Their previous experiences fighting the human armies protecting those defenses were considered, and they adapted their battle tactics according to it. However, for this final battle, Konka wanted to give her enemies a slightly different approach, just to increase her odds of victory. And for that, she employed not only Banu’s men in distracting the kingdom’s forces with an uprising, she also used cover by generating a widespread fog over huge swaths of Cherwind’s plains.

Konka saved a lifetime’s worth of mana reserves just for her magic spell to be that extensive.

No one could go out of the fog cover, for fear of humans and their beastmen allies detecting their approach. And because she had no one among her forces that was capable of long range, high-altitude flight, Konka had to rely on the members of her own tribe, the Insetus, for scouting missions. She had the tribesfolk from the Insetus Mantis tribe do those for her, since the Mantis people were well-suited for stealth.

And one of them returned to camp just as the rebels finished their breakfast…

“Milady!” the mantis-man kneeled before continuing, “I bear news from my kin who were sent out.”

“Is that about the beastmen revolt?” the Insetus-woman asked. She was waiting for any developments with Banu’s forces, so she could decide on her next step.

“Yes, milady. Lord Banu is successful in instigating unrest inside the enemy’s cities and towns. However…”

“Yes?”

“Most of the uprising are suppressed even before it began. Those that still raged are faltering as we speak, cowering in face of those Avinus falcons that relentlessly dropping exploding barrels on our comrades.”

“What? The falcons dropping exploding barrels?”

“Indeed. I saw a group of them doing that, milady, and it blew a good number of our allies to bits.”

“H-How about, uh, Banu?” the Insetus-woman’s voice was getting tense, “Where is he?”

“Lord Banu is leading the uprising in a town called Netevren. But his army is also pinned down by those falcons.”

“T-Those traitors!” Konka could not control herself anymore. She picked up a nearby bowl and threw it. Then she took a pause, realizing that even if she lashed out, nothing good would come out of it. In the end, though shivering from anger, she forced herself to calm down and passed her instruction to the spy, “A-Alright…alright. Tell the army leaders to gather their men; we’ll march to the Outer Walls as soon as possible.”

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***The Outer Walls, eastern sector***

Luka was awakened by a slight tremor, which was confirmed by the moving water inside a glass cup on the table beside him. The dog-boy didn’t move for a few seconds, trying to find out whether the shaking that he felt would be followed by another one, or it’s just an isolated incident.

“…”

Then, another tremor, this time it was stronger than the first. By that moment, Luka reached out for his weapons and prepared himself. Just as he was busy putting on his equipment, an orderly barged in his tent and said,

“Sir, there’s some movement inside the fog before us!”

Luka, though he wasn’t fully ready just yet, followed the soldier, who brought him to the parapets of the Outer Wall. He saw the other soldiers there, peering across the mist and clouds. Everyone was tense, and on alert, for there was indeed several gigantic shadows moving inside the thick fog in front of their positions.

The dog-boy closed his eyes to listen. The tremors and thuds echoing from the fog were of irregular intervals; sometimes it would occur simultaneously, other times, in succession, like some giant hammering on an anvil from afar. By then, Luka was sure…this was no marching army that was approaching them.

“Sir Luka!” it was one of his lieutenants, “We’re awaiting your orders.”

“This is it guys, time for battle. I want our artillery to blast off those things out there.”

“Yes sir!”

Several minutes after the thirteenth hour, the artillery batteries of the eastern Outer Walls opened fire in a deafening salvo. Luka had intended for those shots to obliterate their enemies, which suddenly burst into a mad rush towards their defenses while letting out a horrific cry.

“Just like what I predicted,” the dog-boy raised his sword as the head of their foe emerged from the fog. “Those are wild leviathan hordes!”

“What’s a monster horde doing here?” a soldier asked, shocked at what he just witnessed. “I thought we already drove them away!”

“Must be the work of the enemy,” Luka answered him. “Though we cannot directly control those creatures, we can force them to move in the direction we want—like how we pushed them away from this area. I’m sure those rebels did the same, see?”

“Artillery at the ready!” an artillery officer shouted.

“Fire!” was the dog-boy’s thunderous order. Another round of iron cannonballs tore through the injured lead monster, which ultimately killed it. However, the army couldn’t rest with that small victory, for they had to reload their guns quickly to deal with the other leviathans rushing towards their lines.

“Mages, form barriers!”

At once, the human mage units formed a line below the Outer Walls and chanted the magic spells to reinforce the stone defenses. The artillery fire was relentless, interrupted only by a few minutes as the gun crews clean and load their weapons. The area in front of the eastern section of the Outer Walls was drenched in blood and gore. Nevertheless, the monster horde never stopped in their rampage. The distance between those creatures and the defenders was getting small with every second that passed.

“Raise the spikes!”

The beastmen warriors in charge of the traps and the moat wasted no time in deploying the huge wooden stakes designed specifically for dealing with the monster hordes. Adding to their weaponry was several lines of ditches before the moat which were filled with barrels of explosives, complete with magical incantations designed to set it off once there was pressure applied.

“Everyone, take cover!”

“!!!”

A series of powerful explosions rocked the entire region as the monsters triggered the ‘mine’ traps almost simultaneously, on their way to crash into the walls. It sent tons of debris, monster blood and flesh up in the air, eventually raining down on them. Almost every tent, hut, man and beastman fell down or ducked for cover, but the defenses held strong.

“…”

Just as a soil-covered Luka stood up to check on the damages caused by their traps, what he saw in the aftermath was an extensive line of craters that created a second ‘moat’ before their defenses. However, he had no time to look at the other wrecks; the monster hordes continued to move against them in a frenzied state…as if they’re running away from something.

And it can’t be groundworms, for if it is, those monsters would be feeding off on the severed limbs and other leviathan flesh scattered across the field.

“…”

At that moment, the dog-boy became suspicious. For a long while now, the monster hordes kept on emerging from the fog and attacking them, without a single rebel appearing. While he surmised that there must be someone in that mist forcing the leviathans towards them, he found it highly-doubtful that Konka’s army was marching behind the hordes. For even if the monsters breached the wall, the rebels couldn’t possibly exploit that opportunity, since the rampaging leviathans would trample anyone unlucky enough to be under its feet. And these creatures were hard to kill, even with cannons…how much more difficult it would be for an army with no ‘demon powder’ weaponry to eliminate this threat?

“Hey!” Luka turned to an orderly. “Come here for a moment!”

Though visibly shaken, the young soldier crawled to his commander.

“Can you still walk?”

“Y-Yes sir!”

“Then send for a falcon scout and go to the western section of the Outer Walls. I want to confirm something…”

With a salute, the orderly hurried off from the frontline. As for Luka, he silently wished that his hunches to be wrong.

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***The camp of Queen Ursura, in the region of Netevren***

“Your Majesty, Lady Sylvia Henristone of the Paladin Corps, and Chancellor Lord Dane Bellingstein of the Gryphon Knights pledge their support for your kingdom and people. They offer their armies for your disposal, for the duration of the battles.”

Ursura, though she knew the abilities of their forces, chose to decline. “Just tell those guys that they are Kuro’s guests; I don’t want for them to get involved in our affairs since it’d be bad for us if we aim to stand on our own. Err…I leave it to you to get my message across, politely, of course.”

The beastman envoy nodded and immediately set out to accomplish his mission. The Beastman Queen then turned to her orderlies…

“Alright guys. You heard the envoy. We have to make sure that the militia of Malvette is on alert to avoid a repeat of Telessaria,” the bear-woman handed her orders. “Send a message to those cities and towns untouched by the unrests. Tell them to close their borders and let no one—human or beastmen—to go in and out. And, if they can spare warriors to help the other regions, please do so.”

Upon receiving their instructions, the orderlies then left for their destinations. It’s been two days after Her Majesty the Queen learned the news of a ‘rebel uprising’ was underway, first occurring in the town of Netevren to the north and quickly spreading like wildfire to some major cities and towns around the kingdom. Most of the unrests were easily suppressed, for the population themselves fought back against the troublemakers. However, there were places where the rebels had strong support, and the local militias there were hard-pressed in containing them.

“It’s just as Kuro predicted,” the Beastman Saint commented. “If you’re not here, the armies left to defend the land would be leaderless.”

“I-I’m doing what I can…” Ursura replied, “…though e-even if I expected something to happen, I-I’m honestly surprised that it was an unrest instead. I was pretty sure we had the support of the people…”

“Ah, you know how capricious they are,” Ruro chuckled. “Especially if their rulers are lenient to them. Do the people good and they would demand for more; hit them with whips, and they would cry for justice. So yes, they’re that fickle.”

“I’m really amazed of how Kuro handles almost everything.”

“Heh, you’re not a shabby queen yourself, so I think you two complement each other.”

There was a blush that appeared on Ursura’s cheeks, which Ruro was quick to shoot down.

“It doesn’t mean I’d relinquish my position, though, Your Majesty.”

“We-We’re in the middle of a w-war, Your Holiness. P-Please let us talk about that instead.”

“You’re right,” Ruro turned to the map that was spread on the table. “In any case, your camp is in this place—where I put the red marker. The rest of your forces are at the Outer Walls, waiting for that accursed Konka to attack. However, these regions here are under attack from some rebels and their supporters. So what on your mind, Queen Ursura?”

“I’m thinking of dealing with the rebels inside our borders first,” the bear-woman admitted. “But then, I’m worried that something might occur at the Outer Walls, while I’m distracted.”

“Yes, you have a point. Though I don’t like to admit it, Konka is crafty as well, like Kuro.”

“What do you suggest we do, Your Holiness?”

“Well, if I’m in your position, I’d leave those rabble inside the towns for the militia, and head to reinforce the Outer Walls instead,” Ruro answered. “Her armies’ movement down the mountains and the uprising were too coordinated to be a coincidence. That bitch must be thinking of ways to distract and tie down your warriors, while her forces destroy the garrisons defending the Outer Walls.”

The Beastman Queen stared back at the wolf-saint, “So if I did follow my own advice, I would have fallen for Lady Konka’s trap?”

“Exactly. So we’re not giving her the pleasure of dancing to her tune. Let’s head to the Outer Walls and wait for her there.”

“Alright then, I’d take your recommendations and set out immediately,” Ursura was about to leave her tent, but Ruro was quick to stop her.

“Wait!”

“Your Holiness?”

“If I remember, the Outer Walls is divided into two sections: the east and the west. Where do you intend to reinforce?”

“Luka’s asking for my assistance actually, so we’re heading to the east.”

“Scratch that. We’re heading to the west.”

“But Luka’s on the eastern side. It’s also the closest to the Wessen mountains.”

“I told you before that Konka’s a cunning Insetus, right? She knows that fact, and will act accordingly,” the Beastman Saint smirked. “I’d say, we march west and meet her there. I’d really like to return a few favors from her, see?”

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***Konka’s army, somewhere in Cherwind***

Another member of the Insetus Mantis tribe came to Konka as she led her army’s march towards the Outer Walls, “Your Holiness, the attack on the eastern Outer Walls have begun.”

“Good. Now we can proceed with the assault on our side as well!” At that moment, the Insetus woman lifted the fog cover, and her vast army of beastmen rushed towards the defenses of their enemies. The soldiers at the walls were caught by surprise; they could do nothing against the surging rebels at first. The rebellious beastmen was quick to exploit it, and closed the final distance between them and the moat in a short time.

“Great sons and daughters of the mighty Tehmon!” Konka called out to her forces as they attack. “Now is the time we end this war. We suffered for too long under the humans, and their traitorous beastmen pets! They’re no longer your brothers or sisters! Kill them all!”

“Kill!” was the battle-cry of the rebels. It echoed from where the Insetus-woman stood, up to the front, where it invigorated the attackers into a fighting frenzy. However…

“!!!”

Just like in the eastern portion of the Outer Walls, the western section’s defenses were beefed up by the ‘mined’ ditches and the artillery batteries over the wall. As the first wave of the rebels reached the ‘mines’, a succession of powerful explosions ripped anyone who stood above the traps, and turned them into bloody mist. The same happened to the second wave, before the third realized the presence of explosives and their charge began to falter.

“Move over, cowards!” the fourth wave, however, pushed back their retreating comrades and led the attack. By this time, the human-beastmen armies of the Outer Wall recovered and started blasting their cannons towards the rebel mass. A deadly hail of iron shots rained on them and felled scores of the brave warriors of Konka’s. As if to add to their woes, the third and last ditch was also triggered, causing another volley of explosions that wiped out the fourth, third and even the fifth waves.

Konka, seeing her men getting slaughtered, pulled out her sword and went with the next wave. As her generals couldn’t let her attack by herself, soon they joined the rebel advance, which encouraged their warriors. The ‘mined’ ditches were all spent, and it was relatively safe to reach the base of the Outer Walls itself, provided the rebels evaded the cannon shots.

“If you’re going to die, take an enemy with you!” the Insetus-woman rallied her men. “For Cherwind and the Beastmen!”

“Raaaargh!”

The cannon fire, though incessant, could not prevent Konka’s rebels from getting to the base of the stone walls. The traps in the moat were meant for monster hordes, not rebellious beastmen, and so they passed through it easily. The defenders then resorted to their muskets, shooting those beastmen that were trying to scale the defenses.

“Bring in the catapults!”

Soon, there was an answer to the cannons as Konka’s men finally deployed their own long-range artillery. Using boulders as ammunition, it caused considerable damage to the human-beastmen artillery batteries, before getting destroyed by the enemy counterfire. And, because the gun crews had to focus on destroying the catapults, they stopped firing towards the rebels, which allowed the latter to converge on the base of the wall.

The next thing that happened was that the melee had begun atop the parapets. Although without ladders, the rebels climbed the Outer Walls with relative ease. The enemy musketry was helpless against the beastmen crowd, even if they trickled in at first. Yes, the beastmen were easily killed after getting shot, but with a hopelessly slow reload rate, the muskets were made ineffective once the rebels closed in on their foes. And the size of the parapets was unsuitable for volley fire as well…

“Death to all humans and traitors!”

“Deeeaaaattthhh!”

The fighting grew fiercer, as the human-beastmen armies were desperate in driving back Konka’s forces and the rebels intensified their efforts in breaching the defenses. There was even a point where the human soldiers resorted to fighting with their musket stocks, turning those into makeshift clubs as they couldn’t reload on time. Their beastman allies tried to help them, but the rebels prioritized killing the ‘traitors’, so they were mercilessly cut down the moment they came into the rebels’ line of sight.

“…”

The screams of despair, cries of agony and blasts from the demon weapons mixed with the clashing of weapons and even fists. The two sides could not break the other, and neither was willing to surrender. As for the Insetus-woman, she was getting impatient. She kept on looking at the skies, watching for any movement. Deep inside, she was wary about the reports of the falcons dropping ‘explosive barrels’ on her men, and those Avinus could seriously disrupt her forces from claiming victory, should that really happen.

“Milady, we’ve almost captured the Outer Walls itself,” a general of hers reported, “It’s all thanks to your inspiring leadership.”

“Hm…it’s too early to celebrate. We still need to be careful of those falcons,” Konka replied. “Are those bastards at the wall still resisting?”

“Yes, and I’d say, they’re really brave, milady.”

Konka, however, didn’t pay any attention to the words of her general, “Hmph. We need to finish this as soon as possible, before the falcons appear. Send in the East Ursus and crush everyone that stands in our way.”

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***Netevren***

The fight for the town had raged for two days already, with the militia and the surviving population holed up in the governor’s residence, as well as other isolated parts of the settlement. The rebels were poised to take control of Netevren early on. However, in a reversal of fortunes, the rebels also ended up hiding under the debris of the town’s destroyed districts, trying to evade the falcons dropping bombs on them.

With the local militia outnumbered, and the rebels pinned down, the battlefield became static, and no one dared to make a move.

In one of the destroyed buildings in Netevren was the ‘main base’ for Banu and his men. Not only did it serve as the ‘hub’ of their operations, it was a field hospital, where the injured and the dead—or what was left of them—were brought over. And, as the falcons did another bombing run earlier in the day, the casualties among the rebel ranks were running high.

That’s why, in an effort to convince their leader to resume their advance, one of Banu’s lieutenants came to his room and delivered a report to him. “Milord,” the beastman from the Tiger tribe kneeled, “our scouts are saying that the Beastman Queen and her armies are only a couple of leagues away from this town. We must force an end for this battle now, or we’ll be fighting two fronts!”

“Hmm…how about the other regions?” the bear-man asked, “How did they fare?”

“There are still some of our forces holding out, but in most, the revolt was easily crushed by the combined human-beastmen militias, and those pesky falcons dropping explosive barrels.”

“What happened to Lady Konka?”

The lieutenant paused for a bit, then slowly revealed the news, “Milord…Lady Konka’s armies, they are fighting in the western section of the Outer Walls. But the enemy there is still bravely resisting, so we think she will take time before getting here.”

Banu closed his eyes. Upon learning how bad their situation was, he pondered about his options. Then, after coming to a conclusion, he said, “Well, I guess…no one would say we didn’t fight. We did our duty, haven’t we?”

“Of course, milord!” his lieutenant insisted. “And even if the situation turned for the worst, we’ll even use our bodies to pummel those humans to death. The only way for the enemy to defeat our forces is to kill us all!”

“Is that so? You’re prepared to die, eh?”

“Yes, milord!” the tiger-man proudly declared, “Death to the humans! Glory to Lady Konka and—”

The lieutenant could not finish his words as a small explosion tore through the stillness of the room. When the tiger-man realized what just happened to him, it was already too late—a bullet had punched a hole through his throat, and he fell to his back, drowning in his own blood.

“…”

Banu blew the smoke away from his pistol’s barrel, just as a pair of sentries came in to check on what happened.

“This guy suddenly attacked me,” the bear-man explained. “Remove his corpse from here and bury him.”

At once, the sentries obeyed with no fuss. Then, after the dead body was taken out, Banu left the command room to send his final message to his men. This time, the bloodletting his forces caused was enough; he was determined to hoist the flag of surrender.