CHAPTER 8: INVASION OF THE CAULDRON

***The city of Malvette, several weeks earlier…***

He knew he should expect the unexpected when he infiltrated the kingdom his friends Ursura and Kuro had founded. Despite that, when he went past the Outer Walls and ventured into the lands of the former ‘Enclave’ colony, it was as if Banu came to an entirely different world.

“…”

Humans and beastmen living in peace together. Caravan trades flourishing again, between the cities, towns and villages on both sides of the Outer Walls. And the most striking thing he noticed: new and peculiar inventions and systems the kingdom had created and were using.

“Did you like what you’re seeing?”

The bear-man turned around to his companion, who was no other than the Human king, the Lord Kuro of Arles himself. “Milord," he told his human friend, “this kingdom that you built is amazing.”

“Ah, it’s Ursura who made this possible,” Kuro replied. “I’m just lending her my help. Also, we got a lot of talented people contributing, so we can uplift the lives of our subjects.”

“Wow…”

“Well, Lord Banu,” the Human king continued, “it’s good for us to meet like this. My spy master told me about your arrival, and I’m happy that you accepted my invitation to see each other.”

“Milord,” the bear-man’s faced turned grim. “I’m sure you’re aware of the purpose of my appearance here.”

“Judging from your words and the current circumstances, I do. See, my spy master can be weird, but he’s a reliable and formidable person. And he already suggested that I pre-empt you and your men by arresting everyone in your group.”

Banu quickly reached for his dagger, concealed behind him. However…

“Nah, don’t worry my friend. I may be a human, but never did I betray you and Konka. In fact, it’s the other way around, remember?”

“Y-Yes,” the bear-man then relaxed.

“Besides, Lord Banu, if I’m aiming to have you arrested, I would’ve done so before. I mean, look, I know where to find you and your people, but no one has disappeared yet,” Kuro smiled for a bit before adding, “And see? We’re both alone, and I’m in disguise so that my subjects won’t recognize me.”

“Milord, please pardon me for asking, but what do you intend to do? Why did you spare us?”

“Simple. I’m talking to you because I want to protect our people—the humans and beastmen who loved this kingdom,” the Human king chuckled.

“But…Lady Konka, she asked me to—”

“Yes, I know. And you should do it.”

“H-Huh?” the bear-man was shocked when he heard that. “What do you mean, milord?”

“This is all about ‘Beastman Loyalty’, Lord Banu. I know that you’re conflicted right now. You wanted to join us; however, you have your obligations to fulfill, according to your culture. I respect that, and so I’m allowing you to do your duties for Konka’s cause.”

“What about the deaths? We’ll kill your people!”

“I’ll turn a blind eye as long as it isn’t excessive. You’re a beastman, Lord Banu, and I won’t force you to drop your identity and culture for my gain.”

The bear-man was silent for a few moments. Then, he told Kuro, “Not only did you save my life and brethren back in the dungeons of the Black Tower, Lord Kuro. You also did the impossible by treating the beastmen as your equals. If only I met you before joining Lady Konka…I’d rather serve someone like you!”

“Thank you for your sentiments, friend,” Kuro patted his back, “That’s why, go, and do what you have to do. Fulfill your oath to Konka, and when you’re done, come to our side. We could use your talents to improve everyone’s lives here.”

“You have my gratitude, milord,” Banu could not control himself and kneeled before the king, prompting Kuro to force him to stand.

“Please, I’m not used to such gestures. And I still have a request for you, Lord Banu.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Can you please keep the casualties and damages to a minimum? It’s quite hard to rebuild, see?”

The bear-man nodded and kneeled one more time, much to his dismay and alarm. However, with that, Kuro gained Banu’s loyalty.

----------

**Kuro, back to the present…**

‘I have done my duty’

That was the phrase Banu and I had agreed upon as a sign that he intends to defect, thus putting an end to his ‘revolt’. The signal was sent to me, along with other related reports, via a falcon scout from Chief Malu. According to her, while the bear-man and his rebels caused death, injuries and property damage, the effects of their action was relatively minimal, overall. The town of Netevren, where the trouble started, suffered the greatest, with only a handful of buildings and houses—including the governor’s residence—spared.

Meanwhile, Banu and the rest of his men surrendered to Ursura. And the east and west sections of the Outer Walls were under attack, so she’s sending in every unit of the Red Feathers available to the front. End of report.

“…”

I guess I can really count on Banu to make good of his promise not to kill everyone.

Even so, those who died would be on my hands for as long as I lived. No matter what my intentions were, or the result was, the fact remained that I sacrificed them for my goal.

“…”

Fuck…this is heavy.

In any case, there’d be a reckoning for that in the future, and I won’t run from it. For now, I’d like to focus on my next aim: the invasion of the Cauldron. Although with our current technology—which made the travel from the mainland to this island complete under several hours, we deliberately delayed the attack so we could all focus on the events back in the kingdom. And while we’re at it, we also took the spare time to conduct reconnaissance flights to improve and update our plans.

Well, I won’t deny it. As someone who loves history, I modeled our invasion to that famous ‘Operation Overlord’—the 1944 Allied landings in the region of Normandy during the Second World War. Using falcon scouts who flew over the island, we identified enemy concentrations and defenses throughout the place. As such, we knew what part of the Cauldron was the most vulnerable to an amphibious attack.

Telis’ fox tribal armies created three rings of trenches and ditches that surrounded the slopes of the Cauldron’s extinct caldera. The former was manned by spear- and bow-armed foxes while the latter were bristling with punji sticks. One observation flight also revealed to us that those traps were coated with something (possibly poison), and were eventually camouflaged a day later.

Another weapon that we had to deal with were the primitive catapults and trebuchets built by Telis’ men. These were situated along the strategic areas of the island, like narrow paths and beaches. To add to their firepower, the fox armies also stocked on rocks, which we surmised it was meant to be thrown at our advancing forces.

While we did our assignments, not everything was revealed to us. I’m worried about the forests and ridges surrounding the caldera late itself. Telis could position some of her men in those places, providing them good ambush spots. Because of that potential threat, I told Sir Loin to make sure we bomb those areas, since we could never be confident in the spots hidden from our eyes.

Finally, for the invasion proper, we chose the beaches to the northeast of the Cauldron, which was the farthest from any landmass. Maybe Telis thought that an invasion from that direction was unlikely, so she placed only a few of her catapults and trebuchets. The trenches and ditches were also considerably thinner on these parts of the island. If our ships’ cannons ripped those primitive artillery early on, we could gain a foothold within a few hours.

Also, adding to the confusion of our enemies, we also planned to conduct airborne operations in the areas behind the trenches—up to the ridges bordering the crater lake, then carpet bomb the forests immediately above the areas where we’d land. Combining the strategies of ‘shock and awe’, ‘total war’ and ‘airborne assaults’, we’re expecting the enemy to buckle down and surrender within a few days, thus minimizing our losses.

“Hey, Kuro mah boy!” Sir Loin, my second-in-command, called out to me.

“Is it time?” I asked, looking at my hourglass.

The parka guy nodded, “Yep. Our ships were already in place, and we activated the smoke barrels. Should we start the bombardment?”

I took a deep breath before giving the permission, “Yes. Don’t leave any grain of sand unturned. Also, send in the Eagle bombers. Let’s show these foxes what the united armies of beastmen and humans are capable of.”

Sir Loin nodded and gave me a salute before heading out to pass my orders. I looked at the time, it was an hour after the start of the ‘long sleep’.

----------

Our fleet were composed ten ships. One served as a hospital, three for supplies, and six were carrying our landing forces. Those six ships also had the responsibility of off-shore bombardments, as well as laying our ‘smokescreen’—which were basically just barrels filled with smoke-generating powder that was magically-activated.

“Fire!”

As our steamships were designed to carry 36 cannons on each side, 216 explosive shells immediately landed on the enemy territory in our first salvo. Our gunners were trained to target the defenses first, though we didn’t stop them from shelling the fox villages on shore as well. I mean, this was a total war; and the sooner these foxes realize we could pulverize them from afar, the sooner we hoped they would surrender to avoid further casualties.

“Lay down the smokes!”

The three ‘supply ships’ also doubled as our ‘carriers’. From its decks, the ‘Red Feather’ Eagle Wings took off with their activated ‘smoke barrels’, and dropped those between the shores and the fox tribe’s extensive breastworks. Continuous salvoes of random cannon fire discouraged the foxes from emerging from their fortifications and attempt removing the smokescreen.

Meanwhile, while the bombardments never let up and the smokescreen completely obscured the battlefield, the first wave of our airborne forces took off. It was preceded by a squadron of Eagle tribesmen carrying four ‘barrel bombs’, which was intended for clearing the forests atop the Cauldron’s caldera lake.

“Chief!” Rumia called out to me as she prepared herself to go with the second airborne wave, “Please wish me luck!”

“It’s okay, Rumia, I already prayed for your victory,” I give her a head pat. “However, just to be sure…”

“Hmm?”

Sir Loin stepped forward and chuckled, “I’m going with the second wave as well.”

“Huh?!” the dog-girl never hid her surprise and displeasure at the parka guy’s sudden announcement. “Y-You’re going with us?”

“Yeah? Is there any problem?”

“B-But…I and my men can handle the enemies ourselves!” Rumia protested, “And it’s dangerous out there, human!”

“Nah, there’s no questioning about you and your army’s abilities, Doggie-chan,” Sir Loin pointed out, “I know you guys can kick asses. But of course, I won’t be left behind; I trained you, after all.”

“Well, I’m also sending in Sir Loin to supervise the operations behind the enemy lines,” I explained to the dog-girl. What I won’t say to her was that, the parka guy was there because I wanted to make sure of Rumia’s safety, just like how I left Ursura to assist Luka. The dog-siblings won’t relinquish command to anyone else, no matter how others see them anyway, or they’d be deeply insulted by the decision.

And it’s going to be difficult for the warriors’ morale and cohesion to have their commanders changed for unfamiliar ones suddenly on the eve of an important battle.

“Doggie-chan, I hope you’d take care of me,” Sir Loin teased and smiled at her. “I’m only a human armed with a frying pan.”

“Seriously? You’re going to battle with just Buttfriar?”

“Kuro mah boy, I lost my weapon, see?”

“You gave it to me, remember?”

“Yes, I do. But yeah, once I give it away, there’s no returning,” the parka guy winked. “Besides, Doggie-chan here is powerful enough to scare our enemies away. So don’t worry!”

“P-Please…” Rumia muttered, “ju-just call me by my name…”

“Hm? What’s that?”

“Nothing!” the dog-girl gently punched Sir Loin to his side, and she ran to the Eagle tribesman assigned to carry her. Maybe she wasn’t aware that I heard her wish for the parka guy to call her by name, and her face was blushing. But then again…

“Just what is that girl’s problem?”

I think Sir Loin didn’t notice that side of Rumia’s as well…or did he just play innocent? Well, no matter. I’m in charge of Rumia, so technically, I’m her (adoptive) father. I’d better observe things between them even after this was over.

----------

As the airborne operations were underway, we also launched the amphibious landings. Like in Operation Overlord, we also organized our forces into several waves, hitting the beach that was divided into three sectors—two ships for each one. With the smokescreen fully deployed and the cannon fires obliterating the enemy defenses, the first boats to disembark our infantry regiments rowed for the shores.

“Incoming!”

Until that point, our artilleries attacked with impunity. However, just as we predicted, the fox forces began to answer with their catapults and trebuchets—those that remained operational after our initial salvos. Huge boulders started to rain down on our fleets; but, as we got human magicians on our side, we simply cast the magic barriers.

“Cease firing the cannons!”

The order from the artillery officers came just as we watched the first wave reached the shore. The cannons were stopped so we avoid hitting our men while they advanced in a single line towards the smoke and into the enemy lines. They were followed with the second wave, who marched in the same formation and followed the first.

“Lady Margaret, Minister Ruja, you can take over from here,” I told them.

“But Your Majesty,” it was the Minister, “would you reconsider going with the third wave? It’s dangerous for you!”

“Yes,” Lady Margaret was quick to back him. “It’ll be a problem if you got hurt or killed. Please stay here at the ships.”

“Ah, I’ll be fine,” I told them. “I’ve been a veteran of wars against the Empire and the undead. It’s impossible for me to direct the battle from here as I prefer to lead at the front. And also, I’m the only one in this army that can control the weather and heal instantly; I’d like to use them to our advantage.”

The Minister and Lady Margaret only exchanged resigned looks and bowed, “If that’s your decision, Your Majesty, then we can’t stop you. But at least, take a guard with you.”

“I will,” I winked at them as I removed the royal regalia and handed it over to Lady Margaret. I wanted to go into battle as an ordinary warrior, not as a king. Just as I was about to board a third wave boat, the former Duchess of Malvette called out to me…

“Your Majesty!”

“!!!”

I was surprised when her lips reached for my cheeks, “Please return safely. May the heavens’ blessings be with you!”

----------

We hit the shores after several minutes of rowing. It was quite a different feeling of anxiety and excitement, as the sounds of the battle rang in contrast to the calm sea. Unlike the ‘Normandy Landing’ movies that I watched as a child, there were no rocky boats, tossed by the waves of the turbulent English Channel. There was also no motion sickness among the soldiers as well. The only noise that we heard was the distant fight of the first and second infantry waves and our enemies, and the sound of the oars hitting the water as we rowed.

“…”

So yes, the relative silence of our surroundings magnified the feelings of impatience and unease in our men. I think I should say something to keep their morale up, eh?

“…”

On a second thought, I guess I should leave it as to when we reached the shores.

“…”

As soon as we landed, the infantry quickly prepared for an advance. Like a European army during the Napoleonic Wars, everything was done in an orderly, and pre-established manner, so that there was only minimal time lost in getting everyone ready. Also, I brought the ‘railgun’ that Sir Loin gave to me before, carried by two beastmen orderlies. I thought of using that weapon for additional fire support.

“Demons out!” the officers gave the order for the infantry to bring out their muskets. “Fix swords and bayonets! Stand two paces apart!”

Once the third and fourth waves got into formation, I took charge of them and gave a short speech…

“Let’s make history today, men! The end of this long war is near, and the victors will be us! Advance!”

The drums were then sounded the general advance towards the noise of the battle. We had no reason to get lost though, for the enemy positions lie in front of us. We just had to cross the smokescreen and brave a few volleys of arrows raining down on us.

“Long live the king!” the third and fourth waves shouted repeatedly. Honestly, hearing them do that was heartening for me. It felt like I could take on anyone that stood in my way at that moment.

Passing through the smoke, soon we reached the end of the beach, where the enemy fortifications were built. Luckily, it was largely demolished by our cannon fire, though there were still organized resistance in the ruins. The ditches were also exposed, giving our men the opportunity to evade a grisly death by punji sticks.

However, the first and second waves suffered several casualties, mostly hit by arrows tipped with poison. The rest of their able-bodied men were fighting a melee over the possession of the trenches, as well as some of the makeshift redoubts above our current position.

“We should reinforce the men in the trenches,” I instructed our warriors, “Switch to your daggers; this will get bloody.”

“Sire,” an Avinus officer told me, “we cannot allow you any further. Please stay at this point and give us fire support instead.”

“But—”

“If His Majesty forces himself, I have an authority from the Minister of War and Her Majesty to arrest you.”

“Your Majesty,” the soldiers in-charge of the ‘railgun’ added their pleas, “with due respect, we implore you to remain on this side of the beach. We’ll gladly carry this weapon for you to use. Just please stay away from the front.”

I was honestly shocked by what the officer and the soldiers had said. I mean, not only did I never expect Ruja and Ursura outwitting me with that, I’m also touched by the concern of these people for someone like me. Looks like that incident with the harpies before is still ingrained in their memories.

----------

And so, not wishing to cause any trouble to our men, I stayed behind at the beach not only to tend to the wounded, but to provide fire support as well. Using Sir Loin’s ‘railgun’ mounted at the backs of two beastmen soldiers, I sniped on the enemy, killing what looked to me as their leaders. Or, if a unit was pinned down by the foxes’ arrows, I would call in artillery fire and rain down death and destruction to them.

In that way, the beaches were in our control two hours after the initial landings. Our forces were trying to break out of the new enemy lines further up the slopes of the island caldera, but most of the men assigned to the amphibious assault were already disembarked at the shores, as well as vital equipment like cannons, ammunition, food, and other supplies.

The foxes’ resistance was getting fiercer the higher our army went up. I could tell because of the number of casualties being brought down to the beaches: the dead, injured and even the maimed were increasing. Reports from the front line were reaching us that the enemy was employing every ruse and trickery to ensure that our advance was costly. Ambushes, pitfall traps, feigned retreats, and anything else that could kill were used to harm our men.

“Y-Your Majesty,” said one injured soldier as I tended to him, “…th-the foxes…they…they’re everywhere!”

Damn…and here I thought the bombers cleared the areas at the top. Seems like they’ve escaped our bombardment…

If this continued, we might find ourselves retreating even though we already gained a foothold at this island. Telis sure knew how to use the terrain to her advantage.

“…”

My eyes inadvertently went to the skies. Earlier, the airborne assault behind our enemies’ lines had begun. Though we’ve expected no news from those men for a couple of hours, or possibly days, hearing the horror stories from the injured was making me worry for the safety of the airborne forces.

I can only hope and pray that Rumia and Sir Loin are alright…

----------

***The Black Feathers, behind the enemy lines after the airborne landings***

“Damn it! I didn’t expect those foxes to actually attack us in the air. I think we flew too low that we ended up nearly getting shot by their arrows.”

“I-It’s okay, human,” Rumia patted Sir Loin’s shoulders. “At least we landed safely, and the Eagles could return to bomb the enemy.”

“Well, alright…” the parka guy brought out his map to check on their position. “Though if I may say, while we’re in one piece, I think some of our men got separated. I hope they’re still okay.”

“We still got around 63 people with us,” the dog-girl informed him. “I think the others are just scattered all over the place when we tried evading the enemy counterfire. Don’t worry, we’re the Black Feathers. We don’t fear death…”

“Heh, save the edgy words for later, Doggie-chan. While you’re a veteran of many battles against the monster hordes, it’s a different fight if it’s a thinking enemy.”

“Hmph! There you go again, treating us like fools.”

“Hey, I’m just being real here,” the parka guy’s voice suddenly turned serious. “After all, you cannot bring back the dead to life once you made a mistake and got outwitted.”

Rumia said nothing back at her superior after that. There was something in Sir Loin’s voice that’s keeping her from asking questions, so she just walked along the forest path, together with some of their men. However, a couple of hours into their landing…

“I don’t like this…” the parka guy muttered.

“W-What…?”

“We’re in the middle of a forest, behind enemy lines. And while it’s pretty understandable that it’d be quiet for some time, we’ve been walking around for several hours now and we still have to encounter a single fox-guy. They saw us land from the air, right? Why is there no one running after us?”

“Perhaps they got scared and run away?”

“Heh, I’d like to believe that is the case. But, it’s too good to be true,” Sir Loin then whispered to her, “Doggie-chan, send out scouts to watch for any signs of ambush.”

The parka guy’s closeness to her made Rumia blush for a bit. However, as they were in the middle of a war, she had to force herself back on focus, or they could end up getting killed. She called a Chicken tribesman and relayed Sir Loin’s instructions, and the soldier did what she was told. Taking another Black Feather with her, they were only a few steps ahead of their group when…

“Urk!”

The scout took an arrow to her neck, and she fell down on the arms of her companion, who shouted, “Ambush!”

At once, the Black Feathers scrambled for cover while a hail of poison-tipped arrows rained on them. A few of their men became casualties in the initial salvo, which was followed by a melee attack by Telis’ men. Rumia shot her musket towards a fox she thought was the leader, then drew her sword and fought in hand combat against the others. Sir Loin, meanwhile, was making a quick work of his foes with his Buttfriar. A kick to the shin, then followed by a powerful slap of his frying pan to the face, soon the parka guy contributed four unconscious enemies.

“We’re driving them out, human!” the dog-girl exclaimed, as the Black Feathers’ strict training under Sir Loin paid off. Though surprised by the ambush, their army was pushing back the foxes, much to the utter shock of the other side.

“Yeah, and don’t pursue them, Doggie-chan,” the parka guy told her. “Stay with me and watch my back!”

“Y-Yes!” Upon hearing his words, it’s as if a surge of power coursed through Rumia’s veins and she fought with more enthusiasm than before.

Soon the foxes found themselves on the defensive, though they’re the ones that started the hostile encounter. However, as they retreated, Sir Loin forbid his men in pursuing them, for fear of losing cohesion. Instead, the parka guy ordered for the Black Feathers to continue their march ahead.

“The sooner we find our objectives and get out of this fucking forest, the better!” he declared.

However, Rumia called out his attention to their casualties, “We can’t leave the injured behind! We should check on the bodies if they’re still breathing!”

“Hey, Doggie-chan, we can’t waste any second on them, or we’ll be surrounded soon.”

“But, what if…”

“Get it together, Doggie-chan! You’re a soldier; they’re soldiers too. We all knew what we’re getting into when we signed up for this shit. Now, let’s go!”

Rumia had no answer for Sir Loin’s argument. True, he did warn them of what could happen when they decided to become warriors for the kingdom. However…

“If the Chief is in your place, he’d never leave those guys to their deaths!” she poured all her frustration in that shout, which surprised the parka guy. Then, without waiting for his answer, Rumia decided to act on her own and dashed away from the safety of their column.

“Fuck, watch out—”

Everything happened so fast that the others could not react on time. As the dog-girl strayed from her companions, a huge boulder suddenly appeared in the air, thrown by their enemies intent on hitting her. Rumia froze; she didn’t know what to do next. She could only watch in horror as the rock came down from above…

“!!!”

But then, she felt a powerful force push her away from the boulder that’s about to quash her, and she fell rolling on the ground. There were sounds of a brief battle that followed. Then, after the dust and smoke settled, Rumia saw the other Black Feathers running to the huge rock in panic…

“Sir Loin! For goodness’ sake! Sir Loin!” they cried out in horror.

“What…happened?”

“Lady Rumia!” a Black Feather told her, “Sir Loin just pushed you away, and he got crushed by that rock!”

The dog-girl felt her stomach churn upon learning the parka guy’s fate. She wanted to vomit, though she held back herself. The rest of their comrades were all trying to push the rock away, to no avail. Rumia just stood motionless before the boulder…

I…I killed Sir Loin…