Chapter 6:

Chapter 6: Festival Massacre

The Grand Revolution Of War!


Baaluzikai lowered her sword and chuckled, taking in the bloodshed she has caused. She let out a laugh and pointed her sword at Duncan's army. Their front lines were in shambles and their formation was in total disarray. Duncan was trying his best to get his army back together while also trying to ignore the pain in his right leg where he was shot. He met Baaluzikai and her band and saw that they were in another formation, the ones with guns in the back switching to swords while the front was armed and ready.

'This is no band, this is an army!' Duncan finally realized just as Baaluzikai lowered her sword.

'If we charge that formation, we'd be slaughtered. I need to get ready to fire-'

A loud battle cry broke Duncan's thoughts and he turned to see one of his Commanders, Ryan, break from the army and charge. Other soldiers saw this and joined the charge too, much to Duncan's dismay.

"NO! Don't Charge!" Duncan yelled but it seemed the soldiers who charged didn't hear him.

"Get in formation to fire again, this time Aprix," Duncan snarled to the soldiers that stayed. He knew there was no saving the soldiers who charged and he didn't want to risk any more lives then he needed in joining the charge.

Baaluzikai and her army was undeterred in the slightest by the charge. Instead, Baaluzikai raised her hand again and waited, watching the enemy soldiers get closer and closer until, when they were about twelve feet away, she closed her fist and let out a hiss.

At once her soldiers broke their formation and charged, leaping at the enemy faster then they can react and covering the twelve feet distance in a single bound. The varakilaras the Black Band carried slicing through limbs, bones, flesh, and armor like hot metal to butter. Despite how long the blade is, the Black Band soldiers twirled it around swiftly, blocking and parrying attacks without any effort and counter attacking with their swords, fists, hilt, kicks, or claws.

....

From Nelsie's viewpoint, it was easy to tell which Black Band member is a Commander. They had band hats similar to Baaluzikai except without the red gem in the middle. Their blades were also longer and some of them wore capes. Now, Nelsie had seen fights before. But she has never seen Commanders such as this, let alone soldiers. They caught weapons with their bare hands, tore necks open with their sharp teeth, lifted heavy bodies that clearly weighed more than them with one hand with ease, and seemed to never run out of stamina. Despite the four hundred or so soldiers that ran at them, almost all of them were dead within a minute.

"Ḍaitha baiṇḍa," Zane muttered.

"What?" Nelsie asked, though her eyes were glued to the slaughter below.

"The official name for the Royal Band, or Black Band, is Ḍaitha baiṇḍa, which means Death Band in Punjabi," Zane explained with a bitter tone in his voice, "A fitting name that only few know about. After all, while Baaluzikai's army is small, every single one of them is an elite soldier that would put any fighting force to shame. All of them known for their cruelty and lack of fear to death. To them, death is just a break. They believe they will be reborn and serve back under Baaluzikai."

"I-is there any truth to their belief?" Nelsie asked despite knowing that it was a stupid question.

Surprisingly, Zane didn't answer right away.

"I don't know myself but, going off of facts, ninety percent of the new recruits in Baaluzikai's army learn everything extremely fast and are ready for battle with two to three years of training...and that's out of war time. Baaluzikai can train a recruit into an elite soldier within four to ten months during war time."

Down below, Baaluzikai was enjoying the bloodbath that was happening, walking through it all undisturbed. She wasn't walking aimlessly, no. She had a target. She made her way through the fighting and walked behind Ryan. Her smile grew and she raised her sword up in the air, ready to pounce...

....and her version of pouncing in this case is to tap Ryan on the shoulder.

Ryan turned around to see who tapped his shoulder and was surprised to see Baaluzikai herself giving him a pleasant smile, her eyes closed. Ryan turned and swung his greatsword at her. As a King's Guard, his sword is almost six feet tall. At this range he was sure he would hit Baaluzikai. However, instead of hitting Baaluzikai, the sword hit the ground with nothing on it. In front of him, Baaluzikai was gone, no trace to where she went.

'Where did she go?' Ryan though while lifting up her sword and looking around. He looked up to see if she had thrown a weapon or something. Instead of seeing any magic or weapon, he saw Baaluzikai, twenty feet high in the air, falling down on top of him. Ryan tried to get his sword up but Baaluzikai was faster. She landed on his sword and grabbed Ryan's chin, bringing his face close to hers.

"That was quite rude. I tapped you and everything," Baaluzikai pouted, though she was still smiling and her voice wasn't very pouty.

Baaluzikai, when she landed on Ryan's sword, had closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the white of her eyes were gone. It looked like something had torn Baaluzikai's eyes out with the edge of her eyes being torn. Her eyes glowed in the darkness of her eye sockets.

"Now come on and fight me before your General and his army shoot at us. I'd say we have about fifty seconds," Baaluzikai told Ryan, cocking her head. Ryan just not noticed that Baaluzikai was bowing on top of his sword and not just leaning down.

Baaluzikai jumped off the sword and landed posing four feet away before she got into a stance, her right arm holding her sword at head level while her left arm is out, diagonally across from where her sword is. Her stance was wide which was a popular technique the Zhenshi made. Her sword, however, looks more like the Empires faction, her blade even twisted at the end like a snake.

Ryan picked up his sword and got into his stance. Once he did, the duel began. Baaluzikai circled Ryan, a carefree smile on her face. Ryan waited, tense, for her to either make a move or for a chance to slip past her guard. At first, it seemed that they were both waiting for the other to make a move. However, Baaluzikai wasn't really for waiting when she knows that she only had around forty seconds before Duncan's army fired their round at her army. So, she made the first move, darting forward and twirling her body around, the momentum making the attack a committed one. Ryan knew this and didn't try to attack Baaluzikai. He would receive the worst in that exchange. Instead, he brought his sword up to parry her attack...only the attack never landed. Instead, Baaluzikai swiftly spun around, crouching low, and swung her arms in an x motion, catching Ryan in the gut.

Ryan stumbled back briefly but quickly recovered. It will take more than that to bring him down. He swung his sword, aiming at Baaluzikai's right hip. It was a faint though and Ryan quickly spun around and attack Baaluzikai, aiming for her left hip where her sword isn't at. Ryan was moving quickly and his sword was too heavy for her to parry or block properly in time.

He was right. Baaluzikai won't be able to parry or fully his attack in time. So, she instead caught his sword with her free left hand.

Ryan's jaw dropped in shock. His sword, which weighs well over two hundred pounds and swung with enough momentum to shatter reinforced stone bricks, was caught with no problem. His mind couldn't register what had even happened when Baaluzikai flashed him a toothy smile.

"Too bad," Baaluzikai said in a more childish voice.

Baaluzikai lifted the sword up and slashed Ryan across his chest. Ryan stumbled back and Baaluzikai pressed her advantage, attacking him faster than he could recover. She slashed him again and again across his chest before she lifted her blade up and slashed down. A heavy attack done in a quick manner. Her sword went through Ryan's shoulder with ease and Ryan's sword arm fell to his side. Baaluzikai's smile grew, knowing that she had won, and she pulled out her sword and stabbed him in his lower abdomen, the blade going all the way through to its hilt. Letting go of the hilt of her sword, Baaluzikai let out a sigh which quickly turned into a giggle. She swiftly jabbed Ryan's chin with her left hand, her fingers going through Ryan's jaw. She started giggling, amused and half in bliss at her kill and brought her left hand closer to her face, bringing Ryan with it. She met Ryan's eyes and winked at him before she lifted Ryan up with her left hand which was still in Ryan's jaw. Ryan's weight caused Baaluzikai's fingers to tear into his mouth where her claws dug through the roof of Ryan's mouth.

Baaluzikai's smile shrunk a little when she heard Duncan yell out the word, "Fire!". She quickly spun around, taking Ryan with her, and used his body as a shield. Ryan's body twitched and spasmed as his body was shot multiple times. Behind Baaluzikai, her army had finished the soldiers that charged them. Seeing the enemy army about to open fire, they scrambled into position, or at least tried to. Once they realized they wouldn't make it they stopped and turned to face the enemy. When the guns fired, they twirled their swords around in a quick motion, catching most of the bullets. None of them had fallen but most of the soldiers on the front line were injured, failing to block all the bullets coming their way.

Tealath, a Commander in Baaluzikai's army, made a hand gesture like she was telling someone to come at her. The injured soldiers fell back and were replaced by non-injured fighters . With her army back in formation, Baaluzikai nodded at Tealath and lifted Ryan's body high in the air, letting out a sigh due to the fact that her prey was dead before she could kill him herself. Still, she raked her right hand across Ryan's gut, disemboweling him, and ripped her sword free and dropped Ryan's body, his jaw split in two. She looked at Duncan's army and raised an eyebrow. They had gotten into a formation where, once they fired, the gunners would run back and be replaced by soldiers carrying shields. Although it left the gunners vulnerable if the enemy was charging, if the enemy wasn't charging, the gunners would be safe while the army would be ready to stop a volley.

"Nice move!" Baaluzikai called out to Duncan.

Baaluzikai walked to the middle of her army and flicked her sword, getting blood off of it, before tapping the ground with her sword twice. The Black Band shifted in formation, seperating into twelve groups. There were no gunners in the front and, if Duncan's army fired another volley, her army wouldn't take as many casualties. Her formation was clear. She was going for the close combat approach.

Duncan frowned. He had brought an army of one hundred thousand troops. A small amount but, compared to the three hundred Baaluzikai has, it will suffice. No matter how skilled Baaluzikai's army is, they can't win against his numbers...at least, not without some trick.

"What are you planning, Baaluzikai?" Duncan asked, stepping out from his army and pointing his sword at Baaluzikai.

"Aww. Ya saw through? Well, ya didn't but you aren't as dumb as your little Commander here," Baaluzikai said in a cute and cheeky voice.

Baaluzikai started walking forward, her left hand behind her back and her sword pointed backwards.

"There is no way you can win this fight in a direct confrontation, and I doubt someone like you has allies."

"True, true," Baaluzikai admitted, stopping in the middle of the two armies.

"But you should know that war and battle has many different kind of instruments."

Baaluzikai raised her left hand and Duncan tensed. After a brief silence, Baaluzikai started laughing.

"Oh Duncan. I would love to toy with you some more but you may not survive this show," Baaluzikai said with a sigh, looking down.

Her expression changed to a happy one after a couple of seconds of nothing happening and she made a finger gun with her left hand, though it was pointing towards her left. Duncan turned to look to where she was pointing but only saw nothing except cowering citizens. He looked back at Baaluzikai in confusion.

"Boom boom, Duncan," Baaluzikai said, firing her finger gun. The sound of hissing filled the air and Duncan could just barely make out the soldiers in the back of Baaluzikai's army duck. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Boom boom."

In the back of Baaluzikai's army was four hidden cannons. They were so well hidden that even Nelsie and Zane couldn't see them from their vantage point. Surrounding the cannons were small colorful flags. They pointed up in the sky and fired. What came out of them wasn't a cannonball. It looked like one but was ugly and popping, sparkling colors coming from it. When they hit, they exploded into colorful explosions. two of them landed into Duncan's army, exploding and causing a lot of the army to waver. The other two hit buildings and exploded, causing the buildings to fall down.

....

'Fireworks'

"Z-Zane, is she using-"

Zane cut Nelsie off with a nod of his head.

"To cause fire to spread, disorientate enemies, and for the show. While they may not be good for sieges, they are effective against troops."

"Now," Zane said, grabbing Nelsie and putting her in a princess carry, "can we go? Who knows when-"

Zane stopped talking and dove behind a chimney just as bullets zipped through where he was a second before. Zane peaked out and Nelsie saw that the back of Baaluzikai's army changed into a line of gunners, the three front rows carrying multi-shot rifles while the forth line had the single-shot rifles.

"Duncan set up gunners in the windows of the buildings. Dammit!"

Nelsie understood what Zane was saying. In the buildings in front of Baaluzika's army, Duncan had set up soldiers to fire on Baaluzikai's army from above. Unfortunately, they were spotted and were being shot at. That also meant that they were aiming at Zane and Nelsie.

"Why don't we climb our way down the back of the building?" Nelsie asked.

"Because Duncan's army will think we are from Baaluzikai's army and fire at us," Zane responded.

"...So, we're stuck here?" Nelsie asked in a small voice. Zane didn't respond.

Down below, both armies let out a battle cry and charged at each other.

....

"Are you mad!? There are citizens in these buildings!" Duncan yelled at Baaluzikai.

"And I am suppose to care?" Baaluzikai asked, though it wasn't a question.

"Enough of this preshow, okay! Let the main show begin!" Baaluzikai cried out before bowing. This bow was different from her usual one as her left arm was across her chest and her right eye was closed. Seeing this bow, her army let out a cry and charged forward. Duncan's army, seeing the approaching charging army, charged forward themselves.

Duncan watched as Baaluzikai, still in her bow, disappeared behind her charging army. When the armies clashed, it was clear that the number advantage that Duncan's army had wouldn't show itself for a while. His army was torn apart and even being pushed back. The roar of the cannons caused Duncan to look up. One of the cannonballs hit the building behind him. Luckily, it hit the building to his right, where there were little of his gunners posted, not that the gunners could do much anyway when they were killed almost the instant they poked their heads out.

Duncan sighed and joined the fray. He targeted one soldier and swung his sword down, though the move was a faint. He quickly spun around and parried the counter attack the soldier tried. However, instead of stumbling back, the soldier instantly recovered and lunged forward, punching Duncan hard in his chest, causing him to stumble back a bit. Duncan growled and lunged forward, using both his hands to plunge his sword into the soldier's chest. He lifted them up and tossed them over his shoulder before turning to focus on the fight.

One of the enemy soldiers leaped at him and hit him on the head with the hilt of her sword, causing Duncan to take a step back, dazed. He quickly recovered and freed his right hand and punched her in the face. She fell to the ground and he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. He turned and threw another punch aimed at her head only to have it stopped by the soldier catching his fist with one hand. She smiled and darted up on her feet and slashed Duncan across his chest. Duncan roared and shoved her away with his sword but he underestimated her reach. Her sword flashed out and stabbed Duncan in his throat. Duncan stumbled back and knocked the blade away, causing his hand to bleed. The wound wasn't deep enough to be fatal luckily.

With a roar he lunged forward in a sweeping motion. Instead of catching the soldier, she jumped over his strike and darted behind him before he could catch her with a follow up, her sword slashing his right hip. Duncan turned and stabbed her in the gut with his sword, catching her before she could get into a stance. With her dazed he stepped forward and punched her in the face, sending her flying to the ground unconscious. One of his soldiers stepped up and stomped on her neck before plunging his sword into her heart, killing her.

'I am a General yet even I am having a hard time killing the soldiers. There is a good chance I'll die to a Commander one a one on one fully healed then to Baaluzikai herself.'

Duncan swung his sword and decapitated one soldier who was locking blades with one of his soldiers and dodged a flying kick from another soldier who he put down with a slash to her back. Sensing danger, Duncan leaped backwards just as a bullet flew past where he was a moment before.

'That was from a rifle! Those gunners can even aim through their own lines from that far away!?'

This battle will take almost all of his soldiers' lives to win. Duncan can see that now. He fell back and watched as the spot where he was before was overruned. He needed to do something to change this situation fast!

Before he could think of a plan he saw one of his Commanders, Nashton, a great fighter, get stabbed in his neck by a female enemy Commander. She held him there, watching him choke on his blood and grasp at the blade, a blush on her face, before she tore her blade out and spin around in one smooth move and decapitate him. When his body hit the ground, she flicked her blade, getting some of the blood off it, and watched as her eyes met his. She smiled, showing sharper than normal teeth and bowing, though Duncan could tell it was more of a mocking bow then an actual bow.

"Every single one of them is a sadist," Duncan muttered out loud. He turned to his right and froze,his blood turning cold.

One of the cannonballs had exploded a hole into the bottom of one building. In the hole was a group of citizens huddling together, more than one of them mothers with their children. He even saw a baby. One of the Commanders in the Black Band stepped out from the army, her arms behind her back. Duncan recognized her as Tealath, a General of the Black Band and Baaluzikai's right hand. She was also the one who can be reasoned with, or at least that is what Duncan was told.

Her outfit had gold highlights and decorations on it and her weapon was sheathed. Both of her arms were behind her back as she looked at the citizens with a look that could best be described as cold pity. After staring at them for a bit more, she sharply turned to her right and nodded at someone, or more of trying to catch the attention of someone. Duncan knew that it was Baaluzikai. He stepped on a dead body to get a better look, ducking to avoid a bullet before looking again. Sure enough, he saw Baaluzikai standing close to the front line of the battle, a Commander on her blade and his severed right arm in her left hand rested on her left shoulder. She turned to look at Tealath and looked at the citizens...and her smile widened. She nodded once before going back to watching the Commander she pinned with her blade die.

Tealath nodded once and raised her hand. A couple of gunners came to her and formed a line. In their hands were multi-shot rifles.

'D-don't-'

Tealath lowered her hand and the gunners took aim and fired within a second, killing the citizens mercilessly.

"NOOO!" Duncan roared. The gunners, once they done the deed, retreated back into the army. Tealath looked at the bodies for a bit before turning to meet Duncan's glare. Her red eyes showed cold remorse. However, after looking at him for a few seconds, her eyes lit up with excitement. She crouched down, pulled out her weapon, and jumped up high in the air, cracking the ground below her. She landed on the building with the dead citizens and jumped off it and landed right in front of Duncan, cracking the ground below her when she landed. From the dust, Duncan could see her red glowing eyes.

There were no words. They both lunged at each other. Duncan attempted to shove her away but he didn't even make her budge when their blades met. She darted back, dodging his quick slash, and slashed him across his right shoulder. Duncan blocked her next strike and another. However, her next six strikes were impossible for Duncan to block. They tore through his defenses and the final blow in the combo was a downward strike.

"NO!" A female voice yelled out. Delila, a Commander who has been personally trained by Duncan, lunged forward. She stabbed at Tealath who kicked Duncan off her sword and dodged, her counter attack slashing Delila across her chest. Delila swung again and Tealath blocked her blow, using her free hand to support her blade. She pushed Delila back and pushed her sword forward with her free hand, catching Delila again across the chest. Duncan recovered from his heavy and fatal wounds enough to swing his blade. Tealath dodged it and used both her hands to run her sword into Duncan, similar to the move he did to the first soldier he killed earlier.

Dazed and weak, Duncan could do nothing as Tealath ripped her blade free, and slashed him across his chest, cutting through one of his ribs. He dropped his sword from the shock but still managed to swing his left arm at Tealath. Tealath just smoothly cut off his arm and then raised her blade over her head. As she did so, dust fell from the destruction of another building that fell prey to the cannons Baaluzikai brought. Tealath's red eyes glowed through the dust and she swung the blade down. Duncan was dimly aware of Delila crying out his name...and was dimly aware that he had just been cut in half. He fell to the ground.

Before his vision faded, he saw Delila lunge forward, her sword ready to stab Tealath, only for Tealath to stab Delila with her right hand and raked her claws across her face with her left hand. Delila's head went back and Duncan saw that almost all of her face was gone, torn through by Tealath's claws. Behind Tealath, the Black Band broke through and one Commander with a dark purplish blue cape lunged forward, a shorter version of a varakilara in her hand and a smile of glee on her face as she pounced on an unfortunate Commander who couldn't get away fast enough. Then, his vision went dark.

........

Nelsie watched as one Commander from the Black Band stabbed an enemy Commander in his chest, ripped out her blade, kicked him, slashed him twice more before slashing him with her claws, causing the Commander to spin around dazed and broken, before she finished him off by stabbing him in the back of his head. He fell dead and the Black Band Commander let out a laugh of victory. In a short couple of minutes, thirty thousand of Duncan's army lay dead, himself included. Numbers weren't going to win this fight. The Black Band barely lost over thirty.

"Ḍaitha baiṇḍa care not for the odds or for reality. Facing them and winning is something few can do," Zane said with a sigh.

"Come on. Now it is time to go. Both armies are distracted enough," Zane said, grabbing Nelsie.

Before they could stand up, Nelsie spotted Baaluzikai. She was a bit further back in her army surrounded by her gunners. The battle was all but won at this point. Morale for Duncan's army was shattered. There was no need to be in the front at this point.

One of the gunners spotted Zane and Nelsie and alerted the others who aimed their guns at them.

"Shit!" Zane cursed and prepared to jump back behind the chimney.

It was at this point that Baaluzikai raised her hand and Nelsie was sure she was her say the word stop. Then, Baaluzikai looked up and looked at Zane and Nelsie. The moment she looked up both Nelsie and Baaluzikai felt a strange strong warm feeling within them and a buzzing sound in their brain. Nelsie and Baaluzikai locked eyes and for a long time, nothing happened. They just stared at each other, both in shock. Then, Baaluzikai smiled. It was the smile of a predator. Nelsie felt herself start shivering uncontrollably.

'Sh-she c-can't be.'

Zane decided to take his chances, picked Nelsie up, and booked it. To his surprise, no bullets went past them. Baaluzikai let them go. As Zane made his way with Nelsie down the building, he heard the sound of trumpets playing.

"RETREAT!"

Zane paused at Baaluzikai's order. Retreat? She is retreating? Why? There is no reinforcements coming to save this army and, by the time reinforcements do come, it will be well too late. Something is clearly off here. Still, Zane decided that he and Nelsie had nothing to do with this anymore and ran back to H.G. Visiting Maleen would have to wait for a while.

....

Baaluzikai and her army only retreated two blocks away. The remainder of Duncan's army were confused at why Baaluzikai and her army suddenly "retreated" but knew when to cut their losses. They fled the first chance they had.

Standing on the edge of the camp the Black Band set up was Baaluzikai. Her eyes were staring off into the distance, seemingly locked onto something only she could see. Tealath walked up to her and waited for Baaluzikai to acknowledge her. However, after waiting for two minutes, Tealath realized that her leader was distracted. So, she decided to ask her question.

"Zukia, why did we retreat?" Tealath asked. Even she as Baaluzikai's right hand did not know why they retreated when they had everything going in their favor.

"...I found myself something interesting," Baaluzikai responded, her voice not energetic like it usually is.

"....Yes....I think I may be in love."

....

....

"Excuse me!?"