CHAPTER 8: HARD DECISIONS

**Greg**

I guess the combination of hailstorm, sandstorm and thunderstorm, along with tornadoes, did it for the Biorno forces. After I battered them with those foul weathers, they stopped on their attacks, ostensibly to regroup. Their corpses littered the battlefield when the sandstorm dissipated, and their defensive lines were destroyed.

However, the weather also got to our side. See, the problem with the Beastman Saint’s god-power was that, it was like a double-edged sword. By now, I could fully control this ability, but as this was meant for ‘agricultural purposes’, there was no limitation placed on its ‘area-of-effect’. Once I cast it and kept on channeling mana to my hands, there was no telling on how wide the weather would be felt.

As such, it ended hitting our own positions in the Conclave, and it caused casualties and destruction as well. Fortunately, all were not severe to be fatal, and I healed them all with the Human Saint’s god-power.

“…”

Well, we also used the lull in fighting to reconsider our options. A war council was called, after the Lord Tenguri got better. He was among the injured, shot to the eye when they got trapped in the Biorno ditches, and Lady Baraquiel took command for the rest of the battle. Shevaun also received some wounds, though it was light enough to be left to heal by itself.

“Don’t worry, milord,” the chamberlain winked at me. “Wounds like these are not an issue for us Usarveds. We heal fast; you can only kill an Usarved when you shoot our heads, hit us in the heart, or utterly destroy our bodies.”

“Oh…” Damn…so that’s why I saved a lot of Usarveds earlier who were still alive, but was missing almost a half of their bodies. Naturally, those kinds of injuries would immediately kill a human. However, even with that, the Usarved soldiers could still crawl to safety. And the dead ones had injuries on their heads, or their chests.

“Well, but…” she averted her eyes, as I saw her blushing, “…honestly, during these moments, I can use a glass of blood to drink.”

“Eh?”

“F-Forget I said something.”

I clearly heard that, though. Now that I realized it, Cherflammen had zombies (intelligent, though), goblins, orcs, werewolves (called Tambara), incubi and succubi (under the name Biorno), so…is the Usarved the term of the people of Cherflammen for vampires?

“Eh…” it was the Lady Baraquiel. “I can offer you my blood, but you Usarveds hated its taste, no?”

“Please don’t, milady,” Shevaun was quick to refuse her offer. “I mean no offense, but I’ll get even more tired if I drink your blood.”

“How about human blood?” I asked, not necessarily I’m thinking of offering mine. I’m just ‘testing the waters’; confirming my hunch.

“The Usarveds love it,” the orc lady revealed. “Though as far as I know, they are under oath not to take human blood unless it’s offered to them.”

I could only stare at Shevaun. All this time, I never knew I was sleeping beside vampires. And the moments I woke up with a stinging sensation in my neck came back to me. Could she possibly be silently drinking my blood all this time?

“Milord, I know that look,” the demon chamberlain said. “If you’re thinking I’m drinking your blood, then by all means, your student does it as well!”

So you’re admitting to the crime!

“I can’t help it!” Shevaun defended her actions, “M-M-Milord’s b-blood is…”

“Ooh…” Lady Baraquiel chuckled. “You love it’s smell, Lady Ilkes?”

The chamberlain sheepishly nodded.

“What about it?” I asked the orc lady. As far as I’m aware of, human blood smelled and tasted like rusted iron, and mine couldn’t be possibly different.

“Lord Greg, don’t you know?” the Lady Baraquiel’s amused smile appeared on her lips. “When the Usarveds find your blood as ‘fragrant’, it means they want to connect with you!”

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The war council began the moment the Lord Tenguri appeared. As I healed him before, his eyes were now back to normal. We also gathered in some hallway on the lowest floor of one of the Conclave’s school buildings, to avoid the risk of being shelled by the Biornos. It was only a small circle: the goblin forces were represented by the Lord Tenguri and Lady Baraquiel, the Usarved army was present through Shevaun Ilkes, and the commander of the orcish knights was there, too.

“…”

For the Conclave, my presence was enough. However, as they were already cut-off from their respective clans, the other head scholars Lord Benedetto Gracchio and the Lady Irene Capaldi also attended. Well, it’s a good thing they came, though. My head was all woozy after Shevaun took on my offer to give her some—I said, ‘some’—of my blood. From what I felt after, I guess she drank about a quarter of it.

The good news was that, Shevaun quickly regained her strength. And she’s back to her usual ‘prim-and-proper’ self.

“I guess we should start this council, now that all of us are here,” the Lord Tenguri began. “First off, I’d like to thank the Lord Greg Santos for his efforts to save our soldiers, and he even healed my eyes as well.”

The others also expressed their gratitude, with the orc commander (the brother of Lady Baraquiel) giving me a pat on the back. With all the thanks said, the goblin lord then hopped to the topics of the meeting…

“Now, I’m proposing that we retreat from the Conclave as soon as possible.”

“What?” the Lord Gracchio blurted out.

“I know how you feel, milord,” Lady Capaldi told him. “However, the Lady Baraquiel briefed me about our situation. The attack earlier inflicted casualties on the Goblin Legion and the Usarved army, effectively halving their strength. Not to mention, their equipment was destroyed in the subsequent hailstorm.”

I could only blame myself for what happened.

“Don’t worry about it, milord,” it was Shevaun. “You did well. If you didn’t cast that god-power, we’d all be dead by now.”

“Lord Head Scholar Gracchio,” the Lord Tenguri’s voice was more authoritative than usual, “it’s not that we’re going to give up on the Conclave. However, just as what the Lady Head Scholar Capaldi said, we lost people and equipment. We can always ask for reinforcements in Goblinhom, but it will take time. Crossing the Sea of Sand with a huge army is a logistical problem to our people.”

“Forgive me for my outburst, Lord Tenguri,” the Lord Gracchio told him. “I’m just shocked that we’ll have to leave this school, even as we’re starting the reforms.”

“I’m afraid that will have to wait,” I finally entered the conversation. “The Biornos shelled the Conclave, and because of that, they put our students in danger. It’ll be irresponsibility on our part to continue our classes amidst artillery fire.”

“Are you saying that we should dismiss the students, Lord Greg?”

“Not only dismiss…we’ll have to suspend our classes.”

Silence ruled the council after I told them the only option we had. Honestly, it was also hard for me, for I did give a promise to my students to protect them from returning to their clans, and avoid enlisting. But as the enemy was right beyond our school’s wall, and were disrespecting the wishes of their old hero, Cassandra David, we had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill.

“So, how are we going to do that?” the Lord Gracchio asked. “Shall we leave the students here, to be picked by their parents?”

“No, we won’t do that, at least, the students from other clans except the Biorno. We’ll have to take them as we retreat, then release them to their clans. The moment we defied their parents is the moment we took responsibility for their welfare.”

“But it’ll be a logistical problem as well, Lord Greg,” the Lady Baraquiel pointed out. “And also, having children come with us would slow our forces.”

“I got a solution for that, milady,” Shevaun answered. “Can I have a map here?”

The Lord Tenguri then produced a map and spread it on the floor.

“The city of the Saint’s Tower is located near the center of this realm,” the chamberlain explained. “Thus, we got four separate directions to traverse if we want to bring the scholars home safely.”

“A logistical impossibility,” the Lord Gracchio quipped. “We’ll be traveling around the Sea of Sand if we do that.”

“Yes, it is,” Shevaun agreed. “…that’s if we think of having our forces escort them all home. However, if we divide our armies: a contingent will escort the Usarved students to Helfan to the north, another will guard the orc scholars until they reach Orcdwelt, the same will be done to the Tambaras and goblins, we can accomplish our goal of safeguarding the students in a short amount of time.”

“That’s plausible, Lady Ilkes,” Lady Head Scholar Capaldi nodded. “But I’m worried about the Tambaras. We know that the scholar who killed our master will be with them, so it’s highly-likely that the Biorno forces will prioritize pursuing this group. And with a minimal armed escort, they can all be overtaken and captured.”

Well, the Lady Capaldi was right. There’s that possibility. And this was Cherflammen, so I didn’t have an idea of how they usually treat their prisoners here, even if it’s children. However, Shevaun’s proposal was sound as well; it would not only shorten our time in escorting the students home, it would also force the Biornos to divide their forces once they attempt to pursue all the groups, weakening their army. We could deal with them piecemeal, if that happened.

“…”

Wait…piecemeal, eh? Just like how guerrilla warfare is fought!

“You got something in mind, Lord Greg?” it was the Lord Tenguri.

“Darling, you know that the Lord Greg always have something in mind whenever he’s silent,” the Lady Baraquiel chuckled. “And I’m sure that it is good.”

“You put too much trust in me,” I told them. “Well, I just have an idea on what should we do in case we take Lady Shevaun’s suggestion.”

“Let us hear it then.”

“We execute Lady Shevaun’s plan,” I took a pencil and drew over the map. “Separate groups escorted by some of our forces will head to their respective clans’ territories. Now, at this point, if our enemies decide to run after us, the Biorno forces have two options: pursue us all, dividing and weakening their armies, or focus on one group, which is most probably, they’d go for the Tambaras.”

“And…?”

“We can attack and harass them either way,” I suggested. “A divided army is easier to maraud. Their smaller numbers is susceptible to be overwhelmed, should we put attention to proper points of attack. But then, they’re faster to form battle lines, making it more dangerous for us to deal with them. On the other hand, a bigger force—though it can be intimidating—is best suited for hit-and-run attacks. For one, their size meant that they will be slow in reacting to our harassment, as they would have to switch formations to deal with us. By the time they are in combat formation, we already escaped. If they send detachments after us, we can always ambush those, further weakening their forces.”

“And what if they aren’t baited into sending people?” the Lord Tenguri asked.

“Then we’ll keep on harassing them,” I smirked. “That’s the advantage of ‘guerrilla’ warfare; it’s meant to tackle on superior forces by shaving off significant numbers, so they can be weakened for a general attack later on.”

Heh, I’m sure that in this world similar to the Napoleonic-style of linear warfare, guerilla strategies could be effective. I mean, there were many examples of it, the famous ones included the French Invasion of Russia in 1812, and the Peninsular War. And Cherflammen was a land with many hills and mountains, which was suitable for hit-and-run tactics. Not only could we weaken our enemies’ numbers by those factors, we could also negate their advantage in superior weaponry by attacking them as close as possible.

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***The Biorno camps***

The Lord Sargdhenerri watched as his soldiers carried off the corpses in and around their defenses, both ally and enemy. While he did agree with the former god’s condition to ‘kill everyone’ that opposed him, at least, he could give them a proper burial. Besides, he had to call off the planned counterattack against the forces inside the Conclave, since the anomalous weather earlier killed several of his warriors, and destroyed many of their equipment.

He has sent for additional requests for soldiers and arms from his village, but it will take a while to come.

“…”

Nevertheless, the Biorno vassal remained cautious as the lull in fighting went longer. Before he left, the former Lord Gaius gave him a warning about the human head scholar…

“You must keep on a lookout for a golden-yellow glow in the Conclave,” he told him. “That human, Greg Santos, may use the god-power of the Beastman Saint against your forces.”

“What do you mean? That man is also a saint?”

“No, but he is trusted by the saints, they inadvertently passed to him their powers,” Gaius revealed. “And you can’t do anything once he used the god-power to fight you.”

“I’d like to see him try,” the Lord Sargdhenerri replied. “I’ll assign the best of my artillery crews to keep him off my soldiers.”

“Hm…that’s a good plan. Well, in any case, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The Biorno vassal grinned. While the human head scholar called a rain of hailstone to his forces in the end, they still suppressed him initially. If they could repeat that, and be more aggressive in their counterattacks, they could capture the Conclave before the Lord Santos could inflict casualties on his soldiers.

“Milord…”

The Lord Sargdhenerri’s thoughts were interrupted when an aide called out to him. The demon was pointing upward, so he followed his direction. Much to the Biorno vassal’s surprise, dark clouds had gathered above their camp once again. The uncanny speed at which the clouds grew told him that the human head scholar was using his god-power again.

“Alert the artillery,” the Lord Sargdhenerri ordered. “And get our scouts looking at the Conclave for any bright, golden-yellow light. Direct the cannon fire on that spot once they see it!”

“Yes, milord!”

The pre-arranged bugle signal for the Biorno soldiers to take shelter was sounded. The burial parties had to leave the bodies behind, as they rushed back to their defenses. Meanwhile, the artillery crews raised against time to prepare their cannons, and the scouts on their spyglasses scoured the Conclave from a distance, looking for that golden-yellow light.

Soon, there was someone shouting…

“The Conclave’s tower!”

True enough, there was a bright golden-yellow glow right at the topmost center of the school’s highest point, where the Head Scholar’s office was supposed to be located. The Biorno artillery crews quickly reoriented their cannons to its direction, and with their officers’ signal, opened fire simultaneously. Around forty shells fell on that part of the Conclave within a few minutes.

“Don’t stop firing!” was the Lord Sargdhenerri’s command, as the dark swirling clouds kept on forming, and flashes of lightning appeared.

The Biorno soldiers watched in anxious anticipation of what’s to come. Having experienced the terrible onslaught brought by the human head scholar’s god-power earlier, to see the foul weather form once again was enough to batter their morale. The only ones foolish or brave enough to stand in the middle of their camp were the artillery crews trying to counter the magic attack, and their lord commanding them.

However, the weather showed no sign of stopping. Soon, strong winds blew, knocking off some of the tents and makeshift barracks. Then the first hailstone fell. At that point, the artillery crews and their generals had no choice but to take shelter as well, leaving their remaining cannons in the open and to its inevitable fate. The Biorno forces were being bombarded once again.

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**Greg**

I couldn’t believe that my guess would be true. I asked the Lord Tenguri if we could replicate the ‘golden-yellow light’ of my hand, and put it on the highest point of the Conclave, its tower. From what happened to me in the attack before, I surmised that it may had attracted the attention of our enemies, thus, they targeted their fire on me. However, I also suspected that the Biornos would prioritize in killing me, since they knew how powerful the god-power of the Beastman Saint was.

So, they rained artillery on the tower. While determining the Biorno goals was one of my concerns, the golden-yellow light was actually a ruse. As the enemy fired on it, we executed Shevaun’s plan. The students were evacuated via a hole made in the Conclave’s wall bordering the desert, and the orc knights’ area of responsibility. The Biorno scholars were left in their dormitories, and the deliberately misdirection of their clan’s artillery ensured their safety.

“…”

The Usarved students were under the protection of Shevaun and Lady Capaldi, and they were to take them to the city of Helfan, the personal fief of the Usarved princess. The goblins would come with the Lord Tenguri and Lady Baraquiel, escorted by the remnants of their goblin command. The orcs—whose escape route was the shortest and the safest—naturally fell within the orcish knight commander’s responsibility, while the Tambaras, as I expected them to be pursued, were to be accompanied by me and the Lord Gracchio, along with a few of the goblin, Usarved and orc soldiers.

“Sir…” Nari looked at me with fear in her eyes, as we marched around the walls of the city of Saint’s Tower.

“It’s fine, Nari,” I gave her a head pat. “I’ll try talking to your parents once we reached Fangborough.”

Because we couldn’t afford any more issues, we didn’t tell the students of our evacuation plan until it was time for them to go. Of course, we already expected their shocked reactions; some of them even got angry for my ‘betrayal’ of their expectations. However, it’s not like we had a choice; the Goblin Legion and the Usarved army were decimated, their obsolete equipment destroyed, and reinforcements still several days away from even organizing! A few of the Biorno students asked to come with us as well, but I ultimately decided against it, for they’d risk being cut-off from their clans, like what happened to the Lord Gracchio and Lady Capaldi.

In any case, we’re trying to reach a valley between the mountain range known as the ‘East Flame Mountains’ and a group of unnamed hills that bordered the northeastern limits of the Sea of Sand desert. The Tambaras, though they were a hardy folk, were still vulnerable to heat and exhaustion (they were canines, no matter how I look at it). So, we had the younger students ride the carriages, while those who could tolerate the desert climate rode the horses we could spare.

When we made sure we had traveled the sufficient distance from the city, I called down a thunderstorm to hit the Biorno army positions in one swift, but powerful, strike, then turned off my god-powers.

Here’s to hoping that it will slow them down, should they decide to pursue.

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The journey to Fangborough, the city of the Tambaras, was estimated to take about three days of continuous marching. The demon people, unlike the humans, had no problems with it. They could even last several weeks without eating or drinking, as what the Lady Srexe’s example before showed. As such, we expected to arrive there on time, or even earlier than scheduled.

On our way, we encountered several Tambara servants on their way to the Conclave to fetch the children of their masters, including those from Nari’s household. Of course, we updated them on the events at the city of the Saint’s Tower, as well as the conditions of the Tambara students. To make sure that we arrive at Fangborough unscathed, the Tambara servants offered to escort us throughout the way, which the Lord Gracchio and I accepted.

However, our journey was not without problems…

“Biorno scouts!”

“!!!” We thought our escape went unnoticed from the Biorno’s eyes. But then, the sightings of their scouts following us from a distance was proof that they were aware of our group. That fact was only made clearer when the Tambara servants joined us, for they were excellent scouts themselves.

The Lord Gracchio and I knew…it would only be a matter of time before the Biorno reached us. They would never let the Tambara students arrive in Fangborough…especially that scholar who killed their master.

“…”

And so, not wishing to be on the defensive, we decided to implement the second part of our ‘escape plan’.

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Our convoy only had a small group of soldiers; a mixed force of goblin legionnaires, Usarved warriors and orc knights. All were armed with swords and crack horns, though some were also fortunate to use the few M1911s we confiscated from Emile Biorno’s thugs. These had limited ammunition, and so I expected the modern pistols to have a limited impact on battles.

As for me, I could rely on the Beastman Saint’s god-powers, though I guess I should use it sparingly because of its ‘area-of-effect’. We’re in the open, and I might hit the students’ convoy as well. I thought of using the Human Saint’s god-powers, too. See, if she could heal any injuries or sickness, she could also inflict diseases. I remember Lady Madelaine casting it before to inflict fatal maladies against her enemies.

But then, I realized, I had no idea of how to do it. I mean, I guess I could cast it, though unlike the Human Saint, I’m afraid my god-power wouldn’t distinguish friend from foe, thus killing them both. I hadn’t tried it, and I’m not going to, lest I endanger my friends and allies. I didn’t want to risk it.

Besides, now that I thought about that, even if I got that god-power working, the ultimate goal was to cause as little negative event as possible. An injury or death could contribute to the Human Saint’s defeat against her mother, so I guess the weather control was enough. At least, one could survive that simply by taking a shelter.

Still, I should’ve ask the Lady Madelaine before how she cast that magic, when I have the chance…

“…”

Well, I got myself armed with a sword and an M1911, just in case I needed to come against my enemies up close and personal.

So, with those conditions, I asked the Lord Gracchio to carry on with our goal of reaching Fangborough with our students. I told him I’d follow, for he was afraid (he was still a member of a vassal of the Biorno clan) of talking alone to the Tambara elders. I just couldn’t let this opportunity to weaken the Biorno forces pass.

Some of the Tambara servants also joined my motley army, where they were to serve as our reconnaissance. As they knew the area around the hillsides, they led us to places where we could set up perfect ambush sites. My plan was clear: there were three ‘ambush’ chokepoints that led to the city of Fangborough, should they decide to continue pursuing the students. We won’t hold these places, but we’d make sure they’d have a difficult time in taking those.

My assumption is, by the moment they reach Fangborough, the Tambara army is ready to meet their threat, and the Biornos are too weak to put up a fight.

“…”

The advanced party of the Biorno forces was only a few hours away from the student convoy. With limited time on our site, we took our positions in the chokepoints, and waited for them. And when they came into our full view…

“Fire at will!”

Bullets, magic spells, and even sand, rained on the unsuspecting incubi soldiers. It was only a small force, perhaps sent to capture the Tambara scholars, then retreat to the Conclave. Nevertheless, they fought with determination and courage. They were armed with M1911s and crack horns, too, which they used to suppress our fire. Then, with their magicians casting magic barriers, another group of incubi soldiers marched to outflank us.

But this is where the trap is sprung!

“!!!”

Basing my strategy on the Biorno tactics I witnessed during the initial battle at the Saint’s Tower, I surmised they’d maneuver to our flanks while we were busy dealing with the fire from the front. As such, I kept another of our soldiers hidden on both our flanks, so that when they marched into our positions…

“What? They got soldiers on this side too!” someone among our enemies shouted.

Ah, they’re panicking; music to my ears…However, it’s only one part of my surprise for them.

“They’re attacking from the rear as well!”

“Switch your fire to the left! To the left!”

The pleas of the Biorno commander echoed throughout the battlefield as we traded shots with them. That motivated our side to fight harder, which, in turn, demoralized the incubi soldiers. They were utterly surrounded in three directions, and their only hope of averting disaster was to retreat the way they came.

But, of course, it’s just an illusion. I’m aiming to weaken the Biorno forces, and one way to do that was to remove military formations from their command, one unit at a time. So, when we noticed that they were losing their will to fight, I sent in the signal to the Tambaras who were waiting at the route where the incubi soldiers went in. They rose to block their enemy’s only way of escape, and soon, we were marching back to Fangborough with a group of Biorno prisoners of war.