Chapter 3 – Story 65: The Humiliation of Sunomuta 5 – Archery Contest

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Eladia was plagued by irritation and impatience due to the battle not going as she wanted it to.

In the first place, archer cavalry was a completely new army branch in the west of Seldeas. No one knew how to drill the soldier, nor how they should be commanded or used in actual battle.

Even Souma, the original proposer of the archer cavalry unit, was no exception to this. He knew about the way of fighting by the Mongolian riders and Parthian shots out of books. But, this knowledge was limited to something along the lines of, 「They incur huge losses to the pursuing enemy by shooting arrows at them while pretending to flee」.

If, for example, an equestrian tribe had been around, Eladia and Souma might have been able to ask for their advice. But such tribes didn’t inhabit the West since the plains were originally dominated by the zoan and horses didn’t exist here either. If Souma had searched for such tribes through Yoash, he might have ended up in the south or central areas of the continent, the birthplaces of horses, but five years would have been far too short to accomplish something like that.

In the end, Souma was stuck implementing the archer cavalry unit by groping his way through the dark together with Eladia. Moreover, just as Hiakis had perceived, the training of the archer cavalry was quite lacking. Including Eladia, all of them still had their fair share of trouble to stabilize their bodies atop the horses while shooting arrows. Because of that, they only managed to somehow move as a unit by having those, who focused on riding their horses without shooting any arrows, lead the group.

Despite that, the decision to throw the archer cavalry unit into this battle was based on the desire to eliminate the enemy archer unit.

As known to everyone, the zoan were the main force of Souma’s side. And because of their traits as a race, zoan didn’t wear heavy armor or shields. Logically, they’d suffer heavy casualties if arrows were to rain down on them. If something like that were to occur before the zoan could face the heavy spear infantry, the already slim chance for Souma’s side to win would vanish altogether.

Therefore, they had no choice but to adopt all means to rout the enemy archers so as to avoid this sort of fate. Yet, the elven archers were too few in numbers to face the enemy archer division straight from the front.

Accordingly, Souma and Eladia deliberately decided to employ the archer cavalry here, even while knowing that their skill was lacking, in order to cause panic among the enemy by doing something completely unexpected. Seeing the reactions of Marchronis and Setius, both former Holmean soldiers, when they saw the archer cavalry for the first time, Eladia had estimated that she could use this method to yield some seizable results.

However, as far as she could tell now, the unrest among the enemy fell far behind what she had anticipated. Holmea’s army didn’t make any careless moves or showed a bigger collapse of its rank, even after being confronted with mounted archers for the very first time in their lives.

Under such circumstances, Eladia had no choice but to lament how wrong her own forecast had been.

But, in reality, this analysis of Eladia was wrong. As a matter of fact, the shock of an archer cavalry was simply too excessive, causing all the captains of the First Division, including General Rakius, to freeze in place without knowing how they should react to this.

Yet, regardless of what the circumstances might have been, Holmea’s First division entered an archery competition with the elven archers without suffering too grave injuries. And with things like that, the difference in numbers naturally became the deciding factor.

The Holmean archers, who gradually recovered from the shock of having witnessed an archer cavalry unit, started to shoot their arrows just as they had practiced. The elven archers, on the other hand, were still excelling in skill, but it was clear that they’d be overwhelmed by sheer numbers in the near future.

Should we still cause confusion amidst the enemy by further attacking with the archer cavalry? Eladia asked herself while watching the progress of the battle. However, just moving around in front of the enemy while shooting our arrows as we’ve done until now, shows little effect. Rather than doing something like that, it’d be better to attack the enemy from the flank.

Even a beginner at battle tactics like Eladia understood at least that much. However, attacking from the First Division’s flank would mean for the elves to expose their own flank to the Third or Fourth Division. In such a case, it’d become a problem since both divisions were obviously chariot units. If speaking of just speed, chariots didn’t lose out to horses, and no matter how keen and nimble the horse riders might be, it’d be anything but smart for a ride to expose their flank to chariots.

For this reason, Eladia had been constantly hesitating to attack the First Division’s flanks. But, neither the Third nor the Fourth Division tried to move, remaining grounded to protect the flanks of the Second Division. This caused Eladia to believe that she should shift towards attacking the First Division’s flanks even while knowing that it came with a certain degree of danger.

And just at that moment, the Third and Fourth Divisions began to loudly move. But, their move was limited to them just advancing a bit, before they came to a halt again. Eladia couldn’t know of it, but this maneuver was based on an order given by Hiakis.

He had them advance merely fifty steps on this vast battleground. And as such one would be apt to disregard this as a pointless move, but it was more than enough for Eladia. The Third and Fourth Division, which she had considered as grounded, had advanced, even if only a bit. This fact alone was enough for her to judge that it’d be too dangerous to go around to the flanks of the First Division.

Eladia and Hiakis were both not blessed with the talents of leaders, but this development clearly exposed their big difference in experience.

Without being aware of any of this, Eladia groped for a new solution, just to witness yet another elven woman getting hit by an arrow and collapsing in front of her. Eladia strongly bit down on her own lips in light of this. The elven woman had been a brethren who endured disgrace while surviving by drinking mud together with her. Even if they hadn’t been related by blood, they had been sisters who forged bonds much stronger than those of families. It was unthinkable that Eladia wouldn’t feel anything while watching those sisters getting hurt and killed.

But, she couldn’t afford to pull back here so easily either. She was filled with the desire to deliver a crippling blow against the enemy archers, no matter what it took. Yet, the casualties among the elven archers only continued to mount as Eladia pondered about this matter.

Looking at those scenes with a feeling as if her heart was being torn apart, Eladia noticed a certain fact. There was a certain trait to the arrows which caused all the casualties among her sisters.

Most of the arrows raining down from the First Division were no different from the arrows used by common humans. But, mixed in among those were abnormal arrows which were precisely aimed at her sisters. Those arrows packed an unbelievable punch.

The shooting contest between the First Division and the elven archers took place at a distance where the arrows wouldn’t reach their targets if not shot in a big parabola. Because of that, the arrows lacked force, even if they hit their enemy, and unless the hit target was extremely unlucky, it’d end with just a minor injury.

Yet, those abnormal arrows flew at the elven archers at a trajectory that came close to almost being a straight line. And as such, their penetrative force went far beyond the other arrows. Whenever they hit a shield held by a volunteer soldier, they’d penetrate all the way down to the shaft, accompanied by a terrifying bang and impact. If arrows like that hit directly, they’d likely go straight to a body with ease.

It wasn’t visible from Eladia’s position, but the tips of those arrows, which were much longer than those of normal arrows, were made out of iron with a high penetrative force instead of the usual bronze-made arrows of this era.

However, even without knowing this, she could readily tell with her far sight that those were absurdly dangerous and brutal arrows.

They have special archers with them!? I must quickly identify those enemies and dispatch them, if possible.

Making that call, Eladia called out to the vice-captain following right behind her.

“Take over command for the moment! Continue attacking as is!”

“Yes! ――What about you, Elder Sister!?”

“I will take on those annoying visitors! ――Two of you girls, follow me!” Eladia shouted and then broke away from the archer cavalry with two of her sisters in tow.

And once she left the area where the fierce archery contest took place, she scanned the enemy ranks while making her horse trot. After doing so for a while, Eladia’s eyes suddenly shot open.

Found them!

Her elven eyes, which were used to spot prey hidden within the dense foliage and thickets of forests, discovered muscular men with bizarre bodies lurking within the enemy forces. They were completely covered with animal pelts and were drawing bows that were much longer than they were tall. Eladia didn’t know their name, but those were the Gau hunters, the best archers the West had to offer.

“You two, back me up!”

Her aim was a giant of a man, even amidst the big Gau hunters, who wore a bear pelt. His ability and the reactions by the hunters around him made it clear to Eladia that this guy had to be their leader.

As long as you can take down the leader, a unit will inevitably turn into a disorderly mob. Those are the words Soma often repeats.

In order to put those words into practice, Eladia made her horse gallop while solely focusing her aim at just that bear-pelt-wearing man. The enemy had its attention attracted by the elven archer cavalry, and so they didn’t catch a small group of merely three riders approaching them.

Eladia nocked an arrow onto her Elfen Bow and drew its string to the limit.

Hunters had to take on unforgiving nature and clever beasts. But even among such daredevils you’d occasionally find some who were extremely sensitive to danger that was about to befall them. The same applied to the hunter of the Gau tribe.

The instant Eladia entered a range where her arrow would reach him, the man whirled around after not having shown any indications of having noticed her beforehand. And not just that. Just as he rotated his body, he instantly nocked an arrow on his long bow and aimed it at Eladia. It was a feat so quick that it was unbelievable in light of the longbow which was difficult to handle.

Oh, damn!

The moment she thought so, Eladia removed her right foot from the stirrup and leaned her body to the left.

That instantaneous decision saved her life. In the next moment, the hunter’s arrow flew past her, grazing her head. The arrow, which was heavier and longer than their arrows, tore through the wind like a thunder, causing Eladia to shudder in terror. The arrow had such power behind it that it’d have torn her head off, if she had been but a moment too late.

But, this didn’t mean that Eladia had escaped danger.

As she had leaned over in order to avoid the arrow, the ground was now getting closer, about to reap her life.

Even though I may look like this, I’ve been better at tree climbing than anyone else during my childhood!

Scolding herself like that, Eladia put strength into her legs to pin them firmly against the horse’s body in an attempt to support her body. And then the horse tilted its body to the opposite side, maybe trying to save Eladia or simply trying to regain its balance, which helped Eladia.

And all the while as she was hanging from the horse’s side, Eladia hadn’t let go of her Elfin Bow. Instead, she had kept drawing the arrow nocked onto the string, just to release it now aimed at the Gau hunter’s forehead.

The arrow passed through the gaps between the Holmean soldiers, flying towards the Gau hunter, who had just released his arrow in her direction, as if being drawn to him. But, because she had shot the arrow from a somewhat crooked posture, its aim veered off slightly. The arrow hit the hunter’s left ear.

The hunter crouched down due to the overwhelming pain after having half his ear torn off by the arrow, vanishing out of sight amidst the crowd of humans.

Without any time to confirm that, Eladia extended her right hand, grabbed the knob on her saddle, and pulled up herself with all her strength.

Once she had corrected her seating posture to sit normally atop the saddle again, the horse finally righted its own body as well.

That was close.

While breaking away towards a safe area with her back turned on the First Division, Eladia placed a hand on her chest where her heart was thumping like mad. Even now her white teeth couldn’t stop clattering. Her being able to pull off such a feat while riding a horse as an amateur was nothing short of a miracle. To such a degree that she’d be completely able to understand anyone stating that they had already written her off as dead after falling off her horse.

“Oh Wind God, thou have my exaltest gratitude for thine divine protection,” she reflexively ended up expressing her heartfelt thanks to the god which she hadn’t done for many, many years.

In response, the horse shook its head as if displeased by this. Once she bent forward and peered into the horse’s face, her eyes were filled with the conceit that she only got through it thanks to the horse’s help.

“Forgive me. And thank you. You were a huge help.”

Once she leaned her body forward, pressing her chest against the horse’s neck, the lecherous beast immediately recovered its mood, neighing energetically.

And while being jolted about on the horse’s back, Eladia mused on the response to the arrow she shot earlier.

I can’t believe that it caused a serious injury, making it impossible for him to continue fighting. But, now that he realized that his enemy’s arrow can also reach him, his will to take on enemy arrows should have been dampened, no matter how courageous a man he might be otherwise. And in such a case, he shouldn’t be able to focus on just shooting his arrows as before. Of course it’s not like it’ll completely thwart the movements of those special archers, but I think it will make things a bit harder for them.

At this point, Eladia made a clear cut as her only choice was to be satisfied with this outcome. While widely swinging an arm towards the sky atop her horse, she decided that she had to inform the rear about the existence of those archers.

Soon after, a single harpyian alighted next to Eladia’s horse. She was the harpyian messenger Souma had exclusively attached to Eladia so that she could quickly get in touch with the others under her command.

“Please pass on the following message to Lord Soma at the headquarter,” began Eladia and then curtly explained the information to be conveyed.

◆◇◆◇◆

“I have a message from Lady Eladia. She says archers with powerful bows are mixed among the enemy archers. She warns to be careful with the commander hunt.”

Making use of her wings, the harpyian returned to the headquarters in a flash. Hearing her message, Souma pulled a troubled expression. As a matter of fact, Souma had considered having the few harpyians directly attack the commanders of the enemy units.

But, if those archers with their powerful bows had been deployed near those enemy commanders, that would become quite difficult to pull off. In the worst case, the harpyians would be in danger of being shot down.

At present, less than twenty harpyians were serving under Souma. The loss of merely two harpyians would lower their combat force by a devastating 10%. Once that happened, it’d endanger the messengering and scouting network, which gave them the upper hand over the enemy in this regard. At this point in time, he couldn’t risk to make the harpyians cross that perilous bridge.

But, at that time, Souma’s read of the situation was slightly off.

The Gau hunters, hired by Holmea, had entirely been assigned to the First Division. But, in exchange to that, soldiers with crossbows had been stationed next to officers above regimental commander rank as a countermeasure against possible harpyian attacks.

This had been a measure adopted by Alexius. Knowing that General Darius’s unit being assaulted by harpyians had become the trigger for the collapse for the entire army during the Decisive Battle of Bolnis, Alexius had retrieved crossbows, which were state-of-the-art equipment during those days, from the kingdom’s treasury.

And although his reading was wrong here, Souma’s wariness led to him dodging the trap set by Alexius. But even so, Souma gradually started to fret.

Looking at the state of both armies as they continued the archer battle, the elven archers were currently overwhelming Holmea’s archers in ability. But, overcoming individual prowess with the violence of numbers was the nature of war.

Albeit only slowly, it was obvious to anyone that the numerically inferior elves started to being pushed back. If possible, Souma would love to pull them back as quickly as possible.

But, if he did that, the enemy archers would next target the zoan who didn’t have any plans on how to defend against them. Even if they relied on their legs, trying to bring the fight into close combat, they’d likely get barraged by two or three waves of arrows before getting close enough. Under these circumstances, the zoan would be liable to suffer a lot more casualties than the elven archers. And if they later clashed against the enemy’s main unit, the heavy spear infantry, in such a state, the outcome would be plain as daylight.

Even while Souma understood that he had no choice but to have the elves do their best for now, he couldn’t help feeling impatient as if getting burned by a fire. And what made Souma even more fretful was the atmosphere he felt from the enemy army.

Despite having more than twice as many troops, the enemy didn’t act recklessly. Instead they simply continued to slowly chip away their enemy’s force, following the established tactics of army warfare.

As such, Souma felt as if was slowly but certainly overpowered by Holmea’s overwhelming numbers of soldiers and material.

“What a nasty atmosphere…”

Souma felt a single drop of cold sweat run down his spine.

◆◇◆◇◆

However, the one being far more irritated than Souma and Eladia about the progress of this battle was no one other than Alexius.

“What an unsightly and disgusting battle.”

Sitting on his special chair, Alexius impatiently drummed his fingers on his armrest. In the eyes of Alexius, the ideal battle was one where you crushed the enemy with overwhelming force. And yet, this battle of both sides shaving away each other’s forces ran counter to Alexius’s sense of beauty.

Bending himself forward, Alexius called out to the guard below.

“Any more of this pointless back and forth is in vain. Have the First Division fall back.”

This army had a corps that could offer Alexius the sort of battle he liked so much. While feeling a childish joy over being able to swing around his favorite toy, Alexius ordered, “A message for Hiakis of the Second Division: Crush the enemy.”

The heavy spear infantry, the main force of Holmea’s punitive army, was finally about to make its move.

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