"You damned coward of a king." Lissius spits with as much disgust as he can muster. "So you prefer to send me your lapdogs instead of facing me directly? And here I thought that the long line of Lumieri Kings since the days of the Old Kingdom were reknowned for being honorable warriors."
Leo just shrugs off the comment as the smirk from the beginning is still plastered on his face. "Oh I'm afraid I'm not an honorable person my friend. But for you, I'm honorable enough to let you fight against my best general." Leo gestures to Frederick who's already in position, legs locked into the ground ready for battle without the usual smile on his face. What replaced it was a blank look that bore no emotion. Even Leo is slightly taken aback by the sheer murderous intent being given off by Frederick and makes a mental note to never involve his family in any personal arguments.
Lissius however is excited. The mere thought of facing the very man who's said to be the strongest in Lumiere. But for him, Frederick merely gained that reputation because he's never faced him before. For him, Frederick was blessed with weak enemies and not someone of his caliber.
He then notices that the remaining bandit army has already gathered and is facing the newly gathered Lumieri soldiers and Harkon Guards in a standoff. Both are roughly equal in number but Lissius knows that the Lumieri have better troops after seeing the massacre that happened at what once was the barracks of the bandit army. He immediately gestures one of the bandit captains to him and whispers, "As soon as the duel commences, charge at the lines being covered by the Harkon Guards specifically. They're weaker and would more likely break and allow you to encircle the Lumieri."
The captain nods and returns to his post. Lissius then takes up a battle stance and charges at Frederick at full speed but to his surprise, instead of preparing for the strike, Frederick in turn charges towards him as well. Screams fill the air as the two warhammers collide. The sound of metal clashing metal in that one exchange was enough to make anyone cover their ears. One warhammer immediately breaks on impact and the shrapnel flies towards the bandit line injuring some and killing the unlucky as some of the shards penetrate through the eye or forehead with great impact. Bones crack and flesh is pierced as cries of agony from the hapless victims spread as they are immediately dragged away whilst the dead are left to be stepped on by their replacements.
Lissius at first was smiling but it then twists to that of agony and screams in pain as the force of Frederick's strike not only destroyed his warhammer, but also broke his right hand. The hand twisted in such a way that a bone is showing just at the end of the wrist. He drops the remnants of his hammer to the ground and kneels, holding the broken hand as if it would suddenly heal. But it was not the case. It's already broken and it'll take a long time to heal if it'll heal at all.
The bandit army meanwhile, grows nervous at the development. No one has ever beaten Lissius in a duel and yet the man before them just defeated him in one strike. They start to lose nerve and it's soon broken when a wave of sharpened wood with iron tips hits their lines.
Leo immediately took this opportunity and began firing at the shaken bandits. "Archers fire!"
The Lumieri archers near the front immediately reveal themselves and lose a volley as a rain of metal and wood pierces any opening in their armor. Blood slowly starts seeping out of their wounds while others struggle with the pain as some arrows pierced their vital organs and removing them would mean certain death.
They try to raise their shields to form a shield wall but they were too scattered to gather immediately.
This action immediately shatters what remaining morale the bandits had. But the Lumieri weren't finished, another line of archers appear from behind the first line and another wave of wood and iron tips flies which adds more dead to the ranks. As soon as the second line fired, they immediately ducked down just like the first line and another line emerges and fires a third volley. The fire rate of the three volleys was so quick that it seemed that the arrows were continuously pouring down on them. The bandits break and scatter as the Lumieri repeat their actions over and over as arrow-filled bodies start littering the area.
YOU ARE READING
Lumieri Chronicles: Rise of the First Empire (Book 1)
Random"You can't beat the dragon. You must heed my warning. Let them be, you will lose in the long run there's no escape from the inevitable. Only blood and death await the fates of your kingdoms if you proceed..." "You feeble old fool! We've won! They're...
