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We made our way to the top of the inner walls to see what was going on. When we got there, we saw the chaos unfolding.
In both the front and back gates, there were man-sized holes with Valorhelm Dominion soldiers pushing through and pulling the gates open, while each gate had five knights with glowing swords mowing down our soldiers who were trying to rush the gates to stem the flow of Dominion troops.
Dad immediately gave the order to his men to take back the gates, and all but two of the knights that came with him flared their aura and jumped off the wall and onto nearby roofs as they dashed to the breaches.
As Dad's knights rushed forward, and Dad was busy barking orders to runners, I focused on the knights with glowing swords and noticed something unusual.
Instead of finding the powerful and skillful knights who had mastered their aura and sword art to the point that they could take down fort gates without siege equipment, I see fucking maniacs laughing as they scythe men down like stocks of wheat, armor, shields, or blocking be damned. Only those who coated themselves or their weapons survived getting hit, but they were sent flying.
Most of the men facing them did not use aura, and even if those that did use aura got a hit in on these fucking maniacs, the aura of these berserk knights shrug off these blows like it was nothing. And speaking about aura, there is something weird about the aura exuding from these knights with the glowing swords.
Unlike the other invading knights, who had smooth and disciplined auras that were layered close to their bodies, these ten knights' aura trail flowed and flared out of their bodies like someone who had just learned how to use their aura. And I don't know if it is just me, but something feels off about the aura, it's almost like I am feeling anger or rage from the aura, which should not be possible. I have seen quite a number of people use aura, and I have never felt an emotion emanate from one before.
In a matter of seconds, Dad's knights were upon the berserk knights with glowing swords, and from the first clash, things did not go well for Dad's knights. They were either swatted aside or almost immediately overpowered. It was only by the intervention of our nearby troops that Dad's knights were not slain on the spot with follow-up attacks.
From then on, Dad's knights were on the defensive, attracting the attention of the berserk knights so they would not wreak so much damage on the normal soldiers.
When our knights decided to fight the berserk knights like they were monsters and use group tactics, the normal enemy knights stepped in to keep our knights engaged.
It did not even take five seconds since engaging the berserk knights before our knights took their first casualty. One of Dad's men managed to stab one of the berserk knights in an unarmored part of the thigh, but before he could pull back his sword, the berserk knight grabbed the sword with one arm, and with a roar, slashed down on Dad's knight, taking one of his arms clean off and cutting through his breastplate like it was cheap leather, which I found to be bloody scary because I am damn sure all of Dad's knights have defensive enchantments on their armor.
Within seconds, one after another, our knights were being cut down or sent flying through nearby buildings.
Overall, we lost in this initial clash. A few of our knights are dead, and most of those who survived were wounded in one way or another. But just as our knights were about to charge in again, I felt mana surge from beside me.
When I turned to see where the surge of mana was coming from, I saw two squads of mages syncing up to chant siege spells, and within seconds, they chucked huge balls of fire at the enemies flooding in.
It was glorious to see the enemies try to push their way back out the gate when they saw the huge ball of fire coming at them. It is too bad that they could not use those spells on the berserk knights due to the risk of friendly fire.
After that initial siege spell strike, the two mage squads switched back to smaller spells and concentrated on the berserk knights. The enemy soldiers soon flooded back into the wall, and soon, groups of crossbowmen started emerging from their ranks and looking at the two squads of mages with malicious intent.
Seeing the mages too engrossed in chucking spells from atop the wall, they did not seem aware of the danger. So I weaved a wind spell called Wind Whisper to carry my voice to the two squads of mages, "Shields up! Crossbows aiming at you!" I shouted into my spell, and I knew they got the message when the mages jerked, and a few of them grabbed a pendant around their neck. A split second later, the shimmer of a mana shield formed in front of the mage squads, just in time to see crossbow bolts hit the mana shield.
"Good call, son," Dad told me. When I turned to him, He was with me, overlooking the chaos below. "I gave all the instructions I could. The only thing we can do now is let the commanders on the ground lead their men. If you ever come into command of your own, this is one of the hardest parts… watching your men die on the word of your command."
"Then what about all those treatises I read about historical battles where the commander of an army charges into battle?" I asked as we both looked over the ongoing battle.
"Those are heavily embellishments reports. That just means that the commander has someone else on staff to see the bigger picture and command accordingly. But there is no shame in that; not everyone has a talent for grand strategy, and I cannot say I have any real talent for it either. In fact, I would rather be down there fighting, but seeing as I am the highest-ranking person here and am in no condition to fight, I must be seen to be in command." Dad said.
As we observed, the battle had reached a sort of stalemate. The berserk knights were still cutting down our men left and right, but with the support of the mages, our knights were keeping the casualties relatively low compared to the initial clash. We could have pushed the enemy a bit more if we had additional magical firepower, but the enemy was suppressing our mages with ranged attacks, forcing them to sacrifice a few of their own to focus on purely defensive spells.
However, despite our side taking more casualties, a stalemate favored us as more of our soldiers came running out of their barracks to force out the intruders, and even the enemy could feel that they were losing the initiative and needed to switch things up.
That was when I saw one of the enemy knights at the back gate, with a feather sticking out of his helmet, shouting to get the attention of two of the berserk knights and pointing to the mage squads. The two berserk knights then knocked away the knights they were fighting and started making a beeline for the mage squads.
I urgently reached out and tapped Dad to get his attention. "Dad! Mage squads are in trouble!" I pointed as the berserk knights jumped up on the first roof.
When Dad saw what I was pointing at, he could only say what I was thinking. "Fuck!"