In the Savina camp outside the city… a messenger rushed into the tent without permission, his breath broken:"Sir! Reinforcements have arrived! They ambushed Erik from behind!"
Thorn raised his head immediately.His gaze froze for a second."What did you say?"
"Orvalis forces… entered the fight from the rear, they flipped the formation!"
A heavy silence filled the tent for a fraction of a second… then Thorn moved at once:"Send three units to the eastern wall! Now!"
"At once!"
The messenger rushed out.
Thorn remained alone inside the tent.He began to walk.One step… then another… then circling the table.
His eyes fixed on the hourglass.Grains of sand falling slowly.
"One minute… two… five… twenty… thirty…"He counted in a low voice.
"They should arrive now… they must—"
He didn't finish.
Another soldier entered quickly."Sir!"
Thorn stopped in place."Speak."
"The three units… have fallen!"
His expression froze."How?"
"Half of Orvalis forces took positions inside the buildings, they sealed the passages."
Thorn stepped forward."Continue."
"Archers on the rooftops, covering the alleys completely."
"And the wall?"
"They used the wall's stones as barricades, turned the entrance into a choke point."
Thorn was silent for a second.Then said:"Losses?"
"High… the units couldn't advance."
The report wasn't over yet.The soldier hesitated for a moment… then added:"And there's… something else."
Thorn lifted his gaze directly at him."Say it."
"Forces… entering from the southern gate."
Silence returned.But this time—heavier.
Thorn looked at the map before him.Then at the hourglass.
The sand was still falling.But the calculation…was no longer the same.
Inside the tent, the rhythm of orders began to accelerate.Thorn slammed his hand on the table and spoke quickly:
"Send six units to the southern gate! Seal it, stop the civilians, and regain control!""At once!"
"Move the catapults! North to west… and east to north!"
A messenger hesitated for a moment, then said:"The eastern catapults… have fallen into enemy hands."
Thorn fell silent.His gaze fixed on the map."Fallen?"
"Yes, sir… they are using them now."
He clenched his teeth."Then…"
He raised his head slowly:"The enemy isn't just defending…"
His voice dropped:"They are repurposing our resources."
Then suddenly—"All forces!"
He raised his voice sharply:"To the southern gate!"
He turned to the messengers:"We enter through it!"
Inside the city—chaos exploded.
Screams.Clashing shields.The ringing of swords repeating like a war rhythm that never stops.
From one side—Leon advances.
From the other—Erik.
Neither slows.Neither looks right or left.
A strike—opens a path.Another—pushes a soldier aside.One step forward… then another.
Soldiers are shoved out of the way.Bodies retreat without awareness.The battlefield… opens for them.
A moment.
Then—movement.
At the same instant.A direct charge.
SAAAAAASH—!
Swords collide.A sharp spark explodes between the blades.
A brief halt…Eyes meet.
Stillness.
Erik, with a mocking smile and burning breath:"I didn't know Orvalis soldiers… preferred attacking from behind."
Leon… expressionless.His voice low… cold:"Don't you know… hunters stay behind their prey?"
Silence.One second only.But heavy.
Then—explosion.
Erik lunges.Fast, consecutive strikes.One angle—followed by another—then a third.Relentless pressure.
The sword screams through the air:Shak—! Shing—! Taaakh—!
Leon does not retreat.He leans his body.Slides half a step.Changes the angle before the strike lands.Reads… then responds.
Block—deflect—quick counter.
The swords clash again:CHAAANG!KRAAASH!Tik— Tik— Tik!
The sound of metal rose above everything.Above the screams.Above the chaos.
Around them…the soldiers stopped.Swords still in their hands… but unmoving.
Watching.Observing.
As if the entire battle…had been reduced to just two blades.
Both step back… one step.Heavy breath.Chests rising and falling.
Steel calms for a second—
"Boy! Don't you know who you're facing?!"
A Savina rider's voice cuts through the field.
"This is General Erik—he has no losing battles!"
Silence.
Then—
"And you… don't you know?"
An Orvalis soldier responds, his voice steady.
"This is the Deputy Supreme Commander—he has never been defeated!"
Eyes turn.
Erik… freezes for a fraction of a second.Shock.
Then—a slow smile… turning into greed.
"I didn't expect a valuable head here…"
His tone lowers… becomes heavier:"Then… no more holding back."
CHAAARGE.
The ground is struck beneath their feet.
Before impact—Erik suddenly shifts the angle of his sword.
The strike deviates…not a clash—but a direct penetration.
Inside his mind:"I won't play it clean."
Leon…smiles.
A shorter step—greater speed.
His eyes catch the intent… before it completes.
One move—a sharp side slip.
The blade passes by his shoulder.
And at the same moment—a flash counter.
His sword rises from a tight angle—
TSSHHAAANG!
It strikes Erik's blade from the inside, breaking its path.
The friction releases a sharp screech:SHRIIEEK—!
Erik loses his attack line for a moment—but does not stop.
He rotates half his body,drives with his shoulder,and redirects the strike from another angle.
TAAKH!
Leon blocks…slides half a step back.
The ground beneath their feet scrapes.
The speed increases.
CHAANG! TAK! SHING!
Strike—counter—reflection—penetration—no pause.
Erik presses harder.A chain of crossing strikes, uncomfortable angles,trying to break the rhythm.
Leon… changes the rhythm itself.
Calm within the storm.
He leans—lowers—then suddenly closes in.
Shorter distance.More dangerous.
The soldiers around them… do not move.
All sound is swallowed by a single strike—
KRAAAASH!
The swords lock at the center.
Faces close.Eyes steady.
Sparks falling between them…
And the battle—has not even begun yet…