Caesar and his split army marched through the forest relatively slow. Their main goal was to pincer the trolls, as such, they needed to wait until the trolls launched their siege on the fox-kin stronghold. This way, they could reap the highest amount of benefits from attacking with their small number of troops.Caesar was not so foolish as to think he was capable of winning a head-on collision with enemy troll forces. His main goal was to essentially steal their higher position. He would do this by taking over their superior stronghold and stealing their food supply.
This was why he split his forces accordingly, however, the main issue with this plan was that it required a large number of necessary sacrifices. There needed to be soldiers that defended the fox-kin stronghold and evacuated the citizens for victory to be possible.
These people were, of course, Musashi and his fellow combatants that were generally of the same age. When Caesar had first suggested this plan to Musashi, he gladly volunteered himself, and his friends, without question.
Thinking to here, Caesar was reminded of the old man that abruptly surrendered to him at the tournament. He remembered that the man asking to meet him after the battle, alas, after he proposed to Ahri, he completely forgot.
Slightly regretful, Caesar shook his head and discard his unnecessary thoughts. He then turned around and organized the army following behind him. He put those equipped with a shield and spear in front, while those with ranged weapons in the back. He placed the swordsmen on the sides of the formation and directly behind the shield bearers.
This way, the force with the highest striking power, the swordsmen, were capable of entering and leaving the frontlines at a moments notice. He wanted to make sure they lived for as long as possible, while also fully utilizing their strengths.
After this was complete, Caesar and his army continued their quiet and slow march. None of them possessed any armor such as chainmail, plate, or anything of the sort. Instead, they adorned leather, which made walking quietly and sneaking much easier for fox-kin men.
As such, they continued marching in similar fashion for about another hour or so. The tall, wooden walls of the fox-kin stronghold were barely discernible from the thick brush and Caesar used a hand-signal to halt the troops.
He then slowly crept towards the ends of the forest and peered out of a bush, to which be bared witness to a huge ma.s.s of troops circling the entire fox-kin stronghold. Many of the larger Ceros creatures, huge wooden ladders, and battering rams were present.
The bluish, muscular trolls were standing shoulder to shoulder and even if you looked down upon them, you wouldn"t even be capable of seeing the ground. Their numbers easily doubled the entire fox-kin army, not to mention their split forces.
Around eight or so wooden carts were stationed behind the army with about ten trolls guarding each respective one. Caesar presumed these carts to be their food supply in preparation for their long siege.
These wooden carts were also Caesar"s main priority, thankfully, they were in the back of the army, and not the middle. He then raised his eyes to the large chair that was currently being carried by a dozen heavily armored trolls.
It was a burgundy throne with golden rims. Strange engravings of human-like figures fighting, building, and farming were etched on to it. It was a throne worthy of a king and looked quite extravagant
Suddenly, the large and robust troll atop the throne waved his hand to the right, and in response, a greyish horn was brought to him. It was about one and a half meters long and 25 centimeters wide.
It required two trolls to carry it and the horn soon arrived in front of the troll king, to which he wrapped his mouth around one end of it and blew as loudly as he could. A loud echo rang throughout the nearby forest and caused Caesar to use his fingers and plug his ears. It sounded similar to a mating whale.
After the troll king made everyone, and everything, in a one hundred mile radii, know that he was present, he stood up from his throne with a large halberd in hand. His normally greenish skin was a dark red and he slammed the halberd on the ground in a fit of rage.
As the throne shook, Caesar suddenly caught sight of a chained woman that was sitting at the troll kings side. She was extremely familiar to Caesar and he was in her debt… it was Andrea. Confused, Caesar creased his brows and ma.s.saged his forehead.
Unfortunately, he wasn"t given much time to contemplate, as Zul"thar opened his lips and roared at the top of his lungs, "MUSASHI, GET YOUR OLD a.s.s OUT HERE, I KNOW THAT IT WAS YOU WHO KILLED MY SON!" he shouted angrily.
The ground and walls seemed to shake from his roar, and in response, a small figure appeared at the top of the fox-kin walls. He adorned a black kimono designed with a realistic, red dragon twisted around it. He had two silver chains that were coiled around his fists and arms. This was naturally Musashi.
His beard fluttered in the wind and his muscles seemingly expanded to pop out of the loose kimono. His eyes were sharp and he stared down at Zul"thar as if he were an ant. As someone who was briefed of Caesar"s plan, he was long aware that the troll prince was murdered.
"Admittedly, I did in fact kill that h.o.r.n.y little rat. He couldn"t seem to keep his thing in his pants even when he was at the end of his life, presumably something he inherited from you" Musashi replied calmly and eighty or so other cloaked figures appeared at his side, shoulder to shoulder, each one possessing a huge amount of mana within their body.
Musashi"s words clearly angered the troll king as he pulled up Andrea from her collar and raised her high in the air, "haha, I have your little helper right here, don"t tell me you are willing to sacrifice her?" he laughed loudly, the anger in his voice evident.
Musashi stared directly at Andrea"s face and simply closed his eyes as if t was a matter not at all a.s.sociated with him. However, his fists that were hidden by the chains were tightly clasped, evidently enraged.
His nails were deeply embedded into his skin, however, he didn"t show any of signs of his rage on his outward expression. Instead, he appeared extremely calm whilst looking down at Zul"thar. The amount of restraint he possessed was extraordinary.
Seeing this, Caesar"s eyes squinted and he took a few steps back. He signaled for the troops behind him to walk a bit forward and they patiently waited at the edge of the forest. Caesar raised his hand high in the air, and in response, the fox-kin men nocked their arrows.
Caesar then made a fist and the many archers pulled their bowstrings until they creaked. Once the entire army was prepared to fire, Caesar smiled and whispered, "on my command, you fire… I will not allow any failures!" to which, the army nodded their heads and they directed their attention to Musashi"s and Zul"thars conversation
This was around the same time that Akari and the troops at point B engaged in battle at the troll-stronghold.