“KARL! Slow down!”

  Eloi’s voice tore through the thunder of battle, but whether the man he was shouting at actually heard him was another matter entirely.

  “WE’RE OVEREXTENDING THE LINE!” Eloi roared again, cupping his hands around his mouth. “If you advance any further, we’re going to get in serious trouble!”

  Ahead of him, a small group of elderly soldiers continued cutting through goblins as if they were harvesting wheat.

  They moved with frightening efficiency.

  Steel flashed.

  Green bodies fell.

  To Eloi’s exhausted eyes, the group looked less like veteran soldiers and more like a pack of angry grandparents who believed the world owed them money.

  Which, technically speaking… it did.

  Unfortunately, Eloi had no idea about that particular grievance.

  Instead, he watched in disbelief as another goblin collapsed with an arrow through its skull.

  Then another.

  Then two more.

  “Why can’t the rest of the legions keep up with our pace?” a loud, irritated voice shouted back.

  Eloi closed his eyes in frustration.

  Of course, it was Karl.

  “Is bureaucracy slowing down your fighting capability, Commander?” Karl continued sarcastically. “If so, I suggest firing a few people.”

  Four goblins dropped dead in the time it took him to finish that sentence.

  Eloi felt something twitch behind his eye.

  “I swear…” he muttered under his breath, gripping the hilt of his sword. “If I ever find out who pissed that annoying old man off this morning, I’m going to kill them myself.”

  Karl was seventy years old.

  And somehow still managed to act like a stubborn toddler.

  Eloi dragged a hand down his face before shouting again.

  “I will personally solve your bureaucratic problem after this campaign!” he yelled. “Just stop advancing!”

  He pointed forward aggressively.

  “You stubborn old goat!”

  Several nearby veterans of Legion 23 froze mid-combat.

  Slowly, heads turned.

  Not because of the insult.

  No, because of who Eloi had just insulted.

  Their commander was shouting at Karl.

  Realization spread across their faces almost instantly.

  Karl was a well-known figure in the legion.

  Not just because of his combat ability—but because of his constant arguments with Eloi.

  In fact, many soldiers had started placing bets on how long it would take before the two of them started yelling at each other again.

  A few veterans even quietly exchanged coins.

  Another round of the “Karl vs. Eloi” betting pool had just begun.

  Meanwhile, Karl paused atop a mound of goblin corpses and looked around the battlefield.

  “Fine!” he shouted back. “But you better make those other legions hurry up!”

  He gestured around him dramatically.

  “This is ridiculous! We’ve only advanced a hundred meters!”

  Eloi nearly choked.

  Only a hundred meters?

  The battlefield around them looked like something from a nightmare.

  Countless goblins charged forward with relentless fury, their ugly green bodies wrapped in crude leaf skirts and scrap armor.

  And they were dying.

  Thousands of them.

  Humans stood shoulder to shoulder in gleaming armor, their spears rising and falling in disciplined rhythm.

  Every thrust claimed another life.

  The once-green grass of the valley had long since disappeared beneath a thick layer of blood.

  Bodies floated in crimson pools that grew deeper by the minute.

  In some places, the blood had formed shallow lakes.

  Eloi watched a goblin slip beneath the surface, drowning in the gore of its own army.

  Nearby, human soldiers struggled to wade forward through the gruesome tide.

  The smell alone was enough to make most men sick.

  And yet the battle had only been going for two hours.

  Two hours.

  Trying to comprehend the suffering unfolding around him was impossible.

  Karl, however, seemed completely unfazed.

  Standing atop his elevated position, he scanned the battlefield with sharp eyes.

  Then suddenly he shouted again.

  “Hey, Eloi!”

  The commander stiffened.

  “What now?!”

  “Have you seen a goblin carrying weapons?”

  Eloi blinked.

  That question snapped something into place inside his mind.

  Because now that Karl mentioned it…

  Something did feel wrong.

  The goblins were dying in massive numbers.

  Human soldiers were cutting them down by the thousands every second.

  Too easily.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Far too easily.

  Eloi’s stomach tightened.

  “No,” he shouted back.

  Karl frowned.

  “I’ll send messengers!” Eloi added quickly.

  Without waiting for a response, he turned and began pushing his way away from the front line.

  For once, he was grateful his heavy knight armor hadn’t been ready yet. Wearing it now would have slowed him down too much.

  If something about this battle was wrong…

  He needed to figure it out fast.

  While Eloi worried about weaknesses in their defenses, someone else on the battlefield had a completely different problem.

  “Well… Bill.”

  Arin looked around at the chaos surrounding them.

  “We made it here.”

  He gestured vaguely at the battlefield.

  “But how exactly are we supposed to get more arrows now?”

  The two of them stood in the elite combat zone where the traditional battle lines had collapsed into scattered skirmishes.

  This area wasn’t meant for rigid formations.

  Instead, small specialized units operated independently here.

  Which was normally perfect for them.

  Except for one problem.

  Bill scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

  “Yeah… that might be my fault.”

  Arin slowly turned toward him.

  “I didn’t really think that part through,” Bill admitted.

  He casually slung his bow over his shoulder before drawing his short swords.

  “Let’s head back to the line and resupply.”

  Arin sighed.

  See, this is why you need to think things through.

  Still, he followed Bill without complaint.

  The two of them began running toward the main spear wall.

  From a distance, the formation looked terrifying.

  Hundreds of soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder behind a forest of steel spearpoints.

  But as soon as the soldiers recognized the two approaching figures, the line shifted.

  A gap opened instantly.

  Arin sprinted through, slightly embarrassed.

  “Thanks!” he called out while running past.

  A few soldiers chuckled as the two archers disappeared into the supply area behind the formation.

  Moments later they spotted a young runner struggling under the weight of several arrow bundles.

  Bill immediately ran up to him.

  “Hey, perfect timing!”

  Before the poor private could react, Bill had already started grabbing arrow sleeves from his arms.

  “Thanks, we’ll take those!”

  Arin helped himself to the rest.

  The young soldier stared at them in confusion.

  He looked up and down their unusual outfits—light armor, dark cloaks, and equipment that made them look more like fantasy adventurers than soldiers.

  He tried to find rank insignia.

  There wasn’t any.

  Before he could even ask a question, the two of them were already running away.

  “Tell your superior that Unit Moonhawks confiscated these arrows!” Bill shouted over his shoulder.

  Then they vanished back toward the battlefield.

  The private stood there in stunned silence.

  “…What just happened?”

  After a few seconds, he slowly turned around and walked back toward the supply wagons.

  He definitely needed to ask someone about that.

  Meanwhile, Arin and Bill were already sprinting back toward the fighting.

  “Hey Bill,” Arin said between breaths.

  “That’s the second confused person we’ve left behind in the last minute.”

  Bill laughed.

  “Yeah.”

  “Who was the first?”

  Arin thought back.

  “There was some angry guy yelling at us when we ran through the spear wall.”

  Bill shrugged.

  “No idea.”

  They continued running through the sounds of battle and screaming wind.

  “But I think he was some military officer,” Bill added casually. “Probably about to yell at us for retreating or ignoring orders or something.”

  Arin burst out laughing.

  Their unit had a long history of creative interpretations of orders.

  Considering both of them had grown up with a complicated relationship with authority…

  It wasn’t exactly surprising.

  “Then it’s nothing to worry about,” Arin said.

  “That sounds like something for Dad to deal with.”

  Bill grinned.

  “Assuming he even recognized us.”

  They reached the top of a small hill made entirely of goblin corpses.

  Without hesitation, they dropped the arrow bundles and began preparing their bows.

  Below them, the battlefield raged like a storm.

  Arin took a slow breath.

  Then he drew his bowstring back.

  This was going to be a long day.