The Crown's Entrapment

Sure enough, Gideon's fears were soon founded.

"Enemy sighted! They're coming right at us from the forest!"

At the sound of one of his outside sentries' warnings, Gideon immediately tensed up, his grip on Freya tightening as he quickly barked out orders.

"Tighten up our perimeter! Stick together and avoid the trees!"

At his command, the army moved as one, hoping that they could outrun their enemies long enough to make them overextend. After which, they'll instantly turn and rout them before they could even mount an attack.

"More enemies coming west from us!" another sentry yelled out.

Gideon clicked his tongue. With them going around the small forest in a counterclockwise direction, the army was still getting into position to try and assault the forest itself. With the enemy having spotted them, it was clear that they'd entrenched themselves deep in the cover of the trees. Attacking them now would be akin to assaulting a fortress, albeit one made of vegetation and greenery as opposed to grey stone.

"We can't keep running away like this," Freya told him. "There's no way that they'll stop coming."

"In the end, they'll just amass their forces and overwhelm us anyway," Gideon finished her line of thought to its logical conclusion. "If we don't thin their numbers now, they'll overwhelm us."

"Commander! More enemy detachments coming from the forest!"

Gideon hissed through his teeth at the news. Faced with a dilemma, he had no choice but to weigh the odds against their chances.

He really didn't like engaging the enemy without the full might of Cordon behind him, but it was looking more and more like he wouldn't have the choice not to do so. He would've liked to poke and prod at the forest, hoping that they could slowly penetrate the enemy position in a way that they'd thin out their numbers on their own terms, but unfortunately, the enemy took the fight to them instead of the other way around.

"Alright then…" Gideon let out a deep breath before addressing his men. "Everyone! About face!"

At the sound of his orders, the entire army moved to follow. Hundreds upon hundreds of Cordonians turned around and faced their enemy, their teeth bared in anger and determination as they finally got a good look at the enemy they were facing.

"That… they're finally here," Freya growled, her own ferocity starting to come to the surface.

"That, indeed," Gideon nodded, making their wolf move closer to the front to lead the charge. "They're going to regret picking a fight with us though."

From a glance, Gideon noted that general makeup of Helion's armies. Aside from a few humans, they employed a considerable number of creatures and monsters. From shadows to trolls, the sheer versatility that such creatures could offer to whoever was in charge of leading them would be a problem and a half to tackle.

"Right! Attack on my signal!" Gideon called out. "Focus on soft targets! Avoid picking a fight with the larger monsters!"

His men quickly reaffirmed his orders. Meanwhile, Freya was frowning in front of him. "What's wrong?"

"Something doesn't feel right about all of this," Freya mumbled. "Like we're walking into a trap somehow…"

Humming to himself, Gideon couldn't but agree. But before he could voice out his thoughts, the enemy had already descended upon them.

There was only one thing left for them to do now. "Attack!"

At his signal, Cordon's might fell upon their enemies. While the entirety of Helion's armies numbered higher than their current army, the size of the enemy contingent in front of them was significantly smaller than theirs.

"Quickly! Don't let them breathe!"

Riding into battle, Gideon guided his men through the carnage. Likewise, Freya drew her sword, already raring for a fight just as they met the enemy.

Jumping into battle, Gideon dismounted from the wolf, his claws bared as he slashed through the first human he saw. Once the soft target fell, he quickly set his sights on the closest possible target available to him. Like a whirlwind of death, he slashed and tore through his enemies, sticking to soft targets like humans and lesser demons to retain his speed.

"Raarrgh!"

Likewise, Freya had also jumped into the fray. Wielding his sword with practiced alacrity, Gideon kept a close eye on her progress, making sure that he would never be too far from her while still directing the battle happening in front of them.

"They just keep on coming!" Freya shouted out. "And the diversity here is insane! I haven't even seen a mountain troll this massive until now!"

"Focus on your fight!" Gideon quickly reminded her, his fist already punching through a small wooden treant, killing it instantly. "Don't let the spectacle distract you!"

"Got it!"

Shaking his fists, Gideon managed to flick off some of the blood and guts staining his knuckles only for them to be stained once more by yet another one of Helion's soldiers unfortunate enough to cross him. Ducking and weaving, his orders were being followed to a tee, their current casualties still minimal despite the seemingly neverending tide of enemies coming at them… which was weird, since they didn't see this many enemies coming at them before they engaged.

"Something's wrong… We should've been done a few minutes ago…" Gideon mumbled, his nerves starting to sense an anomaly in the works. "Freya?!"

"What is it?!" Freya shouted out in response, her sword still slick with the blood of her enemies. "You're distracting me right now!"

Gideon blinked at the response he got. So far, they were only culling softer enemies, and while that was the plan from the start, they never seemed to stop coming. It was as if…

"Everyone! Disengage and fall back!"

Immediately, groans of discontent swept through their ranks. After all, they seemed to be winning at the moment, but Gideon knew that was far from the truth.

"So it really is a trap then," Freya commented beside him, her back against his as they stood side by side.

"I already knew you were right earlier, but we still had to confirm it," Gideon grunted. "We need to pull out before we get overwhelmed by these all this fodder. They're tiring us out."

Quickly calling for their wolf to return, Gideon hoped that he wasn't too late with giving out his orders. If he was, then they risked being wiped out before they could even enter the forest.

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