Chapter 1234: Ten Rowboats

Archer continued watching the vision as attacks came from every direction, arrows slicing through the smoke, blades flashing between the trees, and fire cascading down like wrath from the heavens.
Soldiers fell in waves, their cries drowned by the relentless roar of the inferno engulfing the battlefield. The remaining Legionnaires and Drakeguards gathered, their bodies battered and bloodied, forming a desperate last stand.
Back to back, they fought like feral beasts cornered, their roars of defiance cutting through the smoke-choked air. With savage precision, their weapons cleaved through wave after relentless wave of foes.
Their strength and ferocity were unmatched, each swing of a blade or swipe of a talon felling another foe. But the Draconians paid dearly for their defiance. Each charge forward, each desperate push to break free, exacted a toll.
Archer was heartbroken, but impressed that his soldiers hurled themselves into the enemy with reckless abandon. They didn't feel fear or hope, driven by a singular resolve to drag as many of their attackers down with them.@@novelbin@@
The memory continued as the commander fought with his man down to the last. He returned to reality while crouching next to the Centurion's body. With a sigh Archer closed the soldiers' eyes as he muttered, "I'll kill those fools when I find them. Rest well Darius."'
"What happened my king?" Thalion asked while the Oathkeepers circled him in a protective circle.
Archer stood up and stretched before answering, "The Dragon Marshals failed in their duties and one of them is a traitor."
When the giant knights heard this, they stiffened, but he continued speaking, "Let's continue on. The 18th and 19th should be up ahead."
Following that, Archer and the Oathkeepers started walking through the forest only to see more dead. By the time they stepped out if the treeline, they had found the 18th legion which was destroyed.
'Fuck! Eight hundred thousand men and women lost to stupid generals.' he was internally raging. 'I'll torture them in front of the rest of the legions when I find them.'
A field of corpses stretched out in front of them and to Archer, it looked like the army had left the forest only to be attacked. He spotted dozens of destroyed cannons that belonged to the Dragonfire Company.
The Oathkeepers glanced around just as Thalion commented, "Looks like the 19th survived."
"No, they didn't," Archer suddenly interjected, his voice colder than the wind slicing through the battlefield. "Ashoka's report mentioned a deadly swamp between here and the hill. The legion didn't make it past this place. They fell here."
His words hung heavy in the air, silencing the group as they pressed on. When they finally reached the swamp, and stopped at the edge of the creepy-looking landscape that stretched into the distance.
The land looked like a vision of hell, fires crackled across scorched earth, and mountains of twisted, lifeless bodies sprawled across the battlefield. Archer stopped in his tracks, his hands trembling as he took in the devastation.
He finished drizzling honey and milk over the writhing captives before stacking another boat atop them, trapping their bodies with only their heads and arms exposed. The sight was absurd, yet it brought a twisted satisfaction for Archer as he inspected his work.
With a casual push, he sent the five captives splashing into the murky water that gather new homeowners that were exploring the sudden stagnant pool. He watched them struggle, his tone light but laced with menace.
''Tell me,'' he mused, leaning over to catch their frightened expressions, "What stirs in the heat of the sun? They've plagued my legions since we set foot on Avidia. Now it's time you
meet them, too."
The commanders looked confused which made Archer laugh before revealing with a dark smile, "Insects. Once the sun comes up, they will swarm this pool that will quickly become a bug infested hellhole which you'll be floating in."
Five faces went pale, but he continued while summoning ten Stone Men, "These guys here will smother you in more sweet foods. That will attract thousands of horrible creatures to eat it, then burrow into your bodies to lay eggs."
Following that, Archer started laughing when seeing the hopeless expressions on their faces, but he didn't care. Minutes after that, the Oathkeepers appeared while pushing along a few
hundred enemy soldiers.
This pleased him before opening a portal and asking Morena to come see him. When the white-haired necromancer appeared, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and placed a
passionate kiss against his lips.
Archer was pleased with her greeting but broke apart as he questioned, "Can you turn these soldiers into cannon fodder? I don't want to waste a few hundred bodies when I can use them
against the Alliance."
Morena nodded in agree with as her blue eyes gleamed. "I have an idea, but can I take them to the prison? That way they can soak in the Domain's mana."
After speaking, he sent the prisoners with the older woman, who was staring at the floating boats with a raised eyebrow. She approached the edge before warning, "Hundreds of deadly insects are lurking in this water."'
"Yes, I know, but what you're seeing is a new torture method I came up with to horrify the Alliance when we pull back," Archer answered. "They want a Demon King and that's what I'll
give them."
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