The Courtesan

Chapter 114

Third Person's POV

The hyena was swiftly killed by Reid due to his hyper attentiveness. He was really fast and also really scared. That one hyena was followed by a secret herd, smaller than the ones attacking the main army but enough to take out the rear guard. The War generals were really planning to wipe the army out. 

However, General Boyle was soon faced with a problem. No matter how much they pushed them back, King Mival always advanced. He barely beat an eyelash to the death of his troops and came straight for his head. 

“This man is a damned monster!” Boyle mumbled, extending his spear. He urged his mount forward and met the strangely excited King in the middle. 

“I have waited for this moment for a long time, General Boyle.”

“I should be honored you know of me, King Mival.”

“Of course. I spent the early part of my life fending you off.”

“You! ...You’re that boy!”

“Now you remember me. I would be happy if you would die by my hands!”

Barely finishing his statement, Mival hit hard with his sword. Boyle’s spear was enough to counter his weapon but he could feel Mival wasn’t going to be an easy opponent. 

The area around them was immediately cleared because of the lightning fast moves they used against each other. With the look of a maniac, Mival attacked the spear without restraint, even after knowing it was made from Iorite. Strangely enough, his sword lasted the blows it got from the spear. 

“Bastard, where did you get that sword?”

“Oh, I found it. It’s my lucky sword. I used it to kill my best friend.”

“You really are a lunatic… urk!” Boyle vomited blood. He wiped his mouth and looked at Mival in incomprehension. 

“How did you…”

“You’re not very careful, old man.”

Boyle gnashed his teeth in anger, extending his spear. Having Mival at a distance was more advantageous. However, the king smiled, running towards the man, ignoring the spear. His sword countered it when it got close to his face. He closed the distance between them, forcing Boyle to reduce the length of his spear. He used it as a spear and fought Mival’s confusing sword technique with his spear as a sword. Scarily enough, he was losing. 

“I am a War General! I would not lose to a bastard like you!” 

“HAHAHA! You already have.”

The spear flew out of Boyle’s hands and the sharp sword was pointed at his neck. The maniac expression hadn’t left Mival’s face. 

“Any last words, War General?”

“Rot in hell, bastard!”

Mival smiled and thrust the sword forward. Before it could sink in, a hyena jumped at Mival from behind. He used his sword to deflect its attack and kill it but in that small process, he nicked Boyle’s neck. 

When he looked back at Boyle, he was being carried by Irina, who glared fiercely at Mival. She made another sound, recalling her hyenas. The soldiers of Uramuth also retreated and despite their huge loss of men, the Casellan army won the fight that day. 

The infirmaries were filled to the brim with soldiers with missing limbs more than normal. Many succumbed to their injury, only a few that were attacked by the hyenas surviving. A few died afterwards from rabies. 

Reid and Kron survived, along with the major captains and commanders. The ones that led the troops annihilated by the hyenas died with the rest of their troops. When the commanders met up the king, they met him in the worst possible mood. Rather than the death of his troops, he was worried about letting Boyle get away. 

He was tossing furniture, destroying the meeting camp as always. This time, they couldn’t stay away and followed Kron’s brave charge into the tent. His displeased expression made them almost give up. 

“What do you want?”

“We lost over 70 percent of our troops in that battle. If we were to be attacked by the beastmaster again, we would lose this war.”

“Those useless men!”

Another group of things lost their place on the table. Even the table was almost collapsing from the numerous vents of Mival it had endured. The map was a lost cause. The cartographers’ hands would hurt much more from the amount of maps they would have to make, not to consider the carpenters and the blacksmiths that had to produce more weapons.”

“Conscript more then! We can’t just withdraw from the war!”

“We can conscript but we would need the time to train them. If we just throw them into battle, we would be back to this same situation.”

“ARRGHHH!” 

The table buckled,breaking completely. Kron was hit with some shards and sustained more injuries. He was chased out of the tent with his father’s prized sword and no one was allowed to enter again. 

The next day, the army of Casella completely withdrew from Turia and went back to the border, spreading news of conscription. The news that they were defeated by two war generals quickly spread, causing the humiliation of Casella to ensue. 

Back in Fort Turia, Boyle lay on a bed, a thick bandage over his throat. Irina stared blankly down at him and he raised his brows. 

“You were careless today. You almost lost your vocal cords. His highness won’t be pleased.”

“Don’t just say anything because you cleared the enemy. You should’ve continued the battle,” he replied hoarsely. 

“They retreated. Isn’t that enough for you?”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about this. His majesty didn’t order for them to be annihilated, pushed back. Thank you for your help.”

“They weren’t as difficult to get rid of as you said. You were being careless.”

“You had your army of beasts. If they were humans, you would’ve had  harder time keeping that insane king back.”

“You fell to his sword. Don’t you think it’s time to retire?”

“I would retire after you.”

Irina scoffs, taking the cooling concoction from beside the bed to feed it to him. He gagged, moving away. 

“I can’t decide what’s worse, that thing or your wet dog smell.”

“I’ll make sure you can’t speak again if you don’t open your mouth.”

Grudgingly, he opened his mouth and finished the concoction Irina practically forced down his throat. After feeding him, she sent a report to the king, concluding the somewhat successful battle against Casella.