The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: The War Begins

The war began earlier than expected.

The D’Averon family had spent the past several days preparing for the possibility of an attack, reinforcing their defensive positions and sending requests to neighboring territories for additional soldiers, but there had still been no indication that Velmorne and Randale intended to move their armies so quickly.

That changed shortly after dawn.

The doors of the war room suddenly opened, and a knight hurried inside, his breathing noticeably heavier than usual as he approached the table where Count D’Averon, Adrian, Hans, the captain, and several other officers had been discussing their latest reports.

"My lord."

The knight lowered his head.

"The enemy army has begun advancing."

The room immediately became silent.

Count D’Averon slowly lifted his gaze from the map.

"How far?"

"Our scouts estimate that their main force has already passed the northern road. Cavalry, knights, and infantry are all moving together. Judging by their speed, they should reach the designated battlefield within a few hours."

Adrian’s expression changed.

"That fast?"

"Yes, young master."

Hans stepped closer to the table.

"Then they’re not giving us any more time to prepare."

The captain looked toward Count D’Averon.

"Should we order the troops to mobilize immediately?"

Count D’Averon remained silent for several seconds.

He had already known that the battle would eventually come.

He had simply hoped to have more time.

His eyes moved across the map, following the roads leading toward their territory.

So Velmorne has decided to make the first move.

There was no surprise in that.

What bothered him was the timing.

They had been expecting reinforcements from several neighboring territories, and if Velmorne had begun his march now, then there was a good chance that those reinforcements would never arrive in time.

"Have we received any responses from the neighboring territories?"

The knight hesitated.

"Yes, my lord."

Count D’Averon’s expression hardened slightly.

"And?"

"Most of them have refused to send soldiers."

Hans’s face immediately darkened.

"Most?"

The knight nodded.

"They’ve stated that they do not wish to involve themselves in a territorial conflict between noble families."

The room became tense.

Count D’Averon slowly closed his eyes.

As expected.

He had already considered the possibility, but hearing it confirmed was still unpleasant.

Then the knight continued.

"There is another matter, my lord."

Count D’Averon opened his eyes.

"What is it?"

"According to the information gathered by our messengers, Count Velmorne offered several of those territories a considerable amount of money in exchange for remaining neutral."

Nobody spoke.

Hans stared at the knight.

"He’s buying their neutrality?"

"Yes."

Adrian’s expression became cold.

"So he was preparing for this long before declaring war."

Count D’Averon said nothing.

His gaze returned to the map.

That bastard.

Velmorne’s hatred toward him had never been a secret, but this was no longer simply the behavior of a noble seeking revenge after being humiliated.

He had gathered Randale’s forces.

He had prepared a larger army.

He had secured the neutrality of neighboring territories by spending a fortune.

And, according to the previous reports, he had even gone as far as hiring assassins.

You really intend to destroy the D’Averon family.

For a moment, anger burned inside him.

Not because Velmorne wanted his territory.

Not even because he wanted revenge.

What angered him was the fact that Velmorne had deliberately created a situation where the D’Averon family would be forced to fight alone.

Count D’Averon slowly clenched his fist.

But there was no time to indulge that anger.

The enemy was already moving.

"How many troops do we have ready?"

The captain immediately answered.

"All available forces are prepared to march, my lord."

Count D’Averon stood.

"Then there’s nothing more to discuss."

He looked toward the officers.

"Mobilize the army."

Everyone immediately began moving.

Adrian turned toward the captain.

"I’ll make sure the eastern division is ready."

Hans followed.

"I’ll handle the cavalry."

Count D’Averon nodded.

"Do it."

Within minutes, the war room that had been filled with quiet discussion became a place of hurried preparation.

Orders were carried throughout the estate.

Horses were brought out.

Weapons were distributed.

Armor was checked.

Soldiers gathered in formation.

There was no longer any time to wonder whether the war would begin.

It already had.

Several hours later, the D’Averon army arrived at the battlefield.

The plain stretched far into the distance, with only a few scattered trees and gentle hills breaking the otherwise open landscape.

From the moment the soldiers reached the front, they could see the enemy.

Thousands of men stood across the field.

The banners of Count Velmorne and Viscount Randale fluttered above the enormous army, while lines of infantry stood behind their shields, cavalry waited on the flanks, and heavily armored knights gathered near the center.

Even from this distance, the difference in numbers was obvious.

The D’Averon soldiers became quieter.

Some tightened their grips around their weapons.

Others exchanged brief glances with the men beside them.

They knew what they were looking at.

This wasn’t a training exercise.

This wasn’t a border dispute that would be settled by a few knights meeting in the middle of a field.

Thousands of people had gathered here.

And before the day ended, many of them would not return home.

Count D’Averon rode to the front of his army.

Adrian and Hans followed behind him, with the captain and vice-captain positioned nearby.

Count D’Averon looked over his soldiers.

There was fear among them.

He could see it.

Trying to pretend otherwise would have been pointless.

So he didn’t.

Instead, he raised his voice.

"Soldiers of D’Averon."

The restless army slowly became quiet.

Count D’Averon looked toward the thousands standing behind him.

"Today, we stand against an army larger than ours."

Nobody moved.

"Some of you may already be wondering whether we can win."

He paused.

"I won’t insult you by telling you that this battle will be easy."

His eyes moved across the formation.

"It won’t be."

Several soldiers swallowed nervously.

"But look behind you."

The soldiers turned their heads slightly.

"Behind you is our territory."

His voice became firmer.

"Behind you are the homes you built, the villages where your families live, the people who have trusted us to protect them, and the land that our family has defended for generations."

He raised his sword.

"If we run today, there will be nowhere left to run tomorrow."

The soldiers slowly began raising their weapons.

"We may have fewer soldiers."

Count D’Averon’s eyes hardened.

"But numbers alone do not decide who deserves to stand."

He pointed his sword toward the opposing army.

"Remember why you’re here."

His voice carried across the entire formation.

"Not for my name."

"Not for your commander."

"And not for some noble’s pride."

He paused.

"We fight because there are people behind us who cannot fight for themselves."

The soldiers’ expressions changed.

Some straightened their backs.

Others raised their weapons higher.

Count D’Averon lowered his sword slightly.

"So today, stand together."

His voice became cold.

"Protect the person beside you."

"Protect the land behind you."

"And if the enemy believes that the D’Averon family will simply surrender because they brought more soldiers..."

His eyes narrowed.

"...then let us teach them how wrong they are."

A roar erupted from the army.

Weapons rose into the air.

The sound echoed across the battlefield.

Count D’Averon looked toward the enemy.

For the first time that morning, he allowed himself a faint smile.

"Hold your formation."

The soldiers settled into position.

The battle was coming.

Across the battlefield, Count Velmorne watched the D’Averon army from horseback.

Beside him stood Viscount Randale.

Randale looked over the opposing force before giving a quiet laugh.

"Look at them."

His eyes moved across the smaller army.

"They actually came."

Velmorne smiled.

"Of course they did."

He looked toward Count D’Averon standing at the front.

"He has too much pride to retreat."

Randale chuckled.

"Even after realizing that almost none of his allies are coming?"

"Especially after realizing that."

Velmorne’s smile widened.

"He knows that retreating now would only make things worse."

Randale glanced toward him.

"Then today really is the end of the D’Averon family."

Velmorne remained silent for a moment.

His eyes stayed fixed on Count D’Averon.

"Today isn’t simply the end of his family."

His voice became colder.

"Today is the end of that man’s reputation."

He remembered the humiliation he had suffered before.

The anger that had remained buried beneath his pride for so long finally felt justified.

For years, Count D’Averon had stood above him.

A stronger noble.

A more respected noble.

Someone who had repeatedly made Velmorne feel as though he was nothing more than a lesser man standing in another person’s shadow.

Not anymore.

"Once we break their army," Velmorne continued, "the D’Averon territory will be ours to divide."

Randale smiled.

"And you intend to take the majority?"

"I’ve already paid for the privilege."

Randale laughed.

"Fair enough."

Velmorne looked toward the battlefield again.

There was something almost satisfying about seeing the D’Averon soldiers standing there despite knowing they were outnumbered.

"They should have surrendered."

Randale shrugged.

"Perhaps they’re simply too stupid to understand when they’ve lost."

Velmorne laughed quietly.

"Then we’ll explain it to them."

He raised his hand.

Behind him, the officers began issuing orders.

The infantry tightened their formation.

The cavalry moved toward the flanks.

Knights prepared themselves near the center.

The battlefield slowly became silent.

Two armies stood facing each other.

For a brief moment, there was nothing except the sound of wind moving through the grass.

Then a horn sounded.

BOOOOOOM.

The sound rolled across the battlefield.

The D’Averon soldiers lowered their weapons.

Across the field, Velmorne’s army began moving.

Thousands of soldiers advanced.

At first, their movement was slow and orderly.

Then the pace gradually increased.

Count D’Averon watched them approach.

"Hold."

His soldiers remained in position.

The enemy continued forward.

"Hold."

The distance between the two armies rapidly disappeared.

The sound of footsteps grew louder.

The ground began to tremble beneath the combined weight of thousands of soldiers.

Then the enemy front line broke into a charge.

Count D’Averon’s eyes narrowed.

"Now."

His sword rose.

"Charge!"

The D’Averon army surged forward.

The two forces collided.

The first impact was deafening.

Shields crashed together.

Spears thrust through gaps.

Swords struck armor with sharp metallic sounds as soldiers struggled to maintain their formations amid the sudden violence.

A D’Averon soldier swung at an enemy soldier’s shoulder, only for the attack to crash against his shield.

The enemy immediately responded with a spear thrust.

The D’Averon soldier twisted aside, grabbed the shaft with one hand, and drove his sword forward.

The enemy staggered backward.

Another soldier immediately stepped into the gap.

There was no pause.

No opportunity to think.

The moment one man fell, another took his place.

The battlefield was already becoming chaotic.

Officers shouted commands while trying to keep their formations from collapsing.

Archers fired from behind the infantry, sending arrows over the heads of their own soldiers and into the advancing enemy.

A horse screamed somewhere on the flank.

Cavalry crashed into one another as both sides attempted to break through the opposing formation.

Steel struck steel.

Men shouted.

Horses trampled the earth.

The smell of dust, sweat, and blood quickly filled the air.

Yet despite the violence, neither side had gained a decisive advantage.

The battle had only just begun.

Count D’Averon moved through the front line, his sword cutting down anyone who managed to push too deeply into the formation.

"Don’t break formation!"

His voice rose above the chaos.

"Keep the line together!"

Adrian led one of the eastern divisions while Hans commanded the cavalry on the opposite flank.

The captain remained near the center, constantly adjusting the formation whenever a section began to weaken.

For now, the D’Averon army was holding.

But Count D’Averon knew better than to relax.

This is only the first exchange.

He looked toward the enemy’s center.

Velmorne was still watching.

He hadn’t committed his strongest knights yet.

The same was true for Randale.

They’re testing us.

Count D’Averon’s grip tightened around his sword.

Then his eyes narrowed.

Fine.

If Velmorne wanted to see how the D’Averon army would respond...

He would give him an answer.

The war had finally begun.

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