Herald of Steel

The Margraves had boarded the attacked Zanzan ship with gleaming eyes and bloodthirsty smiles, intending to wreak horror for the many events of the past few hours.

They wanted to kill these legionaries for all the pain they had caused till now.

And their hatred seemed to be so high that these daredevils did not seem to even have any concerns about the fact that the 'ground' they had voluntarily stepped into was sinking and at that, sinking fast.

I mean, they could literally feel the ship beginning to tilt at a clearly noticeable speed and see the terrifying cracks along its surface spreading like cobwebs.

And from right below these cracks one could hear the loud gushing of seawater filling the hull at immense speeds, mingled with the howling echo and pained moans of the ship's rowers, who were desperately trying to get out of this watery grave by whatever means necessary

These rowers had been the primary victims of the great ramming attack, the bronze fisted punch turning many to a pulp, and leaving many more seriously injured, either on death's door or having already passed it after succumbing to the grievous wounds.

While many of the survivors were trapped under the wooden structures, their bodies pinned, if not pierced by the deadly debris, making freedom impossible.

Hence they were found screaming in horror as the water levels slowly crept up right in front of them, inch by slow inch, letting them patiently witness the clock of life run out on them.

These poor saps, consisting mostly of servants and slaves were undoubtedly not in an enviable position.

Drowning like this was never a good way to die and frankly, they deserved better.

However try as they might they were proved utterly incapable of extracting themselves from this death sentence, while the Margraves troop at the top looked down to only give a sneer in reply to their scream for help, while others even took the time to taunt and mock them, calling them names and saying things like,

"Heh! Don't worry, father will take good care of your wife. I am sure she will be glad to have a real man for once."

"Serves you right, Adhanian scum!"

"Save you? Apostates like you should be burnt at the stake. This is what the gods desire."

"Right! Letting you simply drown is already showing you too much mercy."

Their malice was such that these men not only helped but also threw hurtful stones, before beginning to take out their anger on the surrounding legionaries.

Who unfortunately for the Margraves proved to be a much harder nut to crack than some defenseless rowers at the bottom of the ships.

Although lacking their large shields, the men's heavy armor of bronze cuirass, chainmail, and leather thorax proved to be a great shield by themselves, especially when pitted against the light weapons wielded by the Margraves, those blades were too light and thin to effectively pierce them.

The attacking men were thus forced to try and dance around the legionaries, going up uncomfortably close while trying to look for weak spots and the thinner parts of the armor, and then attempting to exploit them.

Needless to say, this was not easy, and even if they could spot them, many times they needed to make multiple strikes to put a dent in it.

And even after all that, it would not be like the legionaries would be out for the count.

These weak spots would usually be around the body's joints and there were many of them. So disabling one of them would not put the others out of action.

And there were indeed many such examples, where the skilled Margraves troops managed to bring a legionary to his knees by cutting his tendons after multiple tries, but just as they were about to stick it into their neck and finish the job, they were all of a sudden struck by a sword strike retaliation in a lucky hit and perished.

Because guess whose weapon was able to get a one hit one kill?

The sword the legionaries were equipped with, was made using the best steel in the world, and techniques known to no one else.

Thus although the legionaries were outnumbered and caught out of formation, they managed to put up a bloody good fight, both literally and figuratively.

They stood their ground, tanking the incoming hits while retaliating with large wild swings of their own, hoping to get lucky just once.

Because that was all that they needed.

While the Margraves cursed their short range and had to constantly weave in their attack through the gaps, always bearing the risk of getting caught in one of the swings and being cleaved in two.

It proved to be quite the challenge for them and many men became dog tired, the constant shuffling of the feet and much more than that, the immense adrenaline working to sap them of their strength.

This was the reason why Ser Robert's adjutant had cursed at his commander's call to attack.

He knew his men were currently grossly under equipped.

You could have the best soldiers in the world but if they were told to go fight bare fisted, even against an army of peasants that was geared up to the teeth, well the resulting bloodbath would not surprise anyone.

And here was the same.

The poor weapon and its weak damage caused them to suffer far greater than anticipated losses, a phenomenon that greatly inspired the trapped legionaries, who fought like caged tigers, splitting off into groups of four or five to cover each other's flanks, and fending off wave after wave of the green armoed attacks.

It was indeed a very novel fight for these men, the venue being atop a titling ship and where they had no shield but a sword in one hand and an empty hand in the other.

It was kept empty because it was found the threat of grabbing the hand of the attacking men or even just his weapon was a far greater retardance than any advantage that could be found by duel wielding the sword or even simply equipping a dagger.

And all this continued to happen while the ship continued to tilt, even when it was apparent to anyone with just a single eye that the entire thing could literally snap at any moment.

These however did not seem to be any cause for worry for these guys.

They only wanted blood.

Hence the deck soon lay strew with green and blue, their number surprisingly being even, even though the attackers outnumbered the legionaries.

This heated battle seemed poised to rage for quite some time, as neither side, despite the huge casualties taken seemed ready to pull back any time soon.

The Margraves troops seemed determined to finish off every man on this ship no matter the bloody cost to themselves.

While the caged legionaries were too proud to surrender.

So it was quite anticlimatic that the boiling battle, just as when it had reached its peak, was all of a sudden brought to a screeching halt by the sound of a loud bang right next to them, and instantly followed by a giant section of the bridge falling right on top of the bow of the ship, turning it into a million wood ships, and finally snapping the entire ship in two.

Water began to quickly flood the sinking decks soon after that.

*Bang!*

The first sound came from one of Alexander's ships hitting one of the nearby pillars of the bridge.

It had been sent there to help rescue the stranded men but in their haste, the inexperienced rowers misjudged their speed and were unable to stop on time, so let themselves run aground against the stone support.

The giant collision was so powerful that it caused even the immensely strong, giant steel ram to get horribly deformed, and all the men on the decks were lurched forward, many tumbling and falling over, some even overboard.

As for the pillar, it caused an enormous shockwave to shoot through the already crumbling structure. The already rickety bridge had been through so much and now being hit it a fifty ton sledgehammer seemed to be the straw that finally broke the camel's back.

It began to literally crumble part!

First came the top section of the pillar that was just hit.

And it landed right on the ship they were sent to rescue, killing at least a dozen or so men just like that.

However, that was only the start, as it appeared to be preparing for even more even.

All the men around the bridge could see clouds of dust and various tiny bits and pieces begin to rain down like ash from the crumbling structure and then….

*Creaaaakkkk….. Bang!*

Another giant section tore itself off, this one a bit further away, originating near the mouth of the point leading to the Heeat family's main camp.

*....Crumble….*

Soon after that, the pillar that was hit began to weirdly twist as bits and pieces of stone began to shoot out in all directions, courtesy of the pressure exerted from above.

While a chorus of insanely loud panicked cries began to wail out from the top of the bridge as the Heeat soldiers begged for rescue.

Let us say no to piracy! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!

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