So. I've noticed something when I checked the reviews of this story. There is a massive fight between these reviewers, who all claim to be Gokai, who are fighting over who is the imposter and who was the one created by me apparently? I still don't really know what is going on that part. After all, why would I impersonate a reviewer who said my story was trash when I already know this and trash it many times during these little starts like this? It would be too much work. I already got this disgusting story to write after all. Anyway, I'll shut up and let you all get on with the story. Enjoy, I think.
Chapter Thirty Five: Chase Through the Fort
If there is one thing I have to compliment the Valmese for, it is their organization. The know how to move an army across a long stretch of land, which makes me a bit worried for my friends. What if Yen'fay manages to catch them while they are at a disadvantage? What is Walhart reinforces Yen'fay's forces before the Shepherds are able to defeat him? What if the Valmese had sent another invasion force to attack Ylisse seeing how our entire army is on their soil? Gods, everything is just grim with these new revelations. It also doesn't really help that I'm a part of the Valmese army now either! Can it get much worse from here? I think not.
"Eyes sharp, Hero! We're nearly there." I am snapped out of my thoughts as Floyd, the Valmese Archer who I am to go into battle with, rides up next to me and taps me on the shoulder with his silver bow. Oh yeah, we're going to put down a peasant rebellion and I have to participate in the battle! Gods, this is just like when Plegia hired me to act like a bandit and attack Ylisse villages.
"Yeah, yeah." I say, waving Floyd off. "My eyes are sharp."
"It better be as we aren't taking prisoners unless they surrender." I can feel my stomach turn after hearing Floyd's words, reminding me of Valm's ruthlessness when it comes to war. Gods, imagine if Chrom or the Robins were like this. I wonder if we would still be in Plegia if that was the reality of things…
But it isn't. Chrom and the Robins are merciful; unlike these Valmese scum. I won't change my ways just because I'm now a part of the enemy, if only temporarily. I will escape and meet back up with my friends. I just the right opening to do so. But for now, I'll stay with the Valmese.
Anyways, me and the column of Valmese soldiers I am a part of soon seen the top of the fort in the distance. It is a pitiful looking thing. Half of it is crumbling ruin, the shell of a former fort that seemed to have been left to nature, and the other half is messily made wooden reinforcements, all of which could be burned easily with a few well placed fire spells. Those villagers are so going to die, it isn't even funny. It's more sad if anything. But, I'm can't really publicly care about them seeing how I'm part of the group sent to decimate them. Gods this is so messed up.
"Halt!" I come to a stop alongside the rest of the Valmese soldiers when Cervantes shouted his command. Looks like we've made it far enough that we can now 'negotiate' with the 'enemy'. As I wait for the shouting between the two parties begin, I look around and examine the battlefield. Looks pretty… clean to be honest. Aside from the occasional pile of leaves, the battlefield is just grass and dirt. Perfect for the many Cavaliers we have in our ranks. I wonder why the Valmese prize their calvary so much… I bet it is because Walhart rides a horse into battle.
Anyway, I stop looking around and now watch Cervantes ride up to the fort's gates. I continue to watch as Cervantes shouts out "Come out, rebels! I've come to parley for you hives!"
"'Hives'? We don't have any hives." I look up at the ramparts of the fort and see a Soldier wearing battered green armor look down at Cervantes. I have to agree with the Soldier here. Why are we talking about hives?
"I said lives you fool! Lives!" Oh… So that is what he said...
"Oh… Well in that case, what's your offer?"
"In exchange for your lives, you must pledge yourself to our glorious emperor Walmart!" I wonder if Walhart hears the same thing we all do when it comes to Cervantes... I also wonder if Walhart will get mad if you mispronounce his name… I'll have to try that if I ever get to fight him again.
"Here's our answer!" The Soldier shouted before twirling his spear around and throwing it at Cervantes. The Valmese General simply raised his shield up and blocked the attack, the spear letting a loud clang as it hit the metal shield and tumbled to the side.
Cervantes then turned around and said to us all "You hear him men, attack!" And with that, the battle for the fort has officially begun. I reared my horse alongside Floyd and we, along with a small squad of Valmese soldiers, ride off to do our part of the battle. After a while, we make it to the entrance to the path where the backdoor of the fort is located at. We decide to go through a path littered with a few of those leaf piles that were on the main battlefield, seeing how there are no enemies around. That all changes however as a Fighter suddenly disappears after stepping in one of those piles.
"What the hell?! What happened to him?" I ask, pointing at what now is a hole from where the leaf pile used to be in. Floyd joins me as we both check it out, only to recoil back in horror as we see the Fighter's fate. Looks like he landed on a spike pit, and everyone knows how that goes.
"Do not step on any leaves! They could be traps!" Floyd shouts out to our little squad, only to find it too late for one Soldier as he steps on a pile and disappears from sight in an instant. The others however, were lucky enough to not step on any piles like the other two. After that little incident, we all begin to carefully navigate our way to the fort; trying our hardest not to step on anymore piles. Despite this, one more Soldier falls victim to the piles before we arrive at the fort.
When we arrive at the back entrance to the fort, we see a small contingent of rebel soldiers gathered around a bunch of makeshift barricades. They are in our way to getting into the fort and ending this fight. I really don't want to kill any of them, but I might just have to if things go far south. Gods, this is really bad. I don't want to do this!
"Visors closed men. It's time." Floyd says as he closes the visor to his helmet; masking his face behind a sheet of iron. I look around and see the other remaining Valmese soldiers do the same, masking their faces behind their helmets' visors. I let out a sigh and do the same, grabbing my visor and sliding it down. I hate having my vision limited in battle, but that's the price to pay for protecting my face from being cut up.
After doing that, we charge the enemy lines; determined to break the enemy so we can get into the fort. My first opponent is a Villager holding a dull bronze spear, looking frightened out of his mind. He sorta reminds me of Donny when we first met… No! I can't think of that. Not now anyway. I quickly batter my opponent's spear away and whack my shield across his face, knocking him out with only a bloody nose as his wound. I press on, and soon come across a Soldier. He looks determined to defeat me, which I must say won't last long.
I lean to the side as the Soldier messily thrusts his spear at me, easily dodging his attack. I swing my sword and disarm the Soldier by cutting his weapon in half, making his determination disappear. I instinctively try to raise my weapon up, but I quickly find that this sword isn't the same as my old one due to the weight. I let out an annoyed sigh as use the flat of my blade to whack the Soldier's head, knocking his helmet off with a loud clang. Gods, I hate this sword. It's too heavy for my taste.
I am about to turn and face an incoming Mercenary when an arrow flies past my shoulder and slams into the rebel's eye, killing him instantly. I whirl around and I see Floyd getting ready to fire another arrow at an enemy Soldier who is winning a fight against a weakened Valmese Mercenary. I let out a deep sigh and turn my attention back to the battle. We need to finish this and head into the fort. We can't keep our allies waiting for so long that the enemy can actually deal some damage to them… That gives me an idea! But first, let me deal with this Fighter.
I block the Fighter's attack with my shield, and cut him across his stomach with a slash of my sword. I made sure to make it shallow enough that he'll live, but deep enough that he'll be put out of the fight. As the Fighter goes down, clutching his wound, I hear a cheer ring out behind me. I turn and see the Valmese soldiers cheering, raising their weapons up into the sky in a victory frenzy. Looks like we won this battle, but not the actual one.
"Let's go men!" I order them all, gesturing them all to head into the fort by pointing at the small door leading into our destination. They let out another cheer and quickly head in. Looks like we didn't lose one during that fight, but a few do have some fresh wounds painted on them.
Once the last man is inside, Floyd arrives next to me and we both begin to close the door behind us. As we close the door, Floyd says to me "I saw what you did to the people you were fighting."
"What are you going to do about it?" I say back, silently challenging him to test me. If he tests me, I'm killing him.
"Nothing, unless they come to bite us in the ass. If that happens, I'm killing them." Floyd answers back, finally shutting the door alongside me. I don't answer back, seeing how he stated his intentions clearly. He won't pry as long as it doesn't come back to haunt us, which is a good thing. He's a damn good shot with that bow. I'm pretty sure he can take me out with one shot before I could reach him if we ever fought.
Anyway, me and the Valmese soldiers begin to head through the fort; on our guard so we aren't caught by surprise by the enemy. As we roam, I begin to think more about my idea. If I can find something, like a couple of booby traps, then I could make it so that a few Valmese soldiers get killed by the 'enemy'. If I do that, then I have at least helped the Shepherds in some way. But, I need to be alone to do something like that; not surrounded by Valmese soldiers. Hm… I'm going to need to figure out a plan…
Eventually, our group comes across an intersection. Floyd, snapping his fingers for everyone's attention, says "Alright! Let's split up. We can cover more ground that way. I want Aiden, take Sam with you and scout the western corridor." Floyd points at the Soldiers next to me, indicating that he was Sam. After that, he continued speaking, saying "I'll head down the eastern corridor with Yukina and Hunna. Luke and Fin, you take the north corridor. Let's move out!"
With that, we all separate into our respective pairs and walk into our assigned corridors. As I walk down my with Sam, I think more about my plan. If I somehow manage to get rid of Sam, I can be able to move through the fort without being watch by the Valmese. That is going to be hard though, as the rebels might attack me while I roam or I might come into contact with other Valmese soldiers. Man, I really need Sam to die soon. Only then, can I be able to- Holy fuck!
Just as Sam and I round a corner, a giant blue axe suddenly appears and slams right into Sam's head; killing him instantly. I back up and watch as a Berserker comes around the corner, kicking Sam's corpse off of his axe.
"Well, well, well… What do we have here?" The Berserker asks me, getting ready to fight me by getting into a battle stance. "Another lost lamb. Well don't worry, meatbag. The Butcher is here to turn you into someone's dinner!" What the fuck is this guy? Why the fuck would these rebels have this guy in their ranks? Naga above this is so fucking scary and stupid! But, it did solve my Sam problem though…
I don't waste any time and attack the Butcher, swinging my sword at him. My blade doesn't even near him when he swings his axe and shatters my sword's entire blade, leaving only the handle. Then, moving as fast as a lightning strike, he strikes me with his axe; sending me flying down the hallway. Thankfully, my armor was able to tank the damage of the attack. But the attack completely shattered my visor, my chest piece, and a tiny bit of my old shoulder platee same one that got me into the Shepherds.
As I finally come to a stop, landing back down with a thud, I hear the Butcher say "Run sheep, run! I'm going to chop you up like I did to those two other Valmese pigs!" I'm out of here! This guy is way too scary for me to handle right now! I immediately bolt out of their, running much faster than the Butcher as he chases after me. I got to find something or someway to kill this freak! I don't think hitting him with a handle over and over again would win me this fight right now. Well… No, I can't something stupid right now. I don't have any safety net to do so.
I continue to run, sprinting around corners and through what seemed like endless hallways. How big did these rebels make this fort? This is ridiculous- Wait I'm outside again! I come to a temporary stop as I am suddenly on the battlements, which is filled with a ton of rebel soldiers. Oh boy… What didn't I fucking pick the dungeon!? I'm so fucking boned! I got what equates to an enemy battalion in front of me, and a psycho Berserker behind me! Why does these situations keep happening to me? Why do I even walk into situations like this? I asked for this when I wanted to be a part of that suicided mission with the Khans! Why did I ask for this?! I'm such a fucking moron! Why am I like this?!
"I smell Valmese!" I let out a despairing laugh at the sound of the Butcher's voice, coming close and close to where I was. I need to start running again. And I do just that, I go back to running; this time through the enemy line, trying to cause as much destruction and distractions to the rebels as I can. Because of that, by the time I make it to the end of the line, a good chunk of enemy Soldiers, Fighters, and Archers are now chasing/shooting arrows at me. Oh joy…
The chase continues for another couple of minutes, me running away while I have arrows shot at me and armed enemies run after me. This is almost comical now that I think about it. Like a pile of leaves as a trap… I got an idea! I begin to direct the chase towards the back of the fort. I bet they won't pay attention to any of their traps while they try to chase me! It's not killing if they kill themselves with their own traps! It's just suicide at that point! But, I'm going to need a headstart if I am going to open that door without getting killed by an arrow or something… Well, looks like my endurance will now have a test of… Endurance. I understand that sounds stupid now that I think about it. But, I know what I mean!
I push myself to go faster, and I quickly gain an extra couple of feet away from my enemies. I round the next corner and see the back door, still closed up, and I bolt towards it. As I run, I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my right shoulder. I think one of their arrows found their mark! Despite the injury, I keep going; eventually making it to the door. I begin to desperately struggle to open the heavy door while I try my best to dodge the arrows they are still shooting at me! Just how many arrows do they have?
As I try to pry the door open, I hear the Butcher screaming again; saying "Looks like the Valmese piggy just got cornered! Squeal!" I then hear loud footsteps near me as the Butcher just starts screaming gibberish. He's a fucking idiot if he thinks I'm going to go down easy!
"I'm Ylisse you idiot!" I scream back, pushing the door open finally. I quickly run outside, barely missing the Butcher's axe as it slams into the place where my head was. As I run outside, I see Norward and Floyd standing in front of a large group of Valmese soldiers. I forgot that part of the plan now that I think about it… Wait! I got the Butcher to deal with first!
I skid to a halt right in front of Norward and grab his silver axe right out of his hands. I have very little idea on how to use an axe, but I do know the basics! Heroes can wield axes and swords after all. I then whirl around and accidently slam my axe right in the Butcher's chest, who had been still pursuing me. Fucking moron! I watch as he slumps back, dead from the first blow alone. Naga… He's a fucking joke! Why on earth was I scared of him in the first place? I guess it's cause I didn't have a sword…
After I kick the Butcher's corpse off of the axe, I hand the weapon back to Norward who rudely rips it out of my grasp. He doesn't say a thing as he leads his group of Valmese into the fort; cutting their way through the now retreating group of rebels that had chased me. It seems like the battle is in the bag now. The Valmese win the day, again.
"Let's get this arrow out of your shoulder." I turn and glance at Floyd, who has gotten behind me and now has a hand on the arrow's shaft. I nod and brace myself as he tears the arrow out of my shoulder.
After a brief spike of pain, I let out a sigh before saying "Sam's dead. Killed by that Berserker I just killed." I look down at the Butcher's corpse and let out another sigh. Looking back, this entire situation is so stupid and a failure for me. I failed to do personal damage to the enemy and I was frightened by a crazy man made out of glass! Today has not been my day…
Floyd nods at me, tossing the arrow to the ground, and says "He died for the greater good. Don't worry about his death. He died in service for the Emperor, a great and worthy death." I couldn't help but frown at Floyd's words. Dying for some warmongering tyrant like Walhart is not what I would consider "a great and worthy death." But, I won't say anything. I can't afford to be enemies with the enemy just yet. I still need to find a way to desert and join the Shepherds while doing damage to the enemy. I just feel… Unlucky right now.
Gods… I wish I had my sword…
So. While I was writing this, I saw how the Gokai situation deteriorated even more! As such, I've decided to remove all of those reviews after some thinking. Those reviews really don't do anything to help me improve this trash heap of a story. Every review helps me in some way, whether good or bad. Hell; even that old reviewer Personal, a guy who completely and utterly trashed my story in a series of reviews, helped me improve my abilities to write! But all of these Gokai reviews do nothing to help. All they do is just argue with each other(?) and accuse each other of being a fakers. That isn't going to help me improve one bit as a writer. So, they will probably be gone by the time this chapter is goes up. I just wanted to make this clear. I really appreciate any and all reviews that help me improve this story, and improve me as a writer. So don't be afraid of writing review that nitpicks a part of the fanfiction that I could work on improving. It really helps me. Just don't go all Sonic vs Shadow with all of this faker talk.