Kurama The Platinium Zoroak: The language barrier was necessary. In an Isekai, it's always stupid that the main character speaks the local language from the beginning.
CCrusader: Let's hope that my story does not only has a good start.
The Battle of Lake Totori
The journey back to Hyrule Castle was much easier than the one-way trip, and therefore faster.
Princess Zelda immediately went to the throne room to report. Impa, Artoria, and Link accompanied her.
Sitting between two knights of his personal guard armed with two-handed swords on the balcony overlooking the room, King Rhoam quietly listened to his daughter's account and nodded his head, turning towards Artoria. Unlike Impa and Link, she had remained standing, a king not kneeling before another king.
"King Artoria Pendragon, my daughter told me that you now speak the language of Hyrule. Is that correct?"
The Bearer of the Sacred Sword shivered in memory of the laboratory of Purah and Robbie, these two fools had almost managed to fry her brain. Of course, a resident of Camelot had never heard of 'Mad Scientists'... nevertheless, this is exactly what she thought of the two Sheikahs.
"That's right, Your Majesty."
"Very well," replied the old man. "I suppose my daughter has explained to you the situation in Hyrule."
It wasn't really a question, but the legendary King Arthur nodded.
"Yes, King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule. I promised my help, I am a knight before I am a king and I swore to protect the innocent."
King Rhoam stroked his white beard while reflecting.
"I am glad that a knight of your talent is joining our ranks as Hyrule knows his darkest hours."
The old king rose from his throne and went down the stairs to stop before a map spread out on a long table.
"This is a representation of the kingdom of Hyrule."
With his hand, he showed an illustration of the citadel, a castle crowned with standards.
"We are here. The central part of the kingdom, the Field of Hyrule, extends to the south, and even further south you can see Lake Hylia. This area is populated by the Hylians. My daughter, Link, and I are Hylians. Nevertheless, we are not the only inhabitants of Hyrule."
King Rhoam designated a desert to the west.
"Here live the Gerudo, a people close to the Hylians. These women have tan skin and..." the old man smiles as Artoria frowns. "Yes, 'these women', the Gerudos give birth only to women."
The king then laid his finger on mountains north of the Gerudo desert.
"The Ritos live in this area. They are birdmen and excellent archers."
This time, Artoria did more than just frown.
"... Birdmen?" she exclaimed in disbelief.
Zelda came to the rescue.
"There are a few Ritos merchants in town, you can see them if you want. They are humanoid birds, their wings allow them to grasp objects with delicacy as if they were huge hands. In flight, they can hold objects with claws that replace their feet. They have a bird's head with a beak but speak in a perfectly understandable way."
Without giving Artoria time to recover from the shock, King Rhoam continued to explain the geography of the kingdom.
"Northeast of Hyrule Field and east of the Korok Forest is the Death Mountain, Hyrule's only active volcano. This is the land of the Gorons. The Gorons are stone creatures that feed on stones. They are miners and skilled craftsmen.
Artoria blinked many times. Although the existence of the Gorons seemed even more unlikely than that of the Ritos, she could not say a word. The legendary king was beginning to understand that she had arrived in a world very different from the one she knew.
"Finally, the last autonomous population of Hyrule is the Zoras. They are fishermen living in the mountains east of Death Mountain. They live in the lakes and rivers of this region."
King Rhoam paused to watch Artoria, his daughter, then Impa and Link still kneeling.
"The enemy is cutting all the roads leading to these autonomous regions, merchants are no longer passing and communications are sporadic. I sent several relief expeditions to the residents. The soldiers built camps and sent patrols to exterminate the scum that attacks our allies but... the more you kill Bokoblins, Moblins, and Lizalfos, the more they come. In fact, the relief armies are now trapped in these areas. Continually attacked by Ganon's hordes, the camps are now besieged."
The old man shook his head in spite.
"Restoring communications with the autonomous regions is vital for the survival of the whole kingdom."
"Your Majesty, why is this so essential?" asked Artoria.
Princess Zelda spoke:
"Father, may I answer that question?"
The king merely nodded his head, although Artoria saw a little annoyance in his eyes. On the contrary, Zelda was delighted. She was talking about her favorite subject: Sheikah technology.
"As I have already explained, King Artoria, the ancient Sheikah created four Divine Beasts to confront Calamity Ganon. These four Divine Beasts are Vah Ruta whose element is water, Vah Rudania whose element is fire, Vah Medoh whose element is air, and finally Vah Naboris whose element is lightning."
Approaching the map, the teen princess showed four locations.
"Vah Ruta was discovered near the Zora Domain, Vah Rudia was buried in the Death Mountain, Vah Medoh was in the mountains where the Ritos live, and Vah Maboris was buried in the sands of the Gerudo desert for 10,000 years."
Artoria agreed, if the Divine Beasts were needed to defeat Ganon and were in possession of the autonomous peoples of Hyrule, it became clear that King Rhoam needed the help of these peoples. But Zelda hadn't finished her explanation.
"In addition, the Divine Beasts - unlike the Guardian - are piloted. These drivers - the Champions- are exceptional individuals, born with the same power as the Divine Beast that they are called to pilot. Among the signs that have warned us of the return of Calamity Ganon, are the successive births of Urbosa, the Gerudo commanding to lightning; Minpha the Zora manipulating the water; Revali the Rito playing with the winds; as well as Daruk, the Goron capable of causing explosions of fire, have been among the most decisive.'
"I see," replied Artoria.
And, indeed, she understood the importance of what Zelda had explained. Without the help of the autonomous peoples, or more precisely without the help of the Champions, it would be impossible to fight Ganon.
King Rhoam spoke again, this time to his daughter.
"Zelda, I am sending you as ambassador to the autonomous provinces. I charge you to restore public confidence in the kingdom of Hyrule. Link will accompany you as a bodyguard and Impa as an advisor.
The sovereign then turned to King Arthur.
"King Artoria Pendragon, I offer you command of the escort charged with the protection of Princess Zelda. You will command a major force because you will probably have to fight your way to the autonomous provinces. Don't fail, we can only defeat Ganon with the help of ALL Champions."
His eyes stopped on his daughter.
"All our Champions," he repeated.
Zelda moved uncomfortable, aware that her own gift - sealing Ganon- was the most important. The other Champions - the four Divine Beast pilots and the knight brandishing the Master Sword- could only weaken the Calamity, she alone had the power to defeat him.
Except that her gift had still not appeared and the anguish devoured her from within. For everything rested on her in the end...
The scenery was beautiful.
In the Kolami Hills, winter had already set in. Snow covered a mountainous landscape. Valleys between the mountains were shaded by thick fir forests whose trunks and branches were powdered with white.
Artoria turned to look at the column of soldiers slowly advancing into the valley, following an almost invisible road.
Crossing a mountain pass was always a delicate moment for an army. The troops could not deploy and were forced to form a single, highly vulnerable, column.
King Arthur had sent scouts forward, but although they had only discovered some caves occupied by Bokoblins, there was no sign of an ambush. The Hylians said that the Blins and the Lizalfos were stupid... they didn't even have language. However, Artoria remained circumspect. She had examined the weapons and armor that were made by the biped lizards. And their forge work was quite sophisticated. They knew how to work steel and their boomerangs were perfectly balanced. To claim that it was the result of chance alone was sheer blindness. And if the Lizalfos were capable of ballistic calculations... they were far smarter than the Hylians thought.
Also, Artoria had to act exactly as if her opponent was a human capable of cunning strategy. No one had ever died of an excess of prudence... conversely, the number of military disasters caused by the arrogance of soldiers who overestimated their forces and underestimated those of their enemy was no longer counted.
Artoria had given orders for the Hylians to adopt a standard formation for this kind of terrain. The light cavalry - conscripts from the Hyrule's plains- had gone first in small groups to explore the pass in search of danger and to map the positions of the Bokoblins' caves and encampments.
After them, came a first squadron of heavy cavalry, Hylian knights, which King Arthur personally directed. The first part of the infantry (archers, and infantrymen) passed next. Zelda, Impa, and Link were traveling with an escort of knights, ahead of wagons loaded with food and reserve weapons. The rest of the infantry followed behind the stewardship while the rest of the knights closed the march. If the enemy tried to block them in the passage, they should force the passage so as to allow the army to retreat.
Despite all precautions taken, Artoria remained tense, fearing the worst.
As the army reached the end of the valley, north of Stroke Lake, Artoria turned and heard a horse galloping. Link was rushing in. Only slowing down near King Arthur, he raised a finger to point out the top of a cliff a few hundred meters on their right.
Atrtoria wondered for a moment what he wanted to show her and then discovered two humanoid silhouettes.
Suddenly, one of them flew away releasing an object that he caught with the talons of his feet.
"Ritos?" asked the King of Knight.
Link nodded and then turned around.
Once again, Artoria was surprised by the teenager's abilities. How did Link locate the birdmen sentries from so far away? Well, it's true that she didn't have a very good view (1). It bothered her a little in everyday life because she was sometimes clumsy.
Finally, the presence of Ritos probably explained why they had met only a few enemy bands.
"Spread the banners!"
While the blue flags adorned with the representation of the goddess Hylia, wings outstretched, appeared above the troops, Artoria greeted the observer who had remained on the cliff.
We might as well let the sentries know that the army entering their country was an ally reinforcement. Let's try to avoid friendly fire...
Two kilometers later, they heard the first rumors of fighting. The fighting was to take place in the nearby valleys, but nothing was visible. Groups of Ritos landed on top of steep cliffs and hills, shooting arrows down, and harassing enemies. Causing a concert of screams and grunts that Artoria recognized immediately... Bokoblins.
As the army progressed, there were several clashes... hardly more than skirmishes. The opponents were Blue Bokoblins, Ice-Breath Lizalfos, and Ice Chuchu. Each time 30 to 50 opponents.
Nothing capable of opposing an army of 3,000 men.
Nevertheless, it slowed the Hylians' advance, which had to stop more and more frequently to fight their opponents. In fact, all afternoon these attacks multiplied, the opponents become more and more numerous and the intervals between attacks got smaller.
By nightfall, they hadn't gone five miles from the pass.
they were forced to fortify their camp and fight all night long because the attacks did not stop with the darkness.
This time, the opponents were Stals... that is to say Bokoblins, Moblins, and Lizalfos reduced to the state of animated skeletons. They were accompanied by Ice Keeses, some sort of white bats. Like the Ice Chuchus, the Ice Keeses could freeze the creatures they attacked.
I think no one will be surprised if I say that the night was not particularly restful.
In the morning, four Ritos stood at the entrance of the camp, asking to speak to the person in command.
Artoria led them to Princess Zelda.
Wearing a white coat and a scarf wrapped around her neck, Zelda rubbed her gloved hands. In the freezing morning air, her breath came out in the form of a white vapor.
Behind her came Link. Contrary to his habit, the young knight was not wearing a soldier's armor but a Warm Doublet. A short-sleeved green tunic worn over a long-sleeved tunic, the outfit was complemented by brown leather gloves. The outfit was almost as warm as the princess's but much less luxurious.
As usual, Link had his sword, shield, and bow on his back and a quiver of arrows on his belt.
Impa stood by Zelda's side. Dressed in her usual Sheikah attire, she did not seem affected by the freezing temperature.
Guards around the tents also attended the interview.
Guided by Artoria four Ritos entered the camp. The lady knight was as royal as usual. Walking without looking right or left, she bowed gracefully in front of the blonde teen girl.
"Princess Zelda, the royal priestess of Hyrule, representative of King Rhoam, allow me to introduce Master Revali, the Rito champion."
With a wave of her hand, the King of Knights pointed to a Rito with dark plumage and a tunic of the same color trimmed with gold. He had green bracelets around his ankles. His beak was yellow.
Zelda bowed slightly.
"It's a joy to meet Champion Revali."
Revali frowned his yellow feathers' browns and bowed, sweeping the ground with a gesture from his wing.
"The same goes for me, Princess Zelda. I wondered what was holding you back. We have been under constant attack by Ganon's armies for several weeks."
Zelda blinked, surprised both by Rito's acrimonious reproaches and by his arrogance.
"We have already sent you reinforcements, Sire Revali. Moreover, you may not know this, but the plains of Hyrule were ravaged by an invasion of Bokoblins, and towns, farms, and villages were burned to the ground. Their entire population was forced to take refuge in the citadel of Hyrule. Six days ago - finally - we managed to trap and crush the enemy in a violent battle. King Rhoam did not send you any help earlier, simply because we were fighting for our own survival. The Rito people have not been forgotten. Simply, like you, we are living in difficult times."
Revali did not answer about the battle of the Hyrule plain, concentrating instead on the subject of the garrisons.
"I didn't get a chance to see the reinforcements you just mentioned, Princess Zelda probably because they're hiding in their camps and not helping us."
Impa lost her patience.
"I am sure, Sir Revali, that the relatives of the Hylians who died to protect this land will be happy to hear your opinions."
The Rito Champion did not seem shaken. He shrugged his shoulders and touched his chest.
"Let's not talk about it anymore. Anyway, thanks to me, the Ritos have contained the enemy so far. Now that Hyrule's army has finally arrived, we can victoriously counter-attack."
The other three Ritos gave their leader a standing ovation while Zelda smiled diplomatically.
Artoria looked at Link and was surprised to see that the knight had forgotten his usual impassibility. He looked at Revali with annoyance...
The journey continued all day, they had arrived in the basin-shaped plain that surrounded Lake Totori. And the village of the Ritos was in the center of this lake. It was a safe zone because a huge metal bird was slowly spinning over them
Artoria found it difficult to conceal her stupefaction. When Zelda told her about the Divine Beasts she thought they were Guardians like the Princess of Hyrule had shown her. Nevertheless, instinctively Artoria had imagined them tall and majestic enough to deserve to be called 'Divine'.
But nothing prepared her for what she discovered...
The mechanical flying construct looked like an ornate eagle's bronze statue, except that it flew with propellers. In several places, blue lights shone. But... especially... this machine was bigger than the Rito village!
When the immense machinery passed over the army, half the soldiers found themselves in the shade.
Surely the term 'Divine' was not exaggerated for such an impressive war machine.
At the end of the day, the army camped near the stables at the entrance of the bridge while Zelda, Impa, Artoria, and Link crossed accompanied by Revali.
The village of Rito occupied a rocky needle. The inhabitants' houses were obviously an improved version of bird nests. Although made of nailed wooden planks, with a floor and a roof, they had kept a round shape.
The highest house, right next to the Akh Va'quot Shrine, was the home of Rito's chieftain. It was a huge birdman that looked like an owl.
Much less arrogant than Revali he warmly thanked Princess Zelda for coming to their rescue. She smiled, simply saying that it was normal to help them. Their peoples had always been friends and allies against the Calamity.
"Nevertheless, I confess to being quite surprised by the situation," explained Zelda. "We had no idea what was going on in the mountains, as communications became very difficult. And Sir Revali only told us that you are under constant attack."
The old manowl nodded.
"Yes, without Vah Medoh and Revali we would already have been overwhelmed. The Divine Beast has repelled several attacks on Lake Totori, but the enemies have always returned. Thousands of Bokoblins, Moblins, and Lizalfos have built camps and occupied caves in the Hebra Mountains."
Zelda was surprised.
"The Bokoblins and Lizalfos are not capable of such a level of organization! They are only able to assemble en masse during an invasion or a raid. But now you're talking about it as if they've been acting as a group for weeks."
"They have a leader terrifying enough to keep them under control," replied the Rito's chieftain "a Lynel."
As they left the chieftain's house, Artoria turned to Impa.
"What is a Lynel?"
"Let's say a kind of centaur, except that the animal part is that of a lion. However, they also have horns. They're very tall, very muscular. They shoot magic arrows and ordinary Lynels can blow fire. There are more powerful variants of Lynel... including a mythical Golden Lynel."
"I see"... In fact, Artoria had trouble imagining such a creature...
The night had fallen as they were talking with the Ritos. Around them, the people of the village went about their business. The shops were already closed, but adorable little Ritos played along the passages, while the adults sat on benches to talk to each other.
This peaceful scene was interrupted by the alarm call of a sentry who had spotted lights north of the lake. The news quickly spread and the Ritos gathered on the take-off platforms to look in that direction.
A river of light, thousands of torches, descended from the mountains.
Zelda and the others had followed the movement. The princess knew the geography of the area well. With a gesture, she showed a pass between two mountains, barely discernible in the night darkness.
"This army is from Rospro Pass."
The Lynel who led the Ganon hordes in Hebra must have learned of the arrival of the Hyrulean reinforcements and had decided to go on the offensive.
The ideal solution would have been to leave the enemy army to Vah Medoh except that Revali admitted - quite uncomfortable- that he still had difficulty flying the Divine Beast at night, especially in the mountains. And by dawn, the enemy army would already be in contact with the Hyrulean reinforcements. Vah Medoh was not equipped with very precise weapons; an area bombing in the heat of battle would probably kill as many allies as enemies.
The night was drawing to a close. On the grey day that rose, the snow seemed phosphorescent.
The army reunited by the Hyrulean and the Ritos had settled in the plain between the hills and the lake. Clearly, this was not an advantageous position. But Artoria had no choice, it took part of the night to organize the troops and put them in order of battle while integrating gradually the Ritos' soldiers arriving from the whole region in small bands.
Sir Bedivere always said that a battle began with a phase of movement in which the two armies maneuvered to impose the battle on a place that favored one and disadvantaged the other.
King Arthur had lost that very first phase.
However, this was not really surprising. During an offensive, the attacker always had the initial advantage. It made sense. If a defender had to protect his entire territory - or at least the most strategic places - an attacker only needed to find one weak point to attack. Artoria had witnessed this many times during her reign. The King of Knights always had to gather her scattered loyal supporters before countering a Saxons' landing.
Scout reports said the enemy army was split into three forces. The Lizalfos had taken the most direct route and were approaching along the north of the lake. However, the Bokoblins followed a mountain road that led further east, without a doubt to strike the Hyrulean army on the back. The third, smaller force had disappeared into the mountains.
The Lynel had opted for a pincer attack. Nevertheless, his two forces were ill-coordinated and the Lizalfos advanced by an easier path than the Bokoblins. They would arrive on the battlefield long before their allies. It gave her the opportunity to concentrate all her strength on the Lizalfos.
Artoria opted for a simple plan, bringing together the infantry in the center of the plain. The artillery and half of the cavalry would form the left wing, facing the Lizalfos, and the rest of the cavalry (under her command) would form the right wing and would face the Bokoblins.
They would have to fight one against three, stuck between the mountains and the lake with an enemy who would attack them on both open sides. Retreat would be impossible. They had to win or perish.
Despite years on the battlefield, Artoria Pendragon did not remember ever being in such a bad situation. If only she had had her knights...
As Artoria had planned, the first army to attack was the Lizalfos' one. She had arranged the cannons so that they could fire at them and their advance was greeted by the thunder of artillery and cannonballs that bounced among the legions of lizards in armor. The Lizalfos suffered heavy losses long before they reached bow range and by that time their formations had broken down into a mixture of undifferentiated fighters who were heading forward.
The Ritos archers waited only for this to intervene. They flew and repositioned themselves around the invaders firing their arrows at short range, massacring many enemies before flying away to start again.
These attacks of harassment slowed the lizards and cost them heavy losses. However, more and more Lizalfos were arriving on the battlefield.
It was then that the first Bokoblin formations appeared east of Hyrule's army.
Those monsters were stupid. Seeing that only one cavalry unit was facing them, they began to shout with joy, dancing on the spot and brandishing their weapons before loading their reinforcements without waiting.
Artoria Pendragon brandishes Excalibur.
"Knights, at the trot!"
The Knights of Hyrule wore full plate armor and helmets adorned with the Triforce on the visor and topped with a red plume. They had a shield with the coat of arms of the kingdom of Hyrule on their left arm and a long cavalry lance finished with a red pennon in their right hand.
After a hundred meters, the legendary King Arthur gave a second order.
"Lower the spears!"
The morning sun sparkled over the steel spearheads.
"Charge," she cried out.
Adopting a triangular formation with Artoria in the lead, the knights spurred their horses, their red capes snapping behind them.
They struck the Bokoblins with the power of a landslide. The enemy troop seemed to explode. At the first shock, each knight killed an opponent. Nevertheless, the Hyilans lost their momentum and had to abandon their broken spears to grab their swords.
The bark shields of the Bokoblins broke when the knights struck them; their swords pierced their chests and sliced the coarse spears with a simple movement of the wrist. Even at one against three, it was not a confrontation but a unilateral massacre.
Always in the lead, Artoria was beating her shining sword with ardor. Everything that approached her perished. When a Moblin stood against her, the King of Knights uttered a strangely melodious cry before Excalibur drew a golden trajectory in the air.
The stupid monster stopped, an expression of surprise on his face, always brandishing a kind of huge war hammer in bones... then he collapsed, cut in half from shoulder to hip.
Cut to pieces, their leader killed before their eyes, the Bokoblins fled screaming in terror.
Artoria smiles.
"Knights, form ranks!" Then, with her shining sword, she pointed out another group rushing towards them. "Let's start again!"
Even decimated by the Hylian guns and harassed by the arrows of the Ritos, the Lizalfos eventually reached the center of the battlefield. The infantrymen were waiting for them.
I would have liked to say that the Hylians waited with a strong footing but that would be exaggerated. Half of the infantry was made up of recruits, wearing soldier's armor and fairly well-armed, but still inexperienced. This was their first battle and - of course- they were terrified.
The Lizalfos did not just charge en masse. They focused on the right of the infantry. In this sector, Hylian militiamen - badly armed, even using agricultural tools- were standing next to Ritos fencers.
After throwing their multi-bladed metal boomerangs at the defenders, the Lizalfos charged with blood-curdling screams, or spat ice.
The shock was immediately in favor of the lizards. They broke the ranks of the Hylians and dislocated the formations. The militiamen, who were not very well-trained, broke free. The Ritos fled and flew away. As their opponents could not pursue them, the Ritos recovered their composure and gathered over the lake before returning to the assault.
At that moment, the battle could have been lost...
Except that- at the epicenter of the battle- Link fought hard. He broke his sword by hitting a Lizalfos and grabbed his spear to pierce another bipedal lizard. Then he concentrated and leaped forward, crossing enemy ranks like lightning. A dozen enemies were thrown to the ground. Wielding his spear brilliantly, he killed five or six others before picking up a boomerang with three blades which he launched against an enemy leader. The monster cried out in pain and fell to his knees holding his bloody head. As the Lizalfos tried to regain his senses, Link's spear pierced his chest.
Around the young hero, electrified by his exploits, a hundred veterans fought fiercely, refusing to back down even if four or five times more Lizalfos attacked them. Little by little, the survivors of the first attack took heart again and joined them.
After two hours of battle, the situation stabilized.
Lizalfos and Bokoblins were now encircling the Hylian infantry, attacking from all sides. But thanks to Link's efforts, they were still resisting. The Hylian horsemen and the Rito archers and fencers continually harassed Ganon's hordes. With time the guerrilla troops had learned to band together. The horsemen waited for the monsters to attack the Ritos to charge them from the flank or from the back while the archers fired in the back of their opponents when they faced the Hylian horsemen.
The losses of the monsters were three or four times greater than those of the Hylians... unfortunately, Ganon's hordes were at least three times greater in number, which meant that neither side could take advantage.
Revali had stopped flapping his wings to take his bow. That meant he was in free fall. This did not prevent him from being calm and perfectly focused. He drew three arrows one after the other and then dropped his bow, which he caught with the claws that replaced his feet.
He resumed his flight at the ground level and turned to look at his target.
The Wizzrobe had stopped waving his Ice Wand and looked with surprise at the three arrows crossing his chest. He screamed and disappeared... literally. There was nothing left of him but a cloud of yellow dust and his wand falling on the ground.
The Rito Champion may have been arrogant, but his lack of modesty was the result of his talents. There was no archer better than him in all of Hyrule. Anyway, that was his opinion...
As he smiled, an instinct pushed him to change course and three fire arrows passed exactly where he should have been. He turned around and found a Lynel!
The dreadful lion-centaur held a powerful bow and was preparing to shoot a new volley. Around him, Moblins served as his bodyguard, and thousands of Bokoblins swarmed like ants. Revali even saw several Wizzrobes dancing between heaven and earth...
Revali had found the enemy leader... but he could not attack the monster with the few Ritos archers accompanying him.
Less than a third of the knights that accompanied Artoria on her first charge was still alive.
Their armors were dented, covered with blood - theirs as much as that of their enemies- and they were exhausted. Horses were no better, they limped painfully.
The brave Hylian knights had just repelled another Bokoblins attack and were resting when Revali came to land near Artoria to explain what he had just discovered.
The King of Knights nodded.
"Where?"
Revali held out a feather as a human would have pointed out.
"The Lynel is in this group, but there are a thousand Bokoblins around him. Killing the leader would end the battle, but I don't know how."
"I'll take care of it. Stay here."
Artoria approached the enemy army at a gentle trot. When she arrived in range, she immobilized the mount, without paying attention to the monsters that would run towards her, certain to have easy prey.
With her eyes closed, and focused, she raised her sword with both hands.
The blade became more and more bright, more and more dazzling, turning into a torch of golden fire.
"Excalibur!"
Artoria unleashed the power of her Noble Phantasm by invoking its True Name. A stream of golden light rushed like a river in flood towards the Lynel. All the Bokoblins and Moblins between King Arthur and her target were swept away, toppled, and disintegrated by the cataclysmic flood.
The next moment there was a titanic explosion and the light of Excalibur leaps toward the sky like a geyser, eager to return to the stars.
Terrorized by this irresistible power that had just killed their leader and hundreds of their own, the Bokoblins and Lizalfos were dispersing in all directions. The horsemen and Ritos shouted with joy and immediately began the chase.
Exhausted, Artoria lowered the Sword of Promised Victory, panting, and her face covered with sweat.
The battle of Lake Totori ended with the difficult victory of the force of good. Hylians and Ritos had more than 1,500 dead (a third of their army) while the Ganon hordes had more than 6,000 dead (half their army).
Ganon's hordes, refugees in the Hebra Mountains, were still a threat.
Nevertheless, for the time being, the invasion was no longer to be feared. It was enough. It was a good start, even if it had cost the defenders dearly.
(1) True, Artoria is short-sighted. In the Unlimited Bladework Route, just before Caster's attack, Rin takes Artoria to a store to buy her glasses. In Hollow Ataraxia, we see Artoria wearing her glasses (By the way, Rin Tohsaka is also nearsighted. But she wears contact lenses.)