>>14896003General Toya knelt before the horse. His armies were broken, his camp torched. He heard a sniff from the person atop the horse.
"You tried peko"
Frustration boiled in him, and he punched the ground.
"If-If only our suburban armies could reach us in time..."
Demon Lord Pekora raised an eyebrow, and took another bite out of her carrot.
"Your main force has been completely shattered. Do you really think an few thousand peasant levies would have made a difference peko?"
He gripped his fist. He knew, of course. They were far too spread out, and would not have made it in time. His main force was powerful though, and he had thought that his maneuver of having Captain Kuzuha taking a 40k strong reserve into a flanking maneuvre would have been enough to give them the victory.
But the enemy had turned out to be far more numerous that what he had expected. A well organized army of 180k, with veteran nousagi at its core, there were no openings to burst his reserve into. He could only watch from the sidelines as his main force was completely routed. Demon Lord Pekora continued chewing her carrot.
General Toya finally stood up. He knew, they could reassemble their forces and strike back with the same number tomorrow, for the demon lord could no longer use her dark-armor at full power.
"You know this isn't over. We'll win tomorrow." he confidently said.
Pekora just shrugged "You'll take a town or two, but we will simply take it back again the next day peko."
Toya was not deterred "I know not how King Riku did it, but our armies are much larger than yours now. And since your armor cannot be used again, we will continue to win. And city by city, we will take our Kingdom back! Slow and steady, BANZAI!"
He turned around - flaring his cloak - and with a single powerful push, leapt away from the carnage.
Pekora continued chewing her carrot, looking into the horizon. A twinkle appeared in the sky behind her, and a few seconds later, a patched up Mel landed near Pekora.
Pekora raised her eyebrows at her, silently asking if she was healed now. Mel nodded. Chocosen was a professional after all. Their eyes turned back to the horizon, and they continued to watch the setting sun.
"Do you think he realizes?" Pekora asked.
"Realizes what, my Lord?" Mel said.
"That these 'armies' of his are not loyal to him... nor to any General in his camp" said Pekora "They just enjoy spilling blood on these fields, and dragging both sides into the mud. They are mercenaries that only know how to fight, and come peacetime, they will simply leave for the next battlefield."
Mel considered this.
"It's hard to say my Lord. Perhaps he was ignorant, or perhaps he still hopes that even these mercs can be integrated slowly and steadily." she said.
Pekora scoffed "Fool. He forgets his history. Mercs are snakes, and if you make your entire army out of snakes, someone will get bitten."
She shook her head and turned her horse back to her castle, Mel followed behind her. Her armor would keep giving her power for a few more days, but most of it was already used up. She sighed.
It did not matter. Her enemies would continue destroying themselves.
