Battle Encounter

Pandero is a city-state that believes in the Druidic Faith, primarily inhabited by Orcs and Tigerfolk. They revere nature and savage power. Possessing the largest territory and forests on the Slovak Continent, they are not inherently aggressive, but their immense military strength deters most other city-states on the continent.

Seljuk is a city-state somewhat akin to Ronan's past life's Sparta. It is patriarchal, practices slavery, and has a council system. Every adult male citizen begins training at age six and serves on the front lines until forty, after which they transition to logistics as instructors or council members. Seljuk men do not engage in production; all labor is done by women and captured slaves. Seljuk women only gain citizenship if they bear sons and do not participate in labor. Seljuk is also the most frequent initiator of wars.

Among the other powerful entities is the Iceborn Alliance in the far north, a confederation of multiple tribes. However, the harsh environment of the far north limits their development.

Then there are the most famous bandits on the Slovak Continent, also its earliest indigenous people: the Slovaks. The Slovaks have no fixed strongholds; they roam the continent under the leadership of several Horse Kings, surviving by plundering merchant caravans. All Slovaks are born riders and archers, and their powerful mobility makes them untouchable by the major city-states.

Sometimes, even weak city-states are breached and plundered by the Slovaks. The Slovaks have many savage customs, the most famous being the succession ritual for Horse Kings. A new Horse King must lead a small group of loyal followers on a raid, kill everyone involved, and then, after defeating all challengers in one-on-one duels, must bathe himself in blood at an altar and eat a horse's heart raw to ascend to power.

"The enemies we face this time are Valantis and Eredar. Both are relatively weaker among the five major city-states in terms of military strength, but even combined, Terra cannot handle them.

Valantis primarily uses slave legions in combat; they have large numbers but are not strong. Their ace legion is the Harpy Cavalry Regiment, though it has little effect in siege warfare.

Eredar are skilled in schemes and tricks, most famous for their archer corps, which poses a problem for us."

Hearing Mario finish, Ronan couldn't help but lament that compared to the chaos and difficulty of surviving on the Slovak Continent, the people on the Asloth Continent were much luckier.

Ronan nodded, indicating he understood. Their current mission to support Terra was under Daisy's banner, and the primary objective was to build Daisy's reputation. Therefore, Ronan and his companions had to fight bravely and couldn't hide in the rear to preserve themselves. This suited Ronan's intentions perfectly, as it would also allow him to gain considerable renown and honor.

Every hundred points of renown granted Ronan an additional unit slot. The various divine artifacts and advanced troop types in the honor shop had long been coveted by Ronan. If this major battle went well, he might be able to achieve his goals in one go.

The first part of the mission to expedition the Slovak Continent was successful arrival. Therefore, Ronan estimated that there might be some trouble along the way. As expected, trouble arose when the fleet had been sailing for twenty days.

On this day, Ronan was leaning against the railing of the deck, looking out at the vast, boundless, azure sea, occasionally popping an orange segment into his mouth. It had been novel at first when they set sail, but even the most beautiful scenery becomes tiresome with time, let alone the unchanging expanse of the sea.

Moreover, the ship's provisions were not refined; every day consisted of bread, sausages, and dried meat. Occasionally, to vary the taste, they had freshly caught fish. After twenty days, Ronan felt like he was going to vomit.

Just as Ronan yawned, preparing to return to his cabin to finish some paperwork, he spotted a small black dot on the distant sea. The flagship at the forefront of the fleet sounded the alarm, the horns blew, and the ship immediately became busy. The fleet began to change formation, the flagship retreated to the center of the fleet, and Ronan's ship moved to the outer edge.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed on the deck as soldiers quickly donned their gear and assembled. Ronan also put on his light armor and picked up the Starfall Katana.

He quickly walked over to Mario, who was using a monocular telescope to observe the flagship's command and the approaching enemy.

"What is it?"

"A group of pirates."

"Huh? What pirates dare to attack regular troops?"

The flags are varied; it appears to be a coalition of multiple pirate groups. I see the Snake Worshipers' emblem at the forefront, so they should be pirates fostered by Eredar. However, the intelligence stated their numbers shouldn't be this high, so they must have hired other pirate groups as well. Those pirate groups probably only saw the generous rewards offered by Eredar and don't know our true identities.

There are about thirty ships on the opposing side, but their ships are smaller than ours. The numbers should be similar. Our side consists of professional soldiers, so our chances of winning are high. I estimate they are only trying to weaken our strength, which suggests Terra's situation is not optimistic."

"But they are better at fighting at sea than we are," Ronan said to Mario.

Mario turned and gave Ronan a strange look. "Only your unit is not good at sea combat. The soldiers sent out this time are all excellent sailors with rich experience in naval warfare."

(O_O)

Ronan gave an awkward smile and returned to his unit to prepare for battle.

There were no cannons in this world, so naval battles were fought at close quarters, relying on the quality of the soldiers and the sturdiness of the ships. Sinterland's warships were built with the finest timber, as Sinterland had no shortage of trees, and their ramming prows were reinforced with iron.

As soon as the two fleets made contact, many pirate ships were expertly rammed and split in half by the Sinterland captains. The pirate ships and warships mingled together. After the soldiers on both sides gained their footing, archers began to exchange volleys. The pirates used ladders and grappling hooks to board the Sinterland warships and swarmed aboard.

The violent shaking from the ships colliding caused the inexperienced Ronan to stagger and nearly fall, but a Nord beside him grabbed him in time, preventing him from making a fool of himself.

The Silvermoon soldiers raised their tower shields to block the edge of the deck, while Elf archers concealed themselves within, picking off pirates. The scattered arrows shot by the pirates were all blocked by the tower shields.

Ronan, having nearly stumbled, felt a surge of anger. He drew the Starfall Katana and with a leaping slash, split the head of a pirate who had just boarded.

Kicking the pirate into the sea, Ronan sidestepped and caught an arrow shot by another pirate. The pirate's bow was poor, and the arrow's speed was not high; Ronan, empowered by his high agility, easily caught it.

He forcefully threw the arrow at a stunned pirate nearby. Seizing the moment the pirate dodged, he sprinted forward and thrust his katana straight into the pirate's heart.

The pirates on this ship could not gain a foothold; as soon as they landed, they were surrounded and killed by the soldiers or pushed into the sea with shields.