One Shot, Nation Destroyed! Barbarian Civil War

On the city wall.

When Duncan took the initiative to ask for control of the ballistae, Duke of Tintagel agreed without hesitation.

As everyone knew, the Roman Legion was most skilled in using ballistae.

Duncan clearly came from a regular army background. If he wanted control of the ballistae, he must have had some confidence in his ability.

By now, Duke of Tintagel had gathered nearly all the nearby farmers. Including several hundred miscellaneous troops, they numbered roughly fifteen to sixteen hundred men.

Britain Island was, after all, only a province of the Empire. The scale of its battles was much smaller, generally involving regular armies of around a thousand men. With retainers, irregulars, farmers, and the like included, they could occasionally claim to have armies numbering in the tens of thousands.

When the Province of Britannia was first abandoned, a single Imperial Legion had been enough to suppress the barbarian tribes on every side.

Later, after the Empire withdrew its troops, the Britons repeatedly wrote to request imperial aid. The Province of Gaul sent forces over three or four times and drove the barbarians of Ireland back. But Lesser Germania could no longer hold on at the time. After fighting the Picts, the Imperial Legion had to withdraw again. They had traveled back and forth so relentlessly that there was simply no other option but to abandon Britannia completely.

This showed that the Empire had truly done all it could back then.

Unfortunately, that vast Empire was now in its twilight years. It could no longer defend such remote provinces. (The Cowlick King's era was when the Kingdom of Camelot lost the Empire's protection, forcing her to draw her sword and fight.)

Amid the tides of an age of the Scourge of God, Barbarian Invasion, imperial collapse, religious conflict, and wars between pantheons, King Arthur was merely a small figure struggling desperately to protect Britannia.

Duncan did not mind taking on some of the burden carried by the Knight King.

The ballistae had been left behind from that time.

The early British Legion had even been trained by Imperial officers. Some of the Sarmatian mercenary riders remained in Britannia and later trained the Rager Heavy Cavalry, one of the predecessors of the Knights of the Round Table.

Sarmatian cavalry enjoyed an illustrious reputation in this era and served as foreign mercenaries forming a core part of the Empire's strength.

According to early legends, although their women were beautiful, they often had to kill an enemy as a coming-of-age rite. Without sufficient military accomplishments, they could not marry.

During Trajan's reign, the Empire dealt the Sarmatians a crushing defeat, forcing them to hand over eight thousand cavalrymen as hostages in exchange for peace.

These riders were sent to serve in Britannia, becoming one of the earliest Sarmatian legions stationed there.

Their Dragon Banners, Kontos Lances, and Scale Armor all became standard equipment for the early Imperial Cataphracts.

King Uther's cavalry inherited the legacy of those Sarmatians, including their especially eye-catching Dragon Banners.

His nickname was "Great Dragon Lord Uther."

(This was also where the Empire's dragon banners in Mount & Blade came from.)

"If only I had a unit of heavy cavalry. Finding a way to charge through their formation and kill their leaders would give us a better chance than waiting for prey with ballistae."

Duncan had God's Eye View on his side.

If he led a powerful force of Imperial Cataphracts into their formation, charging wherever morale broke and locking directly onto the enemy commanders, he might be able to take them out in a single wave.

Heavy cavalry were the hammer of the battlefield, capable of smashing an enemy line to pieces.

As long as the legion at the front could hold, Duncan could lead the cavalry out to exploit every weakness the enemy exposed. Achieving feats worthy of Alexander the Great would not be difficult.

He could slaughter his way from Europe all the way to Mesopotamia!

Of course, in this era, only heavy cavalry could fight like that. Light cavalry charging a formation would be little different from suicide.

The good news was that the enemy had not attacked yet.

The bad news was that the Saxon Barbarians had learned some Imperial siegecraft.

Britain Island had virtually no proper cities. Its so-called castles were really just early military forts. Only the Kingdom of Camelot possessed a fortress close to those of the early Middle Ages, and it was hailed as the most impregnable place on all of Britain Island.

Raven Queen Triss appeared atop the wall and said quietly, "The reinforcements Duke of Tintagel requested haven't come."

"It seems they've sided with King Uther."

The Age of Kings on Britain Island was somewhat similar to a feudal system, with local lords and nobles possessing an extremely high degree of autonomy.

Anya hurried over as well, looking slightly nervous. "Can we hold them?"

"If not, we should find a way to retreat."

Though she had looked utterly confident yesterday, the sight of the Saxon army pressing down on them today immediately made her tense.

She was still just a noblewoman. Her ambitions exceeded her abilities, and war had left her panicked.

If this place fell as well, Duke of Tintagel could only flee into the mountains and wage guerrilla warfare. King Uther had likewise been driven into Wales by the many Saxon Barbarians.

From a strategic standpoint, if they could win today's battle, it would be much easier for Duncan to establish himself on Britain Island.

Duncan pondered for a moment. "We still have a chance."

This was a siege defense.

If it had been a field battle, he would have taken Witch and the others and retreated long ago.

Raven Queen Triss trusted Duncan almost blindly. Seeing that he seemed somewhat confident, she immediately nodded. "I'll make some preparations. If we can't hold them off, we can at least find a way to withdraw."

She was probably planning to prepare some ritual Magic.

Duncan thought for a moment. "Do you know any illusion spells?"

Raven Queen Triss nodded lightly. "What's your plan? I can give it a try."

Duncan pointed at the Ballista beside him and said in a low voice, "Find a way to use an illusion to hide this for me."

He would catch the enemy off guard with a shot.

Duncan had staked all his chips on his God's Eye View and the Ballista.

Raven Queen Triss immediately said, "No problem. Give me a moment to prepare."

Anya said at this moment, "Should I find a way to persuade Duke of Tintagel to hand command of the army over to you?"

Hand over military command?

That would probably be difficult.

Duncan considered it, then said, "No need. Just persuade him to place the archer units under my command."

Anya immediately replied, "All right."

The Witch hurried away. She found Duke of Tintagel, who was at his wits' end, and no one knew what she said. Yet after only a few words, under God's Eye View, an archer force several hundred strong became green-marked units. Anya's negotiating skills were formidable, reminding Duncan of the Roman noblewomen from Spartacus. Political ladies like them always had their methods.

--Welsh Archers (One-Star).

--British Archers.

--Militia Auxiliary Archers.

Although Duke of Tintagel had only a motley assortment of troops left, he still had some units capable of fighting. The Welsh Archers were the predecessors of the English Longbowmen. Wales was a forested, mountainous region that produced excellent archers, but unfortunately, they were not carrying English Longbows now.

There were only twenty-six of them. Duncan kept them at his side, while the other archers were scattered along the city wall's defensive line.

The army pressed down upon them.

By the time the Saxon Barbarians prepared to assault the city, their numbers had exceeded expectations. Their forces had swelled to nearly six thousand. The barbarian main force had not changed at all, but they had gained large numbers of slaves and auxiliary troops, driven forward to push the siege engines.

--British Slave Army (Low Morale).

After invading, the Saxon Barbarians had slaughtered vast numbers of Britons. They killed the adult men and took the British women. Since the beginning of their invasion, Britain's population had probably decreased by a third.

In the future, only Wales would still have Britons. England had more or less undergone a complete replacement of its population.

"Fire!"

The British Slave Army had no morale whatsoever. They were merely cannon fodder meant to exhaust the defenders' firepower. They were easily routed, after which the barbarian soldiers hacked down a few of them before driving the rest forward again.

Before long, corpses carpeted the ground outside the walls.

Duncan did not know how many people he had shot. Probably several dozen. There was no obvious improvement, because these cannon fodder troops possessed very low combat skill. Basically, after he killed more than ten in succession, an entire slave unit would collapse, dragging the other slaves into flight as well.

--"Intimidation (Special Ability): You have forged your reputation from the piled bones of your enemies. When you gaze upon your foes, they will feel fear. When you appear on the battlefield, your mere presence will shake and strike at their morale."

Only after the slave army had completely collapsed did Duncan realize that he had gained a new special ability.

It had been built from the heads he had harvested.

There was no doubt that the battlefield had improved him enormously. As quantitative change gave rise to qualitative change, nearly all of Duncan's basic combat forms had become Deep Blue-marked.

Through steady accumulation, his other basic combat forms had also been raised.

The Saxon Barbarians seemed to realize that slaves alone could never take the walls. As movement began along both flanks, their true combat units started advancing toward the battlefield.

Battering Rams, Scaling Ladders, Siege Towers, and more.

The slave army once again pushed these siege engines closer. Britain did not have particularly tall or sturdy walls, so the Siege Towers did not need to be built very high. Six meters at most was enough.

Fortunately, the barbarians had no Catapults. Otherwise, this battle would have been even more impossible to fight.

Duncan began moving, with a squad of Welsh Archers following behind him.

--Saxon Spearman-Shieldmen (Morale Shaken) (Encountered a Formidable Enemy).

The special ability forged through slaughter seemed to have begun taking effect.

When Duncan appeared on the right side of the wall, the barbarian soldiers sheltering behind the Siege Towers actually gained the "Morale Shaken" marker.

The barbarian officers bellowed loudly, boosting their morale.

About three minutes later, the "Morale Shaken" marker disappeared, but "Encountered a Formidable Enemy" remained.

At some point—probably after Duncan had harvested over a hundred heads from "real warriors"—every enemy he encountered had begun displaying the "Encountered a Formidable Enemy" marker above their heads.

Well, even though there was only one formidable enemy.

Duke of Tintagel pressed forward with a small unit of the British Legion.

At this point, he could only risk everything!

If the commander did not take the field himself, where would their morale come from?

To the sound of horns, the Saxon Barbarians launched simultaneous attacks in three directions. Duke of Tintagel was clearly underprepared and somewhat flustered, directly sending the militia and peasant units up to fend off enemies climbing the walls.

Enemies had already made it up.

Below, the city gate shook violently under the blows of the Battering Ram. The British Militia beneath the gatehouse gripped their weapons tightly, one after another.

--British Mixed Legion (Morale Shaken) (Returned from a Crushing Defeat) (Outnumbered).

--Town Militia (Morale Shaken) (Outnumbered).

--Peasant Levy (Morale Shaken) (No Training).

Damn!

Why were there so many whose morale was wavering?

Duncan surveyed the battlefield, and his expression instantly turned grave.

"Why is morale so low?"

"Is it because Duke of Tintagel suffered a crushing defeat first?"

Duncan had been picking off enemies to inspire morale, but he had not expected that in the first wave of melee combat, at least several hundred-man units would display signs of wavering morale, nearly raising white flags and routing.

The Britons' mixed units all bore the "Returned from Crushing Defeat" marker.

"This really is a worthless general leading a worthless army!"

With the army's morale this low, Duke of Tintagel had to bear at least half the responsibility.

Duncan no longer conserved his stamina.

He directly picked up the Northern War Bow and commanded the Welsh Archers behind him to focus their fire on the marked positions of enemy officers.

Rapid Fire!

One kill, two kills, three kills!

His Stamina Bar dropped segment by segment before slowly recovering. Duncan had not gone all out earlier; the slave army simply was not worth the effort.

Arrows tore through the air!

Following Duncan's lead, the Welsh Archers unleashed a volley, directly killing the Centurion of the Saxon Spearman-Shieldmen.

— Saxon Spearman-Shieldmen (Morale Collapse) (Officer Killed) (Encountered Powerful Enemy)

This focused strike—

More than thirty enemies were killed or wounded in succession. One hundred-man unit immediately scattered, allowing the other troops atop the walls to catch their breath for a moment.

But a rain of arrows soon came flying in.

Pshk!

A Welsh Archer beside Duncan was instantly shot in the head. One arrow struck his eye socket, another pierced his neck, frightening those nearby into immediately raising their shields for cover.

— Saxon Forest Hunter

— Saxon Elite Forest Hunter (One-Star)

Under the cover of shield-bearing warriors, the Saxon archers joined the battle as well. These barbarian forest hunters were more skilled than ordinary archers and numerous enough that a single volley completely suppressed the defenders, directly shooting down dozens of men. Without the cover of the city walls, they would likely have shattered these militia units head-on.

"If we win this—"

"In Total War, it would at least count as an epic victory, wouldn't it?"

Dozens of meters away.

An arrow struck Duke of Tintagel's helmet, breaking him out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly raised his shield and retreated beneath the protection of his personal guards.

A gap appeared in the southwestern defenses of the wall.

Duncan charged forward at high speed, casually snatching up a javelin. His entire body erupted with strength, like a legendary figure from Ancient Greece. In the instant of his sprint, the javelin whistled through the air, piercing straight through the chest of a Barbarian Elite Warrior and knocking his corpse from the wall.

An uproar broke out all around!

The enemy's first elite unit clad in full heavy armor had been slain. The Barbarian Warrior who had been the first to scale the wall was speared to death by Duncan.

He was standing on the wall, yet he still dared to be the first one up?

— Shield Bash!

Duncan took a shield from a corpse and swung it fiercely. With a heavy blow, he smashed it into the enemy's head, his arm going slightly numb as the burly barbarian warrior was sent sprawling. The others swarmed in from both sides and hacked him to death in a frenzy.

— Combat Style: Decapitation!

Oathkeeper flashed with a cold gleam. The Saxon Axeman who had just charged back onto the wall froze where he stood, leaving only a headless corpse as blood sprayed out like a fountain.

Roar!

Duncan threw back his head and let out a long howl, his voice like thunder!

The extremely bloody scene intimidated the enemy and rallied the nearby allies whose morale had been wavering.

Kill!

A roar of cheers like landslides and tsunamis erupted from the city wall.

A peerless warrior!

Duncan had single-handedly inspired their morale once more!

Even Duke of Tintagel, who had retreated beneath the protection of his guards, could not help poking his head out. Regrouping, he gripped his sword, raised his shield, and led his retainers in driving the enemies who had surged onto the wall back down.

"Melee combat inspires morale more easily than killing from afar."

Duncan personally charged into battle and cut down more than ten men in succession. At last, he stabilized the southwestern line of defense and made those wavering-morale markers disappear.

Under God's Eye View.

The projected image seemed to undergo some changes.

--"Inspiration (Special Ability): Your bravery greatly bolsters the morale of others. Whenever you appear on the battlefield, allied units will find the courage to keep fighting because of you."

Duncan's own markers changed, and he now bore two special statuses: "Intimidation" and "Inspiration."

He had fought and killed his way all the way here.

His very presence seemed to have acquired some strange supernatural quality through the slaughter. Almost visibly, the soldiers nearby became fired up with fighting spirit.

"No wonder the fierce generals of old dared to charge enemies several times their number with only dozens or hundreds of men!"

Morale was far too important.

Wherever Duncan went, morale soared!

Almost single-handedly, he had salvaged a defensive line that had been on the verge of collapse.

But the enemy's offensive did not stop.

Under the cover of the Saxon Forest Hunters, squads of elite soldiers quickly closed in on the battlefield.

This was a brutal meat grinder of a battle.

Not far away, the Saxon king, Hengist, stared fixedly in Duncan's direction, his expression filled with shock. He asked those around him, "Who is that man?"

"Since when did Duke of Tintagel have such a valiant knight under his command?"

He had been waiting for the enemy to exhaust themselves before launching a full-scale assault, but Duncan's appearance had forcibly held back three waves of Saxon Barbarian attacks, locking the battle in a stalemate.

Even the militiamen whose morale had nearly collapsed were fighting to the death because of his personal valor!

If the Britons had possessed such a fierce warrior earlier, they likely would never have been able to establish the Kingdom of Kent here.

"They're already exhausted!"

Horsa rode up before his brother and pointed toward the northwestern section of the city wall. "That area is nothing but a rabble of militiamen and farmers. Concentrate our elites there, and we can take it in one wave."

Although Duncan's martial prowess was astonishing, the brothers were not worried in the slightest.

By this point in the battle, the Saxon Barbarians' elite forces had not even fully entered the field. Their custom in siege warfare was to wait until the enemy was exhausted before sending in their elites for a fierce assault.

That kept casualties lower.

As they spoke, surrounded by barbarian chieftain guards and noble riders, the two brothers gradually approached the front lines, seemingly observing the enemy defenses for weaknesses.

This distance was already far beyond bow range, so there was no need to fear enemy archers.

Duke of Tintagel's side had far too many farmer-militiamen.

The moment a breach appeared in any section of the wall, it would mean a total rout.

"They're here!"

Duncan began to move, locking onto his target as he waited for their speed to gradually slow.

Now!

God's Eye View looked down upon the battlefield. The enemy leader was marked, and Raven Queen Triss's illusion vanished. Amid the slightly panicked gazes of the distant onlookers, a Ballista abruptly appeared atop the city wall. Its javelin-like bolt was already loaded, and the straight-line distance to the enemy was just over three hundred meters.

Cross Star aligned!

Duncan took a deep breath. In an instant, the javelin shrieked through the air. The distant enemies fell into disarray and nearly turned their horses around to retreat.

Bang!

The javelin-like heavy bolt swept across the battlefield.

At that moment, Diana of the Ancient Roman Pantheon watched!

Artemis of the Ancient Greek Pantheon looked on!

Thud!

The enemy wanted to flee, but it was already too late.

The next second, Hengist, king of the Kingdom of Kent, fell from his horse. The Ballista's heavy bolt pierced through his chest, passed through two men, and pinned a warhorse behind him dead in place.

The entire battlefield fell silent!

Everyone stood frozen in Terror, and only the next second did earth-shaking chaos and cheers erupt.

As if guided by fate, Duncan had performed beyond all expectations!

The barbarian chieftain guards frantically carried the king's body to the rear. Worthy of a Two-Star golden hero unit, Hengist had not died on the spot even after the Ballista bolt pierced his chest. Blood merely sprayed wildly from him, and by the time the chieftain guards dragged him away, he was barely breathing.

"The enemy king is dead!"

"The enemy king is dead!!!"

On the city wall, the Britons erupted into hoarse cheers and cries. The entire battlefield's situation instantly underwent a heaven-shaking reversal. The morale of the attacking barbarian army wavered, and they fell into panic before being completely driven back.

On a high tower not far away, Raven Queen Triss finally let out a sigh of relief.

She had been kneeling in prayer the entire time, clutching the emblems of Goddess Diana and Goddess Artemis in her hands.

This time, Raven Queen Triss had gone all out as well.

She had forcibly pried open a corner of the coffin lid sealing away the Ancient Roman and Ancient Greek Pantheons that The Church had nailed shut.

Duncan felt a faint warmth in his chest. It came from the emblem runestone Raven Queen Triss had given him.

Witch Anya, meanwhile, was breathing rapidly. She did not know what had happened, but upon hearing the waves of cheers and shouts, she realized that Duncan had turned the entire battle around.

As expected of the man I chose!

Anya secretly glanced at Triss, feeling that she had already gained the upper hand over her.

The Saxon Barbarians began to retreat.

At the rear of the army, Horsa seized the witch doctor who had just stepped out of the tent, his expression livid. "How is the king's injury?"

The witch doctor looked terrified and slowly shook his head.

It meant there was no hope left.

The Ballista bolt had pierced straight through his body and punctured his lungs. Unless a miracle occurred, death was inevitable. He was only clinging to his last breath in a final flicker of life.

Horsa's expression darkened as he sank into thought.

The two brothers had led the barbarian forces in their invasion of Britain Island together, but there could only be one king. His elder brother becoming king was enough to win everyone's approval, and Horsa had accepted it willingly. But now, his brother was close to death.

Who would become the next king of the Kingdom of Kent?

Hengist had only one son of considerable renown—Aesc. In this newly established Kingdom of Kent, only Horsa and his nephew were qualified to inherit the throne.

The founding monarch had suddenly died!

The chain reaction this would cause was terrifying. The other barbarian chieftains would likely begin stirring as well.

It was fine for everyone to join forces in plundering, but if you wanted to become my king, then I would not be happy about it.

A subtle change appeared in the skies above the battlefield.

At some point, a Valkyrie in a silver helmet with bird wings had appeared above the battlefield. She turned and looked toward Duncan, then flew directly toward King Hengist.

The Valkyrie had appeared.

From the look of it, she intended to take away that barbarian leader unit—the founding monarch of the Kingdom of Kent, Hengist.

The barbarians withdrew.

With the king dead and morale devastated, Horsa had no intention of staying. He immediately led the army away. The most important thing now was deciding the next heir to the throne.

He had followed his elder brother and worked tirelessly to carve out this foundation in Britain Island. Naturally, he was unwilling to hand it over to a nephew with barely any military achievements.

Why could he not sit on the throne?

On the battlefield.

The Valkyrie in the silver winged helmet lingered for a long time. After taking away the warrior's soul, she gave Duncan a deep look before vanishing into thin air.

At some point, Duncan discovered that an additional mark had appeared on his body.

--Odin's Gaze: Odin only admires the bravest warriors. You have now caught His attention, and Odin, the chief god of the Polytheism—Norse Pantheon faction, has taken an interest in you.

The Valkyrie has spread word of your fame within Valhalla.

You have unlocked the faction Legendary Points of Polytheism—the Norse Pantheon.

...