Chapter 393: A sweep
Vale watched Tiber as he laid down everything and more that he expected the future to look like, at least part of what it should look like.
"Of course we’ll have our standing armies, but the Flagbearers will be the elite of the elite. An elite mobile force that can be quickly deployed anywhere! We can also have them specialize in different things if they want!"
Vale nodded. "I agree with this. Do you want to find another name, or do you want to continue with Flagbearers?"
Vale didn’t much care either way, but it seemed Tiber did. "Names are important, my Lord. They’re symbols and they have meaning. We don’t need to change the name from Flagbearers. It fits because they’ll be carrying your flag!"
"We’ll start this plan when we finish with Matsumoto. All our forces are currently scattered for now," Vale pointed out.
"I understand. Then we should focus on Matsumoto," Tiber said reluctantly.
"Yes, gather all the available forces and put them under Valtor’s command, they’ll make up the bulk. How many flying ships do we have?"
"We currently have five. One belongs to Akatsuki, and one to Matsumoto. The three were brought over by Eirikr from our territory. All the flying ships are at the Errant rank."
Flying ships are difficult to make, and expensive. Each component and part needed to be enchanted, and the materials needed for all of that don’t come cheap. They are also ranked in accordance with the Knight ranks, which is important to measure speed, attack power, and defense.
Clans that have them place much importance on them as they also give much advantage in battle. Unfortunately, the most common types of flying ships in the Hinterlands are the defensive and transport types; they don’t have those that focus solely on air offense.
The biggest advantage, though, was that they could carry a lot of Knights at once, transporting a lot of goods as well. It says much about the wealth of the Athrimir Clan that they have a couple of flying ships at hand.
"Get all the ships ready, we’ll let Takoda start his sweep and then we’ll study the reaction of Matsumoto before we do anything. I would prefer that this doesn’t take more from us. We don’t need to cut our strength down more than it already is."
Tiber nodded. "If we can convert a lot of the Matsumoto forces to our side, then that’ll be ideal. A lot of them already have the experience."
There was a lot to talk about and implement, but everything would take time and constant review. They spent the day doing most of this and getting ready.
"My Lord, Tong reported that he could convert what remained of the Akatsuki throne into another artifact, but it’ll take the rest of his power and he would be forced to return immediately. He already locked himself in the room and said we should check back tomorrow or the day after. He might not be there when he’s checked upon."
Although Vale was sad to hear this, it wasn’t the worst outcome because he would still see the Demon again. And he planned to personally reward him when he got strong enough to do so. Tong did so much, and Vale isn’t one to forget goodwill.
The next day, the orders of restriction around Akatsuki were officially lifted and, at the same time, Takoda together with two chiefs entered Athrimir once again.
Immediately this happened, the news spread to all interested parties, everyone learned about it, the news spreading through the whole of the Hinterlands!
It made one thing absolutely clear, Vale Athrimir had regained control! Not only that, it pointed to the fact that both Eirikr and the Water Lord had been defeated! What about the Company Captains? Could they have been defeated as well?
This turn of events left everyone stunned and most reeling. Even those who had predicted it as the worst possible outcome couldn’t wrap their minds around it, as if they couldn’t believe what they witnessed. Everyone aside, both Eirikr and the Water Lord were strong Master Knights, the cream of the crop, so to speak, so why would they fall like that? And with the amount of Master Knights that entered Akatsuki... how could they all have perished?
What most didn’t immediately understand was the fact that the Matsumoto Master Knights and the Akatsuki would fight each other. Then there’s Vale, and the Demon, Tong. Perhaps if they calculated all of these they would realize it, but at the moment only the Matsumoto could do partial calculations and even then they thought Tong was a hidden Grandmaster instead of what he really was.
The Ito Clan was the first to show a reaction as they immediately deployed a lot of their maritime military force into their waters and even out of their immediate waters! It was a heavy show of force, a strong warning.
Vale and Tiber were a bit worried about them, because quite frankly, isn’t this the best time to attack Athrimir? But at the same time, with the situation not clear, Ito attacking would look foolish from their point of view. After all, they did not know how Vale killed all those Master Knights! Who was backing him?
But Vale had no intention of attacking the Ito Clan... yet. He’s more focused on Athrimir.
And things went smoothly. The remaining Akatsuki Master Knights, three of them, all joined forces with their Knight forces to confront Takoda and his forces, but it ended in failure. The main highlight of the battle, though, was the warriors that Slya led, the squad personally killed a Master Knight with their combined efforts and because of the silver of their bind weapons, they earned the name ’Radiant Warriors,’ their names quickly spreading.
Takoda continued the sweep, rooting out hidden spies and outsider Knights, he freed the main army and swelled their forces until he reached Coastal Fortward and found the fortress sacked, most of its population disappeared. They’d all joined the Ito Clan! Worse, the Western Army was nowhere to be seen as well!
Takoda held Coastal Fortward and the other two chiefs split, one taking command at the capital and the other dealing with the affairs outside of it.
Of course, all of this was arranged by Vale. At the moment he had only three chiefs as Chief Morwen Voss died during the occupation of Akatsuki. Vale didn’t much care for the dead chief anyway as he always remained neutral.
He already made it clear to the three chiefs that he would still split the territories up after everything settled down. They should forget their old territories as they would be given new ones, so they should just hold on for the moment. Although their families were free and now protected, some things they wouldn’t need to worry about again.
All the while they were studying Matsumoto’s reaction but to their surprise there was none! The city continued to run as normal, it was as if the Company Captains never disappeared and were still there.
"So those hidden Master Knights have already taken control? Or maybe they’ve always been in control and the Company Captains were the front they put in place. Either way, we can’t sit in place, we can’t let things settle. The Tachibana will only watch for a while."
"Give the order, let Slya recruit from the army and get the best of the Errant Knights she can. Let her get her... Radiant Warriors... that’s their new name, right?"
"Yes, My Lord. Slya already sent a message about changing the name. She said you don’t know how to name things. It’s now officially called Radiant Sky, but you can call them Radiant Warriors too. She already recalled all the weapons that were lost."
"Good." The summed-up threat of the Radiant Sky should be equivalent to a Master Knight. And no ordinary Master Knight should be able to stand up to them, not to talk of Errant Knights, even two hundred Errant Knights should fall to them! If only they had better ships and had good battle squad techniques! Then they would be truly terrifying.
Even their leader, Errant Knight Slya, though she’s not a Master Knight, her power is now far above that of any Errant Knight. Now if they’re back to a hundred Radiant Warriors, then they are truly a powerful force.
But even at the moment, if Vale was to be so bold as to say, then the Radiant Sky should be the strongest battle squad in the Hinterlands at the moment. Of course, not counting the Tachibana Clan.
"The Radiant Sky will oversee the restriction and transfer of all the prisoners to the Athrimir capital. Then they’ll escort part of the army back here to hold Akatsuki. If we are to go to Matsumoto, then I should bring almost all my strong cards."
The prisoners are officers, Storm Devil Errant Knights that Vale wishes to make use of in the future. With the army in Akatsuki, they would be a check against Chief Adara of Clan Astrum, at least until Vale returns.
"In two days, we’ll march to Matsumoto."