45 Flight of the Sky Chario

By sunrise, the blacksmiths barely finished everything on time. The Raven Bow were already mounted on the Chariots built by the Woodcraft Pavilion. Each chariot had a box filled with bolts of arrow that were 15 to 20 inches in length with tempered steel tip for better penetration.

Lined up just outside the wall were the 10 chariots dubbed "The Sky Chariot" painted in red with golden wings. The Chariot itself had a length of a one to two meters and was pulled by four Red Arabian Horse beasts. The mounted Raven Bow were shining from the light of the sun and the Shrapnel spears were strapped at the side, inside of the chariot.

The soldiers gathered on top of the wall curious about these ten chariots, especially with the new weapons mounted at its side.

Leading the charge for this mission was the first Colonel, with him at the helm, they were sure that they will be able to deal massive amount of damage to the enemy.

"Attention! Your mission is to catch to the enemy forces and use the new weapon, dubbed the "Raven Bow" to kill as many as you can. Follow your superior and you are ordered to destroy the new weapon to prevent enemy forces from recreating it." From on top of the wall, the General spoke with such presence befitting of a commander.

This was the first time Samael and the rest saw this side of the General because for the past few days it was Samael that was in the lime light.

"No time to waste, go and take flight. Show those Hundred River scum the might of our empire!" The general's words echoed from the wall and roused the strong feeling of camaraderie and unity from every soldier that heard him.

With the General's words, the ten Sky Chariots rode forward, led by the First Colonel who was riding a horse-type archaic beast.

Then ten Sky Chariots, pulled by four Red Arabian horses were definitely fast as they quickly disappeared towards the distance.

"Looks like they will be able to catch up with the enemy." Lina muttered.

"They will." Julian reassured.

They then went back to their rooms to train once again, raising their strengths would serve as another assurance for when the enemy experts attack.

...

Back on the wide and long plains, the ten Sky Chariots and the First Colonel were already travelling for two hours before they even caught a glimpse of the enemy.

"Enemy troops spotted ahead." the rider of the #1 Sky Chariot, reported.

This alerted the other Sky Chariots and the First Colonel.

"All Sky Chariots load up. Remember keep your distance, don't let the enemy get close to you. Shoot them down from a distance." Said the First Colonel.

"Yes, Sir!" all then Sky Chariots responded.

Each Sky Chariot had 3 men, one holding the reigns and two who were manning the Raven Bow. The archers opened the box, bolted inside the chariot and made one final check for the arrows. Then they checked if there were no issues with the repeating mechanism and the trigger of the bow.

"Everything looks fine, sir!"

Once they were sure everything was working fine, the First Colonel ordered with a savage smile on his face.

"Good...You have your orders, shoot these bastards down."

...

"Sir! Enemy forces spotted at our rear." the enemy scout reported.

"What? Let me see..." The commander then took a look and saw the ten weird looking carriages coming towards them. He didn't get to take a good look at the strange crossbow mounted on its side.

"It's only ten carriages. Archer! shoot them down!" He ordered.

The archers then loaded up and released a hail of arrows.

Whoosh...

Arrow flew up in the air and down towards the ten chariots but missed because of the speed of their target.

...

It didn't take them much longer to reach the enemy and when they did, the ten Sky Chariots saw the enemy release a hail of arrows.

The First Colonel immediately ordered. "All units! commence mission! Split up!"

"Yes, Sir!"

And so the ten Sky Chariots split up and avoided the hail of arrows.

...

Back at the enemy camp.

"Sir! The enemy split up!" The scout reported.

"Attacking from our flanks, huh? Shield wall!" The commander ordered.

His troops then made a shield wall to block out the enemy attacks.

...

"Shield wall? Just as predicted...time to see how well these babies work."

It seemed like every rider of the ten chariots had the same thoughts. Before the mission even started they were already briefed by Samael and the General at the possible enemy actions. Samael's first advice to them was to use the Shrapnel Spears as the opening attack, no matter what the enemy's action was.

And so, each rider of the Sky Chariots grabbed one of the Shrapnel Spears strapped to the side and after confirming the trajectory of their throw, they lit up the wick on the can and unleashed this new weapon.

To this, the enemy responded by putting up their shields.

The Shrapnel spears streaked up into the air and flew down on the enemy forces. Some of them passed through the gaps of the shields.

As the Sky Chariots continued to galloped, they were waiting for the cans to exploded and right on time, the awaited explosions rang through their ears.

Boom!

Boom!

Numerous explosions occurred from different spots of the enemy forces and this was followed by the agonized screams of the enemy troops.

"Ack!"

"Ahh!"

...

Hearing the loud explosions and the painful howls of his own soldiers, the enemy commander quickly flared and shouted.

"What the hell is happening?!"

"Sir, I believe the enemy has a new weapon!" One of his soldiers answered.

"I know they have a new weapon, I can see that, jackass!" The Commander shouted back, his veins was almost popping before he continued. "All troops, spread out and avoid the enemy's new weapon!"

As this new ordered was issued, the enemy's tight shield wall slowly got loose and the soldiers were avoiding the Shrapnel Spears.

But because there would be an explosion that will send dozens of scrap metal and nails in all direction, it didn't matter if the enemy loosen their formation, many will still die from the shrapnel.

Multiple explosions rang throughout the battlefield and casualties were beginning to pile up but only on the enemy's side. Their soldiers continued to howl in pain while others were lucky enough to die swiftly after being pierced through the head by a nail. There were even others were quite unfortunate, they might've died quickly but the state of their body was very unsightly...it was riddled with scrap metal, looking like a human cactus.

...

The ten Sky Chariot units were very delighted with the effect of the Shrapnel spears even if it were just an improvised weapon.

But now it was time to unveil the might of the true new weapon of the empire...the Raven Bow.

"Load up!" each archers shouted and they pulled back the loading mechanism which loaded the arrow bolt, locking it in place.

When each archers were ready, the Sky chariots turned and rushed inside the enemy lines. Their first phase of attack included the Shrapnel spears which loosened the enemy forces, now they can breakthrough and begin the assault with the Raven Bow.

Using the simple aiming mechanism built on the Raven Bow, the archers easily locked on one soldier and with a simple action of pulling the trigger, one bolt of arrow was launched out of the Raven bow. With it's tempered steel tip, the bolt of arrow easily penetrated through the armor of the enemy and killed him.

Clank!

They pulled back the repeating mechanism and another bolt of arrow was loaded.

Whoosh...

Another arrow was released and found it's way to another enemy soldier, swiftly killing the poor guy.

"Ack!" The soldier uttered in pain as he fell down, dying.

Like so, the ten Sky Chariot entered the enemy lines and with the simple action of pulling the repeating mechanism back and pulling the trigger, they began to kill numerous enemies, thinning them down.

Seeing their fellow comrades die so quickly before their eyes, the enemy soldiers were slowly getting nervous. They could clearly see that the enemy has a new weapon that can be shot faster than anything their army could use. Even with their cultivation of Body refinement these bolts of arrow was still able to kill them.

When Samael was asked how effective this weapon was, he answered confidently.

"This weapon in invincible beneath the Body refinement realm, even if one could use a defensive art."

Lina was the first to ask. "How?"

And Samael answered back. "It's simple, 'Force'...no matter how strong you get or what cultivation or combat art you practice, it still must conform with the rules of the world. 'Force' is one the rules of the world, with our cultivation, we can only bend it...not break it. As long as it has enough force and it's backed by speed, no one could stand against this weapon."

To this Julian thought for a moment, he realized something and said. "...It's true. It applies even our normal battles. If you are faster and stronger than your enemy then even he or she has a strong defensive you can still crack or destroy it."

"Exactly..." Samael smiled back.

...

Just a couple of minutes since the Sky chariots began their attack, multiple enemy soldiers has fallen and the commander could not cope with the enemy's speed. But amidst all the chaos and the echoing screams of the dying soldiers. The ten strange carriages suddenly retreated.

This action appeared strange to any military veterans, if it was them they would've completely used the chance to wound the enemy as much as they could. They didn't understand why would they retreat at this moment.

But the commander did...this was a blatant insult! The enemy was warning them!

"We are not fish on a chopping board, we will fight back. This is just the beginning!"

Is what is seemed to the enemy commander, a ball of anger lit up inside of him and his veins bulged again. He wanted nothing more than to slice the person who thought of this into a thousand pieces before feeding him to the dogs. Seeing his own soldiers die, he was overcome by anger but even then he managed to order a retreat.

Here in this open field, the enemy has the advantage but if they could get back to their base, where there a tall wall that separated the enemy's new weapon and them.

"Fall back!"

"Retreat!"

The soldiers shouted one after the other and like disciplined soldiers that they are, the fell back in line and orderly retreated.

But in the backs of their heads they begin to relive the moments of the start of the attack. The scenes were their fellow soldiers died one by one, like cattle...The seed of fear began to sprout inside their hearts.

"If the enemy could build those strange and powerful weapon then what more could they make?" They thought.

This was what Samael wanted, to him this was the best result. Originally he only wanted this mission to be a show of strength but if they could instill fear into the hearts of the the enemy then it is already the best result. This way the fear inside the enemy's head would make them think twice before attacking again.

If they could continue and harass the enemy further then they could finally see the light of hope in winning this entire thing.

Back at the stronghold the General instructed the blacksmith to begin working with another weapon Samael has drafter and to continue making the Raven Bow.

Samael's new weapon was a siege weapon, once again based on the crossbow. It was ten times larger and could fire bolts of arrow that were as long as a long spear. It would have a winding mechanism because Samael intended this weapon to be able to penetrate the Stronghold's gates and pull it out completely.

With each arrows as long as a long spear and as thick as a regular human this arrow would be able to pierce through the gates or even the walls. They might even be able to put holes on the enemy's walls gradually weakening their defenses.

And this was what Samael was aiming for...