1000 years ago a powerful warrior named Hongwu Shukure single handedly conquered all of the continent of Arikasia. His power was unfathomable, he would wipe out entire armies in an instant. No one could stand against him, though he did have some epic battles with the heroes of the age. However, after several centuries, his empire started to crumble. The empire currently held only about half of the territory it had at the height of its power. Though it was still considered to be the central power of the continent.
The empire's current second prince, Gaileo Shukure, was leading 15,000 troop through the breach he made in walls of the great city of Gangwon and was engaging the 120,000 rebels that were occupying it.
"Sir, I see that the prince is quite strong, but can he really defeat 120,000 men with only the 15,000 men he has?" The officer asked.
"The rebels are mostly farmers who have no formal martial training. It shouldn't be difficult for the young lord and his men to completely rout them. However…." Great General Tenjin replied as he thought of the danger awaiting Gaileo within the walls of Gangwon.
Meanwhile the Gaileo Army was easily cutting their way through the rebel forces just as Great General Tenjin had expected. Leading the charge was of course Gaileo himself, he was flanked by his two lieutenants; Shion Rosewald and Benji Gatz.
Shion was a prince who was exiled from his country and found refuge in the imperial court, he and Gaileo became fast friends. He was an exceptionally beautiful man with long multicolored hair that was a mix of pink and blue. His appearance often had him mistaken for a woman, but his talent for battle was unmistakable. He wielded a long silver saber that moved like a flash on the battlefield.
Benji was a former bandit captain from the capital, when he was captured by Gaileo he agreed to join his retinue rather than face execution. He had been a steadfast ally ever since. He was a large bulky bald headed man with dark skin and tribal tattoos. He dual wielded large curved blades that he could throw and have return to his hand almost like a boomerang.
Heading up the rear of Gaileo's forces was his younger brother, the third prince, Kazuma. He lead 5,000 men. The Gaileo Army was only supposed to be 10,000 men, but Kazuma obstinately refused to be under the command of anyone other than his older brother, therefore Gaileo's command ended up extending over 15,000 soldiers instead. Most of the people in the Imperial Court looked down on Gaileo and treated him like a failure, but Kazuma always loved and admired his elder brother.
The four men led the formation and continued to swiftly advance through the city as most of the rebel soldiers fled at the sight of them.
"This seems too easy, I almost feel bad cutting down these peasant soldiers." Shion said as they continued charging forward.
"They took up arms against the Empire, it's dishonorable to feel pity for an opponent on the battlefield no matter how weak they are. If they stand and fight cut them down, if they flee let them go." Gaileo ordered sternly.
"I said almost." Shion said as he continued to push the attack.
Suddenly, their rapid advance unexpectedly came to a grinding halt. The rebels activated some sort of smoke bomb trap that cut off the visibility on the frontlines. Though that alone wasn't enough to halt the Gaileo Army's advance, what truly stopped them in their tracks was what happened next.
"Spearmen, form a shield wall! Crossbowmen, take position! Fire!!!!" Rebel officers ordered.
The Imperial Calvary that had been charging forward were getting skewered on the enemy's spears, and the survivors were getting annihilated my relentless volleys of crossbow fire.
"Sir, reporting in! Our men are taking heavy losses across the battlefield. We've encountered strong defensive lines, and we can't break through!" A messenger told Gaileo.
"Tch, so they actually had some professional soldiers after all. No matter, they're still nothing but ants waiting to be trampled by us!" Gaileo responded, unimpressed. "Shion, head to the left flank, Benji, you and Kazu go to the right. I'll continue forward towards the center. We'll continue on and crush their defenses personally."
The men went on as Gaileo directed, and they did manage to break through the enemy's defensive lines, but it they continued to take losses as it seemed the quality of the rebel troops had improved the further they pushed forward. While his army was still advancing, they had slowed their pace. Though his army had slowed down, Gaileo himself pushed ahead without slowing down.
Suddenly he found himself surrounded by enemy soldiers. However, this didn't deter him he didn't stop his advance until his spear was stopped by a large strange looking mace. The mace then returned a strike at him, but it was easily blocked by Gaileo. As the smoke cleared, Gaileo was able to see who his opponent was. It was a tall man in thick grey plate armor holding a large mace that was covered in warped spikes.
This man was the commander of the rebel forces and his name was Ma Chong. "You seem to have gotten separated from the rest of your men. It was too reckless of you to keep charging ahead like that, now we have you completely surrounded. You should just surrender, there's no way you can beat us all by yourself." Ma Chong said.
"You're the one who should surrender. No matter how much you gather, trash is still trash. There's no way you can beat me." Gaileo retorted.
"How childish. You talk big for a man who's surrounded and isolated from his men."
"And you talk big for a man who's about to do battle with the future emperor."
"Pardon me, I may not be well versed in the politics of the Imperial Court, but wouldn't the next emperor be your elder brother? After all, you are the second son."
"That decrepit old corpse isn't my father! More importantly the Imperial Court doesn't care about the order of succession as much as they care about pure strength!" Gaileo shouted as he continued matching blows with Ma Chong. "That's why I can't lose to you here!"
"Oh is that so?" Ma Chong said as they exchanged strikes. "Well I have my own reasons for fighting and I can't afford to lose either!" He said as he increased the ferocity of his attacks.
"Oh! That's right! I just remembered that there was a rumor that there was an army of former soldiers of nations that were defeated by the empire. That must be the professional soldiers that they encountered. Which means their leader must be that Ma Chong fellow from Thundara. He would have good reason to fight against the empire after, that, incident. Hohoho, the young lord might be in a good bit of trouble this time around." Great General Tenjin mused as he pensively stroked his mustache.