Reincarnated to the Past 13: Clash (3) (Patreon)

Reincarnated to the Past
Chapter 13: Clash (3)

-VB-

I joined up with my left flank again, and soon, we were pushing against the now routing Scythians. 

“Keep formation! Do not chase after them!” I shouted over the racket of the battle. My troops shouted back in reply, but aside from the acknowledgement, the exact wording was lost in the screamfest. I ran hurriedly with sweat dripping down my forehead and neck back into the ranks of the crossbowers behind the shield and spear wall. 

“You are a god of war today, wiseman!” Hoktim laughed heartily without looking even as he thrust with his spear forward and then pulled back with more blood on its tip than before the thrust. “You killed one of their chiefs!”

“I did what?” I asked out loud abruptly and in surprise. Hoktim heard me despite the horrendous screams in front of him.

“You didn’t know?”

“He was shiny!” I replied in earnest. “Thought he was important!”

“He was! You just killed their leaders and almost killed his son!”

… Huh. Was that the guy that I missed? 

“Should I go back and kill him?” I asked while I took aim and fired into the fleeing crowd . Dead leaders tended to make groups fracture, and that was more so for the likes of nomadic tribes. Broken tribes would then do different things, and if half of this tribe decided that they didn’t want to bother us anymore and move away, then we would only have half of the raiders to deal with in the future. “Alright, I’m going to-”

Hoktim pulled back from the frontline and grabbed me by my shoulder as I turned towards the Scythian center formation. “No, you need to be here! I can’t handle being a commander!”

I looked at him confusion before I saw an arrow coming towards us. I grabbed him and pushed him back while stepping backward. He collided into a crossbower women, pushing both of them down onto the muddy ground, and the arrow missed us. 

He stood up, shocked and angry. “What was that for?!” 

I pointed at the arrow sticking out of the mud. He and a few others around us looked down, saw the arrow, and looked back up. Hoktim was pale now, and his mouth moved slowly before he grimly nodded. “Thank you.”

“Weren’t you doing well while I -?”

“Why do you think we were being pushed back and met you against the center?” he grumbled as he pushed his way back to the frontline. 

“... Support?”

Hoktim grunted before he shafted another dumb fucker. I looked briefly before not even taking care to fire into the riot of undisciplined soldiers. 

It was finally here that our center pushed and broke their ranks, splitting their army in half. 

I glanced at the center and grinned triumphantly when I saw the Kettin warriors finally making a comeback. They swung their swords viciously, roaring out their battlecries angrily, and then I saw some men even throw their short spears like javelins as if they were spear fishing, and considering how the raiders were backing off again and again, that was true.

I focused back onto the battlefield, and saw that the Scythian horse riders, who haven’t played a bigger part in this before, descended upon us. They numbered in two dozens, and they all … kind of scattered, doing their own thing, but they were certainly coming after us. 

“Shift left! Riders incoming!” I shouted in a hurry. Why were they engaging now and not before?! I mean sure, there were a few of them compared to the rest of the rabble now fleeing from us, but why didn’t they do more before now?! 

They came in fast and their arrows flew fast. The arrows punched through the shield walls of my spearmen, and I grimaced as I realized what was happening. They didn’t come close to us, continuing to pepper us with their arrows on their fast horses while my less than adequately trained crossbowers, who were great as slow moving infantry, struggled to hit them back. 

We were, as gamers would say, being kited. 

I pulled out my crossbow, reloaded it, and took aim. Remembering that I missed last time after not predicting, I took aim and estimated where the closest rider would be. He was … not a bad looking guy, honestly. 

Too bad he’ll have a bolt in his face after this.

I fired, and I grinned victoriously when my bolt flew true in his head with a satisfying CRACK of a human skull being punctured. He keeled over on the spot, and his horse ran off. I quickly pulled the lever back and took aim again, this time at a Scythian rider pulling his recurve bow back. 

‘I think he’s aiming at me.’ 

Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, I ducked without shooting, and not a second later, there was a hissing whizz where my torso used to be. 

I stood right back up, took a quick aim, and fired. 

He made a sharp choking scream upon my crossbolt’s impact and fell from his horse. 

“Urk-!”

I turned to my left and my eyes widened when I saw Hoktim going down with an arrow embedded in his left eye. 

“No!” I shouted angrily before I looked for the one responsible. I saw a shiny armored horse rider pull his bow down while others didn’t. He had to be the one. He was a bit further out, but that just meant that I had to try harder for this kill. 

I reloaded, pulled the crossbow up, and took aim again. I ignored the sound of the Kettin center destroying the fleeing raider infantry, and predicted the horse’s trajectory. 

I fired.

He suddenly pulled the reins of his horse, and my eyes widened as my attack missed. 

I fired again, shifting less than a degree. 

Suddenly, he sped up, and my crossbow bolt flew behind him.

‘Once is coincidence. Twice is enemy action.’

I took aim at his horse, predicted its movement, and fired, all in less than a second. 

This time, he turned towards me with his own bow drawn, and my bolt missed his horse by less than half a meter. 

‘Thrice is confirmation.’

That bastard had to be “gifted” just like I was.

So why the hell didn’t he fight at the start of the battle?

-VB-

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