“Contemporary wisdom amongst the human nations states that military leaders should never lead from the front, where they are at great personal risk, and should command from the back where it is safe. Even so, many completely ignore this suggestion, especially amongst the other races.

Whether this is a simple difference in mindset, long-lived races being stubborn with how they have done things for ages, or out of a completely different logic, no scholar has been able to tell for certain. The facts do speak for themselves though, that for all their wisdom, none of the current human nations are anywhere near the military powerhouses some have been in the past.” - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 694 FP.

To their credit, the Vitalican crusaders reacted swiftly upon noticing the arrival of new foes. Half of their cavalry forces immediately pivoted and attempted a counter-charge against the incoming Wings of Night.

That went poorly.

Leah’s fourth division directly rode through the ranks of the crusader cavalry as they efficiently cut down every foe before them. The heavy armor worn by the crusaders proved to be no match for the heavily enchanted bone lances and blades wielded by the Wings of Night, and when their steeds collided against one of the undead horses, it was the living steed that was thrown aside, often with broken bones.

The Wings of Night had been one of the early recipients of Èirynn’s work, after all, and over the years, they once skeletal steeds now looked like sculptures of living animals that were composed of thousands of tiny pieces of bone that fit each other like pieces of a puzzle. That “upgrade” also meant that their steeds were stronger, faster, and more durable than ever before.

Even while his cousin demolished half of the crusader cavalry, Arno led his third division to charge straight at the frontlines, just a slight bit to the side of where the fighting raged. The Vitalican infantry were forced to part as his riders passed by, and effectively cut off those fighting at the very front from their backup, if briefly, while messing up their formation. That was an advantage the Antemeians didn’t miss as they immediately fought back harder.

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Aideen had dismounted from her steed shortly before she reached the Vitalican formation, as she wasn’t particularly proficient at fighting on horseback. Since the infantry and other friendlies were still a distance behind her, she felt no need to hold back as she unraveled her staff into its three-sectioned form and flicked the blades on each end into place.

Then she whirled the weapon around her as she charged into the throng of crusaders, her weapon slicing through both armor and flesh with ease, or breaking the bones of those who tried to take a blow from the staves instead of the blades. It wasn’t long before she carved a path through the crusader formation, leaving wounded or dead crusaders behind her.

The rest of the Ptolodeccan force arrived around then, with the children, Calais, Celia, Kino, Mimia, and Èirynn sticking close to the heavy infantry detachment. Archers from the lichdom rained arrows towards the back lines of the Vitalican formation, where there were no friendlies around. Hordes of skeletons marched as one beside the infantrymen, with the mage cadres safely in the midst of their formation.

Áine, Rhys, and Eilonwy were fighting side by side, while three of their mothers’ constructs kept guard behind them. Mimia and Èirynn themselves kept pretty close to the side of their children, the couple riding on Haon’s back as they made their own way through the enemy lines. Haon’s “wings” were unfolded into skeletal limbs ending in bone blades, and between those blades and his fangs, every foe that approached too close to him were soon turned into dead bodies.

Calais, Celia, and Kino kept to the other side of the children, with Celia sticking close to Calais to help him out as he wasn’t as used to fighting, much less on a battlefield. After her experiences in the decades she had been following Aideen, Celia was far more used to it, and it showed in the almost nonchalant way she fought and killed those that threatened them.

On the other hand, Kino fought alone, with no allies anywhere within ten meters from her. That was mostly for the safety of others, though, as while Kino managed to control her Void magic well at close ranges, if she used it rapidly at the further distance she could manage, she sometimes still lost control of it. By having no friendlies in that range, she could go wild with her magic.

And she did so. Her glaive was entirely covered in a coat of inky nothingness that almost made it look like a long staff instead. The void coating moved away as appropriate when Kino shifted her grip along the pole, however, so it never hindered her in the slightest, despite its ability to slice through everything in its way, be it armor, shield, weapon, flesh, or bone, all without the slightest effort.

At the same time, multiple blasts of void magic manifested almost at random around her, though each blast consumed some of the Vitalican crusaders in the vicinity. Bodies that had whole sections missing with eerily smooth cuts where the missing parts used to be littered her surroundings, and already many of the crusaders backed away from her in fear.

For all the faith and courage the crusaders were supposed to have, the sight of so many of their friends and compatriots just suddenly winked out of existence still instilled dread within their hearts, and as a result the Vitalican formation started to become chaotic in that region as some people tried to run away while others pushed forward.

Naturally, such a weakness was not something the Ptolodeccan commanders would allow to go unpunished, as several units of heavy infantry backed up by thousands of skeletal soldiers followed behind Kino to make the most out of the situation.