Ovallord

Part 4

“This contraption of yours is quite impressive, Mr John. It’s power and mobility could be just what we need to cut this war short. I will commit my troops to this operations of yours, but there is just one small issue.”

“And what would that be, Mr Bama?”

“Bama is my title, not my name. That’s like someone calling you Mr Lance Corporal. Please address me simply as Bama, or Elder Bama. Anyway, the forces I will be committing will include Captains and Lieutenants, I will need your group to have the proper rank to lead them.”

The title for the leader of the armed forces was Bama. It was normal for the different world to be a little different, so John didn’t mind too much. From what Bama was saying, John realized he would be given the command of the group and the rank of Captain. He felt it was ironic that he was never commissioned in his own world, but was given one so simply this one.

“I understand I will…”

“And so,” Bama said loudly and cutting John off. “Captain Baird, I will be counting on you to make this operation a success.”

“Growl.”

Baird growled in replied.

“Gentlemen, get ready and report to the parade grounds in one hour. Dismissed.”

“My gratitude, Elder Bama.”

“My sincere thanks, Elder Bama.”

“Appreciate it, Elder Bama.”

Puzzled by the sudden offering of thanks, John turned to Jasmine.

“John, it is customary to offer thanks to the Bamas for their leadership. To avoid any conflict of interest, Bamas are only paid a token sum despite their heavy responsibilities. They do earn a tidy sum from endorsements and selling their autobiography, but that is something else. Anyway, just show your gratitude to them.”

John shrugged, and uttered casually “Thanks, Old Bama.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

♦ ♦ ♦

There was something odd about Outerhaven’s army deployment. Forming their soldiers into four blocks was unorthodox, but not unheard of. Having some space between each group was normal, they needed the space in order for the individual groups to move. But leaving a gaping hole straight into the gate was definitely odd.

Frandzone was wary of a trap. He became the leader of his cavalry group after his predecessor was killed by some monstrosity that came out of nowhere. Despite the death of the commander before they even set off for the frontlines, duty calls for the cavalry group to set off with haste to reinforced their brethens in arms.

Frandzone’s group was cavalry units from lands some distance away from the capital and didn’t make it in time for the first wave. After linking up with the surviving units from the first wave, Frandzone was made the commander of the combined cavalry arms as he was the highest ranking officer.

However, he was dubious about the command ability of the leader of this campaign, the lord of the round table. The high attrition rate of the cavalry commanders worried him. But he is willing to do it for the grieving princess, his beautiful, kind and witty… friend.

The plan was simple, charge down through the open way, go deep into the castle through the open gates and disrupt the back line support of the enemy. Without support, the enemy units outside the castle would be decimated by arrows and spell bombardments while the allied vanguards hold them back. If the gate was to close in time, the cavalry would split up and charge along the back line to either side, creating havoc in the enemy formation.

His cavalry was heavily armoured, but he was expecting 10% casualty rate at the least. In war planning, one cavalry was as valuable as three foot soldiers, making his unit one of the most powerful assets.

As planned, they formed ranks and charged in the general direction of the enemy. At fifty meters, Frandzone shouted a command and his group started to merged, forming into an arrow like formation four horses abreast. With this, the group could all charge into the gate.

With their intention obvious, Frandzone was expecting resistance from the infantry to close the gap… But none came. Astonishingly, the foot soldiers kept their distance, granting the cavalry the space to speed ahead.

How queer. They don’t have time to close the gate, and any opposing cavalry would be decimated by us since we have the momentum of the charge.

Suddenly, Frandzone saw something shine inside the gate, as if a canvas was removed from a mirror. He wondered what the Outerhaven army what going to do in this desperate hour.

♦ ♦ ♦

“Wow. I wasn’t… expecting break dancing.”

John marvelled at the sight of Dnyce breakdancing in the top of the stage. He was expecting something more conservative, and this was totally not what he was expecting. John could feel the air about him filled with excitement and the men became hyped by Dnyce’s move and swagger.

After her routine was done, Dnyce jogged to the back of her group and the others started forming up to perform stunts. They were like cheerleaders, the guys hoisting and throwing the girls into the air, and catching them safely when they land. Seeing the girls perform these graceful moves in their revealing outfit made John hard.

He literally felt his body harden, and felt tough enough to deflect any blades. The power of the dance left John in awe, wondering how was that even possible.

For the finale, Dnyce made her appearance and was flung up high onto the top of a four layer human pyramid. She made her landing to spontaneous applause, but it was short lived. The middle tier lost their balance and the pyramid started to crumble.

Knowing instinctively that her presence was upsetting the integrity of the structure, Dnyce made her snap decision to dismount preemptively, trusting her spotter to catch her. And sure enough, the ever reliable Baird was there to break her fall with ease. Considering the importance and effectiveness of the dancer’s buff, Baird might have very well saved the Outerhaven army, and in extension, their world.

“Save the cheerleader, save the world. Baird you are a true hero man.”

John saluted the grizzly man out of respect.

♦ ♦ ♦

“A cheerleader? I know you hear this a lot, Baird, but bear with me once more. You are honestly the most interesting man I have ever met.”

“Growl.”

“Alright, grab on tight Captain.”

John push down the accelerator hard. His modified truck inched forward and slowly gained speed and momentum. The lookout gave them the go ahead and John was ready to rampage. Baird stood up tall on the hood of the trailer, holding onto a handrail welded on top of it and brandishing a warhammer with his free hand.

After reaching the first checkpoint, the sentry dropped the canvas, revealing a column of horsemen charging in about 20 meters away. And that distance was gone in an instant. Armoured cavalry and men clashed into a speeding armoured truck, knocking them to the side. The two dull blades at the side of the truck cleaved through the horses as if they were paper.

Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat.

John felt the truck slowing down and turning sluggish. The impact of the charging horse dented the armour of the truck and he could barely see ahead with the carcass and blood all over the wind screen. But the inertia kept the truck going as John kept pumping the accelerator. The speed was falling from 90 to 80, 70, 60, 50…

And the truck started gaining speed once again as it ran clear of the cavalry. John yelled out to Baird:

“Captain, help me clear my view!”

“Growl!”

Baird obliged with a swing of his warhammer, knocking loose the horse butt that was stuck in the metal grids in front of the windscreen.

“Thanks Baird!”

Gaining visual once again, John looked for the target and steered towards it. The soldiers tried their best to get away, but the packed formation made it impossible. Reaching his checkpoint, John swing his trailer to the side.

“Jasmine, now!”

On his command, Jasmine pulled the lever to unhook the connectors to the trailers. The trailers slid across the battlefield, mowing down hordes of infantry in the way before grounding to a halt, right in the midst of the archers division.

Opening a hatch, Baird dropped down into the trailer and popped his head out with a giant crossbow in hand. At the same time, make-shift windows opened all around the trailer, and dozens of arrows fired off into the crowd. Some of the archers counter fired in retaliation, but most of it bounced off the steel trailer or hit the packs of strawmen behind each member of baird’s team. With a sneer, one team member pulled out a bunch of arrows from a strawman, loaded it into his crossbow and fired them out.

This strategy was akin to building a tower in the middle of an enemy base in a real time strategy game, creating chaos with constant damage output in the safety of your own structure. While baird’s group was creating chaos with his team of crack shots, Outerhaven’s own cavalry was charging through the gaping hole left by John’s truck to take out the enemy’s backline. Spurred on by the power of the truck, the allied infantry and archers had also charged forth, smashing right into the enemy lines with the might of a thousand bears.

As for Baird, he had a different target from his team. Using his giant crossbow, Baird started sniping enemy mages in the distance. With his exceptional rogue talents, he was able to take down a few, which effectively routed the enemy mage squad, denying the enemy of magical buffs.

“Growl!”

“Yes Sir, we won’t let you down Captain Baird!”

And so, the Baird and his commandos fought.

♦ ♦ ♦

One hour ago.

After watching Dnyce’s dance routine, John got into his truck to stand by. This was the norm for all military, rush to wait, wait to rush. Getting thousands of people to do something was hard, so preparations had to be done early, and thus, John had to wait in his truck for at least an hour before anything happens.

To kill time, John flipped through the manual for his truck. With no telling if he could ever go back into his world, he had to learn how to maintain his truck by himself. However, the contents of this particular page surprised him.

Traveling between parallel worlds. Why the hell was such a thing in the manual? And printed in eight languages too! And the requirement… Maintain speed of 88 miles per hour and supply 1.31 gigawatts of energy to the flux capacitor.

John stopped reading and looked behind him. He then flipped his seat down and checked behind it. He couldn’t help facepalming himself at what he found.

♦ ♦ ♦

Alright, I can do this.

After John unlatched the connection between his truck and trailer, he changed course and headed for his objective. Baird’s objective was to tie up the enemy support units, but John’s mission was different. He was to seek out the enemy commander and run him over.

From his military experience, he sought out the place with a good vantage point and was well protected, a place you would set up a command post. And he found just the spot, which had plenty of flags and banners flying too.

“Over there!”

Jasmine pointed to the front after John set his bearing, confirming his suspicion.

Making a beeline for his destination, John accelerated to 88 miles per hour. He didn’t know if things would go his way, but there was no harm in setting up things up and hoping for the best.

♦ ♦ ♦

Heinz was raging. The cavalry he sent out was decimated by a monstrosity that appeared out of nowhere, and was powerful enough to plow through an entire column of horsemen and fell them as if they were puppets with their strings cut.

And that monstrosity split into two, the larger body tearing the support units apart, while the other headed straight for Heinz’ headquarters. With great effort, Heinz kept his wrath in check and ordered the reserves to save the support units. Bracing himself, Heinz prepared to face the head of the monstrosity straight on.

“Triple maximized delay magic: The lightning that shall tear the heavens!”

Channeling most of his mana, Heinz cast a spell that would strike twenty seconds later. He immediately whipped out a potion and down it in one gulp, and repeated this six times. Heinz couldn’t make these mana replenishing potions and had to purchase them with cash. He would prefer not to use these cash items if possible, but the situation calls for it.

The thin, almost skeletal face of Heinz grinned as his body filled with power, and he cast the most powerful spell in his arsenal.

“Skill: The Goat of Old Waifu is Deaf!”

A dark portal opened and a large goat emerged, bleaching loudly. Meh~, it cried. It matched the size of the monstrosity, easily towering over Heinz. In fact, the goat was larger since the monstrosity splitted up.

The goat charged forward with no regards of orders or life. It was not the least intimidated by the ear piercing roar made by the monstrosity.

As planned, the delay magic casted by Heinz hit the monstrosity. He wasn’t confident that either one of his spell would be enough, so he casted both to be certain he could stop the monstrosity. The goat charged on and when it was about to clash with the monstrosity…

A bright flash of light and two trails of fire appeared behind the goat. Surprisingly, the lightning spell was enough to finish off the monstrosity as the goat charged ahead with reckless abandon, rampaging the battle field.

Heinz was shocked that the monstrosity disappeared so easily that he forgot about the goat for a moment.

Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat. Splat.

While he was trying to gather his thoughts, the goat was trampling over the reinforcement he sent in. Heinz yelled at the goat both physically and through his psyche, but it fell on deaf ears. After a minute, Heinz realized that he should dismiss the summon and did so, snapping the goat out of existence.

But now, his army was in tatters. With a sigh, he prepared to sound the retreat when he saw a crackle of lightning appeared before him.

From the same spot where the monstrosity disappeared, the monstrosity burst into existence, with the same speed and momentum before its vanishment. Heinz, Lord of the round table, stood dumbstruck for three seconds before the truck ran him down.

♦ ♦ ♦

John didn’t stop after running over the thin man who was nothing but skin over bones. He was expecting to find himself back in Tokyo, but all he saw was the same battlefield, but with the giant goat gone.

“John. I think we killed the Lord of the Round Table. The Round Lord.”

John thought back to the moment of impact, and how the round belt full of magic items floating at that man’s waist deformed in the crash.

“Well, he is more like an Oval lord now. But what happened just now?”

“From what I can see, we went through a short time skip. The cavalry was still far away from Baird’s position just now, but they are right there now.”

John turned his head to check. It was true, Baird’s commando succeeded in their mission, it was only a matter of time before the enemy is routed.

“So… 1.21 gigawatts huh. I was hoping for 1.31 gigawatts.”

John mused.

“Guess it would be a fun ride for me and my truck. Our work is done, let’s get you home Jasmine.”

“Yes, let’s go. Together.

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