Part 25: Chapter 17 – The Hero of the Plains

Chapter 17 – The Hero of the Plains



Welcome back. Today we are going to finish of Duke Carnel in a joint attack together with Lionheart and his troops.





The Chapter is called Warriors of the Grasslands



Lionheart and his troops, which consist only out of Nomads, start on the eastern side of the map while our troops come from the south.





: I see. Then we too shall charge. If we can catch Carnel by our own hands then Selba’s army will fall! The Grassland is our home, we shall not fall behind outsiders!



The boss is chilling in the castle.



: If the situation doesn’t change, we will be annihilated!



: There is no other option other than surrender. Please give the order!

: Don’t say such foolish things. If we are caught by Lionheart everyone will be killed without question. Don’t you understand the predictment we face?

: You realise that I told you not to do things in such a barbaric manner, right?

: What? Do you want to put the blame on me? That everything is just my responsibility?

: Ah... I didn’t mean to imply...
: That’s fine! I shall retreat to Balt fortress with my well earned treasure while you scum can remain here defending yourself from the enemies.

: N-No.. By myself I’m useless....

: You only have to hold out until I escape. Remember, Surrender will not go unpunished! If you refuse, I will send your bleeding family to the penal countries and starve them to death. If you value your family then fight like a man!

: I...I will.

: Don’t worry too much. You just need to withstand the attack until Poem’s bandit corps arrives. After all I told him to come immediately. That maniac will be quite the distraction...




Time to start the chapter. As said before we start in the south and have to make our way upwards. Most enemies aren’t posing a threat so let’s have a look at the few interesting once.







Carnel and his escort will be trying to escape the map through the east. We can’t let this happen since they carry a Skill Book, A Hero Crest and a stat growth tome with them which would be a shame to lose. Combat wise they won’t engage your units so it’s just a matter of wearing them down before they can escape. The shields are annoying though.



The boss can be quite dangerous if he decides to attack you. In this run he only used his Physics staff to annoy me even when I was right up his grill. Lucky!





Shirou and Lionheart are our guest units (in addition to some generics) Shirou has to survive in order to be recruited but unless things go terribly wrong they aren’t in any danger of dying. Lionheart himself will retreat if necessary.



Narron and Raffin form the vanguard and move up front with the rest following behind. Zieg visits one of the local villagers.



: Are you cooperating with Selba’s liberation? Then please hear me out. This is a magic sword that wields the power of the storm, the Thunder Sword. I want you to deliver it to Sir Lionheart's liberation army Please don’t misuse this trust.

We get a Thunder Sword from this, which promptly goes towards our storage.



The defending troops have the misguided hope of being able to kill Raffin who shrugs at their attempts.





While Narron and Raffin move to intercept our fleeing duke, Maharaj kills one of the Iron Knights for an ok level.



The other one has an unfortunate accident when he meets Mintz…



The Duke is about to run straight to his death





Raquel and Rennie kill the last scout.







Narron takes a stab at Carnel although his huge defense due to the shield mitigates the damage. Still he can’t hurt us back so it’s free damage.



Meanwhile Enteh heals Raffin.





Anyhow it’s time fort he entrance of Poem.



: Kill every villager.

So not only does Maerhen suck ass he wasn’t even gifted his own unique sprite. Quite a harsh fate...



: Our subordinates are frightened out of their mind.

: Ha, ha, ha... I have a trick up my sleeve. That girl we captured... Our initial intent to sell her is completely wrong, because sh eis our goddess of victory. We have no one to fear as long as she remains our captive. I could even become the King of the World!

: Do you really want to call “it” out again? You shouldn’t push your luck... Nobody wants to go to hell.

: Stop being so weak. We have done many evil things till now anyway and now you start acting like a wimp? I shall go and get the girl. Until then plunder and kill as you like!

: Heh... Understood, boss.

If we take too long on this map then Poem will return with Neyfa who turns into a dragon like Katri and wrecks us, or to be more precise be annoying since we can’t hurt her.




Narron murders one of the Duke’s escorts and grabs the Hero Proof from his corpse.



And the boss still annoys me to no end.









Raquel and Narron double-team Carnel and finish him off. Netting us an ok level and the Salia tome. The tome raises Str, Skl, Agl, Def growth by 10%.



Another enemy gets thunderstruck.



Zieg goes after the boss but misses….





Runan kills the last castle guard for a good level.



Asshole still doesn’t care that we attack him and heals the ballista…





Mintz however had enough of this farce and smashes the ballista with a crit.





Raffin moves on to hunt bandits together with the troops of Lionheart.





The boss dies to a one-two of Zieg and Runan. Before capturing the castle I hunt down the last of the escorts and kill a few bandits.





It results in these levels. We also visit the last house on the map



: Carnal plans to run away with the treasures he snatched. This includes the Tome of Salia, a oly book found in the Salia cathedral. It is said that whoever possess the tome gains a mysterious power, ya know? Eh? Oh this... I picked it up when they dropped it but you can have it. It’s of no use to me.

We get a Wisdom proof from him. Anyhow we spent enough time hunting bandits so it’s time to capture the castle.










: hmm.. you have good eyes just like your father , Lord Glamdr.

: Did you know my father?

: He saved my life many years ago.

: Your life?

: Do you know about the Leda Liberation War?

: Yes. Young men from all over the continent fought against Gazel in order to liberate the occupied cities. My father participated as well.

: That’s right. Back then the nation of Gazel extended their power along the northern frontier. A lot of the free cities fell under their rule. The citizens who suffered under the tyrannical rule asked for help from the continental nations, but the nobility and royalty didn’t move. Young men from all over gathered voluntarily. At the time I was just a feudal lord’s son barely 15 years when I participated in the war. I was surrounded by heroes and learned a great deal. Among them were six heroes and six sages that I’ll never forget.

: The twelve heroes of the Liberation War... My father was one of those.

: That’s right. Prince Glamdr of Lazeria, Prince Ares of Canaan, Prince Loffaru of Wellt, Mercenary Temzin of Erial, Dark Swordsman Yoda of Zoa and Admiral Valce of Granada. Together they were the six heroes.

: Who were the six sages?

: Maios from Leeve’s holy temple with her child Naris. Oktobas from Salia’s holy temple with his child Andre. Eisenbach from Canaan’s holy temple with his adopted son Alfred.

: Eisenbach!? Sage Eisenbach was a priest from Canaan’s holy temple? But if that’s the case, why was he in the Temple of Mars?

: He was banished by Canaan’s King Bahanuke.

: Eh?

: 14 years ago, Prince Arles wife was killed and his two infants went missing. Eisenbach was the wife’s father. He blamed the King’s mistress for the murder and was thus banished for angering the king.

: I can’t believe something like that happened… So were the children that went missing ever found?

: No, their whereabouts are still unknown. If they are still alive they would be around your age…

: Everything is so complicated, even in Canaan.

: Prince Runan, I would like to join your army and fight alongside you against the empire but until I defeat Archduke Ahab and liberate Salia, I can’t leave here. I’m sorry. Please let me stay for now.

: I heard that Salia is still in the middle of a civil war. I don’t know the exact circumstances but I will it to your judgement.

: I will join you sooner or later, but until then, I can at least send my right-hand man with you. Shirou, help the prince like you helped me.

: Yes, Lord Lionheart.

: Prince Runan, may fortune be with you.

: and you, Sir Lionheart!



One last stop before were done with the aftermath of this chapter.





: No, that wouldn’t have been necessary. Do you know what’s happening on the western front?

: Yes, I heard that the Utna Allied forces, forced both Senay and Selba to surrender. The situation has become serious.

: On the contrary, I think I’m glad. As you know I opposed an advance across the Lieve line. We suffered many casualties in the battle against Lieve. Not to mention that the hearts of the people in the occupied territories are swaying as well. Advancing past the Lieve line was the first step towards self-destruction. I thought it would have been more wise to use the large river of Lieve as a natural defensive stronghold and wait for our nations power to recover.

: I agreed with that plan. Our kingdom of Canaan had become exhausted by the long wars and our army wasn’t strong enough to fight against the western countries. Leda and Salia may be small but if they were ever rallied by a capable leader they would form a power far surpassing our own.

: However the emperor wanted to gain control of the entire continent. No matter how much I protested he never listened. Moreover he put people like Pavlov and Carnel in charge of the occupied territories. That collection of fools is what has defeated us in the end.

: ...

: Those fools died due to their own actions, but don’t you pity the soldiers that fought under them?

: Lord Barca...

: Sorry. I’m aware that my words won’t change anything. However you are the only one I can voice these concerns to...

:No need to apologize... I understand your majesty’s heart

: I’m jealous of Julius, that guy pressed everything onto me and didn’t leave Zemsellia.

: Lord Julius opposed the western invasion till the end and even the emperor can’t force him.

: He said I was weak-willed for obeying the emperor’s orders. However Barbarossa, I want to fill my brother, Prince Arless, shoes and as such can’t disobey the emperor’s orders.

: I understand your loyalty and sincerity, Lord Barca. I understand them more than anyone.

: No, I was just being timid. I haven’t forgot my brothers tragic death yet...




And with that we are done for this chapter. Next time we check out how Barbarossa is doing in that castle of his.

Character Information

Shirou



Character Stats

Nomad -> Mameluke

Skills

Plains Fighter (starting), Re-move (lvl 14), Continue (lvl 28),

Shirou is the only nomad you gain outside of Lionheart himself, who is already promoted. His growths are weaker than Rennie but he comes with a horse and access to swords upon promotion. Rennie can outpace him (if she is lucky with her movement growth) and out damage him but Shirou is better out of the box. Unfortunately his promotion sucks statwise and his skills are anything great either. You usually far better with the other bow users but he is perfectly usable..