Before anyone could even bat an eye, Caesar raised his hand and put it on the man's shoulder, squeezing tightly and creating creaking sounds.
"I don't think you understand the position you're in. I don't care if you're a clan head or a foot soldier. I don't need troops that don't follow orders," Caesar said coldly.
The green-haired man attempted to resist. However, the intense energy escaping from Caesar's hand made him realize that any attempts would result in his inevitable death.
Caesar let go of the man's shoulder, and the man embarrassed fell to the ground, he raised his eyes to look at all of the other fox-kin present.
"I don't care how much you respect them, or how inferior you feel in comparison to them… the tournament that will occur in the near future will be your chance to become the same rank. They're not as far away as you think." Caesar's words caused the clan heads to frown while the fox-kin elites started contemplating.
"It is merely a skirmish, none of your actions will be treated as disrespectful…" Caesar spoke up once again, and the fox-kin elites hesitantly grouped up and turned toward the clan heads.
The clan head with green hair rubbed his sore shoulder and glared at Caesar for a split second before standing up and lining back up with the others.
Seeing this, Caesar couldn't help but smile widely. 'The civilians, as well as the soldiers, seem to hold the clan heads in some grand light. However, most of the clan heads seem to be weaker than a few specific elites' Caesar thought inwardly while inspecting a few particular elites.
The chances of the 13 clan heads actually winning against the few thousand elites was highly unlikely. No, it was impossible. Although personal strength was necessary, numbers were even more so. The trolls have already proven that.
Caesar just wanted to show the fox-kin elites that the clan heads were mortal, although it may damage their false belief that they can win against the trolls, it would further strengthen their self-esteem.
Once all of the fox-kin elites grouped, he walked in between the large gap between them and the clan heads. He raised his hand and lifted three fingers.
"You may not fatally injure someone, nor are you allowed to cheat in any way possible, whether that means using hidden weapons or poison of some sort, as for the last rule, you must treat this battle as a friendly bout, do not worry about winning or losing. This is merely a test!" Caesar roared loudly to which they nodded their heads in understanding.
"BEGIN!" Caesar shouted.
Both the fox-kin elites and clan heads didn't move right away, they hesitantly looked at each other for a few moments and tested the waters so to speak.
Suddenly, a middle-aged fox-kin elite took a step forward. He was relatively muscular and had long and wavy black hair. A sizeable vertical scar streaked from his right eye to his cheek.
"I've been waiting a long time for a chance like this. My son was killed on a hunting mission, haha, a mission you idiots sent him on!" He roared angrily, his bloodlust permeating out of his body.
This happened to be one of the fox-kin elites that knew of Charlie's betrayal, which made him lose all respect for the upper echelons.
Following his lead, a few other tough-looking fox-kin elites walked out of the bunch as well, they all carried angry expressions while glaring at the clan heads. Even though it was true that many of the soldiers and civilians loved the clan heads, it was also true that some hated them.
The dozen or so angry fox-kin elites suddenly stomped the ground and charged forward, as if they lit a fuse, the other men followed behind them, and an army of a few thousand charged at the clan heads.
All of the clan heads had panicky expressions besides Faust, who took out both of his short wooden swords to greet the rampaging onslaught.
The man with long wavy black hair was a step faster than everyone else, he immediately charged towards the man with long flowing green hair and struck out with his fist.
Both of their fists collided and created a small shockwave. Their fight didn't stop there. However, the man's black hair seemed to levitate in the air as he started roaring, wholly lost in his rage while continuously punching the clan head.
Similar scenes were taking place everywhere, most of the fox-kin elites didn't even get a chance to see any action because they were not needed in the fight, sure the clan heads were durable, but were they capable of taking on more than ten elites at a time? Not likely.
The man with wavy black hair finally landed a fist in his opponents gut causing him to puke, nearly all of the other clan heads fell at the same time besides Faust, who was still struggling against a few others himself.
"Remember the name, Falthor, for that is the name of the man who defeated you," the man with wavy black hair said with disdain and walked away.
The many fox-kin elites had a weird expression on their faces as they looked at the fallen clan heads. Before, they didn't want to battle them because of their position, but now that they have beaten them, they felt good — extremely good.
Soon, a group of thirty or so fox-kin elites ganged up on Faust and finally took him down, marking the overwhelming victory of the elites. Once the battle was decided, Caesar walked forward.
"Okay, that is enough! I have seen your capabilities and some of you have, indeed, impressed me," Caesar said while glancing at the few fox-kin elites that started the engagement as well as Faust, who held his ground the longest.
"While others have disappointed me…" Caesar said while glancing at the puking green-haired man and Ronny, who was standing in the middle of the training grounds with a stupid smile plastered on his face.
The skirmish itself was utterly pointless, as Caesar already knew the result. Nevertheless, looking at the happy and prideful smiles some of the fox-kin elites had, he knew that his purpose was achieved He needed to take all of the idolization from the clan heads and put it on himself, that was his goal.
"LINE UP! THE REAL TRAINING IS GOING TO START NOW!" Caesar roared, and without hesitation, the fox-kin elites immediately followed his orders.
The corner of Caesar's lips curled, controlling people was, indeed, his specialty.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Seeing how quick the fox-kin elites and the clan heads lined up, Caesar couldn't help but nod his head in appreciation.
"I have seen some of the battles you elites have taken part in, and I can't help but feel disappointed… your strength is remarkable. However, you don't utilize it efficiently," Caesar spoke in a loud voice.
The elites and the clan heads frowned, although they respected Caesar's strength, who wouldn't be frustrated by someone telling them that they're not fighting correctly.
"Don't misunderstand, I'm not referring to your fighting per se, but more so your coordination, to be more precise, your leaders," Caesar calmly explained.
Everyone tilted their heads and looked at Caesar curiously as if they were trying to tell him to continue his words with their expression.
"In battle, or most specifically in war, leadership and coordination are very important. Whether it be formations, squads, commanders, or even scouts, they can single-handedly win you the war. Because of this, I have decided to give you a taste of what an organized army is capable of" Caesar's voice was louder and sharper than before.
"How are you going to show us?" A random fox-kin elite asked.
Caesar smiled; he wasn't entirely done with tarnishing the clan heads reputation yet, he still needed a few more pushes.
"I want all of you to split in two halves, and the clan heads will lead half of you while I lead the other half, you are free to choose which side you want," Caesar ordered loudly.
The fox-kin elites stood still for a few seconds before splitting into two groups, nearly half of them went towards the clan heads while the other half went to Caesar.
Almost all of the fox-kin elites that had led the charge in the last bout went to Caesar's side while the others went to the clan heads, they were presumably the ones that still held a
lot of adoration for them.
Caesar waited a few more minutes and let both of the sides become relatively equal before nodding his head in satisfaction, "the 13 of you can determine how you want to lead the others, we will start once both sides are ready" Caesar said towards the 13 clan heads.
He didn't wait for their reply and turned towards the troops that grouped up with him; most of them carried nervous expression while the others carried determined ones.
Caesar scanned all of those in front of him before his eyes stopped on a solitary figure with an anxious expression. This was, of course, Ronny.
'Isn't he scared of me? Why did he join my side?' Caesar thought inwardly but soon threw aside those useless thoughts.
If Ronny could hear Caesar's thoughts, he would naturally reply, "yeah, I'm scared of you! It's because I'm scared of you that I would rather fight with you rather than against you!"
Caesar strode to the middle of the troops so that the other group wouldn't be able to hear his words, "everyone, assemble," Caesar ordered.
The soldiers immediately started to huddle around Caesar and wait for his next orders. They were very curious as to how this strategist was planning on beating the 13 clan heads.
"All 13 of those clan heads will attempt to lead the 1500 or so troops, where I will be the only one directing you," Caesar calmly explained.
"Aren't 13 leaders better than 1? How are we going to win?" Falthor asked, he was the closest to Caesar and perhaps, the one who wanted to win the most.
"Although I am directing you, I will certainly not be the only commander… it would be simply arrogant, or maybe even ignorant of me to assume I could perfectly lead 1500 troops myself. Because of this, I want a squad leader for every five soldiers. This squad leader's main objective will be to keep everyone safe and direct, simple commands. For every ten squad leaders, there will be a captain. For every ten captains, there will be a general, and I will personally command the three generals," Caesar directed while observed the men in front of him.
"I leave it to all of you to find your squad leaders and captains. I will select the three generals," Caesar spoke up after a moment of silence.
Caesar raised his slender hand and pointed at Falthor, the man with long and wavy black hair. Then he pointed a slightly short man with slicked-back brown hair, last, but not least, he looked his finger at a very slim man who was juggling two wooden daggers.
"You three will be the generals, you can select the captains you want, and the captains will select the squad commanders… understood?" Caesar ordered, to which all of the fox-kin elites nodded in understanding.
The slim man who was fiddling with his two wooden daggers abruptly stopped and smiled slyly "why ya picking me chief? I'm a strong believer in having no responsibilities," he said sarcastically.
Caesar took another glance at the man, he had long black hair and feminine features, but his charming outer appearance couldn't fool Caesar's eyes.
"I choose you simply because of what you truly are, your facade that you keep is fairly obvious to me… you want to be let loose, right? The chains called honor, and respect are holding you down, are they not?" Caesar asked while staring straight into the man's eyes.
The man's eyes twitched, and he put both of his wooden daggers in his pants, he licked his lips and took a step forward.
"Hehe, are you sure? The last time I was ruthless to my enemies, I was put in prison for a few months," he said with a giggle.
Caesar's eyes turned sharp the corner of his lips curled, "there is no such thing as being cruel to your enemies, things such as honor, kindness, and rules don't exist in war" Caesar said with a cruel smile and turned around to face the rest of the soldiers.
"Remember this, for every enemy that you show mercy, your family at home — your wives and children, all have a higher chance of being massacred by the very enemy that you preserved. Bringing things such as honor to battle is idiotic. War is a place where you throw away unnecessary things such as pride and honor; war is a place where only the ruthless win!" Caesar said coldly to which all of the troops present took a deep breath and became severe.
"Enough chatter, form your groups, NOW!" Caesar ordered loudly, and the soldiers almost instantaneously began to scramble.
On the other side of the training grounds, the 13 clan heads were in a circle, only speaking to themselves, not paying their soldiers any heed.
"What are your suggestions?" Faust asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"I don't think it's possible for them to beat us. The 13 of us are on this side after all," the green-haired man spoke with disdain while glaring in Caesar's direction.
"Shouldn't we each control a section, so it's easier to control the mass amount of men?" Leo abruptly suggested, but the other clan heads just shook their heads.
"We don't need to give complicated orders, just one order is necessary, 'charge!'" all of the clan heads almost spoke in sync, but Leo couldn't help but furrow his brows.
"Is that truly all we need? I had spoken to a few of my troops that went with Charlie on that expedition. Apparently, he asked them to refer to him as a Marshall. After doing some research, I found out that the Marshall is the highest figure in the military. Perhaps we should treat this a little bit more seriously?" Leo suggested with a concerned tone.
"Pft, you think he has been in more battles than us?" asked Faust curiously, he had just thought Caesar was a strategist and some sort of strong race that was trained from birth.
Leo just sighed loudly and went with what the others said, once they finished their 'meeting' they all split up and went behind their part of the troops… Their plan was just the word 'charge.'
If Caesar were here to listen to their conversation, he would certainly laugh out loud. Sure, he probably hadn't been in the same number of battles, but which earthling didn't study their history? How many wars, campaigns, and other strategic advancements did the history of earth teach in comparison to this world?
Not to mention, Caesar was used to leading, organizing, and ruling over people. He did it for easily 40 years of his past life. a CEO wasn't only a businessman, but also a leader.
Soon, three large groups formed in front of Caesar, in these three broad groups, many different commanders, and other smaller groups formed. A perfect formation for relaying orders as efficiently as possible.
Caesar pointed to Falthor's group… "you are the front line, the shields, so to speak," he spoke without a hint of hesitation, Falthor's group was full of the bigger/muscular men.
He then pointed to the slim man, "you, what is your name?" he asked.
"Soka," the man replied curtly.
"Soka, your group will be the swords so to speak, behind the shields, you strike when the best moment arises, you will also protect our ranged troops" Caesar explained and shifted his attention to the short fox-kin.
"The names Rakan" the short man spoke before Caesar could ask. His voice was very high pitched and sounded similar to a child's voice.
"Rakan, you will lead our ranged troops and help overlook the battle, you are the eyes so to speak, report any weird movements and provide support to those in need," Caesar explained.
Once all of the groups knew their roles to play in battle, Caesar walked to the front of the troops and squinted his eyes dangerously.
"All of the hatred you have for the clan heads, for the upper echelons, this is the time to let it out, all of the unfair atrocities they have committed or all of the food they have wasted on themselves instead of sparing some for your starving families… LET IT OUT!" Caesar roared, and after hearing his words, all of the fox-kin men gripped their wooden weapons tightly.
The seeds of vengeance and hatred have been sown, even the fox-kin men don't realize it yet, but those clan heads who they respected and didn't even dare to fight an hour ago, they were comfortable with glaring at them under Caesar's wing, the adoration they once held for them, was suddenly gone.
At the frontlines, Caesar raised h
is index finger and repeatedly made a curling motion, as if beckoning the enemy clan heads, as well as the entire enemy group. A perfect provocation.
The clan heads frowned and ground their teeth, "this man has no honor!" the green-haired man growled.
'Haha, I'm going to rip you to the ground from your high horses, clan heads, and I'm going to enjoy watching those that once adored you, stomp all over you… this is the first step to creating my army and taking yours,' Caesar quietly thought himself.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Looking at the clan heads' furrowed brows, Caesar knew that his purpose was achieved, and the provocation was not entirely useless.
"Is your group ready!?!?" Caesar's shout traveled through the entire training grounds and entered into the enemy's ears.
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