Herald of Steel

It was a very contentious claim to say that jumping from the bridge into the water was better than staying still and hoping for rescue.

Because most of them failed to.

Instead of cleanly hitting the waters, almost all hit some floating debris along the way, snapping and smashing their bones and causing them to cry out in utmost agony.

They either died from the injury or drowned after losing consciousness due to the blackening pain.

And even those who managed to get a clean landing found the freezing water extremely treacherous, with all the floating stones and wood debris too dangerous to navigate.

Just a soft glancing touch from these tons and tons worth of behemoths would be enough to severely injure the man, if not crush him like a juicy grape.

As for the truly unlucky ones, they got the distinct honor of landing on the decks of nearby ships decks and immediately burst like grapes, staining the deck in their gore and sometimes even taking those standing beneath with them.

The entire thing proved quite a shock to all those below, seeing flocks of men jumping from the tall spire to their doom like this, screaming with roaring cries that became muted pained groans moments later.

The white frothing foam soon became mixed with mangled corpses and floating debris.

It left quite an impression on all those there to witness it.

Most however did not get to ponder on the chilling sights for long, because soon, the platform they were watching all this from, the ships, were also affected by the ongoing catastrophe.

The waves created by the destroyed bridge caused them to rock back and forth with increasing amplitude until,

"Aghhhhh! Save us! We are tillting!"

"The other side! Run to the other side! Balance the ship!"

"Spread your weight! Quickly! Spread the weight evenly! Quickly!"

"Noo…. the ship has titled too far! We are going down! We are going down!"

"Hold on tightly to anything solid! Anything that's held down. And do not let go of it no matter what!"

The men aboard tried their best to rectify the situation, but while one succeeded, the other failed. This latter ship had initially set sail, trying to get away from the disaster epicenter as a way to diminish the effects of these giant waves.

But just the natural sway of the sails combined with the great waves at sea was unfortunately enough to tip the scales and cause it to capsize, laying testament to the extent of this vessel's encumberment,

Ser Robert had lost three of his five ships one after another just like that!

And if not tragic enough,

*Bang!* *Bang!*, *Bang!*

The last surviving ship soon began to get blasted by the floating debris of wood and stone, smashing against the wooden hull with such frightful thuds that it felt like the entire thing was going to rip open any second now.

The strong structure, which had seemed so robust just a few moments ago now somehow looked so frail, so vulnerable to those on board, even simple gentle hits by these obstacles, each weighing several tons proving deadly to all.

The people did not think they could defy fate for too long.

But they also did not dare move their ships after witnessing the fate of the other ship.

Thus they too began to cry out to Ser Robert, asking his flagship to come and rescue them.

However, that was easier said than done given the minefield that existed between them.

Numerous dangerous floating debris and hundreds of screaming men surrounded the fourth ship and trying to navigate around that without getting hit by anything or hitting anyone was a certain impossibility.

So it was with a tearful heart that Ser Robert watched all this from the safety of his ship, finding it very hurtful to see his troops get destroyed just like that- be it drowning, getting hit by falling and floating debris, or simply hyperthermia.

Of course, he wanted to go help them…. but exactly how?

The seas had turned too treacherous.

*Creakkkkk….*, *Sliiiippppp….*, *Bangggnnng….*

And while Ser Robert was racking his brains on how to do this, it happened!

After so many times screeching and buckling, the section of the bridge that held the Heeat soldiers at last collapsed, taking most of those above with it!

"Aghhhhh..."

And as the wicks of their lives were finally extinguished, most of these men found death to be indeed a hard concept to accept, despite their so many years of causing it. Thus they screamed out at the tip of their lungs, in fright and terror, until the water claimed that too from them, leaving only silence.

Now, only a small isolated group remained on the top, those that had the great fortune of being able to stand on the pillar of the bridge itself. These sturdy structures had managed to still survive.

But these were the only structures to survive, turning the once magnificent bridge into basically a serious stone pylons, bald and without any function.

"........." And as one of the very last pieces of the domino fell, the ones witnessing the last moments of the demise of this great structure were left speechless in awe and horror.

Sure they had known this was all coming, but to see it all unfold in real time still came as a shocking sight to all.

So many men, lost like that!

So many men, lost because of it!

Some many men, lost by it.

Even the strong willed and tough Ser Robert's knees felt weak at the sight of it, and looking at everything around him- the capsized ships, the floating corpses, and the drowning men, sought to ask himself, 'What was the point of all this?'

Because when he thought about it, the man found that they had failed almost every goal they set out to achieve for themselves.

They had failed to take the bridge.

They had failed to take the enemy commander's head.

They had even failed to cause any significant harm to the Adhanian forces.

What they had managed to do however was basically eliminate all their forces here- around eighty percent of their two thousand strong garrisons was lost, having literally floated away.

What was the definition of a career disaster you ask?

This was.

And when this was combined with earning the ire of a powerful man like Lord Bernard was basically a death nail in the coffin for any military aspirations that Ser Robert might have left.

The man not only did not have any face to show to anyone anymore but he began to seriously contemplate suicide.

He assumed that taking responsibility for himself like this would save his subordinates from being judged too harshly by Lord Parker and Miss Linda.

"How about we kill Lord Bernard and bring his head to Lady Miranda as a gift of our allegiance?"

Suddenly, just as Ser Robert was seriously weighing the option of wearing a rope around his neck, his black friend and adjutant out of nowhere piped up with this insane proposal, throwing it out there in a cold, casual monotone voice.

"......" He turned to look at the pallid face that was staring into the sea with eyes the size of golf balls and a heart that threatened to burst out of his chest.

Kill a bonafide noble!

Even if they were to be crucified for this, it would be considered a light punishment- surely their families would be drawn in too.

However, for Ser Robert, perhaps more than the shocking contents of the idea, the strict commander found it much more incredible that someone could actually propose such a thing so openly.

They were within the hearing purview of literally hundreds of men, any one of them who might leak this out. Just the crime of plotting to kill a noble was immense.

Ser Robert could never have even thought of doing such a thing even if he had ten times the guts.

But then again, when he thought about it, this was the nature of this black man next to him.

This man had a very colorful story behind how he got to where he was today as his color tone clearly defined he was not from here.

But just because these types of things might have been normal in Anoon's native lands did not mean Ser Robert could condone it, and so, after swallowing the shock, he chided with clenched teeth,

"Stop spewing nonsense and say something useful! How will we excuse ourselves in front of the lord and lady?"

The commander really hoped his ever resourceful adjutant still had a few rabbits he could pull out of his hat.

"This is the excuse! Switch sides!" Came the terse, sharp, sarcastic reply, the black man turning to meet his commander's gaze with his own dark, deep pool eyes.

The meaning behind it was clear.

"We have burned the bridge with Lord Bernard. And we have destroyed the bridge with Lord Parker. Now the only bridge left is with Lady Miranda."

"...." And hearing this, Ser Robert suddenly found himself out of words, each passing moment seeming like decades.

However, he did not reject Anoon.

But subconsciously turned his head to look at the handsome man in question.

His heart throbbed with pain and desire!

Let us say no to piracy! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!

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