November 30th, 1655
The city of Indore, Mughal Empire
Early in the morning, 6:00 AM
General Islam Zaheer, who was in an excited and happy mood just a few moments ago, had lost all the smile on his face as he felt that something had gone wrong because the reinforcement, which was due to arrive an hour ago, had yet to reach the city.
Initially, Islam had thought that the reinforcements were running late because of the need to travel through a jungle, but as time passed, he sensed that things were not so simple.
He had already ordered his lieutenant to restart the artillery and hit back at the enemy troops currently at the northern wall.
But sadly, due to his overconfidence in the arrival of reinforcements and his greed in fully eliminating all the enemy soldiers, he was responsible for the loss of 80 cannons of 15-kilogram calibre, which were still the mainstay of the empire’s artillery, leading to an unequal competition as the enemy’s artillery proved more effective.
"Your Excellency! Your Excellency! Things are not good!"
His lieutenant came blasting through the door, running towards him with panic on his face. The lieutenant looked like someone who had seen a ghost, His face was pale and bloodless.
Seeing this expression on his lieutenant, Islam also felt panicked. He had a vague guess that something disastrous had happened.
"What hap—"
"BOOM!"
He was about to ask the question, but before he could finish it, he heard a loud bang coming from the northern city wall. The heart of Islam Zaheer immediately dropped as he could clearly identify the sound of this cannon. It was the cannon that made him shiver and retreat to his quarters, the cannon which could pierce through rocks and easily put holes in their defences.
His face morphed into one of desperation as he screamed, "What the hell, lieutenant! Did you not say there was no larger cannon? Then why is there one at the northern defensive wall now?"
Islam Zaheer was now holding onto the collar of the lieutenant, screaming into his face with his spit falling all over the lieutenant’s face.
The panicked lieutenant did not even try to wipe the sweat as he shakily replied, "Y-Your Ex-Excellency, th-the enemy reinforcements have arrived!"
Hearing these outrageous words, Islam Zaheer quickly let go of the collar and took a few steps back in disbelief.
"Wha- What are you saying?" Zaheer muttered slowly in his utter disbelief, but soon anger took over him as he loudly yelled at the lieutenant, pointing his finger at him.
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, LIAR!!" Islam’s eyes were now blood red, unable to see reason.
"BOOM!"
However, fortunately, or unfortunately, he was woken up by the second shot from the culverin cannon.
"You know what, I will go see for myself," Islam said as he quickly left for the northern city wall.
But when he got to the watchtower at the northern city wall, he immediately stumbled back and fell down, his face now drained of blood, his body going into panic mode as he shivered wildly.
"It’s them! They di-di-di-did not die?"
"How is this po-po-po-possible?" Islam muttered.
He clearly identified a few figures on the opposing end, especially the person who looked tall and majestic in his iron armour, which was drenched in blood, with a unique helmet crafted from a metal, unlike anything he had seen before. He remembered that at the beginning of the battle, this person was the one who led the enemy camp to attack the city.
"Weren’t they destroyed by the bombardment? How come they are alive? How? How? How?" he muttered maniacally, as the mental shock was too great for him to handle. He noticed a small detail that made him even more fearful.
It was not only the uniquely armoured soldier who was drenched in blood, Most, if not all of the newly arriving soldiers, were practically bathing in blood. At first, he had thought that it was only the uniquely armoured man that was coloured crimson.
Now, seeing more and more people approaching with the same bright red colour glistening in the morning rays, he couldn’t help but imagine the possibility which sent chills down his spine.
"Noooo."
He whined in a low voice like a wounded dog, and unable to take on the stimuli, he immediately fainted.
Outside the city wall...
Vijay, his armour drenched in blood, stood in front of the wall with both hands gripping his talwar, which was lodged in the ground. He resembled a brave knight, looking down on the enemy after beheading countless foes.
Vijay’s eyes were intently fixed on the city wall, not moving an inch.
The cannons next to him were firing at full intensity, and he stood there, unaffected by the rumbling of the ground or the deafening explosions. More cannons were being installed every passing second.
With the relentless firing of all the cannons the Bharatiya Empire could offer, the northern city wall finally collapsed, opening up a path for the Bharatiya Army to enter.
Vijay, who had been unmoving until now, lifted up his talwar and ran forward towards the city.
His eyes now radiated blazing intensity as he ran, cutting through the air like a speeding warhorse.
The soldiers who saw their general rushing towards the city did not hesitate, and they too rushed towards the city.
"Rahhhhhh!"
"Revenge!"
"Killllll!"
Multiple shouts were heard from the soldiers as they followed the lead of their brave general, rushing into the city like a group of wolves entering a flock of sheep.
Vijay, at the forefront, didn’t sense the same imminent threat of death as he did when approaching the southern wall, though a slight sensation of death still lingered, primarily from the soldiers guarding the city.
Vijay immediately ducked down as a Mughal soldier swung his sword towards his head. he swiftly turned the blade of his Talvar and sliced upwards, immediately severing half of the Mughal soldier’s brain, killing him instantly.
Then, another soldier in a hidden corner was preparing to fire at Vijay, but Vijay, sensing the threat and having already mastered his instincts to a proficient level, quickly pulled out his wheel lock pistol and, with a bang, shot at the hidden enemy.
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*Thud*
The enemy on the third floor of a building immediately dropped dead, a bullet in his skull and his spine broken from the fall.
*Zoom*
Vijay ran past multiple enemies, slicing them apart before they could react.
The Mughal soldiers stood in bewilderment, their mouths wide open, unable to comprehend the sheer efficiency of the killing machine before them. It seemed as though this man anticipated every attack with uncanny precision, rendering weapons like guns, spears, and arrows futile against his relentless onslaught.
He moved with extreme precision barely achievable by humans, swiftly butchering their comrades with ruthless efficiency, instilling fear in their hearts.
On this fateful day, the Mughals witnessed a man who was the incarnation of death himself. It was the day the world witnessed the Crimson Knight, Rakhtabija, the almighty demon of slaughter, who had to be put down by the ultimate power, Shakti herself.
Not to be outdone, although a little late, the soldiers who followed behind immediately started to wage chaos. They took varied stances of infantry focused on defence, frontal combat, and phalanxes formed by bayonets.
The defence unit moved step by step, providing protection to the troops behind, while the close-quarter infantry combat unit, similar to Vijay, rushed into the fight in pairs, chopping down enemies one at a time. The gunners, carrying Brown Bess rifles, launched their own onslaught of bullets continuously, acting like well-trained killing machines.
In a matter of a few minutes, the whole northern part of the city was filled with blood and gore.
However, the Bharatiya Empire, even though they had the upper hand, did not give the troops inside Indore City a chance to recover. Light cannons were immediately brought into the city, bombarding again and taking down many of the garrisons containing enemy soldiers armed with guns.
Two hours later...
Amidst the screams of agony from the Mughal soldiers, the battle quieted down, leaving destruction in its wake. The whole northern part of the city was almost unrecognizable, turned into a splattered mess of human body parts, with the smell of gunpowder and destruction permeating the air.
Vijay, whose body was now dripping with fresh blood, with some pieces of enemy body parts stuck to his armour, asked Birbal Singh in a terrifyingly chilling voice, "Where is their leader? Bring him to me."
Birbal felt shivers run down his spine as he looked at the current situation of Vijay. He could never imagine his majesty, the emperor would be this capable and terrifying on the battlefield.
Vijay’s reputation in the empire is that of a kind and capable ruler who is loving towards his own people and cruel and merciless towards his enemies, even if they are his own kin. However, his majesty is not known for his prowess in battle, as he rarely participates in major battles and if he does, he doesn’t directly put himself in harm’s way.
Although this kind of emperor is good for the empire, especially since the royal family currently has only His Majesty the Emperor and no heirs, it is undeniable that having a capable emperor who is proficient in battle would be a significant morale boost to the empire’s military.
Seeing his majesty now, although Birbal did not know if his majesty in his current form was good for the empire or not, he is definitely very well-suited for the military. So, he did not care anymore. Again, Remembering the question his majesty asked, he immediately acted.
He dragged the Mughal general, Islam Zaheer, who had just woken up from his shock and pushed him in front of Vijay.
As soon as Zaheer opened his eyes and regained clarity in his mind, He, who had been unconscious for the majority of the time, saw the bloody image of a man wearing iron armour.
"Ah."
He was startled as he crawled a few feet back in panic.
Vijay, seeing this man in such a pathetic appearance, had a disgusted expression on his face.
Without saying a word, he grabbed the man by his hair and dragged him to the top of the city wall as Zaheer screamed at the top of his lungs.
But Vijay did not care.
"LOOK," Vijay uttered a word and grabbed Zaheer by his neck, forcing him to look at the eastern part of the city.
Islam did not know what was about to happen, but he had a bad feeling since that part of the city was where most of the nobles lived. Unfortunately, his unease came true as the next second he heard a word.
"Fire."
The next moment, more powerful cannons than their own Mughal cannons fired, launching multiple rounds of incendiary shots.
These projectiles, flying through the air at high velocity with a trail of orange flames, fell on the noble area of Indore like falling comets of death, turning the surrounding areas into an apocalyptic environment.
"ahhhhhh"
"yaa alllahhh"
"Ohhh save meee"
Multiple screams were heard, of men in unusual circumstances.
Although most of the houses in the noble area were made of high-quality materials like stone or bricks, the shots fired by the cannons of the Bharatiya Empire were not normal shots drenched in oil like the Mughal Empire’s, but incendiary shots filled with gunpowder, acting as powerful explosives upon impact.
The speed at which these projectiles travelled also did not bode well for the Mughal nobles.
No house or building could withstand the force of this attack.
Seeing this, Islam Zaheer had his mouth and eyes wide open.
"AHHHHHHH, YAAA ALLLLAAAAHHHH," he cried at the top of his lungs as tears streamed down his face.
"Bang."
Vijay immediately slammed him against the city wall as forcefully as he could, rendering him unconscious.
But he was soon awakened by salt water poured onto his face.
Islam screamed again as soon as he woke up, feeling unbearable pain coming from his face, which had broken in several places, with his cheekbone visible.
But his voice suddenly quieted down as he felt the incarnation of the devil himself whispering something in his ear.
"Did your Allah teach you to slaughter innocent people who did you know harm?"
Vijay, after whispering this, did not care to listen to the man anymore as he dragged him back to the ground and started dishing out his punishment.
Islam was scared out of his life, but he could not do anything.
Vijay had the guy tied up and drenched his body with butter.
Islam was terrified about what was going to happen to him, but he was sure that nothing good would come out of it. So, he did his best to move his hand, trying to slit his own throat with his long fingernails.
Unfortunately, he was tied down.
Then, having no avail, he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Please kill me, please, please."
Vijay did not shut him up. Instead, according to his command, a group of rats, who had been starved, were let loose on his body, and they immediately started gnawing on the butter covering the man. But after the butter ended, the rodents immediately started digging into the flesh.
"AHHHHH!"
The screams of Islam intensified as he realised that his insides were spilling out and his body was being eaten little by little.
However, soon he became unconscious. Unfortunately for him, even a few crows, attracted by the death in the area, were drawn to the butter smell on his body, and they soon came and gnawed away at his eyes and ears.
Everyone looked away after seeing this scene unfold. They wanted revenge, but they did not want to witness atrocities that should only be seen in the realm of Lord Yama, the king of Naraka.
Vijay, after seeing enough, let out a sigh of relief, his body now fully exhausted and almost about to collapse. However, before he took a little rest, he asked Birbal, "The women and children?"
Birbal understood the question and quickly replied, "They are safe, Your Majesty. They are being transported to the prison back in the empire."
Vijay nodded his head and felt relieved for the final time. He looked at the destroyed body of Islam Zaheer and muttered to himself, "Fortunately, I am not the monster you think I am."
Then he collapsed, falling into a deep rest.
Birbal, who saw his majesty abruptly collapsing to the ground, was startled and feared that he was injured. He immediately tended to him, supporting him to a resting room.
A military medic was immediately summoned and after a little check, everyone was relieved to find that his majesty was just tired and needed rest.
"Phew," Birbal let out a long sigh of relief and went back to his duties, cleaning up the battlefield.
P.S. How was this arc, It felt good for me.