Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

The sun rose high in the sky, and the atmosphere was warm due to the afternoon heat. Moreover, the humidity made the heat unbearable. There was little to no breeze to soothe the fiery warmth.

Clashes of steel, wails of agony, and screams of determination echoed through the city plaza. The Mughals clashed with the wooden barricades of the Marathas. The shards of wood flew as they charged right into it with a thud.

Marathas brandished their spears through the gaps of the barricade and poked at them. It pierced through the gaps of their armor, and tens of soldiers got injured.

Askar's attention was on the battle in the plaza. They had the numerical advantage but they were caught on a chokepoint by the sensible place of the barricades. The space they possessed was greatly reduced. This means they were less mobile and their numbers couldn't be used to their full extent.

Retreat wasn't an option either. His mind raced to find the gaps, scanning the surroundings. Backing away at this point would lead to low morale in his troops; this would make the battle even tougher to win.

The Maratha battle spirit was still high for some reason. Askar couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that they lost so much in the battle and were reduced to less than half of their actual size.

Still, they hadn't lost the flicker of hope and spirit.

'The hell?'

His gaze shifted to the young man commanding the barricades from behind. It was Shivaji. He stood with distinct armor from the rest; the man was the reason for all this mess.

He needed to break one of the barricades and open up space for them.

'Wood! Fire!'

An idea popped up in his mind.

He glanced up to see Mughals climbing down from the walls to join the Vanguard.

"Usman, have them fire flame arrows towards the barricades." He pointed at the soldiers scaling down from the wall. "Order them to rotate and set the barricades on fire."

"Yes, commander." Usman said with a determined look.

He waded through the crowded pathway to the back, towards the walls. He jumped over the barricades and went to the soldiers that were scaling down the walls of the fort.

"You guys." He hurriedly said to the soldiers.

The soldiers looked at him with a confused stare.

"What happened? Vice commander."

"Take a detour and set their barricades on fire. This is an order." Usman said.

"Understood."

The unit captain handed some oil pots to Usman. "We got this from the walls. Use them on the barricades when you see the arrows."

Usman took the oil pots and nodded.

The Mughal soldiers picked up their arrows and bows. They took a detour to target the barricade. It was hard to rotate to target the barricade as the pathways were narrow and had high possibilities of ambushes between buildings. The unit split into 2 to target the barricades.

They weaved through the narrow paths quickly, supporting and alerting each other of any possible dangers in the process.

"Now, take aim," said the captain.

The few soldiers managed to quickly enter the range of targeting the barricades.

They lit their arrows on fire and took aim at the barricades.

Both units took aim at separate ones and held their breath for the orders.

"FIRE!" roared the unit captain.

A barrage of flaming arrows showered in the direction of the barricades. It set the wooden barricades on the fire.

Unfortunately for the Marathas, oil pots were thrown at their barricades, making the flames rise high.

Askar smiled as the flames rose high, burning the barricades to a crisp.

"Fuck," mumbled Shivaji as he saw the barricades fall and the Mughals slashing his soldiers. The space was opened up and the superior numbering didn't waste the opportunity and they pushed into the space, killing many Marathas soldiers panicking from the flames.

The momentum shifted in favor of the Mughals as the plaza saw the Maratha soldiers fall one by one.

Shivaji stood frozen. He went numb; his mind didn't work. He didn't have anything to counter this.

He could see the smile on Askar's face. The barricades fell one by one and the commanders couldn't control the troops as the panic began to settle.

'What should I do?'

Just then an arrow whistled towards him; he stood there frozen. It went past him, leaving a scratch on his face. Blood flowed down his cheeks.

He touched his cheek in surprise, seeing the bright red blood on his fingers. He was jolted back to reality.

Another arrow cut through the air and went directly towards his head. He turned his head quickly to dodge it.

'Fuck! I forgot my own Dharma for a moment.'

Adrenaline began to course through his body. He closed his eyes for a moment. He could feel every part of his body vividly. Every sound and faint whisper entered his mind. He went into a trance. His body relaxed, and the strength coursed through every muscle fiber.

"I will take responsibility." He mumbled and jumped into the fray without hesitation.

The Mughals saw Shivaji and charged at him.

He was in the zone.

The soldier's head rolled in an instant. Just two precise slashes.

Soldiers around him froze at the scene.

Another soldier charged, and another head rolled on the hard stone floor.

One by one bodies of Mughals fell to the ground with each swing of Shivaji.

The soldiers around him began to back away. Shivaji's eyes were dazed, his posture relaxed but he emitted an aura of bloodlust that rivalled everyone.

Marathas also froze seeing the carnage unfolding.

'Was this the same commander till now?'

'Is this the same energetic young man we know?'

Shivaji's gaze fell on Askar, who witnessed the scene with an open mouth

His grip was firm on his sword and he pointed it at Askar.

The cold voice of Shivaji echoed, sending shivers down the spines of the Mughal soldiers.

"Karnavati shall not fall till I breathe."

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