FANTASY

Counterfeit Hero

Counterfeit Hero by 72 Bian is a fantasy novel, In times of war… What is a Battle Mecha engineer expected to do? Are they expected to do research and realize their imagination? How about a Battle Mecha pilot? Are they expected to enter battle with their mechas as they display their exquisite control through bizarre and bewildering techniques? What about a member of the special scouts? Are they expected to infiltrate deep into the enemy lines as they use stellar unarmed fighting skills to suppress the enemy with a single move? Or are they expected to make use of disguises and stealth techniques to take out the enemy? And what about a military officer? Are they expected to analyze the outcome of a battle? Or are they expected to create brilliant strategies to triumph over the enemy through a miraculous move? For someone who excels in human psychology, deceit, assassination, and disguise, what happens when that person is merged with all those professions? Read Counterfeit Hero Blurb Below.

Counterfeit Hero Blurb

In the smoldering aftermath of the Great Cataclysm, the once-lush landscapes of Aethel were a scarred tapestry of scorched earth and twisted metal. Towering war machines, skeletal remnants of a bygone era, loomed like silent sentinels, testaments to a conflict that had redefined the very concept of warfare.

Arian wasn’t your typical soldier. While others reveled in the brute force of Battle Mechas, Arian thrived in the shadows. His nimble fingers, honed by years of meticulous tinkering, were more comfortable disassembling a weapon than piloting one. Though his mind brimmed with blueprints for fantastical machines, his true passion lay in the intricate workings of human psychology.

He wasn’t a frontline fighter either. The elite pilots, encased within their metal behemoths, were hailed as heroes, their dazzling displays of mechanized carnage plastered across propaganda posters. Arian, however, preferred a more subtle approach. He was a member of the Ghosts – a clandestine unit specializing in infiltration and sabotage. Disguises were his armor, deception his weapon. He could vanish into a crowd, melt into the shadows, becoming an untraceable phantom before the enemy even realized they were under attack.

Military strategists, lauded for their grand battle plans, held little appeal for Arian. He saw the battlefield not as a chessboard with predetermined moves, but as a chaotic dance of emotions and reactions. He could exploit an enemy commander’s arrogance, sow discord within their ranks, or even orchestrate a perfectly timed assassination – all without a single shot fired.

The war council, a gathering of Aethel’s finest military minds, was a cacophony of booming voices and clashing egos. Generals argued over troop deployments, while engineers bickered about the latest Mechas. Arian, ever the outsider, sat quietly, observing the spectacle. He wasn’t there to contribute to the noise; he was there to analyze, to find the cracks in their unwavering confidence, the chink in their meticulously crafted strategy.

His keen eyes landed on General Valerian, the iron-fisted commander whose victories were etched in blood and scorched earth. Valerian, obsessed with brute force, dismissed the Ghosts as mere shadows, unworthy of recognition. Arian saw this as a vulnerability – a blind spot that could be exploited.

Days turned into weeks as Arian meticulously crafted his plan. He became a phantom amidst the enemy ranks, a whisper carried on the wind, sowing seeds of doubt about Valerian’s leadership. He leaked falsified reports, orchestrated staged ambushes, portraying Valerian’s strategies as failures. Panic, like a slow-burning fire, began to consume the enemy camp.

The turning point came during a pivotal battle. Valerian, fueled by paranoia and desperation, ordered a full-frontal assault. It was a strategic blunder, playing right into Arian’s hands. The enemy forces, demoralized and distrustful, crumbled under the pressure. The once-invincible Valerian, stripped of his aura of invincibility, was captured, his reign of terror brought to an abrupt end.

The victory was hailed as a testament to Aethel’s superior technology and fighting spirit. The role of the Ghosts, however, remained shrouded in secrecy. Arian, the master manipulator, the engineer of chaos, vanished back into the shadows. He was the counterfeit hero, a man who redefined war not with brute force, but with the subtle art of deception, a living testament to the fact that sometimes, the most effective weapon is the one your enemy never sees coming.

But Arian’s victory wasn’t without its consequences. He became a living paradox – a soldier who thrived outside the rigid structure of the military, a master of deception in a world desperate for heroes. He walked a tightrope, his skills invaluable yet distrusted, his loyalty unquestionable yet his methods unorthodox. As Aethel rebuilt from the ashes of war, Arian knew his fight was far from over. The battlefields might change, the enemies might evolve, but one thing remained constant – the war for Aethel’s future would be fought on multiple fronts, both in the thundering roar of cannons and the silent whispers of a master deceiver.