Blood splashed across the ground as a Knight resheathed his secondary blade. Three other Knights gathered around him, their leather armor stained red as well. No one in the group spoke, however their attention gathered on a young girl exiting the forest underbrush.
“Good, this should alleviate some of the frontline pressure.” Though murmured under her breath, the Knights around her could still understand her in the dead silence of the night. Sol’s gaze drifted from the fresh corpse to a nearby tree where a young boy was perched upon.
“What do you think? Is this enough to dissuade them?” An typically left the engagements to Sol during their trip. Both planning and execution was performed by her while he remained at the side to assist if a failure happened.
Impressively, Sol only failed on her first ambush. Despite his inactivity, Sol utilized his presence as a soundboard and mentor. Hearing her question, An fell into thought. “You’ve killed off most of their scouting teams, however it’s impossible for a small group like ours to intercept all of them. Rather than dissuade, it’s more reasonable to think you’ve slowed their pace.”
“You’re saying the mass slaughter of scouts will only make them proceed with caution and not retreat? Well, that was within expectations…” Sol’s gaze swept across the Knights around her as she took in their condition. Nearly two weeks have gone by since her group reached the distant outskirts of Glondal City.
Rather than insert themselves into the city, Sol chose to locate the enemies main force with her cheat ability dubbed ‘An’. From there, she started launching surprise attacks on detached units. Most of her targets ended up as scouting teams, however lady luck smiled upon her a few times and she was able to intercept command orders from runner teams.
With the inside knowledge, it was child’s play to relay the commands to the Commander defending Glondal City. As a result, Sol managed to incur costs to the Blonsall regiment despite never directly engaging them.
Indeed, as An suggested, Sol found to her dismay that the enemy had already managed to clue in to her existence. How the scouting teams were scattered and the alteration to how orders were passed was a clear indication.
Her most recent success did little to push her strategic goal. The hunted team was a decoy, however she didn’t have the time, manpower, or intelligence to hunt the remaining scouts and runners. It was clear the enemy was able to narrow down her goal and manning after so many failures.
“Tsk. An enemy who learns from failure is troublesome.” Sol’s side comment resonated with the Knights, however they remained silent and held their opinions. After nearly 40 ambushes, their team had grown accustomed to how their Lady’s thought process worked.
“An, should we strike their main camp?”, she asked the relaxed boy. His gaze seemed to travel into the distance as if he were looking into the enemy camp itself. He soon answered with an underlying tone. “There’s no need for that…”
“No need?” The comment surprised Sol. Her thoughts churned and a second later, her eyes widened. “Are they making a move on us?!” An only responded with a nod of his head. His eyes remained fixed into the distance and Sol found a sense of caution flash across his demeanor.
Although she was more confident in her abilities, Sol knew from her training with An that she was rather low on the totem pole. Her ‘Unchained Queen Beast’ model was supposedly incredible, however there was a distinct lack of opponents she could test herself against.
Normal humans could no longer stand against her and she felt as if her strength was only growing despite that. Her cultivation method cycled by itself and the surges of magic flooding her system that once excited her became part of her norm.
Despite her improvement, Sol understood her life was still on the line. Every gain Sol acquired was dampened a little more every day as she approached 16. She felt like a sieve ladened with water. Regardless of that weakening force, her rate of improvement managed to outpace it ever since she underwent her first refinement.
Her progress was something she could feel, but there was a distinct lack of understanding as to her actual strength. An was simply too powerful for her to properly measure herself against and normal humans were fundamentally too weak.
The only Assembler she managed to engage with was before her first refinement and Sol even suspected the woman to be weak despite her apparent agility. Perhaps such reasons were why a sense of expectation flickered through her upon seeing An’s cautious slip.
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“How is it? Are they making a move on us?” She repeated the query. An’s eyes narrowed into slits while replying. “There’s nearly 64 Assemblers entering the forest from the enemy’s main camp. They’ve split into teams of 8 and appear equipped with magic infused gear.”
Sol’s first thought was to disband her team. Assemblers are simply too powerful for mortal humans, however she hesitated after thinking back to the first Assembler she met in battle. She couldn’t decide. Was that woman above average? Did she underestimate me? Had it been a normal human in my place, would she have succeeded?
There wasn’t enough information. “An, what do you suggest? Should we send the Knights as reinforcements?” Her words caused the men to drop to their knees. “Lady Reviarra, you mustn’t send us away! If there’s an enemy too strong, we serve as distractions!”
“You’ll die, you know? The groups entering the forest can’t be underestimated. Each of them is around your Lady’s strength, perhaps a bit weaker. You 5 might be strong for humans, but the enemy is a team of Assemblers.” An’s tone was rather neutral despite its content.
To be honest, even An felt that losing these Knights would be a waste. He spent a large portion of his time training and sparring with them. Their loyalty was unquestionable and their teamwork was impeccable after their experience over the last few weeks.
But that wasn’t enough. Their enemy was one capable of igniting the air from a distance. How does a mortal fight against the water in their own body when it’s under another’s control? Can one forcibly breathe when the oxygen is removed from their surroundings?
Although the enemy was unlikely to be that skilled or advanced, the general threat remained about the same. Sol appeared distressed at the overly loyal Knights. “I don’t want you to die. An will protect me. Do me a favor and help my father defend the city.”
The men remained genuflecting, hesitating to follow the order. There was logic in Sol’s words, however it felt wrong to abandon the girl in the middle of a forest. Each of the Knights trained with An so they knew he was the best form of protection Sol could have, however their emotions remained troubled.
While Sol was trying to figure out a way to send the men away, An’s voice soon forced her hand. “It’s too late now. We’ve been led into a trap.” Sol’s eyes widened in surprise. “They’ve found us? How?” Although they’ve launched multiple ambushes, they’re position has always changed immediately after.
By right, their exact location should still be a mystery. Sol expanded her spiritual awareness to its limit and barely managed to encompass the local area. Her awareness soon withdrew after discovering nothing. An answered her probing gaze. “There’s a strong one this time. Their spiritual awareness is covering the groups.”
“This Lady didn’t even feel another awareness though?” An laughed at her tone. “Comparing yourself to this King? You’re too young. Sol, it’s time to prepare yourself. Keep the Knights, this King has his own opponent this time. It’s probably another Assembler from the higher realm. You’ll need to protect yourself until I can eliminate them.”
“They’re that strong?” Her surprise left An chuckling once more. Rather than reply, his attention directed to the Knights. “64 Assemblers around Sol’s strength are surrounding us. Our only chance of escape is to immediately retreat from Glondal City. Sol, the choice is up to you.” Sol fell into silence. She understood the outcome of failure this time around, however there was a burning desire to test herself as well. “Is this Lady stronger than those teams?”
“About equal if we’re discussing direct strength. You’ve got the edge for stamina. Add in a bit of that strategy your brain is so fond of and you stand a decent chance of survival. You’ve just lost the chance of retreat during our discussion. The choice is now fight back or evade. Good luck, Sol. This King will intercept the big boss.”
An’s figure flickered from view and Sol found her spiritual awareness could no longer discern his location. Had he moved outside her sensory range or did he conceal himself? Either way, it was a humanizing moment for Sol. Her attention returned to the genuflecting Knights.
“You hear him. You’re stuck with this Lady now. Death is likely for you. This Lady will provide you one last chance. Split from this Lady and make your way to Glondal City. The enemy’s target is this Lady, not this Lady’s group.”
Heavy silence fell over the Knights, yet not a single member moved to leave. Sol’s solemn expression turned more dignified as her spiritual awareness registered signs of movement nearby. “Prepare yourselves. The first team has started closing the net from the North East. Ready your sealed weapons. If you have any Temperamental Bettys, feel free to use them dynamically in battle. Your life is more important than your gear.”
After saying so, Sol’s eyes flickered with a silver hue as her attention flew towards the inbound team. Her petite lips curved like a bow. “Bows and arrows? Not bad for a warm up.”