Kefira sat straight and prim in her saddle, scanning the horizon as the battalion ambled into their defensive position for the foreseeable future. The terrain was rocky and filled with rolling hills, so it was difficult to see very far, even during the light of day. Kefira didn't have a visual Skill to help her see in the dark, but she did have a very high Light Affinity for her Level at 43. Infusing the Affinity into her eyes opened up the scenery for her well enough to see by the light of the moon and stars.
"This is the approximate position you agreed on?" Kefira turned her head and addressed Lieutenant Jek.
"That's right, my lady," Jek bobbed his head. In private, Jek referred to her as Fira, the name he knew her by, but they never saw each other in private these days. He had taken to referring to her as "my lady" like everyone else after she had revealed the noble's token from Wispan. "We didn't want to designate a specific location in case there were complications and changing circumstances, so we just circled a position on the map and agreed for each of us to send out scouts and patrols until we discovered each other. Sending signals during the day would be too conspicuous, and we didn't have any communication devices."
"Very well," Kefira said. "Major Dobrik, get the soldiers settled. There's still most of the evening left, so go ahead and send out scouts and a patrol."
"Yes, my lady," Major Dobrik replied.
Kefira remained sitting on her saddle, chewing her lip as she watched the battalion get set up. The location that had been circled for Reivyn's platoon to meet up looked small on the map, but it covered a rather large area in reality.
Kefira was impatient to meet back up with Reivyn if for no other reason than to verify he was healthy and well, but he also might have extremely valuable intelligence on the enemy. If that depot on the map was a teleportation platform, it would be imperative to take it out of operation. She felt like there was more she could be doing other than just standing around, waiting to issue orders that could just as easily be given by the Major.
"Come on, Serilla," Kefira said to her companion, nudging her horse to move in the direction where she could see two platoons getting ready to step off for a patrol.
"What are you planning?" Serilla asked skeptically.
"We're not needed here right now. Major Dobrik and the other officers have everything under control. You know perfectly well that I have the ability to expand the search to meet up with Reivyn's platoons quickly and efficiently. We're going to attach ourselves to the patrol."
"Shouldn't this be something we tell the Major?" Serilla asked.
"I don't need his permission," Kefira retorted.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it."
"Ok~ay, fine!"
Kefira and Serilla made their way over to the platoons and spotted a familiar man overseeing the preparations. They dismounted next to Captain Dorran, who immediately offered a salute upon seeing who it was.
"Captain Dorran," Kefira addressed the officer, "have one of your men take our horses to be seen to, and while he's at it, inform the Major that we'll be joining the patrol."
Captain Dorran opened his mouth and hesitated as if he wanted to object to the order, but Kefira simply raised an eyebrow at him. He quickly shut his mouth, though, and summoned one of his soldiers over to see to it.
"Yes, my lady," Captain Dorran said.
Kefira stood to the side as Captain Dorran laid out a map and discussed the route they would be taking with the two Provisional Lieutenants he had selected from his company to perform the task. They weren't taking the entire company, just the two platoons, and one of the other volunteer officers in the company would see to the other three platoons that were staying behind.
Kefira memorized the details of the operation, noting that they would travel to the edge of the circle drawn on the map for the rendezvous. A commotion pulled her out of her contemplation, and she looked up to see Major Dobrik and several of his staff rushing over.
"My lady," Major Dobrik said as he approached, "are you sure this is a wise course of action?"
"It is," Kefira answered simply.
"Well... at least let me send some guards to protect you," Major Dobrik said, motioning for a couple of his staff to come forward. Kefira held a hand up to stop him.
"I have Sera with me," Kefira said. "She's more than enough to ensure my safety."
"I have no doubts as to Lady Sera's abilities, but she's only one person. What will happen if you get surrounded?"
"We're not going out to fight, and even if we were, I'm very much able to get away with my unique set of abilities. Adding more bodyguards to protect me would actually hinder me, as I can only bring one other person with me on my jumps. I wouldn't be able to run away in good conscience if it meant I had to leave someone behind."
"Very well. Just... be safe, my lady."
Kefira looked at Major Dobrik and saw the sincerity in his eyes. Although their working relationship had started off strained, they had built a good rapport over the passing weeks.
"Thank you, Major. I appreciate the concern," Kefira gave him a small smile. "Everything will be fine, though, so you don't have to worry. This area is far from any of the known enemy bases or convoy routes."
"Yes, my lady."
Major Dobrik and his staff departed back to overseeing the construction of the fortifications, and the two platoons led by Captain Dorran were ready to step off. Kefira nodded her head to the Captain, and he ordered the patrol to get going.
Nobody was mounted for the expedition, and Kefira didn't decide to walk along with them simply out of solidarity. She would be a target if only she and Serilla were on horseback if the enemy did happen to be around and spot them.
The patrol was a fairly boring thing, all things considered. The platoons walked through the ravines and gulleys between the rolling hills, sending scouts up and around the hills to check things out as they moved. They walked east, southeast for a couple of hours, approaching the edge of the circle on the map. The plan was to head a bit north before heading back to the base camp to rest for the day.
The patrol didn't run into any enemies, but they didn't expect to. They were far enough away from any operation zones that it would be extremely unusual to see anyone. The enemy sent out patrols other than their supply convoys, but their patrols were limited to basically the same area.
A lot of their activity had switched from patrols to escorts over the past week, too, as they began laying down long lines of wire with the captives. Kefira had ordered the Major to disrupt their activities of laying the wires whenever they came across it, and they had succeeded in freeing several groups of captives. None of them had been from Kirlon, though. Most of them had been from smaller communities spread across the desert.
They didn't go out of their way to set up a large-scale mission to disrupt the activity, though. Kefira and the other officers had spoken about it, and they had decided that that would be part of the next leg of their defense against the invasion in conjunction with trying to whittle their combat effectiveness down.
They had discovered that anything they did now, other than freeing the captives, would be a waste of time; as scouts sent back to the locations where they had destroyed the enemy, progress had shown that the wires had been replaced as if nothing had happened.
The patrol reached the edge of the search area, and they turned north. There were some plateaus further east that Kefira could see. She turned to Serilla and gave her a look before approaching Captain Dorran.
"Captain, Sera and I are going to jump over to those plateaus and check out the other side, just in case," she informed the captain. "We'll move parallel to the patrol, and we'll stay in sight the entire time, so you don't have to worry about us getting lost. Once it's time to head back west, we'll jump back and return with you."
"Yes, my lady," Captain Dorran replied. "Are you sure you don't need any additional guards for your protection?"
"You can send a group of scouts to split the difference," Kefira conceded. "That way, if we spot something or run into trouble, we can get the information to them, and they can get it to you."
"That's reasonable."
Captain Dorran waved a scout over who had just returned and gave him his new marching orders. Kefira waited until that was settled, and then she grabbed Serilla by the hand before making the first jump.
She hadn't participated in much combat since the first day, but as the overall commander of the battalion, she got a decent chunk of experience for each battle that took place, even the ones where she wasn't present. There was a hefty penalty for those battles, but it was still better than nothing. As such, she had gained several Levels since the first day, including the Experience from the monthly calculations she had recently received. She had reached Level 72 of Tier 3, eight Levels higher than when the campaign had begun.
Her jumps had expanded by several tens of yards since the last time she had used them, and she and Serilla quickly made it to the plateau, ascending it in short order.
They came out of a jump in the center of the plateau, and she felt the tingle of Mana before she even regained her bearings. Off in the distance, bright lights were flashing over and over. She shared a look with Serilla, and the pair jumped to the far edge of the plateau, another fifty or so yards away, and they looked into the distance.
With her enhanced vision, she was able to see multiple groups of soldiers, so far away and tiny that they looked like ants, moving toward the positions where the flashes were coming from. A particularly bright flash lit up the sky, revealing the extent of the encirclement. There were over ten separate groups of upwards of one to two hundred soldiers converging on the magical display. A faint boom followed the flash several seconds after it had dissipated.
"That's Reivyn. I know it," Kefira said. "Wait here for a moment."
Kefira immediately jumped back the way they had come, leaving Serilla behind, hand outstretched. Serilla had obviously thought Kefira was going to jump toward Reivyn and the magical fight going on in the distance, but now was not the time to be reckless. She needed to inform the scout right away. She quickly made it to the position of the man that was located halfway between the plateau and the patrolling platoons.
"Target spotted," Kefira said to the man, who jumped in surprise at her sudden appearance. "They're under siege on the other side of that plateau. Have Captain Dorran send the men up the hill and set up for defensive action. I'm going to try and break them out."
Kefira didn't wait for a reply. She immediately jumped back up to the plateau and joined Serilla once again. Serilla did not look amused, but the fact that Kefira hadn't rushed headlong into the fray on her own appeased her just a little.
"This is not a good idea," Serilla said, trying to loom over Kefira.
Kefira gazed into her companion's eyes for a moment before making a decision. The battle was still raging in the distance, and she didn't have time to be dawdling. She reached into her robe and pulled out an amulet. Serilla's eyes opened wide at the sight.
"Princess, no..."
She was cut off as Kefira decisively broke the gem in the center of the amulet. Power that had been suppressed in her core exploded out. Kefira had never felt so good in her life. Years of feeling like something was weighing down on her were lifted, and she felt as if she would float away into the air if she didn't keep herself grounded.
"That's for life or death situations only!" Serilla said, pinching her nose.
"This is life or death," Kefira countered. "Now, come on."
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Reivyn stood in place, sword and shield out at the ready, as he stared at the pink-plumed commander. He hadn't noticed before because he was in such a rush, but the commander was obviously a woman based on the curves of her body.
She stood with one hand on her hip, slightly cocked to the side. She took her other hand and ran it through the plume, flipping it up in an obvious habit, before striding forward. The sword at her waist bounced against her leg as she strode forward, but Reivyn didn't spot a shield or anything strapped to her back.
Reivyn tightened the grip on his sword hilt, ready for action, but none of the enemy soldiers made a move. The enemy commander walked forward until she was only twenty or so yards away from Reivyn and more than forty yards away from her own troops. The act of complete disregard for the danger spoke volumes of her confidence.
"You've caused me quite the headache these past few weeks," a melodious voice issued from the closed helmet. In any other situation, Reivyn might have been enchanted by the sweet sound, but the juxtaposition of the sweet voice with the combat situation only made him more alert.
"I have to say, I'm actually quite impressed. My name is Aeriella. What's yours?" Aeriella asked conversationally.
"Uh... Reivyn," he replied, not sure about the situation anymore.
"Well, Reivyn, what do you say? Lower your weapons, and join me. I guarantee with me, you'll be able to go much farther than you ever could as a little commander of some backward desert kingdom." The armored woman folded her arms across her chest, legs slightly apart, and chin lifted high.
Reivyn was stunned for a moment. That was the last thing he had expected to hear. He was ready for demands of surrender or even a speech about the futility of the situation, but he was not thinking she would simply ask him to switch sides and join her.
"You want me to join you in your invasion?" Reivyn asked skeptically.
"What invasion?" The girl tilted her head to the side, sounding genuinely confused.
"What invasion?" Reivyn repeated back. He gestured all around with his sword. "This invasion."
"One moment," Aeriella held up a hand. She turned her head slightly as a man ran out from the enemy lines at her gesture. "Colonel Irio, what's this man talking about?"
"Umm... well, my lady, uh, you've read the reports about our operation here," the nervous man stuttered. "It seems the locals have taken it as an invasion."
"I see." Aeriella turned back toward Reivyn. "This isn't an invasion."
Reivyn was once more taken aback. She said it like he was just supposed to believe her at face value.
"Forgive me if I don't believe you," Reivyn replied. He was still standing at the ready. "You've brought over a hundred thousand troops into the territory, kidnapped tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, more civilians, and you're making a giant Rune Spell in the middle of the desert with forced labor. How is this not an invasion?"
"Hmm, yes, I can see how you would think it would be. Blame my incompetent soldiers for the kidnapping of the people. I never told them to do that. As to the hundred thousand soldiers I brought, it's just one division, and not a particularly good one, either. Mostly made up of rabble, I'm sure you've noticed."
"That's... wait, are you saying you'll free the people you've kidnapped when you're done?"
"Of course. What use would they be to me after?"
"Well, what about right now, instead?"
"Nope."
"Why? You just said it wasn't part of your order."
"Because I already have them. They're a free resource. Why wouldn't I use them?"
"A resource? This is people we're talking about!"
"So? Manpower is a resource."
"I mean, techni... wait, that's not the point! They're not just something you picked up on the side of the road to do with as you please. They have their own lives to live!"
"Yeah, and I'm sure they'll get a good boost of Life Experience from going through this ordeal. I'll bet you thousands of people will break through a bottleneck they've been stuck at, and the overall Level of the population will explode upwards. You could even say I'm doing them a favor."
"Is that how you justify your actions?"
"I wouldn't use it as a justification to initiate the action, but since it's already done..." Aeriella shrugged. "Enough. I've asked you politely to join my side. Now I'm telling you. Sheath your sword, and join me."
"You want me to serve you?" Reivyn frowned.
"Is that what I said?" Aeriella retorted. "Sure, any of your followers that come with you will join the ranks and serve me, but you... You're different. I think you have what it takes to stand by my side. Join me."
"I already have a girl..." Reivyn began.
"But not a wife?" Aeriella cut him off.
"Uh..."
"So what's the problem? In fact, you can bring her along, too. I don't mind a little competition."
Reivyn stood in stunned silence for a moment, just staring at the girl standing opposite him.
"You're not what I expected," Reivyn eventually said. "You're kind of weird."
"I'm not weird," Aeriella huffed. "I'm just supremely confident." She once more struck a pose and flipped her plume. Upon closer inspection, Reivyn realized that it was actually a ponytail sticking up from her helmet.
"Well, I have to disappoint you. I'm not joining your side. You're doing something dangerous with that Rune Spell."
"What's dangerous about it? Do you even know what it's for?" Aeriella retorted.
"I know it has something to do with the connection to the Abyss in the depths of the desolate sands."
Reivyn was fishing for information. He actually knew no such thing. It was just speculation on his part. Aeriella dropped her hands to her side as she stood up straight, and Reivyn could feel the piercing gaze she directed toward him. It was almost a physical sensation.
"A little Tier 2 nobody in a backward desert kingdom knows about the Abyss channels?" Aeriella said. "Now I'm even more interested in you.
"If you won't come willingly, I'll just have to bring you by force."
Reivyn's Danger Sense exploded as Aeriella raised her hand. He hastily drew upon the Mana he had been accumulating and formed a layered Mana Shield in front of himself. Another dark red beam shot out of Aeriella's palm and instantly crashed into Reivyn's shield. He had learned his lesson from last time, and the secondary shield he had erected absorbed most of the impact.
He still suffered nearly 100 points of Health damage, but he was only pushed back several feet instead of being launched across the desert like last time. The beam was deflected and launched up into the sky, harmlessly away from his soldiers still in formation behind him.
Reivyn Charged forward, manually activating the Skill with his own understanding and experience with the Class Skill. It was much easier to use it manually like this than it had been last time. He didn't suffer any extreme stress from activating it immediately after having used it. The distance closed in a fraction of a second, and Aeriella calmly drew her sword to parry the strike.
The power of the attack behind Reivyn's swing obviously surprised the girl as she was pushed back further than Reivyn had been from her beam attack. Reivyn lifted his shield in front of himself, and using the hand holding the strap, he launched his own Spell at his opponent. The nature of the Mana allowed it to bypass the shield held against his arm, and a fiery blast exploded in front of Aeriella.
Aeriella calmly lifted her other hand and erected her own shield. The blast and heat were directed around the bubble she had created, and she was completely unharmed. Reivyn didn't give her the chance to launch another Spell from a distance, though, and he rushed forward to engage her in hand-to-hand combat.
Reivyn used his Elemental Weapon Skill to infuse his sword with the Metal and Sharpness Affinities. Metal reinforced and amplified the attributes of his sword, and Sharpness didn't need an explanation. Aeriella's eyes behind her protective face mask on her helmet widened in surprise at the Mana coursing through Reivyn's body and weapon, but she still calmly engaged him in combat.
It was clear that Aeriella's abilities with a sword were top-notch, but they were still below Reivyn's. Reivyn pressed his advantage, and Aeriella was on the back foot. His Danger Sense once more pinged, and he swirled around to block a sneak attack launched at him by a man that had run out from Aeriella's troops.
"Hey!" Reivyn turned toward Aeriella's voice as she yelled out. He maintained his stance of holding his shield up to hold off the sword still pressing down on him, and he desperately accumulated Mana to ward off the next attack that he was sure was coming from the girl.
He was flabbergasted, though, as instead of taking the opportunity to attack him, Aeriella launched a Spell at her own man, exploding his head on impact. The man's body dropped dead. Reivyn stared at the girl with his mouth open.
"Sorry about that," Aeriella flipped her hair again, recovering her stance. She waited for Reivyn to also recover his stance before turning her head to the man she had addressed as Colonel Irio. "This is a personal matter. Don't let anyone else interfere again, or it will be your head next time."
"Yes, my lady," Irio bowed his head.
"Are you crazy?! That was your own man!" Reivyn shouted.
"So? He was death sworn. He should feel honored to die by my own hand."
"All of you people are crazy!" Reivyn shook his head.
"Enough of that. Let's continue."
Aeriella gathered her Mana, but instead of launching the powerful beam attack, a barrage of other Spells pelted Reivyn. He anchored a dual Mana Shield to his physical shield and dashed forward, launching his own Spells at his opponent.
Aeriella had learned her lesson, though, and she only ever allowed Reivyn to exchange a few blows with her before she disengaged to Cast more Spells. The only time Reivyn managed to close the distance to engage in physical combat was when she had to concentrate a bit longer for a larger Spell.
The battle continued without neither side gaining an advantage, but Reivyn's Stamina and Mana were depleting at an alarming rate. He had caused zero damage to his opponent, and his Stamina and Mana hadn't been full when they began the duel. He could sense that Aeriella wasn't trying her hardest, though, and she had ample Stamina and Mana to whittle him down.
He wasn't sure, but he could feel some excitement exuding from his opponent the longer they fought, and Aeriella became tougher and tougher to handle as the duel dragged out. Mana was flung back and forth between them, causing the area to seem like a thunderstorm had rolled in, and Reivyn was beginning to get desperate.
Suddenly, a huge aura of Mana descended on the area, and Reivyn saw Kefira and Serilla pop up out of nowhere. Kefira lifted her hands and launched several Spells at Aeriella. The very fabric of reality tore as giant rips in the air zipped toward Aeriella. The void threatened to spill out from the black scars, but the rips healed themselves in the wake of the attacks.
Aeriella pulled out an item from her inner breast pocket, though, and the spatial tears were pushed to either side of her, dissipating without harm after traveling several more yards past the woman. Aeriella jumped back and looked back and forth between Reivyn and Kefira for a moment.
"Is this the girl that you mentioned?" Aeriella asked. Reivyn simply stood still, not reacting. "Tell her to stand to the side and wait for our fight to end. I'll give her a spanking for interfering after I show you which one of us is superior."
Kefira screamed in rage as a huge whirlpool of Mana surrounded her, kicking up dust and dirt around her. Serilla jumped back, a frown on her face, and a giant beam of black death, once more tearing a huge rip in the Realm, launched toward Aeriella.
Aeriella suddenly exploded in speed she hadn't displayed before, nimbly dodging the attack before launching her own beam in retaliation toward Kefira. Kefira disappeared from her position, though, reappearing a short distance away. More Spells came out in quick succession toward Aeriella, but she dashed from side to side, avoiding them all, as she closed the distance with Reivyn.
"Colonel Irio, you have my permission to attack now," Aeriella calmly called out. Her sword came slashing down toward Reivyn from the side, orders of magnitude faster than before. Reivyn lifted his shield and blocked it, but the power behind the blow caused his shield to smash back into his face, and he was once more sent tumbling across the ground.
Aeriella, apparently, had been regulating her own Stats to match what Reivyn had shown, but after Kefira had joined the battle, she unleashed her true abilities.
The fight intensified. Aeriella didn't use Spatial Magic to jump around like Kefira, but her physical speed alone was enough for her to easily hold off the two of them in their coordinated fight. Reivyn focused on physical attacks enhanced by his Mana, but he still Cast his own Spells to compliment the barrage coming from Kefira.
Kefira was an unending well of Mana, bouncing around the battlefield and launching powerful Spells like they were nothing. Reivyn had to admit that he wouldn't be able to keep up the level of magical prowess that she had been displaying for very long. Each one of her Spells seemed to be as powerful as anything he could do when using his highest level Spells using his Class Skill, and she Cast them at the speed it would take him to use a 50 Mana Spell.
Not only did she continue her attacks against Aeriella, but she also managed to deflect all of the Spells coming at them from the Mages of Aeriella's soldiers after she had issued the command to attack. She countered the enemy Mages, as well, causing them to have to devote some of their concentration to defending themselves from her powerful Magic.
Despite them having tremendous synergy in their efforts, though, Aeriella was undeterred. She truly was superior to both of them. Her Skill with the sword wasn't as good as Reivyn's, and her Skill with her Magic wasn't as good as Kefira's, but her Stats alone made up for the discrepancy and then some.
The duel seemed to last forever, but Reivyn realized it hadn't actually been that long, as the soldiers that had surrounded them and stood off to the side hadn't made it to the fray to engage Reivyn's platoons behind him. His own men had formed a circle to prevent themselves from being attacked on the side. Still, they were completely surrounded by a vastly superior force, and each of the members of the enemy was clearly just as powerful as any of the individuals in Reivyn's platoons.
Serilla stood nearby, ready to intercept any enemy soldiers taking the opportunity to attack Kefira, but it didn't seem necessary. Kefira's jumping took her in a complete circle around Reivyn's soldiers and Serilla, and she suddenly appeared right by Reivyn's side after he had once more been knocked back by Aeriella.
"Time to end this!" She yelled.
Kefira grabbed Reivyn's arm with one hand as she threw her other hand into the air, her head back. Mana exploded out in a huge blast, forming a circle matching the route she had taken in jumping around the battlefield. Reivyn was surprised to see that the enemy beyond the limits of the circle came to a complete halt, just feet away from making contact with Reivyn's platoons. Spells launched by the enemy Mages seemed to move through the air in slow motion.
"Come on! We don't have a lot of time!" Kefira shouted.
She began to drag Reivyn away to the west, and Reivyn quickly ordered his men to make a sprint for it as well. There was a wall of enemies in front of them, but they were frozen in place.
Reivyn tore into the line of attackers, shortly followed by his platoons and Serilla, but Kefira continued to hold her hand in the air, copious amounts of Mana flowing from her hand into Reivyn, his men, Kefira, and Serilla. She was apparently unable to do anything else at the moment other than maintain whatever Spell she had invoked and run.
They breached the line and raced to the west. There was a plateau in the distance, and Reivyn could vaguely make out a line of soldiers on top of the ridge in a defensive position.
He turned his head to look back the way they had come, and he was shocked to see that Aeriella was running towards them in an exaggerated slow motion, but it was considerably faster than the rest of the soldiers present. None of the other soldiers had moved an inch in the minute that had passed, but Aeriella seemed to be slow jogging toward them.
"I can only maintain the Spell for another couple of minutes," Kefira gasped next to him. "We have to get to the plateau before then."
Reivyn nodded and turned back around to concentrate on escaping. They ran across the open desert for several minutes before it seemed like the world shifted. They made it to the foot of the plateau, and Kefira's body collapsed. Reivyn reached out and grabbed her. He looked down to ensure she was alright, but she was unconscious.
"Up the hill!" Reivyn Commanded.
He and the rest ascended the hill to join with the soldiers of the patrol that Kefira had come out with.
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Aeriella stood in place, watching the interesting young man run up the hill with the girl held in his arms. Despite losing her prey, she had a grin on her face under the protective mask.
"Looks like his vision is good, too," she chuckled. "Space and Time Magic. I definitely need to let him bring his girl along with him once I make him mine."