[Control Room...]
"Hmmm..." Hindel pondered staring at the spear in his hands.
"This is troublesome. That bastard he didn't inform me 'she' would be here. If I had been properly informed i would've come here with proper backup." He whined as he instinctively bit his finger in frustration.
A habit he'd formed over the years on the battlefield whenever he got frustrated or a mission was going awry.
And the reason he did that now was because of the presence of one individual.
Stella Hunt. A third year cadet and a provisional member of the Terran military.
Amongst the third years who could join the military on minor small scale mission, she was one of only three cadets who joined them on official ones.
Commonly known amongst most of the fantasian kingdoms as the Red Haired Witch. Better known as the witch of Tumbledon.
She had single-handedly destroyed one of their biggest fortresses in the Forak continent just last year and was rumored to have grown much stronger since then.
'Shit. The plan was to come up with a specific plan just for her. Arrgh!' He clawed at his hair in anger.
As if that wasn't bad enough, their original was completely up in flames. Not just because of Stella's presence but the Hunt boys themselves.
They were much stronger than he was lead to believe. Jero and his team were dead. The team sent to Theodore were slaughtered like sheep.
"Sir, look at this." One of his subordinates called out his attention. He walked toward him as the subordinate pointed to two of the screens.
"They're headed this way." He said, as Hindel saw on one screen, Nathan one of the prime targets heading towards their location.
On the other screen, the girl most likely to kill them all here. Stella. She was casually strolling through the forest, like she had all the time in the world.
'What to do? Do I send all the troops towards Nathan or Stella? I mean if i could tire her out by sending enough troops then i could probably win against her. Probably.
No. The best option now would be dividing the troops left and send half after Nathan's group. The other half to delay Stella. I'm confident I can kill Nathan. Especially if he's tired out already. Ok. Thats what we'll do.'
He bumped his fist as he decided on his course of action bekfre turning around and pointing at one of his subordinates.
"Zingai. Take half the men here and go after Nathan and his team. Preferably kill him. If it proves impossible then tire him out as much as you can. I'll handle the rest." He ordered beastman, Zingai who saluted before going to gather his team.
"The rest of you, stall Stella. Take the gryphons with you to assist in stalling her. I have to take out the Hunt boys before she catches up. Got that? Now hurry up!" He ordered as the other half nodded their heads in a salute.
At the depths of their heart, they all knew, they were going to die here today. Stella's presence assured that. The only question is, would they be able to achieve their goals for this mission or not.
And so, they all set out.
*******
The group marched on, as they took down any stragglers they met, taking in as many cadets as possible.
They were all at alert right now. Even Nathan. His earlier bravado was almost entirely gone now.
He'd confirmed there was a force capable of killing them present in the testing ground.
And because of that their goal had shifted from taking out the fantasians to gathering as many cadets as possible and making it to the airships.
Because it was unlikely help would come anytime soon as the Fantasians had taken the control room where they could've called for help.
If they'd taken the control room, it was most likely the instructors had all been killed. So while there was a chance the instructors had called for reinforcements before they were killed, it was a very minute chance.
A chance none of them was willing to bank on.
Now what worried Nathan wasn't simply getting to the airships. The airships were just behind the control room.
And whoever it was that threw that golden spear that killed Renard and Lyxa would likely be there as well.
If they ran into him, their chances of winning were very slim.
And yet, that was the only viable route to the airships. And so the solution they'd all come up with together was strength in numbers.
They'd overwhelm him with their sheer numbers. Well that's what most were thinking.
'Wonder how many of these cadets are gonna actually survive?' Nathan thought as they walked on in the sunlight.
Nathan didn't believe that sheer numbers would be enough of a deterrent against the likely commander of this expedition.
And so, he'd agreed to the plan intending to use the other cadets as meat shields. Even members from Natasha's unit if need be.
As long as he and her were safe, it didn't really matter much to him.
And as far as gathering goes, they'd found only two groups of cadets.
They found others. Well they found their corpses. Turns out many had already been killed by the Fantasians, and even among the two groups they had found, five cadets had lost their lives.
Nathan couldn't help but think, 'I guess they are at least strong enough to kill no-name extras.'
They moved through the forest for a while before Nathan and the others suddenly felt a chill run down their spines.
The air grew heavy, the tension palpable. Before anyone could react, a figure landed on the ground with enough force to crack the earth beneath them.
Dust and debris filled the air, obscuring the figure for a moment.
When the dust settled, a hooded figure stood before them. He was tall, his posture relaxed but his presence commanding.
He then turned to look at Nathan, his expression hidden beneath his hood, and sighed.
"Seems like Jero failed, huh?" he muttered, his voice calm but laced with disappointment.
Nathan's grip tightened on his katana, his wings flaring as he rose to the air preparing for a fight.
The hooded figure turned to face him fully, his tone casual but firm.
"I challenge you to a duel."
As soon as the hooded figure issued his challenge, Nathan's face twisted into a look of confusion.
'Huh. Who the hell's this random ass dude?' he thought, more cringed out than anything.
But before he could even completely process the situation, the man's figure blurred, vanishing from sight and reappearing right in front of him.
Nathan barely had time to react as the man's fist shot forward, landing a square punch that Nathan managed to block with his wings.
The force of the impact was staggering tho as it sent Nathan flying backward through the air, his body crashing through trees and skidding across the ground.
The man didn't give him a moment to recover. He leaped after Nathan, his movements impossibly fast, his intent laid bare. Nathan was to die here.
Nathan scrambled to his feet, his wings flaring as he prepared to counter, but the man was already on him again, his attacks relentless.
Natasha wanted to go after him but just then, a large group of Fantasians emerged from the woods, their weapons drawn and their eyes gleaming with malice.
Natasha's expression turned into one of irritation as she clicked her tongue, taking aim at the new group.
They were a bit stronger than the previous ones but still weren't as strong as the main members of the current group.
Be that as it may, they were overwhelmingly outnumbered and these ones didn't hesitate to rush at them, swinging their weapons for the sake of their homeland.