TBATE - Not Bound By Fate

Part 53

Varay

After arriving yesterday at the military base that was found on the beast glades alongside my Flagbearer Cellinia and Mica's Flagbearer Theodore, who also happened to be Arthur's friend from Xyrus academy, we scoped out the place to make sure we had a good plan for raiding it.

Security was much higher than what was reported, most likely due to one of the commanders being eliminated by the Twin Horns a few days ago. But that wouldn't be a problem as long as there was no retainer or Scythe present on the base. Commander Virion had received word from Scythe Seris that two retainers would be stationed here and lucky for us, it seems they haven't arrived yet.

Taking a second to revise the attack strategy to make sure we had an escape plan in for the worst case scenario, I turned towards my two companions for this mission and spoke. "Cellinia, Theodore, I want you two to infiltrate from the base from the west side two minutes after I begin drawing their attention on the north side. Destroy anything related to the mutant mana beasts after you gather samples and whatever documents you can find. If anything goes wrong, pull out immediately and use the signal flare. Understood?"

"Yes general!" They replied in unison.

"Good. Get to your positions, then." They nodded and left for the west flank of the base.

I waited for about ten minutes before making my way to the north side. Suppressing my mana as much as I could, I took to the skies and prepared my spell. A rain of ice spears soon begun, throwing the Alacryan soldiers into disarray as they scrambled to take defensive positions, but I wasn't going to make it easier for them and added snow to my spell to decrease their visibility as much as possible.

Keeping my spell going, I changed my focus to the innermost part of the base, trying to feel for any mana signatures strong then the rest and aside from what I assumed to be the commander of the place, nothing caught my attention. All I felt was mana of the soldiers rushing to my position.

After two minutes passed since I began my attack, I changed my position from just outside the base to above one of the larger tents and stop my assault temporarily to gauge the damage. Surveying my surroundings, I could see the bodies of the soldiers who were guarding the perimeter amidst craters and whatever was left of the tents closer to the range of my spell.

Ignoring the murmurs from the Alacryans, mana took the shape of a spell in the atmosphere once more, this time in the form of a dragon made entirely of ice. It was even bigger than Sylvie from the last time I had seen in her dragon form. Seeing fear take over some of the soldiers, I formed my 'ninja armor' as Arthur likes to call it - which he still hasn't explained to me what a ninja is - and two ice swords in my hands.

Not long after I began my attack, the enemy started losing morale, to the point where they were asking for their commander to come and save them. And arrive he did, trying to look confident and failing to do so. Sword in hand, he opened his mouth to say something, but I didn't give him the chance, freezing him almost entirely, leaving only his eyes, nose and ears not encased in ice.

"I have no interest in your words, Alacryan. Unless you are going to surrender, don't waste your breath." I spoke, paying close attention to the commander's reaction. Judging from the anger and contempt in his eyes, the word surrender never once crossed his mind. "If any of you do not wish to lose your lives today, then put down your weapons." I gave the ultimatum.

A shame not one of them obeyed, they would've been able to return to their families otherwise.

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"Good work, you two. Find anything useful inside the base?" I asked the two Flagbearers after we regroup some distance away from our target.

"We did, a map of the dungeons they were planning to temper with and another of the ones they already got their hands on." Theodore answered.

"And a sample of whatever it is they are using to corrupt the mana beasts. Nothing on the method they were using to make the mutants, though." Cellinia added.

"That is fine, the goal was to slow them down, if not completely stopping them from creating more of those mutants. Just make sure to write everything on your report for the commander. Let's get back to the Wall for now, we'll discuss everything in more detail there." I said, but an oppressive aura enveloped us. It wasn't strong enough to affect me, but Cellinia and especially Theodore were struggling under the pressure.

"Going away so soon? And just when arrived, why not stay a little longer? I've been wanting some new pets to play with recently." A voice sounded throughout the area, grating and high-pitched.

From one of the trees, a woman came out. She was tall, thin and pale, wearing a black dress and a white mask that resembled the face of a porcelain doll. I recognized her instantly, this was Jagrette, a retainer. From what Arthur told me she was the weakest of the bunch and ice magic was a hard counter to her acid. Taking all that into consideration, I should come out as the victor, but I know better than to underestimate Vritra magic.

Letting mana flow thought my body in preparation for the fight ahead of me, I spoke to Cellinia. "Get Theodore out of here fast and get word to commander Virion, a retainer appeared." She nodded and grabbed Theodore before bolting towards the Wall.

Jagrette didn't react to those two leaving and kept her attention on me. Dawning my ice armor one more time and forming a spear in my hand, I waited for the retainer in front of me to make a move.

"Is that how you want to play? Fine then, I like it more when my toys have some bite to them!" She said before a hand of acid shot at my direction.

I dodged to the side as I began forming an icy mist around me to freeze any acid that got too close. Taking a step forward, I thrusted my spear at Jagrette's chest, but she back stepped just in time to avoid the blow. I kept up the pressure with my spear and managed to land a few blows while also avoiding getting hit.

Having a good grasp on the retainer's strength, I prepared to finish her off in one more move. Freezing the surrounding area to make sure there was no escape for Jagrette and cutting off access to any trees so she couldn't heal herself, I formed dozens of ice spears around my opponent like a dome. Even without seeing her face, I could feel her anxiety looking at my spell.

Unleashing my attack, I made sure some of the spears exploded just before impact to make them harder to defend against. And that worked just as intended, as once the smoke and dust steeled down, I could see Jagrettte body with multiple ice spears impaling her body with shrapnel dotting her form. Her mana signature slowly faded alongside her life.

Unfortunately, that automatic defensive spell I read on Arthur's report on his fight against the retainer was still active, making approaching her body a bit of a nuisance, but I did get her encased in ice to take as proof.

Once I was finished with preparing to return to the Wall, I remembered there were supposed to be two retainers present. I couldn't sense anything around me, nor had I noticed a second presence when Jagrette arrived. Rushing towards the two Flagbearers, I hoped they didn't become a target for whoever was sent alongside the woman I just fought.

Eventually I caught up with Cellinia and Theodore and was relieved to see they were fine. Making the platform I was using to carry Jagrette's body bigger, I motioned for them to climb so we could fly back the rest of the way back.

During the flight, my thought went back to the second retainer that was supposed to be around. Were they sent to a different area? Maybe a last minute change of plans and only one was sent? Definitely something to discuss with Commander Virion later, as this could be a huge problem later down the line.