Divide And Conquer

A/N: School, or, to be more specific, Physics, has been kicking my ass lately, so I had to take a break from writing so I actually could pass the class. Anyway, I'm back now so sorry about the delay.

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The illusion covering up the two White Fang Soldier's fell, revealing both Neo and Taella. In an instant and without warning, the ground under their feet froze fifty meters in every direction. Any of the Branwen Tribe Bandit's standing too close immediately felt that cold seep into their bodies.

Their skin and their blood felt as if it was almost ready to freeze over, causing six of them to break into screams and falling to the ground. Vernal, Shay and Raven, who had Aura, however, were unaffected. Shifting their footing just slightly, the ice connecting them to the ground shattered. At the same time, the restraints binding them were frozen off.

"So you're not a part of the White Fang after all. So tell me what are you after?" Raven looked at both Neo and Taella. They were wearing a modified version of their normal outfits along with the very same Insignia that Shen was using.

"You'll be figuring that out for yourself soon enough." No one there knew what she meant by that. However, they didn't have the time to think about it either. Mere seconds after Taella and Neo broke free, multiple explosions went off close by.

"What the hell?" Shay looked over towards the front gate of their camp. Three hole's had forcefully blown open the gate, revealing a group of fifty or so, fully armed. Not only that, but there were even two armoured jeeps with mounted weapons behind them. Seeing that, the bandit's who were still confused by the situation realized what was happening.

This was a full forced raid with them being its target.

"Crap them trying to wipe us out! Everyone gets in position!"

"How the hell did they get here without us noticing!"

"Prepare to fight!" There was no announcement of when to start as the firefight began as soon as both side's locked eyes on one another. At the same time, Neo quickly began to fall back, moving towards the centre of the Camp. Both Vernal and Shay frowned as they were ready to chase after her.

However, a cold wind rushed over their bodies after taking a step as Taella's tails came into view, blocking their path. The cold grew in intensity by the second as the fur on Taella's ears and tails began to turn a frosted white. Accompanied by that, her skin seemed almost to turn pale like snow.

Everything about her change seemed to be delicate and smooth like ice; however, it was her eyes. Her eyes made both Vernal and Shay shiver due to the frenzied and crazed look hidden inside them.

"You two will be dealing with me. So let's have some fun." Holding out her hand, the air seemed to freeze over, forming a sword out of pure ice. The next second she practically flew towards Shay, slashing towards him with zero warning. Not having the time to react with his pistol, he gathered his Aura and blocked using his arms.

The attack fell onto his Aura like a wrecking ball. Immediately the force caused Shay to be sent flying back as the ground in front of Taella froze over. Massive crystals of ice appeared in front of her, spreading ten meters out.

Skating across the ground before crashing into a stack of crate's Shay groaned.

'What kind of Semblance is that… My arm's feel like they're ready to fall off.' Seeing what had happened to Shay, Vernal quickly jumped in. Her weapon's resembled crescent moon-like, the blades only having a firing mechanism near their center. Like a boomerang, she thought one of her blades toward's Taella cutting through the air.

Standing there seemingly attentive, Taella's tail's sprang into action without her word. They gleamed like ice as they formed a shield behind him, causing Vernal's weapon to ricochet.

'What the hell is that Ice made of?' After blocking her attack Taella's tails reacts again. Shooting from the tail's tips like extension's it looked as if each of her nine tails had begun to grow in length. They coiled through the air like snakes before quickly making their way toward Vernal.

"Crap!" Dodging out of the way with a roll, one of Taella's iced over tails pierced into the ground where she was just standing. Soon the other tail began to follow suit. Vernal continued to dodge left and right, and Taella's tails rained down like arrows trying to skewer her.

Just as she dodged the eighth strike, the ninth tail curved just before it was going to hit the ground. Aiming directly for her chest, the tail slammed into her body, sending her rocketing through the air before crashing down again. A cruel and feral grin flashed across Taella's face as she turned and rushed towards the downed Vernal.

Her sword, made purely of ice, morphed itself around her arm and became a pair of claws. Vernal shook her head as she prepared to get up, only to see Taella already looming over her. Her face drained and turned pale. Piercing towards her, Taella's claw's were met with a red blade stopping her attack.

"That's enough." Flexing her sword, Raven forced Taella back.

"I don't know why you two came here, but don't think you can do as you like. You clearly underestimated us if you thought with these few numbers you could overpower us. Even now, your side is losing." What Raven was saying was true.

Despite their better equipment, gear, and armed vehicles, their side was losing due to the difference in numbers. Neo was the only thing keeping the scale from fully tipping over, but it looked like even she was having trouble.

"Hmm… I don't know, I would say we're doing a pretty good job, despite being a distraction." Taella's words immediately caused both Raven and Vernal's faces to grow grim. Faster than the eye could track, Raven appeared in front of Taella, holding her sword to her neck.

"What do you mean?" Blood began to drip down Taella's neck as she smiled.

"Well since it's already too late I guess I can tell you. Our main force is advancing through the forest as we speak. Once they get here it'll be the end of you and your little swaray." Raven grit her teeth as she didn't hesitate. Her sword cut straight through Taella's neck, separating her head from her body.

Her body fell to the ground as her head lay next to it while Raven turned to Vernal. The corner's of her eyes began to spark with red flame's as she spoke.

"Deal with the other one and their forces here. I'll deal with their main force myself." Vernal looked towards Neo before turning to Raven and nodding.

"Don't worry I can handle this." Hearing that, Raven quickly turned around, jumping into the air. An invisible force seemed to propel her through the air. She quickly flew into the distance as Vernal got back to her feet, looking towards Shay. He had recovered from Taella's attack and made his way over to Vernal.

"Well that was something…" Looking at Taella's decapitated head, Shay sighed.

"Ya, well once Raven deal's with their reinforcements this will all be over. Now all we have to do is deal with that girl and the rest of-" Her words began to trail as she saw something strange. Shay noticed it as well. It was a single crack like what you would see in glass. But the strange thing was that the sky itself looked as if it had cracked.

Everyone saw it, as slowly the crack began to spread. It spread through the entire sky, covering the camp all the way to the air around them. Finally, the crack stopped as everything shattered. Their camp, the ground under their feet, the sky. Like reality had just broken like glass, everything collapsed around them.

"Looks like everything went as expected. Still strange to see myself get decapitated." They both heard a familiar voice as they saw two people in the center of the Camp. Taella and Neo casually stood there as if they didn't have a worry in the world. Both Vernal and Shay's eyes widened as they looked around.

Taella's corpse had completely disappeared, and so had the Neo who had been 'Fighting' with the bandits in their tribe. In fact, all of the people who were a part of Shen's Private Army were gone like they were never there in the first place. Even the gate that had been blown up was magically fixed.

In the air above them, multiple dropships capable of carrying dozen's of people were in floating air. At the same time, there were also gunship's with their weapons already primed and aimed at the camp below them. Everyone there seemed frozen in place as Taella quickly pulled out her scroll, contacting someone.

"Everything went exactly like you said it would. Raven Branwen has left the camp. What do you want us to do?" A voice came through the scroll, which both Neo and Taella would immediately recognize as Shen.

[Kill them, none of them are important enough to be kept around.] Hearing that, Taella nodded before ending the call.

"What the hell… What the hell is going on!" Shay yelled towards Taella and Neo as the two of them looked at him.

"Hmm? Oh, you mean all of this? I can understand why you'd be so confused. Illusions can really make you see and think all kinds of things. All I had to do was play voice actor, and make sure you really felt those hits from me." One of the bandit's who heard Taella grit his teeth and spoke out towards her.

"What the hell do you mean an illusion! I got shot I felt it right here…" Looking down at his body, the gun wound in his shoulder had completely disappeared. The blood, everything had disappeared, even the pain he was just feeling a few seconds ago. Similar scenes began happening between all of the bandits there.

"Well, it doesn't matter." After Taella spoke, Neo raised her hand and snapped her fingers. At her command, the drop ship's doors opened as hundreds of soldier's began pouring out of them. They didn't use parachute's or ropes and jumped from the ships. As they landed, cloud's of dust were kicked up into the air, yet they were perfectly fine.

Unlike the ones from before, they didn't have guns or normal weapons in general. The bandit's eyes widened seeing that. That was a feat no normal human could replicate.

"You- You said that your main force was still on its way here. So how?" Looking at her, Taella responded honestly.

"I didn't lie. Your leader, Raven, is heading directly toward our main force. We're just here to act as the cleanup crew and deal with all the trash." Realization seemed to dawn on her hearing Taella's answer.

Over a mile away, there was a large hill overlooking the forest where Branwen Tribe's camp was built. On Top of that hill, someone was sitting in a chair patiently waiting with their head leaning against their hand. Of course, that person was none other than Shen.

He had already said it. He couldn't trust anyone but himself to deal with Raven, but he also needed to keep her from running away. So the choice was clear, force her into a situation where she would have to use her Maiden Powers to protect the only thing she cared about. And at the same time, have her serve herself up directly to him.

"Divide and conquer. An effective strategy to no limit."