Vanguard

[Northern edge of the human territory]

A week into the direction change of the human army's march, one of the vanguard units on the left flank of the still massive main force finally reached back into home territory. Already having come across the first dirt roads and the at first scattered fields they connected the day before, they had moved with renewed vigor and arrived in the small village at noon the next day.

The village, which was little more than a cluster of houses connected by cobbled streets and surrounded by massive fields thus suddenly found itself hosting twice its usual population. Soldiers marched through its streets under the confused stares of its inhabitants, most of whom didn't even know about the war that brought them there. Each step carried across the settlement like the beat of a drum, with the street warping under the weight of a little over three thousand men in full gear.

Watching them parade through their streets with some nervousness, the inhabitants didn't entirely know how to react to the unfamiliar sight. They weren't even entirely sure whether they were watching an allied or hostile army at the moment as beyond the regular visits by low-ranking officials of the nearest city that gathered the tithe of grain and the occasional merchant, they barely if ever get visitors from beyond the handful other villages in the area.

This fear caused many to barricade the doors of their houses, leaving an almost entirely deserted street in front of the army. Those few that remained behind were meanwhile nearly all armed, with pitchforks and even a few spears being found in the group of a hundred men that stood at the entrance to the town square.

Despite this, the group of five men on horseback that led the army paid no attention to the peasants. They rode steadily in front of the nearly a hundred mana users that formed the first few rows of the marching infantry, their calm smiles unwavering as they approached the blockade.

Clad completely in heavy plate armor and carrying a flag with their respective families' coat of arms mounted on the pole in their hands, they presented an imposing sight in the face of which the untrained men blocking them began to shake in fear. With each step their horses took this only increased until the lone unarmed man who stood in front of the formation to negotiate with them unconsciously took a step back.

With it, the courage of the entire group broke. Though not fleeing in a panic, the steady stance with which they previously held their ground gave way to small steps backward.

At first only moving further into the town square to regain some distance from the approaching army, when the five riders in front nonetheless reached them a few moments later the entire formation parted before them. Moving to the sides, they spread out further and further until the corridor in between them became large enough for the entire width of the marching army to pass through.

Watching this, the man at the center of the five riders, Prince Kallus, shook his head in disdain. As heir to one of the few human-controlled regions that wasn't part of Arkuns's empire, even if his family were still vassals to the human emperor, he has always had pride in his home. So seeing these people, even if they weren't his country's citizens, fold this easily before an army not carrying their home's flag struck a nerve in him.

Seeing his reaction, the four men riding next to him dropped their smiles in response. Being the heirs to noble houses of his family's kingdom, they've known him for multiple years already and thus could guess his thoughts from this.

"Should we have them mobilized into our force under imperial law? A few weeks of campaigning might teach them some of the pride and resilience that this place seems to lack." The man to his immediate right said.

"Sadly we don't have the time for that. But after this war is over I'll ask the emperor for permission and we'll do it then. Having weaklings that wouldn't even manage to bring a warning living at the borders isn't a weakness he's likely to leave untended so I'm sure he'd be glad to agree to it."

Though the men accompanying him nodded in understanding to this, aware of the liability untrained soldiers would pose against mana-wielding beings of all kind, there still was still one open question.

"And what of the mana user?" Another of the men asked.

Briefly pausing, Kallus shook his head after a moment of hesitation. Though an additional mana user would certainly increase their fighting power, there were mainly three kinds of people that would spend their lives in such remote regions despite possessing powers that were in high demand even in the largest of cities.

"It's not a risk we can take." He said with it, knowing well that none of the three groups would fit in well with a military unit.

While there still was the possibility of it being another reason, the small probability of it didn't outweigh the risk. Even in the best of the three likely cases the mana users they were referring to would be an inflexible heroic type. And though this was laudable, people like that who spent their efforts on such villages tended to forgo practicality for a fantasy in which there are never any sacrifices that have to be made.

But while it was at least still possible to work with people like that and sometimes even refreshing to have their optimism by one's side, the alternatives were less appealing yet far more numerous. Though this was in part due to some overlap, with a not insignificant number of those whose potential or patience wasn't enough to progress past the first rank choosing to leave for less developed areas to lord over the people there, it was also true that too many mana users are left to do as they please with the local population.

That was especially the case in frontier regions such as the one they were in. Adventurers were expensive and the army was stretched thin even in peace times, so having someone hunting the weaker beasts was advantageous.

With these thoughts in mind, Kallus was prepared for every scenario as he brought his horse to a stop at the center of the tow square. Leaving his army to spread out behind him and take up an orderly formation with as many men as the small clearing could fit, he attentively watched the prominent building before him.

Before he could even consider whether he should unleash a part of his mana to make his presence more noticeable, he saw the door of the building swing open. With it, the three presences he had already felt inside came into view, their features becoming discernible as they stepped out into the light of the sun.

Focusing on the man walking ahead of the other two, Kallus quickly became sure that he was the village's chief. Not only was he the sole mana user they had sensed in the settlement, but his clothes were of slightly higher quality than those of the other inhabitants they had seen, yet clearly still made from the same material and of similar design.

But apart from being a mana user, he found him to be no more noteworthy than the other villagers. His features were similar enough that he was likely born in the region, he had the same confused and hesitant look on his face, and even his weapon was only the same crude spear a part of the militia had wielded.

As such, Kallus's attention quickly shifted to the two women following him. To his surprise, he found them being dressed and armed significantly better than even the chief, with both being clad in loose-fitting robes that were in line with what he had grown accustomed to from mages, even if theirs were less decorated.

While this wouldn't normally raise his suspicions, even if the plate armor chest-plate integrated into their design wasn't something he had seen before, the fact that he didn't sense any more mana from them than from the villagers did. In a city, he would have just ignored it as a fashion choice, but forgoing more practical equipment in such a remote area either meant they were crazy or there was more to them than met the eye.

As such keeping a close eye on them while they approached him along with the village chief, he stealthily glanced to his sides to make sure the nobles accompanying him had the same thoughts. Upon seeing them already slowly guiding their horses further away from him into a half-circle formation, he felt some relief right as the three came to a stop before him.

With this reassurance, Kallus turned his attention back to the group before him and asked, "Am I right in assuming that you're the chief of this place?"

"Mayor, my lord, but yes." The man said, lowering his head in a bow.

"Then at least you should recognize the flag we're traveling under, so I would prefer if you calmed the goop people of this place before they provoke an incident."

First glancing across the banners Kallus and his retinue held, the man then moved his gaze toward the flag with Arkuns's sigil that flew over the soldiers before ultimately resting his focus on the still-armed villagers at the edge of the town square. Seeing the tense expressions with which they were watching the gathered soldiers, he had to agree with the assessment.

"If your men could let them through to me I'll ensure that they don't panic."

Nodding, pleased with the result, Kallus motioned a short signal toward the men behind him. Immediately, their ranks compressed into four slightly spaced out formations, leaving multiple, roughly two-meter wide paths across the entire square.

"Stay calm, they won't attack you unprovoked." The mayor shouted once these gaps opened up, motioning for the men on the other end to come toward him.

Hesitant at first, it took a few seconds before the first of the villagers followed his instructions. Slowly stepping into the corridor, he initially sneaked forward at a crawling pace before slowly picking up speed and ultimately sprinting across the last ten or so meters.

A moment later a handful more of the men followed his example, prompting a again larger wave to follow once they crossed about half the corridor. As soon as they passed through, many of these men then turned to the streets leading out of the town square on its right and left side when viewed from the town hall, leaving the area mostly empty of the settlement's inhabitants within a minute.

"Thank you for the patience my lord, I hope you won't hold their caution against them." The chief said once the last of the men who wanted to left the square.

"Of course not. Rather the opposite, I'm disappointed by their lack of resolve in fighting back against an unknown force in their hometown. Though it does make me wonder who the two women behind you are, considering they seem to be the only ones not bowing or warily studying me." Kallus asked.

At his words, the mayor's eyebrows rose in surprise. Glancing behind himself and briefly frowning upon seeing the two's nonchalant attitudes, he performed another bow in Kallus's direction.

"They are simply adventurers who followed our request for help with a beast that recently appeared in the area."

Noticing the women's attention only snap toward their conversation when the word 'adventurer' fell, Kallus narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Quickly reconfirming his entourage's positions in the formation, he moved to dismount his horse. Leaving the pole carrying his family's flag in its holster at the side of the saddle, he repositioned his sword to be easily accessible and stepped in front of his mount.

"Adventurers? Without mana?" Kallus asked, eyeing the two women closely.

Smiling amused in response to his words, the dark-haired one among them spoke before the mayor could, "Who said we can't wield mana?"

Kallus briefly froze, his eyes narrowing even further as he studied the woman who spoke. Her unsettling confidence made his hand unconsciously inch closer to the grip of his sword, with the tension that hung in the air causing his honed instincts to scream at him.

He wasn't the only one to sense this tension. Glancing nervously between Kallus and the two women, the mayor was visibly overwhelmed by the situation, causing him to shrink back in fear. This left a completely unobstructed path between the two parties, only further heating the tense situation.

"Then show me your badges if you are what you claim to be, as third ranks you should be registered in at least one city." Kallus finally demanded a few seconds later, already slowly drawing his sword from its sheath.

Instead of following his instructions, the two women met his gaze. Showing no signs of backing down, they remained unfazed by the army standing opposite of them. Moreover, a wry smile slowly crept onto the dark-haired woman's lips as she shook her head, confusing Kallus and making him unprepared for it when she stopped holding back her mana a moment later.

Reflexively flinching back and pulling his sword with it, he was already forming an aura around himself by the time it finally registered to him how weak her presence was. Barely reaching the level of a second rank, he quickly realized that she wasn't a threat to him.

Immediately upon realizing this he froze, hastily stopping the mana he was about to send at them in the form of an aura slash. But while he managed to stop in time, Kallus could only watch with a frown as one member of his retinue didn't notice her weak presence in time. Already having sent a flaming blast flying from his fist and at the two women, the man also could only watch with wide eyes as his attack found its mark.

To both their surprise, when the flames struck the black-haired woman's body they weren't followed by an explosion. Instead, they were met with a brief burst of black smoke, with the flaming projectile completely vanishing in its darkness.

Staring at the woman's unharmed form as the darkness merged back into her body as fast as it appeared, Kallus could only stare in confusion.

"How?" He asked, barely believing what he had just seen with his own eyes.

"Mana isn't the only way to manifest power." The woman said cryptically.

Before Kallus could dwell on the statement, the men to his suddenly sprang into action. Raising the with gems decorated dagger he uses as a focus for his spells, he wordlessly conjured two spears of light at his side and sent them flying at the two women.

"What are you doing?" Shouting in confusion, Kallus spun around toward the man with his sword raised.

Ignoring him, the mage kept his full focus on the two women. Not holding back in the slightest, he immediately conjured a dozen more light constructs in the form of chains that were anchored to the ground and had hooks at their tips.

Only seeing them disappear from his field of view as he sent them toward his target, Kallus was briefly stunned into inaction by the uncertainty of how to best react. But before he could come to a conclusion, the decision was made for him as what he could only assume were the retaliatory strikes from the two unknown women struck the mage.

The moment the concentrated beam of black, smoky energy came into his view and struck his subordinate, Kallus instinctively sensed the danger approaching him. Crouching down, he barely dodged the second such beam as it tore through where his torso was a second earlier.

Quickly pivoting toward the sudden opponents, he reignited his aura around himself. With it, he burst into action, pushing himself off the ground and dashing toward the two women with his sword reeled back.

Arriving before them in the blink of an eye, he only briefly hesitated to bring his feet back into a solid stance before swinging his sword upward. Using the leverage his stable footing gave him against the ground to put even more force into the swing, he was already assuming to be hitting his target when his blade was met with a resistance that stopped it dead in its tracks.

As his gaze had been locked onto the dark-haired woman, whose eyes were in turn still locked onto the two beams she had fired, this took Kallus by surprise. Losing his footing as one of his feet slid back from the sudden rebound force pushing him down, he thus was brought off balance.

Before he even had a chance to catch himself, he suddenly felt skeletal fingers closing around his throat and lifting him by it. Immediately after he finally caught sight of his opponent as a massive, heavily armored skeleton rose out of the smoke that Kallus only then noticed around the feet of the dark-haired woman.

Finding himself staring into the creature's glowing red eyes, quickly felt his strength fade. Still bringing himself to briefly struggle against the hold on his neck, he managed to weakly raise his sword only for his arm to go limp before he could swing it at the skeletal arm holding him.

Amid this, he heard the black-haired woman speak, "I really hoped that it could go differently, these people shouldn't have to see this. But your friend there forced my hand."

Confused by what she was talking about, Kallus forced himself to look past the massive skeleton holding him in the air. There, he saw the mayor and the few villagers who had stayed cowering in fear, with some staring at the monstrosity holding him while others were pointing into the distance.

Just as he was wondering what else might elicit such a reaction from them, a thundering roar tore through the air. With it, a massive mana signature revealed itself to his senses, its presence so enormous that it completely drowned out the entire army behind him, making it impossible for his mana sense to still make them out.

For a moment this being seemed to only hover above his army, leaving Kallus still some hope. But a few seconds after it appeared, the creature dropped from the skies, with him still feeling the ground shaking a few hundred meters away as it dropped somewhere toward the rear of his force's formation.

Before he could start considering his men's fate after this, he heard the dark-haired woman talking again.

"Still, I'll leave you one more path out of this. Lara, if you would?"

Following these words, Kallus felt the temperature around him drop. With it, ice started to form and cover his body, quickly expanding to cover both his arms and freezing them in place. The moment they were immobilized, the hand around his throat suddenly opened up, leaving him to plummet half a meter and barely catch his fall.

"Turn around." The woman immediately commanded, with Kallus only briefly hesitating until he met her gaze as she walked past the skeleton.

Following the order and turning to his army, whatever hope he had left was immediately crushed. Where there had once been an orderly formation of his soldiers there was now a dark fog that covered half the town square, with only the first few rows being visible as they knelt and lay on the ground, their strength sapped by the concentrated death energy that surrounded them. Towering above this, the skeletal figure of a dragon loomed in the street they had marched through, its form barely fitting between the houses on the side.

Staring at this scene with wide eyes, Kallus had barely a second to work through the shock before the woman came to a stop next to him.

"Now choose, either you and your army serve me in life, or in death."