Meet Up

-----Kaede's POV

We once again continued throughout the night, and with the help of the wyvern, we had no issues with any stray monsters attacking us. But just as the sun was beginning to rise, I noticed another group of soldiers off in the distance. My first thought would be that they're Lucien and the rest of his men, but I remembered that we were meant to meet up with some other army, although I forgot where they're from.

I fly back down to the masked captain to report what I saw.

Kaede: "There's soldiers up ahead. Are they our allies?"

Masked Captain: "Yes. I'm surprised they've already arrived."

Kaede: "Where are they from again?"

Masked Captain: "The Leris Kingdom. Did you see how many of them are there?"

Kaede: "A lot more than us. Maybe close to two thousand?"

From when I observed them, I didn't see anyone particularly strong. I think the average soldier in our group could probably take on 5 of their average soldiers. That's not even considering the power of the masked soldiers. I have no way to gauge how powerful they are since their mana is concealed, but that'd also prove to be useful in this upcoming fight as well.

Masked Captain: "We'll set up camp once we meet up with the Leris soldiers. I'll discuss where we go from there with their commander."

Kaede: "Okay."

...

It didn't take long for us to arrive as we entered a large clearing, with tents stretching wide, taking up the whole field. Many of the soldiers exited their tents before drawing their weapons. I don't blame them, considering the wyvern I've brought with us.

Neri: "It's okay! The wyvern is with us."

Neri took charge in calming down the soldiers at our arrival. The wyvern lands a bit away from the tents as I land up at the front along with the masked soldiers. Many of the other soldiers took notice of me as their stares quickly piled on on top of one another. I would feel uncomfortable, but I'm so used to this by now.

Leris Commander: "You're a bit early."

Masked Captain: "I can say the same to you."

From the sound of it, they seem to know each other, and this person is probably the commander that the masked captain mentioned earlier. His aura is a fair bit stronger than the others, but nothing too crazy.

Leris Commander: "So is this the bloodsucker?"

I thought I'd remain calm through all the stares, but being called a bloodsucker felt quite uncomfortable, especially with how dismissive his words sounded.

Masked Captain: "Yes. This is Kaede. She'll be aiding us in this upcoming battle."

Kaede: "Nice to meet you."

Despite his rude comment, I try and be polite and introduce myself, even stretching out my hand to him.

Leris Commander: "Just don't do anything stupid and stay back."

Kaede: "What?"

I come all this way, escorting Neri and everyone only to be treated like this? I could feel my claws itching for blood, but I contain myself as best I can, putting down my out stretched hand in case anyone saw.

Masked Captain: "No. Kaede is our trump card. She's to deal with the demon king if they show up."

Thankfully, it looked like I'm being backed up here. Still though, I'm beginning to feel quite a lot of pressure after been given such an important job. Especially when I have no idea exactly how powerful this demon is.

Leris Commander: "You do realize that they have humans as hostages. I don't want this bloodsucker to screw anything up."

Neri: "And that'll be our job. Don't worry about the hostages."

Kaede: "Huh?"

Neri: "Hehe. Just focus on your fight, Kaede. We're here to support you."

Kaede: "Th-thanks."

It's nice to be respected like this by Neri, although I will say that I'm not entirely used to her being this friendly with me. I guess now that she isn't my supervisor anymore she can relax a bit more?

Leris Commander: "You're really putting all your faith in her?"

Masked Captain: "Yes. And your job is to assist us in clearing the way for Kaede."

Leris Commander: "Tch. You really think we're only good as a sponge? Vampires aren't that powerful."

He makes it sound like he's familiar with vampires, almost like he himself has fought them previously.

Masked Captain: "Well then. Would you like to take on Kaede?"

Leris Commander: "Certainly."

Kaede: "Wait, huh?"

Wait... What's going on? Am I actually going to fight this guy? I look over to Neri as she just nods. What the hell?

Masked Captain: "Kaede. Do not kill him."

Kaede: "U-uhm. Yes, got it."

I now find myself in a small clearing before the tents as everyone gathered around both the Leris commander and myself, creating somewhat of a ring of sorts. With so many eyes on me, I don't think it would be wise to use charm magic here, not that I even needed to in the first place.

Leris Commander: "I won't be holding back."

Kaede: "Sure."

He looked pissed at how I responded. I understand though since I am looking down on him. But it will be interesting to see what he can do.

Masked Captain: "Begin!"

At his words, my opponent charges at me with his halberd, trying to end it with a simple thrust. But I just step to the side, dodging his attack. He then proceeded to cleave it's blade around, trying to strike me again, but I just take a step back, letting the blade cut through the air in front of me. To be honest, his attacks are far too slow to even get my heart pumping even a little. But what I found most amusing was all of the Leris soldiers. They all cried out, cheering their commander on as if I was being dominated by him. Can they not see that I'm just evading? Sure I could've just attacked and be done with it, but I'd like the Leris soldiers to know how weak their commander is compared to me. I'm afraid if I just end it early then I'd be labeled like some sort of cheater.

And so, this "battle;" if you can call it that, continued. I wasn't sure how long he could go for, but he was still swinging his halberd just as "strong" as the start, even using wind magic to try and put me off balance and increasing his speed. However, his efforts remain futile as he continues to miss every single attack he made against me. Our soldiers and the masked soldiers were the only ones keeping quiet as the Leris soldiers still cheered their commander on. And just then, I saw my opponent tense up before making an over-arching attack, swinging the halberd straight down with a lot more force than he did before. I guess now's the time?

This time, I let the halberd come down on me as I reach up with a hand just before it reached my head, grabbing hold of the blade in between my fingers, stopping his attack completely. I couldn't help but smile at his shocked face along with his soldiers' cheers halting. The ring became quiet as I held his halberd in my fingers before quickly crushing the steel in my fingers. His eyes widened in shock, but I wasn't going to let it end there. I quickly move to his side, not even letting him move a muscle before swiftly sweeping his feet off the floor with my own before catching his head in my hand. With his body now in the air, I drive his face into the ground, being careful not to use too much force and instead letting gravity do most of the work. That said, I still left a crater where his head impacted with the ground.

Kaede: "Sorry. Was I a little rough?"

There was no response so I let go of his head before standing back up. His heart is still beating but it appears that I accidently left him unconscious. And in the next instant, every Leris soldier drew their blades against me. Are their feelings that hurt? Well, I won't engage them until they make the first move, so-

Masked Captain: "Enough! Put away your weapons!"

But in the next moment, they all sheathed their weapons at the masked captains orders.

Masked Captain: "As you just witnessed. Kaede will be more than capable to handle this task. I know you people of Leris believe in certain things, but cast away those ideals for the sake of this battle. Anyone who still has a problem, do take it up with Kaede."

Kaede: "Eh?"

Masked Captain: "Haha. You did say you were going to work independently. So I'll let you deal with this. But do try and not kill any of them if they do so happen to be stupid enough."

Kaede: "Hehe. Understood."

So he's really letting me handle this situation on my own, huh. It is what I signed up for so I have no problem with it. I just hope that they all know now not to mess with me.

...

Our soldiers quickly set up their tents as everyone began to rest during the day. It's my job to keep watch during this time of the day, and with us now getting close to Inasdale, I spread my mana as wide as possible for anything that may pose a threat, but besides random monsters here and there, I don't see anything worth my time. So, I just pat the wyvern on it's nose as it rests, feeling it's breathe blowing through my hair once again.

Kaede: "Nearly there..."