The Sword and The Shadow

"Alissanda, Vera, and Lisana will take the lead in the fight. I will linger on the outskirts to protect Vera. Ley, sneak around and tell us anything out of the ordinary," Kurdak ordered.

"Agreed," Alissanda chimed.

"Sounds reasonable," Lisana joined.

"Alright, get ready everyone!" Kurdak drew his sword.

The group snuck up on the outpost.

"I'll take care of the high-order warrior and the three mid-order ones. Lisana, you deal with of the two mid-order warriors quickly and come help me. Miss. Vera, work with Mister Kurdak and deal with the low-order warriors. Don't let them get involved in our fight with the stronger ones."

"Roger!" Vera smiled, raising her bow, "Leave the small fries to us."

"Alright. Off we go. We'll start on your shot, Miss. Vera."

Alissanda raised his lance and approached the outpost.

Vera fired a rain of arrows a few seconds later. The four enemies she targeted were caught off guard and died instantly.

Vera pulled the string again a few moments later and another rain shot out. Her skill could not compare to her father's, however. Of the eight she targeted between her two volleys, only six fell. Her father would have dropped all eight.

"Not bad!" Kurdak praised, nevertheless.

He had seen her training and knew how much work she put into improving her skill, and, while not stellar, she had indeed improved substantially.

"Naturally!" Vera smiled proudly as she shot another soldier right in front of Alissanda just in time to make way for him.

"Hmph, you finally decided to show yourself!" the leader smirked at the approaching prince.

He was a high-order, but he lacked every leadership quality. He was a decent fighter, good, even, but he would never make it as a general.

He had been tasked with hunting down the enemy prince. It seemed the rumors he had heard were true as well, the prince did appear to be a combat genius. In that case, however, he would just have to show the prince even greater genius!"

"Heargh!"

Alissanda channeled his impetus into his lance and swept the space in front of him. The milky-white holy impetus traced a perfect semicircle, knocking the three soldiers caught in it far away, probably killing them in.

"Let me take you!"

The high-order warrior wove his two-handed axe, charging. He stood two meters tall, a few centimeters taller than even Kurdak, and was armed with a sinister greataxe. Though he was some ten meters away, he had the vibe of a horrible fiend.

Bang!

Alissanda received the strike and was forced to take a few steps back, his face paling. Damn, the damage Saron had dealt had yet to recover. He'd clashed only once with his opponent, but was already at a disadvantage.

He was a prince, but he had his pride in his skills. It was supremely vexing to come up lacking. He roared and dashed forward again.

"Don't butt in!" the warrior yelled at his nearby subordinates.

Killing the gold eagle would make his name famous across the entire continent. He would not let some smallfry steal his kill. If he killed the man even the crimsonflame fiend couldn't take…

The thought sent chills down his spine. He pushed his aura into his surroundings, waving his axe with wild abandon.

Let's see who has more endurance!

Alissanda calmed his mind when the enemy made his move. He deflected each strike sturdily, unyielding. He didn't care what others thought of his turtle tactic, he knew where his strengths lay. He usually didn't have to be this fierce, especially not against assassins and magi, but warriors brought out his brutal side.

His greatest strength was his boundless stamina and vigor. He had never fought someone who could match him in those areas. He was completely confident of eventual victory as long as he could fight head opponents to a deadlock.

Saron had known that and had struck when Alissanda was at his weakest: the middle of the night. This time, however, the sun shone brightly above.

Another battle raged not far away.

The young female warrior, Lisana's aura had completely changed. She originally felt unfit for the battlefield, she had too much tenderness to her. Now, however, she was a valkyrie. Her sword danced like a debutante. She almost felt more like an assassin than a warrior, certainly not a knight.

She struck quickly, accurately, and consistently. Her victims fell with their bodies mostly intact. She left only small cuts where her paper-thin blade pierced. She had few strata, but her skill was phenomenal, only the most expert eyes could pick up any flaws at all.

Her patience and focus was almost fearful. If she could perfect her technique, she would be one of the best fighters on the continent. In her current fight, she was enough for two enemies and had already defeated a mid-order warrior. Leguna was once again convinced not to trifle with anyone from Alissanda's brigade.

Leguna admired the woman's fight from a corner, unseen. He kept scanning the surroundings, but he couldn't pick out any movement.

Kurdak and Vera was being pushed somewhat, so maybe he should help them a little. Leguna quietly slithered over.

Alissanda had failed to hold down all three of his mid-orders, so Kurdak was now engaged with the one that had gotten away. The prince had underestimated his enemy somewhat. He fought their leader only and was already being pressured quite a bit, he could definitely not fight three more opponents.

His salvation was that their leader was very greedy and wanted all the glory of killing the prince, so he'd ordered his companions to stay out of the fight.

Kurdak, for his part, was pushed to his limit against his singular opponent. He would have lost already if Vera didn't occasionally lob an arrow at his opponent. The fight with Saron left his right arm almost entire out of combat commission and wielding his sword with just one hand made him very clumsy.

Saron was really a terrifying opponent. Everyone currently present would have been dead had Leguna fought him fairly. Luckily he had instead relied on his teacher to fight for him.

Vera, though fighting only small-fry, was quickly racking up a respectable kill count. That said, the enemy had finally closed in and she was not caught in closed-quarters-combat. She only got the occasional chance to lob an arrow at someone. Her position grew weaker every second, however, she would soon fall if this continued.

Leguna's mind was preoccupied with his teacher's fight. How had she kept going despite such pain? It had been three days since the pain had subsided, yet Leguna still winced every now and again as ghosts of the pain nibbled at him again. His body was still stiff from the intense spasms so he couldn't really move easily. And yet his teacher had fought on a far greater level than he had ever fought whilst suffering the full force of the pain for every moment she fought. He couldn't stop his respect for the old woman from rising ever higher every time he thought about that fight.

He tried his best to ignore the pain and closed in on a low-order warrior. A swift, silent slice later, the man collapsed quietly in a pool of foaming blood. Leguna had initially wanted to use Wave Blade, but it was hard to control it in his current state. His figure blurred a little before his cover was blown completely.

I might as well get into the fight proper;y! he passed Ebony to his left hand and drew Lighteater before charging at two other enemies.

'A camel dying of starvation is still larger than a horse'. No matter how bad his current state, he was still far greater than his low-order opponents.

With his help, Vera soon cleared out the small fries. The two rushed over to Kurdak.

With that dealt, the pressure on Alissanda and Lisana decreased.

The mid-order warrior beside Alissanda noticed the change and decided to get involved. He positioned himself behind Alissanda without anyone noticing. His hands tightened on his blade, and shot at Leguna's back.

"Watch out!" Lisana shouted.

She cried out and leaped at the prince.

Pierce!

The blade plunged into her flesh, cracked through the bone beneath, and dove at her heart.