Chapter 283: Searching for Enemy Force
He walked towards a barrack, though one designated for the most important group in the entire Duchy, for now at least.
"Reconnaissance squad greet the commander!" when the group inside the barrack spotted him, they quickly greeted him, saluting him.
He gave them a nod of acknowledgment. "Are everyone ready?!" he shouted at the men, his men, who straightened their backs and shouted back, "Sir yes sir!"
"Good, we will be leaving the capital tomorrow morning. Prepare everything from rations to pills and potions necessary. And make sure to always wear the cloak, we do not want them to know we know of their current location. All of you, dismiss, except for the squad leader.
I want to brief you more of each of your designated areas," he ordered them, the squad leaders stayed as he told them.
He walked towards a huge map, one being big enough to cover an entire table. Here, he put several different pieces, each representing each squad.
"Alright then, the first squad will watch over the north, about 300 kilometers from the capital. The second squad will do the same but in the south. Then the third squad..."
He continued assigning each squad to a different area, before finally coming at the most important area of them all.
"For the border between the former baronies, now the border between Kilrun and Mizalas, this one, I will personally go to, alone," when his squad was about to protest, he stopped them, raising his hand.
"We need to make sure the best of the best will be the ones to watch over the most important and most likely places they will come from. Considering my strength, it will be the best for me to go alone.
Remember, when someone spots the enemy, send one of the squad members away before having them contact the nearest squad, and so on. The rest will keep an eye on them for now, until they finally get close enough to the capital so someone save the last person.
Do you understand me?" he asked in a low tone, the squad leaders answered loud and clear, "Sir yes sir!"
"Good, dismiss,"
-x-
When tomorrow came, Ryker and his forces exited the capital, all heading towards the area around the capital, except Ryker who went straight ahead to the border, hoping to catch them in action.
Because of his mastery of Law of Space, he arrived at the border, even entering the former territory of the two baronies in no time. Now, he had to do the most excruciating thing in regard to scouting, waiting.
-x-
Ryker remained still, waiting patiently even if he starting to get bored of the inaction and rarely moving his body. He had been using Shadow Traversing, along with Hidden Shadow, allowing him to move across the former baronies while not being seen flying by the enemy's scout.
His wandering in the baronies had lasted for a week, the defensive formation likely already finished by then.
He wondered if he had already missed them but dismissed such thought. If they had passed through the baronies, he would have spotted them first. He wondered if he would go deeper before deciding against it.
His current position was already too deep for his liking. Any deeper and he might enter the territory of the Mizalas, the former boundary that is. He was about to continue heading south when his Soul Sense detected a large number of people.
He froze before using Hidden Shadow and slowly walked closer to the source. It did not take him long before he spotted his target, the Mizalas Duchy main army.
He moved as close as he could, some would say he was being too close, close enough that he could even touch the guard if he ever wanted to. He pondered for a brief moment whether he should enter the enemy's camp, but decided against it, for now at least.
He then began moving away from the enemy force. When he believed he was far enough, he used Shadow Traversing and moved closer to the location of one of his squad. He quickly sent a brief message before continuing his scouting.
-x-
Squad 16 was the one assigned to the more dangerous area, one directly bordered by the baronies themselves. The reason for the arrangement is simple, aside from their commander, squad 16 is the strongest and has the strongest members compared to the other squads.
As they waited for any sign of the enemy, they soon got a message from their illustrious commander, "Enemy detected in the deep of the baronies, send warning to the Duke and the High Command. I will remain here to watch over them and maybe secure some more Intel,"
The leader of the squad, a Genesis Lake expert said aloud, making the rest have a serious expression on their face.
"One of you, go warn the baronies, the enemies have to make their move. As for the rest of us, we will be here in case he sends any more messages. Oh, and tell the others to abandon their post and converge here, we need all of our best men for the job,"
-x-
Ryker remained close to the camp, watching apprehensively as they began to move. He watched as they went from a slow march to a quick sprint, all of their soldiers following the leader, who he could see was at the peak of Genesis Sea.
He then waited until they got far enough before tearing the space and arriving far beyond the enemy force location, though it was done on purpose. After all, he needed to make sure that his force got out alive.
He then began flying towards the nearest squad, squad 16, knowing the rest of his five had already converged at the location when he sent the message to squad 16, according to the protocol he made.
When he arrived, he could see every squad had arrived, saluting him when he used his Soul Sense at them.
"Commander," they greeted him. Though he does wish he return with a piece of better news. "All of you have to go, now. The enemy is moving," he told them, making his force all I have a grave expression.
"Would we not, attack them, commander," one of his squad leaders asked. He shook his head.
"We will not be able to do anything. It's better if we don't provoke them, lest they increase their pace and arrive at the capital sooner," he told them.
They nodded in acceptance, the leader of squad 16 stopped briefly to speak his mind, though, "Commander, are you going to remain here so you can observe them?" he asked, Ryker, answering with a brief nod.
"Then, I wish you luck, commander," the squad leader said before following the rest of the squad, all heading towards the capital, except for their commander.
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