CHAPTER 470: WAR STARTS

Ferro, Anko, and their chaperone, a tan-skinned human known only as The Hunter, peered over the sand dune they’d been hiding behind since before the beam of light carved its way through the mountain range and the city behind it.

Getting behind their patrols had taken most of the early hours of the morning, and they owed their progress to The Hunter and her expertise as a ranger. With the battle beginning, from Ferro’s point of view, the importance of their mission had grown more dire as the army began to move. He just hoped that whatever spell it was that could carve through an entire mountain was too costly to use more than once.

Identifying their target was the job of The Hunter, and she was doing so with a grim-faced determination that had him wondering if this was about to become a suicide mission. Instead of a spell, she used a spyglass with a shade over its lens to avoid reflecting the sun, scanning the enemy formation for signs of leadership.

Anko, meanwhile, was still choosing the spells she wanted for her suit. They’d both decided on flight, shielding, and one offensive spell each. For the last, Ferro picked ice lances, and Anko went with a flamethrower. Ferro’s plan was to focus on using his spells first before relying on his suit, while Anko needed to balance her agile mavenry and body enhancement magic against using hers. As for The Hunter...

"I’ve got him. Looks like our old enemy, General Klaven." She handed Ferro the spyglass. "Look just south of center, towards the rear. The human with the angel standing next to him."

It took Ferro a minute to identify the man, who was surrounded by an entourage of elite mercenaries, one of whom was a liokin who was missing a hand and covered in scars. Ferro hoped it wasn’t who he thought it was, but the magnification of the spyglass wasn’t enough to tell, especially since the liokin was occluded by their target.

While he watched, The Hunter readied an arrow, tying a bag to it and adding what looked like an inscribed mana crystal. "What’s that?" Ferro asked as soon as he finished handing off the spyglass to Anko.

"Seed bomb. It’s more effective than it looks, especially since it’s my favorite," The Hunter smirked. "Roses."

That all but confirmed that her magic was druidic in nature. She’d been rather tight-lipped except to give orders, but now that they were nearing their goal, she seemed oddly more relaxed.

"Hey, uh, their mages are icing the melted bits," Anko reported, clearly staring out at the front instead of confirming their target. "I think they’re trying to go around the wall."

"We’ll worry about that when we get back," The Hunter replied. "You two need to head out now. As soon as the violence starts, you’ve got seconds before I send in my seed bomb, so make sure you get the General because that might wind up being the only cover I can give you." She held her hand out and took back her spyglass.

A few moments later, Ferro and Anko slid down the dune, keeping their cloaks up and their features hidden as they slipped towards the camp. The hope was that they could talk their way out of trouble if anyone accosted them by posing as scouts.

They were well before the tents when a pair of soldiers did just that.

"Stop there. Identify yourselves," an elvish man with a spear approached with a human in tow. Both of them were wearing leather armor complete with gorgets and bracers, metal helmets tucked under their arms - likely off to help deal with the desert heat.

"We’re scouts," Ferro said. "Here to deliver a report."

"Hand it to me and get back to your post then," the soldier said.

"I don’t have a written report. There wasn’t enough time-"

"All reports are supposed to be recorded. Who is your commander? What unit are you with?"

Ferro swore internally, feeling his hands itch as he brought one close to the wrist control beneath his cloak.

"This unit!" Anko suddenly raised her voice, and an instant later, a pair of knives blossomed in the foreheads of the soldiers, who crumpled to the ground like puppets with their strings cut.

In a panic, Ferro looked around, but the nearest guards were facing away from them, watching the spells flying to and from the wall.

"Gods, why did you do that?" Ferro hushed his voice.

"Shut up and help me drag them into that tent," Anko said, gesturing with one of her arms at what looked like a larger tent than most. Once inside, Anko pulled her daggers from their foreheads and wiped them on the corpses’ pants. She tsked. "I should have stuck to knives," she plucked at a broken tip before storing them both.

"We’re lucky you got them both," Ferro said.

"Hey! I’ve been practicing."

Slipping out of the tent, they found the inside of the camp still bustling with activity as soldiers ran messages back and forth, sometimes carrying the injured on cots or against their shoulders. Their spirits seemed particularly high, likely due to whatever spell cracked the mountain pass for them.

The pair hurried, staying as out of the way as they could without looking like they were sneaking around. They were passing around another large tent when someone called out. "Ferro? Is that you?"

A stone elf concubine in iron chains on her feet approached the open flap, her face scarred and her silver hair a mess, peered out of the tent at him. And behind her, he saw a small group of familiar faces. "Is it really Ferro?" "I thought he was dead." "Are you here to help us?" The voices, his former rivals, all had the same desperate tinge to them as the first who’d called out to him.

"I’m- You must be mistaking me for someone else," Ferro lied quickly, his ears flattening a bit in shame. He wanted to help them, but seeing them all but confirmed Lanoch was somewhere here, and he hoped against all the odds that he would not see his former master.

"Stop lying. I know it’s you! Please, you have to help us. Ever since he came back, Lanoch’s been half insane. He said everyone else died on the expedition, but if you’re here, that means you must have escaped, right?" Her ears lowered as she pleaded, and it was all Ferro could do to meet her eyes.

"I’m sorry... I can’t even remember your name," Ferro confessed. "I spent years in the Duat. And yes, I escaped, which is why I’m here to kill the one in charge of this army, so that Chainsfree can have a chance-"

"Ferro, we need to go!" Anko asserted, glaring at the concubine from under her hood.

"Anko... I don’t want to just leave them here," Ferro said.

"Ugh, just make it quick." Anko followed him into the tent, and Ferro held up a light as she let the flap close. Without waiting for his instructions, she approached the first before ripping her chains in two using enhanced strength. She continued to do this one by one for each of the slaves, before she spoke again. "If you try to go now, they’ll just catch you. Wait on leaving until things get chaotic. We gotta go."

"But what if someone comes while you’re gone?" the first elf asked.

Anko seemed to resist the urge to roll her eyes as Ferro watched her reach with her arms and start to drop daggers and knives onto the ground, including the pair she’d dulled in the soldiers’ skulls. "Hide these until you get the chance to escape," she said, before looking at Ferro.

He nodded to her, then turned to the concubines. "I’m sorry we can’t do more right now. When you get to Chainsfree, I promise I’ll do everything I can to help."

Anko left, but as Ferro turned to leave, the elf placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I’m Zharee," she said. "Thank you."

Ferro nodded. "Stay safe," he said, before leaving the tent. Outside, he found Anko dragging a corpse into a small tent before she closed the flaps. The sound of a knife being yanked from the soldier’s throat and cleaned preceded her return.

"Guy was snooping around. Probably thought we were getting some action and wanted in," Anko reported, before kicking some sand over the blood on the ground.

"Probably?" Ferro asked.

"I dunno. I cut his throat before he could say anything," Anko shrugged.

"You’re a lot more murdery than I gave you credit for," Ferro said as Anko’s hands disappeared beneath her cloak.

"It was them or us," she said. "I got over killing people the moment my old boss tried to knife me to death. And then again, when I got shot by an angel. Ugh, I wish Maledict didn’t take that guy’s weapon. It would have been so handy for this."

"We’re literally wearing dozens of potential weapons," Ferro deadpanned.

"That’s true," Anko said. "Let’s put them to work."