Lieutenant Cra

Deon not only massacred the seven members in the bearded captain's group, he even destroyed their origin souls by feedings the souls directly to the soul refinement spirit at the moment of their death! The evil genie fed on these souls by stabbing into them with its infernal tendrils, rapidly depleting the spiritual bodies until they no longer existed in this world.

At this point, the peak stage captain roared out in anger, charging towards Deon recklessly. He injected a torrential stream of origin energy into a giant great sword that materialised above his head.

Deon raised his eyebrow slightly, this was actually the first time he had seen someone materialise a sword just like he did.

But for this reason, Deon laughed mockingly. Challenging him in close combat? Competing with swords formed by their spirits?

He was simply courting death!

Deon began swinging down with his own sword at the same time as his opponent. If they continued like this, then their swords would collide and create a giant shockwave. This sort of equal head on a confrontation was a truly honourable way to fight…

Pah, what honour? Deon was not a moron, he wouldn't commit to such an exchange so pointlessly!

As soon as he confirmed that his opponent had committed to his attack too thoroughly, Deon abruptly stopped, moving at an impossible angle as his momentum simple vanished. The captain's expression changed and he tried to turn as Deon ducked down, but his reflexes and mobility simply weren't at Deon's level.

PUCHI!

Deon brutally stabbed back, piercing through he captains upper back and his heart. His palm landed on the man's back silently, allowing the soul refinement spirit to feed as his sword dissipated into black gas. A second or two later, he retracted his hand and the revered captain fell to the ground.

All of this took some time to explain, but truthfully, Deon was simply moving too fast. He accomplished his slaughter of the small group in less than 10 seconds, slaying the captain right as the others in the vanguard finally arrived.

CLASH CLANG BOOOM!

Chaos erupted immediately, but Deon was unconcerned. However, the battle was growing to a level where he could no longer act recklessly, he changed his tactics slightly and focussed more on the overall situation.

Instead of seeking out the strongest opponents for himself, this time, he assessed his men and assisted those who were in trouble, sending those with rapid movement skills to carry the injured back to camp.

Deon killed any groups that threatened his own his individual soldiers. In the end, it wasn't long before the Fan opposition were entirely wiped out.

Deon walked quickly across the battlefield, extracting any souls from those at the mid or late stage who still retained a breath of life, whilst devouring any other dissipating origin souls using the soul refinement spirit. He also examined a few spirits that remained on the corpses of the dead, quickly collecting those that he deemed would last within his military issue satchel before his return to camp.

With that, the vanguard quickly retreated back behind the forest line. Deon passed along the spirits he looted and gave instructions on how to keep them to his subordinates.

After hurriedly handling various affairs with his men, Deon made his way out into the central point between the enemy camp and the forest line. His soldiers were nervous, but they trusted their vice commander.

In the battle just now, they lost 6 men…but the enemy Fan lost 59, including 4 shamans at the peak stage!

This was war and death was unavoidable, not a single soldier went into battle expecting that 100% of their comrades would make it back alive. They were all veterans by this point, forced to endure countless battles repeatedly within a condensed period of time. They knew that this sort of result was actually incredible…especially considering that this was only the beginning.

As Deon stood there silently, waiting, the troops flocking towards them from the enemy camp continued to increase in number. In the end, their numbers reached 50, maybe 60.

However, they simply stood there motionlessly, standing a couple dozen feet away from Deon's side without attacking. The pressure between the two sides built up, but nobody made the first move to attack.

Deon narrowed his eyes as he saw the enemy's group steadily growing larger. He had the same thought now that he had earlier when he battled against the infantry…

These guys were elites! No, they were elites amongst elites!

Firstly, the fact that there were even cavalrymen in the first place this high up the mountain was impressive in and of itself, it was not easy to bring horses up to this altitude. Secondly, amongst the 10 cavalrymen, there was actually a peak stage 1-Star captain leading them. In the following wave of infantry, there were 3 peak stage 1-Star shamans, 10 late stage 1-Star shamans, then the remainder of the Fan soldiers were actually all either mid stage, or early stage with the combat prowess of an average mid stage 1-Star shaman!

Deon no longer doubted that they were led by a 2-Star lieutenant.

However, this clearing should definitely be one of the largest spaces for a camp at this altitude, Deon absolutely wanted to take this area for himself! If he could take not only the region with the waterfall, the hill forest, and this secluded but large and open flat land…his camp would truly evolve into an impenetrable fortress!

If his speculation was correct and this lieutenant really was a newly ascended 2-Star shaman, then he still had a chance! Also, killing this person would earn him so much prestige that becoming a commander in a few months would no longer be a hopeless dream, it would become a very real possibility!

There was an immediate benefit also. If Deon managed to capture these lands for himself, he might be permitted to retain complete control over this region, perhaps even gaining a total of 100-200 soldiers…these soldiers were subordinates who had been brainwashed into following their superior's every order!

As the troops ahead added up though, he frowned.

'I can see 10 peak stage shamans and 20 late stage shamans…this should be almost all of their peak and late stages though. Still, if our two sides battle normally, this won't be an easy victory, if we even win.'

Deon had already called for backup from a nearby camp led by Captain Dan, who was in charge of 50 troops. Captain Dan recently became a peak stage 1-Star shaman, whilst he now had 10 late stage subordinates. Now that the newbies had completed their initial development period, the 37th unit was once again showing its true prowess as an elite group.

But even if those reinforcements somehow arrived in time, even if Deon made best use of the forest terrain using strategic guerrilla warfare to minimise his losses…their victory would be bitter, they would likely lose at least half of their men. Deon did not want to see this, so he was waiting for something.

Finally, that something finally decided to show herself.

As the tall and slender, yet imposing and cold woman rode out on her broad back stallion, the Fan soldiers and captains parted way for her, saluting in respect. This wasn't just for show. In these mortal nations, 2-Star shamans were esteemed figures, almost akin to royalty in their eyes!

The Fan Lieutenant rode the stallion as the crowd parted, but after riding for another 10 feet past her men, she actually dismounted. She turned around and coldly barked out:

"I am going to speak to the enemy vice commander alone. Nobody is to interfere unless I explicitly give the order. Even if the 2 of us begin battling, you are not to act unless I say you act! Do you understand me?"

"Yes lieutenant, ma'am!" The members of the Fan unit all yelled out with a resounding roar.

After she left their ranks and calmly made her way towards the lone child in the middle of the opening between the two sides, a few of the Fan soldiers looked doubtful. Were they really supposed to do nothing if she started fighting with the enemy?

Seeing the confused looks on some soldiers' faces, the commander of the unit, a stern old man called Commander Ru, a long famous peak stage 1-Star shaman with excellent military tactical insight, turned around and sternly explained.

"Sometimes, in battles where both sides are basically evenly matched, a full on war will only result in catastrophic losses to both sides, no matter the outcome. Neither side wants to see this, so in these cases it isn't uncommon for the two leaders to do battle one and one, under the watch of both armies. After the victor of such a match is decided, the only real option is for the loser to make a full retreat, or else morale will be too low, whilst the loss of such a powerhouse is too big an impact."

One captain still looked doubtful though.

"But commander, the lieutenant is a 2-Star powerhouse, whilst the enemy leader is…a child. I admit that he's a strong peak stage 1-Star child, but, I mean…"

"That child is not to be underestimated. That 'child' is Vice Commander Deon, aka the bloody child, or the war child, I'm sure you've at least heard of one of these nick names."

The captain's expression changed and he started sweating slightly.

Of course, who hadn't heard of the war child in the Fan Kingdom? He was infamous to the extreme, mostly due to the Kingdom of Restari using Deon's exploits to boost morale across the kingdom. However, his exploits were indeed shocking, this had been confirmed…ignoring everything else, he had killed at least 25 Fan Kingdom peak stage 1-Star shamans, proving his battle prowess to everyone.

"But even so…" The old commander laughed darkly, crossing his arms and turning towards Deon with a cold expression.

"The kid has let his abilities go to his head. He's probably thinking that the difference between a peak stage 1-Star shaman and an initial stage 2-Star shaman is the same as any stage difference. He most likely also assumed that the lieutenant has no 2-Star spirits aside from her core spirit, since that would seriously impact the recovery speed of an ordinary initial stage 2-Star shaman…usually. Naturally, this child is too ignorant, too arrogant! Not only is the difference between ranks an insurmountable wall, but you're all well aware of the Lieutenant's core spirit, no? Hahaha!"

The commander's gaze darkened further. He didn't care if Deon was a child. War was war, and someone able to slaughter countless Fan soldiers had lost the right to be considered a child in his eyes.

The other captains laughed mockingly as they stared towards the lieutenant, who had finally reached Deon, stopping right in front of him and looking down with an arrogant gaze.

"I still feel like the lieutenant's core spirit is too incredible though…" A soldier mumbled with a hint of envy. Even though he felt envious, his gaze still held absolute reverence towards the lieutenant.

He, and every other Fan Kingdom soldier in this unit, had absolute confidence in Lieutenant Cra's abilities!