Book 4: Chapter 21 – Infiltrators 

"Stop here," Ace called out suddenly to the carriage driver.

It took Ace and his team over a day and a half to get to their current point, but even so, they were still a few hours away when Ace commanded the carriage to come to a halt.

"What is it?" Amira asked when she saw the all-too-familiar look in his eyes. "Did you sense something?"

As the one who'd spent the longest time with him in a hostile environment, she was all too familiar with each of his subtle expressions.

"What could our esteemed team leader have sensed from here?" Chukaya asked, his tone laced with sarcasm. "We're several dozen miles from the rear of our force's encampment, which means we're still deep within our own territory."

"It's nothing; I'll be back shortly," Ace responded, ignoring Chukaya's sarcastic response as he turned to Amira and the others. "I just have a sudden urge to stretch my legs for a bit.

Leo, protect everyone whilst I'm away."

Leo understood that when Ace said "everyone", he meant the whole team, including Chukaya. With their spiritual bond, Ace was fully aware of how badly his beast partner wanted to tear Chukaya limb from limb. Still, even if he was annoying, Ace couldn't allow anything bad to happen to him. After all, he was still an important member of the Rohault Empire.

Chukaya frowned when he heard whom Ace had told to protect the others in his absence. In his mind, he was the strongest of the group; even if he hated the idea of being ordered around by his rival in love, he hated that he was so easily overlooked even more.

Unfortunately, before he could voice his complaint, Ace had already disappeared out the door.

"Hmph! He's supposed to be our team leader, yet he's disappearing on us mid-trip," Chukaya snorted disdainfully. "How reliable…"

Although Chukaya's point was valid, Ace's [Observation] reached a little over 6km when uncompressed. He had already determined that other than in the direction he was heading, there was no one else around, which made sense as the area they were currently in was the path leading to the battlefield.

Unless it was soldiers heading to or from the battlefield, there should be no one present for miles, and yet Ace sensed the presence of a small but powerful team of almost two dozen warriors swiftly making their way towards the rear of the Rohault force's camp.

Whilst it was very possible that they were reinforcements, Ace felt it necessary to go and check for himself, as if both his and their groups carried on at their current trajectory, they would eventually meet.

And whilst Ace, Leo, and potentially Chukaya would be able to protect themselves, the others would definitely have a hard time.

The three strongest warriors of the team in question were at the eighth rank, and they had half a dozen warriors at the seventh and a dozen warriors at the sixth rank following them.

"I still can't believe this plan actually worked," One of the two eighth-rank warriors said with an excited grin suffusing his lips.

"Haruol's spent years undercover with those Rohault scum, slowly rising through the ranks, for this very day," The team leader responded as he glanced appreciatively at one of their rank seven subordinates. "With his hard work, we'll finally be able to deal these annoying battle-hungry idiots a blow they'll never forget."

The group of warriors were laughing and talking excitedly amongst themselves, believing that they were alone, wholly unaware that just over 50 meters in the sky above them was an individual wearing a full-body hooded robe hopping on the air as if it were solid ground.

The mystery man was obviously Ace, who, with his compressed [Observation] spread over them, was able to tell everything they had said.

"I guess it was a good thing I came after all," Ace said as he looked down at the group, understanding that despite them dressing in the armoured uniform of the Rohault Empire army, they were undoubtedly soldiers from an enemy force. The only question remaining was which of the Rohault Empire's enemies did this troop belong to.

Though the battle being waged against the O'Brien Empire was the cruellest, it wasn't their only battlefield. To the north was the O'Brien Empire, and to the east were the great plains, home of the infamous steppe riders.

Using [Soru], Ace suddenly disappeared from his previous position, appearing on the ground 50 meters in front of the hostile squad, forcing them all to come to a sudden halt.

Though they were merrily talking amongst themselves, each of the warriors present was a veteran soldier. Knowing they were in enemy territory, they didn't dare relax their vigilance, and yet they had completely failed to sense the figure before he appeared before them.

Even now, though they could see him, not a single person present was able to feel his presence, a fact which made them stare at the hooded figure cautiously.

"Who is your excellency?" One of the three eighth-ranked warriors asked as he stepped forward in an attempt to take charge of the situation.

It had to be remembered that they were currently impersonating soldiers of the Rohault Army. They couldn't afford to act suspiciously as they had too much riding on their success here tonight. Still, it was all but impossible to remain calm when they heard the calm yet oddly immature voice of the person in front of them.

"I already know you're not from the Rohault Empire," Ace voiced indifferently. "What I don't know is if you're from the Great Plains or the O'Brien Empire…"

As Ace said "O'Brien", each of the soldiers in front of him could feel the bloodlust he subconsciously released.

"Kill him, now!" The leader of the squadron commanded unhesitantly as he shot forth, sword in hand.

He didn't know who this newcomer was, nor did he know how strong he was. All he knew was that he was undoubtedly an enemy who knew too much.

If they wanted to salvage their mission, they would have to kill the robed man as quickly as possible. Although there were very few people in the area, they couldn't afford to take any chances.

Unfortunately, they had kicked the proverbial iron bucket this time.

The leader's sword slashed through the air with incredible speed and power, allowing Ace to understand that the man had actually comprehended both states of wielding.

It was the first time Ace had met anyone outside of the Pavilion who'd done so, but other than a little surprise, he didn't feel much else.

"It really is good to be back," Ace muttered as he indifferently watched the man's sword slash straight through his neck.

The team leader watched in horror as his opponent's body turned into fire, allowing his sword to cut straight through him, dealing no actual damage.

From the training he'd done since returning from the mountain range of magical beasts, Ace understood that haki wasn't the only way to strike him when in his 'logia' form. In this world, he could still be attacked if his opponent had reached the 'impose' boundary or above. But if they hadn't, it didn't matter whether they were of a higher realm or were able to use battle-qi; Ace would remain intangible to all attacks, including spells.

The only problem was that, as he was still only a mage of the third rank, using his logia form burned through his mageforce rapidly. Still, as long as he only used it for brief instances instead of extended periods, the drain on his energy was manageable.

Before he could fully wrap his mind around what he had just seen, the hairs on the back of the squad leader's neck stood on edge.

Ace, who had previously been empty-handed, suddenly summoned his glaive – Newgate – from his storage ring and sent it snaking forward, aiming to pierce the team leader's head.

Suppressing his shock and the hint of fear rising from within, the team leader didn't hesitate to raise his sword to meet the incoming polearm. Unfortunately for him, his opponent was able to foresee his intended action.

Before the man could react, Ace's glaive seemed to come to life as it suddenly changed direction.

Ace went from a straightforward but splendid thrust to a slash at the man's legs using his fusion of both states of wielding, allowing the speed of his strike to multiply severalfold.

Though surprised, as a warrior of the eighth rank whose comprehension had reached a similar stage, he was easily able to react accordingly… Or he would've been, had the space not suddenly constricted around him impeding his movements.

"Impose…

ARGHHH!" The man roared in pain as the pain of losing a limb threatened to overwhelm him.

Though it took a while to describe, the whole encounter took no longer than a split second. By the time his opponent's teammates got within striking range, Ace had already disappeared.

The other two eighth-rank warriors were the first to arrive after the team leader, but the sight of their comrade, who was also the strongest person present, losing a limb so suddenly caused them to falter for the briefest of moments.

Still, in a battle, at that level, a moment of hesitation often meant the difference between life and death.

"[Fire Fist]!" Ace roared, sending a pillar of fire at the warrior furthest away whilst the haki-coated glaive in his other hand chopped the final eighth-rank warrior in two.

The second of the three eighth-rank warriors hurriedly dodged out of the way of the incoming fist-shaped flame attack, only to find that the demonic-robed individual had appeared beside him, cutting off his escape route.

He frantically slashed out with his battle axe, hoping to force his opponent out of the way, but Ace calmly evaded the strike before cutting off his arm and wrapping his hands around the man's neck.

"Now can you answer my question?" Ace asked as he coolly stared into the depths of his opponent's eyes. "Are you guys from the Great Plains or the O'Brien Empire?"

At that moment, every single living member of the squad looked at Ace like he was the devil. He had just dispatched all three of the strongest members as though they were children.

They knew they should run, but the fear of turning their backs on such a monster kept them from taking another step.

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Book 6: Chapter 2 – Milianna's Passion